{"id":183,"date":"2008-01-12T07:46:26","date_gmt":"2008-01-12T07:46:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/conversationswithgod\/2008\/01\/god-is-not-dead.html"},"modified":"2008-01-12T07:46:26","modified_gmt":"2008-01-12T07:46:26","slug":"god-is-not-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/conversationswithgod\/2008\/01\/god-is-not-dead.html","title":{"rendered":"God is not dead"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nNOTE: Saturday is Prose & Poetry Day here on the blog, a time to take a moment once a week to relax the mind, open the heart, and access the soul through the gift of prose from one of the many books of The New Spirituality, and through the poetry of m. Claire, author of the forthcoming volume, Openings.<\/em>
\nThis week’s prose…the third is a series of excerpts from Happier Than God<\/em>.
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\nBack in the sixties there was a bumper sticker that became very popular. It asked: IS GOD DEAD?
\nThe idea behind the question was that humanity had evolved so far so fast that we may have rendered God irrelevant. That thought has been reinforced in recent years with the emergence of teachings on what has been called the Law of Attraction: the purported ability of individuals to create their own reality using nothing more than \u201cpositive thinking\u201d and \u201cfocused intention.\u201d
\nI know, of course, that God is not dead. And most people agree with me. Surveys have shown that the largest percentage of people in every nation and in every culture believe in a power greater than themselves.
\nYet if we humans can obtain and acquire anything we want in life using our own power, of what use is a power greater? What would be its function? What would be its purpose?
\nThe astonishing conclusion that many people are reaching, especially given how the \u201cFast Track to Happiness\u201d is being taught in some circles today, is that we no longer need God.
\nNow I\u2019m going to say something that, if you believe in God, is going to make you very happy. But not at first. At first, it may make many of you want to put this book down right here. Don\u2019t do that, because you\u2019re going to miss out on the part that you\u2019ll love.
\n(If you don\u2019t believe in God at all, you\u2019re going to find what I\u2019m going to say next at the very least intriguing. So hang in there!)
\nIt\u2019s true.
\nWe no longer need God.
\nIn fact, we never needed God.
\nWe do not need God for anything.
\nThis is the startling truth that will stun the world. It is the Unspoken Truth that no one wants to utter. Yet this is not all of the Unspoken Truth. The rest of it has to do with why we do not need God for anything.
\n(This series of excerpts from Happier Than God<\/em> continues in this space next Saturday. The book is scheduled for release March 1 and may be pre-ordered at www.Amazon.com)
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\nThis week’s gift of poetry<\/em>
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\nThey tug on the skirt of
\na One that has her eyes so set
\non looking for God this deeply, inside.
\nThere is plenty of room for those that walk
\nalong this path of mourners
\nwho company themselves
\nin their chorus of heartcries, for
\nthe Beloved.
\nUnless you are one of These,
\nit is difficult to understand, how many
\nmoments bend, infinitely on, toward
\noh, just
\nOne
\nMore
\nKiss
\nFrom
\nGod.
\n(Just One More – m. claire – copyright 2007 – all rights reserved)
\n<\/em>For more of the work of this new poetic voice you are invited to www.mclairepoet.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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