The Search for God

Occasionally I am asked if I believe in God. Yet I find this is a tricky question. I am tempted to give one of three answers: yes, no or ‘kinda’. All three of them, however, do not seem to ring true, so I am often hesitant to give an answer. Often it depends on what the questioner is truly asking and that is often difficult to ascertain.

Unfortunately the word “God” is a very loaded word in our culture. It can mean many things to nearly every individual. People have colored this word in a myriad of different ways. It means something different to each religion, and even within each religion there are probably a number of differing interpretations depending on the individual. It is easy to see why this is so. In my earlier article “The Grand Unified Theos”, I wrote “God, Buddha, the Tao, or any other commonly sought archetype is the highest conceptual archetype ever realized.” Human beings, unable to imagine the infinite All, tend to partition such an archetype into a limited yet understandable idea of what God is. Since the infinite can be infinitely divided, one can clearly see how we have come up with so many conflicting understandings of God through such means.

I now maintain that I simply do not know what God is. I think that we are free to approach the question openly if we honestly acknowledge that our understanding of God is light years from any of our current conceptualizations. With an open mind and heart, we can begin the search earnestly without any prior projections to get tangled in. When we assume we know the answer, or even a part of it, we tend to stop progressing. This is very true in science, for example. In antiquity, by holding on to certain beliefs about the physical world, such as its flatness or its central position in the heavens, we were hindered in our progress. It was only when we approached the question with an open mind, without assuming we knew anything certain, were we able to make some enlightening discoveries. Could this same approach of honestly seeking with an open mind bring us closer to God? I think that it is a question that is, at the very least, something worth pursuing.

It can also be pursued by anyone. Unlike Science, which has progressed to such a state that new discoveries are hard (although not impossible) for the layman, this area is mostly new ground. Since it is such a monumental task, it would possibly be the best interests of our collective understanding that it was done by a large number of people. These people could seek their own path, finding out their own insights and matching these insights with other likeminded seekers. With open minds, they could come together for progressive discussions, instead of the classic bickering that is often associated with religious debate.

Being a seeker of truth is a core value of the Giver Culture. If most or all of humanity could become true seekers, we might uncover the mysteries of existence and beyond. If we could be free of relying on the rare and brave individual who comes along once every lifetime or so, perhaps humanity would become collectively enlightened, the understandings we would then have would be well beyond the limits of what we can currently imagine. Perhaps even, we would uncover a truer and more honest understanding of what God is.