Aug 24, 2016

 

Five Fallacies About God (2)

1. God Needs something (2)

 

I can hear it now: ‘Of course God has no needs. We never said that God has needs.’

 

I beg to differ. We have rule books upon rule books that say unless we do this or that, we will be condemned to a fiery hell for all eternity. Is that not saying that God has needs that we better meet or else? Almost all religions express themselves in similar ways, stating that unless we do this or that, all is lost. The Ten Commandments are just the mildest form of rules that too many wave around and demand that everyone else follow, or God will gleefully punish them.

 

Of course, those that wave the Ten Commandments around assume that they are excused from following them, since they are yelling the loudest, and are the “justified” messengers.

 

Most religions love to draw up creeds that must be followed or else, love to point to others that they claim are not following their rules, indeed, the others each have their own set of rules to follow, all claiming to be the right rules.

 

All in regard to the unspoken need of their God. If God had no need, why would God demand rules of behavior? If God had no needs, would be demanded of us?

All of us are responding to the ingrained thoughts put by our patriarchal society. Yes, we are a patriarchal society: look at all the factors that run our society. We have the first woman running for president, and what was the first comment by our so-called media? “Her voice was too shrill”. Not a word about what she said or about the spirit, no, it was an attack on her gender. That attitude permeates our so-called ‘free’ country: women are not equal to men, and that is how is.

 

And that attitude continues with our attitude to God. It is assumed, deep in our hearts, and it very difficult to remove this attitude, that God is male, and like any male, we must earn the love of God if we are to be happy.

 

Thus we assume that God has a need, just like, deep in our innermost beings we believe that all males have a need that must be met in order that we be accepted by that male figure. Deny it if you will, but 5000 years of repeating this mantra of needs must be met before love can be given by a male does not go away simply because we say in our head that it is not so. Our deep psyche has been ingrained by our society that, willy nilly, that is how we believe: otherwise we would not have this deep ingrained belief that God has a need that must be met.

 

Next we will look at a few of the needs that we place upon God as we attempt to prove to God that we are acceptable to God.

 

The Lord makes firm the steps

Of the one who delights in the Lord;

Though he may stumble, he will not fall,

For the Lord uphold him with the Lord’s hand.

                            Psalm 37: 23-24. (NIV)

 

Meditation

 

O Source of All, I bow before You in gratitude for all the delights You have shown me. I revel in Your splendor, and find joy in all that is present. You have shown me Your Love, and it takes my breath away. What more could I ask for but this? Joy fills my heart, and I am lifted up in wonder by all that is about me. I place myself in Your Being, so that I can be the font of Your Love into our world about me. I thank You for my life, including all the pain and problems, for they have enabled me to see Your Love in action throughout my life, and without these issues I would not have experience Your Love to the depth that I have been granted. I surrender my life to You, and give myself into Your care for now and always.

 

 

 

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These five themes are taken from Conversation with God series of books, but the process discussed is a compilation of many sources and my processing of those sources.