Can I Know God Personally?

 

First: The Obvious

Our human ability to connect with a personal God should be obvious. Our connection experience is backed by multiple stories in the Bible, ... and the written works of every major religion. It is also backed by hundreds of stories through the ages and into the 21^st century. Granted: some of them are farfetched, but they can’t all be bogus.

So:  -  if our ancestors can connect with a personal God, so can we....

 

A Spiritual Connection

Having stated the obvious, let us also examine how 21st century science and theology support our ability to make a spiritual connection.

In order to fully understand God, we must abandon the requirement that all phenomena have a physical material explanation that we can detect and test with human technology. Human technology has been unable to explain (or even find) all that is physical, and has thus far proven to be deficient in our quest to understand dark matter, dark energy, or the not physical (spiritual).

In Summa 21 we explore the natural biological mechanisms that enable the interaction of our conscious self with the spiritual consciousness that is the Holy Spirit.  We humans are certainly conscious beings, and we are capable of experiencing the spiritual as an extension of our awareness. We become aware of the spiritual through prayer, meditation, our sensitivity to the thoughts and feelings of others, the awe and joy brought forth by a beautiful experience, and our emotional response to someone we love. There is no physical dimension to love, loyalty, honor, integrity, morality, or righteousness. These are embodied in the spiritual nature of our being and the values of God’s Cosmos.

For those who are worthy, there is a similar connection after we transform into the spiritual self that will live in Heaven. In simple terms, we are like the river that becomes one with the ocean. We connect with the consciousness and awareness that is the Holy Spirit. We are aware of God’s divine unity. We are able to find and communicate with those who have also ascended into heaven.

 

Understanding 21^st Century Knowledge

For educated 21st century Christians, the image of God as a nice old man with a long flowing white beard is charming mythology. We believe this cannot possibly be true in a literal sense. But then, this raises a question: are we able –each one of us – to have a personal connection with God?

Unfortunately, our human concept of a Christian God has not changed much in almost 2000 years. Jesus wisely framed our understanding of God in terms we humans could understand circa 27 A.D. Jesus clearly believed in a personal connection with the God he knew and loved. He encourages us to embrace our own personal relationship with God, either though him or through sincere prayer and sensitive states of consciousness. But what is the methodology of this connection?

Fortunately, 21st century scientific knowledge, philosophical concepts, and enlightened theology do give us the clues we seek. We need to sort through all the available information in order to develop a consistent and logical answer to this question.

The personas of God exist in the dimension of another universe. Although they may exist as a form of energy that is unfamiliar to us, they are everywhere. There is no limit to the number of simultaneous appearances that may occur at a moment in time, nor is there any limit to where they may happen. The Holy Spirit can appear (or connect) to us as God the Father, God the Mother, God the Holy Spirit, as Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, or in whatever form the Holy Spirit creates. The personas of God surround us at all times with compassion, love, and the energy of life. Creation of the familiar makes it easy for us to relate to the spiritual. The more open we are to them, the closer we get to the moral life-force that exists throughout the Cosmos.

All over our planet there are people who use meditation as a means of connecting with the universal consciousness of the Cosmos. They become aware of a higher level of spiritual being. However it may be expressed, Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, and Christian theology all support the reality of this connection. For some, a connection with a higher consciousness (or higher plane) is a sufficiently rewarding spiritual experience. But for many of us, we yearn for a one-on-one connection with a personal God.

And we can. Does it not seem logical that if God is powerful enough to create Heaven, earth and living creatures, then God is also able to manifest himself in the form of a familiar person?

Philosophers and theologians of multiple faiths from all over our planet have long believed we humans are all interconnected. Consciousness is energy. Energy is the basis of all life and matter. The energy of consciousness enables awareness and connection. Since consciousness is not a material entity with length or volume, nor weight or mass, it must be treated as a singularity that surpasses our inadequate perception of the Cosmos.

It would appear our active conscious, semi-conscious, and core conscious thoughts are influenced by quantum connections (or coherence) with an intelligence whose character we can only guess at, but whose universal principles frame our understanding of what is moral, what is virtuous, what is beautiful, and what is true. This omniscient cosmic intelligence is also the creative source of our physical universe and all forms of life

The separation between the dimensions of our familiar universe, and the dimension within which he dwells, is but a very thin veil in the space time continuum. If we make an honest, sincere and humble attempt to seek God, he will listen and counsel. God may connect with us as a stream of consciousness (a stream of thoughts) in our meditative state, or may choose to reveal himself as a familiar life form. God can appear to us in whatever form best serves his purpose – a beloved relative, a long lost friend, a favorite pet, or a natural wonder of nature. Life connects with the living. God in the form of the Holy Spirit is living spiritual energy – the essence of life and love.

Yes -  of course we can make a conscious connection with a living God. We can always connect through the mechanisms of earnest meditation and prayer.

 

Ron

 

What is the Cosmos?

We need to distinguish between the Cosmos and a universe. As Carl Sagan, astronomer and astral chemist put it: “The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be.” When we speak of the Cosmos, we are referring to something that is larger and more complex than a single universe. By contrast, a universe is “all that exists within a single set of space time dimensions.” The Cosmos includes multiple universes, each in its own space time dimension.

The Cosmos, by these definitions, embraces everything there was, is and will be. It includes multiple universes of differing size and characteristics. Each universe is a separate reality. The laws that govern the activity of energy, matter and mass differ from one universe to the next. The characteristics of a specific universe may influence the characteristics of one or more other universes. And if there are physical universes, there may also be parallel non-physical universes.

 

Quantum Science

Quantum science describes everything around us. It is one of the best-tested theories of physics. The quantum realm is extraordinary. Quantum objects can be “in two places at once”; they can move through barriers; they move so fast travel (regardless of distance) appears to be instantaneous; they can share a connection (entanglement) no matter how far apart they are; and the source quantum may be in a different time dimension than the time dimension experienced by the receiver. Quantum consciousness proposes that physical laws and interactions from classical mechanics or connections between neurons alone cannot explain consciousness. Quantum-mechanical phenomena, such as entanglement and superposition, may instead explain multi-universe connections.

Will Quantum Science eventually explain how we humans can make a sixth sense conscious connection with God (who resides in a different universe)?

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Is the Bible Reliable?

 

This question is too vague. By reliable, what do we mean?

A better approach to understanding the Bible is to answer the following two questions:

What is the value of the Bible?

The value of the Bible lies in its accumulated wisdom... truth that never changes.. words that inspire personal strength, values that encourage love, compassion, patience, tolerance, harmony, and an ethically positive sense of personal responsibility. To this wisdom we add transcendent spiritual inspiration which bring us closer to the force which created the Cosmos, and established the rules by which it works – both the physical and not-physical.

The Christian Bible conveys a caring message of inspiration and comfort to the millions who turn to it for counsel. Although the Bible presents us with a text drawn from another age, its lessons are timeless, the characters we meet are dramatic, and the drama is ageless. There are prophecies and the lessons of history. There is moral right and wrong, the best and worst of human behavior, and the experience of both pain and joy. The Bible portrays tribes, families and individuals. The Bible’s authors tell us about marriage, divorce, adultery, obedience, authority, honesty, parenting, nature, revelation, moral behavior, God, and much more. It presents us with stories of spiritual vision, high ideals, and great moral depth. There are doctrines of theology, concepts of moral philosophy, and the beauty of poetry.  It describes our triumphs and failures, our strengths and weaknesses, our wisdom and our folly. We are capable of gentle compassion and fierce passion. We are good and we are evil. We embrace both love and hate.

Although the content of the Bible was brought together over a span of more than 2,000 years, it has an amazing continuity. Despite some differences in translation and construction, the message content of the present day Bible is remarkably consistent with the original text. There is a unity of belief and teaching. There are prophecies and the lessons of history. We see a struggle to create a cohesive culture, a workable social structure, the functions of government, a moral and just view of life, and an enduring relationship with God. It is a book about tribes, families and individuals. We can relate to the Bible because in its essence, this book is about us.

And that is why it has endured.

 

Is the Bible Obsolete?

The short answer to this deceptively simple question is:  No.

The world’s most popular book (more than 5 billion copies) will never be obsolete. No college graduate can claim to understand western cultural history unless they have studied the Bible: not as a religious text, but as a historical record of human development. The Bible conveys to us the moral basis of western political, social, and cultural progress. It is a testament of western philosophy and theology.

For those who chose to believe in God, the Bible will forever be a boundless source of inspiration, courage, support and comfort.  It will never be obsolete because for most Christians, the Bible is a way for God to convey his word to us. We connect with his compassion and wisdom.

People who are determined to scoff at the credibility of the Bible will be tempted to reject its wisdom because the text is not concurrent with 21^st century human knowledge.

That is a mistake. The ageless value of the Bible rests on what it is, ... 

not what it is not.

 

Ron

 

Author’s Notes

When Was the Bible Written?

Although the term “Bible” means “book”, the Bible is actually a collection of books written in three languages. The existing Western Christian Bible consists of 39 Old Testament books and 27 New Testament books that were written, translated, arranged, edited and selected as canon over a period of 947 years (dated from the beginning of work on the written Jewish Old Testament in ~ 537 BC to the completion of the Catholic Vulgate in ~ 410 AD).

 

The assertion that the Bible will never be obsolete needs a thoughtful qualification.

Biblical authors were influenced by contemporary human knowledge and the local cultural traditions of the region within which they lived. Biblical thoughts on heaven were influenced by contemporary mythology and a deficient understanding of our universe. Thoughts about hell were shaped by an inadequate knowledge of geology and geography. Fictionalized concepts of God frequently included popular mythological figures. Matthew, Luke and early Christian church fathers developed their ideas about the birth of Jesus based on what is now obsolete medical science.

But... so what...

Biblical authors focus on people, events and ideas. We are seeing life through their eyes. They do not always get the science right, but we can identify with their thoughts. The Bible is a trustworthy and dependable source of inspiration. For those who wish to experience the joy of a spiritual awakening, the Bible connects us with the compassion and wisdom of God.

The message has not changed. 

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Why Does God Allow Pain and Suffering?

 

In order to this question we must deal with two issues:

         Free Will as a source of pain and suffering, and

         The operation of Natural Law as a cause of pain and suffering.

 

Free Will: We Are Responsible For Our Choices

In any discussion of Free Will there is a tendency to confuse the availability and exercise of Free Will with the limitations and consequences of Free Will.

The availability of Free Will simply refers to whether or not we are allowed to make choices. It is an issue of basic freedom.

The exercise of Free Will is subject to certain limitations over which we may have no control. However, within these limitations we have Free Will. That is to say, we can make choices but we cannot dictate the circumstances that will affect the results of our choices.

From a Christian viewpoint, the discussion of Free Will usually centers on our relationship with God; i.e. are we only predestined to a fate determined by God?  Or, does God grant us the freedom to make our own choices? Historical and Biblical evidence suggests we have Free Will. God encourages us to make rational choices that conform to the values he has taught us. Because they are based on long standing texts, ideas about right and wrong tend to be stable.

But our moral and physical behavior is unavoidably influenced by the limitations of the real world in which we live, no matter how “free” we think we are to act and think. Our deeds may also lead to self-destruction.  Because we have free will, we have the means to create our own personal pain and suffering. If we sink into the abyss of moral decay, if we defile our being with drugs or alcohol, if we participate in perverted lust, if we are filled with vengeful hatred, if we are deceitful, arrogant or contentious, if we debilitate ourselves with too much stress, or if we ignore the wisdom of experience: we are doomed to suffer the consequences.

Human history is also filled with examples of the torment created by people who use their political, economic or personal free will to dominate others. Disease, injury, hunger, war, hatred, and grinding poverty are a constant source of suffering. Good people suffer injury and privation, beautiful children are murdered, and people die of starvation or disease.

Thus our freedom to make personal choices is influenced, and modified, by the cultural, social, economic and physical environment within which we function, and includes our emotional and intellectual interaction with other people. We make choices. We make good decisions and we make bad decisions. In either case, we are responsible for the result. If our exercise of Free Will leads to pain and suffering, it is usually our own fault.

 

Natural Law

Are we always responsible for the creation of pain and suffering?

No.  Our universe is governed by natural law (the laws of nature) and we have defined most of them in our quest to understand physics, chemistry, biology, geology, cosmology and so on.  We have little or no control over how they work and interact. Terrifying storms, floods, earth quakes, volcanos, and forest fires inflict the destructive power of natural events. Pain and suffering  from disease and disabilities are a fact of life. The aches and pains of aging, caused by the natural decline of our health and prior lifestyle, are a natural biological process.

 

Conclusion

Life is life. Nothing will change. We humans will continue to do the intelligent, dumb, compassionate, callous, joyous, and awful things we have always done. War, famine, disease.... floods, fires, storms.... they will be with us forever. Neither human nature or natural nature will change. Year after year.

Unless God gives up on us.

We are responsible for the results of our decisions. The Bible is full of stories about people who made good decisions, ...  and bad decisions.  But good or bad, they are usually responsible for the result and may be punished if a bad decision violates God’s commandments.

We will be affected by natural events over which we may have little or no control. The universe, our planet, and the environment in which we live, are all governed by  natural law. We cannot expect God to alter natural law to rescue us from pain and suffering.

But there is something we can do to help ourselves. We can establish a sincere relationship with God through prayer and meditation. He is there... for us.  A caring and wise spiritual being whose presence is everywhere. Let us seek his counsel and love...  every day.

And of course.... If we have the misfortune to experience the trauma of pain and suffering , he will be there....

 

 Ron

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