God is…
…whatever we want him, her,
them or it to be.
Geez, what a cop-out for the
first sentence of an “enlightening” article, huh? OK, so we’ll get to my opinions in just a
minute. Realistically though, God has
been presented in a bunch of different forms and as several distinctly separate
entities. We humans have combined
entities to create a single God – and from a different perspective, assigned a
God the responsibility for sub-Gods. We
have Father Gods and Mother Gods. We
have Gods of the solar system and nature – of the earth, the sun, the moon,
rain and fertility.
Different religions and
sub-religions may have somewhat similar - or very different concepts of their respective
God(s). This shouldn’t be a big deal,
however unfortunately these differences have turned into one gigantic “I’m
right – you’re wrong” conflict. Religion number one sez “Our God is the only
true God and he has provided all of our religious references and laid out the
only true path for us to follow”.
Religion number two replies “You’re full of crap up to your
eyebrows. OURS’ is the only true God and
he has provided all of our religious references and laid out the only true path
for us to follow. You dummies just made
up all of your references. You’re all
big fat liars.” Of course, then it’s
religion number three’s turn to try to knock the others down a few pegs because
it should be obvious to almost anyone that number three’s God is the only true
God and he……well, you get the idea.
If you’ve never done this,
it might be beneficial if you’d take a look at your past to see if you can
determine how you have arrived at this point in your life with the spiritual
beliefs you currently hold. No, I don’t
honestly care what you believe. The main
thing is that you are completely comfortable with the methods and experiences
that have produced these beliefs and that they are providing you with an
enjoyable, fulfilled life. And – that
you have at least the beginnings of a foundation understanding of how everyone
else in the world may have arrived at their beliefs – no matter how greatly
they may vary from those you hold.
Generally, our beliefs were
developed as a natural result of the influence of our parents or some other
influential person in our life. Or –
they came about because we spent some time researching various belief systems
until we found one that we were most comfortable with. Them’s the two main routes to where we
are. (And yes, a belief in “no God” is
still a belief….)
I took the research route –
mainly because I wasn’t particularly enthralled with the “I’m right, you’re
wrong” routine and the silly – and sometimes catastrophic - conflicts that
concept has produced. Here’s what is working for me:
I believe in a higher power
that has provided the stimulus for the creation of all that we are aware of in
this existence – and all of that which may exist beyond our current level of
awareness. I believe this higher power
is the sum total of all the power, wisdom and love that has ever been or ever
will be. I believe this higher power is pretty
much beyond our comprehension so that’s why I’m going to stop talking silly
like this and bring it down to a more basic level that even I can
understand. Ready? OK….
God exists. Only he’s likely not a he or a she – maybe an
“it”. I’ll use the pronoun “he” from now
on anyway just because that’s what I’m comfortable doing. I really don’t think he’s a single entity
(see the first couple of sentences in the preceding paragraph) but I’m
comfortable personifying him so I’ll be able to relate to him easier. As a result, I have him pictured as one cool,
kick-ass dude. I think he (the power,
wisdom and love) is everywhere. It’s a
part of (or how about “all of”) us and everything else. And we – and everything else – are a part of
him.
I think he is fully involved
in our lives even though most of the time we aren’t aware of it. I think his creation (us included) is based
on love. Because of that, I just can’t
picture him hangin’ out in some remote place we call heaven, sitting on a big
old throne and ready to kick our butts if we’re bad doobies. It seems to me that maybe somebody just
developed this bearded, fiery-eyed super authoritarian image to scare us humans
into being good. Doesn’t appear that
worked out very well, does it?
I think this higher power is
responsible for our personal, individual existence and that he is easily
accessible for information and guidance.
I think he is our teacher, mentor and friend. And yes, I believe there is a master plan of
some kind behind this creation and the great world we live in. I call it “the system”. And – I don’t think it makes a fat rat’s behind
what we call this higher power (him, her, them, it…). We’re all talking about the same thing. (For those of you who are starting to get
fussy about what I’ve just said, you really oughtta take a chill pill and
relax. This is just old Gene’s opinion,
remember?)
That’s about it for now. That’s all the more complicated my little pea
brain wants to make it. You’re welcome
to help yourself to any of these simple thoughts if you want. Or not – your choice. Like I said before, the main thing is that
you are completely satisfied with the beliefs you’re working with – and that
they are helping you to enjoy life.
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