The Beautiful Heresy- Christian Universalism

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time surely you've noticed I use G-d instead of God. It's not because I'm superstitious nor do I think it blasphemous to say or type God since it is not God's name anyway.  I'm not sure if I've explained this before.  But, I'll try to explain it now.


I write G-d for a couple of reasons. I picked up the habit when I was conversing with Orthodox Jews on-line.  Similar to not spelling out G-d's name in the time of the Hebrew Scriptures, Orthodox Jews do not write God out of respect now.  It started in written communications where the paper might have been balled up and thrown away.  It was carried over to electronic communications.  I originally started out of respect for my Jewish friends, then carried it over out of respect for G-d.

I also do not write out God because every time I see G-d, I am reminded there is no name for the indescribable, all-in-all.  There is no name that can contain G-d.  So, it's really more of a symbol than a name, in my mind.  It constantly reminds me that G-d cannot be perceived or described- not even spelled.  I had a debate on-line with someone a couple of weeks ago who thinks the name of G-d is Jehovah.  Sorry, I don't think so.   The Hebrews referred to G-d in a number of ways. Some feminine, some masculine.

Anything that puts G-d in a box is a problem for me.  I like alternating feminine and masculine pronouns for G-d again as a reminder of Her incredible expansiveness.  G-d is another way of keeping God out of the box for me.  I don't mind spelling God out.  I don't think He'll strike me down for it.  But, I prefer to try to keep in mind that my mind just can't ever wrap around G-d.

I want to thank each and every one of you who contributed to Sean's surgery and/or who passed along the information about his pending surgery and his family's financial needs.  I am so happy to be able to report that we have raised the $8,500 that his family will need to pay for his surgery and for the other expenses they will have as their 13 year old son undergoes his third open heart surgery. 



In case you missed it, Sean's story is here: Sean Masters Website  Unfortunately, it is not an uncommon one.  A family who works hard just to make ends meet is facing a financial crisis caused by a necessary medical procedure and they are uninsured or underinsured.  In this case, the Masters recently lost their state sponsored health insurance because they were making "too much money".  Ironically, just a month or so after receiving that happy news from the state, the doctors who had been trying to decide on when to schedule this necessary procedure to correct a congenital heart defect decided now is the time.  So, the Masters were being asked to come up with $5,500 in deductible and out-of-pocket medical expenses in in addition to missing work and other expenses.
This is a great example of what can happen when we come together.  A few weeks ago the Masters had no idea how they were going to pay for this.  On May 21st, we launched the appeal to see if we could help them cover some of the costs.  To our great (and happy surprise), with seven weeks to go before the surgery, we have collected all of the money necessary.  Hallelujah!