God isn't hiding, Soma. You are. God isn't playing hard to get. You are.

God simply IS at all times and places, and so are you, so face it. You and God have the same basic quality on that level...existence...as does everything.

God is that which says "I Am". Consciousness. Awareness. If part of the I Am says "There is no God" then it doesn't even fully know itself yet, let alone know God. (Or it's working with a completely fallacious definition of the word "God", probably gleaned from archaic religious traditions).

Bobert has suggested that God doesn't control everything. Correct. How can you control beings whom you have invested with individual consciousness and *** free will ***? It wouldn't BE free will if you stepped in and controlled them!

It's like, suppose I create a marvelous computer game of a world (or a universe of worlds), and the program is written in such a way that the various beings and groups of beings in it can and probably will act in unique and unpredictable ways, which even I can't necessarily anticipate.

Now doesn't that sound like a great game? Any really GOOD game IS like that. A whole lot better than a game where the outcome is known before you start, isn't it? (In that case why even play?) This isn't a game where you play to Win, it's a game where you play in order to see what will happen next, and in order to expand the possibilities of reality. Knowing that it IS simply a game, within a much larger context of eternal reality, I have no reason to be deeply fearful if the events in the game don't go quite the way I would most like, but I may still have a notion of the BEST possible way the game could play out at any given time, and I will certainly hope for that best possible result and constantly work towards it...through providing inner help, inspiration, hope, courage, tenacity, humor, good will, love, and every other positive contribution that Spirit can provide.

In playing the game, I will discover a lot of new things. This will be a useful guide for the NEXT time I play the game.

The special wonder of the game is that all the human participants in it have free will, and that makes it endlessly interesting, challenging, and full of possibility. It also makes it rather sad when they make choices that hurt them or others deeply, but that is often the price of free will, and it's a profound learning experience when it happens. A being who never once makes a mistake, in fact, may quite possibly learn absolutely nothing! Suppose you picked up a bow and arrow for the first time in your life, fired at a target on an archery range, and hit the bullseye. You would probably be surprised and elated. Suppose you fired again, and split the first arrow. Hmmmm. Suppose you did that five or ten more times. Dead center every time. Better than Robin Hood. Yawn... You would soon get fed up with it, and go off to do something more interesting would't you? What would you have learned? Not much, I'm afraid. The mistakes people make are simply a failure to hit the mark, and each one leads them forward to becoming greater beings...if they rise to the challenge.

If some of the created beings in the game don't believe in Me, well, okay...does that destroy Me? I don't think so. It just means they have not got the whole picture yet. Maybe that's okay, because part of the game is based on seeing what a given being will do, given ANY set of beliefs, wise or unwise, and how well those beliefs will hold up...or will they change in time?

So, have fun being exactly what you think you are, and enjoy your opportunity to pretend there is no God, as long as it pleases you to do so. You are loved anyway, without reservation, and you shall not die, but merely change, when you are ready to.

And that is just ONE of a million or so ways it could be explained.

Amos - Nice job. You said it in a mere 26 words! What efficiency! I figure if Bob can write songs with 25 verses, why shouldn't I? :-)

- LH