Chapter 1

To Believe or Not to Believe

What do people mean when they say they believe in God? What is it they believe? What characteristics do they attribute to God? Do all those who profess to believe in God view him in the same way? Why do some believe while others scoff? What and where do we learn about God? Does God have any expectations of us and, if so, what are they? Do all those who believe agree on God’s expectations? Does belief in God have any implications with respect to beliefs about creation? Was God involved in creation or was it a random event? When was the last time God communicated with you personally? Is God relevant? How? How do atheists—those who believe there is no God—come to that conclusion? Isn’t it impossible to prove non-existence? Is it possible to prove God’s existence?

What is spirituality? Does it inherently have anything to do with God? Does it inherently have anything to do with religion? Are there any people who are not spiritual? Is there such a thing as spiritual health? Where do we learn about spirituality? And from whom? Is it possible to be abused spiritually? Is it possible to be a spiritual perpetrator?

What is sin? Is sin an attitude? A condition? Is it behavioral? Is there any such thing as sin? Is sin more relevant to this life or to some anticipated future life? What is “love” in a spiritual sense? Is self-love a good thing? At what point does it become selfishness?

What is religion? Does participation in religion bring a person closer to God? Do religious people necessarily WANT to be closer to God? What is the purpose of religion? Why do different religions have different beliefs? Is there more than one God? Does God approach different people differently? Do religious organizations believe that God favors their religion over others? Is religion relevant? How? Is it possible that religion can drive people away from God rather than towards him?

The earthly condition does not want us to acknowledge God. It employs whatever means it must to discourage us from believing in him. One way to minimize God’s impact is to make it socially unacceptable for people to bring up religion, politics or spirituality in casual conversation. Restricting discussion about these things makes them appear to be less important or urgent. It’s a convenient way to help people avoid dealing with issues that reflect their spiritual beliefs and values. Another is to confuse people by offering vague definitions with conflicting, and often irrelevant, beliefs about God, spirituality and religion. Words or phrases like sin, spirituality, love and belief in God beg for some consensus of definition.

This book is not about religion, but rather about spirituality. It is about how to find and know God—often in spite of religion. It explains our need for spiritual nourishment in order to achieve spiritual health. It explains how the lack of spiritual health can lead to despair and spiritual death. It shows how we are taught not to believe in God—the source of spiritual nourishment. In the absence of an interactive relationship with God, we default to inadequate worldly substitutes.

We are physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual beings. We are well aware of our need to promote and protect our physical, intellectual and emotional selves. While many of us are taught about religion, we are taught little or nothing of substance about our spiritual selves. Ten people asked to define spirituality may offer as many different definitions. This book is not about warm fuzzies or feel-good spirituality. This book is about erroneous beliefs and untrue teachings which we’ve accepted and which shape our beliefs about who we are, what we’re worth, and in what our security lies. Spiritual death, resulting from the absence of spiritual nourishment, can precede physical death. Spiritual health, however, is capable of surviving physical death.

There are those who believe that what God wants from us is obedience through religious conformity. In truth, he wants a personal relationship with each of us, not for his benefit, but for ours. Unfortunately, as you’ll come to see, the United States in the present day is perhaps the most difficult time and place in the history of human-kind for people to maintain their spiritual health. Don’t blame God for that. And don’t blame God for the failures of contemporary society. And, certainly, don’t blame God for religion.

The time will come when the only thing you can take from this life is your relationship, if you have one, with God. If this book holds no interest for you now, put it on a shelf and pull it down when its relevance is no longer escapable. In the meantime, you’ll be missing out on a healthier and more fulfilling life right here.