What are your beliefs and what is your concept of God or of no God?

From the most devout members of an established religion, to the most zealous deniers of any higher power, we are all, at times, challenged to find reason and meaning in life.

How and why we go about that can depend on any number of factors – religious, or non-religious upbringing; cultural or ethnic background; prevailing trends determined by socio-economic movements and development; war and unrest; natural disasters; life-changing circumstances; devastating losses; past life experiences brought forward into the present, to name but a few….

Take present time in our world.  We are experiencing a period of unprecedented change and growth across the globe where our core values and principles are being examined, dissected, tested and challenged.  In part because of technology that has, in a way, shrunk the world we live in.  We now have much greater awareness of cultures, traditions, religious beliefs, politics and socio-economic conditions worldwide which, as a result, calls into question our own.

While working with a client recently, I became aware that she was feeling disconnected from her faith and somewhat at sea in a time of personal accelerated growth and change.  Where had her God gone?  Why couldn’t she connect and “reach” God?  She was looking for God in a past-time, out of date picture or place.  She had grown, but her concept of God had not.

In the process of our constant growth, evolution and change, we sometimes overlook the fact that everyone and everything else is growing, evolving and changing too.  So, why would this not include God?  Is your picture of God stuck in the past and outdated?  Can you allow for the fact that God, or your concept of a higher power, grows and evolves just as we do?  Would it not make sense that omnipotence is a changeable force?

Surely, our ability to grow and evolve as a race is directly related to God’s, the Creator’s, the Supreme Being’s ability to grow and evolve also.

The Golden Rule – “Love your neighbor as yourself” – has always been challenging, but was perhaps simpler to follow when ones focus was on your local community, county, state or nation.  Now with our expanded global awareness and connection to such a broad mix of cultures and ethnicities, this ethic of reciprocity is being severely tested.

With so many apparently contradictory belief systems, so many Gods, codes of moral conduct and different values all attempting to co-exist, we are being challenged to broaden our understanding of God or whatever you believe in so that we can embrace the diversity in the world rather than resist or fear it.

The world of science is continually changing – we at one time believed the world was flat!   Our knowledge and understanding of the physical world is updated as new information is discovered.

Is your understanding of God stuck in an experience when it appeared that he/she let you down, when your call for help or your prayers weren’t answered and you were seemingly left alone in your moment of darkness.

Perhaps God is simply waiting for us to recognize where he/she is now and to follow him/her to that place.

Saying hello to God in present time can bring you into closer communication not only with God, but also with yourself and all your fellow human beings with whom you share this Earth.

That can be a powerful healing!