God all to often these days is a mixture of Amazon Prime, free of charge and Santa Claus. The entity that is called God, while for me it exists, it does not do so in any form, that an organized religion would recognize, though maybe their mystics would.

First principles start with a fact of nature. I am a part of this Universe, not separate from it. There are specific needs of an earth to stand on, a Sun to warm it, water to drink, and air that is breathable. Am as enmeshed in this Universe as a fly in Amber.

From the Big Bang, or maybe it was a Boom, or a Bust, onward, science has a very good record of figuring out how things evolved, and have no argument with it, on those accounts. It does not, at least at this point, provide an explanation for how what went Boom, got there, to create our present Universe, earth, et. al. Which is not to say it may not.

Given Newton's law, that energy can neither be created or destroyed, merely transformed, then the Universe to date is a transformation of energy, a force that inhabits all parts of it, in one form or another. Thought is also a form of energy, thoughts far outlast any human life, one question that I have concerning them is, are they there from the beginning or do they need a human, or some other animate intelligent being, to discover them via a receptivity to them?

Extending this further, thought, like energy, is coexistent with the Universe. What is all to often called God, is by me considered conscious energy.

Perhaps it is total projection, but if one part of the Universe can be conscious, why not the Universe as a whole? This would allow the whole to function in harmony with its parts, that function in harmony with it. It does seem the peaceful loving ones, have their prayers answered more readily, or perhaps have less need of prayers to begin with.

I like your mental construct very much, my own view is somewhat different, whereas most translate the first word in Genesis as , "In the beginning...", for me it works better as "Within the mind of God, Heaven and Earth are created." Still a mental construct, just the scale is a bit different. When one can look at any and all as a form of God, and thus see it in all things, it may be more visible.

We go about our ways, Bravo, for having the courage to express your views honestly, in depth, and being very well written.