hello path, thanks for replying... we are really off the topic, but i don't care, we are talking about God. that's what counts.
But if the Source is in the creation...
ok. this is where we differ greatly. i take it you don't stare at the starry heavens and wonder where God is at. i mean, really at. His throne and His heavenly host. the earth is His footstool if you haven't read that already. He isn't dwelling with us yet. basically, He isn't here because if He was here, then it would be something like the way He descended on Mt. Sinai. but instead He gives us something we can handle, like His Spirit. His breath of life. what i am trying to say is that, to me, it is only His Spirit that is in His creation and not Him, if that makes sense. i don't believe in worshipping His Spirit, because even that is something that comes from Him. too many times have i read in the book that He is like a Husband asking for His unfaithful wife to come back to Him. if He sees us as like a wife, that means He sees us as being very very close and dear to Him. like a son or daughter. just close, really. either way, its the way i see it. but i can see your point of view.
Pagan peoples don't worship the creation, per se. They worship Spirit in the creation. Some see that as one Spirit, some as duo (God/Goddess), some as three, some as more... but nobody thinks they are worshipping a lake or a tree. They are worshipping the God/dess in the lake or tree. So it is a means back to God.
i see God as a jealous Husband. i can't risk worshipping something He didn't mean for it to be worshipped. that is why we have Him. once again, i can see your point, but i can't risk angering Him again.
I don't think my way is better than or worse than another's-- that's a judgement I leave up to God, if God cares to make it.
i am glad you are humble in this manner.
When I ask for things, I ask the most appropriate being out there. If I need something from my husband, I ask my husband, not God. If I need wood from a tree, I ask the tree's permission- the wood belongs first the tree. Just as I would hope, if someone needed something from my house, they would ask my permission, not simply ask God and then take it. When I eat my food, I thank the beings that gave their lives to make it. When I am out in nature and feel its beauty, I thank the Earth for her radiance. When a friend helps me with a task, I thank my friend.
When I contemplate my own existence, all existences... when I think of Love itself, and Light... when I need spiritual guidance and the deep wells of peace that come from the Source... then I ask God.
this is another area where we differ greatly. my wife, my kids, the trees, food, my job, everything has been given to me. not to abuse it, but has been given into my hands to nurture and tend to. it is there, not to ask permission, but to enjoy, because it is ours. i guess you can say that God has really really spoiled man. He really has given all of us, even the wicked, everything that is in our hearts. as i mentioned earlier, He is like a Husband to us and we are the nagging wife, and what does the Husband do eventually when the wife nags Him, He gives and gives freely, but some of us have abused that, and that is when God will take back at times, until we learn to glorify and give praise to Him. what i am trying to say is that, everything on this earth, has its purpose. man, to be fruitful, and multiply. cows for food. trees for fruit. the sun for warming. the moon, well i still can't think about what the moon is for other than for the tides on the beaches, but the moon is beautiful and silent and graceful. sometimes i think God just put it there for us to admire and look at. everything has its purpose. my wife, needs not ask me for something she needs for herself or something that needs to be done around the house. my purpose is to be the man because that is what men are for, to be there for the woman. at least in my viewpoint.
I do more worshipping of and meditating on the Source, the one I call the Divine One, than asking for things. I thank the Source in its conceptual essence, but I also thank the Source in its physical manifestation (as all creation). I am grateful that the Divine created everything around me, all these amazing beings that can show love, can help me, that I can help, that we can be in relationship with. But I am grateful to each of those beings as well for sharing what they do with me.
God's creation is amazing isn't it? i look at myself and i just shouldn't exist. but i do for some reason. i can move, talk, love, laugh, curse, be sad, hate. i can do all these things and its amazing. i look at the earth and see very much how it represents a woman with a baby. the earth is like a mother nurturing a bunch of crybabies asking for food. the sun is like the glory of God. we just can't face Him. He humbles us at even the sight of Him. the moon though reminds me so much about a woman. pale, silent, graceful, round. weird. but beautiful. trees as i mentioned on another thread, are even stranger still. on windy days they seem like they are praising God constantly. and when no wind is around, they are eerily silent. Jesus once mentioned that the Spirit is like the wind. the breath of life. it is the same with us. since we have the breath of life now, we can move, feel, etc .but no breath, no Spirit, we are silent, no movement. dead in the heart of the earth. the trees still give fruit. they all have different scents and colors. flower, animals. all give a "shade" of what He is. a small fraction of His Characteristics. point being, it is all there for us to enjoy. at least that is the way i see it. sorry for rambling, but i can go on and on about God Himself, i just don't have anyone to go on and on about with Him. we truly are scattered to the four corners of the earth. thanks for reading a post from a deranged individual and God be with you.