Who is God is a question that has been asked for thousands of years. The concept of God has been addressed by countless civilizations. God has been many demi-gods to the Greeks and Romans. God has been goddess to nomads and wiccans. God has been identified through the written word of the bible. Before we address this personal issue, let us think about the human condition.
Human beings love boxes. We love to put things into boxes and label them. Perhaps it helps us better comprehend what we encounter every day. When we put everything in a box, we are able to seal it and put it away deciding if we don't agree with what is in the box (or decide it is not part of our paradigm), or perhaps we put it aside to use later. Either way, this is the way our mind works-literally.
Our mind houses files. Ever wonder why you leave a room and can't remember why you don't remember something a few moments ago? You leave a room and your mind closes that file. It opens a new one for a different room. Need to access your thoughts from the living room when you are in the kitchen? Your mind will take a few moments to reopen the file from the living room. If it does not do so properly, you can always go back to the living room to open the file and remember what it was you were about to get!
The reason for this most likely stems from a survival need built into our brain. We still use this, however, daily, in more ways than we can imagine. Think about when you see someone different than you. Yesterday I was at Jubilee Day in Mechanicsburg. The event has been around for decades and boasts over 75,000 attendees. I stopped at the music stage to listen to soul music being played by a group of middle-aged men (see, there I go!). The lead singer was from Harrisburg, had a shaved head, was a white man with sleeves, and was dragging on a cigarette while playing the harmonica. I was so puzzled, yet enamored by this vision. Isn't soul music by African Americans who really have something to shed from their mind about their losses and deep stifled soul? Or perhaps we have the young starving female artist who has that raspy voice and can tell us about her struggle? What does a white man have to reveal? And there it is, my labeling of what soul music looks like-who is singing it. I made peace with knowing that everyone has something to share. I used the box and set it aside for later.
We can look at it another way. A person in a conservative area has a gay couple who move in. Rather than accepting that Bob and Harry or Joan and Michelle live next door, they label them as gay. Into the box it goes with a label clearly marked. They may decide what is in that box doesn't fit with their other labels putting it into the attic to collect dust.
So, when we approach who God is or who God isn't we have to realize that it comes with a box, a label, and then is used (or not used) based on our previously accepted boxes. Religion can be a very personal thing, but we seek comfort in others feeling the same way. Why? We'll get to that momentarily.
I was raised Catholic with a very strong belief in a male God who had a son, created us and all around us. As I got older while developing my intuitive nature, my own boxes changed and altered. Yesterday, I once again broached the thought of God, but this time with another thought revealing itself to me.
What if God was like Q in "Star Trek: The Next Generation?" What if God was one of other omnipotent beings. He wanted to explore what it was like to feel love, to feel longing. He wanted a journey of his own. So, he created our little slice of the world (I will now refer to as the "bubble"), along with all of the magical beings we see, hear or feel - angels and guides. He created a place for us to go when we passed on, which was really only shedding our skin. He then scattered himself into infinite pieces ultimately creating us. What if that happened? What would it mean?
We often hear things like "do unto others as you would have done onto you," or "see God in everyone and everything." What if everyday we not only see the image and likeness of God in each other, every plant and animal, but are experiencing God everywhere. That would mean that God is literally not just a reflection, not a piece of us, but actually us. Everyday the person cutting us off at the light or sitting next to us on the subway, the person checking us out at the grocery store or caring for our children is God.
There are common traits that we as human beings all feel, outside of labeling boxes. We are all inherently lonely. How often do you sit at home and feel all alone whether anyone is around you or not, no matter how much family and friends you have. We all have moments of utter loneliness. We also all seek others to fill that void. We are driven with an almost madness to connect with a life partner and to develop friends. Even if time and location is a restriction for us, we seek community through social media. We bond with people on television feeling as if they are part of our lives. What are we seeking?
Our soul longs to be filled with one another. Perhaps we, as God, are seeking each piece of us. We are so completely unaware that in our amnesia of being here on this planet, during our incarnation, we are driven with an unconscious intelligence. Seek. Fill the void. We are putting our own puzzle back together. Yet we seek from everything outside of each other. We look to the stars. We look to the deepest depths of the oceans. We look to music. We often distract to not feel the feeling of seeking.
What if we were God? Would you watch what you say to the people around you? Would you be kinder to the person checking you out at the grocery store? Would you not flip off the person who was overly cautious at the traffic light? Would you share all you had with others? Would you be nicer to mom or your husband? Would you recycle more or clean the oceans. After all, we take care of what we create.
What if you were God? What would that mean? Would you beat yourself up for every small error you make? Would you start to love yourself unconditionally? Would you eat healthier for your body? Would you distract yourself less with television?
Perhaps the angels are here guiding us back to unity; helping us remember. When we see or hear God, perhaps it's because God is alive in each of us and that wisdom is sparked.
So, that may lead to questions like the Boston bombing this year. God came together in each of us-runners helping runners. Emergency personnel helping victims. Spectators bandaging wounds. For those not in Boston, our hearts poured out with empathy. "We" were all hurt. What about the bombers? How are they God? Perhaps, like all of us, they forgot. We all do un-God like things everyday. How often to you gossip or snub someone? How often do you snap at someone or start to judge a person? We all forget who we are.
Add this to your box, put a label on it. Maybe one day you will open it up being reminded that God lives in all of us. For me, I think I'll keep this box open for awhile, hoping to remember to use it daily.
