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A common struggle for those who have not experienced the presence of God in their life is trying to conceptualize God in a way that “makes sense.” Religions devise all kinds of “proofs” and explanations to convince people that they have the correct understanding of God. What some of us call God can’t be measured scientifically (yet), making the concept difficult to grasp intellectually. The only way to really know and have faith in God is to experience or “see” for oneself. Mystics simply can’t help “seeing” God in all people, all things, and all situations.
I enjoy learning about religions, so years ago I invited young Mormon missionaries in to talk for a few days in a row. Apparently I asked too many questions, because the third day they brought a middle-aged man with them. He showed me this elaborate cosmology with a number of Gods on a number of planets (a diagram demonstrating where they’re all located no less) with a number of spirit babies and so on. I asked him why he had converted in his twenties. And he said his (now) wife was Mormon and she’d introduced him to it and, “it made a lot of sense.”
Now I’m not in any way dissing the Mormons when I say this, as I get the appeal. In fact I considered converting, but not only does it not make “a lot” of sense, it doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. Now he was a young man wanting to marry, so perhaps when it was being explained to him, he was thinking with a different head than I was. But even if it doesn’t make sense, it does have a spiritual and temporal value for those who are inclined to that worldview.
There’s a similar problem that some people have grasping a Christian God. If your father wasn’t so good, it’s hard to conceive of a “father” of your being who pours life and love into you in every moment. For the sake of simplicity and not being too clunky, I will often say “He” when I talk about God. But I don’t actually conceptualize God as being a “man” in the human sense of the word. It’s unfortunate that people become hung up on this point. Human language becomes a barrier to one’s ability to experience the eternal goodness that is always with us. That eternal goodness – He/She/It doesn’t care what you call him/her/it. God isn’t petty like we are. The Divine is universal, omnipotent, and eternal. And is not limited by the bodies and circumstances that make us feel small, alone, afraid, and therefore, petty.
God is not just a “being” or even a “Being” with a capital B. God is the very fabric of existence. The source of our misery on this earth is that we are able to see the many manifestations of God, but we’re not able to see God in them. We don’t generally conceive of every human being (especially not the irritating ones) as a part of the One. We see them as separate beings. In this error, we feel justified in our indifference or even in hatred and violence toward them. But the Buddha said, “whatever you do to your brother, you do to yourself.” And Jesus said (paraphrasing but this is the gist), “whatever you do to your brother you do to me.”
On the physical plane this is relatively straightforward, I may not always “see” God in others. But it makes sense that if God is here loving me, He’s here loving everyone else too. It’s more complicated in the unseen world. Because if everything is God and there is only God, there is only One. Then what does that mean for my reliance on the father of my being, the Blessed Mother, my dead relatives who watch over me, Jesus who said he “remains in us,” guardian angels, saints who pray for us, 33 million Hindu Gods, the Holy Spirit and so on? I conceive of everything and everyone as Spirit embodied, and I don’t think of God as a “person.” But I do call on the personalities of the spirit world. The contemplation of diversity even in the unity of the spirit realm has the same benefit that diversity in the mundane world has. Namely, it adds to our lives a richness and texture and beauty and interest and things to argue about, etcetera. The coexistence of unity and diversity is the most glorious realization.
I learned from Jesus to call that which breathes life into my being in every moment, my “father.” Some people find that really distressing, and I don’t think God minds if they use a different word. I live in close communion with my father. Generally, if I’m thanking God or asking God for help, or engaging in affirmative prayer or even complaining, I have the feeling of talking to “my father in Heaven.” But I also thank Jesus for calling me to his teaching and the Holy Spirit for every moment that I experience the fullness of joy. I draw a card most days to see what my angels want me to know. And when the going gets rough, as I’ve mentioned before, the Blessed Mother doesn’t mess around, She delivers.
Still, I don’t actually believe any of those concepts or personalities are separate from each other or from me. And I think I’m in good company. Somehow the Hindus manage to reconcile that everything literally is Brahmin – the one God. And yet they have 33 million names for God. This is paralleled in the physical world by Unity’s teaching that everything is the one God. And yet we see almost 8 billion separate human manifestations and an infinite number of non-human separate manifestations. We are most blessed when we can see the One in the many, both in Heaven and on Earth.
Can you see the divine at work in all people and situations? Please share in the comments or contact me directly here!
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