"There is an extremely powerful force that, so far, science has not found a formal explanation to. It is a force that includes and governs all others, and is even behind any phenomenon operating in the universe and has not yet been identified by us. This universal force is LOVE."
~ Albert Einstein
It is 4:00am on Good Friday, dear Reader, and my insomniac mind is unrelentingly racing! Such blasphemous thoughts cross my mind, and with impudence, I sit and type them out and try to make some sort of understanding out of them. Inspiration doesth striketh at the most random hours. The main idea of my thought is the Idea of God. Below you will find the product of my sleepless night wonders.
I have two theories on God, and I favor the second more than the first, because the second aligns with how I see life and my personal experiences but perhaps the first makes more epistemological and conceptual sense.
My first theory, derived from the first lines of the book of John in the Bible; "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
The Word, is characterized by Logos in ancient Greek philosophy - the pinnacle of this particular branch of thought, with leading figures like Socrates and Heraclitus as well as Roman Legends like Marcus Aurelius employing the term. Logos, to them, was seen as a universal divine reason, immanent in nature, yet transcending all oppositions and imperfections in the cosmos and humanity.
In my understanding, the Logos - or the Word, and finally - God, is consciousness. And I don’t mean any individual consciousness present in a single human being, but rather the collective consciousness of the entire natural, living world, encompassing all growth organisms - from humans, to trees, to animals. Now, not all consciousnesses are equal, with humans at the pinnacle having the unique ability to perceive their own consciousness. But just as there are different words, there are different types of consciousnesses exhibited by different living organisms. Science (Botany) has come too far to deny that plants have a unique way of communication and self sustenance, with some plants having incredibly complex root systems that interconnect across not only their own species - but different species. An intriguing video by Neil DeGrasse Tyson helps explain this thought in relation to trees. We know that on a reality level, human beings need each other to survive, trees need each other to survive, entire ecosystems are dependent on the collective action of an incredible number of species. The Butterfly Effect comes to mind when thinking about this.
My second, and perhaps more far-reaching theory, yet one that I want/hope to be true, is that God is Love. To be more specific, God is pure Love - that is, a Love that is untainted by human inadequacy. A love that is an actual force in this world. Just like the force of Gravity, that pulls us closer to the centre of the Earth, there is an undeniable force of love that pulls us closer to each other.
In the Bible, we find evidence of this too, with passages like 1 John 4:13: "
"No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us."
The strongest feelings of love, often times invoked in me towards my fiancée - can only be described as Divine in Nature. Love colors life most beautifully. And when in Love, we flow through life with a better understanding, with more compassion, with more empathy. None more so is this evident in a parents love for its child. If a good God does exist, would Love not be the highest ideal that defines it? Through our human experiences of Love, we get a glimpse of God's Love, and ultimately, God himself.
Dear reader, the second theory is certainly a hopeful message - one only needs to look at the various atrocities in the world to start questioning this theory - but it is certainly not novel in any way, with more profound figures like John Lennon (All you need is Love) and even the most intelligent scientists like Albert Einstein (Love is God and God is Love.) having spouted the same, but every person, at some stage of their life, will come to this conclusion hopefully in their own way, and upon this realisation, will try and live their life with more love.
In the final analysis, we as humans simply can't comprehend what the true nature of the highest Divine is, yet something deep within us tells us that there is something certainly more to all this. Something greater. To continuously ask the question, and to live your life as if there is, as Jung so forthrightly says, is perhaps the best way to go about it - and after all, what would life be worth without a little curiosity?
Happy Easter and God Bless!
L. S. Thomas
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