(Here are Pt 1, Pt 2, Pt 3, Pt 4 and Pt 5)
So far we’ve looked at some crucial foundations for assessing Christian beliefs and dogma. But when we let go of dogma we are left with a rather unsettling “existential” uncertainty. By that I mean our certainty around who we are, why we’re here and what happens when we die is no longer supported by a set of dogmatic doctrines and theology.
We are suddenly set adrift in a scary, complex and largely unknown universe. Our sense of security has gone.
The whole idea of religion is, after all, to meet these complex needs in a way that helps us feel secure so we can handle daily life. But when we remove the certainty of a loving god who created us and the universe and has everything sorted, it creates a vacuum that often drives people back to religious ideas, although often modified to be more rational and loving.
Real strength however, is found when we discover that place of peace in the midst of “not knowing”!
Yes indeed, we can actually live an incredibly fulfilling and joyful life by accepting that we really know next to nothing about this stuff, and that’s totally OK.
Nothing presented by any religious belief system is verifiable in any way. Sure, there are religious philosophical folks who attempt to deduce god from logical arguments, and some of them are vaguely persuasive, but they are still nothing more than subjective ramblings and wishful thinking.
There is incredible peace in learning to rest in the space of simply “being”. There’s a place of non-striving acceptance that empowers us to move with grace and love, knowing that we are intrinsically part of the universe – no greater or lesser than any other part. We are stardust (to coin a cliche). Everything is exactly as it should be – it can be no other way.
When we embrace this, it brings deep peace, and empowers us to move through life with a paradoxical sense of purpose and meaning. But it takes a lot of unraveling the paradigms of traditional theistic thought. Those “gods” are such pesky and intrusive cultural and personal beliefs, and the thought of letting go can be frightening! Especially when we have been conditioned to believe that those gods completely control our lives and eternal destiny.
We are enough, exactly as we are.
We are uniquely the same.
We have all we need within us already.
We are each other.
We truly are one.
God really is us – our united humanity, and all of the universe, is God. Everything is God, there is nothing else.
Yes, I know that’s been overused and turned into crazed hippy cosmic cliches. But despite that, it’s the only belief system that can form the foundation of a functional life that truly embraces unconditional love.
