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Thursday, August 20, 2015

God Is.

When we were discussing Unity beliefs in our New Members class this past Saturday, we read the following definition of ‘God’ which is included in our information packet.

God is the source of all.  There is no other enduring power.  God is benevolent and present everywhere.

One of our very astute potential new members pointed out that for us to say “God is benevolent” implies duality. She suggested that when we say that God is benevolent, we are assigning God qualities that we associate as “good” compared to those we might deem “bad.” Her point was that God is neither good nor bad, nor is God benevolent or malevolent: God is.

In a conversation earlier this week, I was asked how I define ‘God.’ I don’t recall the exact words I used, but I did my best to explain that I think of ‘God’ as the Divine Life that is the Source of all or the Life Energy that imbues all creation. In hindsight, I recognize that my effort to define ‘God’ was, at best, limited and futile. Anytime we attempt to define ‘God’ we limit our experience of ‘God.’ God is not this or that: God is.

Any attempt to define the ineffable is by definition impossible. However, while saying simply “God is” best captures the essence of my concept of ‘God,’ I think it is helpful, and perhaps necessary, for us to explore what we believe and teach about ‘God’ because it helps us as we communicate with others.

Each of us defines ‘God’ in our own way, and our concept of ‘God’ greatly impacts every area of our lives, at times enriching it, and at other times confounding it.  To some, ‘God’ as a concept can provide comfort and peace of mind in times of need.  To others, ‘God’ can also create much suffering.  ‘God’ can stimulate a great deal of pain and guilt for one who has learned that God judges and punishes. 

Over the past few years I have participated in discussions about ‘God’ and the use of the word ‘God’ in Unity. I have heard, “I do not believe in God: I am an atheist.”  Others have said, “I am agnostic: I do not believe that any person can know the cause of reality without firsthand experience; therefore, there is no way to know if ‘God’ exists.”  Still others question, “If we are not talking about the big guy up in heaven somewhere that is controlling everything, the God of most Christians’ understanding, and we have a more evolved understanding of what it is, why do we still use the word ‘God’: Why not use ‘Life’ or some other word?” 

While it is just a word and as with all words, is used to represent a concept, the word ‘God’ is imbued with centuries of meaning, not all of it in alignment with what we teach in Unity.  When one, such as I, has been indoctrinated in a religion that uses ‘God’ to judge, punish and abuse, he or she often has a mental and emotional imprinting of the word that is not conducive to feeling centered or inspired when hearing ‘God’ spoken in the spiritual community. 

There was a time in the not so distant past when I chose not to use the word ‘God’ and was often disturbed when I heard others use it, especially those in Unity or other New Thought communities.   And, while I now use the word freely, I completely understand that it can be disconcerting and even confounding for some.  I am sure it can be for them much like it is for me when I attend a traditional Christian church service; I find myself reinterpreting nearly everything that the minister says, as well as all the hymn lyrics.  It can be tiring and trying.
When I use the word ‘God’ today I am certainly not referring to the God of my childhood, a man with a white beard and white robes sitting up in heaven somewhere judging me and everyone else and most likely damning me to eternity in hell because I do not measure up to his criteria for admittance to heaven. 

When I say ‘God’ I am not referring to a being or beings.  I am, instead, to the best of my ability giving voice to that which is ineffable. I believe H. Emilie Cady said it best in her book, Lessons in Truth.

God is the name we give to that unchangeable, inexorable principle at the source of all existence. To the individual consciousness God takes on personality, but as the creative underlying cause of all things, [God] is principle, impersonal; as expressed in each individual, [God] becomes personal to that one--a personal, loving, all-forgiving Father-Mother. All that we can ever need or desire is the infinite Father-Principle, the great reservoir of unexpressed good.”

God is.  God is “no thing,” yet is All.  God is the Essence of all that is real.  As Unity co-founder, Charles Fillmore stated, “God is the eternal verity of the universe and humankind.”

I invite us, as Rev. Ellen Debenport encourages in The Five Principles, to “reexamine our view of God at least once per decade.” God does not change; God is and was and every more shall be the same. However, we change and so do our perspectives. Rather than dismissing the concept of ‘God’ altogether or putting 'God' in a box, perhaps we can allow our concept of ‘God’ to evolve and open us to an even greater experience.


4 comments :

  1. A few years ago, as I thought about what God is, the phrase "Infinite Loving Spirit of Life" came to me. This name works for me and I use it now as kind of a mantra in my meditation. Each word is rich with meaning; Infinite, without lmits, everywhere present, expressing in and through all things, in and through all people, the unlimited spiritual substance that is the raw material of all that is. Loving, the way that infinite being expresses itself, ever increasing in giving goodness and blessings to its creation, every step moving towards awakwening to the joy of infinite being. As we awaken, we come to realize that God's love is within us and all around us, expressing in everything in our lives. Infinite Loving, God's Love has no limits. It is with us in every experience in life, there to comfort and lift us up. It extends to every circumstance and situation; Even though we may not understand how or why, God's purpose of awakening all to their Divine nature is being fulfilled through all of Life. Spirit, eternal being without limits, the power behind all material existence, the vehicle of our communion with God. Spirit of Life; Life is the natural result of God's will to express more of itself, more love, goodness, beauty, creativity, joy. Life is the miracle of God's Love given expression in the material domain.

    I'm sure there is more that could be added. "Infinite Loving Spirit of Life" is a concise idea that works for me. Every spiritual teaching or religion has its own idea about what God is. Wouldn't it be interesting if we could roll all of them into one big idea. Maybe some contradictions would cancel each other out and we would be left with an idea that encompasses our best understanding and highest aspirations for joining our lives with the Divine.

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    1. God is. I like that. What I cannot accept is that God has no personality, no intention, no will. If that is so, how can there be forgiveness? Is sharing an intentional act or simply coincidence? Can we forgive, share and love without intent? If we cannot, can God do these things without intent?

      Right now, as of this moment, I don't believe so. Maybe tomorrow I will. I come also from the god which was an old white man in a beard judging me, tallying up the scorecard that allows or disallows me into heaven. We called him the Catholic god, very similar to the Baptist one. I would sooner believe in Santa Claus than that kind of inferior being.

      I don't allow words to be a hangup in my life, so God or curse words or any other words are simply letters to me. They are symbols of an idea. Ideas cannot be offensive to me. God cannot be offensive to me. I talk to God every day. God may not have a gender, race or creed - among other things - but to understand the duality of God means to understand contradiction. We, as spiritual beings, understand we have a gender, race and creed through our bodies. God has that also, through us. However, I believe God is greater than even Charles Filmore, Joseph Smith or Pope Francis have described.

      God is separate from us yet the conglomeration of all of us too. God has intentions separate from us yet all of our intentions are from and through God. Understanding those concepts is not important. In the physical life what is important is what you do and are. Do "good" things. Be "good" things. Whatever you believe is good, have it and be it. Why else would God create Freedom if we cannot use it? God's action and intention was to create Freedom for us to be free. My God has actions and intentions.

      I look forward to meeting God again after I pass. I can't wait to find out that God's sense of humor is the same as mine, only different!

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  3. This wonderful question has generated such profound insights above. For me connecting with God is more a feeling of utter peace and trust. My mind can't comprehend eternity and the universe; but when I breathe deeply and pray, I feel a deep knowing and gratefulness. The leap of faith is trusting in the un nameable and indescribable.

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