Quote:
Originally posted by radonman
but I see a sort of supreme being in a pantheistic sense. In this, I mean that all is god, and god is all. Instead of there being some abstract guy above the clouds, maybe "god" is the earth, the water, all the stuff in time and space: the universe.
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FWIW, I tend to fall into this category. I believe there is a "higher intelligence/force/entity(ies). That's not exactly right, I know this. However, there is a huge quantum leap between that/him/her/them and moi in understanding (for lack of a better word at the moment). I think organized religion is merely a human language to operate in that huge gap between "god" and humans. For my own purposes, I analogize that gap as akin to the gap in understanding between me and my animals. If I taught my dog to sit by using the word "bowl", he would learn what I want and sit evertime I said bowl, but have NO idea of what the human definition of "bowl" was. Or, by understanding the "language" of my horses, I can interact with them. Although they will never "know" me, through our interactions, they will sense and know what they can expect of me, what I expect of them and so on.
Although having undergone 17 years of Catholic education, I don't swallow a great deal of the "doctrine" BUT I do find church attendance (infrequent) a means of connecting. I more frequently turn to sitting in the grass on the hill or in a thicket in the woods to "learn" or "know" the nature of "god", in my own feeble way.