Whatever your heart clings to
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Millions of people over thousands of years have debated the nature and purpose of what they term as god. Wars fought, families split, hate aggravated ... over something we are - on the other hand - supposed to see as an entity of peace and love (at least in some quarters). So much distress over whose idea is correct.
They all are, and none of them are. It's a fruitless debate, and a cyclical argument that cannot be won.
I don't believe in any god. I don't think I ever really did. Not even when I was young and going through the pretenses of trying to be a good Catholic. Then again, it seems to me that religion has nothing to do with god, and more to do with the faith of humanity, or the need of humanity to find a sense of belonging in something and a higher power to explain the things for which we can, as yet, divine no answer.
To some, god is nothing more than power; that which they may use to bend, bind, and control, others. The deities of fame and fortune to serve the master.
That seems so empty, so devoid of substance. Basing a faith or a way of life upon so fleeting a thing. Inner strength seems so much more worthwhile, though it be as fleeting a thing as the others. Still, ephemeral or no, it seems a better practice to build upon that which we can carry within us, rather than to build on that which has no real connection to us at all - that which exists completely outside of our own bodies.
So, what's best and better? What is god? What is love? How can you explain any of it?
You can't, but at the same time you can.
As simplistic as this might be to some, and as open to use for negative purpose as it might be, the only explanation that can satisfy everyone is the following quote:
So, what is god? God is that which is central to your being; that which is core to you; that which is most important to your life; that which you love.
Love is no more easy to define than god, even though we bandy that word around so lightly, and often so limply. We put so little weight behind a word that we can - at times - cling to so strenuously; more dependant on it, it seems, than life or breath itself.
There are as many different kinds and interpretations of this chameleon creature we call love, as there are interpretations of that entity some call god.
We can't, much to the chagrin of many, and much to the consternation of others, all live life with the same definition of love. We all have the same ideal of what it is; the same larger concept. But each and every single one of us has a different spin on it; and each and every one of us has a million little different ways in which we express it, and to what we express it.
What is love, then? Love, also, is whatever your heart clings to.
2025 06 14: It wasn't until many years after writing this that I discovered the source of the quotation: "Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your God." - Martin Luther