One of my favorite songs is “Jesus in New Orleans” by Over the Rhine.
I’m not Christian, but I love the idea of seeing god in all people (and things). And the song is nice and bluesy sounding.
This idea of seeing the divine in all people and things is not unique to Christianity. The Buddhists have it, and some facets of Paganism do to. (I could find sources, but I’m having a hard time right now and I’m feeling lazy.)
And in general, I do try to live by that idea.
But sometimes, I can’t help thinking, “God is an asshole.”
Not all the time, of course. But sometimes.
And in those times, you can try to be empathetic. You certainly know you’ve been an asshole before. You might have even figured out why you were an asshole in those cases. So you cut the person sitting across from you some slack. You say, “This person hurt me. Maybe they had a bad day. Maybe they were ignorant about this or that. Maybe I said something that triggered some long lost memory of when they felt defenseless, so they are putting up their defenses now.”
And they are being an asshole. Maybe they’ll learn something from the experience, or maybe they’ll continue doing asshole things.
I guess in infinity, god would take all forms. Asshole is just one of many.
I’ll continue to live by the idea that there is divine in all. And I’ll try to take the high road when god is presenting him/herself in asshole form. I’ll try to forgive and forget and move on with my life.
But it is an interesting realization to know that god is an asshole.