Naming God

When we speak as atheists so You do not emerge in language at all; when we name You using the nonsense syllable ‘Tao’; when, like the Buddha, we decline to name You:

then we remember there can be no meaningful way of referring to You.

When we name You ‘Shiva’:

then we remember You are the Transformer, the Restorer, the Reconciler, the Destroyer of all illusion, the Shocker.

When we name You ‘The Holy One-in-Three and Three-in-One’:

then we remember You are transcendent beyond all being; immanent in all being, all beingness and all knowledge of beingness; and innate relatedness, the invitation to mutuality intrinsic to and inherent in the multi/universe.

When we name You ‘Atman’ or ‘The Christ’:

then we remember You are the Redemption within; the Logos; the ensouled God; the perfect archetype or design we are built upon; the Divine as humanity.

When we name You ‘Allah’:

then we remember You are un-encompassible, impossible for us to describe or comprehend.

When we name You 'Goddess':
then we remember You as effusion of possibility and the origin of birth, nurturing and flourishing; spring returning from the darkness of winter; and gentle tending at the messiness of the end.

When we name You ‘God’:

then we remember that for as long as there have been people, and for as long as people remain, there have been and will be people agreeing with the prophet Moses, when he says, "God goes before you and will be with you; God will never leave you nor forsake you."