I often think that using the name “God” has become a bit of a problem in our society. As the theologian Richard Rohr points out for many people their idea of God is a cross between parents and Santa. God becomes the old man in the sky who keeps an eye out and duly rewards or punishes people according to what they do. It comes with many layers of stereotypes. When people tell me they don’t believe in God, I find the god they don’t believe in is the same one that I don’t believe in either.
One of my favourite descriptors for that which we call “God” is the “Divine Source of all Love.” To me, this sums up the nature and relationship we have with God and gets beyond thinking about God in ways that look rather like humans. It also gets beyond issues of gender.
I wonder what other “names” we can give to God that remind us of the bigger picture of who God is without the preconceptions that come from simply saying “God.”