This is such a clear and compassionate explanation. In a strictly reductive sense, we could say that all those centuries of discussions of the nature of G*D have been simply descriptions of the interior mental landscapes of people with too much time on their hands.

And it may not be given to us ever to prove the existence of an actual infinite G*D. I’m not sure what we’d do with that information, anyhow. Plotz, probably.

BUT: billions of people observe the created universe and feel a connection with it that they infer, or intuit, is divine. For no good reason, apparently, and the phenomenon plays no favorites. It has simply evolved over history, alongside language, perhaps, but it’s indisputably there.

Even atheists cannot deny that overwhelmingly, most people see the creation and infer a creator. The fact that over the centuries, we’ve created all kinds of stories to account for those sensibilities is beside the point. Our minds demand the divine. Most people seek the transcendent, some kind of way.

But — some people don’t. For whatever reason, their minds don’t work that way; they simply don’t make that leap; that program wasn’t installed. I think of it as a sort of psychic color-blindness, hastening to say I want to avoid a negative connotation with “blindness” because even color-blind people distinguish colors — just differently.

Believers keep saying, “Don’t you see G*D in that? It’s that red bit, over there!” and atheists keep saying, “No, I really don’t…” There’s really not much point in getting angry over that difference — except that the people who see the red have admittedly sometimes been pretty overbearing about it. Who knows how many people through the ages have nodded and smiled and said, “Oh, yes — lovely shade of red!” while seeing only gray? Plenty, I’m sure.

My hope is that as humanity matures, we will come to see that the feature of our minds that wants transcendence and connection with the infinite — that part that sees G*D in sacred stories of love and sacrifice — will continue to evolve. The sacred stories will mature, and the people will realize that their desire for transcendence must first include reconciliation and justice for all people and all creation.

Atheists could get behind that, too, I think.

Hey — it could happen.

Thanks, Jack.