by AlicetheCurious » Tue Feb 21, 2006 11:44 am
Floyd, how can we possibly judge God's motives? What I do feel perfectly competent to do, on the other hand, is to judge people's actions.<br><br>We live in the same boat, sink or swim together, so our actions do matter to each other.<br><br>By the way, what is a Christian? Because the word definitely means different things to different people, therefore it means very little to me.<br><br>If by a Christian, you mean someone who believes that Jesus is God's only begotten Son, born through immaculate conception with the Virgin Mary, who suffered and died on the cross for our sins and was miraculously resurrected on the third day, then that is one thing.<br><br>If by a Christian you mean someone who believes that "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind", and "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself", "on these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets", well, that is something very different. <br><br>Speaking from personal experience, one can fit a definition of "Christian" without necessarily fitting the other.<br><br>Sorry if it offends your sensibilities, Floyd, but the first definition means nothing to me. The second, on the other hand, I find infinitely intriguing.<br><br>Please note the interesting paradox in the two commandments above: you are to love God with ALL your heart, soul and mind, but you are to love your neighbour and yourself -- with what, if ALL your heart, soul and mind are already committed? <br><br>One way to resolve this paradox, is to define one's neighbor and oneself as somehow within the definition of God. If so, this has enormous implications, not only for how we treat ourselves and others, but for our purpose in living, our "mission" if you will.<br><br>Because if we are part of God, or one aspect of God, or if God can be loved THROUGH oneself or other people, who are therefore closely related to God, then why would we not know this?<br><br>There are three possible answers. One, is that we are NOT part of God, and that is why we feel so separate from Him and from each other.<br><br>The other is that we are meant to remain ignorant and blind until and unless God chooses to "save" us at his whim and pleasure.<br><br>The third is that we are meant to find the truth through our efforts and seeking. This is a hypothesis, and like all hypotheses, needs to be tested empirically, ie, in the real world.<br><br>If the hypothesis is true, of course, then the separation between ourselves and others, between ourselves and the world we live in, is part of the deception we must struggle to overcome. The "real world" then exists as a spiritual feedback mechanism; as the computer people say, "garbage in, garbage out". <br><br>In that case, it should be a simple matter to devise some experiments to see if the results are consistent with our hypothesis. One experiment would involve making internal changes in one's attitude and behaviour, monitoring any commensurate changes in one's surroundings, and then noting how such changes in one's external reality in turn, further transform one's inner reality, and so on.<br><br>By the way, a deceptively simple but brilliant novel that discusses this very process, is Paulo Cuelho's "The Alchemist". I cannot recommend it enough.<br><br>Within the vast sea of humanity, there are approximately 6 billion living stories, not to mention the knowledge encoded in every rock, plant, river and star. If everything is part of the One, then men and women who struggle for enlightenment in incredibly diverse ways, in the far-flung corners of the world, will have more common principles and ideas than disparities. In any case, learning about the experiences of others who have struggled for enlightenment could be inspirational or on the other hand, provide valuable warnings about some of the dangers others have met.<br><br>Interestingly, "light" is one metaphor for truth, wisdom and God that is common to all religions and philosophies. One property of light is that, not only does it allow one to see things that were formerly hidden, but its source is very difficult to hide. Light does not need to DO anything, nor to persuade -- just by existing, it makes the darkness fade and attracts those who want to see.<br><br>Maybe if more people understood "spreading the gospel" to mean "being a light" or providing through their own behaviour living proof of the truth of their beliefs, the false dichotomy that too often divides faith in God from Love, would not exist.<br><br>The question would therefore never be: are you a Christian? Jew? Muslim? Buddhist?<br><br>but would be:<br>"Do you glow?" <p></p><i></i>
