The Tyger
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright,
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire in thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?
And what shoulder, and what art?
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand, and what dread feet?
What the hammer? What the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? What dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb, make thee?
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright,
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
- William Blake
How do you picture God? Do you imagine Him as being like your earthly father? Or your best friend? It's true God loves us and is closer than a brother but I suggest remembering He's dangerous as well.
The poem "The Tyger" by William Blake asks the question, what kind of God would build such a terrifying creature? The same God that created the gentle lamb formed the fearful Tiger. Deadly and beautiful. The same God that created the playful dolphin created the Great White shark. A creature apparently made for only two purposes... pursuit and killing. Deadly, and I would argue beautiful as well.
And the Anglerfish, nightmare of the deep... Deadly? Likely. Beautiful? Umm... not so much.
The same God that commands the Angel of death sent His only Son as a sacrificial lamb for our sins. I am at once comforted and afraid.
"As the Creator, God shapes and fashions and brings bare being into form - a form which is truly reflective of the One who fashions it. And when God is finished with this process what He has made speaks of the God who made it." - Genesis in space and time, Francis Schaeffer
It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God - Hebrews 10:31
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. - Romans 5:8
2 comments:
I think about this duality a lot. If I had to answer the question of how I picture God, it would be as my earthly father. He has always tried to represent God to us.....and he WAS both comforting and terrifying, at times...which I think just made us feel safer, oddly.
I think most people picture God as being similar to their earthly father. And it's good to know whatever the authority; parent, police, etc that deep down they are A) Good and B) Tough when needed
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