{"id":38,"date":"2007-08-11T01:01:01","date_gmt":"2007-08-11T01:01:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/conversationswithgod\/2007\/08\/is-god-dead.html"},"modified":"2007-08-11T01:01:01","modified_gmt":"2007-08-11T01:01:01","slug":"is-god-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/conversationswithgod\/2007\/08\/is-god-dead.html","title":{"rendered":"Is God Dead?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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, Come As You Are.<\/em>
\nThis week’s prose…an excerpt from Happier Than God, to be published this Fall…
\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 I call the Process of Personal Creation: 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…<\/p>\n


\n…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, you\u2019re going to find what I\u2019m going to say next at the very least intriguing.)
\nIt\u2019s true.
\nWe no longer need God. In 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.
\nThe Promise That Few
\nCan Believe; the Truth
\nThat Few Can Accept
\n<\/strong>Not needing God is not the same as not having any use for God.
\nI want to say that twice because it\u2019s too important to be glossed over. I said, Not needing God is not the same as not having any use for God.
\n<\/em>In fact, it is precisely because we have an extraordinary <\/em>use for God that we have no need for God.
\nHow can we \u201cneed\u201d something that we always have, that we cannot not have under any circumstances, that we can always use, and that we cannot not use no matter how we might deny that are are?
\nYou cannot not have God in your life, as part of your life, and this is something that many people cannot believe. They can\u2019t believe the highest promise of God: I am always with you, even unto the end of time.
\nYou cannot not use God, even if you deny that you are, and this is something else that many people cannot believe. They can\u2019t accept the most wonderful truth taught by all religions, each in their own way:
\nAsk and you shall receive.<\/em>
\nBecause people can\u2019t accept this truth, they completely and utterly misunderstand the formula by which they can create what they wish to experience in their lives.
\nThe Process of Personal Creation\u2014what some people call the \u201cLaw of Attraction\u201d\u2014does not render religion or God obsolete, it does exactly the opposite. It makes our experience of God more present, more relevant, and more real than ever.
\n= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
\nThis week’s gift of poetry<\/em>
\n= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
\nI AM THAT I AM
\nand
\nso much more:
\nthe Light, the Sound, the Living of God on the Ground.
\nI could show you every feather
\nin the Wing.
\nEvery color and hue.
\nEvery Beautiful thing.
\nBut
\nI AM THAT I AM
\nwants to
\nLove
\nWhatever
\nhas not yet had it
\nWhomever
\nhas not yet heard it
\nHowever
\nLife\u2019s not yet done it.
\nThere is still so much Loving,
\nyet to be found,
\njust
\nLiving God on the Ground.
\n(I Am That I Am – m. claire – copyright 2007 – all rights reserved) <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For more of the work of this new American poet, go to www.mclairepoet.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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. 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