I always find it inspiring to read an article that states that a majority of Americans believe in God. But, what does that mean? Does it mean that all of these people attend church services regularly? What are the reasons that people go to church? Is it because that's the way their parents raised them? Or is it less than a habit for them and more because of some unique conversion experience that they had which draws them again each day to seek the answers which we struggle with in our lives?

It's always been amusing to me when I hear about parents who attend church because of their children. So, what do they mean? Are they merely escorts for their children during this hour long excursion of song, liturgy, prayer and contemplation? It seems rather silly that parents would idly sit there while their children receive their weekly moral education. Why not simply drop the kids off at the church, confident that the pastor will tend to their spiritual needs and go home to watch something more important like one of the Sunday morning news programs? But there's something else here, an allusion to a subtle rejection of the function of a church service. Could it be that this particular adult sees less value in attending church for himself than his son or daughter? But why would that be the case? Would this bring into question the impotence of a particular churchs teaching?

If I seem to be asking way too many questions than you're used to reading in an article, bear with me. I love to ask questions and I especially love to question previously accepted facts. It stimulates dialog and invites more questions. I'm sure that about a quarter of you have already been adequately stimulated that you will undoubtedly email me as soon as you finish reading my article. I welcome them. Whether you disagree with what I write here or you wholeheartedly agree, I welcome all of your input. The only condition I ask you to abide by is to keep your discourse with me civil. But then again, if you are angry, be angry. If you are utterly inspired, I like that too. Just don't be lukewarm.

Well, how about we get started with trying to answer these questions. Let's tackle the first one. A majority of us believe in God. What does that mean? Now, don't get me wrong. Just because I'm going to talk about what believing in God might mean doesn't mean that I'm excluding atheists or agnostics. To tell you the truth I've always been interested in the reasons that people give for not believing in God. And as I go on in these articles I will constantly draw upon those reasons for believing in God that seem to be less spiritual than the ones we're used to hearing. So, believers in God and atheists alike; you are all welcome.

So, why do we believe in God? Who is He? For the religious person I think it is commonly accepted that there is a prime creator of the known Universe. So, perhaps there was a time billions of years ago when the thought crossed His mind that he wanted to create something. Like anyone, he desired to express Himself. What do you do when you want to express yourself? You can speak or sing or dance. Maybe you want to build something. But usually before you do that you must fulfill a need. That's how people invent, right? Necessity is the mother of invention. Well, this old adage holds true for God as well. He had an idea in His mind and then he expressed that idea while using the materials at His disposal, namely the basic elements perhaps. Then, I guess He just did it. However, there is no intention on my part to oversimplify the creation of the Universe. It was profoundly complicated and yet it was actually a true act of love. Science gives us a deep appreciation of it's complexity yet religion helps us understand that the creation was in reality the love expressed by a parent to His children.

Perhaps that's why we believe in God. Wouldn't the hard work and effort you invested in building that deck on the back of your house or the clay sculpture be detectable somehow to your friends or relatives when you showed it to them? But also, it was a labor of love, as we like to say. Wouldn't they feel that love too? Well, for God it's no different. Don't you feel inspired when you take a walk in the woods or in a beautiful garden? I visited the Grand Canyon one time and it literally blew me away. And what happened? I felt the handiwork of God expressed in all that I saw.

So, why do we believe in God? We believe because God is invisible to our physical eyes. He is beyond time and space just as all spiritual reality is. Now, this is jumping ahead a bit but if God is invisible and beyond time and space then what does that make us? I seem to remember a passage in Genesis in the Bible that says that God made us in His own image. Whoa! So, He made us just like Him. So, we're God's children. And if you follow that to it's logical conclusion it also means that we are beyond time and space. We are divine.

Deepak Chopra, the author of "Ageless Bodies,Timeless Minds" said that we are spiritual beings having physical experiences. So, God wanted us to be just like Him; souls who, when they have matured, will take their rightful place in the Universe and follow in His footsteps.

Already I can hear the tap tapping of those keyboards with emails destined for my inbox. And to all of the atheists and agnostics in the audience; I have not forgotten you. If you will have patience I will delve into some of the reasons that you don't believe in God.

I tend to be a very curious individual. At a very young age I loved to observe everything around me. I looked at the trees, plants, and birds. I just loved to look at and study people interacting. I have a daughter who is just like this. Whenever I took my daughter to the playground at Mohegan Park I would take notice of how she used to stop what she was doing and observe the other kids who were there. Some parents might reprimand their children telling them not to stare but I never did. She reminded me of when I was her age and how wondrous the world looked to me then. Unfortunately my parents discouraged this type of behavior and ever since I've been finding my way back to those innocent days once forgotten. That is what I hope I can share with all of you, that sense of wonder that we can feel if we let ourselves retrieve that part of ourselves that hasn't forgotten who we are. And who are we? We are all the indisputable creation of God and by virtue of His love for us, we are His children.

Okay, as I promised I will make an effort to reach out to those who call themselves Atheists or Agnostics. So all of you who desire more of an intellectual approach to talking about God, please by all means come closer.

One of my core beliefs for quite some time is that you should never journey further than your own skin to look for happiness, meaning or the most important questions of life. Remember the movie, "The Wizard of Oz" when at the end of the movie, Dorothy says that if she ever needed to travel further from her home to find something then perhaps it wasn't worth the trouble in the first place? That was such a great movie and that statement made by Judy Garland is so poignant.

What are we, by virtue of just our physical body alone? Our physical body is one of the most profound scientific wonders that we know of. If you've ever seen any of those television specials on National Geographic about the Human Body then you've seen with the help of state of the art photography the wonder that is you and me. I once pursued a degree in Nursing at Three Rivers Community College. I took a course in Anatomy And Physiology with Professor James Copeland and I haven't been the same ever since. It was a tough course, as my fellow students will attest to, and I didn't do nearly as well as the others did but I can say that I walked away from that class with a an overview of all of the amazing things that occur within us each moment of each day. If I was, for instance, just to have focused on the workings of a single cell then that probably would have been enough for me to raise up my hands in surrender to the utter genius of what goes on within us. But then there's all these other organs in the body. There's the circulatory system, the endocrine system and of course the reproductive system not to mention the nervous system. So, just on a purely physical level, we are a walking miracle.

Look at your hands and the other parts of your body when you have a quiet moment to yourself. Look closely because what you see before you is truly state of the art. Do you know anybody who makes Human Beings? Yes, it's an odd question, I know, but I'm trying to make a point here. There are companies who develop prosthesis for victims of debilitating accidents who have lost precious limbs but they are very crude duplications at best. There is no one on the face of this planet, living or dead, who has ever created a living being. So, how did this happen? Where did we come from?

Well, there I go again with those confounded questions of mine. Where did we come from? Where did all of the life around us come from? Was it all an accident, statistical probability born out of the primordial soup or did it all occur in seven days as the Bible tells us? I'm willing to bet that it was a little bit of both. Oh, where is this guy going with this? He's not taking a stand with either the creationists or the evolutionists. What does he mean by a little bit of both?

I think that it would be best for me to leave this particular discussion for a later time since it would involve more space than this column provides. But, I will say this. Whoever created our species on this planet, did it with such scientific understanding and technical expertise that is presently beyond our grasp at this time and will remain so until we evolve further. Remember what I said about who we are. We are God's children, are we not? If God created all of the life that exists on this planet, including us, wouldn't it make sense that he would want us to learn from Him and be just like Him? After all, it's a parents dream that his children will follow in His footsteps. And why shouldn't we expect of ourselves to do great things? Why should we limit ourselves because we fear that we are trying to be like God? That is our heritage and our right to do that.

Of course we must tread wisely along this path. Our advances in technology should take place in equal footing with our spiritual and social development. But, let us not surrender to fear. We all have great minds to pursue great dreams. Lets use that 95% of our brain capacity that lays dormant to achieve greatness in our time.