I was at Louise Hay’s “I Can Do It” conference and during one of the meal breaks, my friend Lee Horbachewski and I joined a couple of women we had never met before for dinner.
When I asked one of our new dinner mates how she was enjoying the conference, one of the women said that she was surprised that it had so much ‘God’ talk.
She thought it would be more ‘spiritual’.
That made me think ….
Isn’t it the same thing?
When did I become comfortable saying God?
I have said ‘God’ comfortably all my life…. but there was this ‘blip’ of a few years where I didn’t know what to call God. It was the strange concoction of the aftermaths of 911 and my own spiritual awakening.
As a child I always knew God to be one God of many names.
From my mothers’ teachings, I knew there was no hierarchy between our religions. I understood that our methodologies were different but our essence was the same.
911 brought a lot of dark insinuations about the Islamic faith and the ignorant ones annoyed me (especially one particular world leader). I would talk about God, our collective God, and some would be surprised that I could be so blasphemous as to include my ‘war-monging’ God with their ‘justice’ God.
I tried to explain that God was only Love.
Then, as I deepened into my own journey, I wondered if the term God was too limiting and perhaps too jaded… So I called that which I knew to be God by some new names like ‘the Universe’ and ‘Spirit’ and other lovely renditions.
Then one day, while meeting with my Airdrie Tribe, I heard my Shaman friend Deb Gibbs say casually to the group, “When I was talking to God the other day…” Whatever else she said didn’t matter. All I could feel was my discomfort of her ‘talking to God’.
She could have said talking to Spirit and I wouldn’t have been ruffled. But God???!! Come on…that’s just plain …um… Rude? No, that not it…..Um… Blasphemous? No, that’s not either…hmmm… Egoic? Bingo!
The truth is all the conversations that I was having in my heart were with God. And that name that I found once too limiting was actually so expansive that I couldn’t dare utter those words.
As my Airdrie Tribe and I gathered week after week and shared our own openings and aha’s, I became de-sensitized by the magnitude of God ‘out there’ and more entranced by the magnitude of God ‘in here’.
I started saying “When I was talking to God this morning…” and that felt right. Because I was.
I took notice of the discomfort of some family members when I would say things like that but, it didn’t affect me because I was in right language.
So as I reflected on my dinner mates observation, I noticed that I wasn’t the only one who had traded in the other synonyms for God. Heart leaders everywhere were talking the same thing.
We took the religion out of God. As God is the All. The Everything. The Everyone.
We returned to God.
I love this, Farhana. I think it speaks to the huge amount of confusion that so many of us have around God and religion. I love the idea of taking the religion out of God.
In joy,
Lisa Kathleen
Thanks Lisa Kathleen… I recall a conversation you and I had a couple of years ago where we explored spirituality and organized religion… all delicious conversations of that sort have contributed to my liberation. xoF
Farhana
You my dear one, speak truth for us all.
You use words and phrases that when we read it, we immediately say, “yeah, that’s exactly what I’m thinking” or “that’s what I would say”.
I hesitate using the word God – Outside of the times when it comes out naturally – when I say “Thank God”.
I can say that I am a spiritual person, not a religious one so perhaps that’s where the hesitation comes in.
When I think of the word God – I immediately think of my grandmother who quite simply had such a deep unwavering faith as well as a deep trust without questioning where he was, or who he was.
She just knew with the deepest certainty that he was always there and to thank him for all good things.
If we really took the time to go within, to discover the words that intimately and immediately resonate with truth – our collective truth – we would say the way you do, so eloquently and continually in your posts and in your conversations.
Thank you for reminding us that it’s OK to take the religion out of God.
As God is the All,the Everything and the Everyone.
GOD IS LOVE!
I thank God for you Farhana.
All love,
Natasja
Wow Natasja, I am so opened by your responses… you reveal and express at a level of intimacy that deepens our own individual journeys. Now, this isn’t to pressure to always saying the profound… as always you are free to be the profane and the profound. Because you are the Everything. You are Love. You are God. xoF
Gifts come in so many forms. Farhana I Love this post “A Return to God”. Our Soul connections, our shared beliefs, embracing with openness…. I chose to go to a Roman Catholic High School – however I’ve always believed that Religion and God – are observed daily in every moment without limitation and without definition around anyone persons view of what GOD may represent. GOD is and always will be for me – three letters I associate with – what ever one’s spiritual beliefs may be. Will always have a deep, deep fondness for our group. xoxo Adore You All!
I have done the same in my journey, from the point of wondering what is God? Then one day I was in meditation and God to spoke to me, he said, and I say he because the voice I hear is masculine, I am not just outside of you, I am within you, all around you and yes, you too are God. Lately I have been in conversation with Earth, Place of creation and Keena understanding how all this works from what these planets tell me, and even with that, I still get confused about what is God. I do not think God is to be defined, if God was so difinitive from our minds, it would take away the greatness of what God is. I like that I have a place of love that I can turn to, I like hearing a voice of wisdom when I feel lost and I like having a name that feels close to my heart to attach to it. It makes it all so much more personable. God for me feels true. Just like when I see Archangel Micheal, I like knowing to call him Micheal it feels so much more intimate, than hey angel! Religion is what we humans designed to give us structure in our religious following, for our early ages this was good, but we have grown up and the rules of religion does not serve many of us. Anything that toots it is my way only is the way I often turn and walk the other way, one way is never truth, we are to diversed as people. Thank you as always for sharing your heart wisdom and experiences, I love you. Deb
Deb, I remember once thinking that if we were to define God, then by definition, it would indicate’ that which is not God’. And that limits God. And that simply won’t do! I am so grateful for our morning long distance coffees where I get ‘real time’ information as you take on this huge role in communicating to earth and beyond to help us understand what we don’t know. The world is readying itself for your information. Love you, F
Indeed Jenn, all forms of congregation – be it a church, a school, a group of like minded friends – all energize our beliefs but I agree, it is in our moment to moment living that we determine if we are an expression of God – that is without limitation or definition.
Beautiful Farhana,
As always you share with such eloquence, authenticity and beauty! I remember the conversation well and it wasn’t until I read this that I was struck with the same question. A question I too have asked myself, struggling with being comfortable to say “God”
Although not a religious person, I have always believed in God, I have refrained from saying or writing “God” in the past in fear of judgement from others.
As I have grown in my own spiritual journey, I have come to embrace and cherish that God lives within all of us! And when I allow the love of God to flow through me, magic happens.
My youngest daughter is working through her First Holy Communion right now, and she has offered many wonderful questions and insight to how a child views God – she has opened my eyes and heart up!
God is in all of us, no matter what beliefs, religions and perceptions.
Beautiful reflection Farhana, BEAUTIFUL!
Much love
Lee
xoxox
Love-Lee, the wonderful questions that your daughter poses will be how spirituality enters into religion again. Children and so smart and are already beacons for truth… they know… and they will ensure that we do too. They will not tolerate our separateness. They know the truth and will resuscitate the remembrance of One God for all of us. I love you for making our world more huggable. xoF
Ooohhh I LOVE that Love-Lee how sweet! And yes, children are our teachers! xoxox
Love-Lee… no better way to describe you…;-)
I love how you surrendered in God in more ways than one in your post on Acceptance
The tip of the iceberg you melt away with your warm lovely Ruah breath in your post above is of such profound simplicity, and again you’ve inspired so much heart thought…
It may sound funny, but you remind me of a pastor I knew long ago, Ron Mehl from Beaverton Oregon, he used to have a simple little 15 minute radio show called the “Heart of the Word”, and it was always always always perfect. He thought with his heart, and he changed the world in so many ways with his books and his teachings.
You also remind me of the “heart” of Karen Armstrong’s books, The History of God, and A Case for God, where she combines brilliant scholarship through the vast journey of all humankind to understand GOD ~ but her words are written from the heart, and she too is changing the world in profound ways, combining the truths of the Soul of the Earth into a language we can all speak and find our vast similarities and unity rather than our differences.
On your Way, Farhana, the Spirit runs deep in you, and through you, and out into the world again, and thus you are changing the world in a Way like no other. As you step into this truth the world will know more how to “Heart” than how to just “think”. You have taught me how to “Heart” so much more deeply, because that is what you are, you “heart” the world. That’s why when you are so Heart you are so “you” and why you are loved by so many. That is your priceless gift.
God is One, God is Love. God is Heart. I am in love with God and I am IN love with everything, and that is where all of our hearts meet, and that changes everything right now, in this moment, and forever.
That comes from a good “Lutheran” boy, who goes to church and loves it. The church I go to is like going to Whoville on Christmas morning, and it is priceless too, because the gifts of the heart are what are freely exchanged there.
IN Love,
Scott
Scott – What wonderful mentors you have offered here for us to be able to deepen our own conversation with ourselves. Karen Armstrong is a family favorite and I admit to owning her books but not having read them. In fact, I own hundreds of amazing books by incredible authors … of which I have never read. I think I am feeling fewer roadblocks on this heart journey that I am on and am using fewer external resources.
You understand very well the call to surrender into the God of many names…it is your honor and joy to do so. And in that, many can’t help but witness the peace and unconditional love and the invitation for them to do the same.
Farhana – this is deeply thought provoking. As I have seen my resistance to having scripture thrown at me become more evident I have been looking at what God is for me. I love how you have simplified it. At a young age I rejected the God presented to me by the born again part of my mostly athiest family as being so arbitrary, I thought that I was creating the God I wanted and wondered who I was to create my own God.
It seemed simple – just treat others how I wanted to be treated. Be a good person. The rest seemed redundant.
As I mature in my spirituality I speak about a higher power, creator, and all that is. Within that the word GOD is avoided. Thank you for taking the religion out of the word. In many ways it makes little difference how we refer to God. What really matters is what we do in our lives – how we show up as a piece of the divine.
I salute the diviniy in all of us. Namaste
Beautifully said Ariana… it does not matter what word we use – only who we are being. And who we are being is always representative of the Divine. And just to be clear that we aren’t dancing in discomfort with saying God any longer, we love God. We love ourselves. right?
Comment
I don’t really see the religious spiritual division. I am quite active in my church (United Church of Canada – liberal theology). I have followed your website and many others that say they are spiritual. I see everything linking together and believe that God will meet people wherever they are at. If they call him “Universal Intelligence”, “The Universe” or whatever, he doesn’t care. What he wants is to touch each of us and help us see that we are beloved, and a part of the piece of the puzzle to bring heaven to earth (Jennifer Hough wording). If we just become aware, we can become part of all this. Thank you for doing your piece of the puzzle. SS