Author: STEVE, Part 1
To: John, Bob
listening
Thanks for your response to my round 1. Don’t have much time for this reply, but
will share a few off-the-cuff remarks.
You suggest there are many routes to
God, possible even LSD. Perchance,
would that be Lake Shore Drive in Chicago? (We’ll all give each other some latitude in literary license.) Seriously, from your viewpoint, is there any
route that does not get you “there?”
As I ask this question, it occurs to
me that we might all want to back up a step. What is “there?” What’s the goal
of all this “spiritual stuff?” Is the
goal “to get to heaven (or to avoid hell)?” Let’s each independently think about this “there” and share our responses
when done.
Head versus Heart Approach
A “head” approach works just as well
as a “heart” approach. (I hope my
responses display both.) God blessed
you with an analytical mind. He blessed
you with life experiences that honed you that way (7 years studying
literature). He is making it possible
for you to know him that way.
Thomas was a “I won’t believe it until
I see it” kind of guy. “I won’t believe
unless I have irrefutable truth . . . unless I stick my hands in Jesus’
wounds.” Tall order as that might
appear to be, his desire was granted. Let’s not miss his response, “My Lord, and My God.” (Tough as that might be to swallow right
now.)
I recently heard a modern day
twist. Missionaries were attempting to
reach a tribal nation. Nothing registered. But when they went over the genealogy of
Jesus recorded in Luke 3, the lights went on. Ancestry was a big part of their tribal customs. When they saw that Jesus did not just appear
on the scene, but was part of a human ancestry, they believed. (Many readers, including me, just skip over
those long lists of unpronounceable names.)
God made us all different ways. How would you complete, “I won’t believe
unless ______.” Yes, indeed, God is
smiling on our joint intellectual inquiry.
The Prodigal Son
You mentioned the parable of the
prodigal son. Hopefully, we are all
prodigal sons, and not the bitter son that resents his brother’s return (Luke
15).
What rejoicing there will be when we
come back home. Note “home” was not a
place (time to be figurative rather than literal). Home was a restored relationship between father and son.
From the son’s perspective. He feels self-pity when he finds that his
self-centered search for pleasure doesn’t satisfy his desires. That self-pity turns to genuine sorrow. He trusts that his father will accept him
back, at least in some lesser capacity – otherwise, he wouldn’t start trudging
back home. When he arrives, he
sincerely asks for forgiveness, and is overwhelmed by his father’s expression
of joy. A son who finally appreciates
the depth of his father’s love!
From the father’s perspective. What agony the father feels when his son
says he wants to go his own way. (We
don’t get the sense that this was a natural “leaving home when I grow up” but
rather a rebellious separation.) Yet,
the father lets him make the free will choice – not even withholding his
blessings/inheritance (even though the son later squanders those
blessings). What joy the father feels
at the sight of his returning son! He
readily forgives the repentant son, and showers him with love.
Here you have it again. God and us. Father and son. Relationships.
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