God, Part One

Last updated on: January 29, 2014 at 10:51 am by Rabbi Rami

God, Part One 2014-01-29T10:51:51-06:00 Rabbi Rami

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2.1 “God” is a word, and words need definitions if they are to be of any value to us.

2.2 There are many definitions of the word “God,” and you cannot speak meaningfully about God if you fail to define what you mean by the word “God.”

2.3 For some God is a man, often a white man, who resides up in heaven. This God created the universe, and humanity in particular. God judges the deeds (and in some religions the thoughts) of human beings, and rewards or punishes them for these either in an after–life or in another round of life here on earth.

2.4 None of this makes sense to me. A gendered God, let alone a racially restricted God, seems silly to me. And the very notion of “up” and “down” no longer has any meaning in an expanding universe (or multiverse!). A rocket doesn’t go “up” into the sky, it goes “out” from the earth. But a God that is “out” doesn’t speak to me either.

2.5 For me God is reality, and when I use the word “God” that is what you should think of if you hope to understand what I am saying.

2.6 God is reality, the source and substance of all that was, is, and will ever be. God isn’t a being or even a Supreme Being, but being itself. God is not a noun but a verb. God is not an actor but activity; God is not creator but creativity.

2.7 God as creativity is the very first thing we learn about God in Torah: Bereshit bara Elohim: Once upon a time Elohim/God created… (Genesis 1:1).

2.8 Create is what God does; creativity is what God is. God doesn’t choose to create, God is creativity and the results of creativity, what you and I often call creation or nature. And because God is creativity and the result of creativity, God and creation cannot be separate and apart. Nature cannot be apart from God, only a part of God.

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January 23, 2014

3. Our Story, Our Selves Part Three