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The Big Questions

June 7, 2015 by Diane

 

curious young woman looking through the binoculars

Here’s a question. A big one:

What is God?

Now…I don’t claim to know the answer one way or the other. But I’ll bet this question has come up for you in conversation, or debate, or when you were eight years old lying in the grass gazing at the clouds.

Is there an entity—a Being that many call God—that orchestrates our universe? And if so, what is it?

This is a question that has intrigued humankind since the term “God” came into our vocabulary. A question as perplexing as, What came first, the chicken or the egg?

What is this thing called God, or Source, or Divine Mother, or (fill in the blank). What is this thing that created the universe?

Does it hear us mumble our wants and needs and thanks? If so, what kind of hearing apparatus does it have?

Does it intuit our prayers? If so, what is the mechanism for its intuition?

Does it sense our needs? If so, with what does it sense?

Is this mysterious Being that sees without eyes, hears without ears, knows without a brain, and remains invisible to we who have named it, is it the force behind the energy that swirls around the universe? Or…is the energy that swirls around the universe the creator of the entity that many call God?

What came first…

I could ask a scientist, a Buddhist, a Christian, a Shaman, a Wiccan, a Hindu, or any person of any faith (or non) and I would get as many different answers.

The beauty is, in the good ‘ol US of A, we all get to choose our path. We can choose to believe or not believe (which is actually a form of belief). We can stand in front of a painting and experience art from the angle of perspective, or color, or dimension, or style, and still experience the painting.

I think we get hung up in the labels.

I think we get hung up in trying to define something that is undefinable.

I think there is something beyond our ability to categorize (which we love to do), something that is beyond our ability to explain (which we insist on doing), something that can lift our spirits (another inexplainable term) and nudge us in the direction that is good for our souls (something we pretty much all agree exists) if we are silent and aware.

Is this “something” our own inner self?

Or something beyond?

Or both?

These are the questions that humanity has wrestled with, and fought wars over, and felt compelled to define since…well, I have no idea how long, but eons at least. These are questions as baffling as the one I puzzled over as a child:

If the universe disappeared and ceased to exist, what would remain? And who or what would know?

I drove myself squirrelly trying to figure that one out. My brain couldn’t fathom it. Stumped ya, didn’t I, smarty-pants.

What would remain?

“God!” someone shouts.

“The Source!” insists another.

And so on.

Here’s another question: can’t we all be right? If whatever we believe sustains us in the dark hours, gives us hope, brings out the best in us, humbles us with gratitude, and fills us with compassion, do we have to confine it to a box, a label, a name? Can’t all paths lead to Heaven or Mecca or Nirvana, or whatever Shangri-La exists?

Do we need to name the unknown in order to know it?

Someone near and dear to me once said, (and I paraphrase): “I don’t know if God exists. But I choose to believe that He does.”

Maybe that’s the bottom line. Belief. Whether this Being exists or not, belief is all powerful.

Like I said, I don’t have the answers. Just the questions. And I respect anyone’s right to question their own questions and find their own answers.

Or not.


2 Comments »

  1. Joan says:

    I’m behind in my reading! Last week was crazy getting ready for Erin’s graduation. As always, great piece! Course you know my opinion on this question…but lots of food for thought! I find it quite interesting that there are no comments. guess it’s a scary question…or you have people thinking! Now I’ll read this weeks!

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