“My God Does Not Have A Penis”

Hehe. Yep, that really is my blog title for this entry.

For those who don’t read this blog often enough to know, I am what some would describe as a hippie commie pinko liberal. Fortunately, my political beliefs have been tempered by a strong spiritual practice and I no longer go around telling others what morons they are for believing differently than I do. I’ve even managed to ascend to the wizened level of someone who can accept others’ beliefs and allow myself discourse and debate about ideas I hold precious. I can even do it with those who feel the opposite as I do, all without feeling the need to convince them they’re wrong or feeling my own beliefs threatened.

In other words, I am free to be me and others are free to be themselves. It is the strength I gain from letting others be themselves that gives me the confidence to be myself.

One thing I disagree with is those who refer to God as a ‘him’. I know that for many people, the image of a God-The-Father is a deeply held perspective. To them, He is their true Father, the highest authority in their life. They must obey Him, follow His word, do as He says to do, etc. I suppose, for the record, I need to say that I don‘t like referring to God as a woman either. If I were to call God a woman, I’d be making exactly the same mistake. I’d be attributing human characteristics to something that I don't think of as merely human.

For some, the image of a male God, a God-The-Father, is offensive. I think most often of women who were raped, molested, or abused by their own fathers. To a lesser extent, some reject the idea of an authority figure who hands down instructions from on high. I tend to fall into this category; I’m not fond of authority figures in general. I tend to believe we are all equal and that no one person is better than another for any reason. This includes: wealth, power, spiritual advanced-ness, and so on. I feel very strongly that a lot of the problems in the world stem from the idea of rankism--that “I am better than you because [reason]”.

My higher power is not male. My higher power isn’t even really both male and female. The God I believe in doesn’t exist up in Heaven. The God I believe in is in me, in you, in the trees, the sky, the chair, the carpet, and the air circling around us and through our lungs. We are in God and God is in us. My higher power is a God that is everywhere, always, in all things.

I still feel that one of the most amazing and powerful aspects of the 12-step program is that it doesn’t simply allow for but in fact encourages us to discover a God of our own understanding. That’s just plain genius, in my opinion. And, ironically enough, in learning the history of Alcoholics Anonymous, I’ve discovered that it was the atheist members in the early days that insisted on that language.

My higher power is an Infinite All. It works for me. What someone else believes is of little consequence. I have a higher power working in my life. I enjoy sharing with others about what each of our relationships with our higher power is like. I’ve no need to force anyone else to believe as I do. If it works for you to have a God with a penis, then fine. As long as it works for you, that’s the point: to allow ourselves to be guided by a loving higher power. Our relationship with that higher power is going to be as individualized as we are.