Dear Elizabeth,
You asked me, “For you, how does God look like?” That is some question from your CL Teacher. And it really got me thinking hard. Let me share with you some of the thoughts that came up to my mind.
As you know, your Lola Bilog and I love to go hiking. And I have told many other people, friends, and family, that we always encounter God when we hike the trails – be it on the mountains, along the sea, beside a creek, or through a forest.
I would stand on a mountain overlooking the sea and I am awed by the beauty before me. I would see the blue horizon stretching out endlessly and it simply goes on and on. I see God in all that endless beauty.
I would walk an open field, full of wild flower blooms in early spring. I can smell their sweet scent and I say a prayer to God, “Thank you God for making the world for me. For all of us. I promise to help take good care of it.” He is right there in that field.
Sometimes, Lola Bilog and I would take walks in the evening and we would see all the stars, the moon and the planets, specially on cloudless nights. And we see God’s hand still at work making more and newer stars and planets.
When I was your age, I also often tried to imagine, “How does God look like?”
When I was young like you, one of my joys was cuddling up in my mother’s warm embrace. In that cozy embrace, I would imagine that was how God must look like.
Or, when crossing the streets or walking in crowded and strange places, I would seek out my father’s hand, hold on to it and I would feel all so safe and secure. I am no longer afraid. I imagined that must be how God looked like.
Or, in school, I had a favorite teacher and she taught us how to grow and become better persons. She told a lot of stories and we learned a lot from her. She was very patient, caring, always wanting to do her best for us. That is how God also looked like to me then.
Today, as I am already a Lolo, I would often see people caring for and sharing what they have with other people. They would do good for people who are neither friends and relatives. That is God doing His work through them. I imagine they look a lot like God.
I would see God at work among peacemakers, parents raising good kids, children being friends to one another, people feeding the hungry or giving shelter to the homeless or welcoming the stranger or visiting the sick and those in prison.
Wow, does God have different faces? I don’t think so. But God is so great and infinite that our image of what He looks like cannot be captured by just one picture or likeness. He is all of what we can imagine Him to be. And more. Where there is beauty and goodness and truth and love, I see the face of God.
One day, we will see God face to face. I am excited by that thought. I am dying for the day that that would happen to me. But for now, these are snippets of how God looks like to me.
Love,
Lolo Verne