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<\/a>What does \u201cGod\u201d mean to you?<\/strong> An almighty, omnipotent being sitting on a throne in the sky? Or something more ethereal, an otherworldly presence that defies definition?<\/p>\n I once wrote a story titled This May Be the Best Description of God Ever<\/em> where God is defined as \u201cthe <\/strong>consciousness that moves between all living things<\/strong>.\u201d (See the full passage below.) When I first read it, it was an \u201caha\u201d moment. It struck me as the truth, or at least my <\/em>truth. The same with a definition I had read years earlier, from the theologian Paul Tillich: \u201cGod is not a being, it is being itself<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n The blogger and dharma<\/a> coach Erick Godsey<\/a> admits to once being an atheist. In his younger years, he reveals that he once took pleasure in dismantling the belief systems of anyone who confessed they believed in God. But, as he grew older and wiser, his perspective began to change.<\/p>\n Godsey became heavily influenced by mythology and specifically the teachings of Jung<\/a>. It would eventually lead him to the description of God that follows. As you read it, know that Godsey believes we are all \u201cartists,\u201d each of us with our own inherent artistic abilities that we need to bring forth. His description:<\/p>\n There is an intelligence in us, around us, as us, and beyond us that is\u00a0trying to have a conversation with us.\u00a0This intelligence needs not proof or a definition; it visits the artist regardless. The artist\u00a0knows\u00a0this intelligence. They live their lives in relationship with it. This intelligence leaves nightly love letters we call dreams. Through art and dreams, we know God.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Let me modify and shorten Godsey\u2019s statement slightly, in case the term \u201cartists\u201d threw you off. A simplified version reads like this:<\/p>\n There is an intelligence in us, around us, as us, and beyond us that is\u00a0trying to have a conversation with us.\u00a0This intelligence needs not proof or a definition; it visits us regardless. You and I know\u00a0this intelligence. We live our lives in relationship with it. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n If you too believe such an \u201cintelligence\u201d exists, are you recognizing it or choosing to ignore it? If you become cognizant that this intelligence, aka God, is present in the next breath you take, in each person you encounter, IN EVERY MOLECULE OF LIFE, you might begin to see the world differently. It would become a wonderous, astounding, and magical<\/a> place.<\/p>\n Godsey goes on to say that when we he first realized the presence of God, \u201cI felt like it knew that I knew, that it was there. It felt like another locus of consciousness was realizing that I was finally realizing it<\/strong>. It felt like it was interested in what happened to me and what I thought.\u201d He continues:<\/p>\n I know God is, and I know God is not understandable. It\u2019s like looking at the ocean. As sure as I know it is there, I am awed by its immensity. I know it and know I can\u2019t understand it.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n It comes from Barbara Brown Taylor<\/a>, a former ordained priest in the Episcopal Church, who went on to become a college professor and author. For Taylor, God<\/a> is more of a presence than a person. In her wise words:<\/p>\n When I use the word God, I am so aware I\u2019m using a code word and that everyone who hears that word and probably everyone who uses it imagines something different, imagines a different posture in front of that being, that presence. I suppose my own image, my own idea of God, as imperfect and as evolving as it is, right now would be the glue that hooks everything together, the consciousness that moves between all living things<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n When I use the word God, I do not envision a large person with two arms, two legs and nose and two eyes. I envision, instead, some presence so beyond my being, a presence that both knows the stars by name and knows me by name, as well, that is not here to be useful to me, that is not here to give me things as much as to ask me to give myself away for love. I, of course, get a great deal of what I mean by God from the tradition in which I stand \u2013 the Christian tradition, the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. But when I say I believe in God, I mean I trust. I trust in the goodness of life, of being. I trust that beyond all reason. I trust that with my life. And that\u2019s what I mean by God.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n It later struck me that her description sounds a lot like \u201cthe Force\u201d in Star Wars<\/em>, which is defined in the movie as \u201can energy<\/a> field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us<\/strong>; it binds the galaxy together.\u201d It has always been here and will always be there. It exists whether we care to recognize it or not.<\/p>\n What does \u201cGod\u201d mean to you? An almighty, omnipotent being sitting on a throne in the sky? Or something more ethereal, an otherworldly presence that defies definition? I once wrote a story titled This May Be the Best Description of God Ever where God is defined as \u201cthe consciousness that moves between all living things.\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1184,"featured_media":12686,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1123,2639,1175],"class_list":["post-12683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-barbara-brown-taylor","tag-description-of-god","tag-erick-godsey"],"yoast_head":"\nI recently stumbled upon another powerful description of God.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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The Original Best Description of God Ever.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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My Take<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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