What’s in a name?

Consider a chap who is just standing there minding his own business.

One person says “That man is my husband”
Another says “That man is my father”
Another says “That man is an engineer”
Another says “That man is a scoundrel”
Another says “That man is a loyal friend”

What is interesting is that, while these descriptions are very varied, we have no trouble accepting that each is partial description of the whole. We don’t fuss and bother that one persons description is “correct” while anothers is “wrong.”

How strange that so many do not apply the same basic common sense to God who is both All There Is and All There Is Not.

This entry was posted on February 4, 2008 at 3:27 pm and is filed under CWG, Conversations with God, New Age, spirituality. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

6 Responses to “What’s in a name?”

  1. tobeme Says:
    February 5, 2008 at 9:26 am

    THis is a good thought. To help people understand the concept of “God”, I have often used the examle of water, that H2O can come in a gas called steam, or in a solid called ice, or in liquid which is water, all the same, however very different in how they appear to be.

  2. Sue Ann Edwards Says:
    February 6, 2008 at 4:58 pm

    rofl….

    “all there is not”? Thank you {{jon}}.. i hadn’t had an experience of cross eyed in quite a while. I couldn’t even integrate an all there is with an all there is not.

    In All That Is, Was and Will Ever Be, where is there a Not?

  3. jonfeatherstone Says:
    February 6, 2008 at 7:53 pm

    Hi Sue Ann,
    The idea of “All That Is” and “All That Is Not” comes from Conversations with God, where he explains at very great length that the only way “All That Is” could move from awareness of Itself to experience of Itself was to create something that was not itself (how can you be loving if pure love is all there is). But because “All That Is” is “All That Is”, that must also include “All That Is Not”. This is the Divine Dichotomy. I just dig it.
    Peace to you Sue Ann, Jon.

  4. Sue Ann Edwards Says:
    February 7, 2008 at 7:47 am

    Now I ‘dig it’, too. in different words…

    how can I come to know I am the Light if I don’t walk into any dark rooms?

    It is this same thing I’ve been trying to convey…that we discover our Divinity in the darkness.

    Big deal, whoop-tee-do, accept the acceptable, tolerate the tolerable, understand the understandable. No great feat any of these. It’s in finding we have within us what is required to tolerate the intolerable, accept the unacceptable and understand the misunderstood that is our own Spiritual Self Discovery.

    All the not’s, were invented by not-heads.

  5. Secret Simon Says:
    February 11, 2008 at 9:24 am

    Hi Jon - Well, I reckon that between you, you and Sue Ann have succinctly stated two of the most important truths in the universe here, which is not bad for a single post. And I like Mark’s variation too, for that matter.

    I’m just starting to understand what true acceptance entails - and its overwhelming importance. As Sue Ann states, it requires us to accept a lot more than just ‘the acceptable’.

    And I love your ‘what’s in a name?’ story: an excellent riposte for all forms of religious intolerance. Why are there so many different ideas about God? Because our understanding of God - at least in terms of logic and words - can only ever be partial. None of these are wrong - they’re only incomplete. How ridiculous to fight wars over our own inadequate attempts to grasp the infinite!

  6. anglhugnu2 Says:
    February 20, 2008 at 8:19 pm

    Your story seems to suggest your perception of God is your reality….and that is okay! Eventually, you will come to understand your perception is your yearning to be with and near The Light, The One that loves you always. Right now it seems you are peering through a fog of your own making.

    Don’t worry…..that fog, that perception is centuries in its development. It will be only in your re-cognizing (knowing again) The Light will you will yourself to find the light. Nothing is nothing! Faith in nothing is always reliable. From nothing you will get nothing. There can be only nothing from nothing.

    The Light of The One always remain stable. The Light is much like that of a light house on the shoreline; its beacon, steady and constant pierces the heavy fog for ships to know where mistakes can be made or corrected. Ignoring the purpose of the light by seeking to do that which believes in nothing at all will bring you closer to the shoreline where you may just run aground, mired in mistake.

    Do we learn from our mistakes? Or are we really seeing the purpose of The Light? The lessons we learn can come only from the light that still burns bright; leading you to a safe place where goodness, honesty, and true perfection calls you “son” or “daughter.” Learn to see The Light, the One who loves you always, with the eyes of The One (God) in You.

    Peace!

    AngllHugnU2
    Author of IM with God

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