Religion in Daily Life

© By the Rev. Edward Chinn, D.Min.

Rector, All Saints’ Church

http://www.allsaintstorresdale.org

“Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!” Those words are taken from our National Anthem. The reference to God as “Power” reminds me of the words an early Christian poet. He described God as “the persistent energy of things.” If you take this as a definition of God, then it makes you rethink how we use the word “God.” While some people dismiss the idea of God along with the story of Santa Claus, serious thinking makes us see that the symbolic term “God” stands for this Ultimate Power, “the persistent energy of things.” The basic question is not whether such Creative Power exists. Its effects are evident. The real question is the nature of this Power.

Some persons believe this basic Power is blind, unconscious Force. Such persons see nothing in the world of nature that corresponds to the mind, spirit, and purpose which does exist in human beings. I take the word “Atheism” to mean a disbelief in what Jews and Christians mean by the term “God.” To the atheist, there is no God, no continuing life for the human person beyond physical death, no ultimate justice, no credibility given to the religious representatives of our race. To the atheist, Jesus of Nazareth was a chance occurrence whose words and actions mean nothing. “Life . . . is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

On the other hand, some people choose to strike off the first letter of the word “atheism.” Removing the letter “a” from “atheism” leaves us with “theism.” Such persons believe in God (Greek – “theos”). They see around us, within us, and above us a Universal Mind, a Purpose which is “the persistent energy of things.” In the first century, the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote: “The world is either a welter of alternate combination and dispersion, or [it is] a unity of order and providence. If the former, why do I care about anything else than how I shall at last become dust? But on the other alternative I feel reverence . . . I find heart in the Power that disposes all” (Meditations vi.10).

If, when I speak about God, I mean this Power, this “persistent energy of things,” then, of course, I can only speak of this Power by using symbols, illustrations, and metaphors taken from human experiences. Over the centuries, people have spoken of this Power as “Rock,” “Shepherd,” “Father,” and “Friend.” I believe this Power, this “persistent energy,” spoke through the Hebrew prophets and was embodied in Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ.

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