God, the afterlife and meaning

Of course, I suppose this could all be ignored with that ever present circuit breaker - faith. But bear with me a little further.

If the Christian God can’t be an intelligence as we understand it, is it so very different to the all pervasive interplay of time and energy I spoke of earlier? Is God not everywhere, all knowing?

Is it really such a leap to simply define God as this process for which we do not need “faith,” because we can see it all around us?

It’s quite simple. Christians say God is great, beyond our understanding. Fair enough. Then if it it’s not an intelligence we can understand, perhaps it isn’t an intelligence we could even recognise.

When people say God created the world, I ask, what created God? They say God always existed. Well, this explanation dovetails neatly with everything, and it doesn’t reek of the childlike “God decided to build a planet and make people” explanation.

So it would appear my God and the Christian God aren’t as different as you might think - but I’m an agnostic.

As for the afterlife and meaning, both of these are catered for - some people feel the need to know they will live on as they are right now.

I’ve seen no evidence of that in nature. When we die, we are returned to this all encompassing energy. Or, to put it another way, we become one with God again.

The matter that forms me and the spark between neurons in my brain that makes my consciousness, will both be recycled. I may become the warmth in that volcanic vent, but then again, with an eternity of possibilities, it’s likely my neurons will one day be a part of another intelligence. Perhaps my spark will be the one that fires as someone proposed to their beloved. Maybe I’ll just be steam vapour on a dead world.

Either way, I will exist in some form. Some people need to cling to their current existence, but this belief offers proof of eternal existence if you’re willing to accept some change. Or if you’re unwilling.

This God may not care about your prayers, but it keeps existence running, even if it makes no guarantees about life as we know it.

Frankly, I find this promise of eternal existence in new and exciting forms is just as comforting as any “heaven” which again, just feels like more of a simpleton’s promise of reward. “The bestest thing ever.”