On 28/04/2006, at 2:06 AM, Nick Arnett wrote:
On 4/27/06, Charlie Bell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
... It says nothing about "God grieving".
"Jesus wept." That's God grieving, in my book.
A man crying over the news of another man's death is not surprising
(or, indeed, because he'd been telling them over and over that
Lazarus would be fine, and when he gets there he finds they've buried
the poor sap - I'd be weeping too). You have accepted that the
subsequent claims that Jesus "is God Incarnate" are true, but it just
doesn't make any sense to me, I'm afraid. (And to remind you, as it's
been a while, I was raised CofE, went to Christian schools, did
Christian summer camps and was a part of the Christian Unions at both
school and university, and was a believer, this isn't a snipe from
someone who was raised atheist.)
Anyway, i think it's pretty clear that this world is too random to be
being controlled by God. We're on our own in this life. If you choose
to believe in the next life and believe that your faith is a route to
it, fair enough. But there's precious little order in this one.
The older I get, the more I grasp Job and Ecclesiastes, which
portray life
as absurd, but here to be enjoyed.
Yep. That's much more what I've been getting at in the paragraph to
which you replied. But I found I didn't need a belief in God to find
life absurd! Male genitalia, or kangaroos are proof enough... ;)
I don't think I ever expect that my
faith would head in this direction... but now I look back and see how
miserable I can make myself when I demand to understand everything.
Or how angry at God you'd be when the answers make no sense? As for
me, I'm enjoying my life a lot more since I stopped trying to fit my
understanding of the world to one of the many old books that claimed
to have the answers to life, and accepted that there actually aren't
any answers to some of the questions - in fact, the questions
themselves are meaningless. Like "Why did so many people have to die
on 26th December 2004?," or "Why a young family I know died on a
plane trip to Athens?" There is no why beyond the first level
physical reasons. The universe has no motive, as far as I can see. I
actually find that a lot *more* comforting.
A large part of my recent expedition was in a sense a spiritual
journey - to see what I could find. Kind of a walkabout (but on my
trike, hence the TrikeAbout name!). I found a lot of desert and some
really ancient landscape, and a lot of people with a lot of beliefs
and stories and opinions. But what I really found was that the only
true strength comes from within. The world really doesn't care, we
have to just find a path and follow it.
But as always, YMMV. I'm happy to chat our relative beliefs (as long
as no one gets upset we believe different things!).
Charlie.
_______________________________________________
http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
