God
I see God as having no form, yet is everything at the same time, just on the invisible side of the coin. I still have no clue what God is, but it's good to know that it exists. Everything in our universe is in form, which means that everything is also formless at the same time.
So it's not a person, not a thing, not an entity, not a paradigm, not an "in-the-sky" thing, and many more. It's formless for me.
If we can "see" God, that would have to be form. Indeed, everything we "see" is form, whether physical or psychological, and whether with our eyes, or the "mind's eye." You're spot on - a "personal" God isn't God, that's a personal thought about God. God in form is not God, that's in form.
The only way to "shoehorn" God into something is to have a God in form in the first place. Unfortunately, it's very believable and people carry it as if were the actual God, and innocently lose their divine connection to the formless. If God is formless, there would be no means of shoehorn-ing it into anything at all, including religion. Put simply, try shoehorning something with no form!
Religion
Religion is in form, but I'm careful not to say form is "bad," "unnecessary," or "something to avoid." The key is whether we realize that religion is connected to the formless.
There are religions that attempt to guide people to reconnect to the divine wisdom, but unfortunately, there are also religions that separate the form and formless, making the formless disappear. So the disconnected religions are the ones that promote religion in a way it was not meant to be intended.
More interestingly, if you were to look at people within a religion, you'd find people who are connected to the wisdom and there are others in the same religion who clearly are not connected. A typical connected religious person is unlikely to promote their religion because they know it's an "inside job." The "disconnected "ones believe it's an "outside job" and thus try to get others to join their religion, usually by means that require people to give up their free will and become followers instead.
I'm blessed to have such marvelous and wise friends who are religious, including Jews and Muslims. They have enriched my experiences in incredible ways. Unfortunately, I've also had the experience of Jews and Muslims whose attitude is a total turn-off, and yet they promote their religion with such an attitude!
I'm glad that I don't have to make one person's actions an indicator of a group or religion, I can keep my thought processes about a person to the individual rather than of a group or religion anyone might belong to.
At the end of the day, there is the formless. No one will ever know what will emerge out of the formless until it has already taken on a form. But it's definitely fun to find out as we go about our lives.
As Sydney Banks said himself:
So, I suggest - don't go looking for God! Because the act of looking can only occur in the form!