Work leading to other things
Nov. 13th, 2012 12:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tamara_russoSo I'm at work, not-working as hard as I can. No work for me in Haifa this week, so I've been coming to the Herzlia office every day doing almost nothing for 8 hours at a time.
Just so I'd be here.
I'll leave my opinion on that situation for your imagination, and since you all know me quite well, I'm sure you can articulate a phrase or two.
Anyway.
Spending a whole lot of time in front of the computer with no actual way to entertain myself (no music, no TV, no reading) I went over to my usual places, and to Wiki, and to Amazon, and from there to favorite authors and that's how I got to Meg Rosoff's blog.
If you don't know her and you're fond of (as she says it) "Unusual love stories" I would strongly recommend her books (the best are "How I Live Now" and "The Bride's Farewell"), but reading through her blog I came to realize her wonderful writing doesn't end in fiction. She's an excellent blogger, interesting, riveting, humorous and grave (well, that describes her books as well, so I guess it's not such a shock after all). She wrote about a book she contributed to - "Big Questions From Little People . . . Answered By Some Very Big People", where children sent questions and all kinds of people (professionals) answer them.
And the question she got was "Who is God?", and again, I'll leave it to you to articulate my opinion on that question (since I could write pages and pages about it, about how smart and un-smart it is, and how it generates more contradictions than anything else on earth, except perhaps referee decisions in soccer). The thing is, she wrote an amazing answer. And I wanted to share it. So here it is.
WHO IS GOD?
Now there’s a question.
Is God a man? Or a woman? Or a fish? Or a goat? Is God old or young? Fat or thin? The size of an onion or a dinosaur or Mount Everest? Is God as slow as a snail or as fast as a shooting star? Is God invisible? Out to lunch? Listening carefully? Or just a very silly idea?
Does God live in heaven? On a cloud? Somewhere in outer space? In our heads? In the Bible? Or no place at all?
Maybe God is a toad. Or a crow. Or a dream. Or a tree. Or an idea someone thought up ten thousand years ago. Or all those things. Or none of them. Why not? No one can really tell us who or what God is, or even if God exists at all.
Some people think that God created man.
Some people think that man created God.
Some people think that their God is the only God.
Some people think there are lots of Gods — hundreds of them!
Some people would kill anyone who disagreed with them about exactly who or what God is.
Some people are absolutely positively 100% certain that there is no God.
Some people just….aren't….too….sure.
Maybe God is a feeling. A good feeling that makes you feel safe. Or a horrible shouting feeling that says Thou Shalt Not do this, Thous Shalt Not do that, Thou Shalt Not have any fun at all!
Maybe God is the voice in your head that tells you not to hurt other people. Not to steal or kill or lie to yourself. Or — remember to put the top back on the mustard.
Maybe God is like nature. Like a sunny day or a wave in the ocean or an owl flying over a field….or maybe God is a spider. Or a squid. Or a bee. Or a loud noise. Or a song. Or the big bang. Or the sound a dog makes when you step on it by mistake.
Maybe you only see God when you need to see God. Or maybe God isn't there after all. Maybe the absence of God is God.
Maybe we are all God. Maybe there is no God.
No one can tell you that your God isn't the right God, or that your idea of God is the wrong idea.
You don’t have to believe in God. God doesn't have to believe in you.
It’s your decision. And you can always change your mind.
Just so I'd be here.
I'll leave my opinion on that situation for your imagination, and since you all know me quite well, I'm sure you can articulate a phrase or two.
Anyway.
Spending a whole lot of time in front of the computer with no actual way to entertain myself (no music, no TV, no reading) I went over to my usual places, and to Wiki, and to Amazon, and from there to favorite authors and that's how I got to Meg Rosoff's blog.
If you don't know her and you're fond of (as she says it) "Unusual love stories" I would strongly recommend her books (the best are "How I Live Now" and "The Bride's Farewell"), but reading through her blog I came to realize her wonderful writing doesn't end in fiction. She's an excellent blogger, interesting, riveting, humorous and grave (well, that describes her books as well, so I guess it's not such a shock after all). She wrote about a book she contributed to - "Big Questions From Little People . . . Answered By Some Very Big People", where children sent questions and all kinds of people (professionals) answer them.
And the question she got was "Who is God?", and again, I'll leave it to you to articulate my opinion on that question (since I could write pages and pages about it, about how smart and un-smart it is, and how it generates more contradictions than anything else on earth, except perhaps referee decisions in soccer). The thing is, she wrote an amazing answer. And I wanted to share it. So here it is.
WHO IS GOD?
Now there’s a question.
Is God a man? Or a woman? Or a fish? Or a goat? Is God old or young? Fat or thin? The size of an onion or a dinosaur or Mount Everest? Is God as slow as a snail or as fast as a shooting star? Is God invisible? Out to lunch? Listening carefully? Or just a very silly idea?
Does God live in heaven? On a cloud? Somewhere in outer space? In our heads? In the Bible? Or no place at all?
Maybe God is a toad. Or a crow. Or a dream. Or a tree. Or an idea someone thought up ten thousand years ago. Or all those things. Or none of them. Why not? No one can really tell us who or what God is, or even if God exists at all.
Some people think that God created man.
Some people think that man created God.
Some people think that their God is the only God.
Some people think there are lots of Gods — hundreds of them!
Some people would kill anyone who disagreed with them about exactly who or what God is.
Some people are absolutely positively 100% certain that there is no God.
Some people just….aren't….too….sure.
Maybe God is a feeling. A good feeling that makes you feel safe. Or a horrible shouting feeling that says Thou Shalt Not do this, Thous Shalt Not do that, Thou Shalt Not have any fun at all!
Maybe God is the voice in your head that tells you not to hurt other people. Not to steal or kill or lie to yourself. Or — remember to put the top back on the mustard.
Maybe God is like nature. Like a sunny day or a wave in the ocean or an owl flying over a field….or maybe God is a spider. Or a squid. Or a bee. Or a loud noise. Or a song. Or the big bang. Or the sound a dog makes when you step on it by mistake.
Maybe you only see God when you need to see God. Or maybe God isn't there after all. Maybe the absence of God is God.
Maybe we are all God. Maybe there is no God.
No one can tell you that your God isn't the right God, or that your idea of God is the wrong idea.
You don’t have to believe in God. God doesn't have to believe in you.
It’s your decision. And you can always change your mind.
