July 22: Day 22

STEP FOUR: Accept that this Higher Power is understood in different ways and by different names in various religions and cultures, and open our lives to hearing the Divine Voice in any way it chooses to communicate to us.
 
Instruction: Embrace other views.

Here we assume that the reader believes in a universal force or power that drives the universe[1]. The Christian religion calls that higher power “God,” but other religions use other names. One major problem with differing religions is that they often don’t recognize that no matter what that Higher Power is called, it is the same Divinity. I have learned much about the nature of The Divine by reading from other religious traditions. I enjoy many insights from the Buddhist and Native-American traditions. In fact, Native Americans have many names for the Creator, because they believe that no singular name encompasses all of the qualities and characteristics of The Divine. I have seen the name “Wakan Tanka” used in their writing, and that expression means Sacred Spirit. Other expressions for The Divine include Great Spirit, or simply Spirit, Grandfather, and the Great Mystery. The names vary and are used interchangeably from age to age and from tribe to tribe.

It is important to understand that the names all work together to give us a fuller understanding of this Great Mystery. Some religious traditions have a more philosophical understanding of God. This adds a further dimension and opens us intellectually as well as emotionally. Often, when we seek answers to the questions of pain, suffering, and death, it is not necessarily a Christian understanding, a Buddhist understanding, or a Muslim understanding that brings peace or hope. Sometimes those answers come as a combination of all or from another source entirely. When we open our lives to see The Divine in a variety of religions and nations, we find answers can come from anywhere and from anyone. We are no longer limited to one religious point of view, but we can learn from all of them.

Today, consider the differing the names we find for The Divine. Notice how each one adds another layer of understanding to our perception of our Higher Power.


[1] Some spiritual people, such as Hindus and pagans, believe in more than one god, but for the sake of simplicity, we use the singular while still recognizing differing names and descriptions of “Higher Power.”