“God-fearing”
I’ve seen this phrase fairly often over the years, but for some reason, when I saw it recently, it made even less sense to me than ever. I asked for an explanation, but even the explanation seemed rather bizarre to me (I know, a lot of things are faith-based, not fact-based).
The words brought forth an image of the larger-than-life god figures of Zeus and Poseidon hurling lightning bolts at each other from heaven to earth and back again, while all of humanity cowers in terror, hoping that the brothers’ wrath abates before their missiles put an end to the very humanity who worships them and keeps them on their lofty pedestals.
My real issue is with the concept of a wrathful, vengeful “God” or “Goddess” or whoever one might worship or revere. Do humans really deify someone simply out of a sense of “do it or I will visit the seven plagues upon you”? Do the truly devout live in fear of being the next Job should they accidentally color outside of the lines someone long ago deemed to be the boundaries one must live within?
I know it’s silly, but this has been bothering me for a couple of days, so much, in fact, that I nearly got back out of bed last night to write this post. Fortunately, four purring kitties convinced me that if I stayed in bed, they’d make sure my brain slowed down and, with one around my head, one laying across my belly, one snuggled beside me and one at my feet, I slept.
Only to wake this morning, the concept still rattling around in my brain, making me feel just a little off kilter. The only remedy being, write it out.
Granted, my own Spirituality has evolved over the years into something which makes sense, in all likelihood, only to me, so I know that what other people believe certainly doesn’t have to make sense to me, any more than my beliefs have to make sense to anyone else.
I totally respect anyone to whom this concept makes sense, and by no means am I trying to belittle it. I’m simply trying to somehow reconcile a fear based faith from the viewpoint of one based on love, respect and Oneness.
Like so many things in life, though, I believe this is one of those times when I just have to agree to disagree. The concept is so foreign that, try as I might, I simply cannot wrap my head around it.
My gratitudes on this Summer Solstice morning are:
1. I am grateful that we can all find our own path.
2. I am grateful for a diversity of friends who give me the opportunity to at least try to understand concepts which are contrary to what might make sense to me.
3. I am grateful for beautiful summer mornings with my cats napping all around me.
4. I am grateful for peace, love, harmony, joy and abundance which is available to everyone, just for the asking.
5. I am grateful for a brain which still thinks and remembers and questions and creates.
Love and light
