God is an elusive construct. Simply stated, this is because he is no “thing” and thus cannot be constructed. Here, I am about to venture into a territory verboten in the faith tradition I was born into, philosophy. And, I remember so vividly how higher learning in general, and especially philosophy, was totally dismissed. And, I understand that philosophy can be off-putting as it appears to have no end…and technically it doesn’t. But the word philosophy merely means the love of knowledge and those who scoff at the subject usually do so because they “love” the little puddle of knowledge they live in and are not willing to broaden its parameters a bit. Philosophy intrinsically “broadens” the parameters of knowledge, though it does not have to be endless.
God is just a word and we first heard it in the context of the “little puddle” that we lived in. It was just a sound, “G-o-d” which initially was a simple part of the verbal cacophony we were discovering and trying to make sense of. In time this word was distinguished from that medley and found to have meaning that in my case was very significant. And it took me decades to realize and appreciate the degree to which “the little puddle” that I was born into shaped the meaning that had accrued to that simple sound, “g-o-d.”
But as an adult I have acquired some ability to discern the subtleties of this term…or at least the presence of these subtleties. This corresponds with the ongoing maturity process which has allowed me to discover the myriad subtleties that constitute my own heart, a realization without which I would be unable to recognize subtleties in others, including in the term, “g-o-d.”
God is now an adventure as He is no longer an abstraction to me, but some “thing” (which is no “thing”) that is woven into my very being. The exploration of the notion of God now involves the exploration of my heart, including those dimensions long hidden beneath the ideological constructions that I’ve had of Him…and of myself.
Remember Donovan, a 1960’s rock star? One line from a ditty of his was, “First there is mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is.” Indulge this cryptic and obscure point, but, “First there was a god, then there was no god, then (now) there is.” I had to lose “god” to find Him just as I had to lose myself to find myself. This loss of ego, actually an ongoing process, allows me to approach God…and the whole of life…with more humility than I had when I was ensconced in that “little puddle.”
An Errant Baptist Preacher 