Wednesday’s Thoughts
“What Do You Tell An Atheist?”
Part of the problem a non-theist has is not about a lack of faith and it isn’t that they have missed the mark as far as religion is concerned. People who do not believe in God, for the most part, are not people who are spiritually depleated. Actually, many atheists are very spiritual in the way they live their lives. Many of them are wonderful people.
The basic problem for a non-theist, or atheist, is they are not looking in the right places to see God. They are looking back to some place they have been and are hearing voices of others who have conveyed a belief system that seems impossible for them.
To see God there are a number of places one might want to look. Here are some of those places:
1. How can you miss seeing God when you look into the universe. I have a book introduced by Sharon Begley and edited by Michael Reagan entitled, The Hand of God; Thoughts and Images Reflecting the Spirit of the Universe. What I found interesting in this book was the dedication at the end. The book is filled with picture taken from the Hubble telescope, and at the end of the book the dedication reads, “To Alan Shepard a genuine hero, who looked back at Earth and wept.”
In the wonder and beauty and power of creation you can begin to see the hand-print of the source of creation (God). If you look high enough you can see it. If you lift your eyes beyond the concerns of the day and glance into the power that is Love made real, you begin to see what God is; that God is; and where God is.
2. For us Christians we can see God personified in the life and teaching of Jesus. James Mackey wrote a book entitled, Jesus, the Man and the Myth. It is his conviction that the power of Jesus (the divinity) lied in the fact that as he lived, he produced a shadow that outlived his crucifixion and that his legacy created the church that continues to interpret the very brief words he spoke. People like Jesus, who demonstrate a level of greatness that is healing and wholistic, give us the sense that there is something important and someone important in our midst. Having seen that and having witnessed the ongoing witness of his word and life we realize that there was something more going on than just this person in history. There was God acting in and though him. There was a high degree of God-consciousness in him.
There are other places we could look to see God. In the next few days I will be exploring God in the neighbor/the stranger and God in ourselves.
Where would you tell someone to look to see God? If you have thoughts on this subject write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read you thoughts click on the ‘comments’ box below.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles Schuster
