We Believe In One God

This is the first phrase of the Nicene Creed.

I suspect that the writers of the creed assumed belief in God and meant to make the point that they believe in ONE God. But before I tackle that part of the issue, it seems relevant to consider the question of belief in God. It can not be assumed that people believe in God or not, or what they mean by that.

However, while the question of belief in God may often be relevant, sometimes I think it gets in the way.

I've had people indicate that they don't believe in God, only to go on to express what sounds to me like belief in what I understand to be God. I think my understanding of who or what God is may differ from theirs.

On the other hand I've had a person talk about things they don't believe (things they apparently think church represents that I strongly disagree with), then go on to say they believe in God. That's fine. But I'm not sure what they mean when they say they believe in God. Their understanding of the meaning of church seems so far removed from mine that I'm hesitant to make assumptions.

Furthermore I have a co-worker who, because of statements they've made, I perceive to be atheist. Yet when I've referred to them as such, they've objected. I don't think they object primarily (if at all) because they wish to claim some belief in God. They indicate they object because they see the label as a way to unduly define and categorize.

I think they may be onto something. Statements of belief in God or non-belief in God call for more explanation. We might find we have more in common with those across the divide of our labels than we think. Sometimes we might find we have less in common than we would expect with those who use the same terms as we do. Either way, the labels and terminology shouldn't be allowed to stand in the way of supporting each other's pursuits in developing and nurturing our spiritual lives and connections. I wonder how often they do.