Amore wrote:God is not some external sky daddy.
Chap wrote:So, like, not a deity as conceived by the immense mass of humanity now and in past centuries, then? I've been saying for a while that nothing like that existed. That's why I'm an atheist.
Well, I'd be atheist too, by those terms, except I'm not, because I cannot pretend to understand objective truth and pure love (which is God). Just because I don't like common but dysfunctional ideas of God, doesn't mean I dismiss the search to learn truth and to appreciate that I will never know everything.
Chap wrote:"Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, As it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, The power, and the glory, For ever and ever. Amen."....
And your redefined 'God' is clearly not the deity to whom Jesus evidently imagined existed when he prayed like that - I mean, 'Our Father, which art in heaven' is pretty obviously a 'sky daddy', isn't he?
No, and I can't know for sure what Jesus meant by God, or Father in Heaven.
But I will tell you that the other day, when surrounded by TBMs, I prayed to Heavenly Father and closed in the name of Jesus Christ, even though when I pray, I begin, "Dear Heavenly Father and Mother" and close, "in the spirit of Christ-like love, Amen." I prayed so they'd understand and feel the intent of my prayer without being distracted by what is unfamiliar to them. (But with my own family, I pray as I feel is right.)
My guess is that Jesus understood more than he let on. He was already up against centuries of crazy tradition (many laws of Moses). He had to meet people where they were. Speaking above them would be pointless. Although he referred to God the father, Jesus taught that "the kingdom of God cometh not with observation... the kingdom of God is WITHIN YOU" - like Buddha taught and it is likely Jesus was influenced by Buddhism. Buddha could be considered Atheist, if you consider God ONLY as a tyrannical sky-daddy, but if you consider him believing in divinity at all, then he was not Atheist, because Buddha never denied that god existed.
Do you know the story, "Life of Pi"?
It's about a guy who finds truths in Hinduism, Islam and Christianity, and another significant message of the story was that the God in us prefers to see the GOoD in humanity, even when opposition can bring out evil.
I see wisdom in finding and incorporating truth wherever it's found - to me that is worshipping God.
And I also see wisdom in "functional illusions" - it doesn't matter so much how you connect spiritually - as long as it helps you and others in positive ways. Really, we are always thinking in subjective (illusional) ways anyway - so we might as well have our thoughts work for us, rather than against us.
God, truth, love - they are subjective terms that are largely based on imagination - limited perspective.
Really, I imagine God may be beyond what I can fathom, but I also acknowledge that what matters is if I connect spiritually. I kind of do what Buddha suggested - cherish the inspiring aspects of the religion of your childhood because that is how you tend to resonate best. I resonate by imagining Heavenly Father and Mother - spiritual parents that are much more loving and unconditional than my own parents, but in some ways similar. The more I believe, the more I feel intuitive guidance - and can accomplish more than with just logical skepticism.