An ignorant manmukh tries to explain God through scientific analogy and regrets the attempt

I woke up this morning at about 3 o'clock.  It was the storm that did it.  Rain poured down in great torrents; accompanied by colossal thunder crashes.  Through the flicker of lightning illuminating the house I could see my wife asleep beside me; breathing slowly - unphased by the weather.  My children, as well, lay in their beds; seemingly unperturbed by the magnificent display going on just outside.

It's not uncommon for me to wake up early.  Typically it's around 5 am, but if I'm offered an unplanned excuse to wake up earlier I usually try to take it.  Sri Guru Granth Sahib (SGGS) refers to this time as the amrit vela - the ambrosial hours before the dawn.  Even with the storm bellowing outside, I can understand the sentiment.  Much of my world still sleeps.  Responsibilities lay ahead for the rest of the day, but for now I try to force them out of my thoughts.  This is my time to spend one-on-one with God.  Usually it's time spent reading from SGGS or listening to a katha (sermon) or a lecture on Sikh history.  Today though, I lie in bed and appreciate the storm.

Many people of a religious or spiritual nature see a thunderstorm as a great display of God's might and splendor; and occasionally I fit that mold as well.  This morning, however, I'm thinking from an academic and scientific perspective.  

SGGS says,

ਤਾ ਕੀਆ ਗਲਾ ਕਥੀਆ ਨਾ ਜਾਹਿ ॥ These things cannot be described.

ਜੇ ਕੋ ਕਹੈ ਪਿਛੈ ਪਛੁਤਾਇ ॥ One who tries to speak of these shall regret the attempt. We regret the attempt because we know enough to know that we don't really know anything, so any attempt to explain the divine can only lead to us falling woefully short of the truth. SGGS also says, ਗਿਆਨੁ ਨ ਗਲੀਈ ਢੂਢੀਐ ਕਥਨਾ ਕਰੜਾ ਸਾਰੁ ॥ Wisdom cannot be found through mere words. To explain it is as hard as iron.

But trying to explain the divine through the limited understanding of the human experience is part-and-parcel of being a manmukh; and so I too fall into the trap of trying to put God in a neat, little, easy to understand box.

One of my favorite games since returning to school has been figuring out how I would teach a subject to someone else.  I've had a couple of opportunities in the past with my fellow students.  Sometimes it has helped and sometimes it's fallen flat.  As I watch the storm I'm reminded of one of these attempts.

"What is the fundamental guiding principal of the universe?"

::other student stares blankly::

"Balance.  We see it in every scientific discipline.  Electrons balance and space themselves out, each falling in its proper place.  Chemistry, geology, economics, mathematics; everything.  In the human body, it's homeostasis.  Your body recognizes that the amount of glucose in the blood has fallen too low, so glucagon is released to tell cells to convert glycogen to glucose and send it back to the blood.  Your blood sugar goes back to normal.  Our temperature gets too high, so we begin to perspire to cool ourselves off.  Our bodies are trying to maintain balance - always.  Same with thirst, breathing-rate, hunger, etc etc etc."

As I'm watching the storm I recognize this phenomenon again.  The water vapor in the clouds has condensed and gotten heavier.  Now the balance between weight and gravity is off and the water falls; balancing the scale once again.  The plants in the ground absorb the water, nourishing themselves while returning the earth to a dry state.  Balance restored again.  An electrostatic discharge balances the ions between clouds or with the ground: lightning.  This is where I see God.

I don't believe in Mr. God.  The very notion of a man sitting on a cloud being mad at everyone but Joel Osteen seems exactly counter to the nature of God as I've always understood it.  So does the idea that we get one chance to be good and if we don't meet some incredibly high standards we get tortured for all eternity.  Even as a child I rejected this as the most unGodlike notion conceivable; settling instead on reincarnation before I even knew the word for it.  I also rejected the notion of Satan.  An all-powerful, all-knowing force doesn't have, or need, competition.  I was not a wise or profound child; simply a logical one.

God is balance, and God is everywhere.  God is in the rain, and the lightning, and the atoms that make up my desk, and the carbohydrates in the chips and salsa I'll be eating tonight.  God is in every sound, and every person.  God is in gravity, and chemistry, and physiology.  God is in me, and God is in you.  God is action and reaction; cause and consequence.

God is also the little thing inside of you that encourages you to go out of your way to help a stranger.  It makes you give your leftovers to a homeless person on the way home from the restaurant, or give money to a worthy charity.  It's the thing that makes you do good deeds and be okay with not getting recognition for them.  God is a force for good, and the force of good.  

The more I write the more I recognize the  regret in the above-mentioned quote from Sri Guru Granth Sahib; so I'll end with the following thoughts.  The world is out of balance.  In my humble opinion, it's largely because we've spent too much time connecting to the flawed institutions of man, and not enough time connecting to the divine within ourselves.  You can be a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, or Atheist, but if you're ignoring that piece of goodness and love that resides in each of us then it doesn't matter if you pray to Jesus, Shiva, Luke Skywalker, or Christopher Hitchens.  Be part of the solution.  Bring balance back.