Who is God?
Part 10: I can accept living in the world as we know it to be, and believe that my faith is sufficient to help me
So, completely and ultimately satisfying is this relationship, that I can face with equanimity my death and loss of existence (if it should turn out that life after death is not possible for creatures who have once been mortal). I can (I hope, though I have not been severely tested – though I know of those who have been and still believe) bear with suffering, hardship and loss, without concluding that this means that there is no God or that he has stopped loving me. I accept that I live in a material universe that operates in the ways that we all know about. It is up to me to use whatever power I have to steer the bit of the universe that I have influence over in ways that accord with my faith in God. If I do that, then I believe that I am honouring him and that he is happy with me. If I do the opposite then I believe that God, quite rightly, feels the opposite.
I hope that we can see that this faith in God that I have is supremely precious, extremely powerful and effective in enabling a good life, a spiritual life, a life of faith in relationship with God. It is immensely good for me and helps me to be a force for good in the world. I think we can see that a community where many people share such a faith is an immense force for good in the world. (We do not deny that religion can be corrupted to be a force that produces evil as well as good, but that is the task we humans have: to choose wisely; God is not going to wave a fairy wand to “make everything better”. We are free beings and it is up to us to use our freedom well. In my view there is no better way to use our freedom than to form a relationship with God and so live with him.)
Spiritual Devotion 