And What About Jesus?

There are several religions that tell you that if you do not accept their rules you will go to Hell. Two that come to mind are Christianity and Islam. I do not think that Jesus meant it to be this way. I don't know for sure about Mohammed. If you submit to this type of thinking, life's a gamble. Or, perhaps, the afterlife. Here's how I deal with it. Jesus was a Jew and thought a lot like the Pharisees. I don't see that he wanted to start anything new. He was trying to fix something old. There is nothing wrong with Judaism in its "caring about your neighbor" viewpoint. It allows that other religions are different ways of seeing the same God. Islam looks through Mohammed's eyes while Christianity looks through the eyes of Paul. I'll bet you thought I was going to say Jesus. Christianity is as different from Jesus, though, as Zen Buddhism is from the real Buddha. The question here is: Was Jesus God? I don't know. All we can do is to try to gather all the information we can, study it, and make a judgment. Most people never do this because they are afraid they might have made the wrong choice in these very confused days. Isaiah, the great prophet, says that God judges a man by what's in his heart. What's in his heart he does. God wants us to care about others, no matter what their religion or none. A lot of people cop out and say: The story of the virgin and son existed a long time before Jesus. Tell me how that is relevant to the question. I, personally, do not believe that Jesus touted himself as the long-awaited messiah - his followers did do that later. But tell me why the story existing before the event nullifies the event. How can mankind making up a story nullify the true event when God says it's time to do it? I do not think Jesus was God but, presented with factual information, I can hit my knees at a moment's notice. If Jesus is God, I have to accept it. Not a problem. It would be very welcomed to suddenly know for sure. On the other hand, I have to remember that worshiping Jesus if he is not God would be like worshiping the creation instead of the Creator. If I were God, I would be angry, too.

Adam and Eve

The Bible and science agree that there was an Adam and there was an Eve. In science they are anonymous. In the Bible they have been made into characters. It is probable that Adam and Eve were not originally seen as real people but as symbols for who those first humans might be. Christians know this type of narrative as a parable. Some parables contradict each other. The first two accounts of creation also contradict each other. I have seen many people who waste their lives looking for things like this to claim the Bible is false. Unfortunately for them, these contradictions don't matter. The stories were passed down orally in many cultures and were made into two great stories in Genesis. The whole point of a parable is to teach things to younger generations. The first parable teaches that God created all things. The second parable teaches that mankind often turns its back on the Creator. You know, like those people who waste their lives trying to disprove the Bible. Angry people. If they could be honest with themselves, they could try to understand the purpose of having this type of story. Then they could relax and just try to understand what the story is telling them and accept or reject the message. The first couple of chapters are not scientific documents. They are not meant to be broken down and tested. When I see people arguing about the details of these stories, all I can do is shake my head and pity them. Take them for what they are. Relax and learn something.

What is God?

God is the Creator of the universe. Everything we know He gave to us. Rivers and trees and frogs make us happy. Yet we can't seem to find God. Many things have happened in my life that also can't be explained. At just the right time. I don't pray to God on my own behalf. I pray for others and that's how I think it should be. God takes care of me and will do so until the end of me. I believe there will be more to life after death. I don't know what it will be. Perhaps then I will meet Him and He will know my name. He will know my mother. She certainly prayed for me a lot. Whatever God is, He is mostly unknown by us. He is not subject to the laws of the universe. He created them. I like the account in the Torah/Bible. He spoke and it was so. We can't understand God. He didn't have a beginning. He is not unable to hear us all if we pray to Him at once. In fact, He would probably be delighted considering how much we apparently hate Him, now. I wonder if God cries.

What Do We Really Know?

We know we exist and, somehow, we began. We know the world around us and how a lot of it works. We know there is time and it had a beginning, at least for us. But how did we get here? What happened before we began? This is the part we can all relate to: We just don't know. Given a choice between God and the big accident, I'll choose God. I don't see much evidence that would persuade me to believe that for a zillion eons, nothing happened. Then, all of a sudden, everything happened. Science doesn't like to consider that Someone might have made it happen. Someone who is not subject to time or to space or to a lack of knowledge. The God I picture created the universe we know. He set up the rules it must follow. To try to find God is a hilarious and vain undertaking. How would we sense Him? Are we equipped to perceive God with our feeble, created senses? Can we see or hear or touch or smell or taste God? It is funny to me that the world is turning out to be incredibly more complicated than scientists of a hundred years ago could ever have imagined. Yet many of them vehemently reject even the possibility that a supernatural being could have played a part in our lives. It is easier for the big accident to have happened than that a Being who knows no space or time to have created all things in a timely and logical manner. Isn't that funny?