INFINITE LOVE
Infinite Love is among God's attributes that are beyond the comprehension of those who have not had God made known to them by His Son, Jesus Christ. As such, reference to it would be cause for a CreatorGate reaction in a scientific journal. From a human point of view, Infinite Love is demonstrated by the Crucifixion of Jesus on the cross and his Resurrection three days later, in the process providing expiation for our sins. The events were adequately documented in the Gospels, foretold by Old Testament prophets, and endorsed by numerous miraculous post-Resurrection events.
The amazing thing to me is that, contrary to the popular theological view, God did not require his Son to die as an infinite sacrifice to satisfy the penalty our sins require for offending an infinite God. God could very easily have said you are forgiven and it would be so. But for those unable to think their sins are forgiven without an infinite sacrifice, God the Father required Jesus Christ, be endowed with human form united with His co-divine being, God the Son, and make that sacrifice to ensure doubters could believe that they can attain heavenly rewards.
The mysterious Trinitarian view Christians have of One God having three divine persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, does not preclude the redemptive act of the Son from bringing salvation to those outside the christian persuasion; that seems to be reasonably established by the words and acts of Jesus as recorded in the four Gospels.
FINDING GOD
Finding God is not likely to happen unless you try. That was the, perhaps obscure, suggestion implicit in my post - http://evolutioninsights.blogspot.com/2014/05/finding-god.html - where looking at the wallpaper inspired me to understand how we program our internal search engine to find something. It apparently did not inspire others because only two page views are indicated for the almost two year old post.
The post - http://evolutioninsights.blogspot.com/2015/01/god-and-religious-traditions.html - has a final section about how God may look at us.
I think the post - http://evolutioninsights.blogspot.com/2013/06/god-and-people.html - also has a few views that might help us understand our relationship with God.
If you want to find or contemplate God you can even do it with your eyes closed. But there are many things in the world around us that can help.
1. Travel and experiencing the diversity and similarity of people of all parts of the world.
2. Natural wonders such as - the Grand Canyon, mountain ranges, Niagara Falls, waves lapping the sea-shore, the stars at night, many wonders of the biological world. Many small wonders are rewarding during a walk in the woods, a marsh, a garden, and your back yard.
3. The goodness of people - in dealing with adversity, serving others; infants, children, adults, seniors.
4. The tried and true- scripture reading, see below.
If you have never tried it and you have some quiet time in your day, try reading in the Bible for five minutes a day for a few weeks. Each time, either open the book at random and start reading whatever catches your eye; or pick a topic that is indexed and of interest to you; or flip through pages to find one. If each book has explanatory material at the beginning it is very helpful to read and know the status and nature of the particular book. Emphasize the New Testament in reading selections because the Old Testament has a frame of reference that is quite obscure to most of us in determining what is literal truth, illustrative story, historical account, prophecy, and use of views common to the time. The Old Testament can make one think God is vengeful, whereas the New Testament should help one know God is Love.
Joseph Engemann Kalamazoo, Michigan March 28, 2016
Showing posts with label finding God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label finding God. Show all posts
Monday, March 28, 2016
Saturday, May 17, 2014
FINDING GOD
STARING AT THE WALLPAPER
The kitchen of our second house had a busy wallpaper. If memories of it forty years ago are correct, it had a yellowish background liberally adorned with smallish nondescript flowers and foliage. But colors of pale flowers were predominate and smaller contrasting splotches of red and a few other colors were scattered in no obvious pattern.
Staring at the widely spaced red marks it soon became apparent that they were in a geometric arrangement, perhaps a foot apart, of vertical, horizontal and diagonal rows. After a few months of repeating the observation, probably accompanied by coffee and cookie treats, I made what to me was a remarkable discovery.
In my amazement at how the red stood out, although it was the most vividly colored mark, I may have wondered if I could find other colors in the same pattern. Because when I looked for blue, and subsequently green and other, color patterns, the red pattern disappeared. Each color became my focus, however I desired, and became easy to see and all, not surprisingly, conformed to the patterns previously noted for the reds.
CONSCIOUS SEARCHES
The mind is a remarkable thing. You don't have to do much other than think about what you want to find and you often soon find it if it is there. If I have a word in mind I can often find it quickly on a page, a list, or a jumble. Scanning lists of people's names, in alumni publications or other listings, can be done quite rapidly to find those you know without even thinking or looking for their particular name.
If the world is our wallpaper we can enjoy a trip through endless landscapes more enjoyably if we, like Darwin, learn to observe the rock formations, hills, streams, plants, and animals while looking for or noticing relationships of one to the others.
Searching people, friends and others, we can usually find what we are looking for in them, either good or bad. A bad experience with them early tends to make us notice the bad. Likewise, a good first experience tends to make us notice the good later. The repetition can confirm the original view because we may have become blind to the other view.
FINDING GOD
God is not hiding. Old Testament writers found him in a gentle breeze or a burning bush. In the New Testament he variously appears as a dove, tongues of fire, and as Jesus Christ. To us, God can be seen in his works, not as blotches on the wallpaper, but in everything good that he created. For us, the challenge is to program our search engine to look for the good in everyone. You can also look for one, eternal, all-powerful God's works at night when the light from the sun, reflected off the moon, took only a few minutes to reach us; the light from the nearest star, a year or so to reach us; and light from the farthest stars, uncountable years to reach us.
Alternatively, follow your conscience and as you become aware of the things God does for you, you will find God in your own experiences more convincing evidence than you could get from me telling you of my experiences.
Joseph G. Engemann May 17, 2014
The kitchen of our second house had a busy wallpaper. If memories of it forty years ago are correct, it had a yellowish background liberally adorned with smallish nondescript flowers and foliage. But colors of pale flowers were predominate and smaller contrasting splotches of red and a few other colors were scattered in no obvious pattern.
Staring at the widely spaced red marks it soon became apparent that they were in a geometric arrangement, perhaps a foot apart, of vertical, horizontal and diagonal rows. After a few months of repeating the observation, probably accompanied by coffee and cookie treats, I made what to me was a remarkable discovery.
In my amazement at how the red stood out, although it was the most vividly colored mark, I may have wondered if I could find other colors in the same pattern. Because when I looked for blue, and subsequently green and other, color patterns, the red pattern disappeared. Each color became my focus, however I desired, and became easy to see and all, not surprisingly, conformed to the patterns previously noted for the reds.
CONSCIOUS SEARCHES
The mind is a remarkable thing. You don't have to do much other than think about what you want to find and you often soon find it if it is there. If I have a word in mind I can often find it quickly on a page, a list, or a jumble. Scanning lists of people's names, in alumni publications or other listings, can be done quite rapidly to find those you know without even thinking or looking for their particular name.
If the world is our wallpaper we can enjoy a trip through endless landscapes more enjoyably if we, like Darwin, learn to observe the rock formations, hills, streams, plants, and animals while looking for or noticing relationships of one to the others.
Searching people, friends and others, we can usually find what we are looking for in them, either good or bad. A bad experience with them early tends to make us notice the bad. Likewise, a good first experience tends to make us notice the good later. The repetition can confirm the original view because we may have become blind to the other view.
FINDING GOD
God is not hiding. Old Testament writers found him in a gentle breeze or a burning bush. In the New Testament he variously appears as a dove, tongues of fire, and as Jesus Christ. To us, God can be seen in his works, not as blotches on the wallpaper, but in everything good that he created. For us, the challenge is to program our search engine to look for the good in everyone. You can also look for one, eternal, all-powerful God's works at night when the light from the sun, reflected off the moon, took only a few minutes to reach us; the light from the nearest star, a year or so to reach us; and light from the farthest stars, uncountable years to reach us.
Alternatively, follow your conscience and as you become aware of the things God does for you, you will find God in your own experiences more convincing evidence than you could get from me telling you of my experiences.
Joseph G. Engemann May 17, 2014
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