The palm of god

Regular readers of this blog will know these two  things about me:
a) I do not subscribe to a particular religion
b) I write quite a lot about god

So it is with those provisos in place that I want to write about ... the palm of god.

I do not believe in an anthropomorphic god. My god has neither arms nor legs nor head. And yet.... Like the moment in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, when Zaphod Beeblebrox is put into the Total Perspective Vortex, the palm of god image takes me out of the driving seat, out of importance, very small and unimportant, and into perspective in a very freeing way.

The idea for this comes from the vast gold and bronze Buddhas I saw in my travels in Thailand and Japan - thirty, or forty feet high they dwarf our humanity our small fears and worries which seem so big and all-consuming to us, and instead present a calm, all-seeing benevolence.

Close your eyes. Imagine, if you will, that you are curled in a foetal position, calm and relaxed. Whatever is worrying you starts to drift out of your head, and as you open your eyes, what was darkness and worry, now you see pure, shimmering gold all around you. Rather than a hard, cold world, rather than problems and people cramming in at you from all sides, instead you are lying alone, at peace, in the soft golden warmth of an enormous hand that cradles your body like a precious baby. You are safe, supported, warm and loved. The worries are not yours, they drift off into the vastness of infinity. You are just a tiny drop, a beloved being, cradled and safe in the hand of god. All is well.