© 2003 Ken Glasziou
© 2003 The Brotherhood of Man Library
The following suggestion comes from Islamic Sufi literature in which it is known by the term, “our God-ideal.” It states: "The reality of God is beyond human comprehension. It is also a mystery to our thinking. However, it remains factual that to develop our relationship with God, we must have some kind imagery, some kind of mind-picture of God, who he is and what he is.
"One such image is the ‘God-ideal’–which is the most uplifting, most inspiring picture of God that we can conjure up in our minds that accords with our current understanding of God and his creation.
“Of course this ‘God-ideal’ is not the reality of God, but merely the product of human imagining. It is different for each individual–an image that will evolve and grow, bringing us nearer to God as our understanding evolves and grows.”
While it is a valuable concept to help each individual evolve and grow spiritually, for those who indulge in some appropriate group activity, this Sufi ideal may have additional potential. For example, if group members wrote down and read out their own concept of an “ideal God,” and this same group activity was repeated at appropriate intervals, each member would gain some measure of their own growth in understanding of God, and at the same time receive the stimulus of interaction with other like-minded individuals.
It may be worth a try?