Chapter III

All through the EPIC campaign I had been asked questions regarding my ideas about God; so I decided that I would arm myself for the future, and I wrote and published a book, _What God Means to Me_. The largest of all subjects, of course; but I made the book small and tried to make it practical--that is, I told the ideas by which I had guided my life. I content myself here by quoting the concluding sentences, and you can have more for the asking.

Somehow love has come to be in the world; somehow the dream of
justice haunts mankind. These things claim my heart; they speak to
me with a voice of authority. I know full well how badly the
idealists fare in our society. I know that Jesus was crucified, and
Joan burned, and Socrates poisoned; I know that Don Quixote was
made ridiculous, and Hamlet driven mad. But still the dream
persists, and in every part of the world are men determined “to
make right reason and the will of God prevail.”

This God whom I preach is in the hearts of human beings, fighting
for justice; inside the churches and out--even in the rebel groups,
many of which reject His name. A world in which men exploit the
labor of their fellows, and pile up fortunes which serve no use but
the display of material power--such a world presents itself to
truly religious people as a world which must be changed. Those who
serve God truly in this age serve the ideal of brotherhood; of
helping our fellow-beings, instead of exploiting their labor, and
beating them down and degrading them in order to exploit them more
easily.

The religion I am talking about is not yet “established.” It rarely
dwells in temples built with hands, nor is it financed with bond
issues underwritten by holders of front pews. It does not have an
ordained priesthood, nor enjoy the benefit of apostolic succession.
It is not dressed in gold and purple robes, nor are its altar
cloths embroidered with jewels. It does not honor the rich and
powerful, nor sanctify interest and dividends, nor lend support to
political machines, nor sprinkle holy water upon flags and cannon,
nor send young men out to slaughter and be slaughtered in the name
of the Prince of Peace.

My God is a still, small voice in my heart. My God is something
that is with me when I sit alone, and wonder, and question the
mystery. My God says: “I am here, and I am now.”

My God says: “Speak to Me, and I will answer; not in sounds, but in
stirrings of your soul; in courage, hope, energy, the stuff of your
life.” My God says: “Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and you
shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”

My God is the process of my being; nothing strange, but that which
goes on all the time. I ask, “Can I pray?” and He answers: “You are
praying.” He says: “The prayer and the answer are one.”

To pray is to resolve. To pray is to take heart. The motto of the
Benedictine order tells us that “To work is to pray.” Mrs. Eddy
tells us that “Desire is prayer.”

The old-time prophets knew this God of mine. Jesus said: “Believe
me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me.” That was not
egotism, nor was it theology; it was elementary psychology.

The philosophers have known this God; Emerson wrote: “The simplest
person who in his integrity worships God, becomes God.”

The poets have known this God; Tennyson wrote:

Speak to Him thou, for he hears, and spirit with spirit can meet;
Closer is He than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet.

My God is a personal God; for how else can I be a person? If He
does not know me, how can I know myself?

My God is a God of freedom. He says: “Anyone may come to Me.”

My God is a God of mercy. He says: “Come unto Me all ye that
travail and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you.”

My God is a God of justice. Of Him it was said: “He hath put down
the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.”

My God is a God of love, in a world of raging madness. He has put
into the hearts of His people the idea of subduing the hate-makers.

My God is an experimental God. He says: “I have made a world, and
am still making it.” He says to men: “I am still making you, and
you are still making Me.”