THE PANENTHEISTIC VISION
I was recently cautioned about my Panentheistic beliefs, lest I start considering myself to be God. This is sound advice; however, the risk of considering oneself God is no more threatening to the Panentheist than anyone else. It's just more direct and obvious. A Panentheist would no more claim to be the Ground of Being than a finger would claim to be a person. The main sticking point between Panentheism and Theism is that a mature Panentheist would say is that he or she is a part of the person and not merely a creation of the person. He or she would not, however, claim to be the person.
Less obvious for all spiritual people, regardless of their particular beliefs, is the tendency to present their particular beliefs as ultimate truth. I've encountered folks who use the phrase "according to my God..." but most often folks leave the personal pronoun out and just speak directly on behalf of the Almighty. I'm guilty of this myself. Now that, more so than the beliefs espoused, is setting oneself up as God. It is a corrosive, universal obsession that betrays our insecurities - the human addiction to being right and being thought right.
While I do believe in the Word, the Christ, the Son, and believe he’s the way to the Father, I don't believe a person must believe anything in particular about him or the religion people founded in his name to enter the dance with the divine. Additionally, I recognize I may be completely wrong about this; in fact, I probably am. Anytime we begin to utter even one word about God, we're already wrong. In the end, though we may all be on a journey to the same Source, we are each beginning from a unique place - a place God meets us time and time again, using the language, symbols, and structures of the culture or religion we call home. In that place, he imparts to us exactly what we need in that particular place and moment. This understanding may seem confusing, dangerous, or even heretical to others who are approaching God from elsewhere, but this is the essence of my faith.
So, in the end, all I can do is be present to experience - to myself, to others, to my surroundings, and to God (which I collectively consider GOD) - and through it choose to participate in the world GOD calls forth around me. I cannot order my reality to my liking - as it is a shared reality - but merely respond to it with wisdom. Wisdom is a synthesis of the entire person - experiential knowing that translates into outpouring love. It is heart, mind, soul, and strength in one, just as together we are one in GOD.