Audience and Purpose

To whom am I writing this blog and why?

If you love God, then I am writing to you.  If you love to read about God, think about God, and wonder about God then you should enjoy my ruminations.  If you are a fundamentalist or an atheist, then you are God people. 

God is the ultimate concern of those who love God.  However, if you breathe, move, and have being, then you are among God’s people: “God being with thee, when we know it not,” as Wordsworth put it.  You are my audience.

I learned long ago that for centuries a conversation about God has been going on among people throughout the planet and throughout history.  Before there was language, humans engraved their gods onto stone.

All languages have vocabulary and syntax.  Religion itself is a family of languages.  The words and syntax of one religion can sound incomprehensible to those who speak a different religion. 

Religion is God-talk.  God is expressed in many religions, sometimes badly and sometimes quite divinely.  For Judaism, words and syntax are from the Torah.  Islam speaks of God with the Koran. Hinduism speaks of God with particular manifestations of God in reality.  Buddhism speaks of God with the practice of the Middle Way.  Christianity cannot utter a word about God without including the life of Jesus who is called the Christ. 

Notice, I did not mention the Bible as the syntax for Christianity.  That is because Christianity is measured by the life of a human being, not by any one book or anthology of books.  We may be people of The Book, but before we are such people, we are followers of Jesus the Christ.

When I learn a new language the words I practice and use become the words I know.  I am much more fluent in Christian and Jewish talk, yet I appreciate the words and syntax from other faiths.

So, I want to contribute to God talk since we, as a species, are more connected now via the Internet.  I hope the God of love who is beyond all language may become relevant on my pages.  This is why I God blog.

My purpose implies that I am writing because I seek dialogue, not monologue.  Therefore, I eagerly look forward to receiving input from other God people.

 

In conclusion, anyone who is willing to think about God or read about God is a God person.  Anyone who feeds the hungry, sates the thirsty, visits the prisoners, and heals the afflicted is a God person.  Anyone who goes to the trouble of thinking long and hard about why there is no God, and then writes a book about it, is a God person.  

You are my audience.  My purpose is to edify our lives.

My next post will be about topics.  I hope to see you there.  Blessings…