God and Spirituality

In my last post I shared with you my views on God and religion and the fact that often religion has much more to do with ceremony, ritual, dogma and rules than about worship and honor of the Creator of all that exists. We also examined together the idea that God has nothing to do with religion, did not create it and cares little for it. If God had created religion, why did he create so many and why do none of them agree with each other? Religion is a man made construct used to divide you from me and both of us from "those people" over there. God unites, religion divides.

I concluded my last post by urging each of my readers to begin the journey toward an authentic relationship with God. Let each one of us open a dialogue with that Infinite Mind we call God and begin to truly experience God in our hearts - not the version of God that we were taught in Sunday School, shul, or at our mosque, but the authentic God that lives in our hearts and deep within our soul. Find your own concept of that One Infinite Mind that is the alpha and the omega of all being.

Worshiping your father's God is a bit like living out your father's dream or trying to live his life. It just never seems to fit; its like wearing someone else's shoes. Find your own concept of God. There is only one God, the Most High God and the Indwelling God and they are one and the same but every human has his or her concept of what that God is what God does. No prophet or teacher can tell you what is in your heart and soul. Find out for yourself.

God transcends time and space; is so vast a concept that the human mind has difficulty in creating a concept of something so limitless and all powerful. We create gods in human form in order to obtain a mental picture of the God we worship. Whether a prophet such as Muhammad or a son such as Jesus; we seem to need a human from which to receive our spirituality. The problem with creating our own human image of God is that is that each culture or tribe of mankind makes their own man/God in their image and thus divides God's creations into warring camps; each claiming that their vision of God and their prophet or man/God is the TRUE God.

Why not dispense with the need to see God, to envision God and learn to feel and hear God within you? Your senses cannot lead you to the Father. Your heart can and will if you open it. When you can do this, you have finally found the real God. You have "arrived" spiritually. You have achieved Gnosis or a knowing of the Truth of God.

How then can you and I begin to know God and develop a personal loving relationship with Him?

Let's start with having a conversation with God, just as you would with a good and wise friend. If you believe that God can and just might strike you dead with a thunderbolt, that can make real dialogue rather difficult. In order to be close to God you must realize that in Truth you are ONE with God. You must realize that each of us is to God as the cells of our body are to us. We are part of God and God is part of us, so there is nothing to fear and everything to gain by becoming a friend of God.

God loves you, God knows who you are better than you know who you are - after all He has known you since before the beginning of time and will know you throughout all eternity. You are no surprise to God. He is like an old and dear friend who has lost touch with his favorite childhood friend. He is anxious to connect again with a part of Himself that he has not been able to visit you for a long time. He can only reunite with his wayward creation if you invite Him in. Don't keep Him waiting - go walk on the beach, go up into the mountains, out into the desert - anywhere that brings you peace and serenity and just start talking to God.

Don't pray in the traditional sense. Begging is not establishing a friendship, it is establishing a state of need. If you want to become a partner and friend of God, you cannot be His dependent. He is the Lord of the Universe so approach God with an attitude of gratitude and respect. Be willing to listen to things you really don't want to hear. From a dialogue with God your life will be forever transformed.

He wants to be a part of your life and is eager to help but He never forces Himself upon you. "Knock and it shall be answered" "seek and you shall find", so go and knock upon his door and ask Him to come out and play with you. He will be thrilled, I can assure you. Share with God, don't dump your problems upon Him or complain. Just talk and share the wonderful things in your life and the challenges as well, just as you would do with a friend.

Then just listen. You will not hear thunder from heaven. You will hear your voice saying things you would not say and have not ever said. You will receive ideas and inspiration that you know is not the way you usually speak or think. That is how you will know you are connected to the Most High God and the Indwelling God. No matter what form your celebration of God takes, it is vital that you develop a strong and wonderful friendship with the Great Soul, the Creator of all that is and that it transforms your life forever.

May each of your days and nights be blessed by the Indwelling Spirit of God.

Rev. Dore' Jacques Patlian