My friend and sometimes correspondent Tom Mahon, a writer on technology and spirituality, recently put a brilliant essay on his blog about understanding evolution as both a scientific and spiritual force... without having to resort to "intelligent design" as it is traditionally approached. While the whole thing is excellent, I particularly enjoyed the phrase, "god (a placeholder word for a reality we can't fathom)." As a Bahá'í, I couldn't agree more with this assessment of the word "god." Bahá'u'lláh sayeth:
"Every attempt which, from the beginning that hath no beginning, hath been made to visualize and know God is limited by the exigencies of His own creation — a creation which He, through the operation of His own Will and for the purposes of none other but His own Self, hath called into being. Immeasurably exalted is He above the strivings of human mind to grasp His Essence, or of human tongue to describe His mystery." (Gleanings, p318)