This post, likely to rank as the most abstract, theoretical effort so far, is an invitation to read, draw no conclusions, let the contents rest easy in your mind, and see what comes to you.
All major religions agree there’s no limit to The Almighty.
No limit = beyond all categories because any category implies limit; if you’re tall, you’re not short, if you’re rich, you’re not poor, if you’re unconditional love you’re not judgement and hate, etc.
Stating that The Almighty is infinite means not merely “beyond all limit”, but also that The Almighty is everything.
So it would be true that what we call “God” is both noun and verb, more accurately all nouns and verbs.
Equally true, “God”, (“The Almighty”, whatever you want to call “it” ¹), is all cause and all effect, as well as the Creator, the creation, and the container of creation.
If you really want to torque your head, try this: If “God” is beyond all limit, then it logically follows that “God”, (“The Almighty”, whatever,) is both limitless and limited, simultaneously. ²
Parts of various scriptures, philosophical writings, and some poetry seem to hit all around this notion of God as The All without scoring bulls-eyes.
If history reveals anything it is that dissolution and growth have been aspects of the same phenomenon. Growth has not occurred anywhere without involving dissolution. Every major cultural change throughout history has involved the two-fold process of death and emergence.” ♥
“Die and Become.
Till thou hast learned this
Thou art but a dull guest
On this dark planet.” ♠
“The seed that is to grow
must lose itself as seed;
And they that creep
may graduate through
chrysalis to wings.
Wilt thou then O mortal,
cling to husks which
falsely seem to you the self?” ♦
“A death blow is a life blow to some
Who till they died, did not alive become;
Who, had they lived, had died, but when
They died, vitality begun.” ♣
“Oh, let the self exalt itself,
Not sink itself below:
Self is the only friend of self,
And self Self’s only foe.
For self when it subdues itself,
Befriends itself. And so
When it eludes self-conquest, is
Its own and only foe.
So, calm, so self-subdued, the Self
Has an unshaken base
Through pain and pleasure, cold and heat,
Through honor and disgrace.” ◊
“I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: ³ I the Lord do all these things.”∗
¹ If “God”, or “The Almighty” or whatever, is everything, then labels such as He/She/Father/Mother, all limiting, are all equally inaccurate. On the other hand “it”, while gender neutral, strikes English speakers as insultingly disrespectful.
On the other side of the world, Indians have a similar attitude. Both cultures choose respect over strict accuracy, assigning masculine pronouns to refer to an Ultimate Reality freely acknowledged to transcend all limiting categories.
² Paradox—A statement that seems contradictory, unbelievable, or absurd, but that may in fact be true. So…”The Almighty” as resolution of all paradox? Make up your own mind.
³ Tanakh, The Jewish Bible, reads: “I make weal and create woe…”
♥ Bernard Eugene Meland—1899- ?, American philosopher, professor of religion, from an article in The Personalist.
♠ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe—1739-1832, German philosopher, poet, in Selige Sehnsucht
♦ Wu Ming Fu—Chinese philosopher, poet, in Patterns in Jade
♣ Emily Dickinson—1830-1886, American poet.
◊ Bhagavad-Gita—The “New Testament” of Hindu Scripture, first century B.C.
∗ Old Testament, KJV— Isaiah 45:7
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