It is easily to anthropomorphise God, that is to imagine God as an ordinary human, as capable or incapable as any of us. It is such a limiting way to view our God.  Because it doesn’t even come close.

Remember when you were a kid starting to twig to the reality that the concept of Santa didn’t quite add up? How could he possibly visit all those houses all around the world to deliver all the children’s gifts in just one night? Eventually you find out that it is your parents all along, and let’s face it, it is never really the same again.

But guess what? With God’s love, there isn’t a trick. God knows when a sparrow falls. God knows how many hairs are on each one of our heads. God’s love for us is outrageous. Far beyond anything we can imagine with our puny human minds. If we got even a glimpse of how in love with us God is, it would be totally transformative.

Fr Greg Boyle, a Jesuit priest in Los Angeles speaks about this. ‘The desire of God’s heart is immeasurably larger than our imaginations can conjure.’

When the vastness of God meets the restriction of our own humanity, words can’t hold it. The best we can do is find the moments that rhyme with this expansive heart of God.

Let us stop trying to limit God. Let us look for moments when we can seek a glimpse of this ridiculous love. Let us be transformed in loving ourselves and loving our people because of how we are loved. You are worth more than many sparrows!

By Katherine Gilmore