God Is Not Gendered

I don't dare proclaim what God is, but I have a strong feeling for what  God is not.

Common assumptions of God being male, Christian and white seem like shallow affirmations for hegemonic social systems such as the divine right of kings. Certainly we humans have had no trouble creating deities that support, guide and root for our side.  However this is not only not enough - it is immature and deadly.

God is not a misogynist, a racist, a capitalist and a homophobe. God does not want us to be fashionably skinny and rich. God does not want us to tear children away from their parents, imprison them in residential schools then beat and rape them in order to teach them "about His love". God does not support nuclear weapons. God is not cruel, wanting us to flagellate ourselves for having desire. And God does not want us to go to war to kill all those whose faith is different from ours.

Just because history reveals a series of beliefs that contradict themselves for the sake of maintaining the status quo, doesn't prove that God is a scam created for propaganda and control.  Humanity is very capable of doing that without God's help.

So what is God then if not that white bearded father sitting on a throne in heaven?

If I attempt to name anything like energy, mystery, or love, or the big bang,  I am struck down with my own limited understanding. Even to say that God does or does not exist is far beyond what I can ever know.

A United Church minister said, that for her, the presence of God is felt in those moments of inner peace when everything in the world feels right. Having had those moments occasionally, I am filled with tremendous gratitude and for a brief moment I feel everything connects and fits together. It is not a thought, it is more than intuition, more than spirit, more than light. And it certainly isn't he or she or Christian or Muslim or Humanist. It isn't limited by my personal knowledge or volcanic lava. It isn't the sum of all my experiences.

I am grateful for deeply meaningful relationships and experiences and not interested in arguments about whether God exists or not. What I am interested in is being part of a communication thread that elevates the mystery of life, to see in every being that they are deeper than what appears.

And needless to say, I am not satisfied with my attempt to say what God may be.

That's how the light gets in (Cohen)

These four lines have swirled in my head ever since Leonard Cohen died. I am in awe of these simple words and their depth. How each line works by itself and deepens by the presence of what comes before and what after.

Where does that wisdom come from? A crack in our genes? A mystery in the education? The back drop of a civilization where intelligence is shared through public education? Those who see the light creeping through the cracks?

The English speaking world is vast - there are billions who speak this language and yet some of our political stories get more stupid with each decade.

Media had to undergo a lobotomy in unison to fit the expanding fists of the bullies. Media outlets cannot make a profit. Workers cannot earn enough to build the economy with the things they need let alone the things they would wish for. And we are being told that those who are to blame are those who are tied up and whipped again.

Where will we go from here? Breaking apart what does not reveal the light? It's the cracks we should be looking for now because the structures have shut out the light.

The line in the title comes from Leonard Cohen's Anthem