Who (or What) is God to You?

Photo by Rodrigo Rodriguez on Unsplash

This is a rather existential question pondered by theologians for thousands of years.

The idea of this post came to me as I was doing some research for a book I’m writing about the spiritual lessons we learn from our dogs.

I posted a couple title ideas on my Facebook page and asked my audience which one they liked better:

• G-O-D Spelled Backwards: Spiritual Lessons You Can Learn from Your Dog(s) — Side note: I am aware of other books with this title.
• What Dogs Teach Us About God: Spiritual Lessons from Our Canine Companions

I was surprised by the concern, if not utter contempt over the word “God” in the proposed titles.

To give you a little background on my personal perspective of God, I’m a Christian. However, because my dad’s side of the family is Jewish, I have an unbiased opinion of any particular religion. I spent my summers at the Hebrew Academy in Miami. My mother dragged my sisters and me to the Methodist church on Sundays. I celebrated Hanukkah and Christmas, Easter and Passover, Lent and Yom Kippur, New Years and Rosh Hashanah. I’ve sat Shiva and attended Shabbat dinners. I got out of school a lot.

Because I participated in so many different holidays and rituals, I developed a “just be a good person/to each his or her own” attitude…