One of my weaknesses is I believe you interpret life the same way I do. I think you think like I think.

Extrapolate this concept to a much grander scale…to the scale of infinity, where we meet God. Somewhere in the grand, human process, we went there, came back and then continued with our day-to-day lives. As we went about our ordinary lives we developed religious and spiritual beliefs in a limited, human state of consciousness. One of these is our definition of God. Most western religions claim to be based on the Bible, which is a source that generates an image of a very human-like God. This result is not surprising with words like, “God created man in his own image.”

Throughout history, we have assigned a “personage” to God which has many human characteristics; we see God in human terms and give him a human likeness. We gave God ears (He listens to us); we gave Him a mouth and larynx (God talks to us); we gave Him feelings like dissatisfied, displeased, and unhappy if we do something outside His rules.

I think God is not a person…especially not in the way that’s been spawned in our minds.

In several books I’ve read recently, God lets us know that he is nothing like we think. In The Shack, he deliberately takes on the appearance of a woman, and then proceeds to call himself “Papa.” In Conversations With God, he very directly states, “I am not what you think.” And although it was not their intention, the authors of Quantum Enigma: Physics Encounters Consciousness gave us the preliminary framework we can use to begin to grasp a possible nature of God. All of these accounts show an image of God that is very unlike anything I have encountered.

For now, I don’t think I am capable of expanding my consciousness to the point of infinity, so I’ll take small steps. I first choose to walk away from my earlier belief that God is human-like. Next, I choose to believe that God is nothing like I imagine. Then I choose to allow God to take any shape He prefers. After all…He is God.

Then again, what do I know? I’m just an ordinary guy with a weakness, who thinks you think like I think.

Curiously,
David Wine

At the encouragement of my son, I read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. It’s an inspiring story; I liked it. A Spanish boy named Santiago meets, Melchizedek who instructs the boy to watch for omens. Apparently an omen can be a message from God and can carry great meaning, offering inspiration to a person if he or she is able to identify the omen, understand its meaning and act on its instruction. I consider an omen neither good nor bad–just simply a sign.

My difficulty with this is not the part about an omen being important or prophetic. The part I struggle with is knowing exactly how to recognize an omen.

Last night something happened that, at first, seemed like a coincidence. However I have heard there are no coincidences; all things happen for a purpose. A guy I work with asked if I had read The Shack (I have) and we ended up having a long conversation about spiritual things and even talked about my book A Forever Place. This was an opportunity for me to do some one-on-one marketing for my book, but the “coincidence” was this guy actually enjoys reading and discussing spiritual things. Was that a coincidence? Or was it an omen?

Then this morning my favorite coffee barrister asked me a question that came from nowhere. “Have you ever been to counseling?” (I have. It was good. Thank you, Margaret!). My Barrister and I have never had deep discussions about personal matters, but I guess she felt comfortable enough to ask about my past emotional struggles. We ended up having a meaningful conversation about counseling and I was grateful to share my experiences. Was it a coincidence? Or was it an omen?

One of the routes I drive on my way home from work includes a long, banking curve on the interstate that allows cars to continue through the turn at 65 m.p.h. This evening, as I drove home from work, a motorcycle was in the outer lane and the rider and I accelerated at the apex of the curve, both at the same time. Was it a coincidence, or an omen?

It seems that I could interpret just about anything to be an omen. A song that comes on the radio, a particular shirt a co-worker wears, whether the trash can is full or empty, etc. Someone recently told me that there are no coincidences. All things happen for a reason and a purpose.

But which “signs” are truly omens from God or messages from the angels, and which day-to-day events are simply Life Happening?

Inquisitively,
David Wine