Theological Snapshot

My concept of and beliefs about God have changed significantly from when I was a student at Holy Innocents Catholic grade school to my time as a student here at Unity Institute.  My concept of God was patriarchal, judgmental and separate from me – somewhere out there in the galaxy.  When I prayed to him, I prefaced my request with “Lord, I am not worthy”.  In addition to the Apostle’s Creed, the Ten Commandments, the rosary and the litanies, I was taught that the only reason I might enter into the afterlife kingdom of heaven was by virtue of my baptism and the death and resurrection of God’s son, Jesus.  Baptism washed away the stain of original sin – Adam’s legacy to us.  The death and resurrection of Jesus the son was the ultimate reconciliation of the human race with God, the father.  That’s what I was taught, and that is what I accepted for a while, although I am not sure that I ever really, truly believed it.

It was a good story - some call it the greatest story ever told – but I could not and did not believe it.  My gut feeling, my hunch or hypothesis was that there was much more to God, to us, and to our relationship with God. I believed that there was a different explanation – something really amazing and inspiring – something that had no drama quotient in it whatsoever – something much bigger, much brighter, and much cleaner than this story of betrayal and suffering with markedly human overtones.  I believed that God’s story, while amazingly powerful, would turn out to be quite simple and straightforward, and I believed that it would be based on love and acceptance, not fear and punishment.

Today, my concept of God is that of a God energy or God intelligence – an evolutionary, creative dynamic, a vitality that is inherent in all life and matter at a cellular, molecular level.  God, as this energy or intelligence, is the source from which all things in the manifest universe are brought forward into a material condition. God, as this energy or intelligence is constantly expressing in, through and as everything that exists in the universe.

  

I believe in Jesus and his teachings, but do not believe that he is the son of God.  For me, Jesus is someone who developed his awareness of his inherent God energy or God intelligence to an extraordinarily high level.  He is the example, not the exception.  He demonstrated to us and for us the power that we each have within us.  His expression of the potential perfection that exists within each one of us makes him an example worth following.

I do not believe in the traditional Christian concept of the Holy Spirit or the Holy Trinity, but I do believe in the metaphysical concept of mind, idea and expression.  Regarding church and the need for or purpose of spiritual communities, I believe that there is great value in offering a variety of “on ramps” that provide people with access to opportunities to learn about, practice, and celebrate the transforming  power of truth principles and faith.