God in Nature - Paragraphs 16 and 17
When Existence Itself Is the Revelation
Before beliefs hardened into systems and rituals grew elaborate, there was something far more simple. A moment when a human being stood in the world and experienced it as Alive. Long before anyone spoke of pantheism or sacrifice or metaphysics, there was just a person encountering the living Mystery of nature and sensing something is here.
With that in mind, here is the text from Roberts for this week:
“In the hands of a group these revelations are more open to the corruption of the original than all other revelations together - a noted example being human sacrifice. Then, of course, there is pantheism - belief the material universe is the Almighty Itself. Because it is possible to weave elaborate spiritual and metaphysical systems around a true revelation, it is important to see through these mythical accruements and ritual elaborations and to recognize the original.
A particular myth to be dispelled is the belief that these religions originated solely from man’s ordinary observations of nature. Not true. Not only are the founding revelations of these “nature religions” important first steps in man’s spiritual journey, but on some level most people can relate to them. Not only is nature a medium of God’s revelation, God is both Immanent in nature and Omnipresent throughout it - the very source of its existence. So regardless of later corruptions, originally these religions are products of God’s revealing presence in nature.”
So, we find this week that Roberts is bringing us back to an elemental beginning. She is reminding us that what we call “nature religions” didn’t arise from observing the seasons or the stars, but emerged from Mystery revealing Mystery’s presence in nature itself. Before anything was built around that Mystery, before anything was distorted or misunderstood, there was a pure encounter. A knowing that Mystery is the very source of existence.
And for reasons I can’t explain that is the line that resonates most for me today, “God…the very source of [nature’s] existence.” The ramifications of this are huge because it not only means the world’s existence, but mine.
Sitting with and reflection on her words, I find myself less focused on how early revelations became distorted and more drawn to the simplicity beneath them. Long before doctrines faltered, people recognized what was right in front of them: nature is not only beautiful or practical, it is infused. It is being existed, held in being by something beyond itself. Everything is receiving its existence from a Mystery.
And what touches me most is that I, too, am being existed by that Mystery. In this breath. In this moment. In this awareness of the words it seems that Roberts invites a quiet question: do I live as though my very existence arises from Mystery’s presence? Do I allow myself to be drawn beyond ideas about Mystery and toward a lived awareness that self-existence is impossible, that it is, in fact, an illusion. I am (and you are too) an expression of unceasing generosity.
Which brings me to another question: do I honor the Mystery that is existing me? Do I give thanks, live surrendered, or shape my life around the Presence that is shaping me? And if God is truly immanent and omnipresent, then surely there must be some interior recognition available, some subtle awareness of this Presence moving around me, within me, through me.
These words ask me to soften the habitual patterns that pull my attention away and notice again that I am swimming, breathing, and being held by Mystery. Supported by a Presence that offers itself continually, even when I am not paying attention.
Speaking of not paying attention, let’s get honest. As an Enneagram Nine, I see more clearly how my patterning softens, even dulls, the full force of this revelation. I can sense the current of love, the vivid aliveness of God existing me, yet something instinctively wants to dim it. To make it more manageable. To keep it from feeling like too much.
The Nine structure tends to move away from intensity. It hesitates before anything that feels overwhelming, seeking a softer, safer, more idealized version of the world. And this week, I notice how often I relate not to the world as it truly is, but to a gentler version of it. A version that poses fewer demands. A version that keeps the fullness of Mystery’s immediacy at a comfortable distance.
To let the Mystery exist me fully means letting the real world be real. Letting the life-force within me rise rather than dim. It means allowing myself to feel the immediacy of God, not the edited version my personality prefers.
This is where the edge is. Where the invitation opens. Where something in me is quietly asking to awaken.
With all this in mind, here is a gentle invitation for us. As we move through the week, let’s notice what is existing us. Not as a concept, but as a direct and immediate experience. Pause for a moment, perhaps now, and breathe with the awareness that your breath is being given. Your existence is not self-generated. You rise, move, think, and feel within a Presence that is infinitely generous.
Let yourself sense it in the tree outside the window, in the rise and fall of the chest, in the warmth of a cup in the hand. Let the Mystery be real, and notice what awakens when you meet your life from that awareness.
