We need to talk about God
© WHERE BIRDS GO (part 2) by DELAFOI
We need to talk about God. No, I need to talk about God.
Not your religious God. Not your self-healing love-all-serve-all God. Not the God in gold and blue, claimed to be represented by a man in red shoes. Not the God of modern day crusades. Not the God of an imaginary Jihad nor the God with many names, arms and faces. Not the orange man by the tree, the polarised God of us and them nor the simplified God of the never ending antagonists. Not the God of you’re wrong, I’m right. Not the God you think you know.
All of those are inventions of man. All of that is a gameshow. A "panem et circenses”, made to keep us busy, distracted and afraid. All of that is politics dressed as religion.
No, we need to talk about God as the glue that binds us all together. The God that is hiding deep down inside. The inner God of good, bad, love, hate, courage and fear. The God that is the core of you, me, of all of us. The God that gives a feeling of purpose, of belonging. The God that reaches out. That teaches us to be humble in front of the unknown, in front of others, in front of you, in front of me. The God that is our love, our life, our art and our soul.
We need to talk about the God of heart.
The God of politics tells us about retribution. The God of heart knows about consequences. The God of politics tells us we need its blessing to proceed. The God of heart finds its blessings along the way. The God of politics claims we would be lost without it. The God of heart knows that being lost is part of the journey. The God of politics preaches of days to come. The God of heart knows how to be present. It knows how to love and to be loved, how to care and how to trust.
The God of politics demands to exist. The God of heart just is. She's in the power of creativity. In the beauty of a sunset, a misty morning or a blue sky. She's in your morning ritual and your Saturday barbecue. She's in that melancholy happiness you feel on a rainy day, or in the true discovery of yourself. She's in your inner fire and in your heart beating. She's in the touch of the ones you love, the ones you never leave and the ones that never left.
The God of heart is the force in which we resonate. And she comes with faith. Faith in that we are all connected. In life, love and purpose.
The God of politics talks about peace, but chooses war. He preaches of love, but chooses hate. He talks about time and eternity, but chooses immediate revenge. He tells us about life and beauty, but chooses death and carnage.
The God of politics was born out of force. The God of heart is born out of need. He breaks under questioning. She is the answer to the impossible and a comfort in the unexplainable. He has boundaries. She is what lies beyond the forever moving horizon. He craves obedience. She gives reason and purpose.
The God of politics is narcissistic and demands constant attention. The God of hearts knows about trust. He is a threat to all the things we have learned. She is the answer to all things unknown.
Whatever happened to you in church wasn't God. That was discipline. Whatever demons you encountered growing up wasn't yours to meet, they were thrown at you with fear and anger. Nothing has ever been - or never will be - in the name of God, it is always in the name of man.
We are all islands in a wast ocean. And while the God of politics judges us from a distance, the God of heart is the water and the waves that binds us together.
- And I need to talk about that.
