I have just finished with meeting for worship and I was led to share some thoughts about the idea of an abusive deity. Of course, I don't feel that God is an abusive provider, but it is often mentioned at ESR, and there have been books written on the subject. I suppose some examples of God as an abuser are not only the book of Hosea, but the whole matter of the Holocaust. It seems to me, however, that if you are going to believe in a Creator God who participates in and responds to the ongoing struggles of day-to-day life, you might assume it healthy to mend the relationship. Hey, if God is prone to suffering and loss, then God is prone top the whole range of emotions, including some that might need to be forgiven. If a believer is in the state of mind that God has been more abusive to them than say, the Haitians or Vietnamese, maybe they could try practicing some forgiveness. Indeed, YHWH seems like a forgiving chap, might we practice the same type of loving response to the deity who brought us through all of the tough times in good enough shape to practice such sound theology.