Today at church, these thoughts came and I wrote them down:
Who is God? Opinions vary, some say He is dead or never existed. We were just created by chance, crawled out of the oceans. My Mormon religion is clear on this subject: All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. (This comes from our Proclamation on the Family issued in 1995.)
What a lot of information is packed there. I can understand it easily, and it makes sense. I am a spirit child of heavenly parents and also have earthly parents who created my physical body. I was sent here to earth to learn and progress but was not left alone without guidance. That's where my earthly parents come in as teachers. Our Heavenly Father has not left us alone but pleads with us, in the scriptures, to call home through the instrument of earnest faithful prayer. Yet there are many of us who don't take that opportunity or even believe in Him. I met an athetist once that told me very adamantly that he didn't believe in God. I responded that I'm sure God believes in you.
Which brings me to the subject of how we visualize God. Some see Him as an unknown power that fills the Universe and yet is so small, He can dwell in our hearts. I have a hard time with that definition and instead see God as a loving father with an immortal body who is there to support, guide and bless each of us in our lives just as a real father or grandfather would do.
I was looking into the eyes of my grandfather Vernon's photo two posts back, as a little child of two or three I am pulling on his hand to take him to see something. As I look into my grandfather's face, I see fatherly love. I see the face of God as I picture Him. My Grandpa became a substitute father to me when my earthly father died when I was five. (The above photo is l-r my great uncle Malin, my grandpa Harold and his father Joseph with my dad Stanley in the back. Notice the similarities between fathers and sons.)
I was looking into the eyes of my grandfather Vernon's photo two posts back, as a little child of two or three I am pulling on his hand to take him to see something. As I look into my grandfather's face, I see fatherly love. I see the face of God as I picture Him. My Grandpa became a substitute father to me when my earthly father died when I was five. (The above photo is l-r my great uncle Malin, my grandpa Harold and his father Joseph with my dad Stanley in the back. Notice the similarities between fathers and sons.)