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A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Rabbi Jonathan Romain

Good morning

I had great fun with some children at my Religion School the other day. I handed out pen and paper, and asked them... to draw God. Some objected, saying 鈥渂ut God is totally different and we can鈥檛 do that鈥�, so I replied, 鈥渇air enough and what you should do instead is draw how you think of God, and what images come to mind鈥�.

That was much easier and revealed some fascinating results. Some were fairly predictable, such as a drawing of the world (over which God rules), or of a tree and sunset, showing God as providing the natural world around us.

One child did the two tablets of stone representing the Ten Commandments with God as law-giver and rule-maker 鈥� the opposite of the person who drew a heart: God is love. In contrast, another child produced a human head with thought bubbles coming out 鈥� showing our conscience and the still small voice that distinguishes between right and wrong, God within us.

There were also some neat touches that honed in on the relationship side, like the drawing of a mobile phone, indicating the God to whom we can connect on a one-to-one basis. Or the illustration of an eye, with God as all-seeing and knowing not only our actions but also our thoughts.

None captured the whole of God, but they all expressed aspects of God, and maybe you can think of other images too. It shows that there is no one way of thinking about God, and also that we need to be tolerant of those with other ideas, while the fact that God is beyond our ability to draw, or sum up in a sentence, reminds us of our own limitations and the humility to recognise what great Power is at work around us.

So I thank you God, for the gift of life and for being able to glimpse various parts of you, as we make our way through the world you have created.

Amen

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