God has been tamed, it is abundantly clear now.
He is nestled safe within the walls of our churches.
Safe is how we like God to be, safe and right where we know he is.
We can go about our days arriving safely in church once or maybe twice a week,
and there God is waiting to pat us on the back.
"Good job my child, you have done well, just try and do better here."
How boring can it get?
A God that is really engaged in humanity is out there among us each day. Our companion, our friend, our coach, our challenger, but always pushing us to grow.
Good friends say they pray each day and all the time. God likes this cause he knows what you think. But God is talking too, listen and it mysteries will arrive.
As a Christian...Jesus is the ultimate un-taming of God, the unraveling, the one who said, "Free God from these temple walls, let all know that God is everywhere. Let all know that God is here for all and not bound by rules."
A thought experiment for you today: Consider if God is real or not to you?
If God is real to you, imagine the life of one who does not see God as real? There is nothing wrong with a life lived with no God, it is when we lack humbleness and strength that we do not live.
If you do not believe in God, imagine a life of one who sees God as real? It is no less to imagine a powerful force affecting our lives, for we or finite and we want to imagine beyond that. There is nothing wrong with a life lived guided by some seemingly unimaginable force, as long as it is a life filled with virtue.
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I have stopped recently to wonder why I believe in God. It often feels that for every reason I have to believe, I have three or for NOT to believe. It's a good thing I was an English major since the numbers seem to be far more in favor of not believing, but I can't seem to make myself follow that path. I believe in a God that cries with His people and for their choices, but loves His children enough to let them make their own choices. I'm not sure how a life without God would feel; where do you find hope? where do you find comfort? where do you go to be mad, hurt, and upset? I don't believe everyone needs to believe in God, especially not my God, but I can't imagine my life without my belief.
ReplyDeleteThe crazy thing about asking these questions is that it is what Methodists did well at there creation. I read an article by Clive Marsh(British Methodist) who said that Wesley's early small groups were more like "group therapy". It was a place where you were allowed to share your struggles and to ask others to hold you accountable to wrestling with those struggles.
ReplyDeleteYay for group therapy!
ReplyDeleteSince I neither believe in God nor don't believe in God, I have a hard time with these questions. If there is not a God, what is it that holds us all together in love? Is it just a survival mechanism? But survival for what purpose? Alternatively, not believing in God gives me a lack of hope. If there is no god, how do I find love? In our professional lives, we work hard for what we want to accomplish. Love doesn't seem to work that way. In terms of romantic relationships, we just wait around for them to come. If there is no God pointing them my way, how can I hope for one aside from relying on random chance?
On the other hand, if there is a God it opens up a billion questions of what/who this being is and what exactly he/she/it controls. Everytime I get close to really believing and wanting to be part of a faith, these questions push me away.
So, basically, and I mean no offense at all here because I would love to believe, not believing makes me feel guilty and sometimes hopeless and sometimes ungrateful, while believing makes me feel delusional.
Believing is impossible if you think the world can only be understood by one way of thinking, reason. Reason is the thing that has given us much of our modern conveniences and understanding. It gives us modern medicine, technology, government, and in most cases human rights. However, it is also reason which has made genocide logical to some, the atom bomb seem like a good idea, and many other atrocities. This was Niche's point, not that God is dead, but that we have no need for God anymore if we can reason the world into existence. We should not feel guilty if we do not believe in God, God does not need us to believe, God instead calls us to act for justice in the world. God is an idea, does that make God any more or less real. If I could prove God to you with science would you believe anymore? Or would you instead question the science?
ReplyDelete