How well do I know you?

**This was taken out of my journal from 6-6-06. There are a few edits.**

I'm pretty certain that this will not come out with the clarity and the passion that the idea originally caused driving to Indy June 2. Yet I love the analogy so much that I have to write it. I was talking to God about my internet relationship with a new friend and trying to understand how I couldn't say I like him and yet I sort-of do. My conclusions are as follows.

Getting to know someone online or by letters (not in person) is like getting to know a mold of that person. The more you know about a person on paper, the more holes and details you fill in for the mold. But you haven’t had the chance to see the living version of the mold- the creation that is formed when the mold is poured with flesh. When you, in your mind, create that person, you take the mold of information and pour flesh into it. The 3D creation will come out of the mold with pieces missing and undefined parts. This is because the mold is incomplete. As humans, we don’t like incomplete people, so we will fill in the holes as we wish them to be. This mold person in our mind will be different than the real person. The more you know about the person, the better your mold is and the more your feelings for the mold will continue when you know the actual person.

It is impossible to like this mold any more than you life inanimate objects. You can’t love the mold, but you can enjoy the mold, just as you enjoy flowers, and the mold can make you smile, like a beautiful day can. But you can like and love a person. So, how connected are these two: the mold and the person? It all depends on how you know about the person, which is represented in your mold.

As I was talking to God about all of this, He seemed to ask me "What about me? Does this work for me?" We have never seen God as the disciples did, but we can create a mold from their accounts, other accounts in the Bible and our own interactions with Him. The more we read and learn about Him, the better our idea of Him will match reality. But the greatest problem is out mold creation. We are used to pouring flesh into molds and filling in gaps with flesh. God is not flesh. Therefore, our mold creation will never be like Him if we pour flesh into our mold. But what do we pour in?-- a spiritual, Godly essence, which we know little about. Therefore, no matter how good out mold is, we still lack an understanding of the matter to pour in. We will always see dimly, as if in a mirror, while we live on this earth. But one day, we will see face to face! (1 Cor. 13:12)