Coming to terms with God

May 7th, 2011
George Burns as God

George Burns as God

I am an atheist. I don’t believe in God. By that I mean I don’t believe there is any intelligent force guiding events. Sure, I recognize that I could be wrong about that, but I find the idea of God (or whatever you want to call it) pretty far-fetched.

In the last several years, though, I’ve taken great interest in various spriritual books. Here are my favorites:
The Mastery of Love, by Don Miguel Ruiz
The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle
Loving What Is, by Byron Katie

These books truly changed my life and allowed me to be happy; to let go of so much disdain I constantly felt toward my fellow humans. I got so much out of them, but they all centered around some concept of God. In order to fully take them in, I had to come to terms with “God”. I had to understand why the ideas in the book still resonated with me even though I have a fundamentally different view of reality than their authors.

All that which is beyond my control

For me, at least for the types of books and philosophies that resonate with me, I found that “God” could pretty seemlessly be replaced with this one phrase, “all that which is beyond my control,” and the concepts made total sense to me.

Here’s just one example: Byron Katie writes that there are three kinds of business: my business, your business, and God’s business. You need to stay in your own business. So much of my energy was being spent in “God’s business” or in what I now realize is all that which is completely out of my hands. What a waste of time and energy.

There are a lot of worthy ideas out there. There are great spiritual books, great philosophers, and even great preachers. It is a shame to dismiss everything they say simply because they have God at the center of their lives and speak in those terms. As an atheist, I would do myself a disservice to close myself off to what so many others have to share.

[del.icio.us] [Digg] [Facebook] [Google] [Ma.gnolia] [MySpace] [Reddit] [StumbleUpon] [Technorati] [Twitter] [Yahoo!] [Email]

3 Responses to “Coming to terms with God”

  1. Aunt Kathie Says:

    Great reading list. Mastery of Love is one of my favorite ever books. I read during the darkest days in AZ and it helped me to survive the pain of that experience. I think that a big part of the problem people have with “God” has to do with all the crap that has been attached to the word by “the Church” and much of the distortions that have come out of organized religion. I always liked the Native American concept of “Great Mystery,” or “all that is.” From doing reiki, I know/believe that there is something intelligent that is bigger than my sense of myself. You might enjoy the Conversations with God books by Neale Donald Walsh. I’m rambling. Sorry.

  2. Get Skinny, Go Vegan. Says:

    Have you seen “Letting go of God” by Alison Sweeny?? You would LOVE it!

  3. Glastonbury Dentist Says:

    Well that’s your point! After all we don’t know what lies ahead. We’re not all sure if there’s life after death neither sure if God is waiting out there..But what if its true?

  4. Johnathan Says:

    It’s not my first time to go to see this site, i am visiting this web
    site dailly and obtain nice information from here
    all the time.

  5. Chara Says:

    Great article! That is the kind of info that are supposed to be
    shared across the internet. Shame on Google for now not positioning
    this publish upper! Come on over and visit my website . Thank you =)

  6. btc gambling Says:

    Hi! This is my 1st comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and say I really enjoy reading
    your blog posts. Can you recommend any other blogs/websites/forums that deal with the same topics?
    Thanks!

  7. Greener Earth CBD Says:

    I love examining and I think this website got some genuinely useful stuff on it!

    Check out my web blog; Greener Earth CBD

  8. Compoise 360X CBD Says:

    Hi there to all, how is all, I think every one is
    getting more from this web site, and your views are good designed for new viewers.

    Also visit my website :: Compoise 360X CBD

  9. online las vegas casino Says:

    There is certainly a lot to know about this subject.
    I love all of the points you have made.

  10. Meagan Says:

    Wonderful items from you, man. I have be mindful your
    stuff prior to and you are just extremely wonderful.
    I really like what you have acquired here, certainly like what you’re saying and the
    way during which you are saying it. You make it enjoyable and you
    continue to care for to keep it smart. I can not wait to read far more from
    you. This is really a tremendous site.

    Feel free to surf to my web-site – Meagan

  11. Compoise 360X CBD Reviews Says:

    Its such as you read my mind! You appear to understand so much about
    this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you can do with a
    few % to power the message home a bit, but
    other than that, that is excellent blog. A fantastic read.
    I’ll definitely be back.

    Also visit my web blog Compoise 360X CBD Reviews

  12. Compoise 360X CBD Review Says:

    Yeah bookmaking this wasn’t a bad determination outstanding post!

    Here is my web page :: Compoise 360X CBD Review

  13. Compoise 360X CBD Gummies Review Says:

    Having read this I believed it was rather enlightening.
    I appreciate you spending some time and effort
    to put this short article together. I once again find myself personally
    spending a significant amount of time both reading and leaving comments.
    But so what, it was still worth it!

    Here is my page … Compoise 360X CBD Gummies Review

  14. web hosting a Says:

    What i do not realize is actually how you’re not actually much more neatly-preferred than you might be right now.
    You’re very intelligent. You realize therefore considerably on the subject of this subject,
    produced me personally consider it from numerous numerous angles.

    Its like men and women aren’t fascinated except it is
    something to accomplish with Girl gaga! Your
    individual stuffs excellent. Always take care of it up!

  15. t.co Says:

    Normally I do not read article on blogs, however I would like to say
    that this write-up very pressured me to check out and do so!
    Your writing taste has been amazed me. Thank you, quite nice post.

  16. bitly.com Says:

    Sweet blog! I found it while surfing around on Yahoo News.

    Do you have any tips on how to get listed in Yahoo News?
    I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem to get there!
    Appreciate it

  17. this scoliosis surgery Says:

    whoah this weblog is fantastic i really like reading your articles.
    Stay up the great work! You recognize, a lot of persons are searching round for
    this information, you can aid them greatly.

  18. my asmr Says:

    I have been exploring for a little for any
    high-quality articles or blog posts on this kind of
    house . Exploring in Yahoo I eventually stumbled upon this web site.

    Reading this information So i am happy to show that I have a very
    excellent uncanny feeling I found out just what I needed.
    I so much no doubt will make sure to do not fail to
    remember this site and give it a glance on a continuing basis.

  19. asmr an Says:

    Excellent post. Keep posting such kind of information on your blog.
    Im really impressed by it.
    Hi there, You’ve performed an excellent job.
    I will definitely digg it and for my part suggest to my friends.

    I am confident they will be benefited from this web
    site.

  20. scoliosis surgery my Says:

    I’m amazed, I must say. Seldom do I encounter a blog that’s equally educative
    and engaging, and without a doubt, you have hit the nail on the head.
    The issue is something that not enough folks are speaking intelligently about.

    I am very happy I stumbled across this during
    my hunt for something relating to this.

  21. bitly.com Says:

    Have you ever considered about including a little bit more
    than just your articles? I mean, what you say is important and
    all. Nevertheless think about if you added some
    great visuals or videos to give your posts more, “pop”!
    Your content is excellent but with pics and clips, this
    website could certainly be one of the best in its field.
    Excellent blog! cheap flights http://1704milesapart.tumblr.com/ cheap flights

  22. bitly.com Says:

    Howdy! This post could not be written any better!

    Reading through this post reminds me of my old room mate!
    He always kept talking about this. I will forward
    this write-up to him. Pretty sure he will have a good read.
    Thanks for sharing! ps4 https://tinyurl.com/45xtc52b ps4

  23. www.iherb.com Says:

    Quality articles is the secret to attract the people to pay a quick visit the web page, that’s what this website
    is providing. quest bars https://www.iherb.com/search?kw=quest%20bars quest bars

  24. bit.ly Says:

    I blog often and I genuinely appreciate your information. The article has
    truly peaked my interest. I am going to bookmark your website and keep checking
    for new information about once a week. I opted in for your RSS feed too.
    scoliosis surgery https://0401mm.tumblr.com/ scoliosis surgery

  25. tinyurl.com Says:

    Wow, fantastic blog layout! How long have you been blogging
    for? you made blogging look easy. The overall look
    of your site is magnificent, let alone the content!

    https://parttimejobshiredin30minutes.wildapricot.org/ part time jobs
    hired in 30 minutes

  26. our ps4 games Says:

    you’re really a just right webmaster. The site loading speed is amazing.

    It seems that you are doing any unique trick. In addition, The contents are masterwork.
    you have performed a excellent job in this matter!

  27. my ps4 games Says:

    Thank you, I have just been looking for information about this topic for a while and yours is the
    greatest I have came upon so far. But, what about the
    bottom line? Are you sure in regards to the source?

  28. bitly.com Says:

    I enjoy, cause I discovered exactly what I was looking for.
    You’ve ended my four day long hunt! God Bless you man. Have a nice day.

    Bye

  29. tinyurl.com Says:

    Everything is very open with a really clear description of
    the challenges. It was definitely informative. Your website
    is very useful. Many thanks for sharing!

  30. cheap flight tickets Says:

    Hey there would you mind letting me know which web host you’re working with?
    I’ve loaded your blog in 3 completely different browsers and I
    must say this blog loads a lot quicker then most.
    Can you recommend a good web hosting provider at a fair
    price? Thank you, I appreciate it!

  31. airline tickets Says:

    Simply wish to say your article is as astonishing. The clarity in your post is simply great
    and i could assume you are an expert on this subject.
    Well with your permission allow me to grab your feed to keep updated with forthcoming post.
    Thanks a million and please keep up the enjoyable work.

  32. gamefly Says:

    I every time used to study paragraph in news
    papers but now as I am a user of web therefore from now I am using net for articles or reviews,
    thanks to web.

  33. gamefly Says:

    Everyone loves what you guys tend to be up too. This sort of
    clever work and exposure! Keep up the excellent works guys I’ve incorporated you guys to my personal blogroll.

Leave a Reply