Whatever God is...

Not long ago I posted "Childish things have their place, but..."

It was a meditation on the difference between religion and spirituality. I posted a disclaimer to the effect that the article shouldn't be taken as an assault on organized religion because organized religion has its place. Many of us began our spiritual journey in organized religion. Many have journeyed beyond it.

For many, organized religion is the stopping place. They never venture outside that box because the organization itself puts "the fear of the Lord" in them. Fear is a prime motivator in religion and in politics. In religion it is the fear of an angry god. In politics it is fear of "the other." Political pundits use it effectively to gain votes: "If they stay in office, such and such bad will happen..." "If they get into office, such and such bad will happen..." Many religious leaders and many political leaders effectively use fear as a primary motivator.  

Each major organized religion has its own holy book. Yet, within each of the major world religions there are hundreds and hundreds of warring and conflicting sects, each claiming their interpretation of the book is more correct than any of the others, and that if anyone doesn't understand the holy book just the way they do, he or she is likely to fall into the hands of an angry god.

An often made comment among leaders of organized religion is they need to teach as though they were teaching 14 year olds. That's the level of spiritual maturity, they say, of most people in the pews. To me, that doesn't speak well of the opinion religious leaders have of their congregants.

Organized religion, in general, has a tainted history --- war and political power are the norm in organized religion's history. That's not to say organized religion, in and of itself, is the problem. The problem is us human beings. We'll use most anything at our disposal to gain control and maintain power. As Pogo said, "We have met the enemy and he is us."

It's no wonder many have ditched organized religion in favor of a more humane spirituality that encompasses more than those who look and think alike.

After years inside and outside organized religion I, myself, have landed in the camp of the "spiritual but not religious."  Among the reasons are I think no one knows enough to be an atheist (this puts me in the spiritual category). By the same token I think no one knows enough to say exactly what the ultimate mystery we call God is really like (this takes me out of the organized religion category). Our finite minds are not capable of grasping the infinite and the eternal.

One of my favorite lines from a spiritual writing is the first line in the Tao Te Ching which reads: "The Tao that can be described is not the eternal Tao." For our purposes we could write, "The God that can be described is not the eternal and infinite God."

Finding myself among the spiritual but not religious, there are a few basics I hold as spiritual principles:

1. There is something more than what can be experienced with the five senses. There is something, that makes everything in the universe work; something that makes things "stick together." This leads me to believe it is intelligence. (yes intelligence, not intelligent).

2. Everything that is, is an expression of the infinite and eternal. It is not somewhere distant, in outer space only. It is everything in existence, but is more than everything in existence. This leads me to believe it is both imminent and transcendent.

3. In some way, we are all connected and we are all connected to everything that is. This leads me to believe I can't do something harmful to another without doing harm to myself. 

4. It is infinite and eternal (at least as far as human standards are concerned). This leads me to believe it is incomprehensible to humans. Our minds are finite. It is infinite.

5. We can learn something about it by observing nature. One thing we learn about it by looking at nature is that it is cooperative. All of nature is one big web of cooperation. This leads me to believe that when we are cooperating, we are in flow, in harmony with the infinite and eternal. 

As you continue your own spiritual journey, whatever God may be, may God give you..

For every storm, a rainbow,
For every tear, a smile,
For every care, a promise,
And a blessing in each trial.
For every problem life sends,
A faithful friend to share,
For every sigh, a sweet song,
And an answer for each prayer. (an Irish blessing)