While in Unity of Louisville, KY and Unity of Montclair NJ last week I had the opportunity to talk about our changing perception of God. I told the story, that so many of us know, about the little girl who was enthusiastically drawing with crayons on paper. When her mother asked her what she was drawing she replied that she was drawing a picture of God. Her mother told her what most any mother would have done, that no one knew what God looked like. We probably know the little girl's reply. It was an enthusiastic "They will now!"
And just like the little girl, we as humankind have continued to try to draw our pictures of what we believe the divine "looks like." We have moved away from believing there were many gods and goddesses and that these gods and goddesses were petty, jealous and often changed their minds. We went to the idea of a warrior God who fought for us against the many people we perceived as enemies. Then we moved to the notion of a god of law and order and eventually of justice. We moved from a god of conditional love to one of unconditional love.
Often we have insisted that our picture was the only right one and have spent energy, time, money and for some their very life, trying to impose our pictures on everyone else.
There have always been a few people, however, who saw that there was more than one way to picture God (by whatever name we call it). These people throughout the ages have been the ones who have been seeding higher forms of consciousness and the fruits of those seeds have continued to grow. Today, though it appears otherwise when we look at the small picture, we have more people who have let go of the need to impose our beliefs on everyone else. Because of those who have seen beyond what others have seen, we have let go of the idea of a God out there somewhere, separate from humanity as a whole and individuals. Many of us have embraced the idea of the divine within.
From our present place we can glimpse on the horizon what we are seeing as Oneness. We can grasp the idea that it is all God. We can glimpse it in moments of inspiration, we can grasp it for moments of ecstasy and little by little embody it. But let us not forget that it is our present picture and what we may understand in the future is beyond our present imagination. The New Testament writers had such a glimpse. Couched in the understanding of these writers' own perception of God is the glimpse of what is yet to come.
2 Corinthians 3:18 And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another
1 John 3:2 Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he* is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.
And just like the little girl, we as humankind have continued to try to draw our pictures of what we believe the divine "looks like." We have moved away from believing there were many gods and goddesses and that these gods and goddesses were petty, jealous and often changed their minds. We went to the idea of a warrior God who fought for us against the many people we perceived as enemies. Then we moved to the notion of a god of law and order and eventually of justice. We moved from a god of conditional love to one of unconditional love.
Often we have insisted that our picture was the only right one and have spent energy, time, money and for some their very life, trying to impose our pictures on everyone else.
There have always been a few people, however, who saw that there was more than one way to picture God (by whatever name we call it). These people throughout the ages have been the ones who have been seeding higher forms of consciousness and the fruits of those seeds have continued to grow. Today, though it appears otherwise when we look at the small picture, we have more people who have let go of the need to impose our beliefs on everyone else. Because of those who have seen beyond what others have seen, we have let go of the idea of a God out there somewhere, separate from humanity as a whole and individuals. Many of us have embraced the idea of the divine within.
From our present place we can glimpse on the horizon what we are seeing as Oneness. We can grasp the idea that it is all God. We can glimpse it in moments of inspiration, we can grasp it for moments of ecstasy and little by little embody it. But let us not forget that it is our present picture and what we may understand in the future is beyond our present imagination. The New Testament writers had such a glimpse. Couched in the understanding of these writers' own perception of God is the glimpse of what is yet to come.
2 Corinthians 3:18 And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another
1 John 3:2 Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he* is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.
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