What I Believe About God

 

Image by Sasin Tipchai from Pixabay

I think it is safe to say that the vast majority of human groups or cultures have some sort of god concept. That seems to be more or less universal. Maybe you can say it is an element of human nature. Modern scientists seem to spend considerable energy discovering exactly what constitutes human nature. Some even say there is no such thing as human nature. Either way, the concept of god seems to differ quite dramatically from place to place, even from time to time. My conclusion is that God is only eternal in the sense that just about all of humanity recognizes that there is such a thing as god. God did not create the universe, our prehistoric forefathers created God. That is why God is different from culture to culture. To this day scientists dedicate their lives to figuring out where the universe came from and still arguing vigorously about it. Theologians and lay people insist God created it without a shred of evidence other than the words of the Bible written thousands of years ago. Since the existence of some kind of god concept is the one thing that unites us all, figuring out exactly what that means has become really important. Obviously, we do not have written accounts of what the earliest humans were thinking, but some of the artifacts they left behind give us some clues that they were in fact thinking about it. Our knowledge about God took a major step forward with the invention of writing. The oldest writings about our version of God were limited to a vocabulary of about 3,000 words. Even with this limitation, the ancient writers did a remarkable job explaining who God is. The vigorous debate about what it means still going on today is not due to their writing abilities, but to the limited understanding modern theologians have of ancient culture.

Therefore, God is not a physical thing. You can make a statuette or a painting representing God, but it is not God. God is the invisible force that ties us together. There are many things that tear us apart, but the bond that keeps us together is God. Being in communion with God, caring for one another, is what protects us and provides for us. Therefore, the expression that God is good all the time and all the time God is good has way more meaning than many people realize. For many Christians, saying it is simply a ritual that identifies you as belonging to the Christian community, but it goes far beyond that. What is important to know is that humans are fundamentally good and take care of one another in community. Because humans created God, God is good. God is community.

Charity - A Way For People of Privilege to Feel Good About Themselves

 

My favorite morning news channel was reporting from a charity event somewhere in the City. Dozens of volunteers were packing boxes with surplus food. Others were handing them out to anyone who wanted one. It looked a little like a big party. Everyone was smiling and laughing. A great deal of friendly banter was going on. 

The reporter was talking to some of the organizers and volunteers. The number of people in need was increasing, they said. Hundreds of people were getting tons of good and useful food that would otherwise go to waste. It really made them feel good to be able to be a part of this, they said.

Although the effort sounded really good and noble, but Immediately a red flag popped up in my mind. If it makes them feel good, who, then, are they really doing it for, the hungry people or themselves? It reminds me of the old-fashioned charity balls rich housewives would organize to help the poor, but not a poor person in sight, just rich people handing out spare change while having a good time with their friends.

It seems to me there’s a possibility that modern day food distributions could be a continuation of the class culture of the past. Events such as these may help a few hundred people for a brief moment, but there are millions who are in need, but who get nothing. It may feel good to help, but the truth is that, in the grand scheme of things, the impact is very limited. At most, it makes a few already privileged people feel good about themselves.

What is really needed is a complete cultural transformation in the way we treat each other so that there will be no one in need anywhere anymore. That means universal health care for all. It means putting the brakes on the senseless production of more useless products and the constant campaign to buy more. It means educating everyone who wants it. It means decent housing for everyone.

Of course, doing all that cannot be done by a few volunteers at a food distribution event. It needs a coordinated effort from everyone. Stop buying products made for the sole purpose of making rich people even richer. Make them pay their fair share of taxes. Make them pay living wages so workers can at a minimum afford food, shelter for themselves and their families not to mention childcare and educational opportunities. Better yet, remove the profit motive from the production of basic necessities, healthcare, education and housing. 

For any of that to happen a renewal of our collective minds is needed, a return to cooperation and true compassion and I am not talking about one neighborhood in the City. I am talking about change on a global scale. 

The Bible - What Is It And Why Is It Still Relevant?

 

Jesus came and gave us a new and radically different interpretation of the ancient scriptures. We now know them as the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible. He did not change anything, not a single word. 

He noticed that some people were misinterpreting them; some by honest mistake, but many deliberately to serve their own purposes. He began to talk about what they were actually saying. First, only a few listened to him, but soon the power elite began to see that he and his increasing number of followers could be a threat to them, so they had him killed. Later, many decades later, some smart people realized that something extraordinary had happened and began to piece together the events from their perspective. We now know those  accounts as the New Testament. Together, these two collections of writings make up the Bible, the basis for our Christian faith.

You have probably heard people say that the Bible is literally the Word of God. God is within you, me and everyone else. God does not write anything. We do and so did our ancient ancestors. Writing is actually a pretty recent invention, just a few thousand years old originating independently in China, Mesopotamia and Central America. Much of the earliest writings were notes, lists, business records and the like. Then early scientists such as medicine men, priests, religious and learned leaders began to use this new technology to share what they discovered. The modern scientific methods had not yet been invented so at the beginning it was mostly just their opinions. Even today, theoretical scientists still get to make up stuff.

Religion originated around the same time as speech became popular. Some animals communicate using sound as well, but nothing like the way humans do now or did in the early days. Early manifestations of religious activity can be found in ancient graves and dwellings of prehistoric peoples. Unlike most animals, humans began to see time not only as the past and the present, but also as a future. They started to have questions about the universe such as where and when did it all come from? What happens after death? What causes natural phenomena, etc., etc.? 

Religion is universal. It appears in some form or another in every tribe or civilization on the planet, but takes different forms from place to place and from time to time. God may be eternal, innate, we would say today. Religion is not.

God did not create the universe 6,000 years ago. Moses may not even have believed that when he wrote Genesis. Moses’ reasons for writing the Torah may not have been to create a historically accurate account of the origin of the Hebrew people. His purpose was more likely to have been to establish who and what God is. Moses may not even have existed. He may really be a composite of multiple religious leaders of the time. We just do not really know for sure. Even modern day scientists make new discoveries all the time and frequently disagree on things.

While it is important to preserve the ancient manuscripts, they are not a manual for living in modern societies and they are certainly not historic accounts. Certain things are unique to humans and do not apply to any other species. Certain things apply to human life for a really long time, but most change over time, some slowly, others more quickly. Some things require new evaluation from time to time. Every Bible writer had a reason for writing as they did and we need to keep that in mind when we read it. If it is so riddled with errors and outright deceit why then keep it? We need to keep it because buried in all the debris is a  picture of God, the God Jesus revealed to us, the God of compassion and love, the God the power elite wanted hidden and forgotten. That is the reason why we still need the Bible. 

 Why Do Communes Fail While Monasteries Succeed?

Community

Humans have been social animals since prehistoric times. A few species are largely asocial. Humans are not among them. That has been well established science for a long time already. Both secular communes and monastic communities reflect this tendency. Here is where they differ:

Worship

Every civilization on the planet has some sort of religion, but different from place to place and from time to time. Wars have been fought over even subtle differences. Monasteries are long-lasting because the residents cultivate or worship something outside of themselves, something eternal. You could say worship is the glue that keeps them together. In worship monastics tend to surrender to the community much more readily than their secular counterparts who tend to be more individualistic oriented. Their vision is much more changeable and therefore temporary.

Monasticism

The word monastery means to live alone. Monasteries are typically founded by one person who chooses to leave the well trodden path. Communes are typically founded by a group of people. The monastic builds his following one disciple at a time resulting in great coherence, the source of the longevity. The group, egalitarian or one strong leader, can come up with a common vision but with much greater difficulty. Because of greater individualism, conflicts are likely to tear them apart rather than unite them.

I decided to found New Covenant House here in the Catskills region of New York for two reasons: First, I looked around, but could not find an existing community to join that would match my values. Second, my own faith has evolved dramatically over the past 20 years and I needed input from other travelers on this path. I hope this blog will accomplish some of that.