DOES GOD MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
I recently read an account of a life-long Atheist who, in her seventies, suddenly began seeing God everywhere she looks. Some might say she's come face to face with her own mortality, but according to her it's something else. It was only when she'd done life, had her successes, raised her children, retired comfortably, and done all the things she felt she was supposed to do that she stepped back, reflected on it, and realized God had been there all along. In the midst of it, she didn’t see him. In the throes of it, she saw only herself and her own efforts. Before everything worked out, she didn't trust life and certainly wasn’t convinced there was a God who cared or who would make any sort of difference. When it was all said and done, she saw influence was there throughout it all.
This woman is sharing something vital about faith. As a former Atheist, I’ve wrestled with all the arguments, examined all the so-called proofs, and have ultimately concluded God’s existence cannot be proven logically or empirically. At the same time, one cannot prove the universe is all there is. As I’ve written in the past, both are defensible positions that make sense in their own way. In the end, they could both be possible from a logical, philosophical, even empirical perspective. When it all comes down to it, people lean one way or the other because of what resonates with them, which is why this woman’s story interests me.
The crux boils down to whether God makes a difference, specifically a perceived difference. It's a very intimate, personal question that every human being asks themselves at some point. Many haven't asked it in a long time. Some found resolution, others outgrew it, and some just gave up. In a day and age when more and more people are questioning the relevance of religion and spirituality, could there possibly be a more important question?
When it comes to the demands of modern life: jobs that constantly demand workers do more with less, overscheduled social and activity calendars, the ever-present reality of social networking and the pressure to always be on the go and look good doing it, the struggle to raise children to be well-adjusted, functional adults in the midst of this frenzy, and the lynchpin - to hold yourself together without time to scarcely take a breath, much less reflect on yourself, your life, your choices, what's working, what's not, what's meaningful, what needs to go, what sort of person are you becoming, what sort of people are your children becoming... Where is God in this mess?
Where is God? Does he care? Does he give a shit? Does he make any difference? That is the question of our time, and it needs an answer. It desperately needs an affirmative response, based on authentic inner authority, and I believe mystics are the ones best positioned to provide it.