Yeah – happy pretty much anything. Something.
I haven’t really felt like writing anything since Dewey succumbed to lymphoma in October. I still have trouble with that.
Saw a preview for “A dog’s purpose” yesterday. Don’t know if I’ll be able to watch it or not when it comes out. If I do, bringing a box of Kleenex is probably a good idea. It looks good – but having just lost Dewey – I don’t know. But I still think there’s something to learn from Dewey’s life and the special kind of dog he was. So maybe…
Anyway –
It’s a new year.
I’m doing yet another new site.
And looking forward to a new life.
If you’re a regular follower, I’ve moved you over to here – and you know what that last part means.
If not – stay tuned – I will move things over here.
It’s still about religion – and still about God. But from a different point of view.
Rather than look at religion as a way to God –
I’m learning that the more important thing may be to look at religion from what might be God’s point of view.
I feel more and more like religion on this little planet we call home is about keeping people from God, rather than leading people to God. I’ve talked to many who have left their church(es) and left God. It’s not uncommon. I’ve been there myself.
The thing is – God isn’t the problem. It’s easy to blame Him. I’ve certainly done that enough – and will likely to continue doing it too often. However – as I’ve always maintained – complaining about God does mean I believe He exists AND that He has some degree of control over what happens in my life.
It’s a paradox that many don’t seem to realize. We cannot complain about God while also claiming He doesn’t exist. We also can’t complain about God and all the while say that He doesn’t have any power. Further – it’s pointless to claim God is mean or awful or something – while we also want Him to make things better, It makes no sense!
So – if God does exist, no matter how much we may wish that He doesn’t,
and if God does have control over our lives – at least to some extent,
and if we view Him as both the cause of and relief from our sufferings,
why the heck don’t we want to get to know more about Him?
I mean really know about God.
From His point of view – not from some other person who puts their own point of view in what they teach?
Like it or not – accept it or not – every single religion / denomination that exists does exactly that.
Don’t believe it? Just go out and see why each one of them was formed.
If you really want God’s word on God – there’s only one place to go – to the source.
For Jews – it’s the Torah, and other Old Testament books.
For Christians – it’s the Old Testament and New Testament.
For Muslims – it’s the Qur’an.
However – Both the Old and New Testaments, while claiming to be the Word of God, are also examples of colossal failure to follow those words in one mind-blowing example after another. Having said that, we can and should learn much from those failures and God’s response to them.
The Qur’an – that’s another story. It’s an accumulation of things that were supposed to have been said by Muhammad. They were assembled by one person – more than a hundred years after the prophet’s death. Of all the things submitted to that person, everything except the ones included in the Qur’an were destroyed.
Even before that – Muhammad himself believed the initial revelation (and by extension – any further revelation would be included) came from a Jinn – an evil spirit. It was his first wife that convinced him it was from an angel – apparently the Archangel Gabriel.
All things considered – even if his wife was correct – the revelations were from an angel – not from God Himself. But – to be sure, an “Angel of The Lord” shows up many times in the Bible as well.
So – where does that leave us?
It leaves us with a need to examine things.
Very carefully.
Examine things like our very lives depend on it. ‘Cause they do.
So that’s my new goal. For now anyway.
The biggest problem with synagogues, churches and mosques is that there are people there. And people mess things up.
BTW – I’m a person. So take everything I say / write and examine it as well.
Hope that sounds intriguing enough to keep you wanting more.
Like I said – the old stuff will be coming over here – and new stuff will be added as well.