I’m partial to the Spinozan God as a substance with infinite attributes that express an infinite and eternal essence and that’s the cause of itself. It’s the idea that God is identical with the universe, an idea which he encapsulated in the phrase “Deus sive Natura” (‘God or Nature’). In Christianity, God is characterized by three aspects: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Son part being defined by the hypostatic union between Christ’s humanity and his divine nature. All three of these aspects also expressing an infinite and eternal essence. Christian art, with its depictions of Christ and an anthropomorphic God, is one I find interesting. Its intention is to depict God as the underlying substance and as the fundamental reality that supports all else. God is intimately here with us by Christ sharing our humanity in all it’s joys to its most abject condition. God is also all around us and we’re never far away from his providence.

The older I get the more God becomes a factor in my life. I’ve always had the inclination towards the mystical but for a long time, I haven’t been religious. I’ve always been aware of God as a faceless and transpersonal being that aloofly watches over us. He’s all around us but never really with us. My greatest achievement and joy in life will be to experience the numinosity of God; nothing can top that. I remember experiencing Spinoza’s God when I was young. It was no doubt to me that he was the very fabric of the universe, the very fabric of my own being despite my finitude.