Seeing God in a New Light

by Raymond Fontaine, Ph.D.-January 25, 2007

E-mail no. 52: Excerpts from Anna's letter

Dear Mr. Fontaine, I enjoyed reading your book: "My Life with God in and out of the Church". Now let me tell you mine in a letter.

I was born and raised in a Catholic home, attended Catholic school all the way through and faithfully practiced the Catholic Faith for over half of my life. Although many questions arose in me, I did not express them so as not to "sin" against my Catholic Faith. But now, after reading your book, I can reveal my plight to you.

My main questions of concern were:

1) The so-called infallibility of the Church.

2) Confession and the rule that one is forgiven only if the priest absolves you.

3) Celibacy of priests. I do not believe that God intends man to be alone.

4) Birth control. I always had a very hard time with the Church dictating that people, who could not financially afford to keep having babies, should do so because birth control is never allowed. You addressed these and many other issues in your book and I learned a lot from you.

I am 54 years old and my life has been a very difficult one. I was born with multiple physical disabilities, which affect my speech, my legs and my overall appearance. Every single day is a physical, emotional and financial struggle, but I function in the best way that I can. The emotional scars caused by the taunts of other school children will remain with me for my lifetime. 

I have always wondered if God did not love me as He did others. In my early years of teens and 20's, I prayed for God to physically heal me, which was never to be. In my 30's and 40's, I prayed for acceptance of my plight.

I have mostly come to terms with this as my life but not completely. I still long for the things that were not accessible to me: the children experiences of school dances, football games, dating, and just to be included and the adult experiences of being loved and understood by someone and growing old together.

Now in my 50's I've let go of most of my bitterness, still working on the remainder, and just trying to find peace before I die. It has been and continues to be a very lonely, isolated and insecure journey.

E-mail no. 53: I suggest that Anna embrace Nature's God wholeheartedly.

Dear Anna, I read your letter with great interest. Having experienced a problem basically similar to yours and having resolved it completely, let me show you a way out of your anguish.

In your letter, you say that you still endure bitterness about your plight, thinking that God let it or made it happen to you. Moreover you knew that God could easily remedy all your personal ills and pain. Believing that, you prayed for Him to do so.

I assume that you have not discarded all the spiritual teachings of the Church and that you have not severed all ties with the Church.  

Contrariwise, I did just that in 1967. I began a new life linked to the Creator of the universe as revealed in nature. Now I have nothing to do with the God who was reputedly revealed to ancient prophets and written in Holy Books and popularized by the Popes and his priests.

On May 20, 1995, my wife suffered a stroke that paralyzed her right arm and leg. She needed my help throughout the day keeping me homebound except for trips to the market and the doctors. Moreover my free time at home was limited and broken up. Despite these difficulties, in 2000 I wrote and published my book. I wanted to help others out of their misery.

In 2001, I discovered the Internet where I found all the information I needed to write articles about my new life with Nature's God. Moreover on the Internet I could share my thoughts with others and continue to enlighten people nationwide - even worldwide.

My concept of God is very simple and true. Nature reveals structures and designs that can be observed by humans, especially by scientists. Nature's designs presuppose supreme Intelligence - a superhuman Being. Nature, however, reveals nothing more about Him, such as His nature and plan of action.

Believing that without a doubt, I am sure that God does not intervene in the normal course of nature. He doesn't start or stop hurricanes, nor does He cause or cure cancers that occur naturally.

In your case, God did not bring about your physical disabilities nor will He intervene to rectify them, letting nature take its normal course.

Moreover God does not intervene when humans pray to him directly or get saints in heaven to intercede for humans. God does not operate miracles on demand from saints - not even Mary the mother of Jesus.

God does not alter the normal course of nature but you can change your way of thinking about Him. Knowing that, you will not think that God singled you out and brought about your multiple physical disabilities. Nor will you think that God should eliminate your disabilities. God does not do so for anyone.          

To live the best life possible, humans should exploit their personal potential and seek help from nature and their environment which includes their fellow-humans. Humans should not look to heaven nor to this or that Church for supernatural miracles and for guidance. Billions of people still do that. I'm not one of them. I have complete peace of mind.

Let me close this article with its title: "Seeing God in a New Light". I gleaned these words from your letter. You closed it with the following words: "I hope to find the peace I am searching for by seeing God in a new light."

That new light is to see God as the Creator of nature who lets nature develop in various ways. At its inception each creature has its endowment to be exploited with the help of its environment. Humans should be grateful for the fact that they exist at all and for whatever they have been endowed with. It's better, much better, than never to have existed. I am glad that you exist. Ray. 

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