by Mark Pitstick, MA, DC
I remember going to Sunday school as a child in the church basement and singing great hymns like “Jesus Loves Me” and “This Is My Father’s World.” The message was clear that God loved us. Then we went upstairs into the sanctuary for the church service and heard hideous scripture readings about a fearsome God and lakes of fire for the unbelieving and unrepentant. Even at that young age, I remember thinking,
“Is this the same guy we were singing about downstairs?”
This is obviously an important topic. Much collective evidence indicates that God is NOT a big, white-bearded man with a bad attitude sitting on a throne in the sky somewhere. Humanity’s spiritual growth has been hampered by viewing the Divine in our image, instead of realizing we were made in the image of Spirit. At my theology school, the Supreme was defined as the highest power of which we can conceive. The greatest image of our Source is that of love, peace, justice, energy, beauty, wisdom, power—the Life Force behind all creation.
If you were taught notions about the nature of God that seemed bizarre, realize that the offending information was incorrect. Some people are atheists or agnostics because they understandably find the idea of no God an improvement over the strange images we have been led to believe are true about the Divine.
We now have a wealth of input from near-death experiencers, authentic mediums, and spiritual regressions that clearly show God is love, peace, intelligence, and creativity. Many near-death experiencers have come back to describe the Ground of All Being. They use words such as “the Light” and “the Presence” and tell of encountering this unfathomable repository of love. They say that we each are one with the One and part of Source Energy right now. Really knowing and showing that great news is a huge key to personal and global transformation.
We also have access to ancient cross-cultural beliefs that agree with the clinical evidence. Consider the follow quotes:
Hinduism: “God bides hidden in the hearts of all.”
Shintoism: “Do not search in distant skies for God. In man’s own heart is He found.”
Sikhism: “Why wilt thou go into the jungles? What do you hope to find there? Even as the scent dwells within the flower, so God within thine own heart ever abides. Seek Him with earnestness and find Him there.”
Christianity: “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, ‘Lo, here! Or, lo there! For, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”
Confucianism: “What the undeveloped man seeks is outside; what the advanced man seeks is within himself.”
I had a multisensory experience of the Source in 1997 during a long yoga and meditation session. While silently repeating the mantra OM, a louder and deeper chorus of that sound spontaneously resounded within and all around me. I smelled an unknown but wonderful fragrance even though it was wintertime and the windows and doors were shut. Even though my eyes were shut, I saw a radiant golden-white light in my mind’s eye. Then I felt what seemed to be Divine love, acceptance, and understanding. Next, a mild electrical current that felt like about forty volts coursed throughout my body. All this was so overwhelming that tears welled up in my eyes.
It seemed that information and energy were being transmitted to me. The power and splendor were so great that, after just a few minutes, I felt I couldn’t handle the current. I murmured aloud, “Oh my God!” and started laughing, and then the experience was over. But that sweet memory helps carry me through life’s challenges and reminds me I’m always Home, no matter what the external circumstances.
That experience also reminds me that serving others is one of the best ways to remember only love and light exist. I hope this information will help you release any archaic and erroneous concepts about God and realize Its true nature as Love. That knowledge, in turn, will help you better love yourself and others—a trend that can have powerful and wonderful ripples in our world.
As always, let me know if I can assist your earth-experience so that you can serve others more powerfully and enjoy this wonderful journey.