Chapter 23,
God Unless one has had a direct experience that allows them to relate to a power greater than themself,
It can be really challenging to comprehend or even be open to the subject.
As a result,
Many of us find it easier to simply leave God out of the equation and trust and believe only in ourselves.
Maybe we see the world as a place to be conquered,
As a competitive environment which we must face alone.
With our success,
Not to mention survival,
Depending largely upon our ability to make astute decisions.
As a result,
The thought of assistance from a God that we've never seen or heard from can be difficult to accept.
But perhaps a small part of us does still wonder,
Is he real?
Does he exist?
Well,
Perhaps we would be better able to believe if we knew what to believe in.
Is God simply a creation of the mind?
Is he a supreme ruler bringing down the law on those who are evil?
And if so,
How come all of those corrupt businessmen and untouchable politicians are the ones living like kings?
Is he a compassionate soul who lets us get away with murder as long as we say we're sorry in a confessional?
Or is he nothing,
Just an old belief,
Sort of like Santa Claus,
Someone who supposedly brings us gifts and joy,
But like old Saint Nick is never seen?
Who are we to believe?
What is the truth?
The truth is that we want to feel empowered.
We don't like it when we're not in control or unable to solve problems.
And since we can have trouble figuring out what God is all about,
We can be tempted to just discard the whole concept out of hand and not even try to believe or figure it out.
We can dismiss the idea of a higher power as just fantasy,
Just stories.
Or maybe we do believe in God.
Maybe we do think that all of those stories about him that have been passed down throughout the ages are true.
Stories from a simpler time,
Maybe hundreds,
If not thousands of years ago,
When men somehow knew God.
But what if the religious leaders who told us these stories were misinformed?
What if they were only offering us arcane and dogmatic versions of ancient beliefs and rituals that failed to reflect any true understanding of God,
Spirituality,
Or our own inherent divinity?
What if their teachings were simply well-meaning but inherently limited attempts to quantify and compartmentalize God so that we might in some way be able to rationalize and relate to him?
For example,
It is perhaps easier for us to imagine God as a human-like creature,
Not unlike ourselves in appearance but with unlimited,
Unseen,
And not fully understood powers.
But perhaps we say that God made us in his image so that we feel comfortable when thinking about him,
As if he is some gentle old caretaker with a garden full of little incarnations of himself running around,
Only who are smaller and not quite as smart.
Perhaps the truth,
However,
Is that we have created him in our image rather than the other way around.
This would seem natural considering the fact that many of us believe we are the superior being in God's garden.
That all other creatures have simply been dispensed for our own needs,
As if the lakes and the birds and the trees were made for us to do with as we desire,
That we are more God-like than any other creature.
And maybe we also like to imagine God as some sort of male carpenter figure who worked his butt off for six hard days and kicked back in the sun on Sunday to enjoy his handiwork.
But do we actually believe God works according to our seven-day week,
Or that he needs a day to recuperate from all of his creating?
Perhaps we have taken these leaders' beliefs on faith,
Not considering for a second that we too are the righteous children of God,
That we too are her creations,
And that as such we have every right to discover her power and beauty.
Yes,
Her.
Why,
After all,
Is God considered to be a man?
Why,
If women are the mothering spirits,
The givers of life,
Wouldn't God be classified as a woman?
Are we able to see how referring to God as a he disempowers women and is a reflection of a past full of injustices and inequities against them by the church and state?
Can we understand how this type of patriarchal definition provides insight into our society's tendency to empower men and make them the gatekeepers of all that is sacred?
When we look for definitions of God,
We are ultimately searching for a sense of sureness and safety within ourselves.
We are most afraid of the unknown,
So we try to compartmentalize God and say that we know what he wants,
But really we are saying that we know what we want.
We try to bring God down to size so that we can feel comfortable and secure in our beliefs.
But what exactly do we believe?
Do we believe in the perfection of life or are we constantly praying to God to show us the way to a better one?
Do we think that God helps us only when we ask her to?
Have we considered that maybe the answers we're seeking are right under our nose,
Being presented to us in every moment?
Perhaps our prayers might instead be seen as an opportunity to open to the divine presence that is already within us and around us,
Constantly guiding our lives so that we can better understand and empower ourselves.
Maybe we should be praying to hear God rather than the other way around.
Perhaps we fear ourselves and our discomfort and want God to make everything better so that we don't have to accept the reality of our life.
Maybe we think that God is only about happiness,
Pleasure,
And success.
That our fears are not a part of us or a part of God.
That God is all sunshine and bright skies.
That God's country is only in the Rocky Mountains or some other beautiful place.
Have we considered that God might be speaking to us through our discomfort?
That she might be communicating with us through our every experience?
Have we forgotten that God is in charge and that we can never run from our discomfort?
That she will help us to feel it through the emergence of similar situations over and over again until we accept and learn from them?
It is important to understand that nothing is inherently bad,
Even our uncomfortable emotions and experiences.
We call things bad that we don't like if they make us feel uncomfortable inside.
We complain about the people and the situations in our lives,
Failing to consider that they are exactly what we need for our spiritual growth.
We tend to resist these opportunities to learn about ourselves,
However,
And often run from them towards situations that will hopefully make us feel good and provide us with a false sense of power.
We have to realize that every event,
No matter how uncomfortable or seemingly insignificant,
Has meaning and purpose.
We need to understand that every moment is an opportunity to grow in wisdom,
Acceptance,
And inner peace.
Yet we are so afraid of failure,
Pain,
And discomfort that we often cannot see the beauty in them or acknowledge their divine presence in our lives.
The more that we can begin accepting these uncomfortable experiences as they come into our lives,
However,
The more we can begin opening up to the perfection of life,
The perfection of God,
The perfection that we are in every moment.
God is not separate from life.
God is life.
God is the snow falling,
The child playing,
The leaves turning brown in the autumn wind.
God is the night sky full of stars and the daybreak full of life.
God is our success and our failure,
Our happiness and our sadness.
God is both the love that we feel and the uncomfortable relationships we're in,
Constantly urging us on to know ourselves and to change in ways that feel right,
In ways that reveal our true strength,
Our true worth,
And our true purpose.
God is in every moment and every event,
Even the bad ones.
God is in everything,
And everything is God.
