Coco Calling No.225 - Knowing God

The other day, I was sitting on my owner’s shoulder watching a programme on TV. It’s something that we do most evenings. The interviewer had gone to a convent located in the Pyrenees and was reporting about the pastoral life of the nuns that live there. Suddenly one of the nuns turned things round and started to interview the interviewer:

“Do you have a personal relationship with God?” she asked.

“No” came the surprised response.

“Well, are there some days when you at least think about God?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Then that’s a great shame.”

This brief exchange stayed inside my feathered brain because it was so very unexpected. It shone a light on all those humans who go about their daily lives without ever thinking about God or knowing who He really is. And I had to agree with the nun that this is a “great shame.” For when we don’t know who our true God is, we not only miss out, but we also run the risk of imagining Him to be someone or something that He’s not at all…

“It is terrible when people do not know God, but it is worse when people identify as God what is not God.”

(Leo Tolstoy: 1828-1910: Famous Russian author)

I’ve got a rather flippant parrot story to illustrate this very point; it is only a story, and it involves three humans, - the Pope, his chauffeur and an Italian policeman. And this story’s all about the policeman because he doesn’t know God…

The Pope wanted a change of scene so he asked his chauffeur to take him for a spin around Rome.

They’d only been travelling for a few minutes when the Pope said:

“I never get the chance to drive. Let’s swop places, just this once.”

So the Pope climbs into the driver’s seat and his chauffeur gets into the back. As soon as he’s at the wheel, the Pope puts his foot down hard to the floor and takes his limousine beyond all known limits, screeching around corners and swerving wildly in and out of the city traffic. Meanwhile, the chauffeur in the back turns a deathly shade of white and holds on for dear life. After a few moments, they get pulled over by a policeman on a motorbike. The officer looks at the Pope and then takes a sideways glance at the chauffeur in the back, before hurriedly stepping away and making an urgent call on his radio.

“I need the Chief right away!” he yells, and a voice comes back:

“Chief here. What’s the problem?”

“Chief,” splutters the officer, “I’ve just pulled over someone really big and I’m not sure what to do!”

“Who is it? The Mayor of Roma?”

“No, bigger!”

“Not the Prime Minister of Italia!”

“Bigger still!” he replies.

“The President???”

“No, I’ve just pulled over the Pope, and as he’s driving, the guy in the back with him must be God!!!”

Oh dear… A wise parrot will tell you that if, during our living years, we make a genuine effort to get to know God, then we’re unlikely to mistake Him for something that He isn’t, - in this case, the shell-shocked chauffeur. And that’s not only a very great shame, but it also screams out about an opportunity missed. And Life’s far too short for that…

“Knowing about God is crucially important for living our lives. Disregard the study of God, and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through this life blindfolded…”

(J. J. Packer: 1926-2020: English-born Canadian theologian, cleric, writer and evangelist)

“What were we made for? To know God. What aim should we have in life? To know God.”

(J.J. Packer: as above)

“Most of us know about God, but that is quite different from knowing God.” (Billy Graham: 1918-2018: Prominent American evangelist and Christian author)

“Jesus replied, ‘You are mistaken because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.” (Matthew 22:29)

“He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is because you don’t belong to God.”

(John 8: 47)