Hmmm. Fair question, Amos. I shy away from dogmas and definitions, and keep matters of faith to bare basics and lots of watching and pondering. The stories of Scripture, the life of Jesus, the faith experiences of people from many different ages and creeds and cultures - all of these have deep meaning to me - but more as poetry, rather than as a rule book or a behind-the-scenes exposé of the Lives of the Divine and Omnipotent. If you'll forgive me for getting flowery, it's poetry that gives music to the dance of life.

You talk of a God "who reaches into the affairs of men and women, answering prayers, sometimes appearing in visions and drafting an occasional miracle." I'm not so sure of all that; but I'm not ready to deny it, either. I think more of a God who is active in the essence of the universe, not one who drops in from time to time to intervene. The First Letter of John says God is Love. I Corinthians 13 has a poetic statement on love that ties beautifully with the passage from John and gives it deeper meaning. But while I think that is wonderful, I think the essence of God goes beyond even that, beyond all the ideals and dreams and good words you can imagine. And when all that wonderful God-stuff becomes incarnate, that's where Jesus fits in - somehow.

All the theology and doctrine and tradition and liturgy and sacred writings and moral codes and all that are important - if they are put in their proper place and not made into gods unto themselves. To experience the presence of the divine that surrounds us, we have to let go of everything, especially our preconceptions, and just watch and listen and ponder.

Like I've said, words don't work in all this very well - they tend to limit God to our notions, to build a God in our image and likeness. But yeah, there's a God I can touch, who touches me back. The best I can describe the experience of God is something most of us have known - the "click" that happens when we're singing together and we reach a point where we lock together and sing in harmony as one. I think there's a taste of the divine in that experience. There's something beyond all of us when we reach that point - and we wish it could go on forever.

So, that's my attempt to say what I feel about it. Others deny it or haven't experienced it, or define it in other terms - but that's what it is to me. It all sounds pretty foggy when I try to put it into words - but it works for me.

-Joe-