In the Image of God : Chapter 25 : Understanding

Two young people travel to the "New World" in the 1900’s from the Philippines, coming to America, the melting pot of humankind, with the hopes of providing a new world for their child lying in the quiet of the womb. These two souls land in a strange country with a strange language. They are willing to scrimp and save to provide shelter and education for their newly born daughter. Two friends, joined by a holy ceremony, struggle to blend two cultures in the attempt to diminish the confusion of a cultural clash capable of destroying a young child’s virgin mind racked with the emotions of puberty.

Two hands finally release the small fingers of a beautiful small brown lady, strong in her convictions and proud of her journey through the pitfalls of higher educational ambivalence and mind expanding self-examination. Standing in her cap and gown, wrapped in the innocence of hope, dreams, and lofty goals, she goes home to her well earned independence symbolized by her new apartment. There she stands early in the morning soaking up the soothing heat of the water as it falls from the shower. Her brown body absorbs the warmth generated by the sunbeams as they stream through her shower window high above the ground on the upper floors of her secure apartment structure. She stands in all her beauty in the security of her new home, sensing God Itself, draped in nothing but her independence after twenty seven years of growing and learning.

This is all shattered in an instant as she opens her shower curtain to find a large man towering before her, greeting her with a smile behind the nylon stocking covering his face and a roll of duct tape in one hand. Society’s newest young pillar has found a fork in her journey’s path build not by God, but by us.

One may say this is a cruel scenario, but we are no longer talking fiction; we are talking truth, we are talking the present. A cruel fantasy? Not to the young Filipino who will have to endure the trauma of the event that occurred in a town in the beautiful state of Michigan on a typical quiet morning as the world continued to turn.

And so once again, after a billion, billion cries echo through the clouds billowing into the heavens, the question again is heard throughout the beautiful white and rich blue globe, "Why?" The answer: ‘We don’t understand, we aren’t willing to understand." So simple yet so basic. We have to "understand" before we can change what we don’t understand. Is understanding really so difficult? Understanding is not difficult; accepting what we understand is difficult. You, I, people don’t change easily, especially changing one’s perceptions of who we are.

Panentheism is a philosophical perception of reality that leads to a concrete understanding of just what reality is, who we are, and most exciting of all, why we travel reality. Panentheism is a new philosophy emerging from its infancy. The elements necessary for its evolution has only come about through the modern day advancement of science and technology over the last fifty years. Panentheism, in fact, is so new that it stands raw and naked in its simplicity and innocence waiting to be draped in the robes of exciting, unique perceptions we can attach to it as we explore the magnificent frontiers that can open up for our new millennium.

Pantheism, panentheism, and theism are embrace the concept of monotheism. Monotheism is a perception that there is only one. Creator. The three philosophies hold to the concept of an original force creating the universe; all hold to the concept of a God. All believe reality exists. Most people would see little to disagree with up to this point.

The three philosophies, however, are all different in their concept of the size of reality and the size of God. Pantheism holds that God and reality are the same; God is reality. Theism holds that God and reality are two different entities, each separate from the other; God transcends reality. Panentheism holds that reality exists in God, is smaller than God, but a part of God; we are a piece of God.

The three do not sound much different. That’s why its simple, yet the ramifications are so great that the major conflicts within the world center around this most fundamental perception. This is the starting point from which the perceptions we have of ourselves begin. This is the origin of three very different paths we walk as we travel life.

Who cares? Everyone should care! It is the fundamental that allows us to justify our actions. It is the fundamental that causes us to submit ourselves to others, to appease others, subjugate others, abuse others, demean others. This simple little concept is what allows racism, male superiority, religious dominance, child abuse, spousal abuse, economic abuse, physical abuse, drug abuse, employer abuse, etc., to exist, to be accepted as a fact of life. It is what allows the concepts of, "That’s the way it’s always been and that’s the way it will always be."

Anyone who has control over another person in any manner whatsoever, does not want theism to be challenged, for theism holds that God transcends reality, is greater than reality. This may not seem significant until one understands that this places us at a status below God, which creates, at the very source of our origination, the concept of superiority of one over another. Rank, status, superiority, prejudice, and justification of violence all start with our perception of the relationship between ourselves and the Creator of reality.

Theism is not evil; it is a simple, more advanced, philosophical concept that we accepted in order to replace philosophical concepts such as polytheism (belief in many gods), atheism (belief in no god), henotheism (belief in a local god while accepting the existence of others). But just as the other "isms" gave way to the more sophisticated theism, so will theism give way to a more sophisticated "ism."

Will theism give way to panentheism? And just what does panentheism profess that is so radical? Panentheism says that reality is not separate from God, but is actually within God, a "part" of God. Most people would say, "I believe that, so what?" So what?! That small concept is the beginning of a massive change in society.

The concept of panentheism is one that will not be accepted easily by society for it will destroy the concept of one person being better than another, whites superior to blacks, males ranking over females, the wealthy more worthy than the poor, heterosexuals normal and homosexuals abnormal, intellectuals socially more valuable than the mentally deprived, and the religious closer to God than the spiritually hollow.

Panentheism will destroy the rationale for abusing power: social, economic, sexual, physical, racial, religious, and governmental. Power is something people do not want to relinquish. Power over others is something almost everyone aspires to acquire and amass. Power is something that will not go down easily, but something that can go down if we, you and I together, want to change its influence over ourselves, our children, the future.

Panentheism is a teeny tiny change in perception regarding the location of reality, the relationship between God and reality, the relationship between ourselves and God. The last fifty years, however, have made us well aware of just how powerful little changes can be. A small amount of matter changed to energy in a nuclear bomb can either level a city to the ground or light its streets for decades - our choice, your choice, my choice.

And so it is with philosophy. We have a choice. The choice will not be easy, however, for there will be much resistance to panentheism. Panentheism is a means to changing the way we perceive ourselves and others, and with a change of perception comes a change in behavior. And just what types of behavior are we talking about that need changing in order to make our society "user friendly?" We are talking about behavior such as racism, genderism, physical violence, intimidation, religious intolerance, apathy, status perceptions, ad infinitum.

But you may ask, "Hasn’t this has always been our demeanor?" The answer, "Yes." But that’s not the point; the point is, "Why have we always been this way?" Many would argue that our demeanor has been such because we have not put into place a logical model that leads us to understand our place in reality. We live in reality and we understand that we exist. We have the foundation of faith to assist us in accepting reality and our placement within reality. But we are missing the rationale, the logic, that would explain our purpose in reality. The rational understanding of the purpose, of the individual’s and the species’ function in reality, is what we would call a "universal philosophy."

The development of a "universal philosophy," panentheism, would establish a foundation that would walk hand in hand with the foundation of faith. It would assist in explaining why we always look to traditions, religions, cultures, and perception for a purpose in life. It is a necessity for our new millennium, for it would help to bring peace to humankind.

Steven Hawking says, "If we do discover a complete [unified] theory [of the universe, it should be understandable in broad principle by everyone, not just a few scientists. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists, and just ordinary people, be able to take part in the discussion of the question of why it is that we and the universe exist. If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason for then we should know the mind of God." (A Brief History of Time, 1988)

"Why?" We cannot escape the question. We need to open our eyes and simply look at what we have in order to begin understanding what constantly confronts us. Pain, trauma, and despair is heard underscoring the unending echo of "Why?" as it resonates throughout our beautiful blue and white skies, throughout the black velvet of the night as it causes the starlight itself to twinkle against the stark nakedness of the seemingly endless expanse of eternity. We stand alone and, insecure, begin to look around ourselves, looking, seeking, hoping.