Tuesday 31 October 2017

What concerns God - an aphorism from William Arkle

We must seek not to concern ourselves with God so much as to concern ourselves with what concerns God

William Arkle - A Geography of Consciousness (1974) from page 206
Picture by William Arkle - https://www.facebook.com/BillArkle

The above sentence strikes me as profoundly wise, and a challenge to all serious Christians. If we come to an understanding of why God created us, and what he wants from us; we may find that God wants us to become more and more divine until, eventually, we are so much like him that we can beome divine-friends; co-workers in the creation. He has made this world for such a purpose - to provide the necessary experiences. That, then, is God's main concern about us. If so; it is likely that God does not want our constant attention (as is generally assumed) so much as he wants that we pursue this path he has made for us. 


1 comment:

Chiu ChunLing said...

I would say that what matters is our relationship with God. But we don't build our relationships by focusing on the relationship itself, but rather on the other person.

It is a mistake to focus on becoming friends or coworkers with God at the expense of coming to understand that we are God's children...children who are yet so far from divine adulthood as to regard it as a prize kept on a high shelf simply to frustrate us.

It is true that the destiny of children is to become adults, that's rather the whole point of having children. But that destiny cannot be fulfilled, let alone hastened, by ignoring the fact of childhood.