metanoia's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jesus Loves Me, But He Only Likes You Jesus loves me, but he only likes you. K loves saying that to people. He thinks its funny. He doesn�t really believe it, he thinks of it as a joke. But there are people who believe it. There are people who believe that they and only they, and others who think EXACTLY like them, are going to heaven. In fact, many religions have this �secret club� aspect about their beliefs. Followers of Islam come to mind rather quickly, but then there are the Mormons and of course the Baptists. Really, when you think about it, all religions have some aspect about them that states �If you don�t believe or do �x� you are going straight to hell�. So which is the correct one? Which one will get you to heaven in a little row boat? I am out of ideas. As a Christian (and these are as varied as the leaves on a tree) I thought that by professing my faith in Christ as son of God and my redeemer from an eternity of hell and damnation was enough. I still, naively perhaps, believe this. Many would say my concept is childlike and simplistic, but I can not embrace a God that would take away the promise of eternal life unless I conformed to a religion with specific rules to follow, like the poor Jews (who, by the way, are the �chosen� people and are REALLY the ones going to heaven, at least according to Judaism). I suppose there is something in the Bible where its says we don�t have to kill lambs anymore� I have no idea where that is, but I suspect it came along with the new covenant which was just to love each other. I think this was just too simple a concept for humanity. �Oh, no�, we said �We can�t just love each other as we love ourselves, we have to throw some rules into it so we can exclude some people� especially the ones we don�t like.� Sigh. During this Lenten time of examination, I have found myself lacking; lacking in faithfulness and closeness to God. Usually lent brings me closer, but lately I have felt a great void and sadness. He is not waiting for me in the usual places, and I have been floundering and searching for over a week now. I still haven�t found Him. What if my relationship with God is wrong? What if the comfort and joy I was feeling with Him in my life was only my own deception? What if only Jews go to heaven, or, some strange tribe in South America with 9 members who eat piranha meat every 40 days at twilight? Who knows? I sure the hell don�t. I said to the man who runs one of the liquor stores here, �How do you keep in business with all the Baptists in town?� He gave me a �look� then smiled and said he has quite a large clientele of Baptists. This is how they do it: they call him and he either has their credit card on file or they give him the info over the phone. He then bags up their purchases and they call him when they are parked at the gas station next door. He delivers the brown paper package to their car and they drive away to drink secretly in their homes. Either God can�t figure this one out or this is one of the things you do to get into Baptist Heaven. I guess I could do it that way too, and maybe I could go to Baptist Heaven, too. Ya think? Even through this �dark night� of my soul, I long for His presence; the presence I felt for so long that is now out of reach. And so I pray; and I know He hears. In fact, I am sure He is answering, I just can not hear it, right now. I think God is separate from religion. I think God exists no matter what trappings we as human beings try to lay on Him. I think we need to find a religion that suits the person we are in this world to give us comfort and help us deal with the inevitable trials and heartaches that are inherent in living a life. God remains a constant presence. The focus isn�t, or shouldn�t be, on the doing of things or the how we do these things or the details of religious worship, but rather on the oneness, the eternal nature of God himself. We can use whichever religion that gets us through this world and prepares us for the next endless one. Whatever works for you, that is where you need to focus, and forget about what is working for someone else. Then maybe we all can meet in heaven, every last stinking one of us. Wouldn�t that make God happy? 2:12 p.m. - 2006-04-07 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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