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How to think about God
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I always choose to err on the side of the positive. If I had to make a choice between a positive and a negative, I would always take the positive. So what if the positive subsequently turns out to be wrong. If I had believed that I’d continue to exist after I died and it turned out I was wrong, it wouldn’t matter. There’d be just extinguishment- kaput! On the other hand, if I had not believed and it turned out I was wrong, I might just disappear, or go into a deep everlasting sleep, while believers go to Heaven. Hopefully, God would feel sorry for me, after a million years or so, and send an angel to free me from limbo, the way a prison warden would unlock the cell and let the prisoner go home. But unlike the freed prisoner, I would be going home to Heaven. But, in Heaven, I might end up being a laughing stock!
If neither God nor Heaven exists, then there will be no Hell either. So it doesn’t matter if my belief in God turns out wrong. I will play it safe, when it comes to God and the Afterlife, they exist.
If the basis for disbelief is equal in merits to that of belief, why choose to side with disbelief? It seems that the more one tries to persuade nonbelievers, the more resistant they become. Are they truly nonbelievers, or are they just refusing to be “subjugated?” They may be trying to emulate the heroes of Greek Tragedy who see the “otherness” of the world as the antagonists. Whatever they are called- universal forces, malevolent god, blind faith, solicitations of Hell- these forces prey upon man’s soul, punishing man far in access of his guilt! Greek heroes battle these forces to the end. The tragedy is that, while they champion mankind, their efforts are futile. They die a violent death, refusing to surrender to the bloody end.
Nonbelievers may end up the same way.
To their credit, they have some basis for their disbelief. In the Old Testament, God said “there shall be no other gods before me!” The atheist can argue that God is jealous, scary and potentially malevolent. He has an ego like man; He even implies that there are other gods. Which god is the right god? Which god is God? The atheist may not necessarily be denying the existence of God, but only man’s conceptualization of God. Did man create God in his image?
In the New Testament, God is no longer a jealous God but a loving God. “Is this the same God?” the atheist would ask believers. “Shouldn’t God be Absolute and Perfect? How can you explain why there are two contrasting descriptions of God in the Bible?” At this point, the atheist is about to deliver the final blow. The believer is a loss for words. The Atheist then strikes the final blow: “The descriptions are man’s doing; ergo, God is manmade.”
I would go even further. It may sound heretical and offensive to some readers: If there are many gods but only one is the Creator, how would we know we are not worshipping a lesser god? God is too abstract for man to know. We only can go by faith. We pay homage without knowing who or what God is. Father Manny of St John the Apostle and Evangelist Catholic Church in Mililani, in his Easter morning Homily (sermon, for non Catholics) gave the parishioners food for thought. Man, he said, builds churches, altars, temples, and other places for worshipping God. Man tries to outdo each other- the bigger, the more decorated, the better. When the facility is ready for use, man invites God. What’s wrong with this scenario? “We don’t invite God to our temples,” Father Manny said, “He invites us to His.”
But how can we know He has a place for us and has sent us invitations? If you are not Christian you are not so confident about this; you don’t follow the Bible. If you are a skeptic, you might ask “but how do you know it’s not the Devil you are dealing with?” I infer what Father Manny would say: If the Devil tries to emulate God by sending you false inspirations, you will know. It’s instinctive. When our loved ones die, for example, through instinct we feel the grief. Instinct comes with our creation, and through it, we are able to discern God’s messages to us.
To grow closer to God, Father Manny says: “Listen to the heart.” Communicate with God through the heart, and He will send you inspiration that words cannot convey. If the inner voice you hear uses words, suspect that it may be coming from the ego, or, worse, from the Devil. Grieving families who believe in God receive reassurance that they will see their loved ones again, by listening to the heart. Those who do not believe in God and the Hereafter grieve just as much when their loved ones die. They too would admit desire to be reunited. They should listen to the heart. Although there is no scientific proof of the existence of God, we see evidence of our Creator all around us every day. The orderly universe, the trees, the birds, the air we breathe, our awareness, our intelligence, etc. If we come upon troublesome times in our lives, we can always turn to our hearts for comfort. If we see the cup half empty, we should try to fill it with hope. As Oscar Hammerstein II’s says in the song “You’ll Never Walk Alone”:
“When you walk through a storm, hold your head up high,
And don’t be afraid of the dark.
At the end of the storm is a golden sky’’
And the sweet silver song of a lark.”
I posted a video in YouTube. What it depicts may be just a coincidence, a freak of atmospheric conditions. But, if a caterpillar can turn into something beautiful, why can’t we? The video should bring reassurance and hope to all, especially if you are a non-believer. If you don’t think so, just watch it, anyway. Here is the URL:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TUJ4Z1mbmY
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