"The creation of Adam" by Michelangelo, portraying the divine as something situated in the brain.
The problem set into context
The word "god" is today seldom used. If you ever bump into it, it is most likely playing the role of punching bag for someone sharpening their heavyweight intellectual right hook, or simply as continuation to the far more popular words "oh my".
Truly, terms such as "god, "the soul" and "the divine" have to the modern mind lost their legitimacy and been banished to the outer rim of what no longer is to be taken seriously, sentenced to live out the rest of their deceitful lives together with other superstitions like "unicorns" and "bed monsters".
How did this come to be?
The initiator of this entered the scene a few centuries ago; science would be the pretender to the throne, calling for the end to intellectual oppression. The religious has since then had to give way to the up-and-coming reason of man, whose rationality would become the new light guiding our civilization forward.
However, it has been an inadequate replacement.
For religion was not always the despot has it is made out to be. Its charge was to equip us with tools by which we could make sense of the world and our own place in it. Religion served little as an explanation behind worldly phenomena, claims of which most of the present-day critic is aimed at, but rather as the beacon needed to shine way through a confusing existence. In removing the oppressor, science also had to pick up this responsibility, and carrying it became part of its agenda, even though it's methods only could provide ways determining what constitutes the objective world, not how we should place our feet in it.
So, having thrown ourselves into existential chaos, my goal with this series will be to present a way back, on the level of the individual, by offering him an interpretation of the religious foundation, namely the stories. How can these, which to past people held enough truth to acquire "religious" importance, serve ME?
Yes, I sincerely believe that it is through the resurfacing of these ideas, that one best comes to a whole understanding of ones mind, and in doing so refuse to be unknowingly possessed by them. Instead, by becoming familiar with what drives you; what you REALLY want and need, you will better be able to find meaning and purpose in life, while also avoiding unnecessary suffering.
Sounding far-fetched? Perhaps. But know that I am being genuine when I say that all want to is to further the individual. To help in unlocking his or her limitless potential. And that includes you.
And this is the best way I could ever do so.
For now I will leave you with just this and hopefully some curiosity as well.
In the next part, I will begin to unite the seemingly opposites found between science and religion, first by outlining what it means for something to be true, an understanding of which is quintessential in shedding light on the structures our minds build in order to keep suffering at bay, from where we will discern why exactly I have looked to stories for a solution.
Are you hyped or wuuuuut?!?