Quote of the day

God made you
as you are
in order to use you
as he planned.

S.C. McAuley

God needs an image makeover... article

This is an interesting article I found in a newspaper.

The many names (and images) of god

Douglas Todd

Vancouver Sun

Saturday, May 31, 2008

God needs an image makeover -- and there's no better place to start than with God's name.

Whenever someone mentions "God" in Canada, conversations crash to a halt. Everyone gets nervous. And it's not just from Canadian politeness.

It's because most people mistakenly think they know what the other is talking about when they say "God." Typically, they assume the "God" in question is a stern, patriarchal monarch in the sky.

Most Canadians, whether they consider themselves religious or not, seem stuck with the limited picture of God they had when they were early teenagers dropping out of church, synagogue, mosque or temple.

However, the concept of "God" is endlessly complex and nuanced and divinity deserves a more thoughtful name, or names.

"God" is an exaggerrated version of words such as "love," "truth," "spirituality" and "post-modern;" that is, "God" is a rich and contentious word, laden with multiple meanings.

We need to use fresher names for God. Just as people change their names to highlight different aspects of themselves -- such as when hard-driving "Priscilla" becomes more masculine "Kerry" or aboriginal "Jim George" becomes "Thundercloud" -- different names for "God" highlight different divine identities.

Through history there have been hundreds of names for "God."

Some half-decent contemporary names are "the divine," "spirit," "the holy," "the one," "the transcendent" and "the sacred" (all of which can be capitalized, depending on preference.)

The process of rebranding "God" brings to mind how Muslims long ago developed 99 "beautiful" names for "God" (or "Allah" (in Arabic) to capture the full glory and wonder of the transcendent.

I'd guess many Canadians stereotype Muslims as thinking about God mainly as a tough, vengeful dictator. But some of the 99 names for God include "The Compassionate," "The Pardoner," "The Majestic," "The Bountiful," "The Watchful," "The Wise," "The Giver of Life," "The Hidden," "The Unifier" and "The Light."

Jews have found a good way to deal with the unfortunate misunderstandings that can come from the name, "God:" Many choose simply not to use the word. Instead, they'll write "G-d."

This is a useful and humble approach, which reminds me of how U.S. geochemist Rustom Roy called for the complete eradication of the word God. He suggested integrating science and religion and replacing the word God with ****, which to him denotes the "cloud of essence."

At the same time, Jews also developed dozens of names for God in the Hebrew Bible (which Christians know as the Old Testament), including "Adonai," "Elohim," "El Shaddai" and, intriguingly, "I am what I am becoming."

In medieval times some Jews cleverly called God "The Seven," combining seven titles for the deity in one.

Although the Catholic and Protestant churches have for centuries tended to stress "Lord," "Almighty" and "Father" as names for God, Jesus and his followers adopted many others.

Influenced by Jewish and Greek tradition, their names for God included "Creator," "the Mountain," "Abba (daddy)," "the Word," "Logos," "Yahweh," "Sophia" and "the Light." Many Christians have recently been referring to God as "Redeemer" and "Sustainer."

As for Hindus, many name the supreme cosmic spirit as "Brahman." Others highlight personal manifestations of God in "Vishnu" or "Krishna."

Sikhs may speak of God as "Akal Purakh," meaning timeless primal being. In Chinese folk religion, God is often referred to as "Zhu" (Lord in Heaven) or "Shen" (spirit). Taoists talk about the ultimate as "the Tao" or "The Way."

Even Buddhists have something to say about divinity. Although most Theravadan Buddhists do not believe in a Creator, many Pure Land Buddhists give "Amithaba" eternal powers similar to those ascribed to God.

In the book, Philosophers Speak of God, edited by Charles Hartshorne and William Reese, philosophers reveal some of their many names for divinity -- including "elan vital (life force)," "the call forward," "divine intelligence," "the lure" and the "ordering principle."

All of which goes to show the name "God" is never to be taken for granted.

Next time someone drops the name into a conversation, pro or con, ask them which "God" they're talking about.

And don't let them off the hook by allowing them to argue "no one should try to define God because the transcendent is beyond full comprehension."

While it's true defining "God" will always be elusive and unprovable, it's a cop-out to not take a stab at it -- perhaps especially when someone is trying to reject belief in "God."

Asking people what they mean when they say "God" will put them on the spot and make them think, which is usually a good thing.

What's in a name? When it comes to "God," quite a lot.

To reach Douglas Todd, go to this blog at www.vancouversun.com/blogs

Experience of God

This morning, I had to go back to work after the "holiday" and it has been steady. I am often called into interesting situations and some of them challenge my comfort zone, others are my "forte". Today I was paged to see a man who had requested our services. I had no idea why, the nurses did not specify.. so I went to his room and introduced myself. He wanted to go to the chapel but was not allowed to go alone due to his recent heart surgery. He needed someone with him in case something happened.

So we saunter down to the chapel and sit down. There is another person in the chapel praying, so I told him to sit anywhere. I went to the other side of the room for quiet meditation and prayer. After a while, we started to leave but instead sat down at the back of the chapel where he continued his story begun on our walk down to the chapel. He told me that he had started the 12 step program for NA and his journey to this point. I am always awed at the journey of some people. I felt very privileged to hear his story and told him so. He talked about being in contact with his Higher Power and how he came to this realization. And his experience of God, as I call Him. "It's better than any high that drugs can give you. I wish I had discovered this 40 years ago then I wouldn't have had to waste my life as I did."

He described vibrations and sensations attributed to the Higher Power. I told him that he is lucky to experience the presence of God in this way as many people take their relationship with God for granted. (I realize that it could be withdrawal, but the way he described it, I don't think that it was withdrawal. ) He explained that he has had such a warmth and peace spread through out him that he doesn't worry too much about the surgeries and "unknown" future.

I think is a great gift. Not everyone is able to "experience" God working in their lives. Some people experience it but do not know what it is, do not pay attention, and others long for it, seeking others methods to reach God. The irony is that as Mankind searches for God, God reaches out to us in ways that we can't often fathom.

Usually when someone says "the experience of God", the listener assumes conversion experience. This is the first realization of the power of God. Paul/Saul on the road to Damascus experienced God in a dramatic way. But this is not the way everyone meets God. Some people are brought to their knees, while others enter into God's presence through a logical route/thought process. Each experience of God is just as real as the next, because every individual is unique/different, hence the experience and relationship with God will be just as unique. It is when we tell people that their experience of God is false, that we turn people off. One woman I met told me that she had a near death experience, and gained much inner power from it, but was told by a doctor that her experience was a part of a delirium and hence negated.

When we preach AT them, versus talking WITH them. I have heard of so many people (whom I meet in my work, either staff, patients, families) who have a faith or belief in God, but have been so turned off of organized religion/worship. I have been told time and time again that it was a "well meaning person" (my opinion) who tried to guilt them into something, or chastised them for their problems that they had, that in the end, the person left the community of faith. How this affects their experience of God has always been a wonder to me.. I hope it does not paint God in a negative light.