"Who Invented God?".....

Sometimes I wonder about whether this question should read, “Who invented Spirituality?” So many different answers can come out of the woodwork with it being asked either way. And before you get to wondering if this is a “God basher”, have no fear. What would that serve anyway? But this all comes at this moment from a conversation I was having about Biblical things. I was asked what my thoughts on Armageddon were. I have found that as I get older, there are more questions about religion than there are answers and that just doesn’t make a lot of sense. The norm is as we get older we “cram for the final exam”. 60% of people age 65 or older report going to church at least once a week. It’s been that way for as long as I can remember. 10% are 15-24 years old and 25-44 years old are 20%. Maybe you can decipher the rest on your own. The bottom line is that the statement is true. The older we get, the closer we wish to be with God. For myself, I find the older I get, the more I learn about the history of religion and the more I understand things.

But understanding doesn’t necessarily ban confusion, hence more questions than answers as I age. I was raised in the Christian faith and Southern Baptist denomination. I was saved at the age of nine and rededicated my life to Jesus on Easter Sunday, 1978. What can I say? It’s one of those unforgettable life changing events. I was a young man with love on his mind and everything happened to get all turned around on that day. I was very acceptable to change, as I am now. I was very open to God and He has remained open to me throughout my life; the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Today, I consider myself more spiritual than religious. Even though I have learned so much about religion historically, I still can’t let go of how I felt inside in those times of need, for the lack of a better word, especially those younger years, those more formidable years. This not to mention the ghosts or spirits I have encountered in this latter part of my life. I have yet to actually see one but I have heard one and I have a very valid witness to this. This same witness has had an ‘out of body experience’. I also include déjà vu in this because I happen to think it is caused by re-incarnation, another spiritual oddity. So, I can’t totally let go of the notion that there is a spiritual realm amongst us.

Some would argue, or most rather, that God wasn’t invented but the inventor. Sometimes I wonder about that more than anything. Mankind does have an awesome and crazy imagination. For instance, remember when everyone believed when the earth was flat? Boy, were we wrong! We think we know it all then an epiphany will come along and just throw things off kilter.

I think it is all about that fear of death we all have had or still do. I have thought about death for as long as I can remember. I honestly think we all know about it from the beginning of life. It was just something that came to my mind, something I wondered about a lot. I don’t think I am the exception to the rule. I think about it more as I get older, sometimes with fear and sometimes with anticipation. At times what I thought about death, how my little mind dealt with it, was seeing it as not yet been born, the same as it was before you were born. It was just a thought. Sometimes I think it is a peaceful thing, simply put, no more living. By the way, I fear not living than I do death itself.

God invented? Maybe, maybe not. As I age, I tend to lean towards yes but there is still that little bit of mystery and intrigue that life has left me with; those times when my faith was the strongest and I had no fear of anything. I believe with all of my heart that there is something, unexplainable and greater than I am dwelling amongst us. It’s not really a place of pure hell or pure heaven. All I do know to say is that I didn’t get to where I am alone. If I invented this, I am not aware of it but I can’t fully deny it either. It’s a very personal choice based on our very own experiences. It is certainly not worth fighting and killing over, religion I mean. But that seems to be a historical fact. Maybe God wasn’t invented but religion definitely was. It’s of man. We are such arrogant creatures, aren’t we?