God lives in the heavens with the angels. He has a flowing white beard, a wizened face and a kind heart. He is all-seeing and all-knowing and is forever mindful of humans and their welbeing. He loves and protects all people who are good and righteous and is severe with sinners who never go unpunished. Hence the proverb: God may tarry but He never forgets. God features in many folk songs, tales and legends.

At the beginning, God often descended to Earth to teach man how to earn his living. He showed man how to till the land, how to plough, sow and take care of the crop. He taught woman how to spin, warp and weave, how to make a fire. According to popular belief, He may assume different faces – a ragged old man without a roof over his head, a traveler overtaken by the night in a foreign land, knocking at the door in search of shelter. And He would bless the house which opened its doors to Him, and damn the house that did not. That is why it is said that any guest or chance traveler must be made welcome and a table laid out for him with “whatever God has laid out.” In some tales, God lives at the ends of the Earth – that magical place where the Earth comes to an end. From there man can climb up to the skies, see God and come back down again.

There is a popular story about three brothers who were poor and had no way of earning their living. They set out to see God and ask Him to help them. Along the way they met an old man in rags, sat down to take a rest and have a chat. The old man asked them where they were going, and the eldest brother said he wanted to ask God for a flock a sheep, so he could have a dairy farm. There were some crows perched nearby, so the old man turned them into sheep. Overwhelmed with happiness, the eldest brother stayed behind to tend to his flock, the other two continued on their way. And once again they ran across the old man and the old man turned a rock into a mansion with an inn on the ground floor. And the brook that gushed nearby – into a fountain with two spouts, from one there flowed wine, from the other – rakia (brandy). So, the next brother got what he had wanted – an inn. The youngest brother was left all alone, but he never gave up. Just before reaching the ends of the Earth, he saw a wheat field spreading as far as the eye could see and in the middle - a beautiful lass was singing and reaping the wheat. All of a sudden a third old man appeared and asked him what he wanted to ask of God. The young man answered that he didn’t want anything anymore – just a lass like this one to marry and work side by side with to earn his living. And so it came to be. Years went by. God (because it was He the brothers had chanced upon) decided to go and see what the three brothers had done with the gifts He had bestowed on them. And once again, in the guise of a wretched old man in rags, God went to see the shepherd and told him He was hungry and asked him to give Him some bread and butter. But the man scolded God and sent Him on his way. The sheep from the flock went back to being crows, and the man – to being as poor as a church mouse. And the same thing happened with the inn-keeper – he refused God shelter and food, lost his inn and found he was back at the rock and brook in tatters and all by himself. The youngest brother was poor, but had a loving family. He welcomed the guest with bread and salt and gave him shelter. They even sacrificed the wooden roof of their home to keep him warm. So, God gave them a grand house and untold riches.

In folk songs it is often sung: God sat down to a meal, and all saints with him. But usually one of the saints is late and when he does arrive, he tells God why he was late. The story has different versions; in one it is Archangel Michael who had to wait to take someone’s soul or St. Nicolas who had to fly to help people caught in a gale. There are other stories in folklore – besides bringing the saints together for dinner, God brings them together to build a monastery or to dig his vineyard. He is said to have a celestial mirror and uses it to see what is happening on Earth. No human sin escapes his eye. There is a belief that the souls of the dead go up to God and He decides where they should go – to heaven or to hell. Fairy godmothers who seal the destiny of mortals, are also in his power. When they determine the destiny of newborns, they first go to God and He tells them how to decide the fate of humans. He also holds diseases and the elements in his grasp – and uses them to punish any Earthly sin or to test the faith of believers. And it doesn’t matter whether you are rich or poor, young or old, the only thing that does matter is what kind of person you are. That is why it is said: When God brings food to your table, He asks not whose son you are.

English Milena Daynova