The Problem with 'God' - Part 2

At the beginning of summer, we at Unity Spiritual Center Denver began a new practice of having our children come into the sanctuary at the beginning of the service, rather than going directly to their classes as was our prior practice. Following our community greeting song, we invite them to come up onto the platform where we share a blessing. We bless them, and they bless us.

This past Sunday, we added another element. One child, selected prior to the service, is invited to ask me a question. The question this week was, “If God is perfect, and I am an expression of God, then why am I not perfect?” WOW! That could be an entire workshop or class. I did my best to offer my perspective, but given the limited time, I’m sure I did not do it justice. I am sure of this because when I asked if my answer was helpful, the one who asked the question said, “sort of.” I assured him that I would be available to discuss it with him one-to-one at some point if he liked.

After service, as I was walking around speaking to people, I greeted him, his mother and brothers. I took the opportunity to ask him what prompted his question. I thought that knowing why he asked the question might give me a better perspective from which to answer such a thought-provoking question. We talked for a few minutes, but with all the other activity going on around us, it was not the best setting to have the conversation.

When I spoke with his mother, I told her that I believe that our association with ‘God’ forms the foundation for this and similar questions, such as “If God is good, and all is God, then why do bad things happen?” Additionally, I shared that any perspective I could offer in answer to her son’s question would be predicated on exploring in greater depth what he believes about ‘God.’ She agreed and said that she finds it is difficult to find a way to teach children about ‘God’ when the image of God as a man with a white beard sitting up in heaven is the concept which is accepted by many religious traditions and which continues to be promulgated in our culture.

Therein lies the problem with ‘God.’ It is not only difficult to help children learn about God; it is challenging to find ways to talk about God that speak to adults, especially those of us who have been steeped in traditional religion and who are faced with deconstructing a false image of ‘God.’ Nevertheless, deconstructing our conditioned ideas of God is necessary if we are to have a real experience of God. As Byron Katie, the founder of The Work®, says, “You must let go of ‘God’ in order to find God.” Truly knowing God requires us to question what we believe about God and be open to the experience of God everywhere present.

Although I have not been able to find a credible citation for it, I have heard more than one Unity teacher say that Unity cofounder Charles Fillmore said that he wished there was a different word we could use in place of ‘God’ because that word is so charged with misunderstanding and misconception due to millennia of ill-informed use. I concur. I wish there was a word that we could use that would capture the experience of the deep conscious connection with, in, and as the Life/Love/Light from which all arises - in which all has life, and through which all is connected as one. In the absence of such a word, I will continue to use ‘God’ but will qualify it.

After further pondering the question, “If God is perfect, and I am an expression of God, why am I not perfect?” I will share some of my thoughts.

The first entry in the definition of ‘perfect’ in the Merriam-Webster dictionary is, “being entirely without fault or defect, satisfying all requirements, corresponding to an ideal standard or abstract concept.” This is how we most often think of ‘perfect.’ When we think that God is perfect, this is the concept of perfection that comes to mind. And, we think that this is the definition of ‘perfect’ that we must achieve. We tell ourselves that we are to be without fault or defect; that we should be able to do everything and know everything; and, that we must meet someone else’s standard of perfection – appearance, behavior and accomplishment.

There is not one of us who can or will ever realize what it means to be “perfect” by that definition. Further, when we believe in a God that holds us to those standards and judges when we do not achieve them, we will continually believe ourselves to be separate and unworthy. Additionally, we will hold others to those standards of perfection and see them as separate and unworthy when we judge that they are not being “perfect.”

The third entry in the definition in the Merriam-Webster is, “pure, total, lacking in no essential detail.” I would add to that, “whole and complete.” When we think of the perfection of God as the wholeness of all creation, the totality of all that is, including everything and everyone, lacking nothing, yet not complete without everything and everyone, we can better understand what we mean when we say that God is perfect. God is the All, in all, through all, as all. God as Light/Life/Love is the eternal process of expansion and evolution active in the universe. God is not static. There is no ultimate perfect state or behavior that we must achieve. God is complete as all that is.

As expressions of the Allness of God, each of us is uniquely whole and complete as we are. Each of us is perfectly expressing the wholeness that we are in every moment. Our wholeness includes our joys and sorrows; our pleasure and pain; our love and fear; our hopes and dreams; our doubt and faith; our mind and body; and everything else that makes us who we are. Each of us is perfect right where we are. We lack nothing. We only believe we lack when we compare ourselves to others or to an arbitrary standard of appearance, behavior, or accomplishment.

Claiming our perfection does not mean that we do not strive to grow in our understanding of ourselves and our relationship to others and the world around us. As we grow in consciousness of our unity, our thoughts, words and actions will change. However, the change that we wish to encourage is not born from judgement of self and others, but of love for self and others just as we are, right where we are. 

Claiming our perfection is recognizing that we are the wholeness of God, as is everyone and everything else. Embodying our perfection is realizing our connection with all creation as we open to experience our wholeness. Living our perfection is thinking, speaking and acting in ways that reveal our conscious connection with the perfection of all that is.

‘God’ is perfect – whole and complete. You are perfect – whole and complete. Claim it!