When I saw Jeffrey Archer's play Beyond Reasonable Doubt on the London stage, I surprised myself by weeping. Admittedly, the play is a little melodramatic. The main character, a lawyer named David Metcalfe, has been accused of murdering his wife and successfully defends himself in court.

Then, in flashbacks, we learn that his wife actually died of an overdose of medication which he administered, at her request, to save her from excruciating pain in the final weeks of death by cancer. It is during these flashbacks that we see the extraordinary intimacy and tenderness between the two of them, the absence of which makes David's life without her almost unbearable.

It was the amazing intimacy, I think, that caused me to weep. I could not bear to think of a human being experiencing and then being deprived of it.

Francine Klagsbrun, in her book Married People, discusses the nature of intimacy and enumerates several key factors present in it. First, intimacy requires a complete acceptance of the other person just as he or she is, so that each person is unafraid to be open and honest with the other. Second, it implies that each person feels important to the other. Third, it means the creation of an environment in which secrets can be shared with complete confidence.

Fourth, it accepts the fact that there will be periods of distancing as well as closeness, and that the distancing will not destroy the relationship. Finally, intimacy means truly communicating, listening with sensitivity, and assuring the other that he or she is safe in the exchange.

Every human being longs to have intimacy with someone else -- to be open and loving and safe together.

But what about with God?

Is it possible to be intimate with God as well, to have this open, sensitive, creative relationship with the eternal One who presides over our destinies?

The Bible suggests that it is.

Oh, we're not to forget that there is always what Kierkegaard called "an infinite qualitative distance" between us and the Almighty. We must not assume too much.

But intimacy, communication, a sense of well-being together -- yes, that is entirely possible. The psalms often breathe an air of intimacy. The Song of Solomon, read at a spiritual level, suggests it. The prophet Hosea glories in it. Jesus obviously experienced it -- and Paul and John and other New Testament figures.

How can we achieve a sense of intimacy with God?

Let me offer some suggestions.

I. Get to Know God's Story.

This is always a first step toward intimacy, isn't it? In any romantic encounter, in the beginning of any friendship, there is the sharing of information, getting to know the other person's history.

"Tell me all about yourself."

Isn't that the lover's plea?

God does have a story. His history is in the Bible, and in the books of church history and the books about other people's experiences with Him. In fact, God's story is probably better documented than that of any other figure we know. It is woven in and out of all the history books, all the philosophy books, all the books of religious experience ever written.