Who & What Is God?

I was recently asked by an 8 year old little girl, “What is God? Who is God? What is God to you?” I loved her curiosity and her straightforwardness; she was not concerned about ‘political correctness’ like many adults. She wanted to know what I thought, and had no problem asking. I thought that it would make a good post, so here is what I told her and the many thoughts that followed. I am fully aware that it may anger some of you because it may challenge what you believe, and it may dispel some ideas that you may have about me. Then again, it may help you by seeing what I believe and help you put into words what you have not been able to express. Honestly, I do not have any control over what you think about my beliefs, and I am more than willing to share my thoughts and ideas about God, who it is, what it is, and what God means to me.

First of all, I will tell you what I told the little girl. God is the power behind the fragrance of a beautiful flower. God is the power behind the cool breeze on a hot, summer day. God is the changing of the color of the leaves in Autumn. God is often the unseen forces behind what we call beautiful and amazing.

She asked, “Is God a person?” My response: “Sometimes, but generally, and usually speaking, not really.” God is the power that gives breath and life to all people. Yes, God has the ability to be a person, because God is, and can be, anything and everything. You see, everything that you can see and touch out there in the world; everything big and small, God is! I continued to tell her that as soon as you begin to describe or label God, you also limit God, because God is ALL THINGS and NO-THING, all at the same time. God is the cuteness, playfulness, and the smell of a little puppy or kitten, and God is the fierceness of a mother bear protecting her cubs.

She took the answer in stride. I thought to myself that the answer I gave would not satisfy most adults, but to this little girl, there was complete satisfaction. It did not appear that she needed ‘definites.’ And it appeared that the openendedness of the answer was completely okay with her. I thought to myself, “If most adults would be okay with that sort of answer, the world would be different. If most adults did not want a definitive label for God, there would not be fighting over ‘this is God; my God is… , and you are wrong about God!” Oh, the innocence and the wisdom of a child!

As I said, defining or labeling God is limiting, and quite impossible; however, I enjoy the challenge. How about we begin with some of the basics, and what I do not believe God to be (and this is the part that may agitate some people). Yes, I believe that God is the force or power behind all of creation. I believe that God is not only the power behind the creation, but also the creation itself. However, I do not believe that this all-knowing, all-powerful ‘no-thing’ needs anything from us, requires anything of us, and certainly does not judge us or damn us. That being said, I do not believe in heaven or hell in the way that most people believe. I believe that many things are hell, but I do not believe that there is a place that you are sent to because of your behaviors and actions while being here on Earth. I do not believe that God is so egotistical that it would give you the gift of free-will and free choice and then chastise you after the fact, if you make a wrong choice. That just seems odd to me that in this day and age, people still buy into that old concept! I also believe that many things can be heavenly; but like hell, I do not believe that there is a place that you go to because you happened to make the right choices either. I believe that we all come from and reconnect back to the original source, and the journey between those two points is, and can be as vast as the Universe itself.

I do not believe that God is a man with a long white beard and flowing gowns. I believe that you can use adjectives that are considered masculine to describe God, and I also believe you could use other adjectives that are considered feminine. I believe that God is a God and a Goddess! I believe that God can be found in many things, and many forms. I believe that you can experience God in many things, and the experience itself can be life changing; but, as soon as you attempt to describe the experience, you can only relay a portion of it. God is strength and softness, but how do you describe both at the same time?

I also believe that our human-ness often gets in the way of experiencing God. God is the force that all experiences are born from, God is the experience itself and God can be the one that experiences. God is the power, the intelligence, and the force behind a seed becoming what it is destined to become, and God is the force behind the seed that does not manifest into reality but yet becomes nutrition through its death, for something else to grow.

So, all of that being said, I do not believe God to be many of the things that I was taught as a child. The things I was taught left me with a sense of isolation, loneliness, anger, and fear. Even as a child, I did not understand when they told me that God loved me, but judged me and would turn against me for all of eternity if I did not obey (that did not seem like a loving God to me). I had a few choices; I could either accept what they said and live with those feelings, or I could deny the existence of God all together, or I could look for another understanding of God. Needless to say, I chose to look for something else. It is in the looking, the inquiry, that I uncovered these things. I began to see the power and control game around the concepts of God, and I also began to see the lies for what they were. At first I got angry, and then, I began to pity those individuals, and the collective (the church) that used God to support their power and control games. I began to understand the premises of ‘forgive them for they know not what they do!’

Since I bring up what it is reported that Jesus said on the cross, let’s talk about him a bit. I began to have a close relationship with Jesus, and what he taught. I tried to live with that as an example. I saw there was acceptance, unconditional love, compassion, non-judgment, and what I took as a no-nonsense approach to life. I saw that he accepted his human qualities such as anger, and confusion, but did not get attached to them. I also saw that he lived beyond his human limitations. As I looked at Jesus, I saw someone that I wanted to emulate in my own life. I saw Jesus as one of the greatest teachers; however, I did not see him as a savior, because I did not believe in being saved.

That brings me to my next point. If you consider living your life as Jesus taught to be the definition of “Christian,” then yes, I am a Christian. And on the other hand, if you believe that being a Christian means that you have to redeem yourself by being saved, and being saved means you go to heaven, then I am not a Christian. I am almost hesitant to call myself a Christian because of all the bullsh*t that comes along with that. There are so many things that I see so-called Christians, so-called men of God do and be that I do not want to be considered a Christian. If I had to call myself something, it would be a Buddhist; but even that does not cover it. I do like the premises of Buddhism, but again, I don’t like any labels, and think they are limiting. I like Buddhism because it is a philosophy, a lifestyle rather than a religion.

God and I have an intimate relationship. It is not for anyone else to understand. I have taken certain principles for myself, and do my best to embrace them; other beliefs I have thrown out with the trash. I personally believe that God is more interested in someone having a relationship rather than following a bunch of rules that have been set up by man, and those rules being called, ‘the word of God!’

So, that is my relationship with God, in a 1,500+ word summary. I hope it helps many, and I also hope that if it agitates you that you take a moment to look at your belief systems and hold them up to the light of truth and see if they withstand the test.

Much love and Namaste…

If you are interested in other related posts, please check these out as well.
Living Beyond Your Religious and Spiritual Beliefs
There Are So Many Paths To Find God
God Is A Verb
Knowing God

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