Who is God?

Photo: An Amerindian mother/child from Guyana

We human beings time again ask a question to ourselves, who is God for me? Have you asked this question before? It is, when we ask this question we get clarity about my relationship with God. It is necessary to know who is God for me. By our nature we tend to adhere to something, which is material than immaterial, practical than theoretical and sensory objects than non-sensory. This is perfectly fine, because we are humans and we need these. But they not necessarily satisfy our human needs; mental and spiritual needs. We can have best material things, most attractive material things but still we human being look for happiness that wells up from within oneself. No one or no material things can give that happiness.

John Pridemore, author of “gangland to promised land”, goes on to share his life as a famous gangster who had every luxury in this world but he was lacking that happiness and God’s love. He transforms his life and thereafter he becomes the ambassador for peace to the broken boys and girls in the prisons. I was privileged to meet him whilst I was volunteering at Wandsworth Prison in London. Material world will not build our world, for it will give us a temporary abode after which we have to retire to ourselves to find peace within. Do you have that peace and happiness?

We are physical, psychological (mental), spiritual beings. We need to grow in all these three aspects of our being; hence we become an integrated human being. It is natural for some of us to depend too much on one aspect and ignore the others, in which case a person is not integrated being. We have to find our own resources to feed these three aspects of our lives in order to be healthy human being. It is natural for us to depend on material goods, but when material goods fail, we need immaterial being; we humans are mortal, non-eternal, finite, limited and none of us are perfect. So there is urge in us, which makes us starve towards an immortal, eternal, finite, unlimited and perfect being; can we call it God?

It is not important what you call it, but it matters what you mean it. Based on our experiences of that immortal, eternal, unlimited, finite and perfect being, we name it, God, Supreme Being, intelligent designer etc. When every human efforts fail us, than we depend on this Supreme Being to liberate us from our suffering and pain. I mention only suffering and pain, since these two realities make us abnormal beings and we crave to be normal like most humans.

Philosophically, everything is based on the principle of “Union of Opposites”. It simply means, ‘there is light, there should be something opposite of light, that is darkness.’ ‘Right and wrong ‘,’ good and bad ‘,’ truth and non-truth guide our universe. Hence, logically, when there is mortality, limitedness, imperfection, non-eternality in this world, there should also be an immortal, unlimited, perfect, eternal principle. Can we call it God?

Let me go back to original question; who is God for you? When I ask this question to people of different affiliations towards God, they have myriad answers, by having altogether different concepts in their minds, about this Supreme Being. Some of them could be as follows;

• Ø  An Aspirin God: An aspirin tablet come handy when we are suffering from aches and pains. Likewise, some f the people would go to God when they need Him in their needs, particularly, suffering, difficulties, loneliness, sickness etc. There is an element high dependency on God only to a particular need.
• Ø  A Cop God: God is like a cop waiting to punish us when we err. Hence, we do good in order to escape punishment. This indeed limits my freedom to see God as non-punisher.
• Ø  A shopkeeper God: Some of us relate to God as we relate to a shopkeeper, as you give me this and I pay you this much. Likewise, God you do this favour for me and I will offer prayers, money, service, worship etc. We limit God by testing His ability to grant our desires.
• Ø  A puppeteer God: We are puppets in the hands of God. He is there a master who pulls the strings so that we have the movements. An unmoved mover. He moves us in this world. Hence, an element of final judgement, final goal, final end, predestination sets into our lives. Here we limit God to a merely super power who controls us according to His whims.
• Ø  A Laundry God: We see God as cleanser, who cleanses us from our sins and wrongdoings as we take our soiled clothes to laundry. We limit God to merely an object of our frail human condition.

Hence, we need to ask this question, ‘who is God for me?’ Only you can ask this question and only you can answer this question based on your experience of God.

For me God is love. His love is unconditional and eternal. It is like my mother, who loves me unconditionally. Her love has not conditions and expectations. That love is pure and selfless. There is no resentment, malice, deception, folly but it is kind, patient, without envy, without boast. God’s love is above all this, much more than my own mother. As St. Paul says, three cardinal virtues are, faith, hope and charity (love) and love is greater than all others (1 Cor. 13:13). It is this love, which no object, no wealth or anything can give. It fills the vacuum and loneliness where we our lives are empty. This love boosts us when we are downcast. This love cures us in our sickness. This love makes us see good in others as Jesus said, love your neighbour as you love yourself. Therefore, let us try to have a right concept of God, this will make us follow a right God and as a result makes us act rightly.