Friday, July 31, 2009

A special place in Hell

People want Hell.
Not for themselves, or for really nice people who don't believe in a triune G-d. No. Hell is for the people they hate. People who do bad things. Corrupt officials, the guy who cuts you off and gets away with it, jackasses. Hell. People want Hell for those people. If there is a god, his grace would be denied to those wrong doers, or he'd judge them to Hell, or somehow they'd get there without a G-d.
I'm willing to entertain the idea, I heard from my liberal priest (back when going to St. Georges) supposed that G-d's grace is extended to all, and he can save all, and even the worst of us can be welcomed into Heaven by G-d's grace. However, I don't believe there is no one in Hell. I do believe in the human ability to be stubborn into eternity and would deny that he is Lord or reject his love and doom themselves to Hell. Or a Hell.
I have various views of Heaven and Hell. If Heaven is an eternal Mass, or worshipfest of G-d, that would be Hell to someone. The idea of hanging out with Jesus and singing his praises sounds alright to me (I worry about bad worship music, yes, even in Heaven, Praise and Worship Pop music could sneak in).

Monday, July 27, 2009

Mikey's Church


Wallace Pres.
Originally uploaded by In Shaw
Well they've move out of the public high school auditorium and finally have a working church.
The worship space is multifunctional it seems as you can move the chairs around. There are no pews.
The good points, it's a shiny building with a screaming baby room. Every church needs a screamy baby room. May many churches be blest with screamy babies.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

St. Mattress of the Holy Comforter

I try to avoid conversations where I will wind up saying really, really, super nice and kind people are going to Hell. I really try because I have no desire to be rude. But as of late I've been having conversations that force me into choosing to lie or be rude. My general desire is to avoid the conversation in the first place.
Anyway, I've been listening to a Unitarian. I don't believe Buddha, the Hindu gods, and everyone else's god is the same as mine. But I won't waste energy arguing this when the other person is invested in the all religions are the same philosophy. I simply prefer not to argue.
I believe in the great I AM, who is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The great three for one deal. I do not believe he is the same as the other gods that other humans worship. If he were the same as others he should have not bothered commanding that he is a jealous god, and the Israelites should have no other gods before him. That would have been a good opportunity to mention how he revealed himself to other nations in different forms, but he didn't. So I'll take him at his word he's it, the one and only.
Also there is the matter of Jesus. If you want just a Jewish teacher, go with Hillel the Elder. Jesus was the Word made flesh, the Lamb of G-d, not just some teacher. I do not drag myself to church almost every week, for a watered down deity, a nice guy, and warm and fuzzy teacher. If that were the case I'd switch to St. Mattress of the Holy Comforter. It is a warm and inviting space, with no liturgy, no creeds, or doctrine. Just think pleasant thoughts and feel the warmth. Or throw off the Holy Comforter if it gets too hot. Unfortunately, there comes a time when the Church of the morning springs calls and you have to get up.
Seriously, I want to sleep in all weekend.

Monday, July 06, 2009

The order of things

G-d, Family, Country. In that order.
Country is my employer. It is also the local government. Its laws and mores. It also includes the community I live in.
Family. Mom. Dad. Sis. Sis's family. Half-Sis. Cousins. 2nd Cousins. Uncles. Aunts. Distant relatives. Members of my ethnic group, sometimes. Sometimes they'll get lumped in with country.
G-d. The trinity or the 3 for 1 special on deities. Church structure. Community of believers, but they sometimes get thrown in with country. Add also ideologies, that sometimes belong with country and faith, which rests with G-d.

Recently I was asked, well more accurately, told of something where the questioner expected some sort of outrage or affirmation of their own anger at that something. I sensed their disappointment that I did not share their anger at the incident. I understood the anger, but did not share it. Mainly because it countered my faith and the Church (ideology?) I have freely chosen to adopt.
We parted and I let the encounter sink in, and wept. In the past few days it appears that the disappointment from the other person has not severed our relationship, which I value. Rationally, being of diverse minds and valuing different things, such an event was bound to occur.