On God: "You are loved and so are they"

Already familiar to regular readers of this blog, given the meaty excerpts from her posts that have been reposted here, Jess continues in her pursuit of personal truth, as she reports on Rambles, Reviews and Rants:

...for me, this whole process of trying to figure out religion, what I actually have faith in and why I believe what I believe became clear to me last night while watching... two dramatic movies. Religion gives humans comfort that they are important enough to still exist once they die. I do believe in God and I do believe that I am a spiritual being. Religion allows humans to process and have the ability to articulate what they think their purpose on Earth is and what they believe is going to happen to them once they die. It is all on such a grand scale that I cannot really process those big ideas without a tangible God and a tangible afterlife.

I wouldn't dare to presume to suggest that I know what God is, how He exists and what His precise role in humanity is. I do believe that He knows humanity's weaknesses and strengths and our intelligence and spiritual capabilities because He created us. He knows us and He provided guideposts for humanity along the way in the form of prophets. Because of these prophets religions formed. And in my opinion that is where things got off track. Every human being wants to be important in God's eyes and have assurance of a place in the afterlife (whatever that is). Because death is a huge unknown and we are taught that the end of this life will lead to a spiritual life with God, practitioners of each religion have become over zealous in their belief systems. They need the assurance that they are right and they will know and be with God when they die. It is easier to feel assured of your place in the grand scheme of things if you believe there is only one path and you are on it. It takes a lot of the hard questions away and allows peace of mind.

At this time I believe that all the prophets of God had divine messages. Choosing to only hear the message of one prophet gives you only a few pieces of a giant, unsolvable jigsaw puzzle. The more messages you hear the more pieces you gain and the more understanding you will possess. I will never fully comprehend God though I would like to try and hear the messages that He has sent to humanity. As I have read and studied various religions over the past few months I have found valuable nuggets of truth in everything that I have read.

I believe that Moses, Abraham, Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha and Baha'u'llah were all divine prophets from God. I'm sure there are many others who I just haven't discovered yet. If I am lucky enough I will be able to study what each prophet came to teach humanity. Instead of focusing on who is right and who is wrong the focus should be on how little time we have to learn all the things God has given to us to be able to have a better understanding of Him. I have no idea what the afterlife holds for me. I believe that I will continue to exist and that I will be closer to God in whatever incarnation I become next if I am able to learn enough while I am here. My job on Earth isn't to try and save anyone else or to lead them in the right direction towards God- I am busy enough trying to get my own self ready to be worthy of Him. It is my job to be kind, considerate, loving, loyal, selfless, responsible, generous, careful and reliable to all those who are a part of my life. And it is my job to try and help someone who is less fortunate than me have a more prosperous life so they too can find their own way to God.

In one of my very favorite children's books by Douglas Wood, "Old Turtle and the Broken Truth", a beautiful truth falls from the sky. When it lands on Earth it breaks. Some people find part of the broken truth and it reads, "You are Loved". They are so enamored with their beautiful truth that they are satisfied with the piece that they have and don't bother looking for the other half. After many, many years of reverance of the broken truth a little girl strikes out on her own and searches out a wise old turtle to find the missing part of humanity's beautiful broken truth. Old turtle gives her the missing piece and when she puts the two pieces of the truth together it reads, "You are Loved and So are They."

Jess, "Tangential Thoughts," Rambles, Reviews and Rants