Evolving Concepts of God

Most people who become students of A Course in Miracles do not come to it already conceiving of God as the Only Being of Which they are a Part. God is almost always an authority figure of some kind, a parental figure or a supreme being, one which is over you, not one which encompasses you. Few who believe in a tyrannical god would accept the Course at all. So most who become students believe in a God who is probably a tough-love moral authority, a benevolent judge who wants you to measure up to Him/Her/It and is willing to help you do so. And of course, this god made the world and our bodies/egos, as well as our individual spirits/souls.

So there is a huge leap to be made in your concept of God as you study and practice the Course. God did not make the world or bodies/egos, not even individual spirits. There is only One Spirit, of Which we are all a Part, and that One Spirit is God. It takes time to accept this intellectually, and even more time to accept this emotionally. After you have accepted the idea you will still have to work through feelings that indicate you still believe in another God, modeled on the ego. You will feel guilt and fear God for a long time. You will find buried in your mind expectations you have of God and that you think God has of you. You may wrestle with the impersonal nature of God, hoping to find a way to keep your ego and still have peace.

Of course, God cannot be conceived of, only experienced. You may go through many concepts of God before you accept this. And that is okay. What is important is that as your concepts evolve they move you away from guilt and from a sense of God as “other”. You are Part of God. You cannot change that. You do not have to measure up to God; you are already perfect. You cannot make God angry, disappoint God or fail God in any way. All thoughts along these lines and the guilt and fear they inspire are only illusions.

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Comments

michael said…
nice post. God rocks. :)
5:43 PM
Anonymous said…
Liz rocks.
2:41 PM
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