Chat
02-07-2016, 04:39 AM
GG, I do like what your Christian friend told you; it does have more resonance for me than an oft-repeated, and false, religious line, "God helps those who help themselves." This life is definitely a series of joys and challenges, and we all must participate. We simply cannot sit back and expect God to wipe our butt after we go to the bathroom!
I say that ... nonetheless, we each do reach a point in our lives, where we have to "let go, and let God," and that is the essence of the "I tried" statement too. I find too often, God (maybe even begrudgingly) has to step in, to clean up so many messes. The Bible speaks of God, "My heart recoils within Me," meaning that God may sometimes say, oh geez (!), yet another human mess to clean up; these people asked for free will to do whatever they want, and now, once they screw up, they ask Me to come in and save them.
And yet He does, and continues to do so, no matter what. Seventy times seven, the Bible says, implying an infinite number.
I do not mean to turn this Botrun analysis into some religious diatribe, but I contend that it would be absolutely impossible, to make the Botruns completely areligious or atheist. Yes, I value and respect everyone's contributions, even if you do not believe in a Higher Power whatsoever. But then, a missionary once told me, "Enjoy your atheism while it lasts ..." To me, to deny a Creator, the end of that road, logically to me, would inevitably lead to suicide, for what is the purpose of living in a meaningless existence, a meaningless universe? Might as well just go now, and as the atheist Kathryn Hepburn famously said, "Have a really long sleep" (true, she did wait, naturally speaking, until her body's organs gave out).
We ARE dealing with the supernatural here; dreams are never simply a discharge of our brain's waste. But with the supernatural then comes powers beyond our control. Are these powers benevolent or malicious? As I've said before, there is a beautiful side to evil, and an unsafe side to good. Mother Teresa was fond of saying, the meaning of life was "to accept." To accept today if you live in a palace, to accept today if you live in the gutter, to accept today if there is water in the pump, to accept today if there is no water in the pump ... to accept, because "only then are you free."
And once we are free, then helping others is so effortless, so easy, so natural.
I say that ... nonetheless, we each do reach a point in our lives, where we have to "let go, and let God," and that is the essence of the "I tried" statement too. I find too often, God (maybe even begrudgingly) has to step in, to clean up so many messes. The Bible speaks of God, "My heart recoils within Me," meaning that God may sometimes say, oh geez (!), yet another human mess to clean up; these people asked for free will to do whatever they want, and now, once they screw up, they ask Me to come in and save them.
And yet He does, and continues to do so, no matter what. Seventy times seven, the Bible says, implying an infinite number.
I do not mean to turn this Botrun analysis into some religious diatribe, but I contend that it would be absolutely impossible, to make the Botruns completely areligious or atheist. Yes, I value and respect everyone's contributions, even if you do not believe in a Higher Power whatsoever. But then, a missionary once told me, "Enjoy your atheism while it lasts ..." To me, to deny a Creator, the end of that road, logically to me, would inevitably lead to suicide, for what is the purpose of living in a meaningless existence, a meaningless universe? Might as well just go now, and as the atheist Kathryn Hepburn famously said, "Have a really long sleep" (true, she did wait, naturally speaking, until her body's organs gave out).
We ARE dealing with the supernatural here; dreams are never simply a discharge of our brain's waste. But with the supernatural then comes powers beyond our control. Are these powers benevolent or malicious? As I've said before, there is a beautiful side to evil, and an unsafe side to good. Mother Teresa was fond of saying, the meaning of life was "to accept." To accept today if you live in a palace, to accept today if you live in the gutter, to accept today if there is water in the pump, to accept today if there is no water in the pump ... to accept, because "only then are you free."
And once we are free, then helping others is so effortless, so easy, so natural.