A common complaint against God is that if He exists, why would he make us go through all the crap that occurs on Earth before welcoming us into His embrace? Sickness, suffering, woes, violence, and so many more nasties about in life. Sure, there are many good things, too, but no one really pays attention to those or thanks God for them when they can simply focus on the bad stuff and blame him.
OK, sorry…side rant for a moment there.
But there is a legitimate question in there. What is the purpose of being here, if our goal is to be there (i.e. Heaven) for eternity?
Well, first, I highly doubt our eternity is going to be spent lounging around the afterlife or doing nothing but bowing down in front of God all the time. Seems like we’d have something a bit more varied and productive to do than the same ole, same ole forever.
So that means we’ll likely have purpose. Responsibility. And, dare I say, power.
Remember, angels have power. A bunch of them waged war against Heaven. And yet they are servants to us, the children of God. They are, in the end, lesser than humans on the heirarchical scale. Therefore, it is safe to say that we will be potentially far more dangerous to creation and to Heaven than they ever were or ever will be.
Given that, I would kind of expect to be put through some paces. I would, in fact, expect that the afterlife is not simply a destination but a continuing journey and series of tests and opportunities for growth itself.
You don’t toss a set of keys to your kid the moment his or her feet can reach the pedals and say, “Take it for a ride.”
Likewise, I don’t think God is going to simply open the doors to paradise, and reveal deep secrets of creation itself, to just everyone.
This post is a bit of a ramble, I know, but I haven’t really coalesced these thoughts firmly. It’s more of a mental exercise I’m going through. But I do think I may be on to something with it.
Remember, angels have power. A bunch of them waged war against Heaven.(Deacon)
Damn, just when I get to thinking you are a pretty normal and sane individual. š
Why does life have to hurt so much?
http://thinkpoint.wordpress.com/2007/05/21/discipline-why-does-life-have-to-hurt-so-much/
Kellybelle posted a comment over here: http://holyhell.wordpress.com/2009/08/03/cleansed-by-fire-part-57/
but I’m 99.9999% certain it was meant for this blog post, so here it is:
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FROM: Kellybelle
her blog at: http://ephphatha3.blogspot.com/
I think that tooālike āGod make it easy and Garden of eden-y.ā But then I think of that movie with Albert Brooks and Meryl Streep, āDefending Your Life.ā God just wants us to go for it. He said if you believe you can do greater things than thisāand I think he was healing someone or walking on water before he said that, lol. Hence me and my positive thinkingācount it all joy.
Write that novel, Deacon!
I am normal, Tit for Tat…so normal I bore my wife to tears sometimes.
š
As for sane, that’s all a matter of perspective, but I’m certainly functional, medication-free, and non-violent…
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And thanks for the comment, Kellybelle. I love “Defending Your Life” btw…
Why do we go through this? It’s called ‘life’ and if we think nothing ‘bad’ is going to happen to use we must be effected firmly by Western Democratic principles and not just reality. The West is a place of convenience and pretty much ‘having what we want’ ‘when we want it’…fast food and super-stores pretty much sum that up. In the West, we expect to be waited on when we shop – treated like someone special – etc. Fact is, life is not that considerate to us…and things happen all the time we have to ‘clean up’ or just ‘work around’. Who ever said life should be easy – they assumed wrongly.
I agree, SocietyVs…often it is just “life” and we expect too much in terms of a pain-free one. But at the same time, that rarely satisfies people when they ask the question, honestly or snarkily, “Why does God allow it?”
So, I think the overall nature of life, with God intervening on a typically subtle basis, has a deeper purpose to it…though I don’t think every pain in life is meant to be a lesson per se from God.
š