God, cocreator

We’ll never know for sure where God has touched the world. If he’s better than the best among us, maybe all that hiding was the plan all along.

The creator you won’t find

We’re finding out a lot of things about the beginnings of the universe. We’re just about to map the workings of the brain. It’s becoming quite hard to claim that God is necessary for the universe to be the way it is. Every day, we fill the gaps of our knowledge of life and physics, gaps where God used to be the occupant. No more.

Claiming that God was the creator used to be pretty evident, mostly unquestionable. Now, it’s getting clear that God isn’t needed for anything about the universe. Certainly not its evolution, and not even its beginnings.

We’re left pondering why anyone would believe in God in the first place. What’s the use? There’s no ground to sustain the belief. There’s no proof to be found.

And yet…

How greatness works

At the same time, we’re finding out some things about how greatness works, too. In the past couple decades, researchers have polled some of the best among us to see what was so special about them.

These people are caring yet decisive, thoughtful yet performant, skillful yet trusting. They make others feel no limit about their personal growth yet they’re fully in charge.

Balanced isn’t the right word to describe them; these people aren’t just a little good at a lot of things, they’re very good at opposite things at the same time. They’re living paradoxes. They know not to fall in the trap of thinking in opposites, they find a way to achieve opposing things.

They also don’t get stuck on pre-conceptions or conclusions; they find solutions where no one was looking. They’re creative.

The best of the best have a lot to give to others. They’re the best bosses to have, since they make you feel like you’re the boss and get out of the way. They setup an environment where you achieve the group’s goals and also come out a better person. They take care of the whole thing.

Getting to great

In the book Leadership agility, Bill Joiner lists five stages of maturity, describing the levels at which leaders operate. Here they are:

The top three levels are the ones that great leaders operate in. They’ve crossed an invisible barrier, a developmental ceiling, that forced them to shed their ego. Instead of achieving what their ego wants done, they achieve what needs to get done.

They allow others to have room to achieve, they allow everyone to participate. They not only create — they also allow everyone to cocreate.

The Cocreator¹

As a seeker and a believer, this ladder of greatness points upward, and I recognize to whom it points. After understanding how these great people work, I started questioning my own ideas about God and started making new parallels.

Of course, God is not bound by ego, he’s not interested in his own agenda nor is he expeditive. He couldn’t be if he’s more mature than the best of us.

It’s no coincidence that God is so hidden, I think. Even though God’s actions can’t be measured, it becomes apparent to me that he couldn’t make them measurable, not if he’s interested in our freedom.

I don’t know that there’s a creator of the universe (not as a fact anyway), but if he’s more mature than all of us, being a creator would be too small a role. I bet he’s been the cocreator of the universe, from the very start:

Matter organizes itself by itself. Organized matter becomes simple life. Simple life grows into organized life. Organized life becomes intelligent life. Intelligent life becomes spiritual. Spiritual matter seeks greatness. Spiritual matter understands that there is no proof of God, and yet chooses to believe, freely. Spiritual matter chooses to participate — to cocreate — in building the kingdom.

How majestic! What an act of trust!