Someone once observed that "When I speak to God, it is called prayer. When God speaks to me it is called paranoia." That may be a bit jaundiced but it has a germ of truth in it.

When people say to me that God has spoken to them, I get nervous. God was said to have spoken through a dog to the one known as "The Son of Sam" and told him to kill women in New York City about two decades ago. God was said to have spoken to the terrorists and told them to kill Americans on September 11, 2001.

There is far too much subjectivity in such pious talk. But if God is conceived of after the analogy of Life, Love and Being then any actions which enhance life, increase love and expand being can be said to be a response to God. That is as far as I want to go.

John Shelby Spong