Thank you, Dr. Lewis. None of us can understand the mystery of God. One important step is to realize that we have to experience God before we can start any kind of understanding. So, we can read the Earth and sense God's presence in our deep relationships.
I was baptized Catholic. The mass was still in Latin and there was this wonderful incense they burned. I wanted to be an angel when I grew up but I knew you had to be born an angel to be an angel based from the many cherub paintings I saw. But I wanted to be good.
As a child that meant not squirming during mass. Standing, sitting and kneeling at the appropriate times and NO talking. I thought war was throwing rocks at each other like my big brother did.
It was high school where my doubts crept in. If Jesus was a Jew then why did so many Christians hate Jews? It was the Romans who crucified Jesus and yet the seat of Catholicism was the Vatican in Rome.
Those were just the blatant hypocrisies that troubled my developing young mind but there were many more. My dad was in the Air Force and we moved a lot. I happened to be in Montgomery Alabama in second grade during the civil rights movement. I saw people being hosed down with fire hydrants. My school had constant bomb threats because there were a couple of black children enrolled. It hurt I was so ashamed.
I learned what war really was watching clips of the Vietnam war. It was no rock fight. The little girl stripped naked by napalm trying to run away is embedded in my mind until I die.
I could no longer be a part of organized religion. I saw it as a team, at times an army. I realized that the most dangerous people in the world are the people who believe that “god” is on their side. If “god” created everything, is all seeing and all being and “god” is telling you that he’s got your back, there’s nothing you won’t do. Burn witches? Of course you are burning the devil. Torture infidels, go to a crowded building with a bomb strapped to your chest, oh the many things people can think of to cause pain and suffering to people who chose the wrong god.
I have a garden. Everyday I get to witness miracles. I plant a seed some are so small they are barely visible and with dirt, water and sunshine I have tomatoes, broccoli, cucumbers, snow peas, beautiful vegetables that provide nourishment and very tasty meals. When the leaves die they break down in the soil and nourish the plant they were once a part of. The miracles are all around us, in the sun, the sky, the stars, the dandelion growing in a crack in the sidewalk. This is what god is to me and god is everywhere in everything.
I agree with much of what you say, but to date no one had been able to explain to me why terrible things happen to good people while despicable people get off scott-free. I've heard the "It's all part of a grand plan you can't understand." thing, and it doesn't fly with me. I've heard "the God gave us free will; he doesn't want automatons" explanation. How does this explain babies dying of cancer while dictators live to ripe old ages? Why did 6 million Jews die in the Holocaust? Why do the descendants of the 6 million killed now commit genocide against Palestinians? I may have to explain myself to god on Judgement Day, but if there is a god and Judgement Day he's going to owe me a lot longer explanation.
This is such a great question. My best answers came from When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Rabbi Kushner. He wrote this book after he lost his baby boy. I have NO idea except this one, friend. God is not manipulating the universe. God is leaving that up to us. Watching. Waiting for us to get it right. Comforting us when we are hurt. Encouraging us when we love each other well. Less with the power and more with the presence.
"God is not manipulating the universe" seems to me a very Deist sort of explanation, and although I was raised a Christian, Deism is more in line with what I believe today: simply put, that God -- or whatever higher power you choose --- created the universe and ... walked away. To me, this is a more "comforting" explanation than to say that there is a reason for everything that happens, that everything is intertwined in some way that mortals cannot possibly disentangle. That God picks and chooses who to favor, or whose prayers to listen to and fulfill. Why does God supposedly refuse to answer the prayer of a dying mother of four whose kids will be left as orphans, but grant the prayer of someone who "Realty wants a new guitar." (This actually happened in a church I attended, or so the recipient stated.) What reason is there for 500 random souls on an airliner to all be killed at the same time in a crash?
Another great question that no one has answered to my satisfaction: Do only Christians go to heaven? A pastor at an evangelical Christian church that I attended years ago promised that he was going to give the congregation the answer to this. This was his explanation: "People ask me, 'why can't good people, like Gandhi, get into heaven?' Because they chose wrong, that's why." To me, this seems very like the scene in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" where the Nazi who drinks from what he thinks is the Holy Grail has his face melted. "He chose poorly, " the knight guarding the Grail says.
I think that if God wanted to "save" as many people as possible, he/she/it would have made sure the Bible wasn't open to interpretation. And I'm sure you will agree that people have completely wrong interpretations of it. I went to a Christian college that required two years of OT & NT study. In exams, I knew what they wanted me to answer, but I also knew what I really thought. And that is that the OT God is a vindictive, jealous tyrant at times, while the NT God seems much more forgiving. I kiddingly say that this is because by the time of the NT, God has had a son and knows how trying that can be.
I appreciate your willingness to discuss a divisive subject like religion in a public forum. Let's hope we both "chose wisely."
When I hear the word "God," I no longer see the celestial bouncer checking IDs at the Pearly Gates. I don’t see the angry landlord demanding back rent for being born human, either.
I see Love. I see Wisdom. I see Sophia dancing through dust and galaxies alike, laughing at every empire that thought it could trademark divinity.
The truth is, most people’s “god” looks suspiciously like a mirror—only uglier. Fear, greed, domination... they wrap it in scripture and call it “faith.”
Meanwhile, the real God—the one beyond all projections—keeps whispering, "You were made of Love for Love, but sure, keep building missiles if that helps you sleep."
We have been so busy defending our gods of conquest and capitalism that we forgot the real scandal of the Gospel: that God’s throne is not a golden palace, but the bruised, stubborn heart willing to love even when it hurts.
We were never supposed to worship a dictator in the sky. We were meant to become living tabernacles of Love.
May we have the courage to fire the false gods we created... and finally quit blaming Mystery for our violence.
Yes Rev. Dr. Lewis this is so true and you have stated the issues clearly.
I like the words from Meister Eckhart
"the eye with which you see God is the eye through which God sees you"
This calls me to meditate deeply on God's inter and intra dwelling all of us and to look for God in all beings 🙏🏽😌💕
This is great. Love that quote!
“We need to get that god off our eyeballs so we can see who God really is and discover what God really desires for us and the creation.”
Yes!
Thank you smart and wonderful one.
Thank you, Dr. Lewis. None of us can understand the mystery of God. One important step is to realize that we have to experience God before we can start any kind of understanding. So, we can read the Earth and sense God's presence in our deep relationships.
I love that Susan. Thanks
Sent this to my seminary alumni group
OH that is amazing! Thank you so much!
Love.
I was baptized Catholic. The mass was still in Latin and there was this wonderful incense they burned. I wanted to be an angel when I grew up but I knew you had to be born an angel to be an angel based from the many cherub paintings I saw. But I wanted to be good.
As a child that meant not squirming during mass. Standing, sitting and kneeling at the appropriate times and NO talking. I thought war was throwing rocks at each other like my big brother did.
It was high school where my doubts crept in. If Jesus was a Jew then why did so many Christians hate Jews? It was the Romans who crucified Jesus and yet the seat of Catholicism was the Vatican in Rome.
Those were just the blatant hypocrisies that troubled my developing young mind but there were many more. My dad was in the Air Force and we moved a lot. I happened to be in Montgomery Alabama in second grade during the civil rights movement. I saw people being hosed down with fire hydrants. My school had constant bomb threats because there were a couple of black children enrolled. It hurt I was so ashamed.
I learned what war really was watching clips of the Vietnam war. It was no rock fight. The little girl stripped naked by napalm trying to run away is embedded in my mind until I die.
I could no longer be a part of organized religion. I saw it as a team, at times an army. I realized that the most dangerous people in the world are the people who believe that “god” is on their side. If “god” created everything, is all seeing and all being and “god” is telling you that he’s got your back, there’s nothing you won’t do. Burn witches? Of course you are burning the devil. Torture infidels, go to a crowded building with a bomb strapped to your chest, oh the many things people can think of to cause pain and suffering to people who chose the wrong god.
I have a garden. Everyday I get to witness miracles. I plant a seed some are so small they are barely visible and with dirt, water and sunshine I have tomatoes, broccoli, cucumbers, snow peas, beautiful vegetables that provide nourishment and very tasty meals. When the leaves die they break down in the soil and nourish the plant they were once a part of. The miracles are all around us, in the sun, the sky, the stars, the dandelion growing in a crack in the sidewalk. This is what god is to me and god is everywhere in everything.
Thank you so much for putting your heart here.
Love is my God. Love is my religion.
Your words have nourished me. Thank you.
Tori! When are you coming to NYC so we can hug? Thank you for reading and commenting. Are you sharing this out in the world?
xoxo
I agree with much of what you say, but to date no one had been able to explain to me why terrible things happen to good people while despicable people get off scott-free. I've heard the "It's all part of a grand plan you can't understand." thing, and it doesn't fly with me. I've heard "the God gave us free will; he doesn't want automatons" explanation. How does this explain babies dying of cancer while dictators live to ripe old ages? Why did 6 million Jews die in the Holocaust? Why do the descendants of the 6 million killed now commit genocide against Palestinians? I may have to explain myself to god on Judgement Day, but if there is a god and Judgement Day he's going to owe me a lot longer explanation.
This is such a great question. My best answers came from When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Rabbi Kushner. He wrote this book after he lost his baby boy. I have NO idea except this one, friend. God is not manipulating the universe. God is leaving that up to us. Watching. Waiting for us to get it right. Comforting us when we are hurt. Encouraging us when we love each other well. Less with the power and more with the presence.
"God is not manipulating the universe" seems to me a very Deist sort of explanation, and although I was raised a Christian, Deism is more in line with what I believe today: simply put, that God -- or whatever higher power you choose --- created the universe and ... walked away. To me, this is a more "comforting" explanation than to say that there is a reason for everything that happens, that everything is intertwined in some way that mortals cannot possibly disentangle. That God picks and chooses who to favor, or whose prayers to listen to and fulfill. Why does God supposedly refuse to answer the prayer of a dying mother of four whose kids will be left as orphans, but grant the prayer of someone who "Realty wants a new guitar." (This actually happened in a church I attended, or so the recipient stated.) What reason is there for 500 random souls on an airliner to all be killed at the same time in a crash?
Another great question that no one has answered to my satisfaction: Do only Christians go to heaven? A pastor at an evangelical Christian church that I attended years ago promised that he was going to give the congregation the answer to this. This was his explanation: "People ask me, 'why can't good people, like Gandhi, get into heaven?' Because they chose wrong, that's why." To me, this seems very like the scene in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" where the Nazi who drinks from what he thinks is the Holy Grail has his face melted. "He chose poorly, " the knight guarding the Grail says.
I think that if God wanted to "save" as many people as possible, he/she/it would have made sure the Bible wasn't open to interpretation. And I'm sure you will agree that people have completely wrong interpretations of it. I went to a Christian college that required two years of OT & NT study. In exams, I knew what they wanted me to answer, but I also knew what I really thought. And that is that the OT God is a vindictive, jealous tyrant at times, while the NT God seems much more forgiving. I kiddingly say that this is because by the time of the NT, God has had a son and knows how trying that can be.
I appreciate your willingness to discuss a divisive subject like religion in a public forum. Let's hope we both "chose wisely."
When I hear the word "God," I no longer see the celestial bouncer checking IDs at the Pearly Gates. I don’t see the angry landlord demanding back rent for being born human, either.
I see Love. I see Wisdom. I see Sophia dancing through dust and galaxies alike, laughing at every empire that thought it could trademark divinity.
The truth is, most people’s “god” looks suspiciously like a mirror—only uglier. Fear, greed, domination... they wrap it in scripture and call it “faith.”
Meanwhile, the real God—the one beyond all projections—keeps whispering, "You were made of Love for Love, but sure, keep building missiles if that helps you sleep."
We have been so busy defending our gods of conquest and capitalism that we forgot the real scandal of the Gospel: that God’s throne is not a golden palace, but the bruised, stubborn heart willing to love even when it hurts.
We were never supposed to worship a dictator in the sky. We were meant to become living tabernacles of Love.
May we have the courage to fire the false gods we created... and finally quit blaming Mystery for our violence.
In the name of Love,
Virgin Monk Boy
Said like only you can say it. Thanks Jacqui
Thank you Kathy! xoxox
I'm an atheist. We are God, I am God.