The word “God,” from its ancient root, simply means something like “the one who is worshiped.” It’s a generic term, a placeholder for some mystery that we cannot quite grasp, but, by intuition, know is there. Our human experience tells us, however, that the space being held by the word “God” can be hijacked by all sorts of unsavory visitors: ideology, power, arrogance, sentimentality, etc. How our hearts ache, indeed, when we hear about a crime done “in the name of God”! It is thus not enough to believe in “God,” we must have a more disciplined approach that allows us to unerringly encounter the mystery behind our language (Ex 3:14). This is why Jesus commands us to “put out into the deep” (Lk 5:4). He has, in fact, made the eternal decision to stand guard as our Good Shepherd (Jn 10:11) so we too can taste and see the goodness of the Lord (Ps 34:8). Let’s therefore stop hiding behind the word “God” as some kind of spiritual shield for our lack of faith. Let’s actually take the quiet risk of entering into life with “the one whom our hearts love” (Song 3:1). Let’s “God” and rejoice.
Ave Crux, Spes Unica.
“Dark Night of the Soul” by Juan de la Cruz
