The "Godly" debate

“Do you believe in God??” Someone asked me this today, and to be frank, I didn’t have a concrete answer. Probably a bit surprising for many of us, considering I live in India and belong to a religion which believes in the existence of 33 crore Gods!!! Probably many of my peers are facing the same dilemma, do we really believe in God? Yes it is true, we attend pooja’s, we go visit temples and bow in front of the idol, we also make a wish or two but then, how many of these actions are a personal belief and how many just to respect the custom or some elderly family member?
As kids we were taught to respect God, to fear, to pray and to believe. Our grandparents told us stories from the mythology, all of them glorifying the Gods as we know them today. Growing up, we know our mythology, but then we are we sure those events actually occurred? We have grown up belonging to a particular religion, instructed to follow its customs, and expected to stay loyal to the religion of our birth. But how relevant is it to our existence? If whatever my religion says is true, if my God is true, then does it imply that other religions are false, that their God is false? Then won’t they believe in the same? That my religion, my God is false?
I know from personal experience that not everything that happens around me or in my life is under my control. And there are times when I really don’t have an explanation for a particular occurrence. Depending on the significance of that event in my life, I term it God’s grace, luck, destiny or whatever. But a lack of explanation does not prove the existence of God does it?
Personally speaking, I am a believer, not in a particular entity or an idol or a religion, but I do believe that there are some things beyond my will or control and in such times, I just wait and watch. I believe in the positive energy and I believe in doing everything in my power. Maybe that is what some people describe as God. Maybe for some, the personification of this energy is necessary in order to believe. But then how does religion come into picture??
My science teaches me not to accept anything without a rational justification. But this same science is still unable to explain a number of natural phenomenons. Does that mean I should not believe in science? Or should I extrapolate the same logic and believe in the existence of God?
I met with a small accident a couple of months back. I wasn’t hurt much, but it could have been much worse. The incident freaked me out, to the extent that I stopped reading a book on atheism that I was carrying in my bag at that time. I still haven’t touched the book. In retrospect, it seems silly now, or probably makes it look like I do believe in God. I was scared then, for my life, for my family and such strong sentiments turned me into a believer, I was thankful to be safe and alive, and I thanked God, not a particular God, but to me it was the energy of the universe, the power of the good, as I like to think.
Maybe that is what makes people believe too, the fear of the unknown, of the things they can’t control, the uncertainty in their lives. Maybe believing in some higher power gives them the strength to move on no matter what. Maybe that’s why, people believe in God!!!