So...who is God? What is God? I cannot tell a lie...
That cannot be answered in the time or space I have to share with you today. Paradoxically, the question can be answered in two simple statements from the Bible.
Psalm 18:31 states, "For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?"
John 24:4 states, "God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."
In the book, "Lessons in Truth," by H. Emile Cady (available free online at
www.websyte.com/unity/lit), we are instructed to set aside, even for a few moments, our preconceived notions about God, or what we have been told God is...assured that we can go back to them at any time. Cady also points out that we cannot put the allness of God into the "quart measure of our mind."
Does this mean that we can never know God? No. Chances are, we do not even fully "know" our parents or siblings...even if a sibling is a twin. This is because we are each totally unique beings. Yet we are able to "know" them enough to have a relationship with them. And so it is with God.
Before we can have a meaningful relationship with God, it is important to set aside anything we have been told by others, to seek the Truth that is within us. Have you ever formed an opinion about a person based on what others said about them, while never having met that person yourself? How did that affect the relationship you had with that person? We can only truly have a relationship with another person...or God...through up-close-personal experience.
I selected the above Bible passages because one, describes God as "rock," or something solid, and the other describes God as "Spirit," or that which is ethereal.
Metaphysically, the word "Lord," represents law; that which is absolute, eternal and unchanging. God as Principle (Lord/Law) can be solidly relied on, like the Law of Gravity. We might be able to apply scientific principle to temporarily "bend" the Law of Gravity, but we cannot break it. Sooner or later we must come down. And that is a good thing, or everything would float away, and life as we know it would cease to exist!
Spirit, as it applies to God, is the moving force in the Universe; the breath of life in all creation; the principle of life; creative intelligence and life. Just as we breathe in and out countless times each day...breath...Spirit flows...so we are One with the Spirit that is God, in whom we live and move and have our being. And yet God is greater.
If you sneeze, and someone says "God bless you," that comes from an ancient belief that when a person sneezes, their Spirit is expelled from the body by the force of the sneeze. They are blessing the person so no "evil spirit" can get into their body before the person again inhales its' Spirit. While this is no longer a belief people hold, the "God bless you" remains. And I think that is a good thing!
Instead, because God is Spirit (not "a" spirit, but Spirit itself), we cannot be separated from God any more than a drop of the ocean can be separate from the whole. Does the drop of water in the ocean have a relationship with the ocean? How can it NOT? Likewise, we cannot NOT have a relationship with God. What we can do however, is learn to be aware of, and develop our relationship with God.
How? The same way we develop a relationship with another person. We get to know them. This is where the "Spirit and Truth" part comes in. Pursuing a relationship with another person, you may inquire of mutual friends about that person. But would you rely entirely on what they said? Or would you want to take time to get to know him or her yourself? Gossip, misinformation and perceptions can cloud your vision.
There are many books written about God, including the Bible, Koran, Bahatva Gita to name just a few. Countless books written by Spiritual Guru's of today and the more recent past include Deepak Chopra's "How to Know God," Edgar Cayce's "A Search for God," and Neal Donald Walsch's "Conversations with God." Of course if you try to read them all, you will very likely find yourself cross-eyed with confusion.
Charles Fillmore, co-founder of Unity had that exact experience. After much reading and study, he said, "I am going to go directly to headquarters." He then established a practice of regular meditation which led him to a deeper relationship with God, and writing many powerful books of his own.
Just as we cannot establish a relationship with another person vicariously the same thing is true of a relationship with God. We get to know who and what God is through prayer and meditation as well as study. When we study we put the words we have read to the "test." Fillmore said: "The test of Truth is that it satisfies the logic of the mind and the longing of the heart." Scripture tells us "You will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free."
Your relationship of God, and knowledge of God is already within you. It needs only to be exposed and explored in the cathedral of your soul. My relationship with God is the most meaningful relationship in my life. It is the foundation on which all of my other relationships are built.
Today, I invite you to a closer relationship with God...not someone else's, YOURS! It is an adventure...a romance...a reunion with your Divine parent. I bless you on the journey.
RevAli
And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, `Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." 