Speaking of God......

1

The tao that can be told
is not the eternal Tao
The name that can be named
is not the eternal Name.

The unnamable is the eternally real.
Naming is the origin
of all particular things.

Free from desire, you realize the mystery.
Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.

Yet mystery and manifestations
arise from the same source.
This source is called darkness.

Darkness within darkness.
The gateway to all understanding.

                               ---- Tao Te Ching

What a dilemma.  We exist in a material world and from our childhood are taught to attach names to everything around us.   Under most circumstances this approach enables us to communicate with others more effectively.  Yet, when it comes to God, our ability to use words when referring to Him is woefully inadequate.

For the past couple of years I have avoided using the term “God” because of the traditional connotations associated with it.  In an effort not to convey the concept of an anthropomorphic being I started using expressions like, “the universe, cosmic consciousness, cosmic intelligence” and other non-theistic terms.  However, these seem so impersonal and do not convey the intimacy that exists between the universal source and all that is sustained by it.  I find that the difficulty becomes even more complex when I try to make a reference using a personal pronoun.  Certainly this cosmic entity is neither male nor female, so using terms like He or She seem inappropriate.  Yet, referring to God as “It” seems to lack the proper respect for this pervasive consciousness.

I like the term “Universal Source.”  We could shorten that to “US”, which would also convey the idea of the connectivity that exists between all conscious beings.  Unfortunately, that would probably be confused with “U.S.” which is already associated with the United States, so that’s out.  We could make up a name like Tsoe (The source of everything), but then people would think we were referring to Chinese food or something.  Some people use the term “Mother/Father God”, but I can’t bring myself to do that because if you say it too fast, it just sounds like profanity.

So I have come full circle and have decided to merely use the term, “God”, knowing   full well that it is inadequate but gets about as close as I can to what I currently believe.   I am going to use the masculine pronouns simply because that is most commonly used and understood.  In my personal communion with Him, I generally refer to Him as “Father” because I know implicitly that He is the source of who I am, whatever that may be.