God Consciousness

In Genesis 28, we read about a very interesting vision that the Patriarch Jacob dreams while camping out on the road to Haran. “He had a dream; a stairway was set on the ground and its top reached to the sky, and angels of God were going up and down on it.”  God is there, too. As Jacob explains, “Surely the Lord is present in this place, and I, I did not know it…How awesome is this place! This is none other than the abode of God, and that is the gateway to heaven!” (Genesis 28.16-17)

The Hebrew, however, is a little ambiguous about God’s exact position. The text says that God is standing alav, but the Hebrew word alav can mean either on top of or next to. Is God standing next to Jacob, or is God standing on top of Jacob?

A similar but slightly amusing question comes when this same word, alav, is used in the Talmudic instructions for Gerut/Conversion. The officiant is instructed to be in the mikvah (ritual bath) and stand alav the convert. Does this mean that the officiating Rabbi should be standing on the Convert’s back, holding him down in the water? Certainly not! Water safety and prudence suggest that the Talmud means standing next to. This is also probably the meaning of the Biblical narrator—which is why the modern Jewish Publication Society translation renders the phrase as, “The Lord was standing beside him.” Nonetheless, the thought that God is literally on top of Jacob can be psychologically and spiritually instructive.

When someone is on a task, he/she is focused on it. When someone feels that another is on him/her, there is a feeling of attention being paid. Whether for good (protection) or for bad (waiting for a misstep), the consciousness of being watched can be palpable. It is like the old country expression, like white on rice, suggesting a presence that is much more than coverage. The observer’s presence is so on top of someone that it becomes part of the observed’s identity.

If we read the passage literally—that God is on Jacob—like white on rice, perhaps this could be a way of describing what some modern mystics call God Consciousness—an attitude in which one is intently and continually aware of God’s Presence and attention. Christians hear this way of thinking in the 1905 hymn, “His Eye is on the Sparrow.” Combining thoughts from Psalm 32.8 and Matthew (6.26 and 10.29-31), Civilla D. Martin and Charles H. Gabriel wrote a beautiful expression of God’s intense and continuing interest in each creature. “His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.”

Moving a few centuries back in time, we can find a similar sensibility in the thinking and practice of Jewish Mysticism. In order to develop an awareness of God’s Presence, the Kabbalists developed many techniques—once of which is meditating on the “Shiviti,” a spiritual formulation that begins with “Shiviti Adonai l’negdi tamid / I have set the Lord always before me,” from Psalm 16.8. Whatever life brings, let me look for God’s Presence and God’s possibilities because God is always here. Whether experiencing a blessing or facing a difficulty, how can I make sure that my vision includes the Divine? When we live with God Consciousness, our goal is to find a reaction or response that incorporates an awareness of God—God who is here and with me and paying attention! As our father Jacob learned, “God is in this place…and on us.”

Joining the Heavenly (and Earthly) Chorus

I do not see many church-front message boards around here. Local congregations post their service times, but few have message boards out front where, every week or two, a new and inspiring/infuriating message is posted in big clunky letters. This is not the case in the South where I have spent many years—and where many churches used these signboards as a form of public ministry. I used to look forward to driving around town and seeing what the “sign board ministry” at various churches was adding to the public conversation.

 As I mentioned before, some were infuriating—oversimplifying complex theological issues or misunderstanding Biblical subtleties. I remember one, at a church in Pensacola, Florida, that counseled, “When presented with two evils, choose neither.” Purporting to counter the old adage, “the lesser of two evils,” I think I understood the point. Better to remain morally pure and not engage in any evil. The problem is that most human beings are not afforded such a luxury. When presented with two evils, the real choice is whether to engage or not. If one remains aloof, then something terrible will happen. If one engages and chooses “the lesser of two evils,” then one can decrease the terribleness that will happen. The choice is stark and morally fraught, but is it not better to choose less evil over more evil?  To me, this is a reality that the signboard, in its quest for purity, seemed to misunderstand.

On the other hand, many messages were lovely statements of faith, and some were quite profound. I remember one from a church in Hattiesburg, Mississippi that picked up on a verse from Psalm 19: “The Heavens declare the glory of God. Shouldn’t we join in?” Amen!

It turns out that this idea has some venerable roots. For starters, there is a mystical teaching that alludes to a vibrational “chant” that emanates from Creation itself and that is mentioned in that very same Psalm. In Psalm 19.2-5, we read:

“The heavens declare the glory of God,
The sky proclaims God’s handiwork.
The days themselves repeat the praise;
The nights as well tell this truth.
Though there is no speech nor are there words,
Their voices may not be heard,
But their shout goes out to all the earth
And their words to the end of the world.”

Many mystics—in many religious traditions—work on accessing this vibrational praise. Among the most famous in Judaism was Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, a Hassidic rabbi who lived from 1772 to 1810 in what is now Ukraine. He instructed his disciples to spend hours each day out in nature, listening to natural sounds and trying to perceive in them the voice of the Divine. Here is a meditation taken from Rebbe Nachman’s teachings:

O Lord, grant me the ability to be alone!
May it be my custom to go outdoors each day
among the trees and grass—among all growing things,
and there may I be alone and enter into prayer,
to talk with the One to Whom I belong.
May I express there everything in my heart,
and may all the foliage of the field—
all grasses, trees and plants—awake at my coming,
to send the powers of their life into the words of my prayer. 

May my prayer and speech receive energy
from the life and the spirit of all growing things,
which are made as one by their transcendent Source.
Then, may the words of my heart pour out like water,
O Lord, before You
as I lift up my hands to You and sing.

 In this new series of columns by local clergy, we hope to add to the local conversation by sharing insights and teachings from the religious and spiritual realm. Whether tapping into the energy of the natural world or the wisdom of spiritual seekers, we hope to offer enlightenment and inspiration.