In cooperation with Bishop Geoffrey Robinson and his publisher, John Garratt Publishing, we have pleasure in presenting the end chapter reflections from his book which has created so much interest around the world.

Healthy People in a Healthy Relationship with a Healthy God

There is only one God, but an endless variety of human misunderstandings of God. Our ideas of God will always be inadequate, but can at least be healthy, that is, enable us to grow. To achieve this health, we must move:

• from a god we can understand, possess and dispense to others to a god of infinite surprise
• from an elderly male god to a god who is above all our limitations
• from a religion in which beliefs, duties and worship hold first place to a religion in which a love relationship with God holds first place
• from a religion in which we must constantly abase ourselves before God to a religion in which self-denial and self-love work together to help us become "fully alive" - from a commercial relationship with a god whose rewards can be earned by doing right things to a love relationship with a god who is pure gift - from a relationship in which we determine exactly what part God shall be allowed in our lives to a love relationship of total giving
• from a god who demands that we bridge the gap between us to a god who always takes the first step and comes to us
• from a world in which meaning comes from fulfilling duties to a world in which meaning comes from the sum total of all the loves of our lives
• from a god greatly concerned with glory and majesty to a god not threatened by anything human beings can do, but caring passionately what they do to each other, to themselves and to their community - from a god whose glory is to be found in our obedience to a god whose glory is to be found in our growth
• from an angry god, not to a god of soft love, but to a god who, out of love, is never afraid to challenge us to grow
• from prayer which consists solely in words to a prayer in which our whole lives seek to express our desire for God
• from a god about whom we use many words to a god whose greatness and mystery reduce us to silent wonder.

Credit: These meditations are taken from the end of chapter reflections in Bishop Geoffrey Robinson's book, Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church — Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus, published by John Garratt Publishing. We thank Bishop Robinson and John Garratt Publishing for permission to reproduce these meditations on Catholica Australia.

Bishop Geoffrey Robinson who has degrees in Philosophy, Theology and Church Law, was Auxiliary Bishop in the Archdiocese of Sydney from 1984 until his retirement in 2004. In 1994 he was elected by the Australian Bishops to the National Committee for Professional Standards, coordinating the response of the Catholic Church in Australia to revelations of sexual abuse, and from 1997 until 2003 he was co-chairman of this committee..

We welcome your thoughts in response to Bishop Robinson's reflection in our forum.

©2007 Geoffrey Robinson

[Sunday Reflections Archive]