The Kitchen Sink
An occasional piece of paper
August 31, 2008
Vol. 11 no. 34

Everything But...
           I bet you haven’t really looked closely for a long time. As you walk in the Victoria Avenue entrance, there it is super-large in colour above the glass doors - the United Church of Canada crest, its colours slightly fading, but vivid enough. On the right hand “east” side of the crest is the Burning Bush, symbol of Presbyterianism. Our name does begin with Knox, patron saint of Scottish Presbyterians.
           The Burning Bush never really burns up, which is what things burning properly do. The Burning Bush is the ingenious ancient way of physically describing a God who is not physically describable. Even the voice of God issuing out of the Bush cannot be identified, although James Earl Jones’ deep bass sounds godly enough.
           In many ways, this Burning Bush is similar to the images of Zen Buddhism regarding the ultimate reality of life. “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” does not make sense, nor is it supposed to - it is supposed to be “the sound of the universe,” an awkward way of hearing the unspeakable. A burning bush that does not burn up is incomprehensible as well, but can we grasp God’s true nature any more clearly?
           That is why we are in church, this Sunday or any other, to worship God and figure out a little bit more what God is like, and then have a list of things God wants us to do upon leaving. It’s tough assignment because we seldom catch sight of burning bushes today that can speak to us.
           Moses is practical, he wants a name, and we’d like one too. God, after all, is a generic term, not a personal name. There was a time our God was called Yahweh, but that time is past. The name given is fitting - it does not make sense, “I Am That I Am.” God, after all, makes the rules.