Keith Giles Touches the Elephant

God is the space between us, and the space within us, and the reality beyond space and time.

I am constantly pulling at the thread of who or what is God is. How does our perception of the divine affect our sense of ourselves and others? How does this influence our connection to our intuition and our creativity? What makes certain experiences feel sacred?

I’m curious about the way other people of all spiritual backgrounds perceive these things, and so I invite them to answer the Touching the Elephant Questionnaire. Perhaps the thing that most connects us as humans is our desire to share our thoughts about life’s great mysteries, even when we are stammering and speaking in riddles.

Here, author Keith Giles responds.

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Keith Giles is a former pastor who left the pulpit over a decade ago to follow Jesus. He’s been interviewed on CNN with Anderson Cooper, USA Today, Fox News, BuzzFeed and hundreds of other podcasts and radio programs. He’s a regular contributor to John Fugelsang’s Sirius XM Radio show, “Tell Me Everything”, as part of the weekly “God Squad” segment, and he is the founder and co-host of the “Heretic Happy Hour Podcast”, and his solo podcast, “Second Cup with Keith.”

Keith is also the best-selling author of the 7-part “Jesus Un” book series focused on Deconstruction of the Christian faith, and the “Sola” book series focused on embracing the mystery of the Divine. His latest book, “The Quantum Sayings of Jesus: Decoding the Lost Gospel of Thomas” explores non-duality and Divine Oneness.

How has your perception of God evolved over time? What language would you use to describe who, or what God is now?  

God used to be the big old man in the sky. God was a friend I could talk to. God was “out there somewhere.”

Today, God is closer than my own heartbeat, and as near to me as my own breath. God is about transformation and healing, and growing and love, and joy and silence. God is about connection and relationship. God is the space between us, and the space within us, and the reality beyond space and time.

Sometimes I struggle with the nouns related to God. I play with speaking to God as “Papa”, or “Source”, or “the Quantum Field.” But, I’m moving away from language that frames God as a male, or as a “Lord” who rules over me. Instead, I’m back to relating to God as a friend I can talk to, a part of myself within that listens, and understands, and guides me through this life.

How has your sense of yourself, or your identity, shifted with your changing perception of God? 

I no longer think of myself as someone who has to crack the code on my life, as if there’s only one perfect path that I have to follow. Nowadays, I live my life as a wide-open adventure where I can choose – in every moment – who I want to be, and what I want to do, and where I want to go.

I’m not a “sinner” or a “worm” who doesn’t deserve God’s love or attention. I’m someone who is created in the image of a God who is love, so love is my DNA, and I am forever loved and forever drawn to love others.

I see myself as an expression of God’s consciousness and someone who is one with God and, therefore, one with everyone else who is also one with God in the same way.

That oneness is what I call the Quantum reality that Jesus was speaking of when he said that “In that day you will realize this: I am in the Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” Each of us needs to awaken to that reality of Divine Oneness with God and with everyone else, as Jesus did. Once we do that, we’re empowered and inspired to love our neighbor as ourselves, to study war no more, to care for the orphan and the widow, to welcome the refugee and the immigrant, to embrace the poor and the homeless, the “other” who is not “other” but, miraculously, the very same sort of expression of the Divine as I am, and we all are.

How has your relationship/responsibility to others been influenced by your perception of the Divine? 

Realizing that I am made of the same Quantum Consciousness as everyone else has helped me to love everyone I meet and to look for the common ground between us all. If we look hard enough, we’ll find it. This shared humanity and shared Divine Consciousness allows me to see and relate to other human beings as another human being and not as a “Christian” or a “Democrat/Republican”, or an “American” or whatever.

Those labels are artificial constructs designed to keep us divided, and separation is the great illusion that prevents us from seeing reality as it truly is.

Share a story about a time when you made an intuitive or creative decision that seemed to make little logical sense, but you felt compelled to act on it anyway. 

I think nearly every decision I make feels like it’s something that makes no logical sense but, nevertheless, must be done as soon as possible. In the last few years or so I have followed my intuition to write a book, commit myself to writing more poetry, experiment with writing science fiction, start a weekly Zoom community to discuss Rick Rubin’s book, “The Creative Act”, reach out to an old friend from High School to meet for coffee every month, submit a proposal for a new Sirius XM Radio show, and take a day off to just listen to music I love and spend more time with my wife and son.

Learning to trust your own intuition is one of the most important skills we can develop as spiritual beings and creative people. Religion trains and conditions us to mistrust our inner voice, but true spiritual freedom allows us to listen to that still, small voice where all Truth resides.

What feels sacred to you right now?

I used to meditate a lot and spend time in silence at least two or three times a week. Now, I spend more time taking gratitude walks around my neighborhood. I’m also trying to find and develop my inner poetry by getting up early, pouring some coffee and sitting in front of my keyboard to write whatever comes to my mind. Most of it is garbage, but once in a while something really beautiful flows out and I’m there to see it and capture it on the page.

I’m also learning to enjoy the sacred in every moment. Whether it’s sitting in the silence of the morning before everyone else is awake, or walking around my neighborhood with my wife in the evenings, or watching a movie with my sons, everything is sacred if you take the time to see it and name it.

I’d also say that laughter is sacred to me. I so appreciate the ability to see the humor in our everyday lives, and to share that laughter with people around me. The more we laugh, they more we celebrate our shared humanity and divine oneness. And God knows we can all use more of that. 

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