On God

I am a believer. Not perhaps in the ways that some people are, but I came into life knowing I belonged to something greater than myself. Never had to think about it or even ask questions. I just always knew it was there…or maybe I should more correctly say it was here. In fact I didn’t know how to think about my place in the larger picture until I discovered a composed, spiritual system that helped me put my thoughts together. With a good spiritual foundation under my belt, I have been able to think rationally about my connection to the universe and also to know that reason could only get me part of the way. There had to be a place for intuitive awareness that operates outside the realm of reason, the place of faith, belief and inspiration, the openness to love.

Many of us seek God

Many of us seek God using many names. 20th Century German philosopher, Karl Jasper, had his existenz; his countryman before him, G.W.F. Hegel, wrote of the Historical Spirit spilling into time and space…and Victor was intimate with “Johnny!” Let me explain. As a young, WWII pilot flying for the RAF, my husband had the sense of something “whispering in his ear,” so to speak, as he pursued German Messerschmitts in his tiny aircraft. This “something” he called Johnny, not realizing then that he was touching a link to the largeness of life. And it appeared that God is not much concerned about what names we use either!

God is not a fact

So often the great thinkers have tried to prove the existence of an Infinite Spirit, but God is not a fact and should not be treated as such. In his search St. Thomas Aquinas created Five Proofs of God, but I don’t think of them as proofs; I find them mostly rational projections based on the Grand Assumption that a god exists. Proofs of God do not lie in pragmatic postulations; they do not lie in books, great sayings or the words of theologians. They lie in the heart of the believer, not as static edicts but as a moving flow of thoughts and experiences…sometimes uncertain. We just cannot put our finger on a divine certainty that will please everyone, and maybe we should stop trying.

There can be no holiness in holy wars

Perhaps we should concentrate more on the idea that if a pristine being exists with which we are intimately connected, how would we live to better reflect this? We may not have all the whys and hows sorted out, but what if there is a greater part of ourselves that informs our thoughts and actions? Do the ways in which we live our lives reveal this, and what better forms of worship could there be than if they did? Could there be a worse form of blasphemy than to engage in killing in the name of God? Surely there can be no holiness in holy wars.

Thank God, the God believed in, isn't

The philosopher, Ernest Holmes, in a moment of whimsy once said, “Thank God, the God believed in, isn’t!” Perhaps we could return to our churches, temples, mosques, gurdwaras, sanghas and simple quiet places once more to make the inner discovery, maybe for the first time.