Glory Be to God in the Highest

I have a confession to make, and I hope it doesn’t disappoint anyone. I am not as religious as I may come across. I believe I am ultra-spiritual, so that definitely is true, but I am a “student” of all “religions” and do not devote my allegiance to any one in particular.

When asked by “non-religious” people if I am Christian, I typically say yes because I was raised with Christianity, and I do believe nearly everything I know about Jesus’ ministry—it all resonates with me profoundly. But I can’t say I agree entirely, and definitely do not live by the dogma and doctrine of the Christian church. To a devout Christian, I would have trouble claiming to be his or her equal. I feel it would be insulting to them if I did. Even the age-old question, “do you believe in God,” I definitely would answer in the affirmative, but I am certain that my vision of God is quite different from many claiming the same. Ultimately, I think my foundational beliefs are equivalent to those of any other “believer”—only the nuance and detail are probably not the same.

With all this insanity going on in the world right now, I have found myself being drawn more toward the literal thoughts on God and Christ and even (or especially) of the devil. In the past I had a tendency to see a lot of this as metaphors, which does work well, but also tends to leave a lot of holes difficult to fill. It is easier to explain much that we are experiencing today by seeing the devil, or evil, as a real “entity” we must contend with, and as an autonomous force. (I put “entity” in quotes because I can’t say I believe there is an incarnate devil, i.e., a red guy with horns and a sharp tail—at least I don’t believe this YET.)

I recently got into a comment thread with a reader about God and what God meant to me. I will repeat a few words here if I may. Please be keenly aware that what I am presenting in this article are my own personal thoughts and relative conclusions. I am not proposing that anyone reading this should see things the same way that I do. I am only sharing some ideas that might be useful to some of you. Considering what is happening around us every day, I am constantly on the lookout for explanations. I feel the lowly status that has been applied to religion, God, spirituality, and our relationship with nature and with life itself, has had a profound negative effect on our behaviour and what seems to be the destruction of humanity.

The concept of God is a tough one to explain well, and there are probably as many different definitions of God as there are different races of humans on this planet. It seems too that God has for the most part been thrown out with the bathwater as people embrace this fairly new religion “scientism.” They seem to think that since we now know everything about nature from a materialist point of view, then God essentially is dead. The mystery is gone; therefore the great mystify-er must go as well. Strange thing for me is that the more I learn of the wondrous things that science has discovered, the more I am in awe of the boundless creation that God has rendered. It all becomes even more mysterious to me, more magical, and more beautiful and filled with love. God then becomes even more real, more necessary, and yes, more powerful and compelling.

I do not believe that God is an entity, like an old man with a beard sitting on a throne in the clouds—Michelangelo style. I do see God as an energy, or some sort of centralized intelligence . . . impossible to describe, of course. That said, over the past three years I have begun to wonder if God is not as ethereal as all that. I seem to be seeing Him more as that “entity”—but still not the dude with the beard. I believe more than ever that at the very least God represents guidelines to living a fully purposeful and meaningful life. People have since time immemorial resisted this idea of God as an authoritarian, and if put into human terms, maybe that is what God appears to be. But is electricity an authoritarian when we are bound by its “rules” and if we “disobey” those rules we could pay for that disobedience with our life?

Of course, to most people God is more than a list of rules. God can be very personal and be a beacon for many people to find meaning and worth in their lives. But, as I said, at the very least I believe God is Truth itself, and the source for all creation. The closer we come to the awareness of God in our lives, the more in alignment we are with the natural function of the material world and with the essence of our soul—the closer we are in alignment with the consciousness of the heart.

So along our journey in this material life, we suffer the consequences of our actions and behaviour. And the more we deviate from what is “right,” and align with what is “false,” and “untrue,” the more unpleasant the consequences. So, what are the “rules” of this game we are all engaged in? The simplest way to answer that question is to say that the more we resonate with the prime force of “love,” the more in alignment with Truth (with a capital “T”) we are. The universe operates as a well-oiled machine if it is always in alignment with Truth, thus in resonance with God’s love. Yes, there is death, there is pain, and there is physical suffering. That is the way the machine operates. But all these seemingly negative things are material processes. The spiritual reality within the outer shell of manifest matter, never suffers, dies, or experiences pain. This awareness I believe most of us have lost. Due to our departure from God, from love, from Truth, we have shifted our focus almost entirely to the body, to material reality, rather than Reality (with a capital “R”) which includes the metaphysical “unseen.” The best way to protect the physical body from harm is to acquire the most control of our environment (including people) that we can, and we do that with the acquisition of power, and we acquire power most easily through deceit, deception, lies, corruption, evil, and money.

Look at the predicament we are currently in. Isn’t it almost entirely due to the fear of losing our material body? Disease, pain, and suffering, and ultimately death, is what motivates many of us to succumb to totalitarianism, to transhumanism, and to loss of freedom and personal autonomy. The rule of love no longer motivates us. The evil paradigm of Satan (whether as a metaphor or literal) rules us, which puts materiality first, and spirit in no place at all. Scientism prevails, which amounts to the worship of matter. Science itself (or the study of matter) is not the culprit, but rather the people who put matter (materialism) first and foremost and reject nearly entirely the world of spirit, divinity, love, heart, and soul.

Those of us who have not followed this agenda blindly have held onto the Truth of Life, which is partially material, but is driven with a life-force that we can accurately describe as God (call it what you will, it is all the same). God’s rules in this material game we play, state very simply to keep our priorities straight, to move forward in the world with the intention to align with love. Our heart will tell us how deeply we engage with this Truth and how close or far away our alignment is. We will know what is right, and we will act accordingly.