A God Relationship

[rben]

Bishop Spong, I do hope that you will talk about "relationship" with God. I completely agree with your direction theologically--I have been there I think from birth. But I have found that the answer to much of our angst about God is that we forget that a relationship with Being Itself is possible, even if it takes a little metaphor in the process.

[soma]

I am not Spong, but will talk about what I think about relationship.

 

The glue of a relationship is love and it can bring a person into alignment with our deeper self. It seems according to the Quantum view that we are interconnected and our meaning surfaces from our relationship to the whole, our energy mixing with all energy. Higher up the mountain of consciousness it seems we perceive one energy stream with different individual perspectives connected in direct ways to the unified field of energy. Approaching with Quantum Mechanics, a contemplation of God in the function of pure energy enables us to perceive God permeating all things, communicating and surrounding everything in the form of resources that are willing to assist us at any second.

 

I feel as Christians we use Christ as a physical model that makes it easier to love than the abstract where we can love in a relationship to go beyond our unit self to gain access to the abstract and unite with the deeper reality that is all around and inside us.

[fatherman]

There are so many ways to relate to God. I'm sure there are so many ways in which I have not yet discovered for myself. Many reject the notion of a "personal" God, but I would propose that we are persons and unless we stop being persons we will seldomly experience the world beyond the personal. Of course, we strive to be one with something greater than personal. We may at times ascend to a level of consciousness that is greater than our person, and we will surely find something greater. A personal relationship doesn't exclude something greater; something non-personal. It is the window or means of relating to something beyond what we can fathom; something to work with until we experience ourselves as one with God. Jesus can be that personal relationship, but there are certainly other ways. Father is common in Christianity. A father is something that many can understand. Or mother. Or guru. Or wise person. Or however God chooses to come into our lives. Perhaps God will relate with us the way he chooses, no matter what we may believe about him/her/it/us. Or perhaps it is our choosing. It's a starting point.

 

As far as what the purpose of the relationship goes, perhaps that is very personal. Beliefs about this are diverse in Christianity. I can only speak to my own experience. God, to me, is the potter and I am the clay, to put it simply. It's a choice I make, to be molded. It requires complete surrender of all of my expectations, resentments, burdens, or any part of my consciousness where my helpless ego is dominant. Simply prayed, "Thy Will Be Done". I confess that God's will is greater than mine. When I do this, God does not eliminate my free will, but he begins working with me to break up the obstacles to free, peaceful, loving, joyous, and abundant living, and most importantly, obstacles which prevent me from being of service.

 

Many folks feel very uncomfortable with the notion of surrender. Surrender can imply something a defeated person does with an enemy. Or perhaps we don't like the idea of losing our tight control over our lives, regardless of how much it may limit us. Or perhaps we just don't trust God because of an imagined abuse; the loss of a loved one for example. But for me, it is none of those things. The only thing I'm seeking to give up is my suffering.

 

EDITED:

 

I final thought. A wise young man told me that we will not experience God in the ways of living in the past (resentments, regrets, dissatisfaction), nor will we experience him in the future (our anxieties, ambitions, fear). We will only experience God in the present moment. I've found that to be true.

Edited January 20, 2016 by fatherman