The Quest For Eden

OK. Not quite. But there is a prophesy in Micah that I'm just gonna go ahead and cling to. Micah 4:1-5 English Standard Version (ESV) The Mountain of the Lord 4  It shall come to pass in the latter days      that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains,      and it shall be lifted up above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it, 2       and many nations shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord ,      to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways      and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, [ a ]      and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 3   He shall judge between many peoples,      and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,      and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation,      neither shall they learn war anymore; 4  but they shall

Why is an "afterlife" in heaven such a focus? What did Jesus promise? Lk 17: 20-25 Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.” His promise was not about the future, but seeing the Heaven in the here and now; in the family here with us. Do not worry about the hereafter. Embrace the heaven that is now.

Shall we build a tabernacle on our journey? At one point, the disciples of Christ offered to build a permanent structure to honor what must have seemed like the pinnacle moment of Christ's time on earth at that point. Jesus, more or less, scolded them. I like to think the scolding was to point out that the journey of building relationships and understanding the completeness of God is not a journey that has an end.  I mean, in our families, friendships, and even casual relationships, how often do we say, "Wow. This is the best it's ever gonna be. We should just stop working now." I believe that the whole of the world; those of MANY faiths, including Christians are all on a journey that will someday result in ALL the WORLD coming to a singular vision of who God is. I believe that no one faith has, as of yet, all the answers. I believe it will take all of our perspectives to understand everything. Why do I say this? Well, I do not want to make the mistake

Ephesians 4:12 & 13 Does God want just "believers" be of one mind and body OR all His children  to mature into a belief that makes us ALL one and in agreement of who He is. This passage in Ephesians has been utilized to describe how church bodies should be able to function as one unit.  "The church" as "one body" is supposedly called to bring more people into its body. What if, though, God hopes for ALL the world to be His body. What if, it will take MANY perspectives from all the world and faiths to fully know God as Father? What if, all of us as individuals are no more "sentient" and fully aware than a blood cell in our own body is aware of our hair color? What if, to see the whole of who we are and to enjoy the fullness of our Father's relationship, we need to communicate and understand EVERYONE's perspective?

No. I don't think God lied. What I think happened was that we interpreted His meaning incorrectly. In Genesis, every version or translation reads that God told Adam & Eve that if they ate the fruit "they would surely die that day." Obviously, they did not die. So. Did God lie? Did He tell a "little white lie" or zealously over-dramatize the suffering that Adam and Eve would endure? I am wondering if He said some different words that could have meant physical death, but in fact meant something more . I'm betting He said, "you shall surely cease to enjoy life." or "You shall cease to live abundantly." or "You shall cease to truly live."  or "You shall no longer taste life." Why would I believe this? I do not believe in a lying God. I believe in a misunderstood God. Humanity wasn't using written word in its infancy. There's a good chance the Narrative of the Garden has suffered some

Christians are familiar with "the Great Commission." It is referenced every time there is a need to prod people into "missions," "ministry," or "making disciples." As I re-read it, I notice 2 things. 1 - Jesus did not define "the Good News" to contain salvation from eternal punishment. The concept of eternal punishment was added later by translators. Jesus called His followers to make disciples of Jesus"s teaching. Jesus never taught punishment. He taught Love. 2 - Jesus doesn't say, "Do this, or other Nations will never know God." He does not say that the rest of the world will be condemned to some sort of punishment for our inaction. I would contend that it is foolish to think that God's Love and Forgiveness is potentially inhibited by our inability to convince the world of some sort of blood-pact. Jesus said, tell the world that God loves them and everyone should love everyone.

The Jesuits have a principle called "the principle of indifference ." I like to think this can also be applied to "winning" at be wrong or right. When we can choose to be aware that there is a good chance that NO ONE has all the answers, we can be indifferent about being assured that we are "right." I used to quip to my choir students, "If everyone around you is singing something different than you, you're either lost or you're the leader."  There is a third possibility. It is possible that all are lost; or at least NOT fully correct. There is a good chance that of all the variations of Faith in God, not one holds all the keys to explaining God and the Universe.  In my choir example, this is why a choir director will group students into sections that include at least one member with: Strong sense of rhythm. Strong sense of pitch. Strong sense of tone. Strong sense of blend. Seldom will a director have a choir member who

It is hard to think that you may have been wrong about something . It is harder to conclude that you may have been wrong most of your life. It is nearly impossible to consider that large groups of people may have been wrong for centuries. It is hard until you understand that we thought all of the evidence of the natural world once supported beliefs like: The world is flat. The sun moves around the earth. Disease is caused by humours. Planets and stars are beings in the sky. Everything is made of three components. That said, reread your religious texts from the perspective that the evidence they present is accurate but past perspectives have been tainted by emotion and presuppositions. I have been rereading my Bible with the presupposition that God is a loving Father... And that He does not demand sacrifice.

The first we read of God is that he is a creator. When he finally makes man and woman, he is a gardener. How we understand all of scripture depends on our perspective of God. If he is a judge and jury all of scripture becomes a treatise about crime, punishment, & negotiations. I choose to read scripture viewing God as a Father to all of His creation. He is a Dad who wants the best for His children. Reading from that perspective, even Eden and the "Fall" changes from about sin and punishment to compassion and protection.

I thought I wanted to blog a novel. Too much work. Instead, I will be posting my perspectives on how much of Christianity may have put the wrong spin on the God of the Bible.