About God and God Things

To say that I am religious would not be true but I do believe in God. I can’t tell you what God looks like or how God works in the world but I know God exists. I don’t know whether God is male or female, black, white, red, or yellow and honestly, I don’t need to know. It is enough just to know that there is a God.

As I get older, I find myself using the phrase “it’s a God thing” more and more often. There just is no other logical explanation for some things. This “God thing” is apparent to me daily. It reveals itself in nature, in my relationships and, as events unfold in my life. This “God Thing” is a mystery and I hope it remains that way.

"I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we only will tune in." - George Washington Carver

Understanding God is no longer important to me. I am content with accepting that there is a God. God is larger than my mind’s ability to understand. I am incapable of understanding such greatness. Let’s talk about the greatness of God for I know no other entity who can do what God does.

One only has to open their eyes in nature to see God’s handiwork. God’s artistry is ever present in nature. Have you ever wondered why each and every sunset is different? Some are painted with the most pastel colors of the palette while others are fiery red or orange. Was it God’s mood or simply the artist’s attempt to get our attention?

I know some will say these thoughts are foolish. They will say that weather creates the sunset and determines its color. To those, I would simply say – does God not create the weather too?

Another will say that science can explain the weather. To those I would simply say – I do not want to understand. I need to believe in something larger than science. God is an artist and I am a student of God’s work.

Dictionary.com defines poetry as “the art of rhythmical composition, written or spoken, for exciting pleasure by beautiful, imaginative, or elevated thoughts”. If this is true, then surely God is a poet who speaks to us through the silence of the natural rhythms of nature, the ebb and flow of the tide, the rising and setting of the sun, and the birth and death of all creatures. All things in nature have a beginning, a middle, and an end and the space between beginning and end is best described in poetic terms such as living and giving, soaring and restoring, transcending, ascending, and descending. Yes, science may try to explain the rhythmic cycles of nature too but I choose to believe in something larger than science. God is a poet and I am a student of God’s work.

God must get very tired of counseling. But God must also get very frustrated because our society has become one of so much pain and suffering and we are so hard-headed. We think we know it all and we so often refuse to listen to the wisdom God puts before us.

I once wondered why God did not just appear before me to present the message. But my rational mind said that even God cannot be everywhere God is needed every minute of the day. We are too sick and the need for counseling too great.

God doesn’t neglect us though. The counseling comes to us in often unexpected ways and forms. God may send a messenger in the form of a new friend or even a random meeting with a stranger. God may provide counseling in the silence of the night when that still small voice speaks to us from the darkness. And yes, God will speak to us through nature, to show us how the strong survive or how balance in our life makes room for all. Will we listen? The messenger may appear in different forms but the counseling comes from God. Science will call it physics or the law of attraction. Either way, I choose to believe it’s a God-thing and I am a student of God’s work.

The voice of God is like a symphony for those who will listen and nature is the conductor. Music is often called the universal language and that is never more evident than it is in nature. Music heals. It soothes the soul and mends broken hearts. Step outside and listen to the choir of voices. Stand still for a moment and hear the birds and the wind. They sing in perfect harmony. Step outside on a warm summer evening and hear the crickets, the frogs, and the Bobwhite singing their songs. You may experience the healing of tears or feel the weight of your fear lift and vanish into the night. These songs are the voice of God, presented through nature and no amount of science can explain the healing that occurs. It is simply a God-thing and I am a student of God’s work.

“He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature.” – Socrates

God is present everywhere, all the time and all we have to do is open our hearts, our minds, and our souls to the bounty of God’s talents. When our faith in mankind fails us, God is there. When our trust in government is violated, God is there. When we are lonely, God is there. When we are in pain, God is there. When we are afraid, God is there.

God will send a message or a messenger. God will paint a sunrise or add brilliance to the color of a rainbow. The butterfly with stained glass-like wings is no accident. The daffodil that blooms ahead of it’s time is no random act. It’s a God thing and yes, I am a student of God’s work.

I choose to believe in God. My friends who stand with me in times of trouble are a God thing. My family who finds strength when we think it doesn’t exist is a God thing. The stranger on the street who caught my eye and allowed me the privilege of hearing their story was no random meeting. I needed that reminder of the blessings in my life. This - was a God thing too.

The peace I feel at the end of the day is a God thing and I am grateful. I am grateful for the lessons and for the choice to be a student of God’s work.

© 2013 Linda Crist, All rights reserved.

"The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realize their relationship, their oneness with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize that at the center of the universe dwells the Great Spirit, and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us." - Black Elk