"We cannot understand the meaning of Grace without understanding the concept of God." This was the opening comment to my Method and Praxis class. It hit me like lightning and struck quite a personal note as well. This is at the root of our dysfunctional relationship with God. We don't truly take the time to know His character and nature, so therefore we cannot understand or see how He is working in our lives and in our world. All our unbelief and misunderstanding of who God is and how He relates to us and how we are to relate to Him stem from a warped perception of God. This may be because of upbringing; perhaps we had a poor relationship with our parents or a traumatic experience that produced a sense of God as an unfair, unloving, impersonal deity with no concern for our well-being. Perhaps we grew up in an ultraconservative household or religious community that caused us to view God as a vengeful judge waiting to strike us down if we do something wrong or make a mistak...