Words are powerful.  They retain the ability to communicate thoughts and ideas, especially when used in a manner that is easily understandable to the reader or listener.  Over time, languages change and become relics of the past.  The meaning of ancient messages might be altered or lost in translation through time like the children's game "Chinese Whispers" or "telephone" (in the USA).  The telephone game takes place usually within a large group such as those found on a playground where one child whispers a message to another, which is passed through a line of people until the last player announces the message to the entire group.  Errors typically accumulate in the retellings, so the statement announced by the last player differs significantly, and often amusingly, from the one uttered by the first. Reasons for changes include anxiousness or impatience, erroneous corrections, the difficult-to-understand mechanism of whispering, and that some players may deliberately alter what is being said to guarantee a changed message by the end of the line.  Depending on the size and maturity of the group, the original message would range from slightly altered to completely different by the time it reaches the last person.  For hundreds of years, civilizations passed their wisdom down to their offspring by word of mouth.  It is hard to believe that the original message would have stayed in tact despite their best efforts...

Parents do the best they can for their kids and somehow generations of children grow into parents themselves, with each generation raising the next.  It's no accident that you exist, hundreds of generations have led to your being here today.  Eventually, as people mature, we develop codes of conduct.  These codes become our core values and determine our behaviors.  Our values govern what the individual deems as morally acceptable behavior.  My atheist friends are some of the 'best' and most caring people that I have ever met.  (Religion or upbringing does not guaranty 'good' moral character, ultimately it is a choice).  Their moral code adheres them to behaviors that are in line with their beliefs such as honesty and a hard work ethic.  People from all walks of life and different moral backgrounds can all come together in the knowledge that as human beings we are more alike than we are different.  Poets and philosophers have written for years that our blood flows the same color and we experience pain and suffering the same.  We are also capable of the same feelings of joy, love, and acceptance.  Here's where things begin to get a bit tricky...

The concept of God has been around since (and even explains) the beginning of time.  Almost every culture has a creation story with God in it.  From a scientific perspective, all children are the offspring of two parents, and they from their own set of parents, all the way back to a common ancestor.  Our ancient ancestors explained that the original creator of life was "God", a being of both masculine and feminine energy capable of generating all life within the universe which includes the stars, planets, plants, and animals.  After all, we had to come from somewhere.

I think where people are turned off from the concept of a Divine God is when the human lens of personal politics is introduced.  Human nature is finite and limited.  We exist for nearly a century and we die.  Our biological imperatives drive us to seek two main functions which are to survive and reproduce.  Thousands of years ago in an attempt to bring order to early societies, states and religions were formed to govern and explain complex thoughts and ideas to the masses or tribes.  In doing so, the nature of politics started to take over as individuals with power exercised their authority over others by using their human intellect to interpret divine guidance.  The members of society that weren't in positions of power were subject to blind faith and were kept in line though taxation and  obedience or faced consequences such as being shamed by the community or even criminal punishment.  This is not divine teaching, this is human nature where power tends to corrupt.

The etymology or basic origins of the word "good" come from "God".  Humans tend to define things in terms of their opposites.  The opposite of light is dark, the opposite of good is evil, the opposite of truth is false, etc.  In truth, God is infinite and thus cannot be completely defined.  For our benefit as limited creatures we have thousands of names for Him as expressed by the Holy Om...

So fast forward a few thousand years, and society finds itself in a brave new world of technology, air travel, and space exploration.  The cosmic game of "telephone" continues to exist as we teach our children about good and evil.  The message goes by many names and different words, yet still bears the same basic concepts.  Languages have come and gone, cultures too, even races of people, yet humanity lives on.  Philosophers have assigned the term "zeitgeist", originally derived from German, which means the spirit of the times.  This spirit is the dominant set of ideals and beliefs that motivate the actions of the members of a society in a particular period in time. 

"But the time is coming and is already here, when by the power of God's Spirit people will worship the Father as he really is, offering him the true worship that he wants.  God is Spirit, and only by the power of his Spirit can people worship him as he really is."
― John 4:23

The idea of surrendering oneself to such a complex concept as God is abhorrent to some, especially as interpreted through the corrupt lens of egotism.  (Personally I think humility and gratitude have more to do with it).  Both religious and state authorities are susceptible to human corruption which serves to extinguish hope in a loving God as they claim to be representatives of sovereignty.  Corruption exists even within families with absentee or abusive parents which serves to discourage hope in the idea of a Heavenly Father.  Many in this world are not given the blessing of loving, compassionate, and faithful parents so it's understandable why these individuals would simply give up hope, become indifferent, or even hate the concept of God (even with this blessing indifference is possible).  As children we depend on our parents for survival and guidance.  When our young faith is smashed by the realities of the world, it's as if a sapling were crushed before it had a chance to grow, flower, or bear fruit.  Still the resiliency of the human spirit is astounding, and All things are possible.  Faith can be stoked as a tiny ember and in time can grow into a wild and righteous flame.

Having moral character is not easy.  I have heard critics say that God and religion offer a crutch to people who should otherwise be fully able to think for themselves and behave according to their own moral codes of conduct.  I would agree with them in that human nature is lazy and tends to seek the path of least resistance and maximum reward.  After witnessing the bigotry, abuse, and crimes that "the religious" perpetrate, it's hard to imagine remaining faithful to what they claim to represent.  Most people have had their faith tested, and it is when they are most desperate that they turn to God for help.  If that help doesn't readily appear their faith dwindles or turns to resentment.  This is human nature.  Again, we are finite creatures with limited perspective.  We have a short term lease on life which makes it hard to see the ripple effect we have on the cosmic fabric of the message we interpret and rebroadcast as players of the immortal "telephone game".

"He is the Spirit, who reveals the truth about God.  The world cannot receive him, because it cannot see him or know him.  But you know him, because he remains with you and is in you."
― John 14:17

"I think the world today is upside-down. It is suffering so much because there is so little love in the home and in family life... Today we have no time. Fathers and mothers are so busy that when children come home they are not welcomed with love or with a smile."
― Mother Teresa of Calcutta

All of us come into the world through the same process.  We are the physical manifestation of the spiritual union between man and woman.  In the womb we grow from a single cell into many.  Our nature is formed long before our feet touch the earth.  In fact the womb is akin to a capsule in outer space (astronauts refer to their safety tether as an umbilical chord when they space walk).

The concept of animism is the idea that humans are in possession of a soul (or is it the other way around?).  The soul is the eternal essence of a life force which is given flesh to exist within the physical world.  Our souls are said to have come from the spirit world...

As the Earth's moon affects the tides, the planets and stars possess their own gravitational pull; which subtly act upon the developing embryo in the ocean of the uterus (See Zodiac Signs).  The physical endowments of which we are attributed are contributions from mother and father; however, our souls are spiritual gifts from the Heavens.

"Then the Lord God took some soil from the ground and formed a man out of it, he breathed life-giving breath into his nostrils and the man began to live."
― Genesis 2:7

The first 'parents' of mankind were believed to be Adam and Eve.  Almost all cultures share a similar creation story, but the point of this one was to explain human nature and our tragic flaw.  We are curious creatures who succumb to the frailties of temptation.  The first man, Adam, was given rule to all the earth, but when the Lord God saw that he was lonely, he put Adam to sleep and from his rib he formed Eve, Adam's companion.  The story goes that it was Eve who was tricked by the snake in the Garden of Eden who tempted her to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  The Lord warned Man that if he ate from this tree that he would die on that day.  When Eve had eaten the forbidden fruit, she gave some to her husband and told him to eat, and Adam obeyed.  The Lord God was walking in the garden when he called out to his children and discovered that they were hiding from Him and ashamed of their nakedness.  When He had understood what they had done, God punished Eve by giving her trouble and pain in child birth, and Adam was sentenced to labor over the land to provide for his family for listening to Eve and eating the fruit.  Both were cast out of the Garden and the snake would have to crawl on his belly eating dust forever as enemies of Eve's children.

The story goes on to detail the accounts of Adam and Eve's children, the nature of being human, and comes to an interesting plot twist found in the new testament.  This plot twist focuses on the birth of Jesus and what the church calls the "Holy Family".  After thousands of years of human evolution and the various cultures that dominated the earth including, the Egyptian, Persian, and Roman Empires we find a cosmic anomaly occurring around the year 7 B.C.  This anomaly was a rare series of astrological coincidences which manifested in the sky above Jerusalem, a spiritual hub that has been mired in conflict for over two thousand years (still to this day).  The Persian priest astrologers, known as the Magi or wise men, followed the stars to find a family sheltered in a barn with a swaddled newborn child.  This child of course was Jesus (originally pronounced Yeshuah in Aramaic).  The Holy Family includes Joseph and Mary (Yossef and Maryam in Aramaic).

I have previously written about the details around Mary's virgin birth (which can be read here), but what I didn't discuss was the immaculate conception.  Many Christians believe this to be referring to Christ's birth; however, it is actually in reference to Mary herself.  The sinful nature of humans has existed since Eve was first deceived in the Garden.  Mankind was struggling to keep his head above water while inundated in a world of sin.  Complete corruption in politics, religion, and of the family was looming on the horizon.  Infidelity and selfish concern was the driving force.  Spiritual death was certain; until the Lord intervened and used Mary to redeem Eve's original sin.  Mary's birth was the immaculate conception, she was without corruption and humbled herself to obey the Lord as she was visited by an Angel (Gabriel).

“Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.  You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.  The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

From Adam came Eve, and from Mary came Jesus.  God's plans often appear backwards to man, but are effective none the less.  The tides of corruption did change.  Rome and its Caesars no longer exist as the rulers of the earth.  Most of the earth today knows His name.  His story and teachings offer guidance to human beings in search of truth.  His teachings reflected His manger birth; they were simple and appealed to the poor.  They did not appeal to pomp or ceremony as much as they focused on freedom and compassion.  He spoke of the spiritual world and taught the value of forgiveness and love.  In other words, he restored the imbalance that threatens families today.

I believe that marriage is the peace accord between Men and Women.  I believe that faithful marriage rests on a cornerstone of faith.  Children base their notion of a Heavenly Father from their earthly father.  Son's model their behavior on what they observe from their dads.  Derelict, abusive, or unfaithful fathers basically repeat what they learned from their own models.  Daughters too are affected as their relationships with men are strongly influenced by their father figures.  Abusive mothers who criticize and henpeck their husbands basically send the message to their daughters that emasculation is the way to communicate with men which hurts both genders.  Due to the nature of biology, mothers are inextricably bonded to their child through the process of pregnancy; however, without further care the child will soon perish after birth.  This is why women must be selective when choosing a suitable partner in raising children and men the same.  In today's society, more emphasis is given to selfish instant gratification without care to the consequences of flippant behavior.  More and more children are growing up in broken house holds or worse yet, not being given a chance at life at all.  Human nature is once again taking hold as the material world increases while the spiritual world declines.

Never having been married myself, I can only use what I have observed.  I know that marriage is only the beginning.  The relationship will endure many trials and tribulations.  There will be tests of conviction and character.  There will be failures and forgiveness.  There must be Love in order to overcome.

I believe that in order to redeem ourselves from sin, we must have faith.  Faith can be practiced and developed through habits of fidelity.  When we can be trusted with small things, then we are equipped to handle the big matters.

Then we can be truly faithful to God, and His breath within our own souls, and ultimately to each other.