What If? God without Religion

By Karen Garner

Have we forgotten the value of a single life? Has technology taken the place of creativity? Where are the inventors? Where are the problem solvers? Has the definition of freedom forgotten responsibility for actions? Is the perfect world becoming one for the betterment of individual needs, instead of the advancement of the whole? Are we truly living, perhaps our one chance of life on Earth, to satisfy selfish desires rather than make sacrifices for others? Are we blinded by ignorance or self-absorption? How can we turn this world around so that there are no derailed destinies, but only connected journeys to truth? Where do we begin to find unconditional love, strength to get through difficult times, and inspiration to improve life for everyone? What part of God lives here on Earth? How often do we think of God instead of thinking of ourselves? How can we find the answer? These are some of the topics discussed in this remarkable book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Escarpment Press
• Release date: Jan 7, 2015
• ISBN: 9781507098455

Karen Garner

Karen S. Garner is a woman of humble beginnings, raised in a one-bedroom, one-bathroom house along with three older brothers and her parents.  In the winter, she and her brothers slept on roll-a-way beds in sleeping bags in a single-car garage with a dirt floor. In the summer, blankets were placed over clothes lines and poles to provide cover for outdoor sleeping.  She was never aware of her family's poverty, because of the love surrounding her. She was born and raised in Nevada where the mountains rest tall to the West and the colors of the desert are exhibited in fullness to the East. Music and writing are her primary hobbies.  She is the baritone part in a barbershop quartet that sings for free to disabled, ill, or homebound individuals. Karen's favorite book is Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. Her retirement years have been spent in volunteer work and writing books. You can contact her at [e-mail]. 

Book preview

DEDICATION

To AWG:

Our friendship is a beautiful thing,

For it is guided by the light of God.

It takes two souls blended to a

Higher point than human emotion,

For it can see the meaning and need

Of depth in understanding.

The love that grows from our friendship

Is not one for reasons of humanity,

But one for the fulfillment of God’s

Dream that all of life be tied together.

The truth doth come to those who

Seek strength and wisdom beyond

The narrow line of awareness.

I thank you for giving me an awareness

That God may guide me to the truth.

INTRODUCTION

Envision a huge mountain with many pathways to climb.  Some pathways go straight to the top allowing a single view from just one side of the mountain.  Other pathways follow the entire mountain’s circumference where no view is left untouched by the eyes of the soul.

Speculate that God awaits each person at the mountain’s crest.  Does it matter if the pathway chosen leads directly to the top?  Is it more beneficial to take the scenic view all around the mountain with gradual ascension?

What if the protocols of noble documented religions permit only one view from one side of the mountain but still reach God at the end of the journey?

What if a curious and questioning mind chooses to walk upon the spiral pathway experiencing every view of life before finally reaching God at the top?

Does it matter how God is found by an individual?  Is it the innate personal connection to God that actually determines the pathway taken?

What if every person’s definition of God is correct but at varying levels of understanding and perception?  Is each person on earth in a different grade of God’s school of growth and acceptance?  Do past experiences before an earth life determine the existing levels of love, light, and inspiration living within every human being?

What if knowledge is the pursuit of God while wisdom is finding God at the top of the mountain?

We associate love with the teachings of the Son.  However, the beginning of the Lord’s Prayer is Our Father which art in Heaven.  In the Bible, it is stated that everything began with the Word.

What if the Son of Love represents purity in an individual’s soul?  What if the