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There is a classic Indian fable, made popular in America by 19th century poet John Godfrey Saxe, about six blind people each encountering a different part of an elephant and expressing a different hypothesis on the nature of the elephant based on that one part. "A snake," says one with the trunk. "A tree," says the one with a leg. "A wall" says the one at its side. The pachyderm is, in fact, none of those.
We each can have a different interpretation and relationship with God. (And, for all you monotheists, God can still be one.)
Part of why I'm writing this article is in attempts to help you to see that the terribly divisive phrases, "I believe in God" or "I don't believe in God" are somewhat meaningless as different people quite possibly have different notions with regard the God they do or don't believe in.
Most common Gods.
According to a Baylor University Institute for Studies of Religion survey,
Note: assumed in this study are a few commonly understood notions about God. These notions are that there is only one God and that God is good, all-powerful, and all-knowing. (Remember: you are not required to maintain any of these beliefs or to feel guilty or awkward if you don't believe.)
Here's a run-down of each:
Authoritarian God.
Angry at earthly sin and willing to inflict divine retribution. (Approximately 32 out of 100 who profess to believe in God most closely align themselves with this image. Regionally in the
Distant God.
A faceless, cosmic force that launched the world but leaves it alone. (Approximately 23 out of 100 who profess to believe in God most closely align themselves with this image. Regionally in the
Benevolent God.
Sets absolute standards for man, but is also forgiving — engaged but not so angry. (Approximately 25 out of 100 who profess to believe in God most closely align themselves with this image. Regionally in the
Critical God.
The classic bearded old man, judgmental but not going to intervene or punish. (Approximately 16 out of 100 who profess to believe in God most closely align themselves with this image. Regionally in the
Other pieces of the Elephant.
While those four archetypes are the most common views of God, they are pretty sterile. In my conversations with people over the years, I've gathered many more colorful attempts to encapsulate the limitless — different notions that different people have come up with as stabs at trying to define God. And, that's why I am going to ask you in a moment to do the same.
None are exact — none are right — none are perfect.
All are wonderful in their own way.
Remember: I am not asking that you subscribe to any one of these notions, just that you read them.
Great Clockmaker
The existence of a clock necessitates the existence of a clock-maker — even if we never see or know this clock-maker. Similarly, the existence of the world necessitates some sort of creator. Moreover, God is like the clock maker who made the clock, wound it, and then stepped away.
Reluctantly Invited Guest
God is treated like an unwanted guest invited to the dinner party — invited out of guilt and then treated poorly.
Highest ideals
Twentieth Century German-American psychologist and humanistic philosopher Erich Fromm tells us that God is “not the internalized voice of an authority whom we are eager to please and afraid of displeasing; it is the voice of our total personality expressing the demands of life and growth."
Everynothing
Sixth Century BCE philosopher and author of Tao Te Ching, Lao-Tsu wrote that God is simply perfect and beyond words:
There was something formless and perfect before the universe was born. It is serene. Empty. Unchanging. Infinite. Eternal. Present. It is the mother of the universe. For lack of a better name, I call it God.
Post-it® Note
Sometimes I put a Post-it Note up in a place so that I will be certain to see it repeatedly. And, for a while, I see that note.
But then, after time, the note seemingly disappears; it becomes part of the background.
God, while plainly visible to me from time to time in different manifestations, similarly disappears.
Television
I don’t understand the entirety of how my television turns the wires that come into it into pictures and sound. I can still enjoy it. I can feel the same about God.
God, driving the cart
God is the driver of the cart that I am sitting on the back of... I can clearly see where I've been, but not where I'm going. I wonder about how much faith I have in the driver.
Pet : me :: me : God
My dogs don't understand why I have to take them to the veterinarian for shots that hurt. (Of course, this is somewhat of a guess as my dogs don't express themselves in words as much as they really drag their feet when we get to the vet's office.) Neither likes visiting the vet much more than I enjoy trips to my dentist to get the plaque scraped from my teeth.
Perhaps God causes me "pain" for reasons that are beyond my understanding?
God-hole
While I cannot define what it is that I mean when I use the word God, I do know that there is a hole inside of me.
Nothing seems to fill that hole's emptiness no matter what I try to cram into it — food, thinking, or any compulsion.
It is a God-hole.
I cannot describe the emptiness of that hole, but I can know the shape of its perimeter in me.
Nothing but God will fit this God-shaped hole.
I-Thou
Martin Buber, the turn of the 20th century philosopher, proposed that interactions between people and others can be categorized into two groups – I-It and I-Thou. The I-It relationship is the normative interaction between objects; it is a connection of experience and using. The I-Thou, while more rare, is when the two parties fully accept each other — and this connection he explains is an aspect of God. Others are not obstacles on the path to the divine, they are the path!
Magicalness.
God is that mercurial, magical difference between a body and a corpse, between a painting and art, between unconsciousness and consciousness.
God, Me, and You.
William Blake once was asked if he believed Jesus was the only true God. His response is at first enigmatic, but indeed brilliant: "Jesus Christ is the only true God…and so am I. And so are you."
A friend.
God is a friend I can reach out to and be with at any time I feel the need to reach out and share.
A daughter, the mall, & God.
A woman I know had an "a-ha" moment understanding her relationship with God after her daughter asked to be taken to the mall yet again. "I realized that all I ever do is ask God for things…that must be very annoying."
God-ding.
Predicate theology is the notion of “acting” godly. God, not as a noun, but as an active verb.
As an analogy, a person can act Scrooge-like whether Ebenezer Scrooge was an actual person or not. Accordingly, people — no matter what they believe or don't believe — can act godly.
Not the "good" child.
My friend, Alan, expressed that he had spent his entire life, up until his father died, being a "good child" in God's eyes – never complaining or asking for anything. After his father died he cursed God for making death. "It was only after my cursing God that I found I could have a real relationship with my Higher Power."
Not it.
One of the wisest women I know said — and I'm basing how wise she is on this phrase that I overheard her say — "I don't know much about God, I just know that I'm not it."
Ground-of-us.
Twentieth century
Panentheism.
Panentheism is the notion that everything is in God and that God is in everything. (This is not the same as pantheism — without the "en" — which maintains that "everything is God.”) Panentheism maintains that there is more to God than the material universe, that God is transcendent and non-personal, and that God is both the creator and the original source of universal morality.
Humorous Answers.
On a website, I found a collection of the following "notions of God" that were written as jokes. Nonetheless, they encapsulate some profound views of the divine:
Noncommittal — God loves humanity, but isn't "in love" with humanity.
Codependent — God enables us to sin so that we'll need rescuing.
Common-law — Since the beginning of time, God has assumed sole responsibility for Godlike acts, but has not legally been established as "God."
Sports — God occasionally intervenes when a big play is needed.
Chairgod of the board — God sets the agenda, but doesn't get involved in day-to-day operations.
Some of your own.
How about you?
Write down any encapsulations of God that you like or that work for you.
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With love,
Rabbi Brian
