Where are you supposed to look for God? How are you to look for God, and does it help to decide what sort of thing you are looking for first? What kind of thing is God?

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

Matthew Friend 10PY

Hwrk 08/05/07

Looking for God

Where are you supposed to look for God? How are you to look for God, and does it help to decide what sort of thing you are looking for first? What kind of thing is God?

Looking from the perspective of someone with no previous faith, looking for general revelation, I would have to say you have to perceive what you think is God-like first. If you ask the majority of people with a faith what God is like, they would probably say ‘all good and all-powerful’. So are you looking for general signs of goodness, beauty, power and awe? If you are then you can rule out finding God in evil, ugliness, weakness and un-impressiveness. Or can you? I know that black isn’t white, but people thought Hitler was ‘good’; beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so an ‘ugly’ person to me might be stunningly ‘beautiful’ to someone else; the queen bee is supreme over mere drones, however it looks a bit pathetic in comparison to even simple humans; and David Beckham’s match and free kick against Greece last year left thousands of footy fans awe-struck, yet my brother just couldn’t see what the fuss was about.

God is deeply personal, so will be found in different places for everyone.

If you thought that ‘The Miracle Of life’ was completely un-earthly, and could only be explained with a super-human being, then I bet I could find half a dozen more that just think we are here accidentally.

If you are solely looking for good, you can still find it in atrocities. In Sept. 11 you could find God in the ‘power’ and ‘awe’ of it all, but also in those brave people whose spirit never wavered, in those volunteers determined to help, in those fore-fighters who ...

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God is deeply personal, so will be found in different places for everyone.

If you thought that ‘The Miracle Of life’ was completely un-earthly, and could only be explained with a super-human being, then I bet I could find half a dozen more that just think we are here accidentally.

If you are solely looking for good, you can still find it in atrocities. In Sept. 11 you could find God in the ‘power’ and ‘awe’ of it all, but also in those brave people whose spirit never wavered, in those volunteers determined to help, in those fore-fighters who gave their life to save others, those selfless rescuers, counsellors, vicars, children. Osama tried to devastate American spirit and attitude as well as massacre, but he failed in crushing the love and goodness in people’s heats and minds. You could argue that God was acting in every fire-fighter that tragic day, helping to put lives back together, but Muslims would say God (or Allah – also all-good and all-powerful) was acting in those ‘heroic’ terrorists.

Here is the miracle of life presented to us, and what we to it.

Here is the beautiful world: but which picture is which? Which is beautiful? Which is miraculous? Which is hideous? Which one has God in it, or which one has God acting in it?

Here is another view. If God is linked with personal feelings and opinions, then what is a feeling, and what makes it right or wrong (because if we knew who was right, we would know whom has God sussed). Feelings are only ‘felt’ or experienced by a living creature. So what is a life? Is a tree any more than just a bunch of leaves and wood? Yes and no. Yes – it has a life, it can feel stuff. No – leaves and wood is all it is made of physically. So if personal feelings govern what is good, beautiful, miraculous, etc…, then does God love in feelings, actually IN us? Is God everything, good and bad? Pantheism?

Finally, Here is the opinion or ‘feeling’ of Ace of Base (which I was listening to whilst writing this essay).

‘Life Is A Flower’

#We live in a free world, I whistle down the wind,

#Carry on smiling and the world will smile with you.

#Life is a flower, so precious in your hand,

#Carry on smiling and the world will smile with you.