Consciously conscious

You know, I had a thought today. What if God is a collective consciousness?

That when people say, "See the God in other people." they mean it literally. That God isn't this big dude up in the sky with a long white beard, zapping people with his fingers. But that the only god that we have, is in ourselves and what we recognize in other people. That we have the ability to influence everything that happens on this earth, but it's only in our consciousness. That's what god is.

God is recycling, eating and growing organic foods and being kind to others. God is signalling while driving or not driving at all, picking up after ourselves, not judging, walking on the beach, laughing, dancing and feeling. God is moderation-saving some for the others who will come. It is sharing the last bite, holding hands and singing. Helping others find their way or their perfect shoe. Recognizing the brillance of children or saving a life. Doing things together; like hiking, building houses, or opening that gorgeous soprano. Playing music. Connecting with others-finding out that our differences aren't really differences at all, they're the same thing just another angle. Deciding to share your life with a loved one. That's why ceremonies like marriages, baptisms, rituals, new years are so important to the human experience. We are sharing god with one another.

And yet, these days our god is burning oil fields, human slavery and genocide, drug abuse. It is shopping at the mall for instant gratification, endless internet, doubt, hate, gossip. Our gods are judgement, jealousy, neglect. Hacking is more important than helping. Selfishness and self-gratification more important than family or our loved ones. Hummers, purses, moving on up and stepping on anyone who gets in your way. Taking advantage of kind people. Being ungrateful, suspicious, stuck up and arrogant. Science versus religion, where people need to realize we live in a symbiotic world. Karma IS a bitch. Cut yourself off from others and risk the destruction of the world. Our gods are screaming and throwing the finger, irritation with the elderly, cutting in line, selling and making food with hate, or worse, apathy. And yet, this is god too.

Yeah, it's pretty fricking scary. To think that we, as a single being (no, that's not a typo), can be responsible for the future of the rest of the 8.3 billion people on this earth. And we can say, no no, other people are autonomous of me; they're not going to determine my god. But unless you own an island - and even then, think about pollution, ships, books, the rate of world globalization...you are going to come into contact with people at some point, and affect them. Wouldn't it be better to be present and conscious to that fact?

My friend Alex used to do something sort of wacky at toll booths. After paying, the toll taker would often say 'thank you' or 'here you go' and Alex would respond with, 'go with god'. See, 'go with god' is the literal translation of, 'adios' or 'adieu'. It made me giggle, to think about our friend just dropping it casually into conversation with a complete stranger. But these days, it seems like a helpful and cognizant reminder, to see the possibilities out there that exist. Good and evil. A blessing and a warning. That we have the ability to change lives in whatever way we want to. That we have to act in the way that we would want our god to act.

Adieu, go with god my friends.