Talking about the nature of God first makes sense because to understand God we have to first understand ourselves and our place in the universe. Now, the word God invokes many different ideas. Quite often we think of the Christian God who is like a grumpy old man who doesn’t like to be bothered and who rules with an iron fist. There is a slightly different version of this God in the New Testament compared to the Old Testament though either way he assumes the identity of a wise, old, occasionally wrathful man. I think this idea is rubbish. I also think that any variation on the God-is-a-man concept is rubbish. Not only that, the idea that he is watching over our every move is also rubbish. Finally, the idea that he is in fact a he is, um, how do I put this? Ah yes, rubbish.
Okay now that I have made every major religion my enemy I will continue and discuss what I feel is the true nature of God. To be honest it’s really hard not to use phrases like “God is infinite”, “God is everywhere” or other such clich d lines. This is what many religions currently say. I do imagine that if you sat down with a random holy book you might see lines to this effect. Why then, if God is infinite as they profess, do they limit the concept by giving him a finite identity. To see the truths in current religion, you ignore the fictionalized stories that happen in all of them and see their common thread. People have limited God in order to understand it which has anthropomorphized God into an all-knowing and controlling father figure. However our spirituality deserves more than just stories about an imaginary man in the sky.
We all long for a spiritual connection of some kind. While we can feel that spiritual connection through friendship, love, parenthood or art, we also feel a need to define our own place in the universe. We long for a spiritual connection which illuminates our role in existence. It’s not self-aggrandizement where you feel everything you do is vital to the function of the universe. Nor is it a feeling of resignation where you wait out your short life for an impending doom. Rather, your understanding of God helps you enjoy this moment you have and all that exists alongside you. My religion is about taking joy from your existence and being completely comfortable with your amazing (albeit, short) journey through this world.
God is the energy of the universe. We are all balls of energy interacting and acting of our own accord. We are on a planet which contains a million forms of life all doing their own thing trying to survive long enough to replicate and nurture their young into another life cycle. We are all driven by the life force. We do what we do to continue this life force. All the emotions, all the fears and desires are manifestations of this force, propelling us through our lives. You can look back on all of history, all those thousands and thousands of generations of people before you. Each one of them felt like you feel right now. Each one of them felt like they were the most advanced thing on the Earth. But where are they now? What did they do to help you? Will we really remember them?
Our ancestors, despite their feelings of grandeur, ultimately died. However they all died completing their mission which was to replicate, to breed new life to replace their own. We are all here for that one simple reason. And yes, we feel that we are the most advanced things to ever hit this planet as will our children feel and as will those earthlings thousands and thousands of years into the future. We are a flash in the pan. For a brief moment in time we will shine our lights brightly into existence and then we’ll be gone. All of those ancestors that went before us finally learned that one ultimate truth. Once you are able to accept your place in time, only then will you be able to fully savor every last moment of it. We remember our ancestors in the way that we remember the steps and rungs on a ladder we are climbing. They got us this far and we appreciate that. We are not really sure where we are climbing or why we want to climb so badly, however we have have the desire deep within our souls that we should just keep going up. Why we are doing this nobody can know, nor should they lose any sleep wondering about it. We will play our part in whatever purpose it is, allowing the universal plan to continue. If we exist according to our programming, we will get pleasure for fulfilling our part. No pleasure in life can replace the joys of courtship, love, sex, raising a family, working productively and seeing our children grow to do the same, for the undertaking of these acts is the true purpose of your life.
Enjoy this gift and savor each stage of your journey without guilt or regret. This is the central tenet of my religion, the name for which I will give Etheism, the belief of God as a universal force of energy.
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