That really is the question. A few thoughts about being and non-being…
First, George MacDonald:
“There could have been no darkness but for the light. Without God there would not even have been nothing; there would not have existed the idea of nothing, any more than any reality of nothing, but that He exists and called something into being. Nothingness owes its very name and nature to the being and reality of God.”
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George MacDonald, Unspoken Sermons
Like fireworks in my brain, Athanasius:
“The presence and love of the Word had called them into being; inevitably, therefore when they lost the knowledge of God, they lost existence with it; for it is God alone Who exists, evil is non-being, the negation and antithesis of good.
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As they had at the beginning come into being out of non-existence, so were they now on the way to returning, through corruption, to non-existence again.
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It was unworthy of the goodness of God that creatures made by Him should be brought to nothing through the deceit wrought upon man by the devil; and it was supremely unfitting that the work of God in mankind should disappear, either through their own negligence or through the deceit of evil spirits.
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The solidarity of mankind is such that, by virtue of the Word’s indwelling in a single human body, the corruption which goes with death has lost its power over all.
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For the human race would have perished utterly had not the Lord and Savior of all, the Son of God, come among us and put an end to death.”
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St. Athanasius, On the Incarnation
On being, from Paul:
“The God who made the world and everything in it…gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth…God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being.”
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Acts 17:24-28, NIV
And in conclusion, only Jesus could and does restore our existence in God:
“Apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.”
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John 15:5, Amplified Bible
Existence disconnected from Life is futility. While final and lasting death has been defeated, to experience the fullness of the life for which we were saved, we must lean into the grip of God as our source of Life.
This is where my thoughts are today, and I wanted to share.
kingdom grace 
Reminds me of what Paul wrote in Colossians 3;
Tom
Linda, you wrote;
Good to see you Tom. That does sound like a good topic. I wanted to communicate the aspect of accessing the Life that is available to us in God. For now I will respond with this from Philippians 3:12 –
“Not that I have now attained or have already been made perfect, but I press on to lay hold of and make my own, that for which Christ Jesus has laid hold of me and made me His own.”
Good stuff Linda. Reminds me how futile acts and things are when done from our flesh.
Thanks Bob, I enjoyed the conversation at your place this week.
Nice to see you back Linda ~ you’ve been missed on the blogosphere!
I believe that many of us brought up in or converted to evangelical Christianity haven’t much of a clue as to who we are. Yes we can quote texts from Paul’s mystical epistles but a little niggle still wriggles around inside us.
In my recent experience a knowledge of ‘I’ has been an essential in order to more fully understand our union with the Divine and each other.
Unfortunately a stripping down of the false ‘ego’ self, indeed the good lookin’ religious self needs to take place, often through a transpersonal crisis, before we can fully awaken to our ‘I’ and to the Spirit who flows in and out of our being like the tides of the sea,
Awareness, observing ourSELVES and all around us is a key to traveling further along the road of Being. Heavy religious disciplines promise much but ultimately don’t deliver.
Blessings
Dylan
Dylan, thank you for the welcome back. I am having a bit of trouble re-engaging with the blog. There is a lot on my heart and mind that I am somewhat unclear how to process or present. However, I am hopeful that after my latest remodeling project, I will have time to step back in to regular blog posting.
If I understand your thoughts correctly, I agree that a stripping down of the false self is an important and necessary step of transformation leading to drawing life and identity from Christ.
I know the feeling Linda – a few years back I felt like a car stripped right down with even the engine thrown out – it felt like hell but in hindsight turned out to be Divine Love releasing me from my angry ego prison.
Looking forward to your new posts. Folk will be drawn to your vulnerability and new growth!
Blessings
Dylan
God and his existence is real as the air we breath.whoever deny or question the reality of god is living in a fool’s paradise.