A Recent Conversation ...

Thought I'd share a recent conversation I had with an old friend ... we go way back, and he "knew me when". Like many of my old friends, he's quite concerned about my shiftings ... the direction in which I've grown. And, like most Christians, he seems to have a desire/need/obligation(?) to set me straight ... to bring me back to that which I was led out of (ignore that-thar dangling preposition ... 'tis not the root of all evil!).

I know where he's coming from, as I was once there ... and there exists here in the wild world of the Internet, pu-LENTY of proof that I was once as traditionally-fundamental in my thinking, and as doctrinally-bent on getting others to see the errors of their ways...! (just for fits and giggles, check out my posts on Psycho-Babble Faith, where I got banned for over a year, due to how I was pushing Jesus, in an unkind/exclusive way! Check the archives for fun!)

Back to the conversation ... this was in response to one of the many things I send out "for consideration" ~

Friend: Sorry Dena. I love ya, and have many fond memories of the short
time we spent together, but philosophically, we could not be further apart.

Me: 'Tis ok. I'm quite in a different place from where I once was. If the me of even 6 years ago met the me of today ... I'd have to disfellowship myself...!

Friend: And I believe that what you are teaching is completely wrong and quite dangerous.

Me: Yes - I understand. Was a time I would've agreed -- and did -- and argued passionately against folks like me (got the website posts to prove it, too).

Friend: For me personally, it came down to 2 views being true. Either the God of the Bible was truth, or that evolution (in some form) and humanism were the only truth, and that there is nothing out there.

Me: Interesting ... I don't see that there are only two black and white options. I see all manner of paradoxes operating within God -- certainly a biblical concept.

Friend: You live, you die, you cease to exist.
If that's the case, then I would pursue hedonism with every fibre in my body, which actually would be the MUCH easier choice for me personally.

Me: Interesting ... so, only the sense of fear of punishment is keeping you close to God? I guess you've not yet discovered the incredible power of love. Love is *the* most powerful force in the universe. I don't want a "god" I'm forced to be with out of fear ... I want a God who loves me so utterly and completely that I can't help but respond back with complete devotion and love in return. Fear doesn't inspire love, either for God, or for other humans ... and makes a terrible way to live.

Friend: As difficult as it is to believe in the Biblical teachings at times, when compared to Hinduism or Buddhism or some of the other religions out there, it seems quite tame and completely believable. I absolutely could not buy into most of the ideas in the other religions. I felt you had to be a borderline idiot to buy into many of them.

Me: Oh, I don't follow/believe in any religions. They're all manmade, including Christianity. Though, I find that there is plenty of truth to be found in all places ... I see God *in* all things ... and I'm no longer afraid to use the truth that I find, wherever it happens to be, however it happens to be packaged.

Friend: In the end, I decided to put my faith in the God of the Bible. Though I don't pretend to understand it all, or have all of the answers, it has made more and more sense to me as I have studied it.

Me: I certainly see God in the Bible ... though I also see much of man's ego, attempting to understand/define God (and often projecting onto God). God created man in His own image, and we've been returning the favor ever since. I had to fire the "god" of man's creation, so that the real God could reveal Himself to me. I've learned that I've got to go with the God I'm experiencing, rather than the god that man has told me about.

Friend: Please don't take this in the wrong way, but you remind me of something my grandfather used to say. "Some people are so open-minded that they have become flat-headed!"

Me: LOL - I've also heard "so open minded that their brains fall out" ... both good ones!

So far, got my brains ... and my head remains round. Oh -- and God remains close. Closer than I've ever known, actually. Kinda defies the explanations of man, but then God never did stick to what man thinks, anyway, LOL!

Blessings to you ... may you come to know how utterly you are loved, and may it transform everything for you!

Much love -

Shalom, Dena