Humans With and Without God

 History shows us a sad story of humankind, peppered with golden moments of humans rising above the lower tendencies to glorious moments- so we know we can rise, it is possible. So much of our history, however, exhibits violence, hatred, prejudice, jealousy, meanness, herd mentality, wars, and other horrible things.

So what can we do? Do we have the desire and will to rise above the lower behaviors? Do we realize how dangerous it is, with all the modern technology, to play with the dark side?

My vision shows me the way up and out is to align ourselves with the Divine, with the Higher Power, with God. There are pitfalls there too, because historically and currently there is violence in religion; there is ego; there is theology made by violent and power-hungry men. The story of Christianity is not just the man from Galilee and his teaching, but it is the long history of fighting over fine points of theology, even unto death. Early on there was the fear that if they got theology wrong, God would be angry and punish them with violent weather and earthquakes. There were wars over things like whether Mary was the mother of God or the mother of Jesus, over whether Jesus had one or two natures, over when he became God's son, etc. There was intrigue. 

Even today there is a huge variation of what is the "true" Christian theology, arguments over who is right and who is wrong. Families are split over disagreements over whose church is right. Nations try to destroy churches and imprison advocates of "other" points of view. 

I am most familiar with the Christian story, and  I know there is some of this in other religions too.

All of this, I consider to be life without God. The ugliness glimpsed above is not what any great teacher taught, it surely is not what Jesus taught.

Life with God is a whole other thing. It is Peace that passes understanding. It is Guidance from the Highest Source. It is Love. It is Joy. It is Kindness. It is Compassion. It is Oneness.

If we want life with God, let us heal our brokenness in prayer, introspection, forgiveness, and release. Let us open ourselves to the Highest Light, the Highest Teachers, the Noblest Way, and then walk it the best we can. Let us strive to be all we can be, forgive ourselves when we falter, and pick ourselves up and continue. 

We can change the human trajectory one person at a time, lifting and leading, waking up, and walking with The Divine Presence that is with us always.

P.S. Go back and read my "Turning" article earlier this year on June 6th.