Honestly, I wish I wasn't writing this now.
I have "more important" things to discuss with you than God right now. (Homelessness, Black Lives Matter and overall governmental and systemic torture and murder and oppression of people.)
But if I don't jot these ideas down now they will fade from memory. And I'd like to refer to them in the future.
You see, some day I think I'd like to become a minister. I like the idea of being a minister over a politician for several reasons.
Ministers seek the truth. Politicians seek the votes. That makes politicians natural born liers. I much prefer to be honest with you and me.
My grandfather was a minister. I have fond memories of him and connecting those dots feels resonate with my family line and the universe to me.
I also like the idea of being a minister because I have found such meaning and connection to how I fit in nearly infinite space and time through my own personal journey finding connection. For lack of a better word, finding God.
So many of us have been pushed out of any kind of spiritual connection to the universe. I mostly blame the church for that. They often sell God in a way that favors them more than it favors God. And you can see it from a mile away.
The average thinker can smell this sales pitch like a skunk that has walked through your backyard. We all close the curtains and turn off the lights when we see those white-shirted, bike-riding Mormons come up our driveway. Although some of us like to "mess" with them and toy with their beliefs like this guy:
There is a lot reason people talk about "mind, body and spirit." Spirit is possibly the most uniquely human part of us. But we've shoved it in a drawer because most of the spirit peddlers are, quite honestly, bad at their jobs.
So I feel like there is a needed opportunity for someone like me to step in and offer some alternative perspectives on "God" that maybe you've never heard before.
Nothing I'm going to tell you is radical or even particularly interesting or new. In fact, some of what I'll tell you is much older than most of what you might be thinking today.
I want to put some of these ideas out here in case you may be in a place in your life where maybe you are looking for something more. Maybe something I'll say will create a spark in you that will lead you down a path you hadn't thought of taking.
Let me first say that I decided to call this series "God According to Sage" because the idea of God or whatever word you find most comfortable using is nearly infinite. (Plank's Constant has mathematically determined the universe isn't infinite. There are places, tiny places, we can't go.) But "nearly infinite" is still pretty big. So what I'm telling you is only the tiniest sliver of truth in a multiverse of truths. It's just the truth of the All that means something to me. And maybe it will mean something to you.
So here we go. Here are a couple very big truths in some very little space. These are the truths that inspired me to start this series. I'll flush them out over time. But I just wanted to get them written down before they fade away.
1. God loves you.
You don't need to do anything, say anything or pay anything to win God's love. The mere fact that you are sitting here on earth should be all the proof you need that God loves you. You are a bizarre creature that does incredibly astounding things. You make things. You think of new things. You have jokes. You have ideas. And those are just the most basic human abilities. Your ability to have hope and dreams and love for things completely unrelated to you is just wild.
And to think... You are the culmination of nothing more than star dust. You are just made up of dirt randomly floating around in the universe. You. Are. Special. You absolutely cannot deny that truth.
Of course you're loved. Who couldn't love you? You are astounding. Sometimes you are astounding in a good way. And sometimes you are astounding in not so good ways. But one thing is for sure... You are astounding. Any true designer and creator would be nothing short of blown away with who you are and how you live your life.
2. If all you want is love then stop right here. You're good to go. I love you. The universe loves you. And the designer loves you. It's a given and you've got it. But if you want something more, if you are searching for something, then in the immortal words of Brittney Spears, you gotta "Work Bitch!"
Your body can't get stronger unless you exercise. Your mind can't get smarter unless you learn. Your spirit can't get connected, plugged in, unless you go forth and start connecting.
Now. Don't get me wrong. You aren't doing spiritual work to earn brownie points with God. Nothing you can do, say or pay is going to make God think better of you. If anything, the universal observers probably will think you petty and silly for even attempting to try. Like you have some sort of sacrifice or alms or penance a creator of the infinite would find useful. (But for all I know, they probably love that too and find it sweet and charming that you're even trying.)
You are doing the spiritual work for you. You are doing it to help you reconnect with your universe. You came from the universe. You'll return to the universe. And while you're on Earth you have the opportunity to find that connection with the universe.
It might help you to think of spiritual work as sending postcards home while you're away on a trip. "Having a great time. Wish you were here." Or: "Worst trip ever! Remind me to NEVER come back here again."
Either way, writing the spiritual postcard should help you remember your family and friends. To remember they love you and are SO excited to hear every detail of your trip when you get back.
This postcard story, like all stories, is just a metaphor. It's just a symbol to help us all get just a little closer to the universal truth of it all. From a blade of grass to the Hadron Collider, I encourage you to look at them all as messages, as symbols, for the larger truth.
This connection idea is the premise for the overall message I'd like to share with you. It's the main course of the meal I am making for you.
There are many other side dishes I'll be serving. Dishes like liberation, injustice, oppression and violence. (Everyone else loves rubbing your nose in all your sin. I feel like it's just a way for a judgmental church father to try to make you feel bad and straiten up and fly right. They all have that covered yet barely ever scratch the surface of other equally important messages of systemic failings. Your sins are so inconsequential in the eyes of God. They only matter in how they effect your time on Earth.)
I'll get to those dishes as we go along.
But really I just want you to know that we all love you. You are wonderful and beautiful and amazing. Today. Right now. You are unbelievably amazing. Please don't let anyone take that away from you. Anyone who says anything different is just plain wrong and has truly missed the entire point of the message of God.
Paid For By The People for Sage Lewis