Go your way. Eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a merry heart. For God has accepted your works. Ecc 9:7
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I'm a hummingbird. I can't keep still. Even when it looks like I'm being still, I'm still flapping about. I can't do one thing for doing seven things simultaneously.
It's a blessing. But it's a curse also. It means God and I are constantly having this debate where He's shouting at me to keep still and I'm being a stroppy toddler, stamping my feet because all I want to do is keep moving. Are you like that? Are those words "Be still & know that I am a God" a challenge for you? They are for me. Proverbs 13: 24
He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes. (KJV) He that spareth his rod hateth his son, but he that loveth him chasteneth him in good season. (KJ21) He who fails to use a stick hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him. (CEB) If you love your children, you will correct them; if you don’t love them, you won’t correct them. (CEV) Whoever refuses to spank his son hates him, but whoever loves his son disciplines him from early on. (GW) All translations from Bible Gateway. I was spanked as a child. I have made the decision not to spank my child. I love days like that. When the sun streams through the dappled canopy of trees and falls in literal rays onto the ground like a gentle caress.
When I was a child, I used to think that the streaming light was God personified in matter. Back then I was too young for metaphors, to infantile to see the truth in my blunder. Now, I think it's a beautiful thought. And while it's not necessarily God personified in matter, it's got that whole Buddhist thing going on. You know: God is in everything and everything is God. "Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!" Psalm 141:3
"I like your Christ, but I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." Ghandi Hear, hear, Mahatma; hear, hear. I have this big thing with associating with many present-day Evangelical Christians. I feel, 90% of the time, that identifying myself as a Christian does more harm than it does good. Thank you, Jonesboro Baptist fanatics. If Bon Jovi were a Christian rock group, they could have written a song inspired by you entitled You Give Christianity a Bad Name. Truth be told, that song title could apply to most Christians nowadays. There's one major issue I have with the majority of today's Christians that makes me irate and makes me want to disassociate: their bloody mouths. Creation vs Evolution. A debate that's been happening since, well, Darwin. A few nights ago, though, that debate looked a bit strange. An Aussie lad and an American boy were debating--the American was pro Evo, with the Aussie taking up the stance of Creationsim. Darwin was probably turning in his grave.
I jest. But really, as someone raised to believe Creationism who watched Bill Nye the Science Guy on Saturday mornings, I found this debate rather amusing and rather pointless. I am not a gay Christian. But I have many close friends who are. I am friends with gay, transgendered clergy and gay and lesbian churchgoers. I am friends with gay men who believe in and love Christ with all their heart.
This is a subject that is widely debated in America. There are a million opinions on the matter, but for me, it all comes down to a few key things: In 2014, most Christians are Pharisees. A little more lenient than the old guys back in the day, but still clinging to strict interpretations of the Bible.
One of the churches I grew up in was like this. The church administration was certain that God liked specific things and anything else was ungodly and unwelcome. Of course, there is some truth to that: I'm not entirely fanatical, I know there are certain things that are purely irreverent that God wants no part in, but I'm talking about things that God couldn't give two shits about. (Like the fact that I just said the word shit. Please stop gasping.) For instance: if a woman arrived at church in pants, there was a time when she would be turned away. Escorted out, doors locked. There was a constant debate over what type of music God approved of. The general consensus was: acoustic guitars, pianos, organs, flutes and clarinets were holy. Everything else was up for interpretation. Apparently, God hates drums, bassoons, violins, fiddles, harpsichords, tambourines ... |