Pidgeonholing God  

Way back in ancient times, before we knew the earth was round, or that gravity was a constant force, or we knew much about anything pertaining to how the world came to be, and how we came to be here, we had to have some way to address these unknowns.

So when we came up with our idea about gods, and then onto the monotheistic God, as an answer to our many unknowns, we couldn’t help having been in the complete subordinate position of worship. As the great artists over the ages rendered God as that mighty male figure reaching to us from the heavens, more and more we installed our drama all around anything pertaining to God. 

The virgin Mary with her baby Jesus, as well as any art portraying Jesus, became the most sweeping worldwide form of art. The costumes bishops and priests took on—the lavish garb of the Popes and bishops in Rome—we worshipped even in our attire, our places of worship, our mighyt cathedrals. The somber male voice choirs echoing Latin into the hallowed halls of churches—the pipe organ conveying the might of God.

Who could blame us for our attempts to pay homage to God in these ways. But it seems healthy and required for us to remember that these are and have been manifestations of our own inner needs and desires. In other words: it wasn’t God that said to do these things. It wasn’t God that ever said: You shall wear perfectly crisp and clean white flowing robes and walk on the alters on Sunday in slow methodic ritual right angles and pace, slowly raising and lowering golden chalices with two hands on tables of clean white linen with not a crease to be seen. The reverence is for our sake—for our satisfaction—for us to feel righteous, serving God in the matter befitting, and for us to feel loved by God. 

The thing is, we all may worship how we choose, but God loves us just as much—unconditionally—whether we have rituals honoring “him” or not. While so much about God of course warrants reverence and awe, we also have to remember that God is in the nitty-gritty details as well. God did not invent our religions; we did, in his name. That’s not to say they weren’t inspired. But what are some things we can say God invented that we often don’t equate to God: Humor (why is something funny? And if you notice, something really funny feels and brings us closer to God ), physics, mathematics, the forces of our universes, the laws of science, and the great intellect to utilize these things to better our lives, to land and walk on the moon, or to transplant organs as relatively standard procedures now, beautiful music—classical symphonies that come the closest portrayal of heaven we could have, rock and roll classics that strike our core—­hit songs for that reason. Wonder, magic, mystery in all sorts of forms of music. All the artistic expressions —low brow how brow…anything good is godly, and yet not requiring even belief in a God to be beautiful.

God is not captured in white flowing robes and golden chalices. God might be better seen in a roaring ocean, a calm sea, animals, stars, mountains, snow dumping on those mountains, island paradises, dolphins and whales frolicking, on and on and on and on….

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