
Being born in conservative Austria, I was raised in the Roman Catholic Church and taught from an early age that there is a place called heaven and hell, and a God that needed to be feared. I was told that ‘he’ knows everything and would punish me for all my wrong doings. I had to go and confess my sins (wow! how many sins can a little girl have?) and the subject of religion was taught by a priest in our village’s grade-school. We studied the bible and talked about Jesus and all his suffering, supposedly because we are sinners. We are at fault for his demise. What a heavy load to carry in a child’s mind.
What I, of course, didn’t know at the time was that this early age bible studying would set the cornerstone for my future knowledge about the scriptures. It also would educate me about one of the most closed-minded, mystical, and unreasonable religions in this world – Catholicism.
I was about eleven years of age when I started to wonder: “If God hears and sees all I do and think, it seems that he would know me well. On the other hand, I reasoned, I am the only one who knows exactly what I think, feel, and want - did this God and I know the same things about me?
My idea of God felt close at the time and I realized that there was a special connection between me and this God, which I was told was supposed to be mysterious and intangible, and reachable only by church-going and prayer. That part didn’t make sense.
What I also couldn’t understand at the time was that he at times acted like a monster. He killed people, even little children and my pet rabbit. He didn’t listen very well to what I or anyone else had to say. Just look at all the people praying for different things and never receiving anything in return, I thought.
As years went by, I distanced myself more and more from the physical aspects of going to church. Instead, I started a journey of self-discovery that landed me where I am today, seeing a new perspective of the Almighty power.
After 38 years of intensive studies of Eastern and Western philosophies alike, and teaching years of metaphysics, the science beyond physics, I have concluded, that my God is everyone’s God. There is no difference. No matter what your background, faith, race, or religion, it is one God (a Power not a person), one Cause, one Law, for all people. We are all One, stemming from this All-Power, being born from the Universal Source, the mother LOVE.
This impersonal God does not look one way or another, he does not choose between you or me, he has no preference. God is everything and everywhere. He acts according to Universal Law. God is Love, Light, Power, Goodness itself.
I no longer believe blindly or accept someone else’s opinion. I search, study and test everything that comes my way. I proof theories to myself so I can be sure that it is based on Truth, Universal Truth.
I will leave you with my sincere thoughts and wish you a wonderful Holiday and a much better 2021.
My conclusion:
God is Universal power, the Almighty substance that sustains all life. I am part of this substance called Consciousness. I can think, and thinking is the conscious activity of this substance led by God’s urge of self-expression.
God is Wisdom. So, I, being part of this Wisdom, must choose wisely as to what I think. It is my duty!
God is good. So, I must be good, and act good, to live up to God’s standards. It is my duty!
God is Intelligence. So, I, being part of this Intelligence, must act intelligently and in accordance with the truth. It is my duty!
God is Love. So, I, being part of the permeating mother Love must love all beings and God’s creations, it is my duty!
For now, and forever more.
With Love, ULRIKE