{"id":377,"date":"2008-08-24T07:19:25","date_gmt":"2008-08-24T07:19:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/conversationswithgod\/2008\/08\/why-is-god.html"},"modified":"2008-08-24T07:19:25","modified_gmt":"2008-08-24T07:19:25","slug":"why-is-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/conversationswithgod\/2008\/08\/why-is-god.html","title":{"rendered":"Why is God?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why is God? That is, why does God exist? Or, as a wonderful 7-year-old asked his Mom recently, “How come there is a God, anyway?”
\nGood question.
\nIn order to answer it we need to get clear, first of all, that God is not a man, or a creature that looks like a Very Big and Important Man. God is not a Super Being, sitting somewhere up in the cosmos, with all the characteristics of a human, only with tons more power. That is not what God is.
\nWe have discussed what God is in this class over the past several weeks. So let us move on with an understanding that God is not a “person.” Rather, “God” is the name we have given (in some cultures) to All That Is. “God” is the Essential Energy. God is Life Itself, Expressed.
\nDoes this mean that God does not have Specific Awareness? Intelligence? A Sense of Self? Any Desires or Purpose?
\nNo. In fact, God has all these things.
\nGod is the source of all these things. God is the source<\/em> of Awareness, the source<\/em> of Intelligence, the source<\/em> of Desire, the source<\/em> of Purpose, and the Only Source of Self<\/em>.
\nGod IS the Self, Completely Sourced.
\nOkay, so we’re clear. God is not a guy. Not even a big, powerful guy, with good intentions and a fatherly countenence and a huge heart who will do anything for us if we ask Him.
\nWe can imagine <\/em>God like that if we wish to, and God can form and shape Itself into <\/em>Just That (just as God can form Itself into a flower, or a shining star, or the person across the room) — but that is not the Totality of Who and What God Is.
\nI am emphasizing this point for a good reason. Once we know Who and What God is, we can begin to understand why<\/em> “God is.”
\nGod IS because God cannot NOT be. The answer to the child’s question, “How come there is a God, anyway?” is simple. There is a God because there is anything at all.<\/em> Because God IS everything at all. God is the All of Everything.
\nTo a child I would say: “There is a God so that everything else could exist.” But then I would not make the mistake of saying what many parents say next…
\n“You see, God made everything.”
\nInstead I would say…
\n“You see, God is everything.”
\nThis is where I would begin to change the Cultural Story of Humanity around the question of God. I would start the story with a new first line. I would not say that “God created the heavens and the earth…” I would say that “God IS the heavens and the earth.”
\nI would not tell my children….”Then God said, ‘Let there be light’.” I would tell my children, “Then God said, ‘I am the Light’.”
\nI would tell them that God also said, “All things that are, I Am. Everything that is, I Am. I am the Isness and the Areness. I am not merely the Divine Being, I am the Divine, Being.<\/em>”
\nThen I would take children to the backyard and point to things and say, “That is God. And that is God. And that is God….” Then i would pick up a stone and say, “This is God.”
\nAnd the children would say, “Nay-uh! That’s a stone.<\/em>” And I woud say, “Really? Well, let’s just see…”
\nThen I would take them into a laboratory, but the stone in half, place a tiny chip of it under a high-powered microscope, and let them see the molecules of the stone moving all around, racing to and fro…And when they said, “Wow! What’s that?<\/em>“, I would say, “That’s God, moving around to make Itself look like a stone.”
\nThen I would snip a piece of hair from one of the children and place IT under the high-powered microscope. Then I would say, “That’s God, moving around to make Itself look like you.<\/em>”
\nThen I would say, “Do you see? God is All The Stuff That Moves Around to make itself look like everything that you see!”
\n“Wow!” <\/em>they would exclaim. “Wow, indeed,” I would reply.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why is God? That is, why does God exist? Or, as a wonderful 7-year-old asked his Mom recently, “How come there is a God, anyway?” Good question. In order to answer it we need to get clear, first of all, that God is not a man, or a creature that looks like a Very Big…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sunday-school"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy is God? - Conversations with God<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why is God? - Conversations with God\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Why is God? That is, why does God exist? 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