I do believe...

I read some things today that made me wonder how modern-day Christians can be so lacking in love. People hate the President and claim to be Christians. Now, I read that book and it says to love your enemy, and I suppose that even means your President.

Another quote I saw today said, "The truth sounds like hate to those who hate the truth (know the God of the Bible)." The problem is truth is relative. And if 17,697,384 people read the bible, they'll have 17,697,384 different opinions each (give or take a few hundred thousand). So, whose is right?

My son said to me the other day, "If two people look at a glass and one says it's half full and the other says it's half empty, they're both right." Well said. My mother, of course, the eternal optimist, said, "Well, but, half full is better." Unless it's full of sulphiric acid you must drink it... or could that be good, too?

It reminds me of the Chinese proverb which I'll paraphrase:

A farmer lived in a small village with only his son and his horse. One day the horse ran away, and all the neighbors came to him, saying how bad it was. "We will see if it's bad or good..." said the farmer. The next day the horse came back with another horse. The neighbors rushed to congratulate him on his good fortune. "We will see if it is bad or good..." the farmer said again. And the next day when his son broke his leg trying to break in the new horse, the neighbors came again, exclaiming on his bad luck. "We will see if it is bad or good..." said the farmer patiently. The next day the army came through town and collected all the eligible young men, but left the farmer's son, due to his broken leg. I bet you can guess what the farmer said.

We each have our own truth. No one has exactly the same perspective and that's a good thing. We can see all sides of an issue if we're willing to listen to someone else's viewpoint.

It is funny, tho, that people misquote the bible all the time to make it more strict, e.g., an old pastor of mine used to always explain, "The bible says, 'the rain falls on the just and the unjust,'" as a reason for why "bad" things happen to "good" (i.e., his good followers) people, but I think he misinterpreted it, and he certainly misquoted it. My bible says, "God gives rain to the just and the unjust," which says to me that "God" doesn't discriminate when he's giving out blessing, he gives them to those who believe, according to how they believe. Kind of leaves the judgments of one's neighbors out of the equation...

My sister was once edifying me with the knowledge that I couldn't go to Heaven because of certain sins I hadn't repented of... I told her I was glad it was God doing the judging and not "Christians". I'm perfectly content to let God do his job and maybe we could do our job, which is loving our brothers and sisters. And who are they? Well, aren't we all children of the same god, whoever she is...?



Yours,

D



P.S. Ooo, ooo, one more quote. Bumper sticker: "Who would Jesus bomb?"

The Shroud of Truth

I read an article today about the Shroud of Turin. Hm. Sounds like a topic sure to start a debate.

I saw a show a few years back on PBS, which had different folks trying to duplicate the relic with models and mirrors, and wax and sunlight, etc, etc. They all failed miserably, saying that didn't mean it was real. It just means, however it was made, there's only one, so far. Ironically, the final person on the show, whose attempt was closest to looking like the actual shroud, had injected himself with the magic things that glow when you pass them through an MRI machine and did then pass himself through such a device and produce an image that looked surprisingly like the one on the cloth in question, and, thus, concluded that the shroud had been made as it passed through the body of Jesus as he resurrected. Could be. And, now, we have a man who says he has made a copy of the shroud (not by resurrecting himself, as far as I know, but we'll find out monday).

Hey, I was just getting used to thinking there really was a Jesus and now I have to disbelieve it all over again? Thanks. But seriously, does it matter if the shroud is real, or if Jesus is real? Would anyone believe less if neither were real? Probably. But what in this life is really "real"? Shit, two years ago, a sizable, previously "real" chunk of value in my house disappeared as if it had never existed. And didn't it only exist in everyone's mind in the first place? Didn't we collectively imagine it was worth this much and, then, when it started to be worth less, we all nodded our heads knowingly and agreed, "That's better, prices needed to come down...?"

Hm. All I'm saying is, if it's imaginary, let's all imagine peace, joy, love, respect, patience, kindness and if it's "real", let's all imagine peace, joy, love, respect, patience, kindness until it's real to everyone and not worry about the authenticity of a shroud or whose God's rocket is bigger or if we and our neighbors believe the exact right things (good luck with that, anyway). Let's just imagine we all like each other and act accordingly. C'mon, it'll be fun.



Yours,

D



P.S. Well, it is a mystery, after all and, of course, no one really knows. I mean, no one's come back of late to tell us what it's like, so, it's pretty much anyone's guess, isn't it? (I know God spoke to you and told you you have it all figured out. Good for you and your pastor, but since the other six point something billion of us are all convinced we're right, too, maybe you'll be able to find a way to let yourself down easily, cuz) No one has any friggin idea (not even Minister McSure-of-himself, who's all of, what, 47?), so why don't we enjoy ourselves, whatever we believe and let others enjoy themselves, as well. We're in this together, aint' we? So, let's all play nice.

P.P.S. Guess what I'm imaging right now? (Not that, sicko.) We're all on a merry-go-round and I'm riding the purple horse with the golden saddle. Woo hoo!