I'm agnostic. I don't believe human beings can conceive of God. I don't believe people can know what God might want. In my experience, people who claim such things are trying to manipulate other people. Manipulate them with fear and and anger.
They tell us that God will reward us with an afterlife. But I don't need God to comfort me. I do not fear death.
They tell us that God will make us whole, will address all our grievances. But I don't need God to bless me. I am not aggrieved or bitter.
I don't need the God that those people offer. And yet, as an agnostic, I see how God, the concept if not the fact, can help me to lead a better life.
Atheists will often concede that holy writings, the wisdom of humanity accumulated over thousands of years, reveal extemporaneous truth.
And if scripture teaches anything, it warns against the deadly sin of Pride.
So, I ask God to keep me humble. I thank God --whatever that may be --for confronting me with the stark fact that I am at the mercy of entities and forces that I can never understand.
And I ask God to receive my gratitude. For all I've been given. For all the beauty and joy in my life.
Mostly, I thank God for releasing me from the fear that I might one day have to pass judgement.
That would be beyond me.
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