In my previous entry here (America in Crisis 7/16/17) I began with the statement: “We need
God”, and went on to say: “not as interpreted by specific religions”. That is not to suggest institutional
religions are without value, for institutions are a necessary part of
civilization. All institutions are human
constructs, bringing frameworks of order to society. “Religion” is the name given to the larger
category of ways that focus on how we are to relate to God. Each specific religion has designated ways to
worship involving rules and demands.
God does not demand, God only invites—as Jesus
demonstrated. God is beyond human
comprehension, yet so often religions assume to know the unknowable. A ‘god concept’ symbolizes our unknowing; a formless nameless way that
leaves institutional demands behind and is focused on those qualities we
believe to be ‘of God’ as we understand God to be. We have come to believe God’s qualities to be
Truth, Justice, Compassion, Mercy, Love and all goodness. That is the God we need.
In a prior entry here (God
Search 6/28/17) I wrote of humankind’s insatiable desire for ‘something
more’. We need hope we need purpose and
meaning. A god concept carries the
highest values we wish to embody. We
need reminding of them. Without a means
of calling those values to mind, they recede from our awareness. As a nation we have retreated not only from
religion, but also from our fundamental values.
In stepping back from involving God in our daily lives we’ve lost sight
of truth, honesty, compassion and goodness.
Our last election process was an embarrassment of insults,
lies and slanderous innuendoes—for the most part we didn’t raise objections, we
just shrugged and looked the other way.
We’ve made a collective mistake in backing away from God and
we are suffering the consequence by now finding our government in turmoil.
Honesty, integrity and sincerity should be the first
consideration when selecting a president.
Without taking into account principles of Truth and Justice to guide us,
we chose as candidate and then elected a monumentally unqualified man to lead
the country—the one who shouted the loudest!
The issue is not about the party he belongs to but about the character
of the individual. His dishonesty, lack
of integrity and excess egotism were on display throughout the campaign and yet
he was elected.
This crisis is not just about our government it is about our
souls.
From my first blog entry of 8/19/13 here are the final lines
from my poem
‘Un-named God’
- - -
But
you are the un-named God
The
soul-giver
I
know you by your absence
When
we turn from you
We
dispossess our souls
soon
to discover
we are the hollow men.
Without
you we cannot save ourselves
from
ourselves.
Only
in your presence do we partake of the mystery,
Only
in your presence do we reach beyond ourselves,
Only in your presence do we find fulfillment .
Only in your presence do we find fulfillment .