I Gave God a Nickname

It profoundly deepened my relationship with him

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

Note before we get started: I consider God to be both genders and also transcendent of gender all at the same time. If you prefer to read “her” when I write “him,” I have no problem with that at all.

At the homeless shelter where I’m currently staying, one of the requirements is that I attend chapel. I had well-formed spiritual beliefs long before I spent my first night there, so most of what I hear in chapel goes in one ear and out the other. But once in a while, I’ll pick up something interesting, something that makes me think.

“Our religion is the only one of the major world religions that invites you to have a personal relationship with God,” said a guest preacher a few weeks ago.

I thought to myself, “I’m definitely not an atheist. But why have I always had trouble developing a personal relationship with God?”

I didn’t have an answer at the time.

Then, one day about a week later, I walked into chapel after dinner. They play Christian videos before the service starts. On the big screen, Cece Winans was singing,

I’ve known you as a Father
I’ve known you as a friend
And I have lived in the goodness of God