Me Tarzan, You God

"If horses had a god, it would look like a horse."

That bit of wisdom has informed my relationship with God, and how I appreciate or rub up against others' relationships with God, because...

How God is defined is not about God; it is about each of us. How we see God is determined by our experiences of self and other, and how we shape that experience into a God we relate to.

We can inherit the God of our parents or community, but that is the God we start with - a God with training wheels. As we grow older and have more experiences of our own, that God may or may not change and evolve.

As long as we keep our God and that relationship personal, whatever kind of God we have is our own business. What crosses the line, however, is when someone tells me - or anyone else - that their God is the Right God, the Only God for everyone.

A God that is imposed upon me may not fit. What if it's horse shaped and I am not? What if I have a God that fits me just right - or at least we're working on it? Make your God my God? No can do.

The God for one is not the God for all - and that is why it is vital that God is kept out of government. Because once God gets into government, it's not only One God Fits All, it's enforced with guns and jail and repression.

Maybe the phrase needs an updated twist: "When government has a God, it looks like tyranny."