So sad
Something has gone terribly, terribly wrong. What happened?
My guess is theology.
It was a sad, sad day when we decided that God could be, in all of His glorious infinity, confined to thoughts and logics which we can hold in the palm of our hand, or some small nook of our mind. It was a day when we thought that salvation was an assent to a set and system of beliefs, and not a death on a cross. It was a day when we decided that some bits of scripture must be some sort of poetic metaphor, because God, in all of His vast and glorious unexpectedness, cannot act that way, or defy physics like that.
It was a very sad day when we belittled the Infinite to fit in our minds, and assumed our knowledge of the workings of the world was nearly complete.
People stopped believing in miracles, signs, and wonders. They were left with half-dead traditions and cold forms to follow.
And after that, we never really made it all the way back. Not in a lasting way, anyways. I have seen so few miracles. I have seen so few brought from death to life. And I begin to see greater and greater numbers being tempted to return to death. In my discouragement, I, too, sought death, or, at least, a reposte from the rigours of living. However, Prophets don't get time off.
And so, I remain alive, yet still discouraged. Where is the fruit? Where are the blessings for which the price has already been paid?
[(Why don't we care? Why are we happy to have only the life after this shallow grave? Do we live and confess that God's power, here and now, is as limited as that?)]
Please, forsake theology. The things of the mind are so mundane, and too finite, to travel where you must go. No life is in the mind, I think, other than what God puts there, in His infinite grace.
I have found, just now, no place for theology in my own theology. There is no time for us to study the things of God, to debate the age of the Earth or the time of Christ's exact birth. Not when we are busy being love. Not when we have joined to search for the one sheep out of a hundred who has gone astray. Not when our heart burns with Life, with Love, and with Truth.
Please, leave theology behind for now. Please.
NF
My guess is theology.
It was a sad, sad day when we decided that God could be, in all of His glorious infinity, confined to thoughts and logics which we can hold in the palm of our hand, or some small nook of our mind. It was a day when we thought that salvation was an assent to a set and system of beliefs, and not a death on a cross. It was a day when we decided that some bits of scripture must be some sort of poetic metaphor, because God, in all of His vast and glorious unexpectedness, cannot act that way, or defy physics like that.
It was a very sad day when we belittled the Infinite to fit in our minds, and assumed our knowledge of the workings of the world was nearly complete.
People stopped believing in miracles, signs, and wonders. They were left with half-dead traditions and cold forms to follow.
And after that, we never really made it all the way back. Not in a lasting way, anyways. I have seen so few miracles. I have seen so few brought from death to life. And I begin to see greater and greater numbers being tempted to return to death. In my discouragement, I, too, sought death, or, at least, a reposte from the rigours of living. However, Prophets don't get time off.
And so, I remain alive, yet still discouraged. Where is the fruit? Where are the blessings for which the price has already been paid?
[(Why don't we care? Why are we happy to have only the life after this shallow grave? Do we live and confess that God's power, here and now, is as limited as that?)]
Please, forsake theology. The things of the mind are so mundane, and too finite, to travel where you must go. No life is in the mind, I think, other than what God puts there, in His infinite grace.
I have found, just now, no place for theology in my own theology. There is no time for us to study the things of God, to debate the age of the Earth or the time of Christ's exact birth. Not when we are busy being love. Not when we have joined to search for the one sheep out of a hundred who has gone astray. Not when our heart burns with Life, with Love, and with Truth.
Please, leave theology behind for now. Please.
NF