it must be tough to be God

[Shaun @ Tru6]

You wake up looking forward to a bright new day. Check your agenda and find that you've got to create a new universe, help plan St. Peter's surprise party, get new sandals and a beard trim.

Later in the day with a freshly coiffed beard you stroll down to the Pearly Gates and look forward to greeting a new batch of angels. Everyone checks in at the meet and greet, but there's one missing. Looking at the roles, you see one of your children, a young woman, didn't make it, and then you remember Terri Schiavo and the whole mess down on Earth.

It's times like this when you think your "design" wasn't so "intelligent" afterall and that you had put a little more thought than a few days to create the whole of existence. But then there was that whole thing Hera had planned and you had disappointed her too many times, so it was a quickie.

"But she wasn't going to get into heaven anyway." chirps one of the newbie angels, she wasn't born again and hadn't accepted Jesus as her savior. As it was on Earth, so Terri was the talk of the town in heaven. And it's at times like this that you are glad for your support staff, overhearing them telling the others that the born again policy was only a test and one that failed on the first day when you realized how many truly good people wouldn't even have the opportunity to even know Christ's name, let alone his teachings.

Head down strolling around, you looked over all that you had done to get Terri up here, afterall, there was an open spot on the bowling team and what's lightning without a little thunder. Let's see, gave Terri's husband a deep understanding of what she wanted, enough so that he would fight for her wishes even though he had to move on with his life. You strengthened his resolve during terrible times and gave him the humility to reject financial reward for her death. You gave all the judges keen insight into the laws surrounding her case. Everyone had the tools necessary to make the right decision. It was all carefully planned.

At this point you realize, (how could you be so forgetful) that it is as it ever was and now and again you curse this whole free will thing. If man were simply a tool, (and so many are, you chuckle) things would be much simpler, but then what would be the fun and certainly unconditional love would be more akin to a dog and his master. "If you want adoring fans, you've got to earn them." Gabriel would always say. And he was right.

No, you realized that just as so many humans "get" Christ's message, there are 100-fold who do not, and it breaks your heart that they try, but are so misguided, and yet so vigilant in their beliefs, ones that you want no part of, yet they intertwined within your very name. It's pretty much at this time that you are glad you created time, because it's the one thing that sets everything right.

"Peter, let's move that Bach piece up a few days, Terri will be along shortly."

"Now, about that new universe, let's get it right this time."

Terri Schiavo, rest in peace.

[Moneyguy1]

Well put.

There is a saying:

"If God took seriously all that is done in His name, God would be an athiest".

Think, folks, before you pretend to understand the mind of God.

[gaijindabe]

Originally posted by Moneyguy1


Well put.

There is a saying:

"If God took seriously all that is done in His name, God would be an athiest".

Think, folks, before you pretend to understand the mind of God.

MG: Your last sentence does not square with your first. How could this post be "Well put" as it pretends to understand the "mind of God"???

"No, you realized that just as so many humans "get" Christ's message, there are 100-fold who do not, and it breaks your heart that they try, but are so misguided..."

Think. Yes, indeed. Think.

[island911]

can I borrow someones ten-foot pole? . . ..nevermind.

[rcecale]

Step right up and have a look...



Randy

[Moneyguy1]

I think the problem is not so much in making up a sentimental fiction about God (there are plenty of those already!!) as it is those who act out and say things that seem to indicate that the Creator has spoken directly to them. That is what I object to. According to christian teachings, presumption of this kind is a grave sin. Misguided is almost a cop-out in cases where radical believers use their "faith" to justify their words and deeds. If one human objects to another "putting words in his mouth", how do you think a Creator would feel about someone doing it to Him (or to be PC Her)?

None of Shaun's words appear vindictive or filled with hate, unlike those of some "true believers". They were, I believe, a reflection of how he sees the situation. placed in an allogorical context.

The most critical point is this:

Simply believing something to be true does not make it true, no matter how closed the believer's mind.

[djmcmath]

Profound. I don't know that I can imagine an infinite God making excuses for "not enough time to have gotten it right," or that I can imagine a perfect God looking back on anything He had done as a "mistake," but those are relatively minor theological points, in the grand scheme of things.

I think Bob's dead on: pretending to know and understand the mind of God is egotism bordering on insanity. Any question that starts out "Why did God do ...." is doomed to failure.

Just my $.02

Dan

[widebody911]

The buffets alone would kill me...

[Superman]

If a death saddens God, it is for a different reason than we are saddened by a death. Death is one subject on which our thoughts are sure to be very different from those of God. We cry for completely selfish reasons. When a Christian dies (escaping the mourning and weeping in this Valley of Tears) and goes to be with God for eternity, this is not a bad thing.

[Moneyguy1]

Supe:

I quoted this before from my long gone father:

"We cry at funerals for one of two reasons:

We cry because we remember all the things we used to do and can never do again or we cry because of all the things we should have done but never did."

[krichard]

If there is a god I don't think Terri Shiavo was a big concern to him/her/it. How about the tsunamis, earth quakes, floods, lack of food, AIDS and other diseases, supper fat people that eat them selves to death.... Yea gods real broken up about it.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally posted by widebody911
The buffets alone would kill me...

I have seen the face of God, and yes, the buffets would kill you. 22 oz. of meat at any one time is not a good idea, then again I'm not 6'5" like god himself.

And Bob, thank you truly! I wish I had your gift for eloquence.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally posted by djmcmath
Profound. I don't know that I can imagine an infinite God making excuses for "not enough time to have gotten it right," or that I can imagine a perfect God looking back on anything He had done as a "mistake," but those are relatively minor theological points, in the grand scheme of things.

Dan

Dan, why does god have to be perfect? How do we know he is? Has he ever said he is? And why do we reference God with masculine pronouns when clearly women are biologically superior, 2 X chromosomes and a larger corpus colosum are just 2 examples?

RE: making excuses, just a quick dig at Intelligent Design theory. There is little about our existence that legitimizes this concept, Terri is certainly a case in point.

[dd74]

Nicely put, Shaun. However, for what they're worth, I read god stories like any other fiction.

[Superman]

Originally posted by krichard
If there is a god I don't think Terri Shiavo was a big concern to him/her/it. How about the tsunamis, earth quakes, floods, lack of food, AIDS and other diseases, supper fat people that eat them selves to death.... Yea gods real broken up about it.

God doesn't give a ***** about tsunamis. A single repentant sinner is FAR more important. We're all going to die, and death is actually one of God's most precious gifts to us. Folks who wonder why God allows deaths are certainly in the dark about who God is and what his agenda entails.

[krichard]

Originally posted by Superman
God doesn't give a ***** about tsunamis. A single repentant sinner is FAR more important. We're all going to die, and death is actually one of God's most precious gifts to us. Folks who wonder why God allows deaths are certainly in the dark about who God is and what his agenda entails.

my point exactly, except for the part about there being a god and an agenda.

[dd74]

Originally posted by Superman
We're all going to die, and death is actually one of God's most precious gifts to us...what his agenda entails.

What does a statement like this tell people? That nothing is in their hands? That no matter how they live their life, i.e. well, good, and kind, their life is not up to them? If what you say is the truth, it's a good reason for people to simply give up. Fortunately, there are people who either do not take such a statement seriously, are fair-weather followers of god and still like to have a reasonable amount of control of their life, or just refute any existence of something unrelated to them with "an agenda."

[djmcmath]

Originally posted by Shaun 84 Targa
Dan, why does god have to be perfect?

I know this sounds trite, but if he's not perfect, then he isn't God.

In all seriousness, there are a number of generally agreed upon infinite attributes of God among theologians and philosophers. I'll grant that theologians and philosophers are finite and fallible humans, but a perfect God makes a lot more sense than an imperfect one, in my humble mind. If He's not perfect, then He's finite -- and that changes everything. How close to perfect is He? How often does He make mistakes? Can He be trusted at all? What about His promises -- if he's finite, can he follow through? All of a sudden, the coherency of any position involving God falls apart.

If you're really interested in knowing more, JI Packer has a number of really good books on the topic. "Knowing God" is an incredibly difficult read, but is virtually guaranteed to answer all of your questions. CS Lewis' "Mere Christianity" is another, and a much simpler book. Lewis starts with a basic philosophical assumption or two, and builds slowly from there -- being a philosophical type, I'd be willing to bet you'd enjoy it.

(shrug) But that's just me, babbling away on a Friday morning. Cheers,

Dan

[IROC]

Originally posted by Shaun 84 Targa
RE: making excuses, just a quick dig at Intelligent Design theory. There is little about our existence that legitimizes this concept, Terri is certainly a case in point.

"Intelligent Design Theory" is neither "intelligent" nor a "theory"...discuss...

Mike

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

God is a concept by which we measure our pain