If you’re centered or grounded in your God then all of your actions and interactions will emanate from that point.
The awareness of the God within us is central to a faith of meaning in contrast to a mechanical faith, one based on the acceptance of a series of allegations purported over the ages to be factual, a faith of rote belief, an unquestioning and unrealized acceptance of the faith of others.
This force of creation which we Christians label as “God” is the object of worship for millions of people throughout the eons of that creation.
We conceptualize and subsequently define this force in different ways and it’s those definitions as well as the way in which we worship this phenomenon that constitute the basis for a particular religion and which have been the basis for untold conflicts over time.
We create word pictures in our own minds of what this entity… this “God” is and as time has passed those shared concepts have evolved or morphed into the various religions of which Christianity is one.
Each religion has its own creation story and most have developed a collection of sacred writings over millennia that purport to set forth the tenets of that groups’ beliefs. These tend to be stories about or on behalf of this ostensible creator usually attributed to it by a person referred to as a “prophet”, one in in direct communication with the force of creation, charged with the task of relaying this “godhead’s” wishes to the masses of humanity who subscribe to whatever common belief the prophet represents.
Beyond their writings or “scripture” most collective religions have “rituals” or peculiar actions shared and performed by the group, which are called “worship” and which are deemed by each group that performs them as satisfying to their creator.
The group beliefs, embodied in scripture and the form of its rituals have been the basis for suuspicion, hostility, conflict and war between and among the various religious groups over the millennia.
Many of these religious groups have historically defined other persons who practice other religions holding differing beliefs as infidels, apostates or non believers who must either be converted or subjugatedt because the group holds the only correct beliefs and performs its ritual in the only way that is appropriate and pleasing to the creator .
The Christian God is a God of dual personality, a God of love, yet also, reflecting the vengeful gods of pre-christian times, a God of power and might ready to consign the souls of people to eternal damnation in the fires of Gehenna for eternity if they act against “him” during their lifetimes or who don’t worship in the only appropriate and correct way.
Assuming the creation stories of all the religions have a common beginning and rely on a force that brought the world into existence for its pleasure or enjoyment, then doesn’t it seem likely that whatever beliefs or form of practice each group ascribed to would be secondary and of little importance to this God who they all share in common or more accurately to whom they all owe their existence and allegiance.
Sunnies versus Shites, Christians versus Muslims or Huguenots versus Roman Catholics or any of the the other intra-Christian or other religious wars over time tend to make us question either the motivation of this “God force” or its power for good over evil.
Does this force of creation view the objects of that creation as it’s personal playthings who give it pleasure as it manipulates them through the various conflicts and sufferings it inflicts upon them as men fight and die over the word pictures they’ve created in their own minds? Does it even possess the power to do that… the power to overcome Evil?
Or, does it merely act as a person would, while viewing an ant farm in a glass container, taking pleasure while watching, unknown to those being watched, as the creatures of that creation organize and order themselves in the various groupings reflecting their own perceived self interest?
The difference between humans and ants is that we, in our unknowing and ignorance, pay homage to that unknown force of our own creation, all the while wreaking havoc on each other in “his” name?
Rather than being a motivator or intermediary between the various groups competing in its name, perhaps the God force is merely an observer to the various machinations and religious conflicts, albeit one without the power ascribed to it.
As long as the various religions continue to demonize nonbelievers, the power or the motivation of this force of creation, this power often labeled as “God,” will be suspect, especially when conflict leads to violence in its name.
What role does Jesus Christ play in this faith? Is Jesus “the finger pointing at the moon?” Or, is Jesus “one with the father” as we are “one with the father”, one with the god within us?
Meaning no disrespect to the Jesus story, but his being one with the father may be illustrative of our own relationship with the father, with the mysterious unknowable force within us that we call “God,” a god with a human face through Jesus, an unknowable unreachable God who manifests himself through the person of “his son” Jesus.
Is Jesus divine of God as we are all the sons and daughters of that same God within us; the God of yet unrealized potential for humanity; the God who, if we are each centered in him, can bring the peace of “his kingdom” to our universe?
The Kabbalah speaks of “Ein Sof,” the life source (often described as the state of God before creation) that Christians would probably equate with the concept of the Holy Spirit. This would seem to be the life force within and among us, the breath of life, the God within us in communion with others who are also looking for their god.
Many people find their god through the instrumentality of organized religion. To the extent that this nurtures the God within them; to the extent that it allows them to tap into this deep reservoir of spirituality, their faith would seem not in vain but rather a means, a vehicle, to reach their inner God, a method to develop a relationship with the same God who is the “Father,” the God of Jesus Christ.
Is the awareness of “God within me” an arrogance or an insight, a revelation or a self-delusion?
To the extent that this concept, this awareness permeates my very existence and emanates from my deepest core, it gives meaning to my existence, an insight into my very being and the major purpose in my life. That purpose and insight are based on love and compassion, an awareness of the simple beauty and meaning of every creature and object in existence, an appreciation of each person, each object, each thought and feeling as well as a profound gratitude for my relationship with each of them.
On a religious level we use words, prayers, petitions, descriptions, etc. to locate our God. But, we can’t truly find God by fumbling around with words. We cannot categorize God using the very limited boundaries of thought or language. We can only acknowledge the presence of, and our interaction with the God within us on a spiritual level, an awareness of this God, rather than a definition of god.
This awareness, if we open ourselves to it, manifests itself in many ways as we make our way through the days of our lives constantly in gratitude and with compassion. The love of a parent for his or her child embodies and grows out of that reservoir of love and awareness and is perhaps the deepest manifestation of it.
This experience of “God within us” is a concept referred to as mystical, that is: beyond understanding, incomprehensible; we are aware that it exists but we can’t define it or articulate it in words; we can’t grasp it, only experience it at a visceral level of our being. It is a phenomenon to be lived rather than one to be categorized and dissected through words and verbal constructs.
We can experience this relationship, this awareness, but words are inadequate to explain it. It is, as it were, in a “little black box” within each of us, commonly referred to as the “soul,” unknowable except by its presence.
Ours is a God of love and of mystery.
In the words of Adrian Van Kaam and Meister Eckhart respectively: “Life is a mystery to be lived rather than a puzzle to be solved.” and “If the only prayer you say is ‘Thank you’, that’s enough.” These say it all… The grounding of our faith… The God within us.