The Pageless Book

I have a formula I’ve been working on. Now, it isn’t a perfect formula, nor is it a particularly original formula, as bits and pieces of it has existed since before the fall of Rome. It is just another iteration of what philosophy, religion, and science has been telling us for hundreds of years. What makes this formula different is its brevity. This is the God Equation…

God = Truth = Life = Love

God is Truth, God is Life, God is Love, and all three of these concepts are also equal to each other. Now, for all those who like to think literally, I’m well aware that the dictionary definitions of these four words do not lend itself to my formula. However, from a philosophical and theological point of view, this formula makes sense.

In the Christian tradition, there are a number of bible verses that support my formula. John 8:32: reads: “…you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 2 John 1:2 reads “…because of the truth that resides in us and will be with us forever.” What other truth do these verses refer to other than the Holy Spirit? John 1:4 reads: “In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind.” In John 6:48, Jesus said: “I am the bread of life.” Does it not sound like Christ is equating himself with life itself? 1 John 4:8 reads: “The person who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” In John 15:12, Jesus said: “My commandment is this - to love on another just as I have loved you.”

Granted, I do not consider myself a Christian, and read into scripture the meaning that I understand as a Unitarian Universalist, and an Omnitheist. As such, I know that Christian readers may not agree with all the conclusions I come to further in this article. I’ve also have utilized only one of the four Gospel writers. What can I say? Guys named “John” tend to be great writers…

What does it mean to equate God with Truth? Does this mean to say that God is undeniable real? Yes and No; it means that our understanding of what God is should be grounded in that which is undeniably real. If I believe that God is literally a great, thunderbolt wielding, old man in the sky, I’m going to have a hard time proving this. To quote Michael Dowd, a fellow UU, God is nothing less, but may be infinitely more, than the totality of reality.

Everything that can be proven to be true reveals something about the nature of God. Science can be and should be viewed through the lens of understanding the creation in order to understand the creator. The God and Truth does not change - only our perspective changes; there are hundreds of religions only because there are so many different ways of relating to God. Even more interesting is how misunderstanding and deliberate falsehood actually reveal more about the nature of the Truth and God than it obscures… At least that is my observation.

What does it mean to equate God with Life? Far too many people concern themselves with the noun “God,” and yet pay little attention to the verb “God.” God is in every moment, every choice, and every outcome of every “thing.” God is a process, just as Life is a process. This is what is meant by “Process Theology.” Every moment of our lives is a new revelation of our God’s glory, as is every moment of all other life. Some would claim that the sum of all things are encompassed by God. I would correct them and say that the sum of all change is encompassed by God.

When I say that every moment of our lives and the lives of others is a revelation of God, I am not being figurative. Even our dreams, hallucinations, and fantasies reveal some part of God that we might not have known of before. Every reaction to our action is a lesson waiting to be learned - a teaching of God. Sometimes the lesson is obvious… other times the lesson challenges us to find meaning in that which seems senseless.

What does it mean to equate God with Love? Think about what love is for one moment; it brings parts into something greater than there sum. Two human beings that share love towards one another, lift each other up, learn from each other’s differences, and become stronger individuals through that relationship. What happens when we apply love to all things? We become one with all things as mystics. We learn from all things, are lifted up by the totality of reality, and become stronger individuals through that relationship.

Through our understanding of Truth, Life, and Love, we gain a better understanding of God. This is far better an understanding than what we could ever achieve through rote memorization of Holy Text or constant theological philosophizing (of which I am just as guilty as anyone else). The God Equation puts all of religion and spirituality in perspective, allowing each human being to follow his or her own path. I think this has the potential of creating harmony between religions while maintaining the viability of all religious traditions… but I’m sure some would differ with my assessment.

First photo by Got Jenna. Second photo by Bart. Third Photo by Alice Cornelia. Final Photo by Jennifer R.

Rev. Michael Dowd was the guest speaker at the UU church I attend this Sunday. He’s the author of a book entitled Thank God for Evolution, which has been endorsed by five Nobel Laureates, all of whom have were awarded the prize in science related fields. Rev. Dowd considers himself an Evolutionary Evangelist; he and his wife have been traveling the U.S. for the last six years preaching Evolution Theology. It’s worth a look-see…

So… look and see already!

This past Sunday, Genevra from “One Joy, One Sorrow” wrote about feeling the call to pursue ministry as a Unitarian Universalist. After taking a long look at difficulties that lie ahead for her if she follows the calling, she is “left wondering if it’s okay to pick up the phone, have a short conversation, and then pretend like you aren’t home.” Essentially, she is doubting whether or not her epiphany is actually a calling to ministry, or if it is just an unrealistic dream. Having had similar doubts myself, I felt the need to comment on her post.

I am, at times, in the same situation of doubting if I honestly belong pursuing ministry. Because I am yet to actually live up to my calling, I cannot say that I am any more experienced than Genevra. What I can say is that I know where she is coming from - I still feel terrified of this process, guilty that I do not contribute more, and ill prepared to act on this desire I have to be a UU minister. There is only one thing that keeps me from tucking tail and running the other direction - NEED.

I have a need to share what I understand. I have a need to help others find their own truth. I have a need to fight injustices with greatest weapons God endowed me with - my heart and mind. Those needs keep me coming back. When I ask myself if those needs can be met any other way, I find that they cannot be filled in any other way.

So, Genevra, I have a proposal for you. Ask yourself “What need is it that draws me to this work?” Then ask if that need can be filled in any other way. If it cannot, you must pursue ministry to find happiness in your life - that is your calling. If you find that the fear of pursuing this path outweighs your needs, then you need not feel any shame turning away and finding another means of satisfying those needs. Growing as a human being takes precedence over any judgement you might face in changing your mind.

How you pursue it right now and in the future is entirely up to you - a way will be made one way or another. Right now, I am not in school actively working towards a theology degree. I simply do not have the resources to sink into the college education that I need. Instead, I’m taking the time to learn what I need to know by other means. I’m pursuing management within the company I currently work for, knowing that management skills are an asset to a career in ministry. I’m writing this blog, constantly refining my own understanding of spirituality and religion. Finally, I’m participating in my congregation’s Lay Worship Associates Committee, so I can learn how to write services and sermons and deliver them.

You, too, can consider alternative means of reaching towards the goal of ministry. Ultimately, religion is about learning how to best live your life. Every lesson you learn every day of your life is ministry training - you need only see it as such.

I hope this response is helpful, regardless of which path you choose - and I hope that I am not being too presumptuous in posting my response. Let me know if you want to talk… we’ve all got to support each other, you know?

Namaste.

Top Photo by Mark Kobayashi-Hillary. Bottom Photo by Aussie Gall.

Photo Above by Ngader. Photo Below by Aldo Cauchi Savona. Final Photo by Robert Jagger.

The nature of the Divine is probably the most debated issue in human history. This question has been the subject of more books, wars, and conversation than any other issue. Debate of what God is and what the Divine represents has divided families, nations, and humanity as a whole since the dawn of time. Only ignorance or arrogance would lead someone to believe that their understanding can somehow end the debate; I’d like to think that I’m neither ignorant or arrogant…

The Gated Emptiness offers a few passages on the nature of God spoken in the first person, as if the Divine itself was trying to explain its nature to us. I’ve come to adapt this perspective on the Divine as my own. To me, it seems the most logical explanation of the nature of God - but then again, I’m bias.

The passage reads:
There is nothing that separates you and me; we are one and we are falling to gather continuously.

The idea that God is one with everything and every one is not new - Eastern religions have been saying this for centuries. Yet there is this strange turn of phrase at the end of the passage - “falling to gather continuously” - which is in itself a paradox, as well contradicting our unity with God. My first impulse upon seeing this phrase is to read “together” rather than “to gather,” if only because is seems to be nothing more than an extraneous pun. But it isn’t a mere pun.

Falling together with God would indicate that there wasn’t a choice to be had regarding our oneness with God. Gathering with the Divine would suggest that it was a choice. Yet how the passage is phrased would seem to argue that both scenarios are somehow intertwine. We are one with God, but choosing to recognize that oneness over our own individuality is our choice. It is as if we are fish aspiring to be one with the ocean.

The Gated Emptiness continues:
This is my nature. I am so simple you can’t conceive of me, and I am there. You see me not, you feel me not, and you hear me not. I would blind you, numb you and deafen you if would perceive me completely, so I give you pieces. Your wine shall be my blood, your bread shall be my flesh, and your incense shall be my bone. I am the only ecstasy.

Ever wonder why Jesus compares the Kingdom of Heaven to a mustard seed? Here is my take on that parable; he is indicating the size of Heaven in relationship to the size of God. If our earth is a mustard seed compared to the Kingdom of Heaven (or even just the expanse of the universe), what does that say about our relationship with God? It’s all very figurative, of course; size is merely a human means of relating to a thing and may not actually matter on a spiritual level. However, it does allow us to understand the magnitude of God in relationship to our own existence. It is more than the human mind can handle.

Still, we try to understand the totality of existence through our sciences and reasoning. I’d say we get pretty far in this endeavor. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if the average scientist agreed that the questions we don’t know the answer to still vastly out number the questions for which we do have answers. All we have are merely pieces of the puzzle, and often times the pieces that we have don’t always fit together. It is from this perspective that we should relate to the Divine.

The next passage reads:
I am one in many, many in one, of many, of one and not at all. I am like a voice; you may attempt to describe, but one must hear it for their self. Hear you will, but impressions in the sands of the mind fade so swift that you will dismiss it for an illusion. You will doubt, and I will speak again.

Here, The Gated Emptiness gives us another clue as to the nature of God. The Divine’s existence is “one in many, many in one, of many, of one, and not at all…” It is almost like this passage is saying that polytheism, pantheism, monotheism, and atheism all are valid and are equally incomplete views of the nature of God. Which is, of course, the main message I keep honing in on with my articles on spirituality.

Comparing our understanding of God to a voice of someone we heard once is a fitting metaphor. I attempt here to describe God, but to no avail. I could try to describe my voice as being high bass/low baritone, soft and nasally, but until you hear it for yourself, you can only guess as to what I mean. If you heard my voice only once and were asked to recall how it sounded a week later, you would no doubt have some difficulty.

God is like this, in that our experiences with the Divine are hard to put into words. When we do finally put our experience into words, we begin to remember those words better than the experience itself. Ultimately our description of the experience proves to be untrue as those words were just an approximation. We then begin to doubt we had that experience at all. Yet if we seek that experience again, we will inevitably encounter the Divine again.