The basic

“the fact is that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins. The cost of not accepting him as your savior is the eternal damnation of your soul.”

                                                                Street evangelist in Portland

God cares about the little details of our lives. We looked for hours trying to find our IPAD for the last few days. Prayed about it today and boom looked up and there it was on top of our refrigerator upside down on top of our phone book blending right in!

                                                                Quote on facebook

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I am going to put it right up front

Our views of God are confusing

Contradictory

The Bible may be, depending on how you approach it

confusing and contradictory

I had to admit, when I read or hear statements such as either of the above

I struggle.

Does it not bother people to say, with great fervor

“God is love”

And then to turn around and suggest that a great portion of human

women and children included, will be sent to burn in hell for all eternity because

they did not somehow get “connected with Jesus?”

We present God as love

and then present God as judgmental, harsh, rigid, and cruel

 

in facts both sides of the story are right there in that book

the Bible

Ok now that I am started

We have this big, really really big God

creator of the universe

does this creator in fact care about the little details of our lives?

does he help us find out iPad?

are all of those little things that go right throughout our day “a blessing” directly implemented by God?

is our financial success, if we have such success,

a direct consequence of God's blessing us?

but if God is that involved in the lives of those he loves, what about the saintly person

I can think of one right now

who gets a horrible form of cancer?

what about my father, who was a good man, a compassionate physician who died way too young

or my mother, a true servant of the community who also died of an ugly disease?

or my wonderful brother-in-law,

a man who loved God if anyone did, who died of ALS?

who is God really (I do prefer to think of God as “who”)?

what is this reality like?

how does this God act in the world, in our lives?

those are profound

and perhaps unanswerable questions

we have clues

we have experiences of grace

and love

but we must be careful

I am reminded of the story of the blind children who meet an elephant

And after touching the animal for a while describe it

One describes a huge leathery wall

Another snake like creature

Another a trunk like being

All of them had part of the picture

All of them had to go back again and again and broaden their “touch”

in order to begin to understand the reality that was that elephant

I think god is much like that

God is far too big for us to wrap our heads, our hearts, our souls around

we will never get the whole picture

when we only grab God as judge, we end up hateful

when we only grab hold of God as the one who “blesses”

god becomes a “maid” or a divine ‘house boy”, at our beck and call

often we will grab on to ideas, look at them, and say, these don’t go to together

such as “God is Love” 

and 

“God is going to send over 60% of the world to burn in hell forever”?

its clear we don't have the whole picture

not surprising

 

all I can say is this

there is a power for love and good that exists, I call that power God

that power was fully present in one who was fully human as well, he was named Jesus

that power is present in me “the secret is this, Christ in me”  (or the sacred, or the divine, of the Spirit), call it what you will

and through that presence I experience love

and I gain the capacity to be present with, and for others

and I gain the capacity to love

for me that is enough

that is all I can say

this

day

and I will try to live that love

share that love

reveal that love

 this day