If you are trying to find God many cultures, including the American Indians, would say that is easy, he is everywhere. Because they believed He was everywhere, they believed that there should be no temples or shrines except those of nature, where they found The Great Mystery or God. I suspect that the God of the Indians is the same God depicted in the Modern Scriptures. However, even in the Scriptures the God of the Old Testament seemed more unapproachable, except through certain persons (the prophets) than the God of the New Testament. The God of the New Testament was depicted more as a loving Father and Jesus, his son, said he was also our Father and many Christians believed strongly that we, as individuals, could have a personal relationship with God, truly a Great Mystery!
So if God exists how do we find Him? The first step is to seek him! This cannot be done as a scholarly study but rather as a person pursuing a lost love. If the concept of a powerful God who created the universe and who also wants to have a personal relationship with us overwhelms us think of the story of the Prodigal Son. God is like the father in the story. He awaits the return of the son who has squandered his inheritance and is living a miserable life. Yet when he sees the son returning in the distance he is filled with forgiveness and joy. That is how God is, he awaits our return. So what path do we take to return or go for the first time to the Father? Here are some possible paths.
The Path of Love: This is really a love story. Think of a young boy who has a crush on a young girl but despite what appears to be her welcoming glance he never makes the move to approach her. So he will never know. We are like that boy and he fails to approach because he does not know if he will be rejected or accepted by the girl. However with God we will never be rejected. First, unlike the girl we know he loves us and says so in 1 John 4:19, “We, for our part, love because He first loved us”. So he is waiting for us to approach and will joyously accept us and we are given assurances of that acceptance in John 6:37, “All that the Father gives me shall come to me; no one who comes will I ever reject”
So if we become a more loving person will that lead us to God? I think so. This also seemed to be a primary lesson of those who had experienced Near Death Experiences (NDEs). They experienced an overwhelming love. We believe that love is a powerful source of positive energy. The First Epistle of John tells us that God is Love; Jesus reminds us the most important command is to love God and the second most important command is similar, to love our neighbor. Perhaps we can start there. This simple but difficult command to love our neighbor can change our life. When we think of others before ourselves; when we consciously drop our grudges and gripes, our life changes. We begin to live in the present moment. We begin to realize that many things that happen in our life are not coincidences. There is a great little book about that called, “When God Winks at You” I could give many personal experiences in my life that in retrospect I realized they were not coincidences. You will not be without problems but you will have a peace about you and will begin to wonder why your life seems so much better. Often this leads to a path to seek God. If we seek honestly we will find him.
The Path of Silence: Scripture tells us, “Be still and know that I am God”. This sounds like another path, and it is. It is difficult to be silent these days with all of our electronic gadgets (cell phones, TV, ipads, etc.). I have a great back yard where I can be silent and enjoy nature. I must admit that I sometimes bring my phone out there fortunately not many people call me. I have also been on many silent retreats at both Manresa, a Jesuit retreat house, and at St. Joseph’s Abbey. Both are in South Louisiana. The silence is required so that no one is obligated to speak to anyone (which leaves time for everyone to speak to God). The atmosphere created at retreat houses is one that allows you to be in the present moment and to reflect on being in God’s presence. This can be a great pathway to God. If you ever have the opportunity to go on a silent retreat, I recommend it.
The Path of Wisdom: Reflecting on the writings of scientists and mystics, Like the other two paths I often find myself on this path. Here is a list of references gives the reader a selection of enough good books to continue this path.
The First Epistle of John
The Science of God by Gerald Schroeder
The Hidden Face of God by Gerald Schroeder
Science and The Trinity by John Polkinghorne
The Fire in the Equations by Kitty Ferguson
Exploring Reality: The Interwining of Science and Religion by John Polkinghorne
Einstein’s Clocks, Poincare’s Maps by Peter Galison
The Cloud of Unknowing edited by William Johnston
The Wisdom of Native Americans by Kent Nerburn
Belief in God in an Age of Science by John Polkinghorne
The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
The Language of God (A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief) by Francis Collins
New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton
The Way of Paradox (Spiritual life as taught by Meister Eckhart) by Cyprian Smith
Does God Play Dice (The Mathematics of Chaos) by Ian Stewart
Albert Einstein’s Vision by Barry Parker
Just Six Numbers by Martin Rees
I have read almost every book in the list of suggested reading, some of them more than once. This is a challenging undertaking because most of these books are difficult to comprehend. But as mentioned before, this should not be undertaken simply as a scholarly study but rather more like looking for facts to help unravel a mystery. One thing we cannot escape is that the existence of God is a mystery. I have tried each path but I am attracted to this path because I long to be able to understand the “Mind of God” and these books help. Again quoting Schroeder in his book, “The Hidden Face of God” he states: “If we can discover that underlying idea, we will have ascertained not only the basis for the unity that underlies all existence, but most important, the source of that unity. We will have encountered the hidden face of God.” That has been my goal, I hope it is also yours.
Other Paths: Clearly there are other paths, religions of all types, not just Christians, Jews, and Muslims have developed paths they believe will lead to God. Perhaps one of those paths will best suit you or perhaps you will develop your own path. As you go along that path questions will arises, Take the time to ponder them. This is how we grow, this is how we learn to believe. At any rate, I hope to see you along that journey. I have been on it for a while.
It should be noted that much I what is presented in this blog is based on a book I published in 2016 called “Yes Virginia There Is a God and He Created the Universe”. It is much more science and mathematics oriented and its subtitle is Science Proves the Prophets Were Right.
Will Lannes