Meditation 331
Possibilities of God
by Rev. Philip van Bergen
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A view of God which I sometimes ponder is that of an entity which is in the process of evolution, being comprised of all living matter. I use the analogy of my body, which is made of billions of individual cells, however, none of those cells are individually aware of me as a mind. Rather my consciousness is a product of all those cells working together. Similarly we humans group into collectives having different areas of specialisation (analogous to organs), but working in harmony in order to produce a polity, which could (unbeknownst to us) have a consciousness of which we as individuals are blissfully unaware -- nor could ever come to know.
This increasing systemisation of life could proceed indefinitely, reaching a pinnacle in what we would term God -- a super-organism having all the attributes of life (organisation, metabolism, homeostasis, response to stimuli, reproduction, growth and adaptation). In this manner, God could be said to be in the process of evolution and presents us with a purpose to life – the realisation of the Godhead. Such a super-consciousness would have an interest in its constituent parts, but not necessarily on the microscopic level (as I am interested in my organs, but not individual cells), and in the interests of survival would not hesitate to cut out cancerous growths -- and in the process, perhaps some healthy tissue as well. It would not, however, demand its constituents to worship it (as I do not demand worship from my cells-- merely good behaviour). Nor would it be omnipotent, but subject to the laws of nature.
Given that both the above theologies are possible, I could suppose there to be a Duality (as opposed to a Trinity), comprising God the Power and God the Consciousness.