By Becki Balok

Many have asked, "Where was God on Sept 11, 2001?" The answer depends on the type of God you believe in.

I think God was right where God always is -- inside you, me, the people on the airplanes, the people in the pentagon, the people in the World Trade Center, and in the terrorists too.

To all those who say God is punishing us, I say I won't believe in such a God. I won't believe in a God who gets angry, gets mad, or gets even.

To those who say God told them to do this or any other evil act, I say I won't believe in such a God. I won't believe in a God who plots evil, revenge, violence or war.

To all those who say only they have a special communication link with God, I say I won't believe in such a God.

I cannot accept a God who loves only certain people, or likes some people more than others. I will not accept a God that tells one person to hate another. I won't believe in a God who sends poverty, starvation, or tornadoes.

I cannot accept a God who sends pain, suffering, trials, or tribulations. I won't believe in a God who has a house called heaven or a basement named hell.

I will not accept a God that is present sometimes but then disappears.

I will not accept a God that is suppose to swoop down and save us.

I won't believe in a God that made only one belief system or wants only one religion for all.

I will not believe in a God that is only Hindu, or only Buddhist, or only Muslim, or only Catholic, or only Protestant, or only Jew, or only any other religion.

I won't believe in a God who blesses some people, some countries and not every people, and every country.

I won't believe in a God that needs praise or wants prayer. I won't believe in a God who tracks how many times I go to church, how many times I sin, how many times I curse, or whether or not I'm saved.

I won't believe in a God that doesn't want me to work and play, to have fun and to be serious, to enjoy and nurture the planet.

I won't believe in a God that does what I tell him to do. I won't believe in a God that has only one son.

I won't believe in this type of God, because the God I do believe in is: father and mother to all, too big for one religion, too wise for hatred, too strong to shell out weakness, too happy to bring pain, too awesome to use fear, too free to pursue bondage, too close to disappear, too bright for darkness, too strong for violence, too good to encourage evil.

The God I do believe only works through us. The God I do believe in is in each and every one of us. God has no feet but the feet of every person on the planet -- and it doesn't matter if those feet wear shoes or not.

The God I do believe in has no hands but the hands of every person on the planet -- and it doesn't matter if those hands are big or small, white or black, yellow or brown, young or old.

The God I do believe in has no voice but the voice of each and every person on the planet -- and it doesn't matter what language is spoken.

The God I do believe in sees through the eyes of each and every person on the planet -- and it doesn't matter if they are filled with tears or wild with passion.

The God I do believe does not care if you are Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, Catholic, Protestant, or Jew. No matter what language a prayer is written in, no matter faith it is based on, it does not change God, it can only change us.

The God I do believe in shows up as love whenever we are kind, compassionate, forgiving.

The God I do believe shows up as strength and courage whenever we are willing to show strength and courage.

The God I do believe in is the creative energy and power of the universe. That energy and power is within each and everyone. We use it either to help others or to hurt them. We use it to act wisely or to act stupid. We use it for peace or for hatred. We use it to love or to fear. We use it to live or to kill.

© Becki Balok - September 26, 2001