thank you Frank. i'm glad these 'shoot from the hip' thoughts elicited more thoughts. though ofc i'm not surprised you agree. we have a similar, freedomcentric perspective.
This came at a perfect time for me, I appreciate how you admitted the our actions and others actions are random, but that doesn’t mean we lose all hope and abandon the God who gave us those choices in the first place. Really enjoyed reading!!
i'm glad it helped in some way, but i feel it necessary to clarify: i didn't say our actions are random. in fact, i said the opposite: our actions are purposeful (if they are not, they are reactions, like, say: sneezing). but out of each of our purposeful actions the result is not necessarily harmonic, in fact it rarely is (and this harmony is what we're here to learn, among other things). the result thus is often random, unpredictable.
also, i wouldn't say God gave us choices, or i am misunderstanding what you mean. still, the conclusion is indeed that, despite the tragedy of the world, this is no reason to stop trusting in God, much like a parent's inability to prevent every bad thing that happens to a child is not a reason for the child to not trust his parent, only for the child to understand his parent is not all powerful (or else that his all powerfulness would mean the child would live in a gilded cage, which is worse than being exposed to danger).
Thanks for clarifying, I don’t think I conveyed what I meant correctly lol. I meant exactly what you said that sometimes the result of our actions (or others actions) isn’t something that’s always going to turn out in a good way or are somehow always working in our favor, I could use my free will to essentially sabotage my life or others lives. Sorry for not expressing that well!
I think that our free will works in tandem with God, in the way that He’s always next to us nudging us in the right direction, but it’s up to us to actually do the things, He cannot control our free will. I mean that not everything that happens in directly in God’s will, I don’t think it was God’s will for the Holocaust or other horrors to happen, but again, free will. If He struck us down with lightning every time we wanted to do something bad, where does He draw the line? If Christ is knocking at our door, that means only we actually have the power to open it.
it might have been my misunderstanding as well. but i see now that we have the same view in the end. the reason i think it's important to understand this is because life can definitely throw curve balls of horror at us, and many people lose their faith because of it, only making things worse. and as you say, the implications of God solving every problem would be terrible (in fact, i believe they would undo the very possibility of salvation).
I agree, sometimes people around me have the possibility of something bad happening to them and say, “Gods got me nothing bad is going to happen” which I think is an incorrect understanding of God. Thank you for your insightful thoughts!
the piece of music was beautiful as well. i don’t always comment on it but i usually listen to music that you share, if my circumstances allow it at the time.
Reading these prompted me to think that Heaven is probably a lot sillier than we tend to expect. I suppose in the back of my head, i used to expect (when i thought about Heaven and Resurrection at all, which was much less frequently) that we would all just sort of have this Awareness and we wouldn't be clumsy or stumble or make those kinds of mundane mistakes anymore, but now i think that's probably not true. Turning a corner and running into someone and both falling down is actually very funny.
Which, in turn, makes me ponder just how dehumanizing the classical visions of Heaven are.
indeed, i agree. it's no wonder so many people find the idea of heaven abhorrent. Jesus says to be childlike, but then the theologians insist on a devilish seriousness as the core of their values. really grim.
Top notch!
Very thought-provoking reflections, ideas, and observations throughout. I really enjoyed reading this and will comment on it a bit over at my place.
thank you Frank. i'm glad these 'shoot from the hip' thoughts elicited more thoughts. though ofc i'm not surprised you agree. we have a similar, freedomcentric perspective.
This came at a perfect time for me, I appreciate how you admitted the our actions and others actions are random, but that doesn’t mean we lose all hope and abandon the God who gave us those choices in the first place. Really enjoyed reading!!
i'm glad it helped in some way, but i feel it necessary to clarify: i didn't say our actions are random. in fact, i said the opposite: our actions are purposeful (if they are not, they are reactions, like, say: sneezing). but out of each of our purposeful actions the result is not necessarily harmonic, in fact it rarely is (and this harmony is what we're here to learn, among other things). the result thus is often random, unpredictable.
also, i wouldn't say God gave us choices, or i am misunderstanding what you mean. still, the conclusion is indeed that, despite the tragedy of the world, this is no reason to stop trusting in God, much like a parent's inability to prevent every bad thing that happens to a child is not a reason for the child to not trust his parent, only for the child to understand his parent is not all powerful (or else that his all powerfulness would mean the child would live in a gilded cage, which is worse than being exposed to danger).
Thanks for clarifying, I don’t think I conveyed what I meant correctly lol. I meant exactly what you said that sometimes the result of our actions (or others actions) isn’t something that’s always going to turn out in a good way or are somehow always working in our favor, I could use my free will to essentially sabotage my life or others lives. Sorry for not expressing that well!
I think that our free will works in tandem with God, in the way that He’s always next to us nudging us in the right direction, but it’s up to us to actually do the things, He cannot control our free will. I mean that not everything that happens in directly in God’s will, I don’t think it was God’s will for the Holocaust or other horrors to happen, but again, free will. If He struck us down with lightning every time we wanted to do something bad, where does He draw the line? If Christ is knocking at our door, that means only we actually have the power to open it.
Not sure if I explained myself correctly.
it might have been my misunderstanding as well. but i see now that we have the same view in the end. the reason i think it's important to understand this is because life can definitely throw curve balls of horror at us, and many people lose their faith because of it, only making things worse. and as you say, the implications of God solving every problem would be terrible (in fact, i believe they would undo the very possibility of salvation).
I agree, sometimes people around me have the possibility of something bad happening to them and say, “Gods got me nothing bad is going to happen” which I think is an incorrect understanding of God. Thank you for your insightful thoughts!
i needed to read this today. too much to say about it, so i’ll say nothing for now.
i'm glad it helped in some way.
the piece of music was beautiful as well. i don’t always comment on it but i usually listen to music that you share, if my circumstances allow it at the time.
Still loving your Sketches of Alice playlist.
thank you :)
Reading these prompted me to think that Heaven is probably a lot sillier than we tend to expect. I suppose in the back of my head, i used to expect (when i thought about Heaven and Resurrection at all, which was much less frequently) that we would all just sort of have this Awareness and we wouldn't be clumsy or stumble or make those kinds of mundane mistakes anymore, but now i think that's probably not true. Turning a corner and running into someone and both falling down is actually very funny.
Which, in turn, makes me ponder just how dehumanizing the classical visions of Heaven are.
indeed, i agree. it's no wonder so many people find the idea of heaven abhorrent. Jesus says to be childlike, but then the theologians insist on a devilish seriousness as the core of their values. really grim.