God is Everywhere (Theology of House: Introduction)
The CF scholarship I entered a while back prints these booklets that have all the finalists' essays and creative projects in them, and sends a truckload out to everyone featured in it. Last night, Mom and I were paging through them and she commented, "It's interesting how many of these feature Bible quotations or references to faith in general."
To which I responded, "There are no atheists in foxholes or hospitals. With a disease like CF, how can you get by without faith?" Some people make do, or seem to, but personally, I couldn't begin to fathom doing so. How would you deal with the fact that this disease will probably kill you, most likely at a far younger age than those around you, if you didn't have the assurance that God was right there with you, He had a plan for you to make your life more amazing than you could possibly imagine?
Then I realized that some people see CF and other diseases, other hardships, as God abandoning them or forsaking them. Or the classic, "If God is so loving why does He let all these disasters happen so frequently? Why do we suffer?" The questioners sometimes had faith that they lost, or other times never had any to begin with. But the fact remains, they have refused God's gift.
Today's sermon (back home at St. Michael :)) was about the oft-quoted John 3:16 (and 17). "For God so loved the world..." you know. Martin Luther says that those to verses are basically the Gospel in a nutshell, and I happen to agree. Yet the pastor had a new and intriguing take on those verses. It was that the passage could just as easily read "For God so loved the God-hating world that he gave His only Son..." The church often talks about "the world" as being in opposition with God's will, so I was frankly amazed I'd never made the connection before, once Pastor had said it.
But he continued. God loves you whether you like it or not. My favorite part- because it illustrated so clearly what he was saying- was the analogy of a teenager screaming in the midst of a fight with his parent, "I hate you!" The smart parent responds, "But I love you" and the child gets angrier and angrier with each affirmation of the parent's love. This is what God does. Loves you even when you hate Him- loves even those who haven't accepted Him. And He desperately wants them to come to Him and love Him in return.
This isn't easy for people to do, obviously. Which is why, in my opinion, God is everywhere, in everything. So that from even the smallest bud poking out of the snow, someone somewhere will see Him and recognize His goodness. Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare, in Guesses at Truth, by Two Brothers, write, "How idle it is to call certain things God-sends! as if there was anything else in the world."
So, I see God everywhere. Each sunlit day, each morning I wake up, each breath I take (especially those without coughing or wheezing), every friend I meet or good grade I get- it's all God. Even in TV shows and books. You'd be surprised how prevalent Christian themes are in books especially. Even when the author himself isn't Christian, the discerning eye can pick up Christian motifs and symbols in the work. Plus phrases like "Good Samaritan" and "Prodigal Son" have become axiomatic.
During winter break I went on a retreat with Project Connect, exploring the many ways in which we might be called to ministry (all God's work is ministry in some form or other). It strengthened my drive to use this writing talent of mine (I've been told I have it, anyway) for His glory- reporting on injustices to right social wrongs, get information out there in a way that helps people to connect and care. And I vowed to spread the message in my fiction writing as well. My underlying themes and messages have always been Christian in nature, I've just never realized it. But in my works I want to focus mainly on the many faces of love and compassion and the power they have in our lives.
Harry Potter does this very well, in my opinion. Real preachers have written books and sermons about it, how the series emphasizes Harry's humilty (most of the time...) and compassion, struggling to do what's right even when it's hard, combating evil, and the extraordinary power of love.
What may be more surprising is that I see God in my other main fandom as well: House, M.D. The show's about an atheist doctor who, let's be honest, pretty much exemplifies the opposite of Christian ideals: selfishness, pride, a lack of concern for others' feelings. Yet each season they do at least one religious-themed episode. The character of House provides an interesting way to discuss faith, because most of the time it is done among believers, people who already know exactly what you're talking about when you say "God is calling me to do X." But here, you have someone without that faith, that background, that consequently interacts with people in a very different way. And, let's face it: there's a bit of House's skepticism in all of us. We all waver at times, wonder if perhaps we're wrong, or only partially right.
The religious episodes, to me, dig right into the heart of the matter, make me think. And, honestly, some of the things I believe are summed up a lot more concisely (I could even say "better" but that feels like blasphemy) by House characters than any particular Bible story. And each one touches on a different aspect of faith or God, so there's a whole breadth of stuff to explore.
Which is why I decided to do this. I'm starting a little segment on here that I am calling "The Theology of House." I plan to take some episodes and analyze them, pinpoint the important or poignant things. I'm calling it a "sermon series" in my head, actually, haha. But, in all seriousness: I'm pretty excited about it. Part of that may be proving that my fandom obsessions don't detract from my relationship with God, but there's also just the joy of spreading the Good News in what I hope is a fun and exciting way.
If you've read this far, I'm guessing that the above interested you. Hopefully you'll be interested enough to check back for the actual explorations. Regardless, I thank you, and hope you'll take the time to notice God in all the little occurrences that make your day a little bit brighter.
God Bless,
AmayaSora
To which I responded, "There are no atheists in foxholes or hospitals. With a disease like CF, how can you get by without faith?" Some people make do, or seem to, but personally, I couldn't begin to fathom doing so. How would you deal with the fact that this disease will probably kill you, most likely at a far younger age than those around you, if you didn't have the assurance that God was right there with you, He had a plan for you to make your life more amazing than you could possibly imagine?
Then I realized that some people see CF and other diseases, other hardships, as God abandoning them or forsaking them. Or the classic, "If God is so loving why does He let all these disasters happen so frequently? Why do we suffer?" The questioners sometimes had faith that they lost, or other times never had any to begin with. But the fact remains, they have refused God's gift.
Today's sermon (back home at St. Michael :)) was about the oft-quoted John 3:16 (and 17). "For God so loved the world..." you know. Martin Luther says that those to verses are basically the Gospel in a nutshell, and I happen to agree. Yet the pastor had a new and intriguing take on those verses. It was that the passage could just as easily read "For God so loved the God-hating world that he gave His only Son..." The church often talks about "the world" as being in opposition with God's will, so I was frankly amazed I'd never made the connection before, once Pastor had said it.
But he continued. God loves you whether you like it or not. My favorite part- because it illustrated so clearly what he was saying- was the analogy of a teenager screaming in the midst of a fight with his parent, "I hate you!" The smart parent responds, "But I love you" and the child gets angrier and angrier with each affirmation of the parent's love. This is what God does. Loves you even when you hate Him- loves even those who haven't accepted Him. And He desperately wants them to come to Him and love Him in return.
This isn't easy for people to do, obviously. Which is why, in my opinion, God is everywhere, in everything. So that from even the smallest bud poking out of the snow, someone somewhere will see Him and recognize His goodness. Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare, in Guesses at Truth, by Two Brothers, write, "How idle it is to call certain things God-sends! as if there was anything else in the world."
So, I see God everywhere. Each sunlit day, each morning I wake up, each breath I take (especially those without coughing or wheezing), every friend I meet or good grade I get- it's all God. Even in TV shows and books. You'd be surprised how prevalent Christian themes are in books especially. Even when the author himself isn't Christian, the discerning eye can pick up Christian motifs and symbols in the work. Plus phrases like "Good Samaritan" and "Prodigal Son" have become axiomatic.
During winter break I went on a retreat with Project Connect, exploring the many ways in which we might be called to ministry (all God's work is ministry in some form or other). It strengthened my drive to use this writing talent of mine (I've been told I have it, anyway) for His glory- reporting on injustices to right social wrongs, get information out there in a way that helps people to connect and care. And I vowed to spread the message in my fiction writing as well. My underlying themes and messages have always been Christian in nature, I've just never realized it. But in my works I want to focus mainly on the many faces of love and compassion and the power they have in our lives.
Harry Potter does this very well, in my opinion. Real preachers have written books and sermons about it, how the series emphasizes Harry's humilty (most of the time...) and compassion, struggling to do what's right even when it's hard, combating evil, and the extraordinary power of love.
What may be more surprising is that I see God in my other main fandom as well: House, M.D. The show's about an atheist doctor who, let's be honest, pretty much exemplifies the opposite of Christian ideals: selfishness, pride, a lack of concern for others' feelings. Yet each season they do at least one religious-themed episode. The character of House provides an interesting way to discuss faith, because most of the time it is done among believers, people who already know exactly what you're talking about when you say "God is calling me to do X." But here, you have someone without that faith, that background, that consequently interacts with people in a very different way. And, let's face it: there's a bit of House's skepticism in all of us. We all waver at times, wonder if perhaps we're wrong, or only partially right.
The religious episodes, to me, dig right into the heart of the matter, make me think. And, honestly, some of the things I believe are summed up a lot more concisely (I could even say "better" but that feels like blasphemy) by House characters than any particular Bible story. And each one touches on a different aspect of faith or God, so there's a whole breadth of stuff to explore.
Which is why I decided to do this. I'm starting a little segment on here that I am calling "The Theology of House." I plan to take some episodes and analyze them, pinpoint the important or poignant things. I'm calling it a "sermon series" in my head, actually, haha. But, in all seriousness: I'm pretty excited about it. Part of that may be proving that my fandom obsessions don't detract from my relationship with God, but there's also just the joy of spreading the Good News in what I hope is a fun and exciting way.
If you've read this far, I'm guessing that the above interested you. Hopefully you'll be interested enough to check back for the actual explorations. Regardless, I thank you, and hope you'll take the time to notice God in all the little occurrences that make your day a little bit brighter.
God Bless,
AmayaSora