KNOWING GOD APART FROM RELIGION

Thomas Merton, in Thoughts in Solitude, said:

“I should be able to return to solitude each time as to the place I have never described to anybody, as the place which I have never brought anyone to see, as the place whose silence has mothered an interior life known to no one but God alone.”

Focusing on the works of Merton has lead me, through a fellow traveler, to another master wordsmith whose writings illuminate my journey... Richard Rohr.

“For what can be known about God is perfectly plain, since God has made it plain.

For those who are willing to see, the divine self-revelation of creation as image and likeness is everywhere evident, long before Scriptures were written. God was not mute for 14 billion years.

Through everything God has created, people can clearly see God’s invisible qualities—God’s eternal power and divine nature. So you have no excuse for not knowing God. People who are incapable of vulnerability thus cannot get very far on the journey of faith. They usually substitute either religion itself or atheistic denial.

Simply put, God reveals God’s self to us through what unfolds as our life, along with every visible thing around us. These ordinary revelations must be respected and deeply listened to—before we start reading Bibles, joining churches, and quoting dogmas. Life itself is the primary divine revelation.”

The word “religion” is so often a barrier to faith-filled seekers of truth. For those turned away by the word, its negative connotations may relate to grandiose buildings, organizational hierarchies, or discordant doctrine. But is religion the entry point for faith? Richard Rohr presents the thesis that it is not. Mohammed, Buddha, Abraham, and even Jesus lay testimony to Rohr’s thesis. Were they founders of faith or of religions? Do their stories, their lives, revolve around buildings, hierarchies, and doctrine, or around encounters with real-life challenges, joys and sorrows?

God revealed is God lived. We are human beings connected to something greater (Creator, Supreme Being, Higher Power, Universe, or whatever term on which your faith is based), but that connection is effected through living. And life presents opportunities to share in moments of pure connection - to another or to God - through personal encounter.

James P. Carse, retired Director of Religious Studies at New York University and author of The Silence of God, said

”In an encounter with divine reality, we do not hear a voice but acquire a voice, and the voice we acquire is our own.”

As to his opinion of the merit of organized religion, Carse said

“Belief systems thrive in circumstances of collision. They are energized by their opposites.”

I suspect there is not one among us who does not differ with some of the religious precepts we have been taught.  Some are still inclined toward a religious foundation to their faith.  Others have found newer, “non-denominational” sources for to follow their faith within an organizational context.  Still others find no solace in any religion, but have strong belief systems which guide them in navigating day-to-day life.  All, however, espouse values known primarily to themselves, but experienced through encounter with others.

I conclude, then, with this challenge:  Can we see in each other the God we seek? Through the encounters with family, friends, associates, and strangers, can we begin to crystallize what or who we perceive God to be?

Whether named or not, this Being is our Source.  And, can we perhaps see that this Being has its source in us?