GOD IN A BOX
I have quite a few discussions with other people about my faith and how much I depend on my faith to help me through this journey called Life. You see life is a journey and the one thing we all have in common. We all have the same beginning by being born and we all have the same ending when we die. What we do and accomplish in between is our life here on this earth. What do you think of this statement ?
Life asked Death, “Why do people love me and hate you?” Death replied, “Because you are a beautiful lie and I’m a painful Truth.”
I believe what you think of that statement will depend a lot on where you are at on your journey. How old you are and what is going on in your life at this point in time. Part of the beautiful lie we are told when we were young is "Work hard and do well and live happily ever after." Well the grey area here is the ever after part. If we all die (Which we do) where is the ever after part ? Is it after we die ? Many religions believe so. The challenge that religion has today with our increase in knowledge and reduced faith in government and society as a whole is we refuse to believe blindly in anything and want proof. I should rephrase that to mean most intelligent normal thinking people. Radical religious believe is still behind many of societies problems and atrocities. My intelligence tells me harming anyone in the name of God is simply wrong. That to me is a non negotiable fact as it is to most of us. If you believe in God or not (because no one can prove God exists ) You have to admit we live in a world which is full of both good and evil. When something good happens we tend to attribute that to God and when something evil happens we tend to attribute that to the Devil.
Now no one can deny the power that someone's belief in God can accomplish. All through history many individuals have been prepared to die and have died for that belief. I personally admire Christ who died on the cross and to my knowledge never intentionally harmed anyone. Today terrorist suicide bombers blow innocent people up in the name of God. All through history there have been more wars and more people die because of religious differences than most other causes. If nothing else hindsight should tell us all that those wars, battles and struggles accomplished little for mankind other than to separate us behind insurmountable walls of disagreement.
I personally do not believe you can put God in a box ! By that I mean each religion defines God and puts that interpretation of God in their box . So which religion has the right God and if they do is God in the right box? The problem arises because the box is built by mankind. No I'm sorry God did not build your box. No offense to anyone when I say that. I believe in God with all my heart and I believe you should believe in God whatever you conceive God to be. I also believe you have the right to follow any faith or religion you want including not believing in God. I also believe if your faith causes any harm to another human being that faith is wrong.
I understand that what I believe probably means nothing to you and certainly nothing to those individuals who commit their lives to doing good work in the name of God. There is no better life to live and no better reward than knowing you have helped your fellow man. You are blessed and you don't need me to tell you that. This article is meant to define the personal relationship with God that is so important to me in my life and explain how it is so real and thrives in my heart outside all the religious criticism that can attempt to erode it. You see God quite simply is my best friend. You see my God fits in no box. The only place my God resides is in my own heart. Our conversations are one sided and he often answers my questions in ways I don't understand. He has revealed himself or herself to me through circumstances I've experienced in my life. Through my life's journey of struggles and strife I have become more convinced of the value of this cherished personal relationship. I have learned that relationship is the one thing in this life nobody can take from me. All else can be. When I die (Which I will) I hope God has a plan for me but it doesn't matter to me if there is nothing and that my life is just over. I feel that way because I had the wonderful privilege of knowing God in this life and that more than any of my worldly accomplishments has made this journey worthwhile and rewarding for me.
In closing God gave us all the same gift. That gift is freedom of choice. None of us can control what other people do. We can only control how we react to what they do. The belief that a good and loving God would not let all the suffering and terrible things happen here on earth is false. God seldom interfere's here on earth. The proof of that to me is Christ's Crucifixion. Mankind chose to crucify Christ and God chose not to interfere. That to me is proof that this earth is in our hands and the decisions made by us will ultimately determine man's destiny. We need to chose wisely. Is Heaven a wonderful lie ? I hope not. Is there life after death? I hope so. I can't prove anything to anyone. I just know what my experience has been knowing God in this lifetime and that gift is available to us all by choice.
I'll stop preaching now.
Have a great Fall and God Bless
Larry
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