Consequently, if we act according to the inclinations of our evil heart (Jeremiah 18:12), it's because we follow our thoughts. And where do they come from? Who put them in us? I'd make sure my God wouldn't be so ill-intentioned. I think I'd model him on a passage I found in Chronicles 28:9 that appealed to me: "And you, Solomon, my son, know the God of your father, and serve him with a devoted heart and a willing soul, for the Lord searches every heart and penetrates every design and every thought. If you seek him, he will let himself be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.
I really liked the conclusion of this passage. It's clear and direct.
I'm part of the game and everything depends on how I act.
And yet, there's this feeling of having to respect our Creator, by doing good deeds that sometimes give us pleasure. So much so that, out of selfish weakness, we expect a reward, and when it doesn't come, we get upset. Why do we do this?
Again, our weakness as simple people. Maybe this God I'm creating will change us to make us better people.
A curious element comes to mind. I've always respected the meaning of the word 'creator', giving it only to God and no one else. But here I am, wanting to create a God! Isn't that ironic? Who do I think I am? No, you have to realize that it's imagination that's at play here. And I seem to like that. In other words, it's not a person or a thing that will create this God.
In conclusion, I could bring some doubt to my remarks if I persist in finding the necessity of God's existence. Many before me have touched on this subject, asking why insist that something must exist? And finally, if no one created him, perhaps he created himself? Unless it's the sum total of questions and answers, comments and talks down the ages that have produced such a phenomenon.
And here's another potential conclusion. I have discovered what some consider to be the most beautiful quotation on "the existence of God". It comes from Mikhail Bakunin, whom I hardly know: ''The existence of God implies the abdication of human reason and justice, it is the negation of human freedom and necessarily leads to not only theoretical but practical slavery''.
I'm going to rush ahead and give my personal answer, which I'm sure some people share: "Man created God".
My understanding is that man is weak and always needs someone bigger, stronger, on whom he can rely when the need arises.
And in this creation, man decided to create God in his own image. Contrary to what we've learned, man is in God's image. In other words, we reciprocated. And why shouldn't this be more true? The fact remains that everyone has their own image of this God. And I much prefer Spinoza's image. He claims that God is not part of nature, but he is nature itself. And we know how changeable nature can be.
Imagination is a gift from heaven, and it's up to us to make it more and more fertile. And if we believe that imagination always goes further than reality, then let's go for it and even add some creativity... Napoleon Bonaparte wrote in his Maximes et pensées that imagination rules the world. So let's let it guide us. And we must give credit to the pencil and paper that have kept our imaginations alive.
Some days, we wish we lived on another planet, far away from the problems we have here. We believe, as hard as a rock, that everything is better elsewhere. Why is that? I have an atheist friend for whom the question of God doesn't arise. And I wonder if he isn't a little more satisfied than I am, having none of the worries I have.
I'm reminded of a passage in Genesis 11:6, which has always displeased me: ''The Lord saw that the wickedness of men was great on earth, and that all the thoughts of their hearts were turned to evil every day''.
This passage calls me not only wicked, but also having an evil heart. And I say to myself, if this is the same God who made me, why did he make me this way? So I'm not responsible for my actions. He is responsible.
