Lots of people enjoy watching sports. Have you ever seen someone set a world record in their sport? When someone sets a new world record, we say that he or she has transcended the previous record. However, we mean something very different when we say God is transcendent.

Athletes who compete in the Superbowl, the World Series, or the Olympics test their skills and strength against other athletes. They have transcended other athletes around the world who are less skilled or expert in their sport. A pro baseball player transcends a little leaguer because the pro is bigger and better. But God is not just bigger and better than we are. God transcends all people, animals, plants, mountains, oceans, and everything else he created. God is completely "Other."

We tend to think of God in our own terms. When we call him Father, we may think of our own dads. When we say he is gentle and loving, we may think of our moms. But when we get down to it, God is far beyond anything we think of when talking about our mothers and fathers.

However, all the great things about our parents do help us begin to describe God. That is because God made all that is, and he put in each person and thing a tiny bit of a reflection of himself. Still, God goes beyond any category we could set up for him. He transcends the limits of our thoughts and imagination.