Howdy, y'all --
As the architect of the universe and creator of life, I thought I’d drop you a few lines. I just finished reading this interesting little study, America’s Four Gods: What We Say About God – And What That Says About Us. It was based on two fellows’ 2008 survey of adults trying to take measure how you perceive my personality and behavior.
You can order it off Amazon or your buy it at your local Borders or Barnes and Noble. If you’re willing to wait and spend fewer bucks, you can find it at Half Price Books. Or catch it on Kindle if that’s more convenient. If you really want to go out on a limb, visit a local library and borrow it, if you can find one that’s still open.
On balance, I was glad to hear that 90 percent of you still believe in me. Not surprisingly, I was interested to learn how your views of me shape your attitudes about justice, morality, war, politics, science, love and other topics. Similar surveys have come up quite often since your ancestors drew their first breaths. They frequently touch my heart in good ways and bad.
And these surveys and studies always amuse me. It's like that sweet, Southern expression you hear old ladies say, "Well bless your little heart!" That's just another way of saying, "Nice try, buck-o, but you don't really have a clue, d'ya?"
In short, this survey breaks my character and nature down into four distinct areas: Authoritative, benevolent, critical and distant. Kind of a short list, but I consider the sources. Humans use their biases to categorize all that they observe. That sounds like a Myers-Briggs evaluation.
So, why I am writing? First, I realize that social media has become one of the main ways you communicate and conduct your relationships. It’s not always a bad thing, and has a few advantages. Take, for example, the medium called Facebook. If I had a lisp I would encourage you to think more of this message as Faithbook. So sue me. I look a little wordplay from time to time.
But I give you this warning: The modest scribe who is making this journal entry often is prone to error. Any typos, misspellings, grammaticals or other screw-ups in copy are his doing. He is well-intentioned.
Second, I wanted to keep this more focused on America because that’s who you are and what your orientation is. I am dashing out a similar note to others, tailored to their languages, customs, cultures and beliefs. You got to know your audience if you want your messages to resonate. Even the best spinhound flacks in the world are bound to get parts of it wrong.
Third, (if you recall, you know I like working with the number "3" and other definitive numbers), I want you to know that I am alive, doing well and am not biding my time plotting the human race’s demise while listening to a bunch of harp music. I actually like a little jazz on occasion. Got some of the best artists of that genre playing gigs whenever I am in the mood.
But I digress. I only wish any study of me could delve into some of the better angels of my nature (Lincoln lifted that line from me in one his speeches). My capacity for mercy, compassion, forgiveness. That I am capable of shedding a tear, a gut-thumping laugh -- and that I do get my dander up from time to time. More important, that I am a love that surpasses your current understanding.
Those are really the bullet points of my theology. Short and simple.
So, might I share a bit of insight into the four categories the survey has placed me in? Thank you, I appreciate that.
AM I AN AUTHORITARIAN? You gotta a problem wid dat? Hee-hee-hee!
Had you going there for a second, eh? Yes, I am authoritarian. And why not? I started this whole thing. I’m entitled to call whatever shots I want. There’s nothing wrong with authority, unless, of course, if you abuse it and hurt others. Like it or not, the cosmos operates on some sense of organization. Certainly, science (one of my any gifts to you) in many ways – but not all ways – bears this out. So does faith.
Humankind is no different; you all simply could not exist without laws I have put into motion and, to be honest, many of those your wisest of folks created. Like turn signals on cars. Virtually all of you have been wired to know what is right and what is wrong; what is moral and immoral. Though I concede you often face situations that are painted in various shades of grey.
You and your forebears also have crafted some pretty weird things that allow and deny you certain things, too. That's what happens when you succeed at getting out the vote.
I get a bit frazzled when some self-anointed hucksters of every faith and denomination claim to be an authorities speaking on my behalf. Liberal, conservative, existential or just plain goofy, they usually are more off base than a player with two left feet trying to steal second. By the way, baseball might be your country's "Favorite Past Time,” but I like a good round of golf and NFL football. I really don’t care who wins the World Series.
And for the love of Me, don’t presume all of your beliefs are necessarily my will. You have far greater odds playing craps in Vegas or wasting your money on the Super Lottery than you would making this lame-brained presumption.
Although I most certainly exist, there’s nothing wrong with mulling over my nature and my ways -- and my authority. The psalmist nearly had it right when he wrote, “Be still and know that I am God.” More succinctly, I would add, Just close your yaps. Go ahead and give it your best shot – read, think and do like that teen-aged peasant girl did so long ago– ponder things in your heart. I like that word "ponder." Sounds so soft but carries such a heavy texture.
Hey, I like a mystery as much as you do. I have the advantage, though, of knowing how things are going to turn out. It's one of the luxuries of being an authority.
AM I BENEVOLENT? You bet. I’m no grumpy-faced tightwad in the sky arbitrarily doling out blessings and bonuses based on your job performance. In your short history, recall what you I have given you. Liberty, choice, opportunity, land, natural resources. And on and on and on. Granted, it hasn’t always been an express route to justice. In your world, that always has been left up to you. You do well sometimes; other times, not so hot.
You know what I like about you Americans? You are generous. You give much to others. I’m not talking about the loose change you throw into the collection plate at your worship places, or what you have taken out of your paychecks for charitable causes. You actually give your time, your labor and your hearts to so many others. I like the way many of you plow recklessly and fearlessly into the realm of good will.
There is no more important business than taking care of mankind, as ol’ Marley’s ghost wailed. By removing others’ chains you free yourself. That's benevolence.
SO, I’M A CRITICAL GOD, AM I? Yep. I own that. Justice ultimately does prevail. Let’s just keep this third category short. The disparities between the haves and the haves-not and all of the unfairness of the world are not easily understood or resolved in the world you defined. And I know you always grapple with why bad things happen to good people, and why good things happen to bad people.
When the time comes, you and I will sit down together and chat about it, and I am sure you will understand how this works. It's all pretty complicated.
A DISTANT GOD. I’m no computer programmer who booted up Creation and left everything to chance. There are far too many viruses out there that can infect the hard drive of the soul without safeguards. After all, life is not a beta test site.
Going back the conundrum of will – don’t think for a minute that I don’t understand the complexity of one my greatest gifts to you: Free will. It would have been far easier and less strain to make you spiritual robots, Stepford followers, so to speak. But where is the challenge and fun in that? You choose well, you choose horribl, and often you don't choose at all.
But I know free will is a curse, too. In the world you have created, it is often difficult to choose what is best and what is right. When in doubt, quit investigating, and just listen to what those brain cells are processing, what your instincts are pinging on, what that little machine in your chest is saying. And more important, take in what that wonderful driving force called your soul is hinting at.
It would have been cruel of me to set things up, sit back and let the chips fall where they may. But that would have made me a distant and uninterested sort of God. Fact is, I am involved. I don’t use fancy marketing campaigns or go on the Internet or cable to promote it.
It’s all around you.
Remember what it was like to hand-color a homemade card for Mother’s or Father’s Day – or to be on the receiving end? Recall those happy tears when y your children and grandchildren were born? Wasn’t it wonderful the first time you fell in love and the many other times it would occur? Throughout life your heart breaks and rebuilds itself. How about chasing fireflies on a hot summer night or opening those all-too-wide mouths I gave you to capture an early November snowflake?
And what about those times when you were slumping through the darkest of situations – the death of loved ones or other life-changing obstacles – and you had a calming sense that helped carry you through?
It was me. There with you.
I don’t always communicate through burning bushes, crackling thunder from a high mountaintop, or even in a gentle unexpected breezes of inspiration. Sure, I like the drama of Hollywood sometimes. Charlton Heston and Cecile B. DeMille had a flair for it. But I prefer working closer to level ground in more subtle ways. Up close and personal.
Am I distant and unapproachable? Not hardly. I wasn't stretching out some lofty metaphor when I said what you do for others -- or against others -- you are actually doing unto me. How much closer can you get than that?
Here's what I want you to know: I am always speaking. Always have been. And I don’t intend to clam up. I make no apologies; it's just the way I roll.
I hope you are listening.
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