What difference does it make if I believe in God?
Good question! Does it really matter if I believe in God or not? Would my life "look different" if I didn't believe in God? Would my life change if I did believe in God?
posted by Pia's Pals @ 10:03 PM
8 comments
8 Comments:
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I think that it is heartening to believe that there is some higher order in this universe. As humans, we are very afraid of lonliness, and belief in God helps combat that fear. We are taught to believe in a God who is intimately interested in the trials and tribulations of our lives. It is through that believe that we give morality teeth. If no one is watching while we do something immoral, then there is no one to answer to and we can easily slip into patterns of unloving behavior. However, if God is watching, then it is a different story - we feel some pressure to please God, to show that we are trying to be God-like.
Also, God is supposed to be the best of the best. We have no perfect example of this type of person. At some point everyone makes mistakes. Unless we have someone like John Paul II or Mother Theresa as a parent, then it is likely that our parents, too, have made mistakes. We witness those mistakes. If we believe in a infallible God, then we can believe that attaining perfection is possible. God can be our example (albeit an invisible one*).
*I realize that the invisibility factor can be contested by the existence of Jesus. However, in my opinion, he's not here on earth now, so he's still an invisible force.
Hi spiritcross, welcome back, you must be nine by now! Happy Birthday and hope it was fun!
Yes, spiritcross, I believe we have eyes in heaven and we will see the specific house of Jesus. When Jesus rose after his crucifixtion, he had his GLORIFIED body. That is the kind of body we will after we die and rise.
And as we know, with his glorified body, Jesus talked to his disciples, touched them, ate fish with them on the shore and could even go through walls! Now how cool is that??!!! So we do still have our 5 senses when we die, it is like our bodies are now so FULL of God's light we just SHINE everywhere we go and everything is intensified to the max!!!!
Green - It's good that you wrestle with the comments here! The idea of God is a complicated one and we can only brush the surface of our conceptualizations of God in this forum. I think that that's what makes religion/theology so interesting and fun!
Perhaps I should have prefaced my last comment with this: that I was stating some of the reasons why some people believe in God. It was not any hard and fast "belief system" of my own. I've studied, compared, and tried on a lot of different religions, so I have a lot of ideas floating around in my head, none of which stay still very long.
Certainly, God as a "watcher" is not my only thought on the subject. I do seek to be a more perfect, more God-like person. And if I behave in an immoral or hurtful way, then don't think it's out of line to expect God to care and look upon my actions with distain. If God is to be an active member of the God/me relationship, then I need to expect certain things from God since he/she/it is not exactly giving me direct/obvious feedback. I like to think that seeing love in the world is part of being "validated" by God. Seeing terrible things in the world reminds me that I am a vessel of action and can actively make a difference in changing the world.
I do not see God as an "enforcer." I envision an enforcer god as one from the Old Testament with fiery wrath and all that business. If I act like a jerk, God doesn't seem inclined to strike me down with lightning. It is through my image of God that I enforce myself. My deeply rooted moral principles guide me to act in a certain way. I try to make sure that that way is as "right" as possible at the time.
I also hope that all of your relationships are not one-sided, boring, and destructive. My earthly relationships are a lot more two-sided than my "relationship" with God. Plus, our earthly relationships should help us become better people too, or they are destructive. In fact, even destructive relationships should help us learn more about life and the kind of people we want to be. Ha! There's a question: if there was no destructiveness /evilness/ badness in the world - how would we recognize goodness?
Regarding your "is God really interested" comments: Have you ever read "Conversations with God" by Neale Donald Walsch? You might find it interesting. It has some thoughts along the lines of your comments.
Another thing about the original question: I actually do not believe that it is essential to believe in god(s)/ higher power(s) of any kind to be a good and wonderful person. If there is a God, then he/she/it loves Atheists too. If there isn't, then the Atheists were right, and I'm cool with that. When it comes down to it, I think it's much more important to be a good and decent person (granted that is based on my perceptions of morality, ethics, decency, etc.), than to believe in one theocracy or another. I don't believe that there's a true church or belief system. I think that there are a lot of good ideas out there and that people should participate in the one (or more) that helps them to become the best person they can be.
This has gotten insanely long, reminding me that I shouldn’t drink coffee and get all wired up this late!
Becky – I love this blog and all the ideas/thoughts/etc. that it brings out. So thanks!
Wow! Lot's of good conversation going on here with Soul Journey and Green. Thanks for sharing, come on back again! Just gonna' throw some of my own wonderings out there!
I believe it makes a HUGE difference in one's life if one believes in God (or any higher power they have found a "fond" name for). I find it interesting how right away we say, "Oh, but look there's a good person and they don't believe in God". To be honest with you, I have not run into too many of those "classic" cases and I have talked to hundreds upon hundreds of people on my spiritual path.
BUT, I have talked to MANY who had not, yet, had the opportunity to talk to anyone about their spiritual beliefs, so all along they thought they had none, until, they had a non-judgmental listening ear, that could accept their experience of God and their name for God. But, because they felt so untraditional and thus so unaccented, it was easier to say that they were an atheist to everyone!
I guess, I feel when it is all said and done, I have noted that the one's believing in some higher power, be it nature or the stars or higher intelligence or Allaha or Mother God, the "quality" of one's day to day life is usually very visible and consistent in the realm of, i.e., their committed other-centeredness, a deep peace radiating from them, a joy that is infectious, an active sense and acceptance that ALL people are equal and one, a compassion that forgives unconditionally and a willingness to give their all to a God who loves to give all to us everyday...in very unique, surprising, unrehearsed, nurturing and supportive ways!
Soul Journey, I noted your new quesiton for the next time around:) Thanks!
Sister with Heart:
I guess it all depends on what definition you use to define "god," "higher power," etc.
For instance, Buddhists are not guided by the purported wishes/ guidance/ etc. of a god or gods, but rather by The Way. The practice entails an effort to become enlightened, but that enlightenment is not brought about by a supernatural being, it is rather a capability that is within each one of us that we may seek out, develop, and share. The Buddah is not a god, he was a human person whose memory and teachings serve as the framework for a guide to life.
In that context, the qualities you speak of (a commitment to other-centeredness, a deep peace radiating, joy that is infectious, an active sense and acceptance that ALL people are equal and one, a compassion that forgives unconditionally) are not lost or diminished by the lack of a supernatural power. In fact, those qualities are all very important even in an non-god centered religion such as Buddhism. They are expressed and explored in a manner where it is not the supernatural that makes us whole and guides us, but rather a deeper understanding of ourselves and the world.
Basically, I think that spirituality and God are not the same thing, but can walk hand in hand.
Hi soul journey! I knew that Buddists did not believe in a "God", yet I thought they believed their enlightenment was only possible as they transcended from this reality into the next...which I thought they saw as a "higher" energy or level of consciousness and being, which involves something "other" than themselves.
I find interesting your comment on how spirituality and God are two separate things. I never thought of that before...because I have always linked the two! In fact, my working definition for Spirituality is...how do I experience the Spirit in the world...music, football, scripture, nature, Mass...in other words by what means do I encounter God in my life, that is my acclaimed spirituality.
Please tell me more of what you mean! I am very interested in your thoughts:)
All others feel free to jump in on your take!
Welcome, Pilgrim, I can tell you have been on the road for awhile, glad you came back to rest your questions here.
Your phrase I was struck with was, "The more we seek the more we are asked to find". I can really resonate with you on that! Seems you just begin "to catch on" to this wonderful, quiet, intimate relationship with God and then all of the sudden, you are on another wild wooly trip once again having no idea where it is going next!!!
For me, I have become resigned, and through the years peacefully so, to just accept how BIG God is, how MUCH about God there is to experience. And, I have come to admire how God can actually contain, hold back, hold in, hold on to, the incredible love he has for us!
I imagine like a mother, there are times you want to pour out ALL your love upon your children, yet depending on readiness, age, how big there little body is:), and circumstance (their peers hanging around), sometimes you have to hold back. That is your connect with God, and how his delicate timing is as percarious and precocious with us!
I have often thought, that if God more than blinked one eye lash at me, I would fall over overcome with his immense love. My body and life may not be ready to receive it right now. He is a God who knows when, where, what, how much we can take, though I bet everyday he holds back to give it ALL, as would be his wish and immediate desire.
If by the end of my days, my life has been lived in such a way that could actually sustain a full wink
from God, and still can stand to tell the story without virtually exploding, I can say, I knew heaven on earth.
PS Maybe then, too, I will be more ready for the hug I dream about at heaven's gates.
All feel free to relfect with Pilgrim on her great comments and questions. (I wonder if questions are actually what keeps the "quest" going?)
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