Feasting Friday (Jul 29, 2023)
I noticed last night that...huh, I believe in God?
As a lifetime atheist-slowly-turned-agnostic, I needed to sit down and digest this; that I seemed to have moved from agnostic to...what is it I am now?
Because the kind of God I believe in is a God traditionally religious people would likely not enjoy, and that atheists and non-religious would actually, maybe, agree with.
I want to share my perspective on this, because it has opened me to a style of prayer that has really improved my life.
So I'm going to take my time here to chisel some clarity.
So first, an important proposition: a good current metaphor to begin to grok the structure of reality is the Fractal Hologram. Theres a lot of interesting things to explore about this, but the essence for meeting my God(s), is to note that the nature of a hologram is that, each 'piece' of the hologram plate contains the information of the entire image, but just in lower resolution.
Image a hologram plate the size of a book. When light shows through it, you see the holographic image of your face in 4k HD. Break the plate in half, you still would see your entire face, only now in 2k (whereas, if you had a photograph of your face and I ripped it in half, instead of getting a full image in half the resolution, you get half a torn face in full resolution).
Again, the essence is: The entire 'image' can be found anywhere in the hologram plate.
So with this fractal hologram metaphor in mind, I want to introduce you to the three faces of God I've noticed I believe in.
Capital G God
If we're honest, when we think of God, we think of a kind of person. For most of the world it's a man, for some modern rebels, it's a woman. Both of these are wrong (when we're trying to talk about capital G God).
(G)od is incomprehensible, but if we're using language and metaphor, an ecosystemis a better metaphor than He or She.
All the He and She gods of history are like trees, whereas (G)od is the field from which all trees grow.
This field from which all trees grow is all around me. It conducts the photons wizzing from your screen right now. It's the field that allows damaged DNA to repair its structure. It's the angel that floats above every blade of grass and whispers "grow."
If I had to give it intention, it says "Yes! More!"
This God never says no. This God has no limitations. This God wants more life.
This God is not the God that gives commandments or rules.
Why is this important? Because the most high doesn't pick teams. The most high is an infinite horizon orgiastically saying yes to everything that happens.
'The God of Your Fathers'
The God of the Abrahamic religions triangulates on these second tier gods, what they refer to as 'The God of Your Fathers.'
If capital G God is the field from which all trees grow, the 'God of Your Fathers' is a species of tree that grows in the forest.
These gods, these trees...they are traditions and cultures. They have rules, commandments, and they pick teams. YAWH, Elohim, Allah, they are trees. They're the largest trees in the goddamn forest, but they are still trees.
Without spiraling down rabbit holes, the god of our fathers can best be understood through evolutionary biology, game theory, and jungian psychology.
They are mythic hero-keepers of tradition. And because the structure of reality is holographic, a piece of the capital G God can be found throughout these trees.
But (and here is where most of the traditionally religious will check out), none of these gods are the one true god. They are all trees that grow out of the one true god.
Our God
So what does this mean for my life?
What do I do with this?
1. Play the game of life as if God is real and it radically cares about your becoming.
2. The first major task of your life is to find out what kind of tree you are (aka find The God of Your Fathers).
3. Start the adventure of bringing forth that which is within you.
4. Buckle the fuck up, life is about to get messy, exhilarating, wild, and passionate
In a hologram, there is a through-line; a coherent pattern that exists in every pixel.
The through-line is the still inner whisper is Good, True, and Beautiful.
You can trust it.
And so, with the guidance of God (the still inner whisper in you constantly pulling you towards things that will make you grow), you can find The God of Your Fathers; which is the tradition and culture your soul, your essence is from.
Jay-Z did this:
“We were kids without fathers…so we found our fathers on wax and on the streets and in history. We got to pick and choose the ancestors who would inspire the world we were going to make for ourselves.”
This is one of the best quotes I've ever seen.
Austin Kleon goes further:
“Seeing yourself as part of a creative lineage will help you feel less alone as you start making your own stuff. I hang pictures of my favorite artists in my studio. They’re like friendly ghosts. I can almost feel them pushing me forward as I’m hunched over my desk.
The great thing about dead or remote masters is that they can’t refuse you as an apprentice. You can learn whatever you want from them. They left their lesson plans in their work.”
I offer this all because you know you have a still inner whisper in you. You know, in the privacy of your heart that it's right...that it's calling you to something you know you're built to do. This whisper will call you to a creative linage. This whisper will call you to learn from 'the ancestors who will inspire the world you are going to make."
I've noticed that since I've started looking at God this way, I've found myself praying. Like actually sitting down, closing my eyes, and talking. What I've noticed is that, since I really believe I'm in the presence of God, the way I speak is as honest as I'm capable of speaking. I notice my thinking becomes very clear and simple, quickly. It's way faster and deeper than journaling (gasp, I know right?). I've been doing it the last week, in the morning and in the evening, and man...it feels like a cheat code.
I feel more connected to what feels like grace than I've felt in a long time.
It feels good, and thats why I want to share.
I hope this made some sense, and I hoped it helped.
I love yall.
Song on Repeat This Week:
Microworlds - CloZee
Thang I'm Reading This Week:
'Show Your Work' by Austin Kleon
Quote I’m Dancing With This Week:
“Steal from anywhere that resonates with your inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only the things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic.”
-Jim Jarmusch
“In a few hundred years, when the history of our time will be written from a long-term perspective, it is likely that the most important event historians will see is not technology, not the Internet, not e-commerce. It is an unprecedented change in the human condition. For the first time - literally - substantial and rapidly growing numbers of people have choices. For the first time, they will have to manage themselves. And society is totally unprepared for it.”
-Peter Drucker
My Favorite Journal Prompt This Week:
Who are your fathers in wax, in the streets, in history? What is the future they inspire you to build? Who is the God of your Fathers?