| Learning about (the) God (of your understanding).
I’ve found that a lot of adults don’t know what
they know about God. (Even the ones who say they don’t believe in God
don’t know what they mean by that.) That’s why I’ve come up with this
simple spiritual-religious exercise, The “what I know about God” List.
Don’t
worry, you don’t have to believe in anything to do this, nor do you
have to worry that I’m going to try to convince you of anything.This exercise is just something to give your spiritual-religious muscles a workout.
Let’s start with this analogy.
Sometimes
when I go to the grocery store, I choose to keep my shopping list in my
head, instead of writing down the items I need. As I maneuver around
the market, I mutter the list to myself, like a madman, so that I won’t
forget an item. I continue to repeat the list as I add my items to my
cart, because at this point the list has become an unalterable mantra.
It’s exhausting.
When I take the time to write the list down, my shopping experience is always a little more comfortable.
Writing
something down frees your mind and leads to having a much more pleasant
experience. That’s exactly the idea behind this – “The What I Know
About God list.”
Many people are reticent
at first. And we can certainly come up with reasons not to try this
simple exercise. But let me encourage you to give it a go. This is not
a permanent, once-and-for-all type of list – it’s just a chance for
you, in this moment in time, to express what you know about God.
And, yes, I really do recommend you write out your answers. (That’s what the grocery list analogy was about.)
In
a moment, I’m going to give you a chance to write down a few things
that you know about God. But, before that I have two recommendations
that usually help people get started:
1.Write
out five different declarative sentences about God a day for the next
five days. Don’t worry whether or not they’re good sentences. Just do
it. Then, after a week’s time, look at your 25 sentences. Pick out your
favorites and place them on the list below.
2.E-mail
your friends and ask them, “What do you know for certain about God.”
When a person’s response resonates with what you also know to be true
in your soul, write it down and add it to your list. (Don’t be afraid
to ask the question, in my experience I have found that adults are
often starved for the opportunity to converse about God.)
The list.
In
the first column, list the things that you are certain know God is or
does. In the other column, place all the things you are certain that
God isn’t or doesn’t.
(Remember, this works a lot better if you print this out and fill it in.)
“What I Know About God”
I know God is /does: I know God isn’t / doesn’t:
__________________________ __________________________
__________________________ __________________________
__________________________ __________________________
__________________________ __________________________
__________________________ __________________________
__________________________ __________________________
__________________________ __________________________
__________________________ __________________________
__________________________ __________________________
__________________________ __________________________
Spiritual-religious advice for the week: Fill in your list.
When
you are done, feel good about yourself that you now have a better
understanding (at least for today) of what it is that you mean by the
word God than most people do.
With love,
Rabbi Brian
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