The Old Curmudgeon

Through my years as a kid in the Catholic Church I pictured God like I think many people do; He was this old man with grey hair and a long beard sitting on a throne wearing a white robe.  All around him were clouds but nothing else.  God was not omnipresent, He was up there.  Up there as in up in heaven, which was a specific place, you know... up there.  This was my childlike view of God.

During these years I had nothing or nobody that told me any different.  So there God sat.  All alone on his throne in a really boring place with not much to do. I'm not sure what I thought God did with all his time but I remembering having the sense that he was grumpy.  These thoughts probably came from the image of the Old Testament God who was always angry with his people.

This image of God stuck with me for longer than I care to remember.  There are times today where I feel like I've reverted to this image of God.  Uncaring, grumpy, never pleased, and always judging.  This is not God and I don't think this is how he wants to be perceived.  But this is what I learned at church.  This is the impression of God that I was left with each Sunday.

I feel bad for God.  This is not a flattering image of his glory and magnificence but I think it is how he is seen by a great many people.  The One who created and breathed life into us has been relegated to a salty image of an old curmudgeon sitting dutifully on his throne.