Why we must come back to spirituality and magic.

by

in

I get so frustrated with God language.

I know the instant I use the word “God” I am isolating people. I am turning people off and, therefore, not helping the world spiritually in the way I would like to.

For me, God is everything. It’s like the giant aquarium of everything. It is the multiverse. It is the multiverse of all multiverses.  It is a black hole and a grain of sand. And even those 2 things are both too small and too big to even scrape the surface of a tiny sampling of God.

I simply can’t find a better word to describe everything.  It has a great power of describing the knowable and, more importantly, the unknowable.

But it has also been politicized and stolen by many faiths and even sects within faiths.

In a way, the word God has gotten small and spiteful and angry and petty.

Very rarely do I feel the feeling of hate. But I’ve grown to hate the word God.

I hate what we’ve done to it. I hate that it is used to murder, judge and isolate. I hate how we’ve made God a clique. I’m in. You’re out.

I especially hate that we refer to God as “He.” Considering how powerful women are today and have always been in the church it feels like a slap in the face. Women will never be as close to God as men will be because as we all know, God is a man and women must obey their men. At best, women are two steps away from God. God>Man>Woman.

I just hate it.

But what other word is there? What other word so perfectly embodies The Everything in the mind of so many so elegantly?

In a way, this conundrum is beautiful. Not being able to describe God in any useful way is the way it should be.

At any rate, in my mind, it’s a mess. How am I ever going to contribute to the spiritual conversation if I can’t even adequately say the word of the thing I’m trying to get at?

But I also believe it’s important to try to do so.

I believe in the trilogy of humanity: Mind. Body. Spirit.

We, especially in America, are doing a pretty good job working on our mind and body. We are all being educated to eat right. And the Millennials are on track to be the most educated generation of all time. 

But our spirit. It just seems like a rag doll we threw in the closet and forgot about.

It makes sense. The scientists and educators are trying to help us understand the importance of systematically creating testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Considering we are having a significant difficulty believing in science (liberals and conservatives alike) they really should not spend a minute talking about the spiritual universe.

And government. All they care about is winning the next election. I think this is where we often turn when we are looking for moral direction. But never has there been a more misguided group of people. If you had to bet, the odds would be that a politician would lie, cheat and steal before lifting a finger to help another person, if they thought it would win them another vote. They are some of the most self-absorbed people on earth.

But because they are so loud and frightening and blustery we have a compulsion to follow them. This is because there is a vacuum in the third facet of humanity: spirit.

Politician have out marketed the spiritual leaders. So politicians are the ones on TV and the Internet guiding us on paths of right and wrong even though all they are really doing is casting a spell on us to anger us and frighten us so we’ll vote for them in the next election cycle.

They are bad magic.

I just flipped through the channels of the TV. There was this really dramatic scene going on. It was like a scene from Brave Heart. In a deep voice the narrator said: “Come with us as we explore the powerful world of the GOSPEL.”

Next!

It’s so uninteresting to me.

And if I’m uninterested I can only imagine how other people feel.

This thing I’m doing with the homeless is a spiritual pursuit for me.

I am having so much fun listening to the signs, I believe, God is giving me. I feel like I’ve broken through the Matrix of the everyday world and am uncovering a magical world. Like walking through the closet into Narnia.  It’s all so cool and fulfilling and interesting.

That’s why I write these posts about “God.”

I am trying to share with you the mystical experience I am having as I work with homeless people. In hopes that something I say might resonate with you.

I’m trying to put into words what I’m experiencing.

Ultimately, the words fail me.

But if anything my hope is that the words are like a waving flag. As if I’m saying, “Hey! Look over here. Look at this work we’re doing. I’m finding it really exciting and rewarding and spiritually fulfilling. Maybe you would find doing something similar to be equally as rewarding.”

If ever you have felt the feeling of pointlessness in your life, I believe that’s the universe talking to you. It’s telling you that there is something more out there for you. Keep searching. Keep trying new things. You will find a resonance in this world.

Feeling the suffering of existence if often the first step to moving towards the fulfillment and peace and joy of existence.

Listen to your feelings. And then think about your feelings. I believe they might be trying to tell you something. Your feelings are these mystical senses that science can’t quantify. But they are real. And they often can be guides for your life.

Move away from suffering. Move towards joy.

It’s a lifetime journey. And it changes as you go along. But it’s a wonderful way to experience what I believe is a resonance with God.

The photo is Ganesha or (Ganesh). He is the elephant-headed god in Hinduism. He is the son of Shiva and Parvati. Ganesha is a very popular god in Hinduism, and is one of the most worshipped. Hindu tradition states that Ganesha is a god of wisdom, success and good luck.