I grew up in a religious home and was baptized into a religion when I was eight years old. It's assumed that an eight year old is old enough to make a decision like this, but I surely don't remember much about it. During my formative years I was taken to church by my parents and required to attend the various classes and such. I never cared for it, but it was what I had to do, seeing as how my parents were well...my parents. I attended all of the meetings and such, but it never felt right. I never understood the logic of following something blindly, just because everyone else said it was "right". When I turned 18, I almost immediately left the house and didn't attend church anymore.

My life continued as everyone's does and I was left with a lingering thought in the back of my mind as to who or what God was. I definitely believed in a higher power, something bigger than myself if you will, but it pretty much stopped there. Then something interesting happened. I didn't have any children and never really wanted any, but then my daughter was born. Experiencing this event changed my life. Suddenly it wasn't about what I thought God was or wasn't. God was obviously real, otherwise how could something like this happen? I began studying spirituality.

Through my studies of spiritual texts such as the Bhagavad-Gita, Science of Mind, and the bible, I began to learn about things like peace, forgiveness, non-judgment, and love. It was an awakening for me. The reason it happened was because of my daughter incarnating into this world. Now that she was here, I knew what love was. I not only knew what love was, but through that I knew what God was. And what was that? I think Gandhi said it best when he said, " Where love is, there God is also."

As I studied these subjects; peace, love, forgiveness, etc., My entire life changed. I stopped drinking and smoking, both of which I engaged in fairly heavily for more than fifteen years. Was I necessarily trying to stop these practices? No I wasn't, I believe it was just a natural progression of my journey. Now I wouldn't dream of wasting my time doing either practice. For me my daughter being born and me subsequently quitting drinking and smoking, was proof of God.

I gave up the notion of needing to describe or define such things as what or who God is. All I have to do is take a walk along a flowing river and I know what God is. I think Ayn Rand put it as well as I've heard it described: "God... a being whose only definition is that he is beyond man's power to conceive." That is the answer to whom or what God is. Trevor Kugler is co-founder of JRWfishing.com and an avid angler. He has more than 20 years experience fishing for all types of fish, and 15 years of business and internet experience. He currently raises his three year old daughter in the heart of trout fishing country.....Montana!

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