Something to ponder …

… "Beyond Eastrod": Does God Exist? -- a not so simple question for you and a simple announcement from me.

To the extent that we can know, it seems that our remotest ancestors, as they emerged into self-consciousness, retained a sense of a dimension and a Presence prior to and in charge of this so-called material world and its inhabitants. The belief in tutelary spirits, for instance, seems to have been universal. The Presence our forebears were certain they experienced is what has come to be called God. But for us this is no longer an experience. It is just an idea. Indeed, we have come to experience our world in terms of what we think about it. We don't really have a world or even a life anymore. We have an environment and an ecology. So is there a God? Well, if you mean the living God of the religious person, you are talking about an Altogether Other that is present to all being by virtue of calling it into being. This Other is nearer to you than you are to yourself, Meister Eckhart says. This Other loves you. That is why He has called you into being. And that is why the question as to whether there is a God cannot be answered by thinking about it. It can only be answered by making the question a part of your life, including your shortcomings and failures, especially one's failure to be the creature you were meant to be (in contrast to the one you have made yourself into). It is not logic that leads to God. It is prayer, the lifting up of the mind and heart to God, and being ready for anything.

Post bumped.