The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

I was thinking about my Scotties, wondering how they would see God. Trying to put myself in their place, I realized that they could very easily see me, their keeper, in the same light as most people view God.

To my Scotties, I’m the supplier of all things good. They get all their treats, food, petting, and playtime from me, and others they love. I hold all the power, offering them a certain amount of freedom, which they highly value. To my knowledge, they don’t have another model of vast power and good to look at.

Now let’s look at the way many people view God. Modern western people have been heavily influenced by Michelangelo’s gray-bearded image at the top of the Sistine Chapel. That image was painted specifically to influence people’s vision of God, and it has been very effective, but very limiting to our understanding of God’s reality.

Because we live in a three-dimensional, material world people like to see things to believe in them. We have learned to understand and accept concepts like electricity and energy waves, but for most of us, that understanding comes from seeing the results of those invisible energies. We understand electricity when it flashes as lightning or lights a bulb. We understand energy waves when we see them reflected in an oscilloscope or coming across as television pictures.

This means that most of us cannot really wrap our minds around an omnipresent, omnipotent God. How do we understand a power that is all powerful and always everywhere?

A very popular minister of the 20th Century wrote a sermon, which became a published booklet that is still in print today, titled, “The Seven Main Aspects of God.” This booklet gives the reader such a powerful collection of concepts. If you Google it, you will find many YouTube references to it today. I’ll give you a brief summary, and you may want to go to Amazon and buy the booklet for your own reference.

The first main aspect of God listed is “God Is Life.” He means God is more than just the giver of life, He is life itself and we are a part of that life, like a tree leaf is part of a tree. If we want healing or vitality, “claim” Divine Life when you pray, and if you believe enough, you will feel greater healing and more vitality.

The second aspect of God is “God Is Truth.” Jesus said, “Truth shall set you free.” As free people, what does that mean to us? One thing it means is that God’s world is a world of good, love, and plenty. As we learn to align ourselves with God’s love and good, our world becomes filled with more good things. If you want to see a better world, claim God’s truth for yourself when you pray.

The third aspect of God is Love. Jesus told us that, “Love is the greatest of all.” This is because divine love, the greatest love we can achieve, brings the most good to the world. Claim divine love when you pray and always see the divine Spirit that lives in every human and living thing on this earth.

The fourth main aspect of God is Intelligence. When you combine love and intelligence, you have wisdom. King Solomon chose wisdom when God asked him what he wanted. Then God gave Solomon power, fame, and wealth to go with the wisdom. Unfortunately, over time the material things got in the way for Solomon, and he had problems. Had he always stayed close to God and his wisdom, well, he wouldn’t have been human, I guess.

The fifth aspect is “God Is Soul.” Our soul is God. Unfortunately, most of us shroud our soul in a world of materiality. It’s there, but we only feel it during our conscience-prick when we are selfish or cruel. Pray, remembering that God is your soul, always with you and always ready to help.

The sixth aspect is “God Is Spirit.” Spirit is the energy in all living things that cannot be destroyed, damaged, or degraded. Spirit is the ghostly light that is sometimes seen ascending when someone dies. Spirit is eternal.

The seventh main aspect of God is Principle. This world is filled with unchanging principles, such as the power of gravity’s grip, and the concept that heat always expands matter. The most important spiritual principle we want to understand is that God is unchanging perfect good. God does not send bad things to us; they come because we choose to believe in fear, rather than trust in God. Internalize this principle and watch fear disappear from your life. As fear leaves, love enters, and life becomes much more beautiful.

Solomon showed us that we must be vigilant with our commitment to the living God and his main aspects, or the material world will edge its way into our lives, creating havoc. Trust in God and live a wonderful life like my Scotties, having all you need and want because you live with a benevolent keeper.

And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

— 2 Corinthians 9:8