Monthly Musings
January 2007
A kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they drew pictures. She would occasionally walk around to see each child’s artwork. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was.
The girl replied, “I'm drawing God”. The teacher paused and said, “But no one knows what God looks like”. Without missing a beat or looking up from her drawing the girl replied, "They will in a minute".
We sing about God, we lift songs and prayers up to this “thing” called God and we come together in church to commune with God, but do we really understand what it is that we call God? Is there a universal understanding of this spirit that we call God? Everyone describes God differently, but I believe there are unifying principles at the core of the varied definitions that can bring us together instead of dividing us.
The Abrahamic traditions, Christianity, Judaism and Islam share common beliefs about God. They share a belief that He is one, mighty and good, and the God is creative, revealing His word to man through answered prayers. They believe He is all knowing and is aware of our thoughts before we even speak them in prayer. All three traditions make reference to the world as the arena of God's activity and speak of the obligation of humankind to act ethically. All three make reference to the truth that we are created in the image and after the likeness of God.
1. There is One God.
2. God is powerful and good.
3. God is creative.
4. God responds to our prayers.
5. God is all knowing.
6. God operates in this world.
7. We have an obligation to act morally.
8. Our lives are a reflection of God.
In Eastern religions, specifically Hinduism and Buddhism, along with the Unity and Religious Science movements in the United States, the one energy, (God) is all pervading, omnipresent, all creative and moves toward the good/light. This one energy, in it's many aspects is the supreme hearer of all calls, and sees the movement of the world. God is omniscient and knows the secret thoughts of our hearts. The Hindus have a word for this plain of existence called “Lila” which means God’s playground. Along with Hinduism, the other religions also accept that God operates in this “playground” through a law of Karma, or cause and effect. The Eastern and metaphysical teachings about karma say that each thought, word or action has a natural consequence, and therefore strongly encourage ethical activity. And finally, there is a belief that this energy of life is the very stuff out of which all life is made.
1. There is One energy that expresses in many forms.
2. This energy is powerful and good.
3. This power is the essence of creativity itself.
4. This energy responds to our thoughts/feelings.
5. This energy knows our innermost feelings and...
6. operates in this world according to those feelings.
7. To attain heaven, (nirvana) or to overcome suffering we have an obligation to act morally.
8 Our lives a reflection of God itself.
So what common ground can we find by taking these basic definitions and pulling them together.
First, God is the one and only Power and that power is good. Second this power (God) created the world and continues to create in the world by answering prayers and by knowing and acting on our thoughts, prayers and our hearts desires. Finally, God is formless but creates and reveals itself through humankind and it is our obligation to channel this power in positive/moral directions.
We have an awesome responsibility to be aware that there is a creative power operating that is directed by means of our prayers, thoughts and feelings. In essence this is what I would call co-creation. God is the power, the tool, the energy and the creative force. We are the channel through which that power operates on earth.
With this truth in place it becomes imperative to live our lives in “conscious" union with God because when living an “unconscious life we create ‘stuff” without knowing what it is we are creating. We are directing energy without any awareness of how it is being used or what possible consequence may be coming in to play.
Let me take a brief detour and add my own personal belief system for a moment. I believe that God is both personal and impersonal at the same time. I believe He/She is constantly urging us to use His/Her power in constructive ways, and at the core of who we are we are being nudged into the direction of light and life.
However, I also believe that should we not make ourselves aware of these urgings, and instead set our attention elsewhere, that God, as this power, works to create exactly that on which we are focusing. Whether we dwell on lack or abundance doesn’t matter. The energy of God responds in the direction of my/our attention. I think this is what is meant by the scripture, "God causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust alike". Focusing on gratitude will bring more blessings, focusing on resentment will bring more opportunities for resentment. God, much like the power of electricity or fire can be a tool for warmth or can cause injury depending on how we use them.
So given our world's definitions and my two cents, what is God? I don't know if I'm any closer to a definition than when I started, but perhaps that's the beauty of God to begin with. Maybe It/He/She cannot be defined in our finite human reality and perhaps we won't know that supreme answer until we travel to the next level of existence. For me, for now, I suppose God is what I choose God to be. God is what I choose to create, what I choose to think, and what I choose to believe in. I suppose God is defined by the small graces I pay others, the loving thoughts I hold, and the gentle ways I treat myself as one of God's children. Perhaps God is defined by the kindness I show a stranger, the gratitude I hold for this beautiful earth and the moment to moment service I provide all of life….or don’t. I suppose God is everything! I’m reminded of the umpire who told the batter who thought the pitch was a ball and the pitcher who thought it was a strike, “It ain’t nothing till I call it!”
Just as that little girl I mentioned earlier, let’s start drawing our pictures and soon the world may know what God looks like to us and in the end that is the only picture that really matters. May we all wake up to our partnership with Divine energy, play together on the playground of this earth school and consciously work together to create harmony, peace and unity. Peace, Ohm Shanti, Salaam, shalom Namaste,God Bless you.