During my 71 years of life, I have always been aware of God’s presence. I have never been comfortable in a church setting, and I have never believed that the religion I was born into was any more precious to God than someone else’s religion. Those who serve their maker, whatever they call that maker, are all on the same path. If you ask me if I believe in Jesus, I will answer emphatically Yes. I am fortunate enough to have more reason to believe in Jesus than most people have. If you ask me if my belief in Jesus leads me to invalidate any other of the world’s and history’s great spiritual leaders, I will answer emphatically No.
Most people’s religious beliefs are part of their socialization–a part of how they were reared. They believe as their parents believed. Most people never doubt that they were born into the World’s One True Religion. They innocently accept their religious ideas from early childhood, blithely thinking that people on the other side of the world were born into false religions and, upon death, likely will pay a price because of it.
How logical is that thinking? Surely God gave us brains capable of logic for a reason, and how can it be anything short of sinful not to apply that logic when contemplating God? God created the universe. How could anything be more complicated, more logically designed, than the universe? All logic begins with a statement accepted to be true, and all logical conclusions are as valid or as invalid as that beginning statement.
I wish to begin with this statement: The universe has a maker. I don’t understand how it could not. Which makes more sense to you: That by absolute accident matter came into existence, began to interact with itself and produced space, the stars, the planets, life and even you and me, for no reason whatsoever; or that the unbelievably huge universe with all its stars and planets and life–including you and me–are the result of a deliberate creative act by some sort of intelligent creator?
I can accept only the second of those ideas: The universe has a maker. Not for a moment have I ever been able to accept otherwise. Everything that I have ever thought, ever said or ever written comes from the absolute belief that there is a maker. That maker exists. It doesn’t matter what name we use, what we think the maker looks like, whether we think the maker is male, female or neither male nor female. It doesn’t matter where we think the maker is or where the maker came from. It doesn’t matter whether we worship the maker or even believe in the maker. The maker exists.
If your logic, like mine, causes you to think that the maker exists, then you probably also believe that living in such a way as to promote the well-being of ourselves, one another, our world and even the universe is in keeping with the maker’s desires. If that is true, then I think it’s probably true that you lead a Godly life. In so doing, you honor not just the maker, but the Maker. You are spiritual.
Are you religious? Some people are spiritual, some people are religious, some people are both, and some people are neither. No matter which of these categories a person falls into, the Maker is still the Maker. And the Maker does exist.
Have you ever thought of it that way? It took me decades to isolate God in my thoughts and be able to consider Him without also thinking at least a little about religion. Once I did that, though, I was able to move forward, and logically, without other people’s thoughts getting in the way. I’m still influenced enough by the religion I grew up in (I was reared Methodist) that I say “Our Father, who art in Heaven,” speaking of God as a father and therefore male, although I believe that’s just an image I hang upon the creator, who is probably not at all physical.
When the Reformation occurred in the 1500s, its mastermind, Martin Luther, began with the premise that God was more accessible than the Church believed Him to be. That’s why we have Lutherans, Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians and many other denominations today. Searching for God on your own is not a sin. Someone might call you a heretic for doing it, but how can God be displeased that an individual has taken up searching for Him?
What I have found in my search in no way invalidates my original concept of God; instead, it enlarges it. It in no way invalidates Jesus; in fact, it verifies Him. But it in no way invalidates Moses, Muhammad, Buddha or any other great spiritual leader. God is too complex for any one religion to define Him fully despite the fact that all of them do their best and deserve recognition for that.
No one has all of the answers, but the search for God can bring each of us some of the answers. In some ways, that search is also a search for self. “Know yourself,” Jesus said. He also said “Seek, and you shall find.” I definitely think you should seek–and in seeking make your own, individual search. But I think, too, that I’ve found some important, mind-opening information that might help you in that search as I continue mine.
Will you be patient enough with me to let me lay out for you what I’ve discovered? All I’ll ask for is your time–not your money and certainly not your soul. I’ll try to add a blog each week. See if it sounds true. If it does, keep coming back, but keep thinking on your own, too. Thanks for reading this, and take care.