What if God got kidnapped?

Divine encounters

For thousands and thousands of years, men and women of all kinds, hierarchy, and culture had encounters with a force so pure, so loving, that they called it "The divine." For some, the experience just appeared out of nowhere. For others, it appeared after years of contemplation and devoted spiritual practice. 

These sacred encounters happened to indigenous people in the Americas. They happened in medieval monasteries in Europe. They occurred in the beautiful deserts of Arabia, in Asia, in Russia – and they keep on happening today. These mystical experiences occured to people from all walks of life, throughout all times and continents. 

Common traits

Yet there were common traits: The experience made people overflow with light, love, joy, and even bliss. It was an inner experience. It was Ultra-real and yet not perceivable by others. It left these men and women profoundly changed and often came with a massive increase in their intuition and healing abilities. Many of them ceased to do what they did before and started spreading the word of what they had experienced. And they began healing others. 

These individual experiences and notions of the Divine were passed on from generation to generation. Over time, they gradually changed. Parts got lost, new aspects and interpretations were added. Sometimes by accident, sometimes intentionally. Thus, many different images and names of "the Divine" emerged on our planet over time. 

The discovery of “new” Gods

When tribes, explorers, and armies started to leave their home ground to discover new territories, they found unknown land, inhabited by unknown people. Some were quite similar to themselves; others were very different. And as they were different, so were their religions, pictures, and notions of God.  

When looking for similarities, people on both sides found out quickly: 

"Your God has another name than mine and is displayed differently." 

"Your God appeared in another century than mine" and "Your God is worshipped differently." Hence, they concluded: "Our Gods are not the same. Your God is another God than mine." 

And a consciousness of separation, which dominated the last 2000 years of our collective evolution, took its toll. People focused on what made their gods different from the gods of others. They stopped looking for similarities and unifying traits.

The first kidnapping of God

That was the first time God was kidnapped. Fighting for the "only true God" became the perfect reason to proclaim the "only truth", to attack countries (of infidels), and to dictate what the majority of people had to think, feel and do. 

The Divine was no longer about finding the kingdom of heaven within, describing a higher state of consciousness and innate creative power. Instead, it became an instrument to fulfill the needs of men and women seeking to conquer kingdoms in the outer worlds.

The second kidnapping and exile of God

The second time God was kidnapped was by far more subtle. Ambitious people searching for power understood that "having access" to the Divine granted control over the spirit of others. As a consequence, rituals and holy scriptures were changed. Core messages and teachings were modified or even reversed. And they continue to be altered unto this day. 

As a result, "God" was no longer to be found inside the heart of men and women. The notion and perception of the Divine blurred. For many centuries, God became distant, exiled outside of the human being somewhere in heaven. Worldly affairs and spiritual affairs of man became strictly separate. The only way to reach God was via "his representatives" on earth and rituals that most people did not understand.

The paradigm shift

Let's take a step back and put that process into perspective: Every 2000 years, paradigms shift on planet earth. As a collective, we are in the midst of moving out of an old paradigm of 2000 years of separation, competition, obedience, and domination of the outside world. We move into a new paradigm of 2000 years of unity, cooperation, self-expression, and mastery of the inside world.

That's why so many things boil up now – individually and collectively. They were not in a harmonious state and seek balance and healing. The world is not going crazy; it is waking up. We witness a birth process of the new. And as often, birth processes can be messy and even frightening. 

The end of God’s kidnapping

Surprisingly enough, in this particular time of change and transition, God's kidnapping and exile start to end. An increasing number of men and women turn within - regardless of their religion and origin. 

They rediscover their inner world, and thus their light and shadow. The search for happiness, love, and contentment inside man has gone mainstream. It starts opening the door for the renaissance and rediscovery of the Divine within us. 

This global trend is in perfect line with the one core message of some of humanities' greatest teachers:  "The Kingdom of Heaven lies within you," Jesus said. Buddha said: "We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world." The ancient Hermes Trismegistus said: "As above, so below. As within, so without." 

What to do with it in times of global change

Hence, in this time of global change and transition, no external God will help us create societies where people and their opinions move freely in alignment with the greater good. As the earth is a planet of free will, it is our job to co-create a world we want to live in.  

Let's make use of that divine force within us: Let's choose love, not fear. Let's choose the will to understand, not to attack. Let's choose what unites us, not what separates us. That is what makes us truly human.

Text by Michael Alexander Arnold

www.MastersOfTransition.net