We Still Need God (& Science!)

Through most of human history, a belief in God was assumed. People could not imagine going through their days without God to guide them, reassure them, and comfort them.

Then, we began to see the world through the eyes of science. We developed scientific explanations for so many of the things that were previously unknown and alarming. We now know how a volcano works and why an earthquake happens. We have the information to know that blizzards or hurricanes do not come as punishment from “the gods.” We understand more and more of the intricacies of the body and illness, and have treatments that cure many things that just a century ago were untreatable and incurable.

With these scientific developments, the need for God as an explanation for what alarmed us faded. Materialism and self-sufficiency became possible for many of us in “first world” countries in ways that previous generations had never experienced or imagined. We could talk of the “self-made” man or woman (a phrase coined in 1832.) With technological advancements, scientific discoveries, and growing wealth in parts of the world, we began to imagine that we don’t need others or God. We are it! We are self-sustaining, self-fulfilling!

Or are we?

I believe that most of us, if we dare to admit it, can think of moments when we know that we are not self-sustaining. In times of tragedy and disaster, we may have no inner resources left to keep us going. We do look for something MORE! It is also very arrogant to think of ourselves as “self-made” or “self-fulfilling.” It denies the very real fact that every moment of every day we are dependent upon the labour and support of others in order to do what we do. An author has spent time writing the book I read. An store employee has worked at stocking the shelves from which I select my purchases (even if it is online). A caretaker has cleaned the bathroom I use in a public building. Someone, often far away, being paid sub-standard wages, has sewn the clothes I wear. A farmer, in Canada or beyond, has cared for the soil, nurtured the plants, and raised the animals upon which I rely for much of my food.

Not one of us is totally independent, self-sufficient, self-fulfilling or self-made. We need each other! And we need God.

The wisdom of mystics and religious people through the centuries attests to the presence of One who is beyond all, above all, within all. Their experiences, recorded on paper or told in story, point to an active, loving Intention, a More that infuses the universe with creativity and possibility. We name that More, that Loving Intention, as God. To believe in God does not set us apart from embracing science or medical discoveries. Faith and science are friends and partners in helping us live in this world.

When we open our lives to the presence of God, we discover that there is a creative energy, a hopefulness, a comfort, a presence just waiting to embrace and love us. When we practice the presence of God, there is a calm, a peace, that passes all explanation and understanding.

This is what I want to pass on to my children and all of the children with whom I work. I want them to know that it is not about being self-made and self-sufficient. I think such a message is why we are seeing so very much stress among our younger generations. Rather, I want them to know that we are meant to find support in each other….and in the More, the Loving Intention, our God, in whom we live and move and have our being.