God is that moving, dynamic force of creation that informs and inspires us at every level.

Without dogma and concepts to break our fall and provide a false sense of safety, there arise many dark nights of the soul. I have taken many walks in that dark, but, as time passed, I lost much of my fear of the dark.

Where did this leave me—all this journeying, questioning, falling, and getting back up again? You might say I landed in the land of Anne. Remember this? “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all else will be added to you.” It’s true, but the God I sought was not a man, not even a person; it was a force that runs the Universe. It is a place, a space, and a force filled with unconditional love and goodness. And then there was another hint: “the kingdom of heaven is within.” And, lo and behold, that’s where I found it..MLK said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” There is a moral Universe and it lives in me; it advises me, it is me, and it points me toward the same innocence and wonder of that fve-year-old. I’ve come full circle. The things I learned as a child had great wisdom, but my literal mind could not distinguish the letter of the law, which is misunderstood by too many, from the spirit of the law.

Yes, the earth is the Lord’s, but the word lord was misinterpreted as well. The original word for God, Lord, is a verb, not a noun. God is that moving, dynamic force of creation that informs and inspires us at every level. It lives in us, as us, and, though I may never understand the mystery that is our true nature, I must say that since Santa Clause died, my life’s been much EZier.

                                                    Anne Sermons Gillis (anne@annegillis.com)

  Anne Sermons Gillis' 12/07/2021 newsletter, The EZ Secret: Tips on Living in EZ