Dear seahorse1 and everyone else,
Thank you for your kind replies. Seahorse1, I guess I forgot to state that I'm not a Christian. But I appreaciate your heartfelt response and thank you. I guess the closest way to describe me would be pagen. I am still exploring how I think and feel about God/Goddess/Universe, etc. I think there may be many Gods and yet one God, like how Hindus perceive the Brahma/Vishnu/Shiva trinity. Or maybe there is one God and each person/sect/religion has their own awareness and experience of God. Whichever way is fine with me.
A funny, delightful thing has happened for me. After years of being an atheist, and then deciding that my mind and heart were changing,I had been praying and meditating, though I couldn't feel anything much in the way of God. Recently, I had a wonderful experience of companionship with a loving, peaceful, fun God. It was very exciting! I can't explain it exactly, it was an inner voice replying to my questions, ideas, etc. And it was a very close presence. And there was a lot of interaction like I've never had before. I talked to my shrink about it and asked him if he thought I was going a little crazy. He said no, that if I was crazy then he would have to be crazy because that is how he experiences God. Cool, huh!?!