Religion in our world today presents us with a plethora of definitions, identities and faces of “God”, with many of these definitions on the surface at least, bearing little or no resemblance to each other.
For many years I have found this both puzzling and disturbing as I am a person who holds an unequivocal inner knowing that there is such a Being, yet what I feel within me is completely different to these descriptions of “God”.
Contemplating this apparent paradox, I began to consider some of the faces of “God” to which I had been exposed in my life.
I found “God, the accountant or book keeper” – that is he who keeps a tally of deeds and calls in the debt or rewards the credit at the end of a human life.
“God the exclusive” I found singularly strange: to live for all of eternity and have only one Son or one race of people be his people. What did the others do, I used to wonder?
Then there was “God the Vengeful” who apparently was capable of bringing down the favoured one’s enemies, their cities and by inference, their wives and children. Not much fun at parties . . .
“God who can’t make his mind up” was interesting – he might be, but then again, he might not; or “God who is all mind” so that he actually isn’t anymore – he’s just a mind. I have a sense that this notion may well have given birth to the new age version of “God as the creator of your materialistic desires.”
The “God of Love” sounded promising… but the acoustic guitars and strains of ‘Kumbaya’ were not for me.
The God of my childhood was the incredibly old man with the long white beard whose portrait I used to observe and think, “Really?” However, he certainly did not look like the kind of man who would have stood by and let his only son be crucified… which brought me to “God who throws Lightning Bolts.” No comment.
And yet I observe within myself and within so very many of my fellow human beings, sincere longing for a sense of a Divinity to which we can connect, feel whole and derive a meaning or purpose for our lives… and not have to wait until we die to do so.
Until recently, my sole sense of Divinity was Nature. I found in the vast expanses of the Australian bush and desert a sense of space that felt to me like “God.”
Observing the natural unfolding of the patterning of leaves on a tree and its intrinsic geometry, as well as each leaf’s innate and absolute knowing of how to grow in cooperation with the rest of the tree felt to me like “God”. Being held and embraced by the absolute silence and stillness of a midnight sky, I felt was “God”.
Night-time solitude laying on a beach or in the desert with my arms open to the stars and the Universe, breathing so gently and still, could only be “God”.
After observing nature for several decades, I began to feel some of nature’s qualities within me: the open hearted feeling, the silence and, at times, the stillness.
However, it was not until I began to attend Universal Medicine presentations offered by Serge Benhayon that my feelings about “God” started to confirm, and very much extend themselves. Here, I am reconnecting within myself to some qualities that I had always felt were “God”.
The qualities of Stillness, Love, Truth, Harmony, Rhythm, Beauty and Joy are not only in nature, but are also part of our innermost self, when we choose to reconnect with them.
What I have found particularly engaging in this understanding of Divinity is that it is based on neither the faith nor the fear associated with the experiences of my youth, but on a precise science which connects me with the rhythms and cycles of the Nature, Time and Space.
And all of this can be done in a human body because my body is also all of those qualities I have felt were God. This face of God I know.
And the best part is I don’t have to wait until I die to develop this relationship with God. And there is not a thunderbolt in sight… I am home.
With a thousand thanks, and then some, to Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine.
by Coleen
Further Reading:
Religion
Who or What is God?
What Would God Want for Christmas?
The Truth about Universal Medicine 
I like what you share Elizabeth, ‘It feels to me like we have allowed ourselves to be hoodwinked by a force whose sole aim is to keep us subservient to its own perceived might.’
What would life be like if we took away all our images so we lived from what our body is feeling? Now that would be different!
There is also the image of God we hold that ‘He delivers’… or not … the things that we pray for and ask to receive, material things, health, support when needed, and the way we bargain when things get tough “God if you do this for me right now I promise I will…’. We may see God as making all the decisions and then mark God as good or bad based on what we have or have not received – a bit like Santa. We can add here the belief that God also “moves in mysterious ways”! Returning to a true relationship with God via our innermost heart can mean decluttering out all the beliefs and images we hold that prevent us living the truth, stillness and love God truly is.
Then we feel the magic of God, in the moments, in-between, the stillness or repose-full-ness.
Haha, that makes sense, decluttering all the expectations we have on God.
So we can return to surrendering to the Love, Truth, and stillness that God is.
I love the humour in your words, Coleen. As silly as it may seem, it is very, very true that this is how we have painted God – the accountant, the judge, the hoo-haa eternal love which does not hold the integrity of those words. So much we can learn from the simple moments of our lives.
I used to find it difficult to talk about religion, people always seem to want to force their opinion on you and show you that they’re right, that their belief is the true belief. In recent days I have started asking people about their beliefs, how they go about their day and am learning a lot – some people really are stuck and not really bothered about any other explanation that may be possible, others are willing to tell you what they think but be open to hear your experience too. The difference between the two is that the first kind of people are really stuck in their beliefs, their beliefs are mentalised, idealised and ingrained – whereas the second kind of people speak from experience, from what has occured in their lives and with that comes a natural curiosity to see what has occured in other’s lives. When we make religion intellectualised, it almost becomes a competition on who knows more about God, about the bible, quran or the bhagavad gita. When religion is a lived experience it’s about a connection to God and to all around us – that is the kind of religion I want to know & hear about, it doesn’t matter how much you know about jesus if your heart is covered in stone, neither does it matter how many times you have read the bible if only your brain gets it.
Some people can be convinced that their view on religion is right, and so try to impose that belief on you…no wonder many other people have turned away from religion as it currently stands.
I wonder if the statement “we are born in his image” has meant that we approach who God is from what we see we are?
There is magic in letting go of the mental picture of God and reconnecting through the inner-heart to stillness, love, joy, harmony and truth to feel God’s presence all around and within.
Thank you Coleen. After reading the different interpretations about God from different religions something was brought to my attention. It’s the fact that all comes from outside us, never was it considered as a quality of stillness from within that can be lived on a daily basis. What Serge Benhayon is presenting makes the Livingness accessible for all, which is living from our inner-most, the space where our divinity lies. Love how simple, practical and close he is presenting it, because it is a tangible experience that feels familiar, it feels the Truth within me.
Beautiful to read this again Coleen. It is through our connection to our Soul that we know our innate and inescapable relationship with God, as we are His sons, and when it is this connection that we live impulsed by we then are the face of God through the lives we live.
Living with pictures of who or who God is on serves to distract us or delay our natural re-connection. It is only really delaying the inevitable though because we are made from a source that is constantly calling us back, or we would not have the illogical ‘pull’ that is so evident throughout our lives.
`God is in all things, just waiting for us to remember that he is here in us too. We are all made of His particles, and like you Coleen, when I go very still there is a very strong sense of Him, that then becomes more everyday if I choose to keep that sensitivity.
There are many purported ‘faces of God’ that are very off-putting indeed but to me they aren’t a reflection of God in truth but just a corrupted image being circulated…
Yes very true and this disturbing feeling is a sure sign that these are corrupted images of God, for as we are all Sons of God, the truth is known to us. We only choose to ignore and resist it and instead allow the lies to circulate.
Those faces of God we get presented with, they all sound superior and separate from us, and it feels like there is no way we would actually get to know Him. God I am getting to reacquaint with through presentations by Universal Medicine just makes sense of everything, including how we ended up with those faces of God that are far from truth. It just is all encompassing and I just cannot argue.
Yes and in the teachings of God, we are instantly part of it, not without it or only capable when following certain rules. When we connect to the science of the teachings we will find out that this “God” is inside us.
‘Here, I am reconnecting within myself to some qualities that I had always felt was “God”.’ Yes the Kingdom of God is within and we will find it in the essence in every human being…no a divine being playing human.
It was not until I met Serge Benhayon that I felt I had truly met someone who know innately who God is. Not in fancy words or theories but in an actual Livingness of love that is very very palpable and very beholding.
This is very needed for our humankind to realise: “The qualities of Stillness, Love, Truth, Harmony, Rhythm, Beauty and Joy are not only in nature, but are also part of our innermost self when we choose to reconnect with them” It is up to us how far we take it, no one can do it for us.
SO true, and making space to feel the truth of that is a richness we are not taught to treasure and yet it is the gold we all search for.
We have been sold so many lies about God, these many faces of God have entrapped so many people and keep them away from knowing divinity and a true connection with God.
Exactly, we are sold so many lies about God, and many other things in life; it is imperative that we are able to read and know what is true, and what is not true.
According to the different religions God is many different things, yet what I have learned through Universal Medicine presentations and Serge Benhayon is that God is love, and lives within us all.
Humanized images of God abound. Yet, none of them is able to match the feeling of Him.
Here is the direct link: http://www.unimedliving.com/unimedpedia/word-index/unimedpedia-god.html to Unimedpedia God which provides the most wonderful collection of quotes and free audio about God – so worth a visit.
…and one more super special link that I can’t hold back from sharing is this one: http://www.unimedliving.com/voice/audio-of-the-month/the-five-principles-of-god.html – it takes you to an absolutely gorgeous free audio of the month that presents on the five principles of God and the key to being part of the flow of life.
We must know God, because we know precisely what God is not. So if we know what God is not, we must know God.
True Jennifer; ‘And the best part is I don’t have to wait until I die to develop this relationship with God. And there is not a thunderbolt in sight… I am home.’
Bastardising the true meaning of God and our connection to our inner selves and thereby God is what the true meaning of evil is. Both the words God and Evil are well covered in Unimedpedia – http://www.unimedliving.com/unimedpedia/word-index and bring a lot of light and understanding to this disgrace.
“The qualities of Stillness, Love, Truth, Harmony, Rhythm, Beauty and Joy are not only in nature, but are also part of our innermost self,” to know that these qualities are who I truly am is amazing, and to live in a way connected to my innermost is The Way of the Livingness, allowing these qualities to become part of our everyday living.
Connecting to our innermost, to our essence allows us to feel the love, truth, joy, harmony and stillness that is always there.
Yes we have many weird and novel ideas of God and you describe them very well here, what I feel in all those versions of wrath, special ones etc. is a holding away from God, as we push God away from us and refuse to acknowledge we are of God – by putting God on a pedestal or as someone for a special group or someone to be feared, we don’t engage with him and we don’t engage with us either. For the truth is our relationship with God is also about our relationship with ourselves.
“And the best part is I don’t have to wait until I die to develop this relationship with God. And there is not a thunderbolt in sight… I am home’ – I could not agree any more than this, it is like a lightening strike.
When I no longer held onto an identity or image of God I was able to feel within me and all around me the Love that is God.
God can never be found in ideals, beliefs or pictures, but rather in our inner-heart, in our connection with our soul.
I too used to connect with nature as my way of being with the divine. Since attending Universal Medicine presentations I know the divine is within me – and within everyone, should we choose to accept this.
I can relate with being in and connecting to nature as being with the divine too, ‘Until recently, my sole sense of Divinity was Nature.’
Just imagine what would happen if the world, everyone, realised that that extraordinary connection that everyone hungers for is actually built in to everyone of us… What a revelation this would be for the whole of humanity
I used to blame God for my life and my father passing over when I was young. I felt this way because I was not feeling the love I honestly knew inside. Everything was fake around me and I was not cherished. It was not until I attended a Universal Medicine workshop that it hit home – I was home instantaneously – I found the truth. There was no looking back or thinking about life EVER again … it is felt.
From experiences God has many ‘faces’ or outer appearances but they are all recognisable not by sight but by our ability to feel.