WHAT IS God, to me?

  What is God to me? Everything. God is the life force of everything. Many people and I, when I was younger, believed God was the God of the bible. The God of scripture. With his wrathful and jealous ways. We believed that. Why? Because we were told, by figures of 'authority' that it was the truth.  And what choice did we have but to believe or burn in damnation for eternity. YIKES right?! Then one day, as a young woman, I grew brave enough to admit to myself that, I didn't believe God was a jealous man that lived beyond the sky. I just cannot accept the premise that, God loved me, but, if I sinned, he would send me to burn in Hell forever. Thus, thrusting me onto the path of discovering the nature of "God" for myself.
   I studied and studied for many years. I read anything I could get my hands on that just might have an answer for me. I studied the pantheons of pagan gods, as crazy as their mythologies sometimes were, I couldn't get enough! To this day, Eros and Aphrodite are still my favorites. (The god of love often depicted as Cupid and his mother, the goddess of beauty and sex) From the ancients, I moved on to Wicca, another pagan/nature religion that still has a special place in my heart and I will always believe that the Earth is our mother. I will always have a fondness and nostalgic feeling for Samhain (pronounced 'sow-in' and is October 31) After I had grown to love the nature religions, I found a faith that would begin my journey to the -inside-
   Buddhism opened me up to an entire new world. My inner self. I learned what it really meant to meditate and practice yoga. I began to understand what detachment was as a way of ending suffering. (By the way, it does not mean that you stop caring or give up) Detachment, I have found, means to let go of expectation. It means to no longer define yourself by the mistakes or accomplishments you have made in this life because, you can't carry it with you into the next life. Studying Buddhism, I finally came across the idea that God is within you. Not the way he is "inside you" listening to your thoughts and constantly 'scanning' for sinful thoughts like the 'authorities' of old would have us believe, but God, as a divine energy is within us all. Therefore, in order to know 'him' we must go within ourselves. This is why we meditate. We listen to our inner selves. With Buddhism and Hinduism, I could ponder the idea of reincarnation and the cycles of Karma.
   There were many different religions that I studied. Such a wealth of spiritual wisdom, and still, I wanted more! And I found it! When the student is ready, the teacher will appear! The teacher came in the form of a series of fictional books. Yes, fictional! Some would argue, just like the bible... Anyway, These books of fiction just fell into my hands, one after another. No sooner had I read one, I would read the sequel or another amazing book would appear! It was like a waterfall of wisdom! A wisdomfall! ...? I will list these books at the end of this blog for you in the hopes that if you read just one, that it may just enlighten you the way it did me.
   So, what is God to me? Everything. God is the life force energy that permeates the entire universe. 'He' is the mysterious power that causes electrons to fly around atoms. 'He' is the energy that causes every blade of grass too grow, 'he' is the force that ignites stars and expands space and time into eternity. 'He' in fact is not a he, but is chi. (pronounced chee) The life force of the Universe! The spark of the divine that is inside you and inside me.
~ Namaste~
Rev. Raven Behrendt

'Perceive Infinity' available on etsy.com

List of spiritual fiction

The Way of the Peaceful Warrior
The Journey of the Peaceful Warrior
-Dan Millman

The Celestine Prophecy
The Tenth Insight: Holding the Vision
The Secret of Shambhala: In Search of the Eleventh Insight
-James Redfield

The Dharma Bums
-Jack Kerouac

Buddha, His Life and Teachings
-Osho

A State of Mind. Ramtha, the Adventure Begins
-J.Z. Knight

A New Earth
-Eckhart Tolle (I read it BEFORE Oprah did! lol)

Into the Wild
-John Krakauer