different party line. Tfie renaming ofnGod appears to be part of a largernpolitical program designed not to includenwomen, but to drive the politicallynundesirable from the church.nFor Presbyterians not seduced bynpolitics, the immediate challenge isnthat of preserving the name of thenFather. It ought to be enough to recallnthat C’hrist has directed that we addressnGod as Father. Yet by changing thenname of God, the Ideologues lay claimnto understanding Scripture better ornmore fully than did two millennia ofnapostles, church fathers, and humblenlaity.nTrue enough, Christians are notnanthropomorphists: God is not asnhuman males are. But the Lord asnFather is nevertheless a profound symbolntC’ us of certain of His attributesnand, in particular, of the special attributesnHe carries in His revealed relationshipnwith us. Though spirit, Godnhas distinct, personal being, and Fatherhoodnbest reflects what He is to usnin our fallen state.nIf all the world is an imperfectnmetaphor for something of God ornHeaven, then we must cling tenaciouslynto the image of the Lord asnFather. For the same reason, we mustncling to the metaphor of the church asnbride and Christ as bridegroom. “Wenhave r.o authority,” C.S. Lewis wrote,n”to take the living and semiotive figuresnv/hich God has painted on thencanvas of our nature and shift themnabout.”nEven if we do not fully understandnthe mysteries and metaphors of God,nstill we must trust in them. Whatevernelse it may be. Heaven will not benempty: It will have distinct qualities.nIn the relations of the sexes, in marriagenand family, God grants us—innour better moments—a glimpse of thenthings of Heaven.nIn filace of the Father, the Ideologuesnoffer us only abstraction, obscurity,na ad ambivalence in their newnimage of God. But under a regime ofnabstraction the church’s discipline willnwane and her face to the world dissolve:nshe will be unable to engendernlove. V/ho will run to the Great It forncomfort? Desperate men do not seeknabstraction.nWe must not remake God in ournpolitical image. Rather, we must keepnthe Faith. If it rings true, as it alwaysnhas, in the ears of the poor, the desperatenand the weary, they will come tonthe Father, not to fill their bellies orncast their ballots, but to save theirnsouls.nC.A. McGhee is a trial lawyer innPittsburgh and an Elder in the PresbyteriannChurchnLetter From thenHeartlandnby Jane GreernWhat I Would Have Asked:nA Tale of Two Citiesn1. Fargo, North Dakota—Not longnago, in a city far, far away from almostneverything, there was founded annabortion clinic called the Fargo Women’snHealth Organization.nA little later came an antiabortionncounseling center, which its supportersnnamed the Fargo-Moorhead Women’snHelp and Caring Connection,nInc.nThe abortion clinic obtained a temporaryninjunction and is seeking anpermanent one, barring the antiabortionngroup from using its currentnname. The abortion clinic contendsnthat the Help and Caring Connectionn”used deceptive advertising and othernpractices to lure women in so it couldnconvince them not to have abortions,”naccording to the AP story.nThe abortion clinic’s attorneynclaimed the antiabortion center “chosenits name to confuse pregnant womenninto thinking they were dealing withnan abortion clinic,” the article continues,nand said that the center’s newspapernadvertising is deceptive in that itn”does not make it clear that the centerndoes not perform abortions.”nNow, maybe there’s something innthe water these days that makes pregnantnwomen stupid or more gulliblenthan they have been in the past.nMaybe the names of the two clinicsnsound more alike to those who knownabout such things than they do to me.nMaybe a pregnant woman hell-bentnon getting an abortion, who walkedninto the wrong building by mistake,nwouldn’t have the brains to know she’dngoofed and would think she’d had annnnabortion even though she had not.nStill, what I would have asked thenabortion clinic spokesperson is: “Howndoes it hurt you if a woman talks to thenantiabortion group?”nIt seems like a logical question. Is itnthe loss of income they fear? Thenpolitical repercussions if fewer womennobtain abortions? Surely it’s not thenpro-abortionist view that a decision tongive birth is irreversible; it’s the abortionnthat can’t be undone and that cannbe performed at leisure any time over anperiod of months. So what is it? -nThe truth, of course, is that it’s all ofnthe above. Abortion clinics bring innbig bucks. The political clout of proabortionistsnwould be diminished ifnfewer abortions were performed. Andnoften a thoughtful decision to notnabort is hard for a pro-abortionist tonreverse.nBut no one asked the question.n2. Toledo, Ohio — Sarabeth is thencute, 11-year-old daughter of ConcepcionnEason, an abortion rights activistnand former assistant director of a Toledonabortion clinic. Sarabeth, who hasnbarely entered puberty, likes abortionnbecause it is “safe and legal,” andnJOHNnSTEINBECK’SnFICTIONnThe Aestheticsnof the Road TakennBy John H. TinunermannWe knew a great deal about thenlively surface of John Steinbeck’snwritings, but we are not as awarenof the undercurrents of unique personalnexperience, naturalism,nrebellion, skepticism, and artisticncommitment that formed thenstream of his fiction. Steinbecknreaders and scholars alike will findnin this book insightful commentarynon the Nobel Prize winner asnliterary craftsman, a subject lessnoften explored than his role in thendevelopment of America’s post-nDepression social conscience.n$22.50nWrite for free catalognFrom your bookseller or order books directn(add $1.30 post/hand).nUniversity of Oklahoma Press inDept. 971 lOO.S Asp Ave Norman, OK 73019nDECEMBER 1986 / 37n