Al G Smith

I recently tried to address one of those ‘Big’ themes that regularly crops up on Yahoo Answers. The questioner basically asked if God was indeed, simply ‘everything’. One presumes that this concept or idea may have been influenced by the thought that if nothing existed before God caused it to exist, then was everything simply an ‘extension’ of God.

My effort to answer this question was made at about 1.30 a.m. and whilst I’m posting it here for now — I reserve the right to ‘tweak’ it in due course as an when my ‘creative muse’ inspires me to improve upon my no doubt all too feeble effort to address such a conceptually challenging subject…I’m only ‘human’ after all:

In My Humble Opinion:

No. But God is in us all.

It would be a mistake to think that God IS everything.

It would also be wrong to suggest that God is a person. God is in fact unknowable. That is to say God cannot be comprehended by the human mind. In fact, God is beyond the ability of the mortal powers of conception. This is not really surprising, but it is generally little talked of…probably mainly because it is easier to allow people at least to have some ‘kind of’ idea of God as being a ‘human like’ entity, albeit all-powerful and the font of all wisdom. But as some hymns still have it, God is in fact ‘ineffable’: “incapable of being expressed or described in words; inexpressible” or “not to be spoken because of its sacredness; unutterable”, as the online dictionary has it.

Whilst God is not ‘everything’, God could perhaps be said to be ‘responsible’ for everything - but even this observation is too simplistic to have any real meaning.

Each of us — as a human being — has a mortal body, which provides an Earthly chalice for our immortal soul and we are are also blessed with the Holy Spirit.

The body ceases to exist upon death of the mortal human biological being. The soul, however, goes on to the next plane. The ‘level of entry’ to the next, spiritual plane, is determined by the development we have achieved (or degree of enlightenment we have aspired to) during our mortal tenure. As individuals we have a choice whether or not to ‘develop’ spiritually whilst we are on this mortal plane. This is an aspect of the concept of free will. Ultimately, the ‘choice’ (for can a choice truly be said to be made when we remain in a state of relative ignorance about spirituality?) to develop spiritually will have an impact on how much we ‘get out of’ our mortal existence — how much happiness, how much satisfaction, how much fulfillment, and so on — and will also affect how ready we are to enter at a particular level into the next part of the process of our ’spiritual development’.

If we recognize the immense benefit that the aspects of spiritual development we can achieve on Earth offers to us, then in choosing to develop as a spiritual being we ‘allow God into our lives’ and are consequently are able to become enlightened by the Holy Spirit. There have been some exceptional beings whose own human spirit has been so special, so strong and endowed with such potential, that they have become what has been described as ‘enlightened’ beings. Given the fallibility of the system we currently have for ‘developing’ humans from infant through to adult, it is sometimes difficult to imagine that all of us have the same opportunity and potential to choose the spiritual path towards true fulfillment as a mortal human. For a child raised in conditions where education is undervalued, surrounded by ‘role models’ who are themselves ‘damaged goods’, and beset by lurid marketing imagery and constant ‘distraction’, it may be hard to see how they could ever have a fair chance of developing spiritually. It is evident that many today ‘fall by the wayside’ as a result of the impact of negative nurturing. However we are also all creatures of Nature, which must mean that even the worst of influences and experiences can be overcome, and a channel towards significant spiritual enlightenment can be opened up. There are too many examples of beings who have achieved phenomenal personal and spiritual achievement despite many negative impositions, to dispute this.

The Holy Spirit is the Aspect of God that is with us, and within us, throughout our mortal tenure. It is always there, but how much we recognize it is up to each individual. This is why, for example, atheists live lives without truly knowing an important aspect of human potential and enlightenment. Their God given right to refuse to acknowledge that God exists, in itself ’stultifies’ their potential spiritual development. It is a ‘pretty’ conundrum! But necessary, because what kind of true ‘omnipotence’ is there in a God that must resort to force to ensure that every human acknowledges that a Supreme entity exists. God ‘knows’ that all human souls will still have plenty of opportunity to develop, the fact that we measure our lifespan in a matter of less than a century, means that failure to acknowledge the Godhead, as a mortal human, is but a fleeting moment in terms of cosmic time. Considering that our further development, in spiritual form might take many eons, no God could hold a few decades of ‘headstrong ignorance’, simple ‘lack of intuition’, or too much of a reliance on/acceptance of the inherently ‘flawed’ ideas and explanations deriving from human science and logic, for the explanation of ‘life the Universe and everything’!

Indeed, the ability to choose to be a ‘non-believer’, is also an important part of God’s blessing of free will, free choice and part of the total experience of being part of humanity. This is the only time (as stated, a cosmically ”minimal period of about 70-90 years) that our ’selves’ will have the chance to have this kind of experience.

That is why this ‘human life’ is such a critical opportunity to learn about loving, giving and being part of a community of beings. Our frail mortal bodies, governed by terribly fallible but potentially powerful human minds, beset by all kinds of distractions, temptations and unnatural vices. The whole of ‘life’ as a human is an opportunity for making choices, learning lessons, gaining perspective, developing an appreciation that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, which speaks of that need for Unity in order for the Human race as a whole to thrive and develop.

This ‘life’ is all-in-all a period of unparalleled learning opportunities. The short tenure on this planet is one that is filled with triumph and sadness, and by the time you end your days you are fortunate indeed if you have loved and been loved. More fortunate still if you have gained even a small portion of the enlightenment that the Holy Spirit can bring.

We are all one in the sense that we all play our small part in what should be the Unity of Mankind. Sadly too many people still miss the point, and still spend their lives distracted, sidetracked, closed of mind. This is a necessary part of the process of evolution of the species. Whilst ever there is a balance of individuals who seek only self gratification, personal reward, selfish enrichment there is a challenge to address these issues, laid down for the selfless, the wise and the truly enlightened. Who can deny that if (as outlined in the Golden Rule — posted previously) we all woke up tomorrow and treated everyone else ‘as we would wish to be treated’ and truly ‘loved our neighbour’, then the world would instantly be transformed into ‘Paradise’. This ’solution’ has been within our grasp since it was clearly articulated at least two thousands of years, and seemingly endlessly repeated by the enlightened Messengers across the ages. Even so there is still enough bigotry, prejudice, hatred, selfishness, greed, envy…and so on to ensure we are yet many more millennia away from creating our ‘Heaven on Earth’.

When we die, and cease to exist as a mortal human, our soul transcends to the next plane of existence. At this time the Holy Spirit leaves us to continues to work with other human souls whilst they are bound to their mortal body, and mayhap can positively influence the mortal mind within which they reside.

In truth — we live in a world of multitudinous metaphor and all around us are the clues, the sources of learning, the myriad messages enshrined in the very way that Nature works. Such is the ‘multi-dimensional-experiential’ School that God has provided for all of us to learn the things we ‘need to know’ before we can truly progress to the higher spiritual planes of existence. Such is the Earth — our Blessed School, and ‘Play ground’. God is NOT simply ‘everything’, but God has caused everything to be for a purpose, such that every human being has the opportunity to become more than they are, or at least more than they may seem to be. For just as the Human Race as a whole, when Unified (as is the only true objective of Mankind) will prove indeed that the ‘whole is greater than the sum of the parts’ — such is also the case for any individual human, who is more than the sum of bones, muscle, organs and brain he or she appears to be. When working in a purposeful, unified way (i.e. body and mind), enlightened by the Holy Spirit so that the Human Soul is properly nourished, every Human will also be seen to be a far greater ‘Whole’.