Article in Stretton Focus, July 2012
Thank God for books! And especially for those books, and their authors, which say clearly and precisely what you have been wrestling with and struggling to express for years. For me, one such book is ‘A History of God’ by Karen Armstrong. Another fine writer, A N Wilson, believes that Karen Armstrong is simply ‘a genius’: but he also says of the book in question (being an atheist himself) that “the quest for God is the biggest wild goose chase in history”.
It seems that wild geese are very difficult to catch, and so a ‘wild goose chase’ refers to any useless or absurd enterprise. But it all depends on what you mean by the word ‘God’.
Another author to whom I am very grateful, Paul F Knitter, recently said that the word ‘God’ is not a noun, but rather a verb. And those who, like me, went to school in the 1950s will know that a verb is a ‘doing word’.
So God is not somebody, living somewhere out there (in heaven?). God is a word suggesting action, movement, energy and vitality. The word ‘God’ does not refer to some thing or somebody you say you believe in: rather it refers to the life (vitality) you have, and the way you live that life.
The Iona community, which is committed to seeking new ways of living the Gospel in today’s world, has a publishing arm called ‘Wild Goose Publications’. It is so named because in Celtic spirituality the wild goose is a symbol of the Holy Spirit.
That spirit cannot be caught (the wind blows where it will) but it can catch you; and it will lead you a merry dance. But as you follow, it will become for you the dance of life (dance then wherever you may be).
You can be ‘caught up’ in the dance, as your own spirit responds to the Divine Spirit; and you will be delighted to learn that the ‘doing word’ is LOVE.
Donald Horsfield