I Believe in the Creator and All of Creation
by Gilbert Oskaboose, former Roman Catholic, atheist and born-again heathen

Well, it's been one long interesting trip around the Sacred Hoop of Life and I think I have come to one great enduring Truth. The Creator does exist. Don't know how I've come to that, but I have and that's the story I'm sticking to. He said it. I believe it. That's the end of it.

Don't think I agree with most of the mainline churches of the world and their beliefs of who they believe He/She or It to be. I believe the Creator is beyond the imaginations and the machinations of humankind. I believe the Creator is beyond the petty parameters of humankind's races, creeds, ideology and languages. The Creator is not simply Red, Christian, Muslim, Quaker or Jew.... The Creator is all these things and so much more....

The Creator can be found in creation, a logical enough first step. All of creation and it's wonders and mathematical certainties cries out for the existence of the Creator. In the Christian Bible Pharisees say to Jesus "Rebuke your disciples, tell them to be quiet." "I tell you, He replied, if these become silent, the (very) stones will cry out" (His holy name). The stones do cry out, as does the land, the wind, the waves and the deep silence of lost and lonely places. The stars speak volumes and the whole universe echoes the Creator's Holy Name.

I mentioned the Christian Bible. I believe the Christians have a tiny understanding of the Creator, as do the Jews and the Muslims and everyone of the thousands of denominations humankind follows. I believe all mankind has a minuscule understanding and appreciation of the Creator. No denomination knows the Creator as much as they would like to think they do but we do all have a small part of the Creator. It was instilled in us since the foundations of Time and creation. As humans with limited understanding we need the many denominations to accommodate our different levels of understanding. I believe the time has come for humankind to embrace a deeper greater vision of the Creator.

Call me a nut but I believe in a number of things in Life. I believe in the existence of other different dimensions. Witness the power of dreams and where they can take you. How vivid and real they can be. I believe in transformation, change. Witness the lowly worm that transforms into a beautiful butterfly to exist in another dimension. These things are but pale shadows compared to what is to come. I believe in the gentle grasp of a baby's hand, the warm and exciting curvature of a woman's body, an elder's wisdom, a child's laughter, warmth, great courage and devotion. I believe in Hope for the future and Forgiveness for past transgressions. I believe in Love and kindness and compassion for the hurt and the hurting. I believe in the great winds that whisper through redwood cathedrals and the sparkle of a single dewdrop caught in a spider's gossamer web. I believe in a lot of things but most important, I have come to believe in the Creator.

I will not waste any more of my life worrying and fretting and raging over what so-called men of the cloth and the pain and confusion their religions have caused me and mine. That is their problem. Let it remain their problem, not mine. The Creator has set me free... to be me.

I also believe it is not one human's place to be running around trying to stuff their own small notion of the Creator down the throats of others. That's the kind of mindless stupidity and single-minded arrogance that leads to wars and Crusades and Inquisitions against your betters. That is not what I am trying to do with this brief essay. I'm just sharing with you what it's like in my corner of the universe on this one day. I believe in a wise, loving and gentle Creator who created all things, including me.