M.A.D.
How can we sit back in the comfort of our lives and not see or be aware of the sufferings going on all around us. It seems unfathomable that we as an educated society of the faithful cannot feel the prick of pain when we see or hear something about the poor or destitute, yet in almost the same breath explain it away as a mystery of God. If we have the ability in our human cerebral existence to place God in locked compartments how can we also have the nerve to use the terms omni present all loving Alpha Omega? If your compartment of God is comfortable by all means keep the uncomfort of others locked away. We all may say we do not do that but trust me in our own little way we do.
That is deeper than what I normally write but generally what I think about. It seems unconscionable that God showers favor on some that have little to no regard for helping others with what they have, while the have not's give what little they do have in an attempt to make a difference that they really can't make.
I think even deeper is how do we view an eternal God of love? If we are the have's I assume then that we (they) are blessed by this wonderful spiritual being we call God. Conversely if you (we) are disabled, poor, homeless, etc we must be not so blessed yet the blessed try to explain it away as "God never gives us (them) more than we (they) can handle". There little God must be in a different box than some other folks.
How can we find love in such a vast divide of human conditions? If one person feels constant emotional and or physical pain while another eats from the finest fruits of the vine with no intentions of sharing, how do we bridge that gap and find the love of God. The complexities of life are everywhere yet dulled to the point of non existence. The razors edge of awareness that should accompany such pain and suffering has been shoved into a closet so far back that only the murmurs creep out when we get closer than we intend.
Did God create this enormous valley between the people he loves? Or again do we explain it away as God's desire to give us free will? How many generations have to suffer before the totality of God's love is present? Are you on the good side of the blessings? If you or me have the all encompassing easy life I suppose we can see the love of God. We go to church driving our fancy vehicle, dressed in our expensive clothes, sit by others that share our socioeconomic comfort, and then drive away to the comfort of our blessed lives. All the while the poor, hungry, sick, or homeless are lashing out at God, questioning if he even exist, and even worse questioning why they even exist. One group understands the love of God while the other wonders if there is a God. If you do not believe these feelings exist just asked someone that thought they were healthy yet were just given the word that they will be dead in a few weeks. Trust me they wonder how and who God is and why things happen. Oh wait this gets better, for the otherwise healthy person this only happens to someone else. The healthy explain it away again as "it must be God's will". Come on God's will that people suffer so harshly?
The deep philosophical thoughts get better. There are those needle in a haystack examples that we love to share where a person in the suffering group escaped to make a difference. That is powerful mind you especially when our material world glorifies the stars and the wealthy. We as a society of haves will shine light on one person that came from the depths every now and then but for the most part it is not the norm. Now making this thought process worse is the existence of a condition to where the so called blessed feel cursed because they are so undeserving of what they have yet they fear sharing because they may lose it. In this weird example the blessed live their life in near misery because they spend their time protecting, not sharing, what they have all the while figuring out how to acquire more.
Show me the love in all this. The God of the good book does not seem to be available to the whole world. The one's that can pay for God seem to be one's in favor. Am I mad right now? No absolutely not, I am simply trying to understand where I fit in. In Andrea Palpant Dilley's book "Faith and Other Flat Tires" she says that we should GO M.A.D. (make a difference). That is what I want to do. I just struggle to figure out how.
In my quest to make a difference I find myself wondering why others do not seek to make the same difference. Then I realized that they too may be asking the same questions that freezes the world dead in it's tracks. I speak often about love. Sure I speak of God's love even though I struggle to understand it. Regardless I know I can love because somewhere before I was born it was placed inside me the ability to love. If peace on earth starts with me then I will continue in my humble human way to escape the thoughts to which create division and bring about thoughts that create unity.
I will never understand how a God of love can have so much polarization an inequality but somehow I will strive in my own little sinful way to go mad (remember that stands for make a difference). I do want to insert here that I am not blaming anyone for what they do or do not have. That is not the reason for my writing. Over the years I have spoken to many people from the wealthy to the homeless and listened to how they explain God in their lives. Some even the poor can explain God in the most loving manor while often times the wealthy explain God as something that exist off in the distance. At the end of the day we all have the same ability to go mad. My only wish is that I was given the ability to understand why so many lives were lost while suffering in ways we cannot imagine. Lost and yes totally forgotten. Buried with no marker in places we are not aware. I wonder what this world would or could be like if we all just loved enough to share our hearts and what we have. I bet if we all went mad together we would start to understand.
PEACE to you
Dale
That is deeper than what I normally write but generally what I think about. It seems unconscionable that God showers favor on some that have little to no regard for helping others with what they have, while the have not's give what little they do have in an attempt to make a difference that they really can't make.
I think even deeper is how do we view an eternal God of love? If we are the have's I assume then that we (they) are blessed by this wonderful spiritual being we call God. Conversely if you (we) are disabled, poor, homeless, etc we must be not so blessed yet the blessed try to explain it away as "God never gives us (them) more than we (they) can handle". There little God must be in a different box than some other folks.
How can we find love in such a vast divide of human conditions? If one person feels constant emotional and or physical pain while another eats from the finest fruits of the vine with no intentions of sharing, how do we bridge that gap and find the love of God. The complexities of life are everywhere yet dulled to the point of non existence. The razors edge of awareness that should accompany such pain and suffering has been shoved into a closet so far back that only the murmurs creep out when we get closer than we intend.
Did God create this enormous valley between the people he loves? Or again do we explain it away as God's desire to give us free will? How many generations have to suffer before the totality of God's love is present? Are you on the good side of the blessings? If you or me have the all encompassing easy life I suppose we can see the love of God. We go to church driving our fancy vehicle, dressed in our expensive clothes, sit by others that share our socioeconomic comfort, and then drive away to the comfort of our blessed lives. All the while the poor, hungry, sick, or homeless are lashing out at God, questioning if he even exist, and even worse questioning why they even exist. One group understands the love of God while the other wonders if there is a God. If you do not believe these feelings exist just asked someone that thought they were healthy yet were just given the word that they will be dead in a few weeks. Trust me they wonder how and who God is and why things happen. Oh wait this gets better, for the otherwise healthy person this only happens to someone else. The healthy explain it away again as "it must be God's will". Come on God's will that people suffer so harshly?
The deep philosophical thoughts get better. There are those needle in a haystack examples that we love to share where a person in the suffering group escaped to make a difference. That is powerful mind you especially when our material world glorifies the stars and the wealthy. We as a society of haves will shine light on one person that came from the depths every now and then but for the most part it is not the norm. Now making this thought process worse is the existence of a condition to where the so called blessed feel cursed because they are so undeserving of what they have yet they fear sharing because they may lose it. In this weird example the blessed live their life in near misery because they spend their time protecting, not sharing, what they have all the while figuring out how to acquire more.
Show me the love in all this. The God of the good book does not seem to be available to the whole world. The one's that can pay for God seem to be one's in favor. Am I mad right now? No absolutely not, I am simply trying to understand where I fit in. In Andrea Palpant Dilley's book "Faith and Other Flat Tires" she says that we should GO M.A.D. (make a difference). That is what I want to do. I just struggle to figure out how.
In my quest to make a difference I find myself wondering why others do not seek to make the same difference. Then I realized that they too may be asking the same questions that freezes the world dead in it's tracks. I speak often about love. Sure I speak of God's love even though I struggle to understand it. Regardless I know I can love because somewhere before I was born it was placed inside me the ability to love. If peace on earth starts with me then I will continue in my humble human way to escape the thoughts to which create division and bring about thoughts that create unity.
I will never understand how a God of love can have so much polarization an inequality but somehow I will strive in my own little sinful way to go mad (remember that stands for make a difference). I do want to insert here that I am not blaming anyone for what they do or do not have. That is not the reason for my writing. Over the years I have spoken to many people from the wealthy to the homeless and listened to how they explain God in their lives. Some even the poor can explain God in the most loving manor while often times the wealthy explain God as something that exist off in the distance. At the end of the day we all have the same ability to go mad. My only wish is that I was given the ability to understand why so many lives were lost while suffering in ways we cannot imagine. Lost and yes totally forgotten. Buried with no marker in places we are not aware. I wonder what this world would or could be like if we all just loved enough to share our hearts and what we have. I bet if we all went mad together we would start to understand.
PEACE to you
Dale
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