Leather bags

This summer I almost bought a leather bag from a nigerian chap in a market in Florence. Thankfully I was able to resist the temptation and instead bought something far better and consequently far more expensive in a great leather shop next to the Duomo. I did not regret the extra expense.

So often in life we settle for something less than the real thing. An imitation. A cheap rip off. But it never does the same as the real thing. It never satisfies, it never performs for as long or as well. Inevitably we feel ripped off by the whole experience and we always wish we had done it properly the first time around.

I think it is the same with God too. The temptation is to settle for less than the real thing. So often we settle for knowledge about God rather than knowledge of God. We think that this will do the same job, plus it's far less expensive to attain. All we need do is listen to the right people, read the right books, use the right religious language and listen to the latest worship music. But the cheap imitation will always break down under stress and we will be left worse off than when we began.

As with buying leather bags the trick with God is to never settle for anything less than the totality of reality. We will never attain it, no, which is of course very frustrating in its own manner. But yet in this endless pursuit and struggle we will develop character and become the right sort of person, a person who knows God for themselves.