The God Connection

Do we generally feel a Godly connection? Is it something that we harness on a daily basis? Can we achieve a mental, or rather a metaphysical transformation to be connected to a higher entity? Do we have to be prophets or elected by God to earn such position?

Questions, questions, questions. People might think that topics such as God’s existence, His methods, His choices of articulating the universe should undoubtedly be dissuaded once they arise. Those topics, some might argue, would eventually lead the inquisitor to the land of confusion and alienation, which will then cause the end of his faith.

There is an Irish saying that goes like: “If you aren’t confused, you don’t know what is going on. “

This saying should not be taken at face value. It has a certain moral behind it. It does not mean that you have to be confused in order to collect knowledge about something. It means that you have to be in a process of constant and rigorous questioning in order to hold a firm grasp on the wider aspects of a certain topic or issue. Naturally, with the complexity of the topic grows the confusion, and vice versa. So practically speaking, the God issue, it being an overly complicated and sophisticated one, will ultimately result in a confusing and, one might add, a disorientating debate.

The God connection that I am talking about is not derived from the practices of religions (Judaism, Christianity or Islam) that occur on a daily basis. The connection that I am speaking about is literal. To simply touch the hand of God. I might be insane to try and tackle such crazy topic, but I will try my best.

Let me dishearten your eager minds to say unto you that you cannot, in fact, touch the hand of God. Then why did I say it? To me, to touch the hand of God is to simply acknowledge the fact that your life, your existence, your conception is practically in his hands.

We were subjugated since our birth to think that religion is salvation. We were driven to think that we are Jews or Christians or Muslims by birth, not by practice. We were not given the option to think and contemplate about our choices, but simply be de facto Jews, Christians or Muslims. We simply inherited religion from our ancestors as if it was a written will.

But what if this “will” ceases to exist? What if our ancestors stopped the flow of religion? Would humanity be faithless? What would happen one day if you raise your kids haphazardly without any basis to raise them upon except logic, common sense or basic human knowledge, which are not sufficient in the first place?

As a Muslim, let me take an example from my own religion to better illustrate my argument. Till now, it is widely acknowledged that the technological advance the West is currently living in is mostly owed to the efforts of Muslim scholars who lived in what was called “The Era of Islamic Enlightenment.” Medical, social, political, technological and scientific breakthroughs that are still talked about to this very day. But let’s regress. Let’s not live in the wisdoms and triumphs of the past. Let’s get back to the present tense.

Islam nowadays is viewed as a religion of terror and violence. A religion of backwardness and uncivility. But do not blame religion, I beg you. Blame whoever dropped his balls and courage (Excuse my foul language) and decided to raise the white flag. Blame whoever decided to stop thinking and building over the schools of thought that were accumulated over the ages of Islamic victory. Blame whoever stopped thinking and relied on their “ancestors’ will” and was apathetic and indecisive. Blame whoever lost this Godly connection.

The God connection is a state of spiritual practice that is aimed at questioning, not your God, but your faith. A state in which you know how it will end, but within this process, will know its means. We the believers know that God exists and we obey His rules and words of guidance. But then, where is our human side? How can you recognize yourself as a true believer if you take what has been told to you at face value without arguing? Without asking questions? Without seeking answers that are supposedly, and in some countries, lawfully out of your reach? In the Torah, the Bible and the Quran, God aggressively commands us to think. Think. Not be led like sheep. Otherwise, he would be a dictator. And that is not the case. Far from it.

To touch the hand of God is, then, a matter of constant contemplation, in which all the equations, thought processes and mental and physical practices lead to one result. Some might argue that God truly is evil and omnipotent as He is holding us like puppets and swaying us wherever He wants and pleases as long as He is obeyed and prayed for. There is a flipside to that narrow-minded coin. Let me demonstrate it by presenting a simple mathematical equation.

1+9=10

2+8=10

3+7=10

What we understand is that it is true that God is the definite end result. But we all do it in our own ways and methods. We can be from different religions and still acknowledge God’s existence. We can be of different colours of backgrounds and still define God as the ultimate higher entity. I can be of no religion and yet at some point arrive at a conclusion that there is indeed a god. The saying that goes “Seeing is believing” cannot be applied to God. You cannot just rely upon logic or materialisation in order for you to know that God is there. You have to use emotional belief and not attribute everything to its logical genesis. People sometimes lack that leap of faith, which they understandably do. Yet they do not try to enhance it and simply take it for granted as non-existent compared to their rather shallow and obtuse angle of looking at things.

In my solitude when I am all alone, I sometimes write thoughts and doodles in my personal notebook. Things that will never see the light except that of the lamp that I turn on whenever I feel down or gloomy. I write and write till my palms grow sore and my heart pleas. I write sometimes till the morning beaming sunlight when I finally go to sleep, feeling care-free, rested, and spiritually released.

If you, the reader, understand and fully grasp the concept behind the previous paragraph, then you can begin to understand the God connection. What it truly feels to touch the hand of God.