The Many Faces of God

April 1, 2025 / Church of the Harvest

From a Sermon given at the Spring Equinox Worship Service on March 23, 2025.

This morning, I want to talk about God. I was asked to do so by one of our community members who said she was frustrated about how distant she is feeling from God these days.

Finding, sensing, living daily with God is an issue relevant for not only this individual but for all of us. It is a very big part of our evolutionary process right now as human beings on Planet Earth. There is a reason why diversity, equity and inclusion is such a hot topic right now; and that reason is not political.

I love it when people talk about diversity, equity and inclusion by asking the question: who should sit at the table. When we are discussing the issue of which people should be allowed to benefit from life’s bounty, what we are really trying to explore is moving our frame of reference from our individual culturally-programmed, outmoded, transactional tribal view to the larger picture, to God’s unconditional love frame if you will.

Image by Lorri Hetteen used in conjunction with Fair Use Principals.

As you probably know, here at the Church of the Harvest we generally avoid talking about God directly. What I do often talk about is how many concepts important about spirituality struggle with the words falling apart when it comes to conveying essential spiritual truths. People project their own life experience upon verbal statements. We almost always assume our version of any word with a particularly strong amount of energy attached to it, is the accurate version that applies to everyone. It rarely is.

Nowhere is this more evident than when trying to talk about God. When I need to point to the divine, I bend over backwards to use every variety of nomenclature I can think of. Sometimes I use words straight out of some religious playbook. I’ll talk about the Lord God, the Tao, Allah, Dharma, whatever. Sometimes I’ll reference concepts that at their purest I know to be a reflection of God but are concepts that other people usually do not consider religious, such as talking about the universe, Mother Nature, Truth, Justice or Love. Most often I end up talking about the All-That-Is, or the Creator-of-Us-All, phrases that are a bit on the awkward side to my own ears, and to many others, but also fairly neutral terms.

I always know that whatever word I use, I’m going to lose a certain percentage of my listeners, those who won’t be able to hear what I say through their particular version of religious programming. And more importantly, whatever word I use I know will be inadequate to encapsulate the whole of the divine.

For the rest of today though, I’m intentionally going to use the word God. But trust me when I say, God as I reference it is not a he or him or a patriarch of any kind. He is also not a she or a her or trans or genderless, exactly. If we have to use a pronoun, maybe we settle for now on “it” or even “they.”

Due to the literary confusion, God is referenced minimally at the Church of the Harvest, despite the fact that we are a church, and indeed one that exists specifically to increase communication with the Creator. The last of our aspirational goals as written in our foundational documents–duly filed with secular authorities as well as living within our structure–provides a clue as to why we speak of God, when we do at all, using such varying terminology. The statement reads simply that we are committed to honoring all paths to God.

Given this context, what is the best word to use to address the Creator-of-Us-All?

Short answer: It doesn’t matter. God is everywhere, everything and everyone.

I say that knowing that our human brain cannot really grasp that notion. We would go crazy if we tried very hard. How can God possibly be everything in existence? How does that work?

We know that we have a physical body that is an extension of us that is a fully enlivened container separate from other forms of life on the Planet. We know that in addition to that life form God gave each of us we were also given free will, the exclusive right to decide what will occur within and around the body, as a different experience than any other embodied presence.

Additionally we know that we are spirit and as such, seamlessly connected with all other spirit. How can these two truths coexist?

They can and do. But not in a way our brain can track. So, let that part go. This is a thing of faith. Let us just all agree to take to heart the words of esteemed American author F. Scott Fitzgerald who famously once said: “The test of a first-rate mind is the ability to hold two opposed ideas at the same time and still retain the ability to function.”

In psychology, the discomfort that arises when people try to hold conflicting beliefs in their mind is called cognitive dissonance. It’s a big deal. Cognitive dissonance can lead to a great deal of anxiety and depression, even to the point of inability to function. A large amount of cognitive dissonance can even result in suicidality or psychosis.

Image used in conjunction with Fair Use Principals.

Many people who cannot handle cognitive dissonance attempt to eradicate it by isolating themselves, structuring their life so that do not have to deal with conflicting viewpoints. Unfortunately in the digital age that is not really an option any more. So instead, what we are seeing more and more of, is people with less ability to tolerate contradictions trying to force their limited perspective on those around them. Sometimes I think there has never been a time when people have talked more about free speech and worked quite as hard at silencing others to make sure it does not happen. This is cognitive dissonance at its most intense.

Not viewing or speaking about the world around us does not make it go away. It just blinds or dumbs down those who participate in the cover-up. Image used in conjunction with Fair Use Principals.

A good example of cognitive dissonance running amuck right now is “control freaks” trying to rewrite United States history. Rather than simply dialoguing about their differing perspective, these misinformation addicts are scrubbing the history books of key concepts, banning certain film and books altogether, eliminating social media posts by inundating them with threatening or hate-filled comments, changing governmental policies including destroying programs or agencies that express differing cultural values, and passing laws or actually persecuting individuals and groups who express a perspective about the United States that creates cognitive dissonance for the small-minded addict.

The thing that Dylan got so right when he wrote this song many decades ago now, is the idea that one can allow oneself to be confused in the face of conflicting ideas and values. Living with the confusion on an emotional level can be a catalyst that creates space, making room for new perspectives. People who cannot tolerate ambiguity live in a very rigid and limited world.

Let me be clear. America is a truly great nation state. It has also engaged in systematic oppression of other countries and groups; and perpetuated vast suffering and horrific wrongdoing. The more developed mind, the brain of someone who has had more exposure to life’s inherent contradictions and has learned to emotionally tolerate them, knows both these concepts can be true. The weaker mind that has not grown beyond binary thinking is threatened by these seeming clashes. Cognitive dissonance with its disorienting loss of personal integrity, can kick individuals into extreme turmoil and even violence.

What has this got to do with God, you might ask? Well, people do the same mental shenanigans with our ideas around God. No doubt you have noticed that contradictory ideas about religion and God are at the heart of much of human warfare. Human animals collectively project onto the Creator wherever we are at. Whatever is unresolved in our world as we look outside of ourselves for understanding or for help shapes what we can understand about God. We create an image of the divine that is bigger than ourselves, more powerful, but somehow looks, thinks, and acts a lot like human beings do.

As cartoon Bizarro reminds us, even God-like figures suffer the fate of illusion. Image used in conjunction with Fair Use Principals.

Lion-headed Goddess Sekhmet is an Egyptian goddess. Image used in conjunction with Fair Use Principals.

It has been so since the beginning. In our early hunter-gatherer days, the human species was focused solely on survival. God was unknown and unfamiliar, like the natural world around us. It was essentially devoid of understanding and to some extent, meaning. We created a God or Gods to fill that void. The world was dangerous and often deadly; and we looked everywhere around us for salvation.

During this period humans routinely saw God in the plants and animals around them. For early indigenous peoples, God could even be simply the elements themselves: fire for example, or maybe a rain God that was equally capable of nurturing crops or destroying places with torrential force. For the Hebrews, God was a burning bush among other things. Early Asian, Indonesian and other tribal groups living in mountainous regions were in awe of and also often terrified by their mountains that they often saw as Gods, as well as the God-like monsters that lived in the seas.

Xiuhtechutli, Aztec Lord of Fire. Image used in conjunction with Fair Use Principals.

As early civilizations began, our human images of God went from a wild, unknown and untamed deity or deities to a deity or deities that were somewhat known but often hostile. To use the phrasing coined by philosopher Alfred North Whitehead, humanity started with religious belief in God the Void that became God the Enemy. As people began to come together in stationary agricultural and other communities, there was increasing intertribal and other forms of interpersonal conflict. So now we see a God or Gods more actively involved with people, but a divine that is often stern, punishing and wrathful, like a capricious and bad parent. The Greeks and Romans had their pantheon of supernatural beings, all vying for control and servitude over their human underlings. The Old Testament of the Jewish people focused on God’s anger control issues; and Asians folks had their demons and devils plaguing all humanity.

Where to now for human animals as our social groupings and our collective human consciousness transform? As we continue to evolve towards our Creator, how are we changing the images of how we imagine it? North Whitehead would say that religious institutions are taking us from God the Enemy to God the Companion. This is where the discussion comes in about which side God is on. It is certainly more true that God walks among us, as opposed to simply observing us from a distance. But consider the idea that seeing the divine as walking only alongside a particular group or groups is already an idea that is rapidly becoming outdated.

The digital age is moving images and the information upon which it is based exponentially forward. The natural world is also speeding our internal world up as the vibrational levels of the Planet itself increase rapidly.

Personally, to describe our present confusion about God, I am drawn to a saying attributed to psychologist and part time mystic Carl Jung. According to Jung: “Modern people don’t see God because they don’t look low enough.” What I think he was talking about was the fact that we are beginning to come to terms with the fact that God is as much a fully embodied aspect of Earth as it is the ruler of Heaven.

Truth here from Buddhist monk, poet and teacher Thich Nhat Hanh. Used in conjunction with Fair Use Principals.

Yes, God is our companion. God is indeed on our side. God is on everyone’s side.

But maybe more importantly to our present-day challenges, God is everyone. And God is everything. The air that surrounds us that we breath in to give our bodies continued life. The constellations above us, the stars that gave us carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen, the essential foundational elements for physical life. But also, the very ground beneath our feet. The waters that flow through the ground, huge bodies of which are all around us, not to mention the approximately eight gallons within our individual embodiment. Every cell in our body with its elaborate intricate structure, including every bacterium, virus, fungi and other “independent” life forms that lives there within and around us. Every insect, every plant, every animal, even the nasty ones.

The miraculous life that the divine has bestowed upon human beings as a reflection of its endless creativity was also freely given to all of Planet Earth. No exceptions.

Everything. Yes, indeed. Give up the human arrogance of thinking we are above it all. Don’t try to “make sense” of it. Just know. Image used in conjunction with Fair Use Principals.

To my friend and colleague who is asking how she might feel closer to her God, I say, continue to get to know yourself through meditation, to release what does not serve you, and thereby change your mindset. I am not talking about your brain, although that organ might be more useful if it was fed from a few different energetic streams. I am telling you, you are in need of more faith.

Please do not think I am talking about beliefs. I mean faith of the kind not petrified by religious dogma, but rather capable of glorifying the Creator-of-Us-All. The divine is within you, as it is everywhere. There are so many places to experience a living God. But tuning in to that aspect that dwells within you in solitude, as it/you simply awaits your recognition, is one of the most direct.

If this depiction of various religious avatars triggers you, consider that you may have your own religious programming to work through. God is everyone, and therefore walks many pathways. Image used in conjunction with Fair Use Principals.

Sraddha, the Hindu word for faith, means “to set own heart’s on.” It is an action, an everyday commitment that needs constant refreshment. This kind of faith involves giving shape to your life not through some limited intellectual process but rather by setting your fourth chakra and all the other corresponding parts of your intricate energy and physical systems in an conscious intent to acknowledge your relationship with every other aspect of God on the Planet. Which is everyone and everything.

In one way or another, all genuine love songs are an attempt to mirror the relationship we each have with the divine. As you listen to Groban, feel free to allow yourself to receive these words as an individual gift from God to you in particular.

I want to leave you today with a final question that comes from James Fowler. Fowler is a developmental psychologist who wrote about the various stages of faith that individuals can go through as they mature in their ability to live with God. I personally think Fowler was one of the most underappreciated theoreticians by religious and secular authorities alike because he himself was so far beyond the place that many are able to inhabit. I invite you to try to hear his words here almost like a mantra, not with your brain but with your heart. Fowler counsels us to keep moving in the optimal direction by continual alignment with God with awareness, dedication to self and others, and faith.

“The real question of faith is this: To what vision of right-relatedness between humans, nature and the transcendent are you loyal?”

Survival of the Friendliest: The Next Step in Human Evolution?

January 12, 2025January 19, 2025 / Church of the Harvest

From a Sermon given at the Winter Solstice Worship Service on December 22, 2024.

Thousands of years ago when life on Earth was just getting started, there were many types of human beings. Human animals did not come in just one flavor. There were a number of species of primates with what we think of as human features. The first stages of human evolution produced not only Homo Sapiens, but four or five other hominids such as Homo habilis, Homo erectus, and Neanderthals. It has always been a mystery about why all these different variations of humans disappeared in time, leaving only our present lineage. Why Homo Sapiens?

We now may have some answers to this mystery. Or at least we have finally developed a plausible theory, one that is gaining traction. Surprisingly, it came to us not from archaeology or anthropology. It came from researchers studying cancer.

As part of looking for cures for cancer, science has been looking closely at genetic programming, and the way evolution has of changing our genetic code over time.

In the past when we were searching to clues about cancer, researchers used to inject rats with cancer cells and look for ways to treat their resulting diseases. Thank God–literally–that there has been a shift in human consciousness, a recent step in our own evolutionary perspective such that science has been realizing that we do not need to create cancer in animals. Rather, we can use “naturally-occurring” cancers in (arguably) our closest animal companions, Species Canidae.

Dogs accompany humans in all our pursuits in life. They share many of the same genes, live the same lifestyles, are exposed to the same environments, and develop the same types of cancers. Right now all around the world many dogs who have developed cancers are a part of clinical trials to develop treatments for themselves, and for their human counterparts.

With this paradigm shift in cancer research methodology, there has come some unexpected new insights. One such has to do with this question of why Homo Sapiens? Why did this variation of primates become THE exclusive form of human animals? What did Homo Sapiens do or have that their counterparts did not. Naturally, researchers have been asking a similar question about their research partners, i.e. dogs when it came to the ancestors of this animal, the wolf. Why did certain wolves evolve into friendly, loyal domesticated dogs that reside in our households; while other wolves remain ruthless predators, wild animals who roam the plains and forests and who maintain an adversarial relationship with humans?

There have been a lot of new fMRIs and other brain imaging scans of dogs, leading to a new, extensive genetic mapping of the dog genome. There has also been a closer look at the environmental factors that may play out as a result of underlying genetic predispositions. All the while the question that comes to mind in looking at these lovable and loyal dogs who share our homes, this species known as “man’s best friend,” is how did these animals get there? How are these animals we now see everywhere in our society different from their ferocious ancestors and contemporary cousins that remain undomesticated?

Science has now largely completed the sequencing of dog and of wolf DNA and compared the two. What they have discovered is that the wolves that became dogs have a very specific genetic anomaly on their sixth chromosome. This rather minor genetic difference makes all the vast difference in the world.

This small variation in genetic programming causes the brains of dogs to produce oxytocin, a certain chemical known as the “love” hormone, when they look, smell or interact with humans. They crave this pleasant feeling of connection to people. Not coincidentally people in turn also produce the same hormone when interacting with their canine companions. It is the chemical produced in the human brain that is largely responsible on a genetic level for the initial bonding between parents and child that results in parents’ feeling the need to nurture and protect their child. When a mother and child gaze into each other’s eyes, they are genetically predisposed to experience pleasure, and a desire to come together in the pursuit of life. The story of human survival is very much based on this physically-reenforced sense of connection.

Oxytocin greatly reenforces social bonding. In short, when a human being and their dog make eye contact under normal circumstances (in the absence of abuse), they grow closer and closer over time.

San baina uu is the Mongolian word for “hello.” Genetic testing suggests that the first “hello” between dogs and human animals occurred among those living in Nepal, Tibet and Mongolia.

So here we have the abundant creativity of the universe at play. 20,000 years ago even before we began to build civilizations, while we humans were still eking out our basic needs by hunting animals and gathering and storing edible plant forms, a handful of wolves looked at what we were doing and liked what they saw. Presumably, they witnessed these strange primates walking around on two legs who appeared to be living in warm places and eating food on a fairly regular basis; and they wanted in on the action. Possibly just by staying close by and observing humans over time, engaging with them in little ways when they could do so safely, these individual wolves diverged from their counterparts, therein making a tiny adjustment in their genetic code.

Image used in conjunction of Fair Use Principals.

There are now billions of dogs in the world, over 80 million in the US alone, more dogs than children. . .but only a few wolves. Some researchers have labeled this phenomenon, this thing of a few members of a species adapting in a spectacularly successful new way–“survival of the friendliest. “It looks like Homo Sapiens may have been the most cooperative tribal grouping, the friendliest of our human ancestors.

You know, evolution itself is an interesting and at times confusing concept. When human consciousness had finally evolved to the point that it could tolerate a young scientist named Charles Darwin talking about the fact that human beings have gone through various stages over the centuries, it sparked quite a tumultuous revolution. How we thought about our world changed.

Evolution is like that. It comes about when enough people are able mentally and emotionally to live on the precipice of thinking new thoughts and feeling new sensations. The first few people to think and feel in new ways are usually ignored, misunderstood and/or persecuted as was Darwin who was rather viciously vilified and rejected. Eventually, however, if the changes in perspective are grounded in a God-sanctioned evolutionary leap, they persevere and grow in strength.

To this day people with minds that are more closed and hearts that are more limited, continue to reject the concept of evolution. Most of us, however, have recognized that human beings and the civilizations we create do indeed grow over time, sometimes in baby steps, sometimes in leaps and bounds.

One of the major ways we are changing currently is in the rebalancing of male and female energies. So, I think you will understand me when I say that a core concept that society has derived from Darwinian evolutionary theory, the concept of “survival of the fittest,” the idea that every species moves forward in a linear fashion to maximize its chances for survival is outdated. It needs an evolutionary upgrade. (BTW, Darwin himself did not promote survival of the fittest per se. This is simply how his work was interpreted by the culture around him.)

In his typical playful manner, Argentinian artist Gabriel Sacho introduces us visually to a different viewpoint about evolutionary progress. Image used in conjunction with Fair Use Principals.

“Survival of the fittest” may have been the norm for the first few decades of looking at ideas about human evolution. It could be said that the Planet has needed a dominant male perspective to this point. We have needed to explore and map and develop and otherwise carve out a place for ourselves here on Earth. We may have–actually most certainly have–gone about this exploration/discovery/development phase in a maladaptive fashion to an alarming degree, but there is no mistaking the fact that “action” was needed for human animals to make a home on Mother Earth.

Now something entirely different is required. Now the connectivity, inclusivity, and nurturing aspect of life is what will bring us forward. More periods of recharge, reflection, and rest, along with time devoted to creative pursuits. cooperative projects and fun events with others is needed. Time for the female aspect in each of us to come forth, lead the way and flourish.

The universe has already shown us that how you win at the game of life is to make a few minor adjustments in DNA coding that predisposes one to new types of relationship such as ones that are more circular in nature. Welcome to “survival of the friendliest.”

Mother Earth and all her life forms shift, change, and evolve continually, at an ever increasing pace. Right now there are significant evolutionary shifts happening everywhere, even below our feet in the microscopic and fungal world, within our human bodies via new genetic coding trying to emerge, and in the very air around us and cosmos above us. Many of these changing conditions are invisible to the vast majority of people. Cartoon by Dave Coverly used in conjunction of Fair Use Principals.

I truly believe that the people that are going to be getting through this next period of human history, those that are going to not only survive but thrive, will be those that exhibit a quality we might label “friendliness.” I also believe that those who cannot adopt such a pro-social attitude will continue to leave the Planet in great quantities, as well as those for whom it is just “time to go.” Social media seems to be reflecting these evolutionary changes we are making. It is awash with memes and stories and images reminding people that we are all vulnerable, encouraging people to be kind, to realize that even the smallest of our words and actions can have huge impacts, to attend to our own self care while giving back to the community where we can, extending to others a hand up, etc.

Let me share some initial thoughts, however about what kind of pro-social behavior–friendliness or kindness or empathy or compassion or whatever else you call it–is needed.

The possibilities for social bonding are endless. This is a reflection of the fact that the universe is moving us into the Age of Abundance. Image used in conjunction with Fair Use Principals.

“Survival of the friendliness” isn’t about how you present yourself to the world. It is not surface stuff. People who present as introverted can be every bit as friendly as those that are extroverted. They are just quieter about it. People that are giving to others in a very prominent public ways are not necessarily motivated by pro-social aspirations. They might just be noisy and seeking praise and attention.

“Survival of the friendliness” isn’t about being polite to people. Good manners can often be useful, but they can also be limiting and deceitful. Sometimes the kindness thing you can do is directly and unabashedly speak truth to power, walk away from a bully, loudly refuse to engage in injustice. The friendly part is what is going on in your mind and heart.

“Survival of the friendliness” IS about being appreciative of, grateful for, and infinitely curious about every single person that shows up in your life, no matter whether they are a saint or an asswipe. The inclusion piece comes from knowing that spiritually, you and the other person have come together for a learning opportunity that you need to welcome, even if what you are healing in yourself by the interaction is uncomfortable.

Yes, we are all just walking each other home. An important aspect of getting along with others however, is recognizing and truly living with respect for the fact all of life has its own intrinsic timing. Many people have the “space” thing of the time-and-space continuum down but not so much the time thing. In this classic song by Cyndi Lauper and Rob Hyman we are reminded that the pace of others is theirs to determine. We stand by only to catch them when they need that type help.

“Survival of the friendliness” is about bearing witness rather than necessarily taking action even in the most egregious circumstances. You honor the other person by being along for the ride, bringing with you your neutrality, no matter how much their suffering may tug at your sense of responsibility. In your own heart resides the compassion that they may or may not seek; may or may not recognize. They can bask in this friendly fire and let it warm their soul, whether or not anything further happens on the outside.

Any action is supplemental. Being is the thing.

So, my friends, be the bright lights that you are. Participate in life from wherever you are at and know that our God-given spiritual and physical evolution will take care of the rest.