People usually become friends with other people because of shared qualities. We like people who are like us and even when it seems like "opposites attract", people usually have a lot more in common with each other than we realize. We use ourselves as a template to decide who our friends are, but what do we use to decide who our gods are? I'm not saying that deities are handmade, but every human being as a choice of which religion they are going to be a part of. We choose who our "champion in the sky" is going to be, who is worthy of our praise. So this line of thought led me to ask, "Why do we worship God?"

I think, in the Christian faith, people worship God because he is everything we want to be but can't. Supernatural, perfect, and powerful. If he wasn't, he wouldn't be worth all the exaltation he gets. I think we worship him because we feel like we need to. Because we feel like we owe him for our very existence. It goes deeper than the fact that a lot of people are religious because they've been brought up that way. We worship him because we have been taught that there is this eternal hole in our chest that can only be filled with God. That a life without God is lonely, sad, and hard. And because it is a huge comfort to believe that some eternal, all-knowing, loving being actually cares about us, but he is first and foremost separated from us. He is something that we want to but never will reach. We can follow him all we want, but we will never be able to walk side by side.

Well, at least that was the case until Jesus came along. It's a common idea that the presence and existence of Jesus is a phenomenon. The idea of God being a human is a common yet absurd idea. But when he was among us, God wasn't just a king. He became a hometown hero; "one of us," but better. He experienced all of the bodily functions that accompany being human. He had a personality and a face like us. And honestly, the presence of Jesus is the main strength of the Christian faith. His story is the only reason we can say things like "knowing and having a relationship with God." He is the one that we could touch. The love we have for God and the love we have for people are combined in Jesus. That's why I say Jesus is the one we like. Because you can't actually say that you like God. It just sounds weird. God had followers but Jesus had friends and students. And I know that it's been affirmed many times that God and Jesus are the same person. But you have to wonder about the fact that Jesus was many things God was not. Vulnerable, down-to-earth, and unable to change fate.

But he isn't with us anymore. At this point, Jesus has rejoined the Father, and now it feels like we're back at square one, hoping beyond all hope that there's someone out there who is invested in our lives. Honestly, I have no explanation for why Jesus came down when he did or where the miracles went or any solid proof that anything supernatural ever happened to anyone. It just feels like we're worshipping the God of our ancestors and everything we know about him was learned by somebody else centuries ago. All I can do is hope for is something I can connect with, something I can feel, someone that will give me access to this well of peace and wonder and love. A God I can relate to.