I took a retreat once that was led by a prior abbot at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, GA. During the retreat, he said, “Tell me your view of God, and I will tell you how you pray. Conversely, tell me how you pray, and I will tell you your view of God.”
Some people have a view of God as a very distant and all-powerful ruler. This God is one to be feared. If God is all-powerful, then God can do whatever he wants. In the extreme, God’s will becomes very arbitrary. This God could even do evil if he wanted. We talk about evil in terms of moral evil (what someone decides to do) and physical evil (the storms, earthquakes, illnesses, and similar bad things that just happen in this world). In this view of God, he could bring any of these things upon us at any time.
At the other extreme, God is viewed as a stuffed animal that merely gives us companionship. Perhaps God affirms whatever we choose to do. This perspective can also lead to God as a vending machine. We key in the right code through prayer, and we are given whatever we wish.
Jesus gives a view of the first Person of the Trinity as Father. He encourages us to call God the Father “our Father.” A father loves his children with great love. This Father loves us with an infinite love. But this is not a love that affirms us in any choice that we make. This a Father that protects us from the full effects of our sins. But sometimes we are permitted to feel at least some of the effects of our sins so that we can learn the lesson that God wants us to learn. This is a Father that encourages us and even challenges us. This Father wants his children to do what is best for them…to fulfill their potential…that they might experience the results of these good choices.
Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel that he calls us friends. We are not slaves. Certainly, we are not to cower in complete fear of him. Instead, we are invited to friendship. This is an intimate relationship with one who loves us infinitely, not that of a mere acquaintance. Earlier, Jesus had promised another advocate. He is the first though. Not just a legal representative, but a consoler and a guide.
How do we see God the Father? How do we see Jesus? How do we view our relationship with them? What does our prayer look like? Who do we encounter in prayer? And what happens in that encounter?