It would seem to me that Quakers have almost as many different ways to describe God as there are Quakers. There are terms such "The Light Within" "Some Higher Being" "a Divine Presence" besides a legacy of adjectives and phrases inherited from our Christian origins. Many of these names and descriptions are quite difficult for me to imagine or understand. As with all words, the somewhat clumsy ways in which we attempt to describe God will mean different things to different people and can be misleading.
At times it would seem there is a temptation to be too clever, as if by a huge act of the intellect, or through finding the right set of words it might be possible to do something more. Throughout history there have after all been individuals hoping to gain sufficiently high a status to listen in of the Almighty. Through science, critical analysis and other forms of academic knowledge we may perhaps still aim to construct a tower of Babel, believing that those with a particular type of knowledge should have some kind of an advantage when it comes to communicating with God.
Although there would seem very good reason to feel discouraged in our efforts, or dismayed generally at the historic collective insights of the human race, this is only an indication of having set our sights too high. Most religious faiths describe a process whereby for their own protection, God deliberately takes on some very different form to communicate with human beings. To emphasis this disparity, throughout the Old Testament it was widely believed that a human being would die if he ever caught sight of God.
Old Testament prophets were as a result, particularly astute in setting what we might well describe these days as being "SMART targets". The emphasis here was not on gaining a special insight or even finding something credible and manageable enough to believe in. Instead of speculating on the nature of God, they considered all that God had done and continued to do through creation, and such evidence though history and their daily lives of love, nurture and support. This trust enabled them to listen. Whereas today we might think to ask questions, even negotiate about what we believe to be the priority of our needs, traditionally communication with God has been almost entirely about worship.
The way we might begin this kind of conversation would seem to me very much like my three year old grand-daughter has been practising a great deal of lately. At first the word "thankyou" must have seemed totally superfluous to her requirements. A three year old will however begin with a little prompting and reassurance. It starts perhaps by thanking parents for such obvious things as food. In time those horizons will steadily widen to involve others. Although it is I believe still impossible to see God, whilst thanking others for their time, thoughtfulness, patience, understanding, love, support and forgiveness, each individual life may be gradually seen in context.
Perhaps like a small child we should also be alert to Creation. In our search for God we might also blow on the seed head of a dandelion, count the interval between thunder claps and lightening, splash in every available puddle, celebrate every single one of our birthdays with some kind of a party, and remember to paddle whenever we encounter the sea. Maybe we also need to practice guilt-free chocolate and ice-cream through seeing life in perspective. Each moment of joy, humility and thankfulness takes us I believe, one step closer to God.
Despite having been responsible for conveying God's law to humanity, the idea of seeing or understanding God would have been quite preposterous to Moses. A healthy respect for the wonder of creation combined with a much more realistic sense of his own unworthiness enabled him instead him to listen out for whatever God had to say.
For this reason I am particularly glad to be a Quaker. Our method of worshipping in silence seems more honest about our limitations. This is an open opportunity in which we are all free to follow our unique spiritual journey without believing ourselves bound by ritual, creeds or pre-conceptions. Perhaps in that time we may confirm upon ourselves a responsibility to love our neighbour as ourselves and so emerge from that time of silence one step closer to God through being better at being Friends.
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