FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2021 - LOVE WINS / THEOLOGY/PHILOSOPHY

 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2021 - LOVE WINS FRIDAY.

In my writing this week, I was trying to understand why I got so tired on my trip.

First I learned that I needed God.  Yes, there were a few times along this trip that I met up with God.  One of the first was on the first day of the trip (Monday, November 22, 2021) where I visited the Guadalupe Mountains, National Park.  I got high knowing (on God). I was at the high point of Texas (no, I didn’t hike/climb to the top - but I was close and I WILL get to the top in the next few years!!!)  For several miles after leaving the park, I was singing and praising God in my car.  

Second, I relearned not to go negative.  “I feel like crap” should have been replaced with “I don’t feel good now, but tomorrow I will be better!!!”  I “NEED” to be positive, I “NEED” to be a Pollyanna!!!

Third, I am frugal (aka “Cheap”) - and that isn’t a good viewpoint for me!!

Fourth, I have been trying to “hedge my bets”.

Today matches up with yesterday;’s thoughts - Am I still hedging my bets?  Am I a “Christian in Name Only” (CINO)

*****

Back to my theme - If Jesus is God (Christians say the “Second Person of the Trinity”) - then shouldn’t I be following him?  Shouldn’t I be giving my allegiance to Him?  Shouldn’t I be living as He would want me to live?  

If I remember my theology, C.S. Lewis had this statement (from Mere Christianity).  (Quoted here)

*****

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him [that is, Christ]: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic–on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg–or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse…. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon, or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

*****

Basically, Lewis says “Yea or Nay” - accept Jesus as the Son of God, the second person of the trinity.  

Now - in my very humble (and probably poorly stated opinion) - what am I going to do with God, and what am I going to do with this Jesus?  (And, ignoring the Holy Spirit aspect for now).

Did God make the world?

My answer - Absolutely.  Or, (qualifying that a little) - the world had to be made by one awesome, amazing, perfect, infinite being.  Following the common convention, I’ll call that ONE, AWESOME, AMAZING, PERFECT, INFINITE BEING - GOD!!!  (And, from my wanderings, I think that God is genderless (not male nor female), is Spirit (John 4 “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

(In terms of Christianity and the Trinity - God the Father - the creator is a definite for me - and probably a definite for many religions)

Do I know how He/She/The Force/it did it (make the world)?  Nope.  Other than there is just too much for a finite human, (or even multiple ‘coincidences’) to come together.  Were there dinosaurs?  I guess so!!  Those bones and skeletons did happen!! So, even if dinosaurs aren’t in the Bible - who am I to say there weren’t such things!!  

Now - please understand that I can’t preach (even though this may sound like preaching).  This is MY truth.  There is an expression “God had NO grandchildren” (implying God only has children).  

*****

Yes, I was raised in the upper midwest (Iowa) in a Christian home.  So, my education, training, philosophy is in that mode.  I use the Bible as my support verses - but want to think that God is way more than what little I know and can experience.  That sometimes flies in the face of Christian belief - is Christianity the only way to God?  Yes - and no. (There I go hedging my bets again).  While we see the unbelievable (okay, believable - but strange) things (like a burning bush, healing, miracles), can there be another way other than Jesus as the Messiah?  

Can a person be a Buddhist and be seeking God?  Can a person be a Muslim and be seeking God?  I think so - but I am a finite person.  “But may all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You” (Psalm 40:16 and Psalm 70:4) 

This same C.S. Lewis wrote the delightful Narnia stories and in the “Last Battle”, a man who is seeking the truth (a Calorman) finds Aslan (the Jesus figure in the books).  

*****

Time out for a break.  In my opinion, God is all-powerful, God is all-knowing, God is infinite.  If God snapped his fingers (or spoke a command), something would happen.  So … at the second of death, a Godly Buddhist who has sought after truth, love, grace all her life, God can “snap” his/her fingers and that person can be in paradise (like the theft on the cross).   That is a judgment call - from Christian scriptures that “the only way to God is through Jesus.  

I think (assume?) that all basic religions say “Our Way is the Right Way”.  Does Buddhism suggest that by meditation you can block out the world and find Nirvana?  Muslims say “There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is His Prophet”.  Jews and Christians have “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength”.  

A lot of people are searching for God

I can’t judge - I refuse to judge whether somebody is going to heaven or hell.  

*****

I used the word “satisficing” yesterday.  Can I be happy with 95% quality?  Or 90% or some other figure. Tomorrow I am playing in a concert with the Central Texas Musical Arts Symphony.  We have been rehearsing for months.  Will the concert be perfect?  Probably not - (I’m guessing I will have ‘at least’ one mistake!! <grin>).

John 10:16 says “And other sheep I have, that are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.” Are these sheep people who are truly seeking God - even though they may or may not be in the Christian sheepfold?  

Again, as I have aged, I can’t judge.  I am not perfect, I have many flaws.  I have not “walked a mile in their shoes”.  

Personal.  I’ve had good meaning people tell me I’m going to hell because I had a lifestyle outside of the norm (aka “transgender”).  I can’t say for sure.  But for me at this point in my life, this is who I am.  I am happy.

*****

I sure am glad (that in my belief system), that LOVE WINS  - and a very blind trust that God (whoever this wonderful awesome infinite being is), LOVES ME - unconditionally!!!

Oh well, moving on!!!

LOVE WINS!!

Karen