That Which is Invoked

Is God a human creation? Aren’t we told it’s the other way around?

Last week, my wife and I went hiking north of Houston in an extra hot, spider web filled patch of woods for the sake of being out in nature. While uncomfortable, we were totally alone and it was thrilling. We sat on a bench after exiting the official forest path, facing the direction we had just came. Within two minutes of our silent sitting, connecting with the Divine in this simple way, a loud crack like a gunshot shocked our systems, and like scared animals, we flung our eyes open and tensed our bodies. We saw a tree, bone dry from the excessive heat and at least three stories high, fall directly onto the path we had just walked, right in front of us.

A tree that falls in the forest has no sound because there is no human eardrum to receive the movements of particles through the air and no human brain + nervous system to interpret that as sound. We were present, so to us, it was perceived and it was significant. We got goosebumps and looked at each other with jaws dropped. We felt lucky that of all the trees in the whole forest, and at that moment when we walked passed then turned to meditate, that tree fell and we remained unharmed–though very phased, very changed.

What if God is both a human creation and we are God’s creation at the same time?

Without us, there would be no human intellect to invoke the spirit of the Divine. And so, it wouldn’t be called “God” or “Source” or “Allah”. It would just… exist, independent of Names or understanding. As unnamed and unnoticed as if that tree fell some other time when no one was around. Made significant by a creature that flourishes only in significance. Not to say the Bodiless Entity That Is The Source of All Existence is not powerful, given that it’s the first and last “Thing”. I’m diving into the deep mystery of “how” and “why” of existence, which human reasoning and words cannot grasp–so I’ll stop here.

And be in awe and wonder at trees falling and Gods creating.