Imagine keeping two strong-willed human beings happy. Now double that and double it again. That makes eight strong-willed people. Now let’s not just double it – lets multiply by five. That makes forty individual and opinionated people to keep happy.
That is a lot of strong people to “keep happy”.
Now let’s multiply that by four to take it to one hundred and sixty. And then again, this time by ten – and we are up to one thousand six hundred strong-willed, independent and opinionated people – all of whom you must keep happy all the time no matter where they are or what they are doing or who they are with.
Who must trust in you – follow you – look up to you – bow down to you.
Oh, and before we get to “how” – lets multiply one thousand six hundred by four thousand seven hundred and fifty.
If you are curious, the answer is 7.6 billion people – the earth’s guesstimate population at July 2018.
NOW keep 7.6 billion people happy – trusting you – following you – looking up to you – bowing down to you. Not only in this one fragment of time – but over each of their individual life journeys – through their cradle to grave acceptance rejection acceptance rejection exploration acceptance rejection life cycle of beliefs in you (or dismissal of you).
And more than that – every life that has even been and ever will be. But not only that. Now factor in their creation of different “creators” – their different faiths – their different religions. Again, not just in this one miniscule fragment of time – but over all time past, present and future.
But before you say anything …
Add to the equation all living things – every plant and animal, microbe and virus. And then the wind, the waves, the clouds – and then the planets near and far – the stars a zillion trillion light years away …
All of the stuff we cannot comprehend, have no knowledge of – nor ever will. Not in the sliver of time we each briefly inhabit. And do all that for all eternity. And give every living thing free will.
The choice to say “f**k you”.
Imagine that.
Because that is who we say the bible says “God” is.
And with all that going on … We say that God takes us – a mere speck of life in all of this – a speck outnumbered massively – a number of 7.6 billion that is not even one full grain of sand in a beach without depth or end of countless grains of sand.
And this “God” makes us King of the Pile. We come first in all things. Even though we know f**k all about anything much of anything much.
And before any arguments begin: that is not the purpose of this little maths lesson.
The purpose is this …
If you were all “that” – if you were that “God” (who we say the bible says God is) – what need would you have for me to be anything other than I already am? What need would you have to categorise me as an innocent babe when born – but hang this “second-hand goods” sign around my neck … ?
All because of a morality tale we designed to make some kind of sense of this sliver of life in an eternity of all else – the all else of the unexplainable and the unknowable.
All so that I – amongst this “all else” – must “bow down to you” – must “worship you” … or else I will never know you at all?
How the f**k can anyone be that sure?
Because if I was the person or deity or entity or life force … whatever name and belief structure we need to wrap up “the concept” (but always wrapped in ideas that are constrained by never “knowing”) … would I really put that requirement and condition at the top of my list?
And if we truly believe that this “God” puts at the top of his/her/its list, firstly me – and secondly my bowing down to him/her/it – all because we say the bible says so ….
I think we might have missed something important.
Because if you believe that our little grand-daughter – born less than 48 hours ago – is already tainted by sin of your belief … a belief “we say” The Bible says is how and who God is … a belief that she will accept reject explore accept reject for the rest of her life … a single life in a sliver of time in Time in all of this “the rest” …
Do we really know God at all?
.
.
Once again you make us think Paul. Do we really know God at all? I only know what has been revealed to me but I only know what light has been shed on my life. But he is so much more than that because his ways that’s so much higher than my ways and his thoughts so much higher than my thoughts. I can question him all I want but it is futile.
So I Will Worship the Lord my God and serve him only. Because he is greater than I am in every sense of the word.
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Thanks Pete –
I am curious – how does “Or God will be pissed” (next post) sit with you?
Paul
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I’ll get back to you on that. I have never heard anyone say that, so I’m curious what you have to say. the title sure caught my eye!
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Thank you.
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