I Am…

Storytelling is the narrative about something or someone. It’s not just what happens in books or movies or on your Facebook page. Storytelling also occurs in many conversations, especially when you meet someone. “Where do you work?” is a classic storytelling prompt. It can be answered in a variety of ways depending on whether you work outside the home or not. It often includes what your current vocation is, what you used to do, or even where you are headed. It is often framed as “I am the greeter at Wal-Mart”, “I was the Department Manager at Joe’s Tractor Barn”, or even “I will be starting as a food taster in King George’s court.”

This kind of storytelling includes what is often an identity and a time reference: past, present, future. It may also refer to a common life intersection: “I’m Ben’s mother.”

Rarely do we use this type of storytelling to establish much that is grandiose (truly although in our own minds we may view ourselves as important).

I think that’s why it is sometimes difficult to grasp the “always was, is and always will be” when God says “I Am.” The “always was” is not just within our memory or recorded history. It is without beginning. I don’t understand that but then I’m created not Creator. “I Am” is much bigger than where God works, or any other facet of His identity. It is an omnipresence and omnipotence that we can only see dimly and understand even less. The “always will be” is the final piece of the infinite. Everything that I know, everyone that I know will have an earthly end. Yet God does not.

When God tells the story of His creation and interactions with the world, there is a comfort as with a small child and their parent. No wonder Jesus invites us to mimic little children in our faith.