We debate religion - which might be stupid. Is Allah God? Is God Allah? Does it matter?

Our perceptions are tied to what we've learned in the past. In fact, when we learn new things - especially spiritually, but politically too - we are drawn to ideas confirming our past experiences. Thus, can we ever really see truth? We are not seeing truth but we are seeing comforting re-imaging of ideas we've shared or been-exposed-to in the past. When we love somebody, we love them based at least in part on their validation of ourselves; and 'ourself' is clearly built from our experiences. Because that person/experience is reminding us of what we already know it feels familiar. Safe. Good.

So - when we claim to 'love God' or Allah or Richard Dawkins or Obama - we are lying to ourselves because it's not love FOR them, it's love for ourselves; as those entities remind us of ourselves.

*IF* we truly Love God - what does that mean? What does it mean to LOVE God? Think about that for awhile. Love. How do we feel when we are in love? When we love? Love is NOT 'butterflies in our bellies, or warm-fuzzy feelings - yet those things describe love. We cannot say we Love God, and we "do stuff" for God because we Love Him. What do we REALLY do 'for' God? If somebody is loved, and they love us, is there really ANYTHING we can 'do' for them? Does love mean a transaction relationship? We shout to the rooftops things like "We LOVE God, so because we LOVE him, we obey!"

But Obedience is not the harbinger of love. Obedience is done through hate relationships too. Service is not Love-centric, too. Because we do not really serve God - because what is 'serving'? What is the tangible evidence of our service? I argue there is none. And I think God is just-fine with that. I think God really is NOT a task-master, keeping score of our acts, nor does God NEED us to do ANYTHING 'for' him. I think believing we have a Needy and lazy God misses the whole point.

When we base our relationship feedback and communion off generic scripture as the sole source of our communication I think we miss the entire mark of who God is. Because God is dynamic and living - as much as He 'lives' in the traditional sense. Things that are alive must die. Because God doesn't die - does he 'live'? I think He is beyond mere life. He's bigger than life and living.

I think creation calls out for our creator. I think deep inside is a longing for connection and we strive hard to fill that with any number of religions and causes. People worship their political leaders. People worship their pop stars. Look what happens when celebrities walk around in public - people BEAM and BRAG about "I got to meet (insert celebrity)!" People LOVE that stuff. People want to be back-stage - they want to be VIPs because why? Because it shows they are connecting with the object of their worship - and the worship of many others.

I think our substitution for God - the manifestation of that anyway, is the driving force in our lives and will ultimately lead us to disappointment because other than our Creator, our pining and longing and worship is pointless. At least in the nouns. It's GOOD to worship a bigger force - it's great, really, to learn the tools to humble ourselves and seek enlightenment. The problem is - only through heartfelt search for our Creator we will never feed that gaping hole in our souls.