Hopeful Thinking - Saturday, August 5, 2023 - What If God Is Real?

Let’s begin with a fact. There is no proof that God exists. None. There is no empirical evidence that supports the existence of a divine higher power in any form.

Let’s add another fact to the mix. No spiritual text on the planet would stand in a court of law proving the existence of God to an impartial jury.

All that being said, I still believe in God. Consider for a moment your own view on the subject. Do you believe in It?

I refer to God as “It” with a capital I because if there is a God, It would certainly be free of gender identity. Some people might take offense at thinking of God as an It, and, to be honest, the word it does lack a bit of humanity. But the alternatives of Him or Her feel like an open falsehood. And God wouldn’t be human anyway.

Even though I’m aware that many contend that the male pronoun when used to describe God doesn’t really make a theological claim that God is actually male. But that nuance is beside the point in a patriarchal society. The male pronoun, when used as an indicator of the divine, is a subconscious deterrent to gender equity. It quietly promotes the primacy of the male gender. It causes harm.

So let’s dispense with all that. Let’s jettison the need to prove God’s existence, or Its gender. We don’t have to prove anything to anyone. And we couldn’t if we wanted to.

So what do we do with our belief now? We act as if God is real.

When we act as if God is real, we become part of something larger than ourselves. We consider how our actions become part of the energetic soup of all existence.

When we act as if God is real, we look for clues about how to live our lives in the words of people who have also believed. We seek to emulate their actions, believing that to do so raises the vibration of the whole.

When we act as if God is real, we can’t ignore the cries of our neighbors. We can’t un-hear the concerns of the neighborhood, or us-see the refuse in the streets. We cannot pretend that we are individuals, living a life separate from those around us.

When we really act as if God is real, we become aware of the ripple effect of our choices. We become radicalized toward love.

The so-called faithful of our world, in particular, the loudest ones, do not actually demonstrate an intrinsic belief in God. They have pinched themselves off from that awareness in favor of misguided nationalism.

When we act as if God is truly real, we cannot fail to notice that our civilization is and always has been a global one; each of us deeply responsible for the success or failure of all our fellow humans.

When we act as if God is real, the nature of our borders becomes a welcoming one. When we act as if God is real, the desire of our healthcare system becomes a universal one. When we act as if God is real, the goals of our educational systems hold truth above all else.

We become less alone, because we are not alone. We have had blinders over our eyes put there by fear. Put their under the false belief of our siloed individuality. We are not individuals. We are one.

Of course we each have names. We each have individual histories, and desires, and loves. But the leaf is still one with the tree. And the minute a leaf forgets that fact it falls to the ground.

Whether or not you believe God is real, this is an invitation to act as if it is so. This is an encouragement to see yourself in your neighbors’ eyes. This is an invitation to hospitality, and empowerment, and forgiveness, and compassion, and hope. Above all else, hope.