Are We God’s ‘Boots On the Ground’?
Photo by Artem Sapegin
Who is this aliveness I am?
Is it not the Holy Blessed One?¹
— Menachem Nachum
Tzelem Elohim:
"The image and likeness of God."
This is who we really are.
Just as a wave is the image and
likeness of the ocean that waves it,
so are we the image and
likeness of God who peoples us.
The wave carries the ocean
into its world, we carry godliness into ours.
We do not have to earn our connection with God;
it is our essence.
We have only to remember it,
to act from it,
and to celebrate it.²
— Rami Shapiro
The task of life is learning
to make my ears the ears of God
so that I can hear the world's cry for help.
Learning to make my eyes
the eyes of God so that I can see
the opportunities to relieve the brokenness.
Learning to make my hands
into the healing hands of God...³
— Edward Feinstein
You are holy, because I,
your God YHWH, am holy.
– Leviticus 19:2 LSV
[God says]
I am going to place on the earth a vicegerent
[a person regarded as an earthly representative of God]
epitomizing every reality and
the summation of every divine name.⁴
— Quran 2:30
[Each of us is]
the compound idea of infinite Spirit,
the spiritual image and likeness of God,
The full representation of [divine] Mind.⁵
– Mary Baker Eddy
The God-idea [Divinity]
is the source of all action.
And because of that
I have action—
not because I originated it.⁶
— Betty Albee
If not us, who?
If not now, when?⁷
— John F. Kennedy
We are God's witness to the divine creation.
We are the consciousness by means of which
God sees God’s own manifestations.⁸
— Vivian May Williams
You must know that every movement you make
is bound up with the will of the Creator.
That is why it is written:
“Noah walked with God.”
For every movement is made
through the impulse given by God.
Noah clung to God
with such very great devotion
that it seemed to him that,
whenever he walked,
God was moving his feet.⁹
— Martin Buber
Sacred traditions describe individuals as:
The reflection of God
The manifestation of God
The expression of God
The emanation of God
The extension of God
The son/daughter of God
The image and likeness of God
A full representation of God
A child of God
The offspring of God
An idea of God
The outcome (coming out) of God
An heir of God
A joint heir with Christ
The evidence of God
The radiance of His glory
The exact representation of His nature
The appearance of God
An impartation of God
The effect of God
The temple of the Living God
The vicegerent of God
to name a few!
Waves of the Ocean
[1] This is the concluding line in a chanting song by the late Rabbi David Zeller from the teaching of Rebbe Menachem Nachum of Chernobyl. He marvels at the breath of God enlivening us. • https://wellspringsofwisdom.com/alive-song-breath-live/ • 02.26.2022 AX 6816
[2] Rami Shapiro, @One daily message 05.16.2001 AX 1833
[3] Edward Feinstein, The Pillars of Life, Valley Beth Shalom • https://www.vbs.org/worship/meet-our-clergy/rabbi-ed-feinstein/sermons/pillars-life • 02.20.2023 AX 4337
[4] Mukhtar H. Ali, Ibn al-Arabi, The Greatest Master On Knowledge, God, and Sainthood, (The Warburg Institute, School of Advanced Studies, University of London, London, UK, 2020) AX 7223
[5] Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 591 AX 1895
[6] Betty Albee, Institute of Metaphysical Science, • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkIWPemshFc • 10.11.2022 AX 8095
[7] John F. Kennedy, First mentioned on July 15, 1960 when accepting nomination for the U.S. presidency. This quote is often confused with and possibly inspired by a quote from Hillel the Elder who said,
If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
But if I am for my own self only, what am I?
And if not now, when?
– Hillel the Elder
Pirkei Avot 1:14
See also: https://sefaria.org/English_Explanation_of_Pirkei_Avot.1.14.2?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en • 02.02.2023 and https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/life-of-john-f-kennedy/john-f-kennedy-quotations • 11.26.2024 AX 8096 AX 8097
[8] Vivian May Williams, Understanding God (DeVorss & Co., 1938), p. 55 AX 8071
[9] Martin Buber, Ten Rungs: Collected Hasidic Sayings, (Citadel Press, 1995), p. 23 and @One daily message from Rami Shapiro, 04.19.1999 AX 1488
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