"The Lord is like my Probation Officer..."
Carl Burke, "God is for real, Man"

God is big. Huge. Enormous. I can't prove it, of course, but if there is any point to having an Almighty God, then he can't very well be an old man on a throne. He must be bigger than the universe. Surrounding it, saturating it with himself. I believe that God is the spirit of life that makes everything that exists keep existing. The energy that gives life to every living thing in the universe. The source of all creative energy. The power of the original big bang. To be God, he must be all that, and more.

But my God is no impersonal "life force". He is also the spirit of love. And since love implies a personal relationship, then God must also be in some sense personal. Capable of relating to his creation one to one. Saturating the universe as he does, he also saturates me. Knows each molecule in me intimately. Hears my thoughts, feels my feelings. And knowing all that he knows, he also cares for my well-being, wanting me to fulfil all the potential that he has filled me with. Wanting me to know him, too, and be aware of his loving presence in my self and my surroundings.

The point of this is that my experience of God is that he is both way above my head - and yet intimately concerned with my well-being. If you're very hot on logic, then this is a paradox you're going to have trouble resolving. But in terms of personal experience it's really quite easy. There is no contradiction between infinite greatness and infinite love. Rather the contrary. If God is great enough to maintain the universe - then he is also great enough to know every detail of how it works. And as I am a part of the universe, then he also knows how I work. Better than I do.

And what we read in the Bible, is the story of how God is constantly trying to bridge this gap. Constantly reaching out from his transcendent glory, to touch the lives and hearts of ordinary people. And finally - taking on human form himself. Which brings us to Christmas...

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