Seeing God With New Eyes

I've been reading a book lately called See With New Eyes by Ty Gibson. The idea behind the book is to reset the reader's picture of God. You see, God has been misrepresented. Sometimes, a lot of the time, by the church. Now you're about to say, "Whoa! You're a Christian. How dare you say the church has gone wrong!" Well, my first loyalty should be to God, not the church. So let's get something straight here. The church has fucked up.

Start with this: have you ever heard a "fire and brimstone" sermon? They used to be more common approximately a century ago and previous. The modern day equivalent is the "Revelation and the End Times" sermon. The basic premise behind the sermon? Scare people into coming to church. By painting a picture of a horrible death and a harsh, destructive God, the church has tried to convert unbelievers. And look how well that's worked. Some years ago, I remember hearing some statistics regarding "Revelation sermon" converts. There was a lot of cheering because a number of people had converted. However, within a year, the majority (probably 90% or more) had left. The cause? Couldn't say for sure, but I can make a guess--things didn't add up. The church's message to the infidels and its message to the believers said two different things. "The end is coming! God is going to destroy you for your wickedness! Convert now!" vs. "God wants to save you. God forgives. God is love." Can you see a bit of a dichotomy? Can you understand why people would be confused? Why people might think that Christianity is full of crap?

And don't get me started on the Crusades. I'll just say bad idea.

But back to the original topic. The church has misplaced its picture of God. God really is love. And we need to reread our Bibles with that in mind. For instance (and I just read this a few minutes ago), let's revisit the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve have eaten the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. As a consequence for their disobedience, God curses both man and woman and kicks them out of the garden. Pause here. When you previously heard/read the story, did you ever imagine God being stern or angry? That's the picture that I grew up with. Creation had started fine, but once mankind screwed up once... punishment! But what if... what if that picture is incorrect? What if God wasn't angry at that time? What if He was sad? What if He was crying? Let's revisit the scene. God has just found His son and daughter hiding from Him. They used to run to Him, laughing. And now they cringe away at the sound of His footsteps. At the sound of His voice. He knows what they've done. He knows that the consequence must follow. But He doesn't want to do it. "This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you." You remember your parents telling you that just before a spanking? Where do you think they got that phrase from? I'd like to imagine that God was thinking something along those lines, if not saying it, at that time. With tears running down His face, the Father told his children that their lives would be difficult and painful. And then He gave them some new clothes and gently pushed them out of His garden and locked the gate behind them. Can you hear the "pit, pat" of tears falling to the ground? Those aren't from Adam and Eve. They've already gone over the hill. Who's left?

Does that change your picture of God a little? Do you begin to see? I like to think I have.

Life Update

Oi. It's been a long time since my last post. I guess it's the loss of continuity. You forget to do something once and promise yourself that you'll do it later. Then a week rolls around and you haven't done it. You push the next instance aside and the length of time increases. Eventually, you just forget that you haven't done it. I need to get back into the habit of writing on a semi-regular basis. It's good for me. Helps me to communicate. To think. To imagine. To grow.

So... on to the big question: What have I been up to? Well, first and foremost, I got married. Might be a little hard to believe, but there it is. I finally went and did it. And... I kinda like it. I also moved. Downstairs. Since I'm not working yet, this is a purely financial decision. Once I'm up and running (not literally, I hope), we'll find an apartment. So I'll be in town for at least another year. After that... who knows? God may decide I'll be a greater help elsewhere.

Other news. I'm trying to shift my sleeping hours. Now that I'm entering the "real" world (of work and drudgery), I'll need to get up at a decent hour and sleep at a decent hour. Or else I won't have a job for very long. Might take a while to adjust. And I'm also adjusting to sleeping with someone else in the bed. Well... life's tough, I guess. Anyways. That's probably enough for now. Don't want to overexert myself on the first post since the break. =D

Catch-up

It's been almost a month since my last post. Probly not a good thing. It's not good to go too long without writing, without expressing myself a little. Doesn't mean that it's necessary to post good thoughts or bad thoughts. It's just good to put thoughts down every once in a while.

A few things to report for the last while. Graduated. Kind of a big step. Finished my college tour with a BS in BS (otherwise known as English Education), an AS in Computer Information Systems, a Religion minor, a Leadership Certificate, Honors student, and Cum Laude. Needless to say, I think I spent my 5 1/2 years well. More recently, life's had its ups and downs. Nothing too horrible. The weekend's been good. Just today I got two different kinds of homemade pie and found out that some paperwork is in process. Also got to hang out with some friends for half the day. Watched a movie, ate some pasta, played some games, and had odd/philosophic conversations - not necessarily in that order.

Still a few things that are up in the air, though. Looking for a job, need to figure out housing soon, wanna make myself a set of Mandalorian armor... Life's tough. Big decisions to make. But I'll get to those... when I get to them. Soon. Until then... =)

Pissed

Ugh. Now I'm kinda pissed. I just want to put the world on Stop. I want to lose the self-control. I just want to break things. Why do I never get to break things?



May 1, 2:05 a.m. - Update: Still pissed. Same reason. Same frustration. No solution in sight. I really just want to get away from everything and everyone.

Maybe...

A friend of mine recently posted a YouTube video. A lot of vids have been popping up of late. This one, however, caught my eye. It's something that I'd seen before. Something that I appreciated. Something that spoke to me. Take a few minutes to watch it.




It's one thing to think you're good. It's another to assume that everyone else should know that as fact. But when the man who is lauded as the king of the game speaks, you should stop and listen. I like what Michael has to say. He doesn't emphasize natural ability. His emphasis is on hard work, dedication, and love of what you do. That's what made him great. That's what made people love him.

I could probably say the same thing about Gretzky and hockey. Didn't see Gretzky getting in a lot of fights on the ice. Again, it was his hard work, his dedication, and his love of the game that made people recognize him as the best in the game.

Maybe... we should all think about what we aspire to. Maybe... we should all be concerned more with hard work, dedication, and love of what we do, instead of our ability. And maybe... we can reach the top.

South Side

Rather randomly, feeling a little South Side.

Life was supposed to be

Life was supposed to be more
More than unconscious mornings,
Sleepy afternoons,
Semi-functional evenings,
And late nights

Life was supposed to be full
Full of student papers and red ink,
A whistling tea kettle,
A purring cat,
And the bliss of two rings.

Life was supposed to be loaded
Loaded with stomach-wrenching chuckles,
Hugs from madly marvelous maidens,
Warm summer smiles,
And peace

Life was supposed to be forty-two
Alas, life is a question
And I don't know what it is