Complexity

Well, thanks so very much Pat. If, as you suggest, the Old Testament is untrustworthy, that nullifies the New Testament as well. What is there left to believe in?

The simplest answer I have is, you. The belief that God will interact with you on a personal level. That your current understanding of God is so restrictive it renders the concept meaningless--other than the level of fear utilized (punishment for all eternity; hell) to keep you from running amok.

The harder answer is, understanding complexity. I am going to try and provide an example. Lets look at the possibility of arranging three numbers, 1-2-3. (to make it easier, I am going to use the letters in my name; P-A-T) There are six possible combinations. (123 pat--231 atp--312 tpa--321 tap--213 apt--132 pta) But if I were to use seven numbers, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 (my full name, P-A-T-R-I-C-K) how many combinations would there be? You probably don't know and most likely don't have any idea how to figure it out. But if I provided you a formula, you could arrive at the answer quickly. (Solution: 1 x 2 x 3 = 6; 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 5 x 6 x 7 = 5040) There are 5040 different combinations to arranging 7 numbers or (in this case) letters. Going from the combinations of the word PAT to PATRICK, is like going from the Bible to a true understanding of God. There is an exponential aspect to comprehending the Deity.

That said, I  have provided a formula to simplify the complexities involved. (Gift--Gratitude--God) But the formula isn't the answer, it is only the means of arriving at the answer. The subtleties, nuances, and variations, are yours and yours alone. Your journey entails a series of revelations to different aspects of the Deity. Your interpretation of those aspects determines your well-being. Your well-being is contingent on you understanding the nature of your existence (why am I here). The reason you are here is to experience God. That you don't like, appreciate, or embrace those aspects of God you are currently experiencing, is an entirely different question than the realization that you are. As to the reasons why you are experiencing what you are, is specific to you--and can't be answered in a post intended for a general audience. However, if you feel as though you need specifics, you can e-mail me at wpgrogan@aol.com.

Elucidate

If ever there was a key to unraveling Old Testament scripture, it is the Cyrus Cylinder. Comparing passages in 2nd Chronicles, Ezra, Isaiah, and Daniel, to what the cylinder actually states, we can see how the Jews took reality and recast it to glorify their tribal god. One example of what the cylinder says versus the Biblical rendition: Cylinder: "Marduk, the great lord, bestowed on me as my destiny the great magnanimity of one who loves Babylon, and I every day sought him out in awe." Isaiah 45:1 "Thus saith the Lord to his anointed (messiah), to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him..."

The formula in the Old Testament (indeed, everywhere in Mesopotamia) was victory is caused by the power of the deity, whereas defeat came by way of defective, unfaithful humans. Reading (1st or 2nd) Kings or Chronicles, the formula becomes downright tedious. It is like the boss who takes personal credit for any successful project, but vehemently denounces his staff when things are delayed or messed up. Anyone like working for that type of boss? Then why would you have him as your God?

Together

Though I falter often, I believe in this link with all my heart...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sp1dfoTV_z4

(perhaps a day will come when MM will see this and remember)

Oversight

"So much has been said and sung of beautiful young girls, why doesn't somebody wake up to the beauty of old women?"

~Harriet Beecher Stowe  (Uncle Tom's Cabin)

Patience My Ass

Job is the paragon of patience in the Bible. (see; James 5:11 KJV) What a joke! Job whines, bitches, and bellyaches with the best of them. He curses the day he was born in chapter 3 (starting with verse 3) and carries on through chapter 30 verses 20-21 (I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not. Thou art cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me). Understand, I have no problem with Job's reaction to losing all he's got (including his health). What I have a problem with is the superficial depiction (ie, "the patience of Job") that persists to this day about Job's true response. Unrealistic, suggested superhuman endurance in the face of abject adversity lends itself to self-condemnation and, possibly, self-loathing. Do not do this to yourself.

As I have said in other posts, honor your initial reaction to the events in your life. If you need to rage, rage! If you need to curl up in a little ball and cry like a baby, do so. If you wish to denounce God, by all means have at it ('Thou art cruel to me'). What I ask you not to do, is decide that this is all there is. That the story ends with you overwhelmed, victimized, beaten. That is not your destiny. Nor is it what the story of Job illustrates. Even after his endless kvetching, Job is restored, and more. (42:12) That is the moral of the story, not Job's patience. After tragedy or catastrophe, let it be your story as well.

Affliction

It's hard to hang with God. It seems far easier to be swept up and away in a storm of disbelief, doubt, denial. The inexplicable swallowed up in the solution that it is an indifferent universe--infinitely cold and distant, a tilt-a-whirl spinning mindlessly, enacting the danse macabre to the same tired, trite tune.

It's hard to hang with God. When you observe the same senseless acts of cruelty, racism, and hatred, played out over and over, endlessly, like a rerun on a channel you are incapable of changing despite all efforts to do so; would seem a good time to call it quits.

It's hard to hang with God. A lifetime of unfulfilled prayers, petitions denied, supplications ignored, lends itself to a skeptical mind and a cynical heart. These are simple by-products; the exercise of cause and effect, night following day, despair trumping deity.

It's hard to hang with God. There seems much to support severing the relationship, evidence to end the event. And I would if I could but I can't...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osVaF4t-zFc

Mizpah

May God watch between thee and me while we are apart one from another.