Omnipresence
They say that God is everywhere
but I've not seen Him
for looking at you.
I'm sure He's been there –
I've just never noticed.
He wasn't in Edinburgh
and neither were you
but I saw you in everything.
I must get my eyes tested.
6 August 1989
I was never taught that God was omnipresent, that he exists
in everything. It’s another one of those silly notions like the trinity someone dreamed up to keep the masses in check. Of course if, in the beginning—or, I suppose, before
the beginning—only God existed then everything must’ve been created from him and so in that respect we’re all a part of God gone rotten. If you believe these things. Or care. I wasn’t taught that God existed everywhere but I was taught that he could see everything, even into my heart. And I get why I was taught that. Because most of the time what stops people doing stuff is there’s someone watching if only a CCTV camera. After a while, and you see this in social experiments like Big Brother, people either forget they’re being watched or pretty much stop caring. Wandering through the streets of Edinburgh everywhere I looked I thought I could see B. although the chances were remote. It didn’t really matter. All I could think about was her. I didn’t care if God knew what I was thinking.
3 comments:
The Sea Sponge has been around for 600,000,000 years longer than us. Evidence that God knows what he's doing.
Sad, is it not, that billions of people cling to belief in a supernatural being in this day and age. Ludicrous faith in an idea implanted in the minds of children from a very early age is nothing short of child abuse. Luckily times are achanging and such medieval notions are fading at an exponential rate of knots in the western world. I believe in CCTV. The evidence is everywhere. I believe in father Xmas because I still get presents every year from Santa ... please don't try to tell me there is NO Santa!
Ah, now, if only God had stopped with the sea sponge, Gwilym. Then again if he had Christ knows what it would’ve evolved into. Probably SpongeBob SquarePants.
And Philip, what can I say? I have mixed feelings when it comes to what we tell our kids and what we let them learn for themselves. Words like ‘conditioning’, ‘indoctrination’ and ‘brainwashing’ all emphasise the negative side of teaching but what about learning the times tables by rote? I was inculcated and it wasn’t a bad thing. When I was about six or seven a woman stopped in her car seeing me standing at the bus stop and late for school and gave me a lift. No harm came to me but I got a rollicking when I got home? Why? No one had told me that was a stupid thing to do. Nowadays it’s a very different world. We impress upon our kids the need to be wary of strangers. My parents taught me what they believed was right and what would ultimately benefit me as long as I heeded what they said. Unlike many who think faith is enough they were bible students and I was encouraged to prove for myself and not simply accept what I was being told. And I did. I was an excellent student if I say so myself. That’s not why I packed it all in. It really doesn’t matter to me how the universe got here; it’s here and we have to deal with it. All the information I was provided with—and rigorously checked—was supposed to affect me and it didn’t. Just like all those people who refuse to accept global warming despite overwhelming evidence. I was provided with the case for the existence of God (and it’s not a bad case) but I wasn’t convinced and found I didn’t care. Which is why I never call myself an atheist or an agnostic because neither’s a good fit. I don’t care. Santa I never believed in. He was the school janny dressed up.
Post a Comment