The Face of God?

(Author's note - I make no pretension of knowing God's mind - but rather am reflecting here my own feelings about what I think I am called to do.)



Author Glen Cook writes a series of books called the "Black Company." The books are about a mercenary band of hardened, ruthless, professional killers. At the conclusion, Glen has the ethically tormented primary character consider the nature of the collective human conscience:

"I am not religious. I cannot conceive of gods who would give a damn about humanity's frothy carryings-on. I mean, logically, beings of that order just wouldn't. But maybe there is a force for greater good, created by our unconscious minds conjoined, that becomes an independent power greater than the sum of its parts. Maybe, being a mindthing, it is not time-bound. Maybe, it can see everywhere and everywhen and move pawns so that what seems to be today's victory becomes the cornerstone of tomorrow's defeat."

Without intending to, Mr. Cook touches upon the nature of something I also believe, specifically, that God or Christ, or Allah or Y'weh intend and intended for us to learn to 'find our way' collectively, to love our neighbor truly, to not set ourselves above the rest of us, not just as a precondition to salvation, but in fact AS the salvation. That heaven is not a place, or a time, or a thing, but rather a time and a place and a thing bound up in the idea of choosing to be kind, and decent, and forgiving over hatred, division, exclusion, and unconcern.

I admit it is a leap from Mr. Cook to the above - and the association is only loose, but often each of us sees a shred of a truth, or relates to that truth, in a different, but meaningful way. My good friend DogGone had this to add

"..Your post reminded me of John Donne's "Meditations" ( XVII - I looked it up to be sure I had it right):"No man is an Island, intire of itselfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine.."spelling is a tad antique.... but there is a similar idea in there. The Asian custom of greeting with palms together, fingers upraised, has a premise that I have always appreciated - that when greeting another, you acknowledge their soul defined as a small piece of god inside each person that is also connected to all other souls, in essence simultaneously greeting the other and greeting god and greeting another part of your self. Joseph Campbell expresses it far more eloquently than I do."

The Christians often call this concept the Holy Spirit, and refer to it as God working through us in acts of Sanctification - and I have no issue with that. In fact, as an Episcopal, I am a member of a church known as the "Church of the Embodiment", in which we are strongly called to "see the face of God in the world around us." So, perhaps I have a bit more propensity than most to think of the temporal world as the place where God is manifest in our daily lives, but one essential point follows..

Whether we believe in God or not, and what we see God as (or see Gods as if you are so inclined), the concept of 'the old man in the sky" type of God is antiquated at best. Theologians of today do not (in the main) promote such an obeisant view. The idea of hierarchical fealty and gratitude is to me, NOT the message we are called to live or convey. In fact, such an approach, I believe promotes the idea of superiority of one group over another. Rather, instead, it seems we were and are called to recognize our equality and equivalence with one another AND our shared fate. We are bound within, as a human race, the fate we bring not just upon ourselves, but upon others.

So, I suggest that perhaps God, rather than working us like some giant puppet-master, instead meant to wind us up, teach us, and set us free. His design is (I hope) to create a world where the way is manifesting a love of man resulting in a more perfect world. That manifesting that love means recognizing and accepting each other, including loving our imperfections and our differences. I therefore believe those who preach violence (like the murderer of Dr. Tiller), or division, or contempt, or disregard for the plight of others - who preach ever shrinking circles of care - are "straying far from the path" Christians are called to walk (or as DogGone clearly says - other religions call for as well). I believe, and feel there is abundant evidence of, in fact that it is more about the journey, i.e. walking the Samaritan's path & finding the face of God in the world around us- than it is about the destination, and that this is precisely what God (or Allah/Y'weh/Vishnu/Brahma/Shiva) intends.