Let me start with a question. Have you sought a simple and satisfactory answer to a vexing question that has been on your mind? One of the questions I have been asking myself and pondering about is “What is God?” 🤔 Reason and urgency for an answer to that question is the fact that many of the current and past conflicts in the world have been in the name of God. Deciding to deconstruct God I wondered if the question should start with “What” or “Who” and settled on “What is God?”. Some might ask why. For some, God is like a person, for others a concept. I am going with concept as it appears more appropriate given that people have different ideas and visions when they think of God. The next question that arose was “Is religion a must for believing in God?”. After some reflection it appears that religion serves the purpose of a wrapper around the concept of God. Which led to the next question “Does God require a shrine?”. Human beings like to wrap and package what they consider is precious and I arrived at the reason that a place of worship serves as a package. Where there is religion, there is denomination too. Reason for that is human tendency to narrow down any group to only those who are aligned totally with a set of beliefs and values. Any group needs a leader too for direction. For some, the leader is a human being that embodies the qualities of God and for others it is God. In effect, God appears to be a construct (idea) that needs to be wrapped and housed in a construct (place of worship). Which brought an interesting thought. Even money could fit the definition of God for people who believe in absolute power of money! Typically, any currency has two sides with figures on either side. On one side the figure is a person (or a symbol) and on the other side the figure is a number. What does the number denote? Denomination! What is the significance of the number? Its value! The US currency even has “IN GOD WE TRUST” on one side of the currency! So, money has a figure of leadership (or symbolism), denomination and values attached to it. The similarity doesn’t end there. People in different parts of the world feel comfortable with their own versions of God and money! So, I ended up where I began with the question “What is God?” as I wanted to find an answer that fit my perception and general perception.
The conclusion I arrived at: God is each individual’s inner voice that commands their thoughts, words and actions. 🙏 The inner voice offers a rationale and can manifest itself in either good qualities (broad outlook, kindness, generosity, empathy etc) or unbelievably bad outcomes (harming and killing in the name of God). This definition of God fits everyone, whatever their beliefs (theist, agnostic or atheist), offers me a simple and satisfactory answer I was looking for. I am at peace with this conclusion. 🙏
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