Could I Still Know God?

"Gitchie Manido Great Spirit Praises" Copyright 2009 don wright

Ok, so I posed this question. If all the religious books and all the religious teachers were wiped from existance, could we still know God? I thought I might just ramble a bit and play with that thought. I realize its an impossible question but what the heck.

So here I am. No Knowledge of God. No one to teach me or show me. Nothing for me to read. Everyone around me is in the same boat. Lets say everything is great, I have food, shelter, companionship and of course..."stuff". Do I know God? Do I consider that these great things I have, to be provided by someone or something much greater or more powerful than myself?....not likely. I dont think I would know God or seek to know God, unless of course He chose me, called me or introduced Himself to me. I rekon, outside of God revealing himself to me, I would have no cause to seek him as long as all was well. I guess I'm a bit ashamed at that, but, hey..I just think thats what would happen.

Ok so lets say that things are NOT very good. Lets say I cant find food or shelter. Lets say I face hardship of every kind, that cause me great stress, discomfort and fear. Now, am I likely to seek a God, or a higher power, to help me in my time of need? Would I cry out to someone or somethiong unseen in my anguish and search? Would I begin to question my existance and the why's, and hows of it all? I think I would. I think that through my brokeness I would seek. My sense is that as I seeked, God would be found. If I didnt seek, then I am sure those around me would. As answers were found, no doubt they would be shared. People would begin to share their experience, their stories, their ideas and of course their questions.

Amongst the people, there would be those who were more passionate about the search and sharing the knowledge. There would perhaps be those who God Himself guided or put his spirit of knowledge and teaching in. There would be those who understood the importance of these teachings and seek to pass down this knowledge. These would be the Shamans, the Elders, The Prophets, The Rabbi's, The Pastors etc. There would be seeds for stories, legends, teachings, wisdom collections and art.

Lets say that each of these groups of poeple lived in differant places in the world, and lived in conflict with each other. If we shared what we learned, would it be heard? Would it be accepted? Could each of us have come to a knowledge and acceptance of "God" in our own way?

Heres a ramble. I am standing there and lightning strikes my house and it blows up in flames. Hhhhmm. I have had this suspision of a higher power and suddenly I see proof. Only a God could have power like that! So I begin to worship this "God" whos face is lightning. I create an art that looks like a lightning bolt and I begin to use it in my prayers. I put it around my neck to remind me and others of my devotion to the lightning God. I begin to see and understand the importance of this new found lightning God.

Or lets say I'm standing there and a snake lurches forward and bites the person beside me. They immediately fall down dead, foaming at the mouth. OK, so who and what has the power to create or destroy life like this? Only a God. So then I wonder, why did the snake bite him and not me. I begin to seek Gods answer. Who is God? Dont know yet, but I think He might be in the snake. So I share my snake story and make a piece of art to remind me. I use this art as I recall the tale and possible xplanation of the all powerful snake God.

All around me people are beginning to find answers in differant ways. All were seeking, and to all, came answers.

So where is God in all this? Well I rekon either he would sit silent, or he would interject. He would either hide himself or make himself known.

If he stayed up there in heaven silently watching as we fought with each other about His existance, then although He would find it pathetic, I think He would also grant grace as He Himself did nothing to clear the air or make the truth known. I guess we as people would just cling to the cllective thought of our culture, as we attempted to support one another and find common ground to the questions we had.

Lets say that God did not sit silent, but willfully made himself known to man. Of course, this would be good, as we searchers would be given the answers from the creator itself.......interesting....creator itself. Jeesh, so all along in my fantasy I have been referring to this mighty God as He, yet since in my fantasy, all knowledge had been wiped clean, it does not make sense for me to consider God to be He.

I suppose in a world where man is lording over woman with strength, it is probable for me to project God to therfor be a man. No wait. The most beautiful thing on earth is a woman's body, therefor I imagine God would be 36, 24, 36..no wait a minute, 38, 24, 36...She is after all God!

Yet as I consider fresh, God become more universal....neither male nor female. It does not make logical sense to give God a gender. Yet if I call God "IT" then suddenly my past life as an israellite gets all offended. My goodness, imagine if during my time as a musician in King Davids court, I referred to the Lord God as IT or She! I would have been thrown on the ark of the covenant!

Where was I? Oh yes, so God chooses to reveal itself to mankind. What does that look like? How is that done? Does it happen to everyone? Does it reveal itself to only select few? Who? How? Would God do it the same for all people or is God seen in their experiences?

hhhmmm..lots of questions. I rekon that everyone would be asking questions like this as we all searched to understand life.

I wonder if I made it all too complicated. I wonder if there is a simple God Spirit that simply dwells in us. We could search high and low for something we simply have.

My wise sister Brenda planted this seed. Here is how she put it...."Even our thoughts and ideas are not who we are, but who we are is the person underneath those thoughts and ideas. Because i can have thoughts, so there must be a me to have those thoughts, so that me is spirit and...then i start thinking.....I read in a book recently that ego (flesh, thoughts, ideas, self) is selfish and that our spirit isn't, it's just us. Like we're draggin around our sorry-ass mind and body that gets in the way of us being spirit led."

Well I'm going to stop my little fantasy now and ponder. I guess one thing I would like to say is that I sure am glad to have the very spirit of God dwell in me. I am glad I am not seeking God for the first time, with no knowledge of him. I have seen what that kind of life is like. I am glad God chose to reveal Himself to me through Jesus Christ.......the Ultimate Shaman......God with us...God in me.

Smile...God loves you