Santa God
I've always imagined God to be more like Santa Claus than the mean bastard most religions make him out to be. Forgiveness, love, and happiness. That's where any God I could believe in lives. He's more about healing scars than adding stripes.
Does God drink Coke? I think He can drink whatever the hell he wants.
(Apparently it's time to redesign the blog to accomodate HD video. I'll add it to my to do list. Look for an update some time in 2012.)
It boggles the mind (mine anyway)
A couple of weeks ago at church my pastor said something that really resonated with me. He said, "The most important thing in the world is God's glory." Isn't that true? So no matter what I'm doing I need to be 100% that I am bringing glory to God because that's why he made me!"
Stumbled onto this while surfing photographer web sites. I just don't get this. Doesn't that make God sound like a narcissistic prick? Isn't it a grander vision of God to believe he made you for no other reason than to be yourself and give you the opportunity to learn and grow?
I could be wrong, but I kinda think the harder thing to do is to set someone you love free to be who they choose to be rather than to try and exert absolute control over them and try to make them into something you want them to be.
Why is it we seem to endow God with the worst qualities of mankind rather than the best?
Woah.
Finished book two and no angels yet. There was a small tid bit about a heterosexual fellow discovering his feminine side, but that was about it.
In other news I was telling my sister that I wanted to go see The Golden Compass and she responded (with some passion) "No! Don't see that movie! [I'm thinking at this point she's joking.] It's an atheist agenda to destroy God! You do still believe in God, don't you?" Didn't see that coming. I had no response for her except to chuckle, which she didn't like much.
I'm not sure how unique it is to Mormonism, but the commonly held belief is if you leave the church eventually you will fall completely into wickedness and corruption. Hence the question asking after my belief. Probably checking that I'm not completely lost. Yes, I do believe in God, but probably not in a way she would find satisfactory.
You see, I don't believe in a jealous and petty god. I believe that heresy is man made because God doesn't need people to believe in him. I once told an atheist friend of mine, Tony, that my god doesn't mind that Tony doesn't believe in him. He doesn't throw tantrums when people don't do what he says. In fact, I'm not sure he has all that much to say. I don't think I believe in a god who is actively involved in the daily lives of individuals. I believe he is there and that human beings can reach out and tap into his power if they want, but if they don't that's fine too.
I call God "he" mostly out of habit. I'm not sure God has a sex and if he does I'd be stunned and disappointed if he conformed to our narrow and silly definitions of gender. While I'm open to the idea that what we understand to be God is really some pervasive, impersonal force that binds all life together (channeling Yoda now), I find it more comfortable to think about an actual being, an individual, but maybe that's just habit, too.
I read a Jewish proverb once that said something to the effect that God rejoices when his children out wit him. I like that.
All I could come up with for my sister was that I had been reading the books and that I was enjoying them, so no promises. I was kind of surprised I hadn't heard anything from the usual suspects condemning the movie, so I asked a friend of mine who's usually more on top of those kinds of things. Apparently the wingnuts are actually nervous because the movie takes a softer stance toward religion than the books. They're afraid people will like the movie and read the books. Because God, you know, hates it when people read something he hasn't written himself, or from which he hasn't at least got an endorsement deal.