If you hold up your hand and block out the glare of the world - the mindless and incessant media, the non-stop yelling voices of doom and gloom, the distracting flashing lights - you'll see something wonderful. It looks like this: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap110115.html
We must eclipse the profane and obnoxious blasting 'reality' around us, because it's not real, except in the most narrow sense. Yes, we have to work, engage with people and buy and sell and go here and there; but we mustn't be completely taken in by it. All great religions emphasize this., and urge us to see the larger picture and context.
"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players..." - Shakespeare; As You Like It
That is how we really come to grief: By making ourselves the center of the universe; taking vengeance into our own hands; seeking godlike power over others; or not seeing God in all life around us. We must accept our mortality, or risk becoming like Dracula, the undead, not fully alive or dead.
How can something so transitory and unreliable - as this world is - be considered authentic and powerful? The world is god to many, but must not be god for us. Never worship the creation; worship only the Creator.
You must be very dissatisfied with the world. Who can be otherwise? Where's the happiness and fulfillment? What happened to all the glowing and wonderful promises that were made to us? The answer is in their absence.
God exists where the world comes to its end. The perfect negative example being set by the world - and our deep unhappiness and dissatisfaction with it - proves the truth that we were made for something far better, finer, and richer. Blessed are those who mourn, and are grieving, for they will find God. Blessed are those who suffer and hunger, for God will heal and feed them.
Those who are content and satisfied with this world are the poorest among us, and most endangered. They do not want God. Hence, they will not find Him.
We must eclipse the profane and obnoxious blasting 'reality' around us, because it's not real, except in the most narrow sense. Yes, we have to work, engage with people and buy and sell and go here and there; but we mustn't be completely taken in by it. All great religions emphasize this., and urge us to see the larger picture and context.
"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players..." - Shakespeare; As You Like It
That is how we really come to grief: By making ourselves the center of the universe; taking vengeance into our own hands; seeking godlike power over others; or not seeing God in all life around us. We must accept our mortality, or risk becoming like Dracula, the undead, not fully alive or dead.
How can something so transitory and unreliable - as this world is - be considered authentic and powerful? The world is god to many, but must not be god for us. Never worship the creation; worship only the Creator.
You must be very dissatisfied with the world. Who can be otherwise? Where's the happiness and fulfillment? What happened to all the glowing and wonderful promises that were made to us? The answer is in their absence.
God exists where the world comes to its end. The perfect negative example being set by the world - and our deep unhappiness and dissatisfaction with it - proves the truth that we were made for something far better, finer, and richer. Blessed are those who mourn, and are grieving, for they will find God. Blessed are those who suffer and hunger, for God will heal and feed them.
Those who are content and satisfied with this world are the poorest among us, and most endangered. They do not want God. Hence, they will not find Him.
