by P Vandegrift

Created on: December 25, 2006   Last Updated: May 11, 2007

It is easy to contemplate the existence of god, or a god, in the same way as we contemplate what we are having for dinner this evening or tomorrow night. The theory of something or someone 'existing' that is powerful enough to create a mass of minerals, soils, etc for life forms to grow, will forever provide an endless debate. It provides writers with ideas to write books, provides scholars with enough speculation to form a conference around, and provides religions with something to organize. In pondering the subject of the existence of a god, one can also then put forth the question what would make a god?'

We are aware that human beings contemplated the mystery of their own existence long before these thoughts were carved into stone or written down. Intellectual evolvement occurred over many thousands of years and it will continue to do. The variety of ancient creation myths, that most of us have been introduced to, were constructed to help people to find an answer, as they sat down to contemplate themselves, of how they were created. These myths, in my opinion, were an early form of our common term called organized religion'. Because the brain could not just tell' them the answer, they developed faith' in their myths and used this to set their minds at ease.

Our brains today still can not tell' us the exact answer. We can open up a can of soup and pour it into a saucepan, but asking our brain to tell us how the world around us was created is met with a silence. So we employ faith, as our ancestors did, to assist us in filling that silence. The brain does not like to have unanswered questions. We do not like unsolved mysteries. It is very worrisome. Perhaps the brain does know, but keeps this answer from us so that we can experience the phenomena of our lives without knowing, like the end of a movie, who has done it.

In my observation, religion is used as a tool that can provide exercise for faith. Whether you believe there is a god, and it is male or female, good or bad, taking a particular religious path helps us to understand, and separate, our existence from the other entities on this planet. The idea of a god gives humans a beacon to head toward. Do you suppose animals contemplate the existence of a god? Perhaps they do, but have chosen not to employ an organized religion to lead them to their answer. Perhaps they have their own faith' outside of it all that encourages their need to live day to day until that moment happens when they are not. It seems that humans have encouraged this same dire need within themselves that they must have an answer for being alive and being different. Having this answer then helps to organize the thoughts within and to have a foundation for observing, understanding, and judging life. Telling someone to look around you and that will prove the existence that a god made it' is inconsiderate, and unhelpful. Disallowing a person the freedom to choose, or not choose faith', as a means to understanding themselves is a form of emotional, and egotistical, tyranny.

Discovering one's own personal definition of a god then, perhaps, will help in the contemplation of its existence. This definition, created by the soul in agreement with the brain, which explains how a god' is responsible for everything that they see, feel, touch and taste, will therefore be their comprised proof. Bearing in mind that the use of a personal definition, within this contemplation, can also inspire one to reach the very opposite conclusion. This is the power of contemplation.

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