Some say the two most important questions we can ask in life are these: “Who is God?” And “What is God like?” These are questions we may ponder our entire life. To see how others have responded to one or both of these questions, I consulted my boxes of quotations under the tab “God.” I selected these 20 “answers.” I hope they might stimulate your own reflection on these two vital questions.
1. God has given us three speeches: Creation, Scripture, and the Incarnation. Hans Urs von Balthasar, Swiss theologian
2. Just as God is our Father, God is also our Mother.” Julian of Norwich, 15th Century mystic
3. You can safely assume that you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do. Anne Lamott
4. A short definition of God: God is an interruption, an experience which ruptures the surface of the commonplace to reveal new intensities, new splendors and terrors, new possibilities within us. Veronica Brady
5. I used to ask God to help me. Then I asked if I might help God. Hudson Taylor
6. While in Mexico, writer Megan McKenna brought lunch for a half dozen street urchins. Before eating the lunch, one boy prayed this grace aloud: “God is great. God is good. God lives in this neighborhood.”
7. I sought Thee at a distance, and did not know that Thou wast near. I sought Thee abroad, and behold Thou wast within me. St. Augustine
8. The best way to know God is to love many things. Vincent van Gogh
9. Home is the definition of God. Emily Dickinson
10. Authentic spiritual language does not confuse the map with the territory, the symbol with the thing…You can starve to death trying to eat a cookbook. Sam Keen
11. God works in strange ways, permitting an infinite number of itineraries on the way to Him. Doris Grumbach
12. We turn to God when our foundations are shaking, only to find that it is God who is shaking them. Charles West
13. With God go over the seas. Without God, do not go even over the threshold. Russian proverb
14. God almost never does things exactly as we expect. Demetrius Dumm, OSB
15. The best word for God is mystery. Richard Rohr
16. God is really only another artist. He invented the giraffe, the elephant, the cat. God has no style. He just keeps trying other things. Pablo Picasso
17. God is here and God is speaking—these truths are in back of all the Bible truths. A.W. Tozer
18. We can’t sin more than God can forgive. Lavonne Neff
19. We ask God, “What are you like?” And God gives us the story of Jesus. Jesus is the parable of God. James Martin
20. God is always just a little in front of us on the road of life. He is looking back at us and saying, “Come on.” God knows the way. We have a chance every day to say, “OK, I’m coming.” (Anonymous)
For reflection:
Did any of these quotes really speak to you today? If so, which one(s)?
Did any of these quotes surprise you? shock you? disturb you? comfort you?
Would you like to add another quote below?
What answers would YOU give to either or both of these questions?
P.S. This past week, our U.S. province of the Sisters of Notre Dame together with some of our Associates and lay staff, met for 3 days in Columbus, OH. About 200 of us were able to be present. Many others watched the live-streaming of this wonderful event. We listened to some fine speakers; reflected on our past, present, and future; engaged in small group discussions; experienced beautiful prayer and Mass together; ate great food; and enjoyed time getting to know each other better and to have some fun together too. Some of us even had our picture taken as a sunflower!
Our song is Bernadette Farrell’s “God, Beyond All Names.” It reminds us that all our words or names for God fall far short of who God is and what God is like.
I welcome you to share a comment with us below.
23 Responses
Good morning! I believe that God is that which we cannot see, touch, hear or feel while at the same time being all that we see, touch, hear and feel.
And please pray for our US Federation of the Sisters of St Joseph along with Agregees, Associates and Partners in Mission as we gather in Kansas City to celebrate the 375th Anniversary of our founding and experience much of what you did recently.
Good morning Sister Melannie,
Charlene Kellerman (above comment) hit the nail right on with her comment. Loved all the responses of “who God is” but my favorite is #20.
God is love.
I love them all, but especially 2, 3, 6 and 8 .
God is love, and wherever there is love, there is God.
Thank you!
I loved them too. Number 10 resonated with me.
Number 20 speaks to me right now as a recent widow trying to discern how to best follow God in this new difficult role.
#20
#13 and #20 are speaking to me this morning.
Thank you for helping us find God this morning.
❤️
I like VanGogh’s “The best way to know God is to love many things.” It’s in my own collection of quotes. I might add, “and to love many people.”
I found this one in my collection:
“God has a brown voice, as soft and full as beer.” —Anne Sexton, from her poem “For Eleanor Boylan Talking With God”
I loved Rohr’s (#15) and especially, James Martin’s (#19). I need to sit with and pray with Veronica Brady’s (#4) more. I think the word ‘interruption’ caught me off-guard. Food for thought and food for prayer.
My favorite one is “God is in this neighborhood”. I think it sums up the question of who is my neighbor ?
And this really fits the Good Samaritan parable of Sunday’s gospel!
I love the quotes! Our OCIA program is on a break for the month of July, but I am inspired to share some of these quotes in our inquiry sessions this fall. Thank you for putting this collection together.
I do like the quote: God almost never does things exactly as we expect. Demetrius Dumm, OSB How true.
I found all the quotations profound and thought provoking. Especially moved and could relate to no. 7 by St. Augustine and deeply to no. 20
“God looks back at us on the road and says come on”. Thankful to have time every day to respond “okay I’m coming”.
So wonderful Melannie to have had special gathering time with your community. Love your sunflower picture. And rather appropriate for you.
I like #15, God is mystery.
And thank you for the song, I always loved it and haven’t heard it in a long time. A good memory of a retreat down by the Jersey shore.
This week was my most favorite ever- the words, the song- moved by it all. Thank you, you are a beautiful flower, Sister.
It’s lovely to be nice, but it’s nicer to love!
My favorite one is God almost never does things exactly as we expect.
Demetrius Dumm, OSB
So true!!
Thank you for sharing these. #3 made me laugh…quite profound in its own way.
Glad you had a meaningful and enjoyable meeting with your community.
Good morning, Melannie…
Good morning, all…
My two favorites are #3 and #11. Have a great day!
Good Morning! A great question to start the day…#’s 20, 19 & 18 And the wonderful pic of you as a sun flower.
I just listened to the song “God, Beyond All Names.”…Beautiful, haunting & spiritual. Fits quite well with #20.