Want to ignite a lively and spirited conversation with another individual or a group of people? \u00a0Start talking about God.\u00a0 Perhaps one of the most debated, most mysterious, and most widely misunderstood topics of all time revolves around who God is, what God is, where God is, and what God wants.\u00a0 And many conversations, as well-intentioned and even like-minded as they may be, have a difficult time sustaining themselves in light of the differences that inevitably arise.<\/p>\n
So I would like to open the conversation up to all of you and invite you to share your thoughts and ideas and perspectives surrounding God.\u00a0 Your God.\u00a0 My God.\u00a0 Our God.\u00a0 No God.\u00a0 This is not an exercise in making anyone wrong or making anyone right, but rather an opportunity to share and explore what is true for you.\u00a0 Why do you have those deeply held beliefs?\u00a0 Where do they originate?\u00a0 How have they changed throughout the course of your life?\u00a0 Are your understandings open to adaptation or change?\u00a0 Or are they firmly etched into the part of you which drives your thoughts and choices?\u00a0 Do you hold a set of beliefs as true now which at an earlier time in your life you did not?\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 What caused you to change?<\/p>\n
I often hear people talking about \u201cmy God\u201d or \u201cyour God,\u201d and it causes me to pause and want to know more about that.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0I also on occasion hear others who say there is no God.\u00a0 I want to know more about that, too.\u00a0 How is it that there are so many diverse and deeply held beliefs about God?\u00a0 If it has taken years and years for humanity to splinter off into so many unique ideologies, where does it go from here?\u00a0\u00a0 Further separation?\u00a0\u00a0 Reunification?<\/p>\n
Could it be that the greatest opportunity for all of us to cohabitate more peacefully in our world might begin by just creating a space for larger understandings to grow into?\u00a0 Might it be that our own innate desire to be heard might only truly occur when we allow ourselves to hear someone else<\/em>?\u00a0\u00a0 Do you oftentimes feel like you are talking but nobody is listening?<\/p>\n If somebody was listening — intently listening<\/em> — to your thoughts about God, what would you say?<\/p>\n I invite you to share them here.<\/p>\n