dailydatewithgod

We all know there are standards and protocols we are expected to follow. Every culture has a set of them.  Some of them cross over from culture to culture and are seen as basic human courtesies.  How we carry ourselves and treat others says a lot about what we value and what is important to us.  If it of value to see others’ dignity we will look for it.  If we want to be treated with respect we will treat others with respect.  What happens when your culture’s definition of respect is another culture’s definition of disrespect?  In most European, Japanese, and U.S. cultures it is seen as uncouth if you burp at the end of the meal.  In parts of India and China it is considered a compliment. What is the expected norm in your culture for God?  What are your individual expectations of God? Is it one to be feared?  It is one to be honored above all else?  Is God a being you can be close to or sense only from afar?  Does God show up only in big miracles or in small coincidences?  What would happen if you deviated from the norm of your cultural or individual experience of God?  Would you be considered eccentric or rude? Would you be viewed as strange and perverse?  Often times we do not consider the cultural norms of rules around God even if we do not follow a particular faith but they do exist.  Maybe deepening our relationship with God is about deviating from the cultural expectations of what a relationship with God looks like and trying out our own.