Human beings were created for the purpose of loving God and being loved by Him. Everything which God created is given to mankind to use as tools in our quest to fulfill this purpose. We please God when we show appreciation for His gifts by appropriately using our tools. We offend God when we are unappreciative of His gifts and misuse those tools.
The greatest of the gifts which God has given us is life. It is the greatest gift because it is required to fulfill our purpose and it is the gift from which all others derive their meaning. Without life, all other gifts cannot be received. Without life, there can be no free will. Without life, there can be no love. Without life, there can be no happiness nor pursuit of happiness. This is why murder is a sin, as it robs men and women of their ability to fulfill their purpose and to receive the gifts which God has intended to give them. This is why abortion and embryonic stem cell research are sins, as it cuts short the ability of the unborn to fulfill their purpose and to experience the fullness of God’s many gifts. This is why God does give permission to kill in defense of our own lives, although certainly care must be taken to do only as much harm as is strictly necessary when defending life.
Conception is the starting point for new life. Biblical accounts of a child being born are usually sequenced as man has relations with woman who conceives and gives birth. This links action (the relations) with result (conception), thereby establishing that children are conceived through marital relations and that conception creates a new person. Psalms 139 talks about God knitting us in our mother’s womb before we were ever born and even before . Indeed, Christ was Christ from the very moment the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary and she conceived, as demonstrated by the fact that even though she was not showing evidence of bearing Christ within her yet, both Elizabeth and her unborn son, John the Baptist, reacted to His presence when she visited them. Moreover, this is not merely a biblical principle but has been proven by science. When sperm and egg are joined, a totally unique individual is created from that union. We no longer have the excuse of ignorance. We know this for a fact.
God created man and woman as fitting partners for one another and He commanded them to be fertile and multiply, subduing and filling the earth. This commandment introduces the gift of sexuality, which permits human beings to participate in the creation of new life and permits the expansion of God’s great love to every part of the world. The sexual act is pleasurable to both the man and the woman, encouraging them to engage in it often. Each time the man and the woman experience the pleasure of this union, chemicals are released in the brain which bond the pair closer together. This gift of sexuality is intended to be used solely within the bounds of matrimony. In matrimony, the couple vow that they will love one another unconditionally throughout their entire life and that they will accept children from God lovingly, bringing them up according to the law of Christ and His Church. The proper use of this gift of sexuality ensures that new life is created and raised in an environment of stability and love. This is why marriage is sacred, carrying with it specific responsibilities and duties, and must be protected from misuse. It is also the reason that rape, prostitution, masturbation, fornication, adultery, oral and anal sex, homosexuality, and bestiality are all sins. They are perversions of the gift of sexuality and do nothing to further the purpose for which the gift was granted: to participate in the creation of new life which will love God and be loved by God. It is also the reason that contraception and sterilization is a sin, since it is a deliberate attempt to prevent the gift of sexuality from fulfilling the very purpose for which it was created.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Thursday, April 3, 2008
The Pope and St. Joseph
Christ is the bridegroom and the Church is His Bride. However, Christ’s work requires that He be physically away from His Bride for a period of time. As a loving bridegroom, He does not wish to leave His bride without a defender during His physical absence. It is for this reason that He established the Pope. The Pope stands in the same place that St. Joseph stood for Mary.
Mary is the Spouse of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit chose her for this role and brought her into the world for that reason. He sent His archangel, Gabriel, as Best Man to bring His proposal to her and to witness her response and their subsequent union. He gave to St. Joseph the task of standing in His place as groom, a surrogate husband to His virgin bride and a surrogate father to the Incarnate Word. Mary was obedient to St. Joseph. She knew that he acted out of love for both her and for her son, a love born of his love for the Lord. She did not argue when St. Joseph led them out of Israel and into Egypt. She did not question when he hid them in Nazareth. She obeyed.
St. Joseph defended Mary’s virtue. He protected her from those who sought to harm her and her child in word and in deed. He defended their faith and held to God’s word even in the midst of the Egyptians. He did not seek to usurp the place of Mary’s true Spouse, he loved her Spouse even more than he loved her and because of his great love for her Spouse, he loved Christ with all of his heart.
St. Joseph taught Christ to know, love, and serve God. In the process of teaching Christ, he helped Christ to reveal His true nature and to live that true nature with responsibility and fidelity. Christ loved Joseph and because of that love for Joseph, trusted that what he was being taught was worth learning and worth emulating. Mary encouraged Christ to love and trust in His surrogate father as much as He loved and trusted His true Father. Joseph was given special gifts by the Holy Spirit to ensure that he would not lead Christ astray with his teachings.
This is the position of the Pope. He is not Christ. He does not seek to take the place of Christ. He is the surrogate bridegroom, defending the Bride throughout the ages from those who would attack Her, from those who would harm Her in word or in deed. He directs the Church to move only when it is necessary to protect Her, and She obeys because She knows of His great love for Her Spouse.
The Pope is the surrogate father of the children born of the union between Christ and His Bride. These Children of God turn to their surrogate father for help in revealing their true nature and for living that true nature with responsibility and fidelity. The Church encourages Her children to love and trust in their surrogate father as much as they love and trust in Christ. The Pope is given special gifts by the Holy Spirit to ensure that he does not lead these Children astray with his teachings.
Mary is the Spouse of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit chose her for this role and brought her into the world for that reason. He sent His archangel, Gabriel, as Best Man to bring His proposal to her and to witness her response and their subsequent union. He gave to St. Joseph the task of standing in His place as groom, a surrogate husband to His virgin bride and a surrogate father to the Incarnate Word. Mary was obedient to St. Joseph. She knew that he acted out of love for both her and for her son, a love born of his love for the Lord. She did not argue when St. Joseph led them out of Israel and into Egypt. She did not question when he hid them in Nazareth. She obeyed.
St. Joseph defended Mary’s virtue. He protected her from those who sought to harm her and her child in word and in deed. He defended their faith and held to God’s word even in the midst of the Egyptians. He did not seek to usurp the place of Mary’s true Spouse, he loved her Spouse even more than he loved her and because of his great love for her Spouse, he loved Christ with all of his heart.
St. Joseph taught Christ to know, love, and serve God. In the process of teaching Christ, he helped Christ to reveal His true nature and to live that true nature with responsibility and fidelity. Christ loved Joseph and because of that love for Joseph, trusted that what he was being taught was worth learning and worth emulating. Mary encouraged Christ to love and trust in His surrogate father as much as He loved and trusted His true Father. Joseph was given special gifts by the Holy Spirit to ensure that he would not lead Christ astray with his teachings.
This is the position of the Pope. He is not Christ. He does not seek to take the place of Christ. He is the surrogate bridegroom, defending the Bride throughout the ages from those who would attack Her, from those who would harm Her in word or in deed. He directs the Church to move only when it is necessary to protect Her, and She obeys because She knows of His great love for Her Spouse.
The Pope is the surrogate father of the children born of the union between Christ and His Bride. These Children of God turn to their surrogate father for help in revealing their true nature and for living that true nature with responsibility and fidelity. The Church encourages Her children to love and trust in their surrogate father as much as they love and trust in Christ. The Pope is given special gifts by the Holy Spirit to ensure that he does not lead these Children astray with his teachings.
Monday, March 31, 2008
The Greatest Lie Ever Told: Introduction
God is imaginary and heaven a sweet lie told to comfort the blind masses so that they can better bear the hardships of life. Hell is an invention designed to frighten those same blind masses into conforming to a rigid set of rules created to allow the educated and powerful to take advantage of the less educated and less powerful through psychological terrorism. This is the assertion of the atheists, those who consider themselves to be the lone voices of sanity and clarity in a world of madness and confusion; those who believe themselves to be the sighted minority in a world of blindness.
Atheists claim that belief in God is nothing more than superstition, easily cured by proper education and the judicious application of trained reason and logic. They rabidly attack any public mention of God or religion, ripping out the slightest hint of it in our schools, our courts, and our gathering places. They smugly congratulate themselves whenever their efforts succeed, believing that they are "freeing" their fellow man from the shackles of religion.
I am well acquainted with lies. I grew up listening to them, have told them far too often, and have had lies told to me. I have never known a lie to do anything but cause harm, no matter how small or well intentioned the lie. It deceives the one being lied to and creates an immediate division between the two parties. The liar must work continuously to prevent the one being lied to from discovering the lie, and must live with the constant fear of being found out. The energy poured into maintaining the lie grows as time goes on, for the liar must work to not only remember the lie told but usually also ends up layering additional lies on top of the original in order to keep it all going. Lies perpetuate division in relationships, fear, anxiety, strife, anger, and depression. They also erode the sanity of the one telling the lie, for told long and often enough the person may well begin to have trouble distinguishing between lie and truth, between fantasy and reality. I am acquainted with truth as well. It is a sharp sword, cutting through darkness to reveal the light. The blade cuts through chains of fear and sets us free to move. When wielded with love, it doesn't just cut but heals wounds as well, removing divisions, and paving the pathway to justice.
If God is imaginary and Christianity a lie, it is the strangest lie ever told. It is the ONLY lie that fosters unity, peace, understanding, and courage. It is a lie that discourages lies - an incredible contradiction! It is a lie that puts love as the highest virtue, gives purpose and meaning to life, brings hope to the hopeless, and encourages forgiveness for wrongs done. If this particular lie sometimes seems to cause pain and fails to bring about what it promises it is only because those who believe do not live the lie perfectly.
Contrast the "lie" of Christianity with the "truth" of atheism. Atheism teaches that life has neither purpose nor meaning, thus there is no value in life and no value in living. Atheism sees death as the solution to suffering because it is the end of everything. Atheism teaches that we are randomly created, spontaneously formed out of a miasma by chance for no purpose except to live and then die. For them, there is no purpose to living a good life, and they have no measuring stick by which to judge what is good except by what "feels" good.
Christianity finds purpose in life, value in suffering. Suffering teaches us compassion for others, humbles us, and helps us to grow stronger. The child who suffers poor health grows up and is motivated to help other children who suffer with illness, the child who suffers abuse grows up and is motivated to stop abuse. The child who watches their parent die of lung cancer because the parent smoked grows up vowing never to smoke and, by their example, teaches the next generation not to smoke as well. Those who are poor become motivated to help others in poverty, those who are oppressed become motivated to free themselves. The mother who loses her child to drugs or alcohol becomes motivated to save other children that same fate and other parents from the grief and anguish she has undergone. In the face of suffering, we become fearless. The one who has lost everything has nothing left to lose.
History teaches us that the first sign of a failing civilization is a failing faith and a decline in worship. Human beings are genetically coded to search for God and to Worship Him. If we choose not to worship God, we will find something else to worship. We will worship drugs, sex, gambling, possessions, or money. We will become slaves of our chosen god, and that god will drain us of all joy and happiness, ruining our relationships, consuming us from the inside out until all that is left of us are empty shells. Religion provides an essential framework for our lives, giving us boundaries which protect us from hurting ourselves and others while showing us the areas where we are free to roam without fear. Crimes which were unimaginable are now every day occurances in our "liberated" society. Mothers and Fathers kill not only their unborn children, but the children they have spent years raising. Both Mothers and Fathers rape and molest their children. Children kill their parents and siblings for money or even simple anger. This is the world without boundaries, this is the world without God.
So I say that if Christianity is a lie, then it is the Greatest Lie EVER told and I hope that I NEVER come to see the "truth". I hope that I may always serve God, because He loves me and He asks much of me but what He gives in return is far greater than what I give. I hope that I continue to believe the lie that expects me to be my very best, expects me to love my neighbor as myself, the one lie that "dares all things, hopes all things, and believes all things." I pray that I may always see the value of eveyr life from the moment of conception through natural death, and that I may have the courage to defend that life with my own if ever called to do so.
Atheists claim that belief in God is nothing more than superstition, easily cured by proper education and the judicious application of trained reason and logic. They rabidly attack any public mention of God or religion, ripping out the slightest hint of it in our schools, our courts, and our gathering places. They smugly congratulate themselves whenever their efforts succeed, believing that they are "freeing" their fellow man from the shackles of religion.
I am well acquainted with lies. I grew up listening to them, have told them far too often, and have had lies told to me. I have never known a lie to do anything but cause harm, no matter how small or well intentioned the lie. It deceives the one being lied to and creates an immediate division between the two parties. The liar must work continuously to prevent the one being lied to from discovering the lie, and must live with the constant fear of being found out. The energy poured into maintaining the lie grows as time goes on, for the liar must work to not only remember the lie told but usually also ends up layering additional lies on top of the original in order to keep it all going. Lies perpetuate division in relationships, fear, anxiety, strife, anger, and depression. They also erode the sanity of the one telling the lie, for told long and often enough the person may well begin to have trouble distinguishing between lie and truth, between fantasy and reality. I am acquainted with truth as well. It is a sharp sword, cutting through darkness to reveal the light. The blade cuts through chains of fear and sets us free to move. When wielded with love, it doesn't just cut but heals wounds as well, removing divisions, and paving the pathway to justice.
If God is imaginary and Christianity a lie, it is the strangest lie ever told. It is the ONLY lie that fosters unity, peace, understanding, and courage. It is a lie that discourages lies - an incredible contradiction! It is a lie that puts love as the highest virtue, gives purpose and meaning to life, brings hope to the hopeless, and encourages forgiveness for wrongs done. If this particular lie sometimes seems to cause pain and fails to bring about what it promises it is only because those who believe do not live the lie perfectly.
Contrast the "lie" of Christianity with the "truth" of atheism. Atheism teaches that life has neither purpose nor meaning, thus there is no value in life and no value in living. Atheism sees death as the solution to suffering because it is the end of everything. Atheism teaches that we are randomly created, spontaneously formed out of a miasma by chance for no purpose except to live and then die. For them, there is no purpose to living a good life, and they have no measuring stick by which to judge what is good except by what "feels" good.
Christianity finds purpose in life, value in suffering. Suffering teaches us compassion for others, humbles us, and helps us to grow stronger. The child who suffers poor health grows up and is motivated to help other children who suffer with illness, the child who suffers abuse grows up and is motivated to stop abuse. The child who watches their parent die of lung cancer because the parent smoked grows up vowing never to smoke and, by their example, teaches the next generation not to smoke as well. Those who are poor become motivated to help others in poverty, those who are oppressed become motivated to free themselves. The mother who loses her child to drugs or alcohol becomes motivated to save other children that same fate and other parents from the grief and anguish she has undergone. In the face of suffering, we become fearless. The one who has lost everything has nothing left to lose.
History teaches us that the first sign of a failing civilization is a failing faith and a decline in worship. Human beings are genetically coded to search for God and to Worship Him. If we choose not to worship God, we will find something else to worship. We will worship drugs, sex, gambling, possessions, or money. We will become slaves of our chosen god, and that god will drain us of all joy and happiness, ruining our relationships, consuming us from the inside out until all that is left of us are empty shells. Religion provides an essential framework for our lives, giving us boundaries which protect us from hurting ourselves and others while showing us the areas where we are free to roam without fear. Crimes which were unimaginable are now every day occurances in our "liberated" society. Mothers and Fathers kill not only their unborn children, but the children they have spent years raising. Both Mothers and Fathers rape and molest their children. Children kill their parents and siblings for money or even simple anger. This is the world without boundaries, this is the world without God.
So I say that if Christianity is a lie, then it is the Greatest Lie EVER told and I hope that I NEVER come to see the "truth". I hope that I may always serve God, because He loves me and He asks much of me but what He gives in return is far greater than what I give. I hope that I continue to believe the lie that expects me to be my very best, expects me to love my neighbor as myself, the one lie that "dares all things, hopes all things, and believes all things." I pray that I may always see the value of eveyr life from the moment of conception through natural death, and that I may have the courage to defend that life with my own if ever called to do so.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Good Friday
Today is the last day of my assignment at Verizon Wireless. As we are still in recovery mode from my husband's lengthy period of unemployment, I know that this fact should leave me feeling frightened and cold. Instead, I am optimistic and full of joy. God has turned a six week assignment into an ark that my family used to sail through the troubled waters for the last 10 months, and it's time now to climb out of the boat and onto dry land. I have a lot of work to do on my business that I haven't been able to do because I didn't have the time, but now I will. Our financial problems will continue for a little while longer, but we have been and continue to be blessed. So, instead of weeping and mourning I'm going to call today my Good Friday - yes, it is a day of endings but it is also a beginning of a new chapter, one full of great things for all of these things will be done with God.
(Update: I got a phone call that morning as I was walking into work telling me that they could not afford to let me go at this time and that even though they had not said so, they would be needing me even a few weeks after they are at full staff. God provides.)
I did something unusual. I gave a $15 campaign contribution to Barack Obama. Why? Because they are selecting guests for a special dinner with Barack from among those who contribute, and I very much want to talk to the man. You see, I disagree with him on abortion. I disagree with him on contraception and euthanasia. I disagree with him on his refusal to say the Pledge of Allegience. Unlike many, though, I see something different about this man, something which has the potential for greatness. I see a man who talks of faith and who seems to walk that walk. I see a man who stated that he would not run a mud-slinging campaign and hasn't. I see a man who has freely and openly admitted what he believes in even when wobbling on his stances would bring him more voters. I see a man who really does care about the poor in our country. He has run his campaign entirely on the money given to him by the people, not by big businesses or by political action committees. In summary, I see a man of honesty and integrity who is misguided in his beliefs. As there have been instances of my own misguidance, I can forgive mistakes. I think, though, that this man really does care. I think he's brave enough that if he is given the right information he can not only change his mind but be honest about why, and charismatic enough to lead the majority of his constituents with him. I think that if you put together a ticket with Barack Obama for President and Mike Huckabee for Vice President, there is nothing that either McCain or Hillary could do to compete. A truly bi-partisan ticket would sweep the nation, and prove that this time we truly are changing politics as usual.
Having said that, I can't vote for the man until he can change his position. The nation that refuses to reproduce will be replaced. These aren't issues of "choice", they are issues of our future, our national security, and our families. As I have said many times you cannot save the poor by killing them. You cannot save children from child abuse by preventing them from being born. You're simply perpetrating a different kind of child abuse, subjecting families to a different kind of poverty.
(Update: I got a phone call that morning as I was walking into work telling me that they could not afford to let me go at this time and that even though they had not said so, they would be needing me even a few weeks after they are at full staff. God provides.)
I did something unusual. I gave a $15 campaign contribution to Barack Obama. Why? Because they are selecting guests for a special dinner with Barack from among those who contribute, and I very much want to talk to the man. You see, I disagree with him on abortion. I disagree with him on contraception and euthanasia. I disagree with him on his refusal to say the Pledge of Allegience. Unlike many, though, I see something different about this man, something which has the potential for greatness. I see a man who talks of faith and who seems to walk that walk. I see a man who stated that he would not run a mud-slinging campaign and hasn't. I see a man who has freely and openly admitted what he believes in even when wobbling on his stances would bring him more voters. I see a man who really does care about the poor in our country. He has run his campaign entirely on the money given to him by the people, not by big businesses or by political action committees. In summary, I see a man of honesty and integrity who is misguided in his beliefs. As there have been instances of my own misguidance, I can forgive mistakes. I think, though, that this man really does care. I think he's brave enough that if he is given the right information he can not only change his mind but be honest about why, and charismatic enough to lead the majority of his constituents with him. I think that if you put together a ticket with Barack Obama for President and Mike Huckabee for Vice President, there is nothing that either McCain or Hillary could do to compete. A truly bi-partisan ticket would sweep the nation, and prove that this time we truly are changing politics as usual.
Having said that, I can't vote for the man until he can change his position. The nation that refuses to reproduce will be replaced. These aren't issues of "choice", they are issues of our future, our national security, and our families. As I have said many times you cannot save the poor by killing them. You cannot save children from child abuse by preventing them from being born. You're simply perpetrating a different kind of child abuse, subjecting families to a different kind of poverty.
Monday, March 24, 2008
The Value of Suffering
Tonight, I watched an episode of Law and Order that I have seen before. A mother kills her one month old daughter. The reason for the killing? Her daughter had an incurable disease, Tay-Sachs, which would cause the child to slowly and painfully die over the course of five years. In the episode, the mother stated that she believes in a loving God and she couldn't imagine that God would want an innocent child to suffer.
God's ways are not our ways. We see, especially in America, suffering as something to be avoided at all cost. We see all suffering as bad, and suffering as some kind of judgement being passed upon the sufferer. Truthfully, I have never met a true atheist. Every atheist I have ever met is someone who suffered and, not understanding how the suffering could be a gift, decided that God had rejected them in some way and so they would reject Him. Yet suffering brings some of the greatest rewards humanity has to offer: patience, compassion, mercy, hope, and even peace. If you've suffered enough, you appreciate life all the more and you have no desire to wage war on your neighbor.
I think what this nation needs is not less suffering, but more of it. We have grown complacent, and we want quick remedies to our every ailment. Yes, the suffering is difficult to bear. Yes, watching your child die before your eyes and being unable to do something to help them is a hard cross to bear. Losing any loved one at all in such a long, drawn-out manner is difficult. But there is always good that comes of it. My father-in-law's long, drawn-out battle with cancer gave his son time enough to mature so that the two of them could finally come to terms with one another and his father could die in peace. My grandfather's long battle with alzheimers stripped away the pride and arrogance that had been stopping him from being able to tell those he cared about most how much he loved them, and he was finally able to say what was really in his heart and on his mind. What a precious gift we would have lost if we had done what many would say was "best" and euthanized him. That little child had so much to teach her mother about love and about life, and instead her mother rejected the gift and rejected the child because it wasn't "perfect". Yes, she would only have had five years to spend with that child. There would have been a lot of pain, for both of them. But she would have known that in the end she had loved that child right up until the very end. She had given her child every chance, every hope there was to offer. She would have been able to savor every smile, and every tear, and every breath in her heart knowing that she had done everything she could to give her child life and to defend that child's right to live right up until the end. What greater gift can a mother give her child than life? A life, even a life of suffering, is still better than no life at all.
On a personal level, I have suffered. I was abused as a child. I grew up in poverty. I have spent many of my adult years poor. I have been homeless. I have heard many people argue that it is better to kill the children than that even one should suffer. I would argue it is better to let them suffer a little and have at least a chance of happiness than to kill them and to take away all of their chances for happiness. The solution to poverty cannot be to kill the poor. The solution to child abuse cannot be to kill the children. If we are so very concerned about the poor and the children, then let's look for real solutions. Let's give them life and then work together to find a way to help them live well.
God's ways are not our ways. We see, especially in America, suffering as something to be avoided at all cost. We see all suffering as bad, and suffering as some kind of judgement being passed upon the sufferer. Truthfully, I have never met a true atheist. Every atheist I have ever met is someone who suffered and, not understanding how the suffering could be a gift, decided that God had rejected them in some way and so they would reject Him. Yet suffering brings some of the greatest rewards humanity has to offer: patience, compassion, mercy, hope, and even peace. If you've suffered enough, you appreciate life all the more and you have no desire to wage war on your neighbor.
I think what this nation needs is not less suffering, but more of it. We have grown complacent, and we want quick remedies to our every ailment. Yes, the suffering is difficult to bear. Yes, watching your child die before your eyes and being unable to do something to help them is a hard cross to bear. Losing any loved one at all in such a long, drawn-out manner is difficult. But there is always good that comes of it. My father-in-law's long, drawn-out battle with cancer gave his son time enough to mature so that the two of them could finally come to terms with one another and his father could die in peace. My grandfather's long battle with alzheimers stripped away the pride and arrogance that had been stopping him from being able to tell those he cared about most how much he loved them, and he was finally able to say what was really in his heart and on his mind. What a precious gift we would have lost if we had done what many would say was "best" and euthanized him. That little child had so much to teach her mother about love and about life, and instead her mother rejected the gift and rejected the child because it wasn't "perfect". Yes, she would only have had five years to spend with that child. There would have been a lot of pain, for both of them. But she would have known that in the end she had loved that child right up until the very end. She had given her child every chance, every hope there was to offer. She would have been able to savor every smile, and every tear, and every breath in her heart knowing that she had done everything she could to give her child life and to defend that child's right to live right up until the end. What greater gift can a mother give her child than life? A life, even a life of suffering, is still better than no life at all.
On a personal level, I have suffered. I was abused as a child. I grew up in poverty. I have spent many of my adult years poor. I have been homeless. I have heard many people argue that it is better to kill the children than that even one should suffer. I would argue it is better to let them suffer a little and have at least a chance of happiness than to kill them and to take away all of their chances for happiness. The solution to poverty cannot be to kill the poor. The solution to child abuse cannot be to kill the children. If we are so very concerned about the poor and the children, then let's look for real solutions. Let's give them life and then work together to find a way to help them live well.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
God Answers Prayers
There's an atheistic website entitled God is Imaginary which states that it has 50 proofs that God doesn't exist. Proof number 2 is that God doesn't answer prayer. His argument is that God doesn't answer prayer EXACTLY THE WAY WE WANT HIM TO, and therefore God doesn't exist. He goes further on to say that we who pray and believe are silly, and if he's right about God not existing then he has every right to say we are silly. He doesn't have courage enough to permit comments or even provide an email address to allow rebuttals. I do feel sorry for this person, though. I wonder what prayer it is that he thought God didn't answer, it must have been something very close to his heart like a girlfriend, a child, a wife, or a mother he lost. Maybe a father or a best friend. However, I will write a response to him and hope that it makes its way to him. I invite him to reply to me. I invite him to comment. In the meanwhile, I will pray for him that he has a change of heart.
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You cite proof # 2 of God is imaginary as “God never answers any prayers”. On a scientific level, this is patently impossible to prove; therefore it cannot be a proof. In fact, all it takes is ONE occurrence of God answering prayers to debunk this “proof”. I have personally had many prayers directly answered, and many that have been indirectly answered, and several answered with a “no”. No, by the way, is a perfectly acceptable if sometimes disappointing answer frequently used by loving parents and by God.
You act as if God would have to play the big sugar-daddy in the sky in order to be believable, but I challenge that such a God would be less believable. Love has limits, love has boundaries, and love thinks of the greater good, not the immediate want. You cite as an example that if one million persons who were holy were to gather together on a single night and pray for everyone with cancer to be cured, that it wouldn’t happen. You’re right. Most likely, it is true that not everyone would be cured. God’s view of good isn’t always our view. You say that the overnight curing of cancer for everyone in the world would be an obvious good. I challenge that this is not necessarily so.
Cancer is the result of contagions and contaminates in our environment, our waters, and our air. We put those contagions and contaminates there, God didn’t. Thus, cancer is man-made. Now, if God cures all cancers overnight, our urge to find the source of these cancers and eliminate the source is gone. The contagions and contaminates linger, hurting us in other ways and in six months other people will have developed cancer. We would continue to think it’s okay to pour contagions and contaminates into our environment, becoming lazy and careless and expecting God to do the work of cleaning up a mess we have created. What parent that truly wants the best for the child doesn’t teach by allowing natural consequences? Those consequences may hurt, but they are important reminders of how the world actually works. Also, some of the people who get cancer will have changes of heart and remember the God who created them, turning back to him in prayer. If they become well too soon, they may not have this important change of heart. Some of the people who get cancer will cause other people to have changes of heart and remember God. God may save thousands of souls that would have been lost by allowing this one person, who loves Him and trusts in Him, to get cancer. Through that soul’s temporary suffering, God strengthens their already strong belief in him and converts many who would have been lost. God would rather save the soul and lose the body than save the body, which is temporary, and lose the soul. It may also be that some of the people who have cancer may need to die. These people may have allowed themselves to be so filled with evil that they hurt everyone around them, people like serial murderers, rapists, pedophiles, etc.
God doesn’t judge good by our standards, just as an adult doesn’t judge good based upon a child’s standards. A child believes that it would be good to eat nothing but candy and cookies all day long. An adult realizes that this behavior, in the short term will almost certainly cause the child to have a severe stomach ache and in the long run will cause the child to grow weak as the candy doesn’t adequately nourish the body, though it tastes good. Likewise, God doesn’t give us everything we ask for because sometimes what we ask for is short-sighted and over the long run will do us more harm than good. I invite you to read the parable I wrote in the post just before this, to help explain a little more.
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You cite proof # 2 of God is imaginary as “God never answers any prayers”. On a scientific level, this is patently impossible to prove; therefore it cannot be a proof. In fact, all it takes is ONE occurrence of God answering prayers to debunk this “proof”. I have personally had many prayers directly answered, and many that have been indirectly answered, and several answered with a “no”. No, by the way, is a perfectly acceptable if sometimes disappointing answer frequently used by loving parents and by God.
You act as if God would have to play the big sugar-daddy in the sky in order to be believable, but I challenge that such a God would be less believable. Love has limits, love has boundaries, and love thinks of the greater good, not the immediate want. You cite as an example that if one million persons who were holy were to gather together on a single night and pray for everyone with cancer to be cured, that it wouldn’t happen. You’re right. Most likely, it is true that not everyone would be cured. God’s view of good isn’t always our view. You say that the overnight curing of cancer for everyone in the world would be an obvious good. I challenge that this is not necessarily so.
Cancer is the result of contagions and contaminates in our environment, our waters, and our air. We put those contagions and contaminates there, God didn’t. Thus, cancer is man-made. Now, if God cures all cancers overnight, our urge to find the source of these cancers and eliminate the source is gone. The contagions and contaminates linger, hurting us in other ways and in six months other people will have developed cancer. We would continue to think it’s okay to pour contagions and contaminates into our environment, becoming lazy and careless and expecting God to do the work of cleaning up a mess we have created. What parent that truly wants the best for the child doesn’t teach by allowing natural consequences? Those consequences may hurt, but they are important reminders of how the world actually works. Also, some of the people who get cancer will have changes of heart and remember the God who created them, turning back to him in prayer. If they become well too soon, they may not have this important change of heart. Some of the people who get cancer will cause other people to have changes of heart and remember God. God may save thousands of souls that would have been lost by allowing this one person, who loves Him and trusts in Him, to get cancer. Through that soul’s temporary suffering, God strengthens their already strong belief in him and converts many who would have been lost. God would rather save the soul and lose the body than save the body, which is temporary, and lose the soul. It may also be that some of the people who have cancer may need to die. These people may have allowed themselves to be so filled with evil that they hurt everyone around them, people like serial murderers, rapists, pedophiles, etc.
God doesn’t judge good by our standards, just as an adult doesn’t judge good based upon a child’s standards. A child believes that it would be good to eat nothing but candy and cookies all day long. An adult realizes that this behavior, in the short term will almost certainly cause the child to have a severe stomach ache and in the long run will cause the child to grow weak as the candy doesn’t adequately nourish the body, though it tastes good. Likewise, God doesn’t give us everything we ask for because sometimes what we ask for is short-sighted and over the long run will do us more harm than good. I invite you to read the parable I wrote in the post just before this, to help explain a little more.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Confession is Good for the Soul
Tonight was St. Ann's Lenten Penance Service. As Catholics, we are called to confess our sins to a priest at least once per year. This penance service involves a communal reflection on the two great commandments (To love the Lord God with your whole heart, mind, soul, and strength; and to love your neighbor as yourself), reflection on when we have failed to live up to those commandments, private confession of those times when we have failed Christ to a priest, the receiving of absolution of those sins, and specific actions which are taken to demonstrate our intention to change.
During reflection, I came to the conclusion that the root cause of my sins was that I did not trust God to provide for me. I was spending too much because I didn't trust God to provide and I was being impatient for the same reason. I also realized that I had many talents and gifts which were just not being used, and that this is something I need to actively work to change. What good is a talent or gift if the Body of Christ does not benefit because of it?
Now, when I confessed what I believed my sins to be, the priest pointed out to me that I have plenty of trust in God. My problem is that I don't always like the WAY God chooses to provide things to me. He was exactly right. It isn't that I think God isn't going to give me all that I need, it's that I don't think He's going to give me what I want that causes me to overspend. I'm not willing to accept His will, and when He does choose to provide me with gifts if they aren't what I expected, I tend to reject them.
After doing the penance the priest prescribed of three Our Fathers, three Hail Mary's and three Glory Be's, it struck me how to share with others what I had just learned. I will call this the Parable of the Tin Can.
A man was lost in the desert. As he wandered, he became thirsty. He prayed to God to provide him with water that he might not die of thirst. Soon afterward, he spotted a rusted tin can. The can, however, was not the water he had prayed for and so he continued on, leaving the humble can behind. Frustrated and miserable, thirstier than ever, the man again prayed to God, “Lord, I am so very thirsty. Please give me something to drink that I might live.” After several more hours like this, the man gave up and sat down. Weeping in misery, the man turned to the Lord in anger. “Lord, I prayed with all my heart that you would send me something to drink and all that I found all day long was a rusted tin can. Why do you ignore my pleas?”
When the man had ceased his crying and was too exhausted and thirsty to complain any longer, the Lord at last spoke. “You asked me for water, yet you had nothing in which to hold the water. If I had provided you water when you asked for it, you would have had but a single sip and then you would have had nothing more to drink because the water would have seeped out from between your fingers. That rusted tin can was no small gift from me. It was everything you needed, for in it you can not only hold water and drink your fill, you can also use it to gather and cook food, and the parts of the can which are not rusted may be used to signal for help so that you may be rescued from this desert. In your urgency, you sought to take care of but one need. In my love I have provided for all of them. Go back and retrieve your can, and the next time you pray remember that what I send to you may not be what you have asked for, but it is assuredly exactly what you need.”
During reflection, I came to the conclusion that the root cause of my sins was that I did not trust God to provide for me. I was spending too much because I didn't trust God to provide and I was being impatient for the same reason. I also realized that I had many talents and gifts which were just not being used, and that this is something I need to actively work to change. What good is a talent or gift if the Body of Christ does not benefit because of it?
Now, when I confessed what I believed my sins to be, the priest pointed out to me that I have plenty of trust in God. My problem is that I don't always like the WAY God chooses to provide things to me. He was exactly right. It isn't that I think God isn't going to give me all that I need, it's that I don't think He's going to give me what I want that causes me to overspend. I'm not willing to accept His will, and when He does choose to provide me with gifts if they aren't what I expected, I tend to reject them.
After doing the penance the priest prescribed of three Our Fathers, three Hail Mary's and three Glory Be's, it struck me how to share with others what I had just learned. I will call this the Parable of the Tin Can.
A man was lost in the desert. As he wandered, he became thirsty. He prayed to God to provide him with water that he might not die of thirst. Soon afterward, he spotted a rusted tin can. The can, however, was not the water he had prayed for and so he continued on, leaving the humble can behind. Frustrated and miserable, thirstier than ever, the man again prayed to God, “Lord, I am so very thirsty. Please give me something to drink that I might live.” After several more hours like this, the man gave up and sat down. Weeping in misery, the man turned to the Lord in anger. “Lord, I prayed with all my heart that you would send me something to drink and all that I found all day long was a rusted tin can. Why do you ignore my pleas?”
When the man had ceased his crying and was too exhausted and thirsty to complain any longer, the Lord at last spoke. “You asked me for water, yet you had nothing in which to hold the water. If I had provided you water when you asked for it, you would have had but a single sip and then you would have had nothing more to drink because the water would have seeped out from between your fingers. That rusted tin can was no small gift from me. It was everything you needed, for in it you can not only hold water and drink your fill, you can also use it to gather and cook food, and the parts of the can which are not rusted may be used to signal for help so that you may be rescued from this desert. In your urgency, you sought to take care of but one need. In my love I have provided for all of them. Go back and retrieve your can, and the next time you pray remember that what I send to you may not be what you have asked for, but it is assuredly exactly what you need.”
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