Pause
pause (pôz)
verb, intransitive
paused, paus·ing, paus·es
1. To cease or suspend an action temporarily.
2. To linger; tarry: paused for a while under the huge oak tree.
3. To hesitate: He paused before replying.
Every now
and then you have to take a break and do some serious rethinking; you have to
pause and process the information that you have received. I’ve had some conversations here and about
town that have made me think more about the feelings of others. Rude or insensitive is not what I aspire to
be, but spoken and written words are sometimes misunderstood so as to be taken
as rude or insensitive. The perfect
example of this are my own religious beliefs.
Christians will say, “Except Jesus Christ as your personal savior.” What does that mean to you? To me it means that I have a personal relationship with God through Christ, me , mine. If you are a Christian your relationship is just as personal, no one can monitor that relationship. It’s not my job to get you see things my way, or the way of my priest, or pastor. Every person must find their own path. Christianity has not cornered the market on truth.
John 14:6-7 says, “Jesus answered, I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father Except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” To some Christians this means that if you don’t know Christ you can’t know the father. In that passage Jesus was talking to Thomas, and the rest of his disciples. It was Thomas who said he didn’t know where Christ was going and wanted to know how they would find the way. I want you to listen to someone who can explain this better than I can. Go here, Trinity Church - Sermon Archive and click on the April 20th sermon only link, and listen.
Jesus was Jewish. He was born that way, lived that way, and died that way. When he was taken off the cross he was buried according to Jewish custom. The Gospel of Mark is the earliest known of the Gospels (thought to be written about 70 A.D. almost 40 years after Christ was crucified) that made the cut in the 6th century. One more thing we need to take into account, and that is that Christianity is a Middle Eastern religion just like Judaism and Islam. The further away for the source things go the more corrupted, or corruptible they become.
Think about it, is Jesus saying that everyone who doesn’t believe in him cannot see God? I don’t think so. What about the people who were here on this continent, what about China, and what we now call Australia, and all the other places Jesus didn’t preach? Am I supposed to believe that God has damned most of creation simply because they didn’t hear the words of Christ? I know Dante sure thought so. In his divine comedy the most boring place in Hell was for people who were ignorant of the Lord. European thinking has really done fine job of misinterpretation, and misrepresentation when it comes to the Bible, who Christ was, and his message of peace, unconditional love and acceptance. My father the history professor used to say, “Christianity is a history of international mass murder.” He was a Christian too. Look at what Christ said, and then look at history, and see what we as Christian have done and allowed to be done. We Christians have a lot to atone for, and we won’t atone for anything by trying to convince people that our way is the only way, the only truth. You must preach the Gospel everyday, and sometimes use words (St. Francis). Peace and Long Life
Love Worf
