Who is God? | Imamother

relish

Fri, May 17 2019, 11:42 am

Do you believe in God?
Of course we all do, in fact it is part of the 13 principles of the rambam that we say each day, but do we all believe in the same version of God?
I’ve been asking around, and it seems like the most common answer is “higher power” and “creator”.

In your experience and understanding, who is god?

simba

Fri, May 17 2019, 11:56 am

The provider of my every breath
The benefactor of the sunlight
I blame him for grey rainy days
The one I thank for my healthy children, and the one I beg to give me more patience for them.
God keeps me on my toes. I don’t understand why he puts some people through so much pain, why sickness, why the long Galus?
He is all good. And only good. He has a view and a vision that I am not privy to.
I trust him.

He is the source of all the good in my life and the address I turn to in a time if need.
I was created to exhalt his name and I rely on him to give me the strength to do that.

Who is God? More like who is not God ??because He is everyone and everything.

chestnut

Fri, May 17 2019, 12:06 pm

simba wrote:

He is the source of all the good in my life and the address I turn to in a time if need.

Beautifully said, but why is He the source of only good in our lives? Isn't He the source of everything - the good AND bad? With the understanding that what we perceive as bad might not be so once we see the fuller pic 10 y from now, but there are still objectively bad things happening to people

Fri, May 17 2019, 12:14 pm

Simba you’re amazing. I’ll add. The one who I hold in front of my eyes and ask at any given moment in time “Hashem, I know you brought this for my benefit, please guide me to see it and show me how to deal with it “.

zaq

Fri, May 17 2019, 12:16 pm

I'm sure we do not all believe, or perhaps "envision" is a better word, the same way. Why would we or should we? G-d is infinitely faceted, and it would be impossible for any human being to be able to grasp or even imagine Him in His entirety. This being the case, we are all like the blind men and the elephant: each of us relates to the tiny fraction that we have experienced while remaining utterly in the dark about the rest. Not only that, but whatever shaped our minds and personalities also shapes our relationship to Hashem, whether we see Him as a father, loving or strict or forgiving; a judge, impartial or vengeful or liberal; a king, terrifying or approachable; teacher, savior, best friend, shoulder to cry on, spiritual EMT, healer, executioner, landlord, artist, vending machine or anything else.

simba

Fri, May 17 2019, 12:26 pm

chestnut wrote:

Well because all he does is for my Good.

I am limited, I don’t always see it, I may never see it. I pray that he lets me see it. I pray that I don’t have to look to hard to see the good. Hashem, please don’t make it hard for me
to believe. Please show me your goodness in an obvious way.

Amen.

relish

Fri, May 17 2019, 12:32 pm

zaq wrote:

All of the answers were expressed so eloquently, but this one really spoke to me. One’s relationship with Hashem is shaped by one’s experiences and personality. I’ve heard the mashal of the blind men and the elephant, but never understood this deeply before.

relish

Fri, May 17 2019, 12:45 pm

thunderstorm wrote:

I think the same as Simba and Chestnut so I won't repeat it. But I wanted to say "Hello Relish! I haven't heard your "voice" in a LONG time. Welcome back.

Thank you thunderstorm. I had to take some time off to do some private soul searching, after I went through a personal life challenge.

amother

Cerise

Fri, May 17 2019, 1:31 pm

I have a complicated relationship with the idea of G-d as Ive been taught to envision as a child and through religious teachings, due to severe childhood trauma.

My experience of G-d now is as the Life Force, which I am able to perceive and sense in various ways

relish

Fri, May 17 2019, 1:41 pm

amother [ Cerise ] wrote:

Interesting perspective on being taught to envision God.
I was taught that if one envisions God, then that is Kefira, because God has no form. It’s interesting to hear another perspective.

If we can perceive and or sense something, wouldn’t that be an indicator that we are actually not experiencing God, but rather a manifestation of His creation?

youngishbear

Fri, May 17 2019, 2:06 pm

I love this question.

I think of Hashem as the Source and essence of everything in the universe, physical and beyond.

Physics and chemistry show us that at its essence, all matter is energy.

Hashem is the source of that energy, its spiritual source.

He chose to manifests some of that energy in physical forms, including physical space, where the universe is located (Hamakom emphasizes the aspect of Hashem related to space), as well as the concept of time (in the Shem Havaya, which contains leshonos of past, present,
and future.)

I recommend Rabbi Fohrman, who does a far better job explaining some of the facets of Hashem's names and connection to creation.

https://www.alephbeta.org/play.....ience

My conception of Hashem ties in to chassidic concepts of everything in creation containing sparks of Godliness, and the Tanya even saying it all IS Hashem, as well as the concept of shviras hakeilim from kabbalah.

In summary, Hashem doesn't really look like anything in my mind. Sometimes Hashem feels abstract and far away, especially when I get distracted by life and when I haven't been working on my spiritual development.

Mostly, in my mind Hashem is a benevolent power who wants a relationship with me. When I daven, I try to feel that loving presence enveloping me.

seeker

Fri, May 17 2019, 3:53 pm

zaq wrote:

So much this. I love you zaq, you save me so much time.

Who is G-d? We can never know. We can only know Him through his creations and the actions He effects in our world. Which of course is open to interpretation.

And Relish I was just thinking of you and wondering how you are! Thanks for dropping in Smile

IrenaFr

Sat, May 18 2019, 10:24 pm

Coming from a very secular background and interested in quantum physics I would say - Creator and the Source and the Brain of the energy of every fundamental subatomic particle in our universe . It's just the part that we can discover, everything else is just not for our knowledge , we were created by this so that don't need the full knowledge so we will not be able to discover it Smile

Ravenclaw

Sat, May 18 2019, 10:39 pm

“He's like fire and ice and rage. He's like the night, and the storm in the heart of the sun. He's ancient and forever. He burns at the center of time and he can see the turn of the universe. And... he's wonderful.“

I see Hashem as the source of all life, the energy pulsing inside and around everything, the driving force of the universe.