We cannot quit looking for whatever or whoever God is
By Lethbridge Herald on March 9, 2024.
Editor:
Some time ago, I saw “Waiting for Godot” on the stage. I don’t lie: I didn’t understand it. Then why doesn’t it stop to fascinate me? I listened to it on the radio, and saw it played on the TV. It’s a waste of my time. I don’t have too much time left. I should forget about it but haven’t because for some reason I can’t. Why? It’s like Quantum Physics. I have no idea what it is about. I checked it out a few times in books, chatted with students in physics, looked it up, but I’m still in a fog. I must forget it: it’s a waste of time. But still it doesn’t leave me alone. Why?
Waiting for someone who never comes. But I can not give up.
Why? Nobody seems to know who Godot is. Could it be something like “looking for god.”
We never know if God is there, but we cannot quit looking (waiting) for whatever or whoever is called “God.” I am not so arrogant to say there is no such thing. Buddhists say you can be one if you give up all the “s**t” you are obsessed by. Christians believe that it/he/she was like the guy who has been long dead but lived 2000 years ago in Palestine. So I am waiting.
Tadashi (Tad) Mitsui
Lethbridge
8-7
Alberta Einstein was not only a great quantum physics theorist, he was a markedly thoughtful philosopher. Conflicted about the idea of a “god”, Einstein wrote the following:
“Everything is determined… by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect as well as for the star. Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust — we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper.”
That never leaves me alone.
A great quote from a great individual. The concept of an “invisible piper” is something we all crave for, real or not.
so, here we be, caught between this not being an accident and numerous human-mind concocted ritual riddled religions wrapped around a grand judge with a checklist on everyone so as to determine who gets to heaven and who goes to hell. i suppose the irony to this plane of existence is that our little, limited brains too often prevent us from acknowledging how limited and little we are here.
It seems there a currently far more scientists studying the idea of “this not being an accident”, not necessarily the result of the Big Bang theory as an example, given growing understanding of physics and chemistry, than sitting flatly on the side of “all an accident” than I have noted in many decades. I am not saying that these folks are ascribing what they are observing and discovering to a passive aggressive supreme being, but they are questioning the Big Bang origins. I am addicted to learning more and more about chemistry, physics, biology, geology, evolution and extinction and geology… sciences period. It is simply awesome, exciting, mind-expanding information that makes my life richer.
I am not tolerant of religiosity, institutionalized religion, and especially the self-righteous hypocrites including the egotistical and manipulative preachers that feel it is their right to shove their interpretation of whatever monotheistic belief system they have been indoctrinated over other’s beliefs and rights. Institutionalized fundamentalist religion and partisan politics are well documented to be the background of so many hardships and atrocities, and I am not merely referencing news-making scale horror stories, I am also referring to individual harm, trauma due to family and community level wrongdoing. Throw in the historical abuse of faith systems by elitists, people in positions of power, and commercial corporate abuse to control the masses and enrich their interests… sigh; sapiens is freaking sick. But, I am not dismissive of miraculous “supernatural” personal experiences reported throughout history, I am not dismissive of deja vu experiences, the idea of prophecy, nor am I dismissive of the good that individuals can derive from a community of comfort, love and mutual support that can be associated with faith groups. I have met some folks who actually live a life that approaches the idealism of their faith. I respect those individuals… one by one. So, yeah, I find listening to their cordially shared perspectives enriches my life as well.
i hear you.
given the universe is so much more vast than we can comprehend, it would be hubris to believe there is no other life out there, more evolved, even – based on visual indicators and given how many countless planets there are. given that there is quite a range of enlightenment just on this often godforsaken planet, there will be more enlightenment throughout the universe. it seems apparent we are here to evolve. we are also here with limits, including our brains, and anyone that thinks we are very well along the planes of evolution may wish to seek more deeply and with more earnest. if “god” treated us the way we treat one another at large and the way we treat sentient beings, and way we treat the living systems of this planet, we would all know hell…not just some.
well, i will suggest we will not find god in stuff, nor in the placing of oneself ahead of others, as much as consumer mentality and the ego seem determined to explore.
I went through my search over many years and came to the conclusion that most, if not all religions are all about power and greed and getting the masses to buy into their Kool-Aid kit, so as the high and mighty can accumulate more power and money. I’ll just name one: Jim and Tammy Baker. If you want to believe in a Higher Being controlling the Universe, may I suggest you do it in private. We don’t need fancy golden laden places of worship to gain our spot in the afterlife. Myself? Ashes to ashes, dust to dust and I also ponder, “Is any of this actually real?”
Of course it is not “real”, we are simply participants in two alien high school student’s science project. One student is a caring responsible individual; the other a malicious jerk who likes to poke, prod, torment, when his classmate turns his back.