Greater Forces
At some point in our lives many of us begin to question our own surroundings, and whether we hold a true belief of a greater force within this world. For some it may be a question of coincidence, for others it may be seen through the force of ongoing synchronicities. Some view the greater pulls and forces of the universe as a system of deeds called karma, others believe that there is no purpose to life and that nothing matters. Perhaps what unifies us as humans is that we all believe something, and all have some sort of self authenticity that we express through our thoughts, feelings, and actions within this world. Even the staunchest nihilist who believes in nothing, still holds the belief in well, nothing.
Perhaps the most popular version of this sentiment is the belief in god. God is the unmistakable almighty name that even the smallest child is aware of. Growing up Jewish, my experience with God was that he was wrathful, not only towards his own people but towards the enemies that stood in the way of his chosen people. This God would make people fear him, cowering in his presence while simultaneously being overwhelmed by the miracles that he was able to perform within their world. I know there are many other iterations of religion aside from the one that I experienced, but the basic tenets are the same: Follow these rules, or else you’re bad. And just for good measure, here's a bunch of hearsay tales that support our argument.
When we begin to examine belief in god or greater forces within this world, we start to see that the dogmas expressed within religion are simply a vehicle for pursuing something grander in scope than what we can experience as humans on planet earth. Most of our lives will be spent completing mundane tasks, and experiencing life as sequential events repeated in tedium. Do the laundry, do the dishes, vaccuum the carpet, take out the trash, repeat. That is perhaps because this is inevitably what life is: A bevy of taks that must not be neglected lest we wish to deal with the consequences. Miracles witihin religious text happen often, and are remarkable events that should be celebrated. Miracles within real life occur with significantly different subtext.
It is my belief then that our conviction towards a greater force within this life should be pointed within. What if I told you that when all the religious texts and subtexts refer to god, that they are actually referring to us as individuals? What if we are the ones truly intended to create miracles, live our lives in sanctimonious ways, and be godly within our ways? Perhaps when we are thanking god for all the beautfiul things within our lives, we should really be thanking ourselves. We are ultimately the authors of our own stories and subtexts, so when good things (or bad things for that matter) happen to us within our lives, we should really be praising or chastising ourselves. Perhaps all the time we spend looking at the sky for answers should be reflected inward, especially when we are searching for answers or help within our lives.
