Jack,

I’d agree it is a narrow definition and not the only one. Though God as authority figure has been a strong cultural element to monotheistic religions.

As Emerson said; “We are but thickened light.” That is more the spiritual essence I’m referring to, than “the old guy in the clouds.”

As Pope John Paul 2 referred to it, “the all-knowing absolute.” Which is a contradiction. Knowledge is a process of collecting and ordering information and often it’s contradictory, such as masses of specific, specialized knowledge tends to obscure and confuse a broader, more generalized point of view. Hense the need for both computers and life to constantly push the reset button and clear out excess information. Knowledge is information, but wisdom is editing. Judgement.

Consider nature as the dichotomy of energy and form. Energy radiates out, as form coalesces in. Galaxies are energy radiating out, as mass coalesces in.

We have the digestive, respiratory and circulatory systems processing the energy driving us on, along with a central nervous system to sort through and order the information precipitating out, as well as referee the emotions bubbling up. The heart/gut and the head. Motor and steering.

Society is the organic energies pushing up, as civil and cultural forms coalesce in. Youth and age, liberal and conservative.

Nature is the multitudes of life bubbling up, as natural selection prunes it back away. So there is that constant tension between the multitudes of desire and judgement having to chose...

Is God desire, that light within, seeking fuel, or is it judgement? Or is it more the yin and yang of the cycling between them?

The absolute is not an ideal, but the state where all form balances out. All the ups and downs equal the flatline.

Good and bad are not some cosmic dual between the forces of righteousness and evil, but the basic biological binary of beneficial and detrimental. The 1/0 of life.

The opposite of the absolute is the infinite. Energy radiates towards the infinite, while form coalesces toward the absolute. We fluctuate somewhere inbetween.