Mostly God is something or someone that you take on faith, but does that have to be the case? Some 20 years ago now, a non-practicing Jewish friend of mine began me on the quest to prove "God" exists. God, in our various mythologies, is given the power to change things. To see the future. To control everything. Over the course of the next several weeks, we will explore that some more, but first we have to prove that a God actually exists.
Scientists have a hard time with the idea of a God, and yet it is actually science that helps to prove God does in fact exist. Perhaps not the old guy with the beard sitting on a throne in the sky, but spiritual presence beyond physics and science that we all know in our hearts exists.
Life has certain characteristics of inanimate objects. Generally to accomplish tasks it follows the laws of physics. We can only lift a certain weight off the ground if several aspects of physics are in play: we have the right leverage, we use the right balance, and the chemical reactions in our muscles provide us with adequate strength to overcome the desire of the object to remain at rest. Our nerves work using a series of chemical reactions which in turn cause muscles to react, pain the be registered, etc.
That part of the body is the machine. We have heard it many time. We have a soul and we have the machine that is the body. We can repair and replace parts of the body machine like we repair and replace parts of a car. We can rewire it of block the effects of the wiring with things like paralytics and pain relievers. We can put in a new motor. We can even create artificial parts or use parts from animals.
The machine operates entirely on the rules of physics that govern the operation and actions of every inanimate object in the earth, the world, the universe.
Consider another machine. An automobile, for example. It is very complex. It often has a computer brain that does a great many things to make sure the vehicle operates properly. But not being alive, when turned off it cannot do anything.
All inanimate objects are completely predictable. Consider the pool table. Several balls on a felt table with bumpers and pockets. There are many forces at work, all completely predictable. So simply predictable that with a bit of practice most of us can create the right amount of force in the pool cue to cause it to strike the cue ball with the proper force and at the proper angle, taking into account the friction of the felt on the table and the reactions of the bumpers, to cause a colored ball to find its way into a pocket. Great pool players can do this so well that they can set up the other balls on the table to make sure they can make another shot, followed by another until the table is clear.
Bowlers can send a ball down a oiled lane with a hook into the pocket to predictably knock over 10 pins. Great bowlers do this with greater frequency. It is wholey predictable that if the ball is thrown right the pins will fall properly leaving none.
Golf, basketball, baseball, auto-mechanics, hunting, and every other endeavor man has created relies on the complete and total predictability of working with inanimate objects. The best even allow for physical forces difficult to predict, like allowing for the wind. We all know if they knew the precise wind speed and angle throughout the flight of the arrow, for example, the great archer could completely predict where the arrow would land. This is the simple stuff that even you and I can understand and even get right once in awhile.
The laws of physics, however, not only govern physical objects, but also energy, light, sound, dark matter, dark energy, anti-matter, and a whole host of weird things that physicists find in nature. They find them, however, because they calculate their existence in advance using math and the laws of physics. Then, once theorized by brilliant minds, they are found in nature just as predicted. Black holes with bits of anti-matter at the edges. Planets circling stars with a slight wobble as the planets rotate around them in eliptical orbits. Dark matter and dark energy, which are much larger than their counterparts in terms of the universe and its contents. Neutrons, electrons, quarks, and particles smaller still. (Note that these smaller particles are very odd and behave according to an as yet generaly not understood set of additional "laws" referred to generally as Quantum Mechanics, but that is too deep for this).
No one has actually seen any of these things. The light we see from the universe is millions of years old at the youngest. Planets are too small to see. Atoms, much less sub-atomic particles, are too small to see. We find them and prove they exist using the predictability of the laws of physics.
The Big Bang Theory is based on predictions. Scientists can see that everything they observe in space is moving. When they use the laws of physics and trace these movements back in time billions of years, everything ends up in one place. Hence the theory that it all was once in one place and then suddenly "bang" it exploded into existence. The cool thing is they can determine what elements were caused first and how the remaining ones were caused over time. It is still a theory, but it is based on the pure predictability of inanimate objects.
But, Houston, we have a problem. Living things, and humans in particular, have the power to violate the predictability of the laws of physics. While living things USE the laws of physics to accomplish tasks, unlike inanimate objects, they are not bound by them.
"What on earth do you mean?" you ask.
If the laws of physics applied, from the moment of the Big Bang forward the actions of every single particle of matter would be completely predictable and would continue to be forever. Out in space, this is true.
Think about that for a moment.
That would mean that I am typing this because the particles in my fingers that began a path at the moment of the big bang caused me to type this.
That would mean that you are reading this because at the moment of the Big Bang every single particle in you was destined to be where you are right now doing what you are doing right now.
That would mean that there is no free will whatsoever.
Lots of things in the universe are predictable from the moment of the Big Bang, which is how they figured it out.
We know both subjectively and objectively that we do have free will. Biologists will confirm that living things decide to move, which causes particles to change directions from the path they were set on when the Big Bang happened, or from last week or seconds ago.
We can decide to move when we desire to move. We cause our body machines to do things, suddenly and without any required action-reaction sequence. Yes we then use physics to our advantage to make the body-machine, automobile-machine, cell phone-machine, etc do things, but we decide how and when to operate them and what they will do. The automobile does not move until we cause our body-machines to get into it, turn the key and make it do things. When we get into that car, we have simply augmented our body machines to allow our body-machines to do things it could not otherwise do, but we are still operating one machine so that it operates the other machine (and sometimes while texting on yet another machine we cause a crash and injury to both of the other machines in the process).
So what is it that gives us the ability to cause our body-machines to move in ways that violate the pure and lovely predictability of the laws of physics.
That, my good friend, is what we refer to as "God." This is a physics-proven fact. The ability of living things to use physics to accomplish things, but to violate the laws of physics to start the process. The difference, the intervention, is life. Life is spiritual, not physical. It is real. It is quantifiable. It is measurable. But, it is free and unpredictable. That spiritual component of life is "God" unless you want to call it something else, which is fine with me. I call it the spiritual internet or the Harmony. It is the Holy Spirit to some. It is the "force" if you are a Star Wars groupee. I just proved its existence, you can choose the name you like best.
More when my particles get around to it again.
Post Script: Interestingly, well at least to me, I read an article by a physicist who notes that on earth, in particular humans, have so changed things that the predictability of pure physics is interfered with. For example, if left to their paths after the Big Bang, that table and chair you are sitting on would likely still be growing or would have fallen in the forest to be eaten by bugs, that steel in your lamp would still be ore and the gas in your car would still be petroleum in the ground. It would have followed the path it was destined for when the Big Bang begun.
So not only do we change things within our own body-machines to make it do things, but we have moved particles from the path of their predictable physics-based destiny to a location of our chosing, using physics, but moving the particles completely in violation of the laws of physics.
The theory of the butterfly effect contemplates that every movement that we make that changes the natural movement of these particles, even the beating of a butterflies wings, changes every particle everywhere in some way. Physicists call it chaos or entropy. Basically stuff that cannot be explained because humans messed with it. That is why physicists stare out into untouched space.
This physicist has noticed, however, that there are things in space that are showing a bit of this. Stars and stuff too far to be effectively altered by anything we have done are exhibiting a touch of this chaos. Since the light we see from space is older that human-kind itself, whatever we are sending out there will not be effecting the light we see coming to us for millions of years.
So that means that something else is causing particles to stop following the rules of physics way out there in the universe, and it started way before any humans existed. Hmmm. Think about the implications of that observation.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Monday, August 20, 2012
Who Cares "Who/What" God is?
Isn't pure faith that there is a God enough? To some, sure. To others, who or what God is becomes the basic blockage to any faith at all. The images of God are so unsettling or obscure, and perhaps this will not change that, but here goes.
If God is an omnipotent king sitting on a throne in some mystical place called "heaven" with pearly gates and all that; a power who can grant you your every wish (if he feels like it), then God becomes distant, petty, vengeful, picky and . . . well, a despot. We cannot truly build a relationship with this God. He rules. We act. We don't act. He smites us.
Even if God is a being of some sort who is also a benevolent dictator, who loves us all as we are, but is still judgmental, spiteful and sometimes downright cruel to those not "chosen" or "faithful" then how can we trust this God? Especially if we are all sinners? Is this really who or what God is? What sort of "being" is this God? Mysterious at best. Scary really.
We have all tried to be good. We have all asked for things we have never received. We have all asked for family members to recover from illness, yet they have died. We have prayed individually. Sumitted group prayers to the pastor. Counted beads, lit candles and all sorts of things these Gods seem to want, and yet we do not receive what we asked for or our family member dies. What is up with that?
We have suffered and received hardships that God could have stopped. Why did he let that happen? Then there are the "miracles." People of faithless relatives and mediocre pasts, at best, survive a disaster or recover from a terminal illness. What is up with that?
Even Jesus, when his faith that God would save him from the pain of the beatings and of the crucifiction was broken and he hung from the cross in severe pain, asked, "Father why have you foresaken me?" Even he felt let down by this omnipotent God-king. How then can we, mere mortals, have a deep and trusting relationship with this sort of God?
If we do not believe in the Zeus-like characterization, but have no other concept of what or who God is, then how can we truly have a relationship with it, whatever it is? So who or what God is, it seems to me, is critical if we are going to have a true relationship.
When we see "God" not as an entity but as a real spiritual internet, the collective spirit that is composed of and connected to every other soul on the planet, then how we think of that relationship changes. We can have a relationship with other people. We do it all the time in person and even etherially in the actual electronic internet, and it works for us.
People can empathize with us, but they cannot completely protect us. We get that.
People can understand us, even if they do not agree with us. We get that.
People can share our joy, love us unconditionally and with conditions, and we get that.
We understand the frailties and strengths of people and inherently understand the power of bonding with others to enhance our own strengths and shore up our own frailties.
When we recognize who we are praying to and their limitations, our prayers become less selfish. We know that our family, friends, congregation, neighbors and team mates cannot grant us our every wish. Knowing this about who and what God is has changed the way I pray.
Jesus said, "Ask and you shall receive." We contemplate that what he meant was that if you are faithful and believe in the one God enough he will give you anything you want. If you ask and you don't get it, then you are obviously not faithful enough.
I think what he meant, however, is that the Holy Spirit, the spiritual internet, the Harmony, goes both ways. Ask for guidance, and you will receive it. Ask for truth, and you will receive it. Ask how to stay in harmony with all other living things, and you will know in your heart what is the right thing to do.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It is not, Do unto others as I say you should.
He told us to love one another, to love everyone no matter who they are, including our enemies. Be in harmony with all other souls.
According to the Lord's prayer, you are only forgiven to the extent you forgive others, not to some set rule from a despot. Forgive and you will be forgiven back.
Jesus implored us not to judge one another, but to leave that to God later. Be in harmony even with those who are different than you, who disagree with you, who dislike you, who do not understand you, etc.
The message is reciprocal not dictatorial. This flows through the teachings of Jesus and almost every other great philosopher and prophet throughout time. The Harmony is all-inclusive.
What is amazing in my life is that when I connect to the Harmony and do what I know in my heart is the right thing to do, things go well. I am acting in Harmony with all other souls around me. I become connected to people I need to be connected to seemingly out of the blue. I find a place that is right for me. I stay centered, more relaxed and dramatically less concerned over things like money. I know. I have faith, that when I listen to the Holy Spirit, the spiritual internet, the Harmony, my life is in balance, in harmony and connected.
Try it. It is very easy and of course it is rather difficult. NEVER do what you feel you should do if you know in your heart you should not do it, no matter what Grandma says or will think. NEVER do what you want to do WHEN you know in your heart it is not the right thing to do. ALWAYS do what you know in your heart is the right thing to do. When you do, no matter what that action or inaction may be, you will be in Harmony will all other souls and the result will be the right, spiritually harmonious result for you.
That is why who or what "God" is, matters. More to come. Enjoy life!
If God is an omnipotent king sitting on a throne in some mystical place called "heaven" with pearly gates and all that; a power who can grant you your every wish (if he feels like it), then God becomes distant, petty, vengeful, picky and . . . well, a despot. We cannot truly build a relationship with this God. He rules. We act. We don't act. He smites us.
Even if God is a being of some sort who is also a benevolent dictator, who loves us all as we are, but is still judgmental, spiteful and sometimes downright cruel to those not "chosen" or "faithful" then how can we trust this God? Especially if we are all sinners? Is this really who or what God is? What sort of "being" is this God? Mysterious at best. Scary really.
We have all tried to be good. We have all asked for things we have never received. We have all asked for family members to recover from illness, yet they have died. We have prayed individually. Sumitted group prayers to the pastor. Counted beads, lit candles and all sorts of things these Gods seem to want, and yet we do not receive what we asked for or our family member dies. What is up with that?
We have suffered and received hardships that God could have stopped. Why did he let that happen? Then there are the "miracles." People of faithless relatives and mediocre pasts, at best, survive a disaster or recover from a terminal illness. What is up with that?
Even Jesus, when his faith that God would save him from the pain of the beatings and of the crucifiction was broken and he hung from the cross in severe pain, asked, "Father why have you foresaken me?" Even he felt let down by this omnipotent God-king. How then can we, mere mortals, have a deep and trusting relationship with this sort of God?
If we do not believe in the Zeus-like characterization, but have no other concept of what or who God is, then how can we truly have a relationship with it, whatever it is? So who or what God is, it seems to me, is critical if we are going to have a true relationship.
When we see "God" not as an entity but as a real spiritual internet, the collective spirit that is composed of and connected to every other soul on the planet, then how we think of that relationship changes. We can have a relationship with other people. We do it all the time in person and even etherially in the actual electronic internet, and it works for us.
People can empathize with us, but they cannot completely protect us. We get that.
People can understand us, even if they do not agree with us. We get that.
People can share our joy, love us unconditionally and with conditions, and we get that.
We understand the frailties and strengths of people and inherently understand the power of bonding with others to enhance our own strengths and shore up our own frailties.
When we recognize who we are praying to and their limitations, our prayers become less selfish. We know that our family, friends, congregation, neighbors and team mates cannot grant us our every wish. Knowing this about who and what God is has changed the way I pray.
Jesus said, "Ask and you shall receive." We contemplate that what he meant was that if you are faithful and believe in the one God enough he will give you anything you want. If you ask and you don't get it, then you are obviously not faithful enough.
I think what he meant, however, is that the Holy Spirit, the spiritual internet, the Harmony, goes both ways. Ask for guidance, and you will receive it. Ask for truth, and you will receive it. Ask how to stay in harmony with all other living things, and you will know in your heart what is the right thing to do.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It is not, Do unto others as I say you should.
He told us to love one another, to love everyone no matter who they are, including our enemies. Be in harmony with all other souls.
According to the Lord's prayer, you are only forgiven to the extent you forgive others, not to some set rule from a despot. Forgive and you will be forgiven back.
Jesus implored us not to judge one another, but to leave that to God later. Be in harmony even with those who are different than you, who disagree with you, who dislike you, who do not understand you, etc.
The message is reciprocal not dictatorial. This flows through the teachings of Jesus and almost every other great philosopher and prophet throughout time. The Harmony is all-inclusive.
What is amazing in my life is that when I connect to the Harmony and do what I know in my heart is the right thing to do, things go well. I am acting in Harmony with all other souls around me. I become connected to people I need to be connected to seemingly out of the blue. I find a place that is right for me. I stay centered, more relaxed and dramatically less concerned over things like money. I know. I have faith, that when I listen to the Holy Spirit, the spiritual internet, the Harmony, my life is in balance, in harmony and connected.
Try it. It is very easy and of course it is rather difficult. NEVER do what you feel you should do if you know in your heart you should not do it, no matter what Grandma says or will think. NEVER do what you want to do WHEN you know in your heart it is not the right thing to do. ALWAYS do what you know in your heart is the right thing to do. When you do, no matter what that action or inaction may be, you will be in Harmony will all other souls and the result will be the right, spiritually harmonious result for you.
That is why who or what "God" is, matters. More to come. Enjoy life!
Monday, August 13, 2012
The Spiritual Internet
"God" is the interconnection of the spirits of all livings things to all other living things. Essentially the spiritual internet connecting each of us to everyone else. When we listen to that spirit, everyone else's spirit is guiding us to understand how our actions can create harmony among all living things, among those who make up the spirit, the "holy" spirit if you will.
If you do what you know in your heart is the right thing to do you are connecting to this spirit, the holy spirit, of all living things to one another. If you listen to it and do what you know in YOUR heart is the right thing to do, you will remain in harmony with all living things. When you ignore your heart, your conscience, the spirit, you are creating disharmony no matter how good you think what you are doing may be.
It takes great faith to do this. You often know in your heart what to do, but it is not what society or whoever says you "should" do. in addition, there are often perceived and feared consequences to doing what you know in your heart is right. "What will Grandma say?" "Will my friend still like me?" Will people think I am wierd?" "Will I be hurt emotionally?" "Will I get hurt physically?" Or worse, "is what I know in my heart to be the right thing to do against the law and likely to land me in jail or cost me money?"
All valid concerns when we follow our hearts. Truly follow.
There is also a critical difference between what our physical bodies "want" and what we know in our hearts is the right thing to do. We struggle with the desires of the body, which are not all bad and often right at the right time. When we connect into the spirit that connects all of us, we will know the difference between what we desire physically and what is the right thing to do for us at that moment in time, because it will be in harmony with everyone else. Sometimes, thankfully, they are the same thing.
In the end, being connected into the Harmony, the spirit that connects all of us to each other, or God if you want, will always result in things actually turning out the best way possible.
Some Thoughts on What God is Not: There are thousands of images attributable to God. The most common of course is of an old wise man with a long white beard sitting regally upon a golden throne clothed in robes, with angels and cherubs flitting about and your chosen prophet standing at his right hand. The man/God may carry some sort of staff or sceptor. His hair is long and flowing. His skin is burnished tan and healthy. His hands are large and he is much more muscular and physically powerful than a man of his age should be. See images of Zeus from Greek mythology, the depiction of God in Revelations and more recently, King Neptune in "The Little Mermaid."
Is God a very powerful wise old man sitting on a throne? I think not, and I think that few people still believe in this sort of human-like God. Of course, while the Old Testament proclaims that we are made in the image of God, the New Testament consistently refutes idols and images of God as in any way human-like. See Romans 2:22 for example.
Proof of God: In an earlier post, I "proved" there is a "God." Of course, for those who "believe" one need not prove there is a God. There just is and always has been a God. I suppose I went through the process of proving there is a God for those of us who were not really sure and needed proof. It is rather complicated to sum up, so if you need proving, go read it.
So that begs the next logical question. "What" is God? If God is not an old wise man sitting on a throne on top of Mount Olympus or in the Kingdom of Heaven or at the bottom of the seas, then what is God?
Some Bible Thoughts: If one reads the Bible, and in particular the New Testament, I think that it is clear that God is a spirit, even though there are many passages that envision God as a being of some sort. God is metaphorically a Father and a Son, but by that, I believe that what Jesus and Paul meant is that God is our family. Jesus explained that there was a lot more for people to learn that he did not have time to tell them. He explained that the Spirit of Truth will guide us to the real truth. John 16:12 - 15. He explained that we have a direct relationship with God. God is within us. God connects us. We do not have to go through anyone or anything else to get to God. We are connected directly to God. That was hard for the priests of the day to handle.
He explains that it does not matter if you blaspheme, or curse or disrespect, God. It does not matter if you blashpeme, or curse or disrespect, Jesus. It is only when you blaspheme, or curse or disrespect, the Spirit when you are truly in trouble. Matthew 12:30 - 32, and Mark 3:28-29. Not that you should put all your faith in what the Bible says, but on God there seem to be a lot of people who care what it says on such things.
So what is the point of these statements? If you look into your heart honestly, your conscience will tell you what is the right thing for you to do at any particular moment in time. Your conscience or your metaphorical "heart" knows, because it is connected to the Spirit. In the Bible the Spirit is connected to God. When you lie to yourself, ignore the Spirit, your conscience, and fail to follow your heart, you are ignoring your connection to God, the truth for you, personally. The truth for YOU is not found in books or laws or rules or what Grandma or your priest or mother or whoever says, or anything else for that matter. What is right for you is found in one place - inside you. That is all through the new Testment and there are too many verses to recount.
So again we come to "What" is God. The Spirit is connected to God. The Spirit is within us. The Spirit is what makes us alive and able to drive the machine that is our bodies. So rather than a great and ageless man, God is a spirit.
I thought about this for many years. I have asked the Spirit of Truth for guidance. I have read the Bible, things written by many deep thinkers, many who are not Christian, and listened to atheists, agnostics, muslims, sikhs (my auto repair guy who is great), and just talked things out with people. I began to notice things, perhaps as natural as anything, but they seemed to guide me. I came to believe first that God was a spirit that all of our spirits come from when we are born, and all go back to after we die. I still believe that to be essentially true.
As I mentioned at the beginning, I found something else. Something I call the "Harmony." This was really by accident. Once connected to it and faithful to it, everything in my life just seemed to fit, to work, then get better. Coincidences happened. I met the right people at the right time. People touched my life at the right moment.
I found that whenever I did something for selfish reasons, it did not work out, no matter how well thought through and analyzed and planned for. This was especially true if it involved money. We all know the story of the rich young man who approached Jesus and asked how he could follow Jesus. Jesus told him to sell all of his assets and give them to the poor and then he could join and follow Jesus. The rich man could not do it. Jesus said, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. The point of this story is not that rich men will not get into heaven. It is that wealth makes it harder to do what you know in your heart is the right thing to do. Mortgages and Country Club dues are large and have to be paid. Spouses and children have needs that befit your station in life. This man knew what was right for him in his heart, yet he did not have the faith to suffer the consequences of the actions he knew were right for him. Sometimes the right thing is awfully hard and takes a great deal of faith.
I live by a very simple tenet,
As I have lived my life this way, odd coincidences have occurred in my life. Things always work out for the best. I am always happy. I am more calm. What I have also felt is that when connected into the Harmony, I am connected to everyone who is also connected. I have come to believe, therefore, that the Spirit Jesus speaks of, is the connection of the spirits of all people to one another through a common global/universal spirit, if you will. The spiritual internet.
I have felt driven to write this and to share this. I hope it helps you find harmony and peace in your life.
If you do what you know in your heart is the right thing to do you are connecting to this spirit, the holy spirit, of all living things to one another. If you listen to it and do what you know in YOUR heart is the right thing to do, you will remain in harmony with all living things. When you ignore your heart, your conscience, the spirit, you are creating disharmony no matter how good you think what you are doing may be.
It takes great faith to do this. You often know in your heart what to do, but it is not what society or whoever says you "should" do. in addition, there are often perceived and feared consequences to doing what you know in your heart is right. "What will Grandma say?" "Will my friend still like me?" Will people think I am wierd?" "Will I be hurt emotionally?" "Will I get hurt physically?" Or worse, "is what I know in my heart to be the right thing to do against the law and likely to land me in jail or cost me money?"
All valid concerns when we follow our hearts. Truly follow.
There is also a critical difference between what our physical bodies "want" and what we know in our hearts is the right thing to do. We struggle with the desires of the body, which are not all bad and often right at the right time. When we connect into the spirit that connects all of us, we will know the difference between what we desire physically and what is the right thing to do for us at that moment in time, because it will be in harmony with everyone else. Sometimes, thankfully, they are the same thing.
In the end, being connected into the Harmony, the spirit that connects all of us to each other, or God if you want, will always result in things actually turning out the best way possible.
Some Thoughts on What God is Not: There are thousands of images attributable to God. The most common of course is of an old wise man with a long white beard sitting regally upon a golden throne clothed in robes, with angels and cherubs flitting about and your chosen prophet standing at his right hand. The man/God may carry some sort of staff or sceptor. His hair is long and flowing. His skin is burnished tan and healthy. His hands are large and he is much more muscular and physically powerful than a man of his age should be. See images of Zeus from Greek mythology, the depiction of God in Revelations and more recently, King Neptune in "The Little Mermaid."
Is God a very powerful wise old man sitting on a throne? I think not, and I think that few people still believe in this sort of human-like God. Of course, while the Old Testament proclaims that we are made in the image of God, the New Testament consistently refutes idols and images of God as in any way human-like. See Romans 2:22 for example.
Proof of God: In an earlier post, I "proved" there is a "God." Of course, for those who "believe" one need not prove there is a God. There just is and always has been a God. I suppose I went through the process of proving there is a God for those of us who were not really sure and needed proof. It is rather complicated to sum up, so if you need proving, go read it.
So that begs the next logical question. "What" is God? If God is not an old wise man sitting on a throne on top of Mount Olympus or in the Kingdom of Heaven or at the bottom of the seas, then what is God?
Some Bible Thoughts: If one reads the Bible, and in particular the New Testament, I think that it is clear that God is a spirit, even though there are many passages that envision God as a being of some sort. God is metaphorically a Father and a Son, but by that, I believe that what Jesus and Paul meant is that God is our family. Jesus explained that there was a lot more for people to learn that he did not have time to tell them. He explained that the Spirit of Truth will guide us to the real truth. John 16:12 - 15. He explained that we have a direct relationship with God. God is within us. God connects us. We do not have to go through anyone or anything else to get to God. We are connected directly to God. That was hard for the priests of the day to handle.
He explains that it does not matter if you blaspheme, or curse or disrespect, God. It does not matter if you blashpeme, or curse or disrespect, Jesus. It is only when you blaspheme, or curse or disrespect, the Spirit when you are truly in trouble. Matthew 12:30 - 32, and Mark 3:28-29. Not that you should put all your faith in what the Bible says, but on God there seem to be a lot of people who care what it says on such things.
So what is the point of these statements? If you look into your heart honestly, your conscience will tell you what is the right thing for you to do at any particular moment in time. Your conscience or your metaphorical "heart" knows, because it is connected to the Spirit. In the Bible the Spirit is connected to God. When you lie to yourself, ignore the Spirit, your conscience, and fail to follow your heart, you are ignoring your connection to God, the truth for you, personally. The truth for YOU is not found in books or laws or rules or what Grandma or your priest or mother or whoever says, or anything else for that matter. What is right for you is found in one place - inside you. That is all through the new Testment and there are too many verses to recount.
So again we come to "What" is God. The Spirit is connected to God. The Spirit is within us. The Spirit is what makes us alive and able to drive the machine that is our bodies. So rather than a great and ageless man, God is a spirit.
I thought about this for many years. I have asked the Spirit of Truth for guidance. I have read the Bible, things written by many deep thinkers, many who are not Christian, and listened to atheists, agnostics, muslims, sikhs (my auto repair guy who is great), and just talked things out with people. I began to notice things, perhaps as natural as anything, but they seemed to guide me. I came to believe first that God was a spirit that all of our spirits come from when we are born, and all go back to after we die. I still believe that to be essentially true.
As I mentioned at the beginning, I found something else. Something I call the "Harmony." This was really by accident. Once connected to it and faithful to it, everything in my life just seemed to fit, to work, then get better. Coincidences happened. I met the right people at the right time. People touched my life at the right moment.
I found that whenever I did something for selfish reasons, it did not work out, no matter how well thought through and analyzed and planned for. This was especially true if it involved money. We all know the story of the rich young man who approached Jesus and asked how he could follow Jesus. Jesus told him to sell all of his assets and give them to the poor and then he could join and follow Jesus. The rich man could not do it. Jesus said, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. The point of this story is not that rich men will not get into heaven. It is that wealth makes it harder to do what you know in your heart is the right thing to do. Mortgages and Country Club dues are large and have to be paid. Spouses and children have needs that befit your station in life. This man knew what was right for him in his heart, yet he did not have the faith to suffer the consequences of the actions he knew were right for him. Sometimes the right thing is awfully hard and takes a great deal of faith.
I live by a very simple tenet,
Do what you know in your heart is the right thing to do and
you will remain in harmony with all living things.
As I have lived my life this way, odd coincidences have occurred in my life. Things always work out for the best. I am always happy. I am more calm. What I have also felt is that when connected into the Harmony, I am connected to everyone who is also connected. I have come to believe, therefore, that the Spirit Jesus speaks of, is the connection of the spirits of all people to one another through a common global/universal spirit, if you will. The spiritual internet.
I have felt driven to write this and to share this. I hope it helps you find harmony and peace in your life.
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