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He doesn't pay attention to her.
She's going out with him just for the image it gives her.
He only talks to her when he's bored.
She likes the gifts he gives her, so she sticks it out with him.
He doesn't listen when she says, "No."
She repeatedly belittles him and shows no respect for his feelings.
He tells her to stay in his life but openly declares that he will be sleeping with other women.
She refuses to give him intimacy until he caves in and gives her what she wants.
He doesn't spend time with her unless there's nothing else to do.
She constantly flirts with other guys, even right in front of him.
They treat each other like objects.
We wouldn't call any of these relationships healthy. We would tell our friends in these relationships to get counseling or leave. In such relationships ourselves, we would feel justified in leaving. We would call these relationships dysfunctional, unhealthy, or abusive.
So why do we think it's an okay state of affairs for our relationship with God?
We don't pay attention to the Spirit's leading, or we ignore Him altogether. We treat Him like a vending machine; we insert a prayer and expect to get what we want once we do. We don't spend time in His Word or in prayer with Our Divine Lover. We come to Him with a list of demands and expect them to be met. We get good things from being in the Church and in the Real Presence, but we don't do anything else other than receive.
We don't go to Church because it's an inconvenience or we don't feel like it. We go to events because there's nothing else to do. We go to Church events because we want to get the attention of another person or group of people. We do rituals out of obligation.
He tells us, "I don't like it when you do these things," but we do them anyway. Sometimes we do them, fully aware of the pain we're causing Our Friend. Sometimes, no matter how many times God has told us He doesn't like it, we decide we don't care, but how dare God be distant from us when we do. Other things mean so much more to us, we're our own person, but how dare God be something other than an object for our own gratification.
How dare He?
He made us.
He made the world.
He is the All-Powerful, All-Knowing, Timeless, Limitless, Beautiful God.
Who sent His Son as the Sacrifice for us because He loved us.
That's how He dares.
He's a Person. He's a Being. He thinks. He feels. He knows.
We wouldn't accept this kind of behavior in a relationship with a human being... Why is it good enough for God?
Sarah is an aspiring writer, artist, businesswoman and teacher from Cornfield, USA. Having studied extensively under evangelical mainstream Protestants and growing up as one of them, Sarah felt something was missing in her faith and found her life was lacking the real presence of Christ. She converted to Catholicism in April 2014 to begin a new chapter. A month later, she began another new chapter in her life by graduating from Lincoln Christian University with a degree in business administration and TESOL certification (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.) While new to the faith, Sarah hopes to use her training and understanding of Protestant and Catholic doctrine to open up more dialogue between the faith communities. Currently, having graduated with her Masters of Arts degree in Composition and Rhetoric, she teaches high school English as well as English as a Second Language in rural Illinois. She married her husband in July 2024.
(Photo courtesy of Michael Gowin Photography)
