Some forming thoughts.

Over some years of volunteer work in the therapeutic field there's a lot of spiritual underpinnings in the work done by a good bit of those well into recovery. Facilitators have a tendency to allude to peoples' 'higher power' "What ever that may be: God, yourself, the universe." when speaking to volunteers in order to ensure they're channeling some form of compassion for the sake students in the workshop.

This idea of your Self as a higher power's grabbed at me. Perhaps, this 'Self' is what religious folk turn to when they seek out God?

Humans are experiential creatures. In our current state, we've no point of reference for any archetypal Godly figure other than text (today with bibles) or animism (older religions). To fill in the gaps, reliance on memories or imagination based on our own life experience and project it unto this idea of "God". In other words, this God figure, being a manifestation borne of our own experiences is, boiled down to it, ourselves.

Just throwing mud at the wall. I welcome thoughts, experiences, critiques or other.

As a side, I like to think of this from AtLA when I think about the theory...



goobster:

    To fill in the gaps...

I guess this here is why religion is so baffling to me, and atheism fits me so perfectly.

I don't see these "gaps" into which I need to fit some sort of mystical functionary. The world, universe, whatever, seems like it forms from a couple of relatively simple principles, and I don't see leaps or gaps in the narrative that require me to make up something that isn't there.

Hm.

It is thought-provoking. I hadn't considered that other people see inexplicable gaps within the narrative, and are simply trying to connect the dots with whatever they can think up. It's not something I need to do, but it makes sense....


posted 2835 days ago