There is however, a worship of sorts ongoing, involving an entirely different cast of three. I soon become aware of a vague uneasiness about the presence of the ultimate authority figure. Why is He here? It’s MY dream where any numbers of consenting adults have a democratic right to receive adulation from whomever, in whatever way their subliminal self desires. The other two seem to be on my side – at least in my mind. As any self-respecting woman who values her carnal privacy knows, the uninvited presence of strangers means it is time to pull the plug on this public witnessing of one’s private sin. Be as it may, the product of a subconscious orgasmic stupor-induced brain ……….It must stop!

Oh did I forget to mention? ………..this was a dream…………..

Afterwards as I lay awake, staring at the wall across from me – watching the patterns of alternating light and shadow made by pale moonlight filtering through the narrow slats of wooden shutters at my window, it lead me to thinking. Well, maybe not right then. Right then I drifted back to my REM sleep cycle listening to a strange little night bird call out in small staccato beats from the tree right outside my bedroom window, mixed in with the faint yet unmistakable sound of a police siren wailing somewhere further in the distance. Well, enough about me and my sleep patterns. Here’s what I’ve been thinking.

Albert Einstein described belief in God as "childish superstition" and said Jews were not the chosen people, in a letter sold in London a couple of weeks ago. The father of the Relativity Theory has been more than candid in expressing his own views on religion which have fuelled much discussion. That was as far back as 1954.

This reduces the popular theory kicked around by present-day gate-keepers of religion as non-believers being spawned directly or indirectly by a morally corrupt modern society. Agnostics, we are told, are a by-product of New-Age thinking and disillusionment with the current wave of materialism that surrounds us today.

As a Jew himself, Einstein said he had a great affinity with Jewish people but said they "have no different quality for me than all other people". Here’s my thought - If your “own people” do NOT qualify as eligible to be held in the highest regard beyond any kind of reproach just by dint of belonging in that group, then where does that leave the Christian Church? That leads one to think whether or not churches may have been conceived more as social groups maintained for the purpose of networking and support systems rather than centers of theological instruction. Have we made the mistake of taking these institutions far more seriously thus over-extending their reach into our individual lives and into the social fabric of our times? Enough to build our way of thinking, feeling, living, rearing children, making love, even voting decisions, around it. Using the group as an umbrella of impenetrable, tight-lidded protection from the “storm outside” – in a way that was never meant to be! Is the same then true of the Jewish Synagogue, the Hindu Temple, and The Muslim Mosque?

Back once again, to Einstein - “The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish”.

If our resident heretic (allegedly) of the 21st Century, Mr. Dan Brown were listening to this, would he quietly applaud?

Just the other day, someone – I can’t remember who it was – said something along the lines that he felt jealous of those that had the ability to indulge in their belief in God, especially when things go wrong. These people can fall back on the support of that belief and pray in times of need. They draw their strength from prayer – something a non-believer such as himself did not posses. That left him feeling almost bankrupt. I remember thinking to myself - But is that really a possession of value, a safety net, as it were? Were they really lucky to be able to consign the unattainability of their goals in times of desperate need, to the unseen and actually feel comforted? Why then would a person of God like Mother Teresa pour out her silent anguish on page after page of her private diary expressing self-doubt in trying to reach out desperately for a faith that seemed shaken and tenuous particularly at times when she called upon it with the greatest urgency? Was she looking for something that wasn’t there at all, was the context of her self-doubts. “Is there really a God?” seemed to be her desperate query to her inner self over and over. While it was more than a bit disquieting to have someone standing on the other side as it were, ask that of herself, it was eye-opening in a way, for someone like me. If you start peeling away the layers that make up your “social” face to the world, what are you in your essence? If your inner soul should at times make others feel offended or threatened or nervous or even make them mildly uncomfortable should one accept responsibility for that? And then where do you go from there? How do you balance personal integrity within, alongside outward social approval? Do you then abandon the inner turmoil to run with the other more acceptable option of social glorification?

Is the unwillingness to shoulder full and ultimate responsibility for missing one’s goal, necessarily a good thing? Is being able to relegate it to mystical unexplainable abstract forces really a comfort? And then of course there is the age-old question - who does one turn to? Who is my God? All new religions were conceived by people who felt dissatisfied with the existing order – yet most of us are encouraged to follow the traditions established by geography and family loyalty when it comes to obeisance. We are given to clinging to one’s “own people” to express social, cultural, political and religious solidarity. The objective behind it being – do not offend one’s own kind. As though some kind of ever narrowing bundling of micro-groups divided on the basis of water-tight social, cultural and most importantly religious clusters will lead to tighter bonds and abiding happiness among mankind. The common thread of being on this planet at the same time with a common purpose of life, liberty and happiness alone, may not be enough to draw us together into any kind of union – long lasting or otherwise. Remember after 9/11 when John Lennon’s “Imagine” ……….

“Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...”

…….was heard over the radio, as an entire nation stood and grieved on street corners and felt and shared together, emotions long buried. It was something……….while it lasted.

A long time ago I saw a PSA on a Billboard. I don’t even remember in which country it was – drawback of having lived in more than one continent – but this one has stuck with me. It had the picture of a line-up of the CUTEST, most adorable little newborn babies with eyes tightly closed, lying wrapped up in hospital birthing blankets, above a tagline that read “Don’t open their eyes to differences they cannot see”! Brilliant - I thought to myself.
Copywriters!! Don’t you just LOVE them?

Tori

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