"What does seeing God as a jazz musician and as a body of water have to do with purpose? By envisioning God in such creative and open ways rather than as a God who judges and rules, we develop a creatively open disposition. We develop an inclination toward life that is broader, wider, and grander. We develop an unconscious distaste and suspicion for narrowness of any sort, including the kind that afflicts much of our thinking about life's vocation and purpose.
"Begin today envisioning God in new and imaginative ways. Breaking open your understandings of God will have the effect of breaking open your understanding of life and your life's dreams and purposes. Become more creatively free in interpreting divinity frees you to think about life's possibilities in new and exciting ways. The hallelujah ripple effect of thinking about God expansively is that you can begin to conceptualize your aspirations in ever-expanding new ways.
"Heavy, domineering notions of God cause us to have burdensome perceptions of life. The goal is to develop new notions of God that galvanize you and set you free. The possible images of God are endless, as expansive as God's universe that we are presently being told by scientists is ever-expanding. The goal, I believe, is to create images of God that are lighter and wider than the images we are accustomed to, images that enlarge rather than diminish our divinely endowed human spirits.
"Alternative images of God inspire broader and more creative interpretations of such things as life's purpose, something we tend to interpret restrictively and narrowly. Expand your understanding of God and you expand your understanding of divine purpose. Fill your understanding of God with more joyful, playful, and freeing perspectives, and realizing purpose becomes a more joyful, playful, and freeing enterprise.
"Easing the restrictions and burdensomeness associated with popular Christian perspectives about discerning purpose begins with nullifying and replacing our limited and heavy-laden ways of perceiving God. Set God free, and life is more easily perceived as a divine freedom practice — even play. When it comes to perceiving purpose, God does not frustrate and hinder us; we do through what we believe about God. Changing your perception about God has the power to unleash powerful new creative energy inside you. Changing your belief about God will light your imagination, causing you to see possibilities and prospects for your life you never imagined before."
