Spiritual

Bring bolt cutters

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If one more person or magazine article tells God Seeker Guy that he’s lost and needs help to find his way, he’s going to cancel his subscription to ‘God and more Gods’ and at dinner parties he will simply discuss the various methods of buttering toast.

He’s not lost—thank you very much—he’s journeying down a very fruitful and fulfilling path in his search for many things, including faith.

Why is embracing a religion blindly more valid than committing to none but being open to all? GSG has learned an enormous amount of valuable and interesting concepts from all of the worlds religions and from the people willing to share their faiths in an intelligent way. He has also picked up a lot of absolute nonsense, and therein lays the problem.

“Here’s the irony of all of it all, GSG is actually quite passionate about faith and religious conviction.”

Mark Twain is reputed to have said “It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.” This applies to the vast majority of religious pundits GSG has spoken to. Very few have shown any interest in broad discussions of faith or religion, most simply choose to lecture at great length attempting to beat their visitors into submission.  

Here’s the irony of all of it all, GSG is actually quite passionate about faith and religious conviction. Not just as a critic, any fool can be a decrier, but as a seeker, as a man who wants to know if there is a single truth, many truths or no truths.

Assuming GSG makes it to the pearly gates one day, he assumes those in charge will appreciate his efforts to understand who and what they are, but as a precaution he plans to carry bolt cutters.

GSG (God Seeker Guy)

God as tow truck operator

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God Seeker Guy hasn’t written anything for several months because he hasn’t had anything useful to say. By useful he means he’s had no need to clarify anything in his mind by writing, remember he writes for himself, not for the benefit of others, that would be presumptuous. Writing just to keep a blog up to date breeds mediocrity and threatens to dull the writers mind and bore the reader to death.

“Remember Isaac barley made it out alive from the most famous religious test in history…”

Here is the question GSG is attempting to answer for himself today and thus the reason for this blog post. If there is a god and he loves us, why did he allow GSG’s  car to be towed away last night? A friend suggested God was testing or punishing GSG. This answer even though offered in jest, provoked a line of thought about religion, punishment and the incessant testing of the flock.

Remember Isaac barely made it out alive from the most famous religious test in history and the punishment of Jesus Christ, of course, was fatal. Hardly comparable to a temporary loss of one’s transportation, but the friends response demonstrates that most faiths mete out various trials and retributions of some nature, often for no apparent reason. Isaac was wholly innocent of any wrong doing as far as we know.

It’s the extreme nature of religions that is at the core of GSG struggle to come to grips with religious  faith. The various religious doctrines offer little in the way of compromise, and even less in  the way of understanding of alternate forms of worship. GSG likes – and at the same time dislikes – all of the world’s religions. The answer of course is for him to form his own faith and teachings. His religion would be based on all the faiths combined, a sort of – Chritsto-Muslimish-Jewdeo-Hindy-Pheudo Bogomillian-Druidish combo- , although that designation may not fit on the stationary.

A Christian friend says salvation can be found only through Jesus Christ, a Muslim friend says Allah is the one true God, a Jewish friend says both of these religions are pinched from the teachings of their faith. If you park in any of their lots, better obey the rules or you’ll be removed in  brutal way and at your own expense.

GSG (God Seeker Guy)

Bikinis, speedos and creation

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God Seeker Guy has decided to worship the creator of life, the source of creation on earth, the one true architect of mankind, the sun.

Think about it, no sun, no life. The earth was just a large ball of molten muck until it settled down and became inhabitable due to the perfect conditions provided mostly by the sun.

“GSG likes the sun, it’s dependable, never fails to show up in the morning…”

The sun provides day and night, so we can do stuff during the day without bumping into each other and at night we can get up to all kinds of mischief without being seen.

Without the sun there would be no bikinis or speedos —let’s not go there— and we would lose those rare peaceful moments as we watch the sunset on a warm summer evening.

GSG likes the sun, it’s dependable, never fails to show up in the morning and it keeps us warm when we forget our long underwear.

The point of course is why do we need to worship anything? Man seems to have a desperate almost frantic need to have a relationship with something other than human beings. Are we so disappointed in our own kind that we require a super natural being to validate who and what we are?

Believe in yourself, hold yourself in high regard and do not allow the unseen and evasive dictate to you through corrupt pseudo God representatives.

Life certainly may be unique in the universe but it may not be particularly important.

GSG (God Seeker Guy)

Rocks in his head?

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God seeker guy has a number of rocks on his desk. Some are from rivers, some from mountains and some were found on long walks on beaches around the world.  He doesn’t buy much in the way of souvenirs, he prefers to have a piece of the earth. When friends travel he requests a rock or stone. His friends thinks he’s a bit of a nut job, but they humor him.

” Perhaps the Almighty has provided us with a tool— a corporeal contrivance…”

Why rocks? It’s simple really, they remind GSG that he’s human and therefore has limited time available on this planet. The rocks were here long before him and will be here long after him, they’re a tangible reminder to use up his remaining heartbeats in a useful way. The rocks are a way of touching time, of caressing the past and the future, a past of which GSG was not a part and a future he will not share.

Can the Gods speak to use through a rocks?, probably not — if we declared they did we would either be locked up or they would make saints of us. Perhaps the Almighty has provided us with a tool— a corporeal contrivance — designed to help us ponder on how we’re spending the gift of life the Gods are alleged to have bestowed upon us.

Mountains give birth to boulders, boulders become rocks and rocks become sand with which we make silicone and in our wisdom we use that to fashion computer chips. The soul of the rock is still with us as we do the useless time consuming things we do with computers, because we have forgotten to how to touch time.

GSG ( God Seeker Guy)

An unseeing God

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A friend has gone through a very hard time with sight issues. After three unsuccessful operations she has decided that man can do no more for her and her sight is now in the hands of God. She has asked friends to pray for her, which God Seeker Guy is of course unable to do. Where was God two or three operations ago, why the long painful delay before her prayers are to be answered, if indeed they ever will be?

“If her sight is lost, what will be the rationalization for her unanswered prayers, what of those who prayed for her unsuccessfully, why have they failed?”

When all hope is lost most turn to prayer and their God for resolution, never considering that their God should have shown  interest long before now. Is it because God is just too busy, is He over worked and under staffed or is this friend just clinging to the inevitable last hope furnished by three or four thousand years of self-delusion?

If her sight is lost, what will be the rationalization for her unanswered prayers, what of those who prayed for her unsuccessfully, why have they failed? Is it God’s will or maybe punishment for some unknown sin? Perhaps the Almighty is simply not as interested in the absurd human condition as we might like to think.

It’s an insult to the medical community when, after calling on them and all of their hard earned skills to keep us healthy, we to turn to some esoteric, vague, uninterested God because the limits of medicine have been reached.

There is enormous suffering in the world and God Seeker Guy has determined that the Gods are far too random in their selection of who should be saved from a life of undeserved hardship and misery, which suggests that the Gods are not concentrating or have very short attention spans.

GSG (God Seeker Guy)

God’s sense of humor

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Consider the poor duck-billed platypus, he looks like he’s made from the parts of several animals, something made from remains found in the Almighty’s work shop. Perhaps God was bored and decided to have a little fun, something to do on his day of rest.

His effort to create humans may have been accomplished in the same manner, although our design defects are less obvious. Most of our parts look like they belong together. On the surface we appear to be well thought out, but there are certainly issues with our functionality.

“Where God went wrong —and God Seeker Guy has brought this to his attention on several occasions…”

Although we have proven our ability to achieve great things, we consistently undo much of the good we accomplish by indulging in religious dogmatism and denying the rights of others to follow any faith they choose.

Where God went wrong —and God Seeker Guy has brought this to his attention on several occasions with little success— is  that he created a creature with poor instincts. Animals are not self-destructive, they have the ability to function as a well-organised group and they usually work together for the betterment of the herd. True, animals will kill each other on occasion, but most don’t destroy members of their own group, although the odd lion will kill the young of a newly acquired female, a policy humans have avoided so far.

God immediately realised his mistake in tinkering with Homo sapiens and booted them out of their designated living quarters. Later he found it necessary to come up with numerous commandments to stop them from slaughtering their neighbours and indulging in all sorts of sordid activities.

Assembling the duck-billed platypus showed the Almighty had a sense of humour, fabricating humans not so much.

GSG (God Seeker Guy)

The wisdom bot

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Wisdom is fast becoming obsolete. Through the ages wisdom of the older generation was valued by the community. History was passed along, language was preserved and numerous skills were conserved. After a long working life it was assumed the older members of the family new a thing or two about life and were respected by the community and family. While God Seeker Guy is perhaps a bit of a Luddite, he is not blind to the changes technology is bringing to our communities and families.

“The western world has become alarmingly accustomed to discarding anything that elicits boredom.”

Technology is eroding the contribution of the older generation. We won’t need to ask for advice or information from them, it will be stored in computer chips implanted in our brains at birth or offered to us by wisdom bots plugged in next to the toaster. The traditional role of grandparents will evaporate as kids grow up preferring to spend time with their iPads and smart phones when grandparents visit.

The Wisdom Bots and our lives. However, instant gratification is the sure path to loneliness since it takes many years and much compromise, understanding and sacrifice to establish long lasting relationships.

Elon Musk has said that if we don’t embrace artificial intelligence, we as a race will become obsolete. That notion does not bode well for the traditions the older generation has to offer the young.

The new gods of AI will demand total acquiescence and we will look back on the holy books as faulty, irrelevant curiosities. The omnipotent  will retreat, our thinking will be done for us by appliances and we will no longer be available to the gods as playthings.

GSG (God Seeker Guy)

 

Sarcastic seeker?

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God Seeker Guy has often been attacked for his negative posture on faith. “Everything you write is either sarcastic or a put down to those of us who have found faith.” observes a reader. Her comments are well taken and duly noted, however she appears to have missed the point of GSG’s writing.

GSG writes for himself, not for others, thus the lack of political correctness and sugar coating in his words. He does not mean to criticize the beliefs of anyone, though it may look that way at times. He is looking at the subject only from his own point of view, however confused that may be.

“Everything you write is either sarcastic or a put down to those of us who have found faith.”

He has great respect and admiration for those who have discovered the tranquillity of faith along with the solace and contentment it presumably brings. In fact knowing when we’re content is probably the secret to life. Recognizing happiness, peace and the genuine love of a good person is very difficult in a world that demands constant change and endless striving.

GSG understands that he is the outcast, he is the one with the “problem”. He respects others for getting on with life rather than squandering heartbeats demanding accountability from the unaccountable and endeavoring to conclude an impossible Sisyphean task.

He doesn’t fear condemnation, attack him, criticize him, challenge him, “dis-like” him, force him to defend his position. Perhaps in this way you will be the one to “save” him, who knows?

Sarcastic Searcher!wishes to join them, but cannot find the key to unlock the riddle others have solved.

GSG (God Seeker Guy)

Fishing for faith

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One of the few things God Seeker Guy understands about the story of Christ is the fact that he was interested in fishing. Some his followers were of course fisherman, that makes them okay in GSG’s estimation.

Fishing, if done right, gives us time to think, time to slow down and consider our place in the universe. A trip up county to an isolated lake or river, surrounded by giant fir trees, fast flowing rivers and cool clean air offers a place to connect with our surroundings, a place to clear our heads. GSG is often accused of being spiritual despite his agonizing struggle with God. If he ever gets close to adopting a religion or embracing some kind of god , he will achieve it in the open where God can find him.

Churches over the past years have not been successful at gathering together those in need of focus for their life. A former post noted that “A four-day conference convened to examine the viability of the United Church in Canada didn’t have much to consider. If the Church has 3,400 congregations and a membership of 558,000, as reported, that works out to 164 God-fearing souls rushing to each congregation” obviously something is amiss.

“GSG is often accused of being spiritual despite his agonizing struggle with God. If he ever gets close to adopting a religion…”

It seems God if having difficulty being heard through the commotion and distractions of the city. It is said that God is everywhere but many are finding it a struggle to locate him, if he does indeed exist he needs to find a good social media consultant.

We are at a stage in human evolution when we’re absolutely obliged to question the absurd demand of attending a gathering in a half empty building. We are asked to listen to an out of touch ecclesiastical diehard attempting to protect a job no longer in demand by a new enlightened generation of YouTubers and bloggers. In fact many of GSG’s readers use their blogs as a platform to talk through their issues and feelings with numerous online parties. While such communication may be suspect, blogs—immediate and instantly available—may well become the church of the young, who knows?

It has been said that Christ had no church, he was the church. Many of us are now in the process of seeking out our own individual sanctuary. The future is going to be very different from the past in terms of how we connect with God, GSG will be on the river, listening and waiting, where will you be?

GSG (God Seeker Guy)

Impossible things!

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Faith is a wonderful thing in many of its forms, faith in yourself, faith in others and faith in the human condition. However blind faith in an unseen God, promoted by religious elites with a vested interest in maintaining their dwindling flocks, is perhaps no longer applicable in the information age.

The young in particular have thousands of years of informed thinking at their fingertips and they should be asking lots of questions about God, religion and the religious prognosticators. Sadly, more time is spent keeping up with the latest escapades of movie stars, pop stars and YouTube lunatics than is spent seeking out personal truth. To be fair, such a tragic waste time is not limited to the young.

You’re the smartest generation in the history of the planet, use your intelligence, use your powerful tools to find your own answers. Those who demand you follow a centuries old line of belief barley understand that Twitter, as you know it, is not the sound a sparrow makes in spring when it’s trying to mate.

“You’re the smartest generation in the history of the planet, use your intelligence, use your powerful tools to find your own answers.”

Get mad, demand accountability from those who ask you to believe in impossible things, impossible because you have access to the truth and refuse to live in a medieval world with medieval thinking handed to you by religious dinosaurs refusing to accept that their time has passed.

People are not animals, we have the ability to reason, that is what separates us from the beasts. Why then, do we follow religions blindly, almost by instinct like salmon swimming upstream to die because that is what they have done for millennia.

Generally we’re born with a faith, follow it and abandon it only when we stop breathing. In the mean time we live in abject fear of what comes after life because religions have determined what awaits us.

The universe is very big and we understand little of how it works, but we must know by now that the stories of heaven, hell and an ark filled with animal waste, are merely uninformed efforts to science.

GSG (God seeker Guy)