Some individuals will draw a conclusion, without examining all of the evidence, particularly, the school of evidence that does not agree with or comport with a preconceived, or understood construct, especially one that they believe in. Of course what you believe is true, if you confine or immerse yourself in texts, that reify and support what you already believe.
So much for the 'flat Earth belief and theorem'. Can you imagine what individuals will believe, let's say 2 thousand years from now, that might be just the opposite of what you and I have been taught to believe, that might be absolutely true?
Perhaps, that is one of the reasons which would explain why one generation has to pass on in order to permit another generation to take over. Humans, and other species too, I suspect, get stuck either in what they believe, in instinct or both. The beautiful thing about what you believe, will apparently lead a person for example, to the place that he needs to get to, peace for example. And what is so compelling about that concept is this, the route that one person had to take to get to their peace of mind, body and spirit, can be just the opposite the road that another may travel. Our problem, as humans is this: Too many of us believe that if you haven't traveled the road that any one of us has, in order to reach a destination, then something is wrong with us.
In the past, I loved to hear friends and relatives, mostly men, brag about how quickly they drove from coast to coast. Someone asked me on a prior occasion when I drove across country, "how long did it take you"? I answered to their chagrin, one week! To my way of reckoning, how many times do you drive across the Continental USA, and if you are going to drive instead of fly, why not enjoy it. Having said that, I am at peace with anyone who has to turn a continental trip into a race, well, as long as they don't endanger or hurt anyone else.
Religious people, are taught and believe that every person, must travel down the same highway, go under the same overpass, and wind around the same bend, in order to arrive at the same place that they did, and that is categorically, I believe, untrue. Wouldn't you think, that if all of the members of a church group or organization, were all endowed with the same Holy Spirit, given what they believe and teach, that all of them would agree on each and every point? And sadly, most of us know, that is simply not the case either. Consider Jesus, based upon what I have read and studied, his biggest struggle was with orthodox believers, as opposed to non-believers, who simply could not or would not let go of what they believed, or had been taught 'by them of old times'. Some of us are like that too.
There are approximately 38,000 Christian denominations in the world, according to the World Christian Encyclopedia, and trust me, there are about that many different points of view that coincide with the number of denominations mentioned here. Aside from all of the other Christian denominations, pastors and teachers who believe that they alone, are the ones that, categorically, know what is true and what is not - there are all of the other religious, philosophical organizations, that believe that they are the harbingers of absolute truth as well. So which one is right, I will tell you: It is, of course, the representatives of either organization, or the spokesperson that you are talking to on any given day. How arrogant, humans happen to be?
Let me suggest that you teach what you believe, in other words, explain it in this manner, "this is what I believe", tell the person why you believe it (accepting that you still could be either in part or completely wrong, and afterward and for God's sake, shut up)! If no man knows the day or the hour when the Lord shall appear, how is it that some of us know what is and what is not absolutely true, based upon our interpretations, about everything else? Should this be a faith-shaker? My answer is no, it should not be and instead, it ought to be, in my opinion, a reality check, one that every human being, religious or not, should periodically experience. And once you experience this epiphany, become far less in love with your own mind, understanding and beliefs of your friends.
I asked, what we refer to as God on one occasion, "why are there so many different religious organizations and denominations ..." and here is what I got back in return. And, it comes from a scripture that the Apostle Paul wrote in the Christian canon. "Knowledge puffs up ...", and it is because "they seek an answer in theology, instead of in love". Try that one on, will you? In other words, instead of becoming an expert, like Reverend Camping did and as a result, completely embarrassed himself by making categorical statements, why not seek an answer, in long-suffering and kind love?
A former President of Biola University, and pastor who taught daily on a radio show called, the Biola Hour, after years of teaching intolerance, once had this epiphany after years and years of ministry, and it was this: The more that I learned, the quieter "I" became. At best, all we know is what we understand, and what we understand after painstaking prayer and research, can still be wrong. So, learn to be quiet, or you will begin to believe in and conclude that your ability to understand is what is real in the whole scheme of things.
Some of us know more than what we refer to as God, even knows! The moral: permit other people to enjoy and to maximize their journeys; the Apostle Paul took the road to Damascus, and it was there that he had his epiphany. Not many of us will travel to the Middle-East, to journey down the road that he did, or that Jesus traveled for that matter, and neither should we!
Pastor Cornelius Solomon, Post-modernist religious and philosophical thinker!
posted by Solomon at 9:41 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home