The Opening Statement
A Discussion of Life, God, and Our Natural Order
God, Creation, and Covenant
To this point in the discussion, we have established several foundational ideas:
- The importance of clearing our biases and preconceptions to make future enlightenment possible.
- The need to engage both intellect and heart when sorting through knowledge, accepting that this may require as much unlearning as learning.
- There is special power and spiritual fulfillment found in serving others.
- The idea that the universe—including ourselves—is not random chaos, but a system continually seeking its Natural Order for the betterment of the world.
What follows is how these ideas come together to form my belief system. Along the way, I will introduce a few additional concepts and validations that help complete the picture.
God Exists
God exists. That was my first realization, as described earlier in my initial encounter with what I believed at the time was God.
Is this the same God worshiped by Abraham, Moses, Muhammad, or Jesus? I cannot know.
Does He reign over us from heaven? I cannot know that either.
What I do believe is that a Spirit resides within me—one that has been present since the beginning, witnessing every thought, action, and intention. Some of those moments must have been difficult for Him to witness. When I am attuned to this presence, I sense gentle guidance. When I ignore it, I experience guilt and regret. This inner compass existed both before and after I discovered faith.
Is this spirit God? Is this the creator of the universe?
No one can know. But I believe it is so. I believe this presence is responsible for the ingenious world we inhabit.
I do not believe God reigns from a distant throne demanding praise, worship, or obedience. I experienced Him more as a loving parent—present, patient, and invested in my best interest.
For a long time, I struggled to understand how one God could personally engage with billions of people. Eventually, it occurred to me that in His wisdom, God does not divide His attention—He multiplies His presence. An exact iteration of God must live within each of us.
God is not like a shepherd with a billion sheep; God is like a shepherd with one sheep.
I believe many people live their entire lives without fully connecting with this Spirit within them, even those raised in religious environments. They participate in the rituals but never experience the source that inspired the rituals.
Living with God, for me, is deeply personal and private—much like living with a best friend. There have been times I disappointed Him, moments when I had to face Him with my hat in my hand and offer an honest apology. And like any good parent, He was always ready to make things right again.
I do not fear God; I fear myself.
I often refer to God as he or him, but this is habit, not certainty. I cannot know whether the love of a father is greater or lesser than that of a mother.
Creation
Among the marvels of the universe, I was created by God—equal to, but not greater than, any of God’s children. I believe we were created with two distinct, interconnected sides:
- A physical side—the body or flesh
- A spiritual side—the soul or heart
Physical Side
Our flesh side was created in the image of our forefathers. Through generations, we inherit physical traits, tendencies, weaknesses, and talents. We contribute to our lineage through procreation and to the world through work and creativity.
In the Creator’s wisdom, our strength lies not in sameness, but in uniqueness. When combined with the uniqueness of others, we form something greater than any individual alone.
We were created to work together for the betterment of the world—much like small fish that move in unison to appear larger and more formidable to predators. This is evident in our desire to belong to and be relevant in society.
Consider a hospital where great work treating and caring for people takes place every day. Think of the diverse skills and creativity that went into making it all possible.
Consider the skill and hard work of the dirt and concrete workers who created a solid foundation, or the metal workers and carpenters who constructed the structure. Think of the oil workers who delivered oil to refineries, which in turn produced the plastics found in almost everything we see. Engineers and biologists—the list goes on, ultimately leading to the medical professionals who utilize all these contributions to save and improve lives.
All these individuals, each with their unique talents, contribute to the betterment of our world. They were created equally, and none should be considered greater than the others.
Spiritual Side
The Spirit side is the real me—the spark that defines who I am.
I believe this side was created in the exact image of God and inherits many of God’s powers: self-awareness, moral reasoning, free will, the ability to plan for the future, and a persistent quest for Natural Order.
These abilities are not merely enhanced versions of what other life forms possess; they belong to an entirely different class. Moral and ethical reasoning represent a profound leap.
I remember the day I correlated God’s love for me with the love I have for my own children. “Wow, maybe I am God!” No, as it turned out. However, I do believe that I inherited those superior abilities directly from God. I’m a chip off the old block.
God’s Superpower
Among the abilities we inherit, I believe we share God’s greatest strength.
God’s “superpower,” as such, is not in moving mountains, but in seeing the redeemable good in every one of His children and offering unconditional love. These are the same feelings that I have for my own children.
Unconditional love needs little introduction or explanation. However, seeing the redeemable good in the world around us may take a little more practice.
Discarded Ducks
I’m reminded of a woodcarver at a county fair. He was carving beautiful ducks out of ordinary chunks of wood that had previously been discarded. When asked how he was able to create such treasures from piles of discarded wood, he revealed his secret:
“I simply carve away everything that does not look like a duck.”
Every person, place, or thing in the universe has its own special, redeemable good. To reveal it, we simply have to see past everything that is not so good.
It is the same with life’s circumstances. Somewhere in the chaos, there is good. I will use an example from my business background to illustrate.
Defective Product
You never know how good a business is until something goes wrong. It’s a reality: most products have the potential to fail or not operate as intended. As a consumer, you have a certain expectation of how you will be treated when dealing with companies regarding service issues. Most of our expectations are low; we expect a hassle.
Handling such failures can be a major dread for both consumers and businesses alike, unless… we can get a little “magic dust” to the business before the customer’s complaint comes in.
What if, when the customer calls, they are not transferred around to multiple people and forced to explain the problem several times? What if the company seemingly stopped everything and, as if their hair was on fire, was out fixing or replacing the defective product, far exceeding the customer’s expectations?
More often than not, this would result in the kind of customer loyalty that cannot be bought with advertising money; it must be earned. It must be earned by serving first.
With these concepts and practices in place, the business would be seeing happy faces popping up everywhere, except for one odd exception. A voice could be heard from the boardroom where someone in the sales department complained, “Our products are too reliable and do not break down often enough!”
This situation went from “poor us, we have defective products to service” to “we need more defective products to service,” all due to the God-given power of seeing the redeemable good in the world around us.
These examples validate both the humble servant concept and our ability to see the redeemable good in the circumstances we face. It also validates the role these principles play in our personal life, our business, our community, and the betterment of our world. Ingenious plan, no?
How many Commandments?
I came to believe that the only thing God truly asks of us is to treat others as we would want to be treated—to serve, forgive, and respect others as we hope to be served, forgiven, and respected.
When we serve others, we serve God. Could it be that this is why serving others brings such deep spiritual fulfillment?
Consider this:
How many commandments would be required to create a world in perfect harmony if everyone treated others exactly as they wished to be treated themselves?
Covenant
I submit that we need only one commandment—one law by which to live.
We were created free: free to act, free to think, and free to believe, so long as our actions do not infringe upon the same freedoms afforded to others.
We need only one covenant—one solemn commitment to God, to others, and to ourselves.
That covenant is to:
- Accept others as they are, imperfections included
- Forgive the shortcomings of others as we would ask forgiveness ourselves
- Offer unconditional love
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is our covenant with God and with one another.
Often overlooked is the need to make this same covenant with ourselves.
- I must accept myself—not as compared to others, not as I wish I were, but as I am in this very moment.
- I must forgive myself as I would forgive a close friend.
- I must love myself as I am.
- I cannot give to others what I do not possess; respect for others begins with respect for myself.
This covenant is simple enough for a child to understand.
If God wanted us to return to Him, would He hide the very directions to His door in complexity and hierarchy? Would it require a doctorate or a committee of wise men to explain and administer? When my research arrived at a “yes” on either of these questions, I knew to throw it all out and start over.
In God’s wisdom, if we all lived by this covenant, in practice and semblance, the world would be in a better place—its Natural Order.