Understanding God
"Holy Communion is the shortest and safest way to Heaven." Saint Pope Pius XA good and wise friend once said he wasn't a Christian because he doesn't understand the Holy Trinity and all the complicated concepts Christians believe in. The argument is that if he, a scholar and an engineer, doesn't understand God, what hope do the more simple folk have?
I totally agree. God is not so hard to understand. There are many believers who are faithful and pious who are also simple people - mothers, fathers, children, friends. Lovers all. Why then is our religion so complex? I'm always heedful that Jesus often had harsh words for the Sadducees, Pharisees, Levites and the teachers of the Law.
A sure sign of truth, and which to me, points to God is simplicity. We are asked simply to love God and to love one another. What could be simpler? We yearn for love, to love and to be loved, and everything we are, everything we do reflects this truth.
And yet. . .God amazes us with beauty. Kant argues that beauty is universal, in that "it is an intrinsic part of the activity of such a judgment to expect others to agree with us." When we see something beautiful, like a rainbow, we point to it and say something like, "Look, a rainbow. Isn't it beautiful?" We normally wouldn't expect the person we're talking with to argue with us about it, or ask us to prove its beauty. Disagree, perhaps, but debate, no.
Like Einstein's Theory of Relativity. If he didn't reduce it to E=mc2, it wouldn't have the power of truth. It may be true, but it will lack its power. It's like music. Anyone not tone deaf can enjoy music. I even know of someone tone deaf who "sings" tonelessly but in rhythm. It was a delight to listen to - an exquisite form of rap. A babe in arms enjoys music. Heck, a foetus learns through music.
Mr A would like me to cite my references. But my aim is not to debate nor convince. Simply to share my amazement. We can all enjoy music but who amongst us can explain it? In the presence of wonder, we can only praise and celebrate. This I have tried to do.
I agree with the little people who say we should just obey and have faith. Absolutely. God demands nothing more. Nor less. And yet, he loves to amaze us. And turn our hearts with his wonders and his love. There is so much beauty in him that I cannot be but moved. I seek only to share this. And I worry that I have failed.
If I have something profound to say, it is this: be happy and know, there is God. Rejoice, for God loves us in our weakness, ignorance and foolishness. If Jesus expects us to forgive seventy times seven times, how much deeper is God's grace. I seek not to be clever but I hope I have been intelligent. For cleverness comes from God and intelligence lies in acknowledging him.
If I have given the impression that I am an intellectual, I am sorry. Love is anything but intellectual. And all I have shared, I hope mainly to have shared my love. The impression I want to leave is: Wow, isn't life great? Isn't the world beautiful? Isn't it wonderful to be in love? Everything else is secondary. Getting As, making money, the five Cs (unless you are talking about coffee, chocolates, cookies, cakes and [ice] cream), all these are not important. They are the fragrance of the flowers, not even the flowers, less still the path itself.
Someone once said that he doesn't want to become a Christian because sin is too much fun. No, I am not referring to St Augustine. But, the point is, God wants only fun for us. Anything that leads you away from happiness leads you away from God, and I don't mean the complex Christian concept of joy that surpasses all understanding. I mean sheer simple childish joy - the happiness of being alive.
I only seek to share my joy. *sigh* It seems that those who thought they didn't understand me understood me best.
16 Comments:
At 12:45 pm, Anonymous said…
ack. lousy spam bots again.
forgot to drop my link the last time. :) i find your arguments fairly clear and cogent - i guess there's insufficient theology in me to pick up the issues autolycus has. But I like the notion of simplicity - the modern day church has too much clutter, too many programmes and too much purpose, no? :)
At 11:44 pm, Anonymous said…
What theological issues? I think my point is that reasoning about God or the devil or whatever out of a Christian context takes too much brainpower.
If you want to be Christian, it is sufficient that you believe. Whether you get eternal life or not is up to God. Regardless of what you or anyone else says. Theology is the great un-necessity.
At 8:02 am, brownpanda said…
Dear anonymousnoises, I agree with you. I think God meant things to be simple. However, people like clutter - rituals, convention, rules and magic. And pastors are pressured to deliver or else lose their congregation. You must have heard of how Christians church-hop until they find one that works for them, and of course, what they are looking for is the church with the recipe to answer their prayers (which usually has little to do with loving one another). Even in Buddhism, despite Gautama's central teaching that does not acknowledge God in any way nor praying to gods, devotees will put up his statue and pray to him. We all share this common need to pray, have you noticed?
But I will have more blogs on architecture and other things of beauty - which is my life's passion: the pursuit of beauty.
Dear autolycus, you have just made me an offer I cannot refuse. There is something that takes too much brainpower? It's like telling me that you can have too much fun. The whole point, surely, is to have as much fun as you can. Similarly, to use your brain as much as you can. The first step is to use both sides of the brain *hint, hint*.
At 8:55 pm, Anonymous said…
i've started a page of city fiction here. see if you like it. :)
At 10:28 pm, Anonymous said…
If you have to reason about the Infinite, how much brainpower does it take? As your own argument would have it, just to appreciate it, wonder about it etc, is sufficient.
And this myth about left and right brain function really should be dispersed. The skill sets are not orthogonal.
Apprehension is always possible; comprehension need not be.
At 11:21 pm, brownpanda said…
Dear anon, somehow your links are not coming through. You can send it to my e-mail if you like - brownpanda@gmail.com.
Dear autolycus, fools rush in... what's more spectacular or satisfying than to attempt the impossible and fail. *smile* Suddenly, life is worth living.
At 12:00 pm, Anonymous said…
www.anonymousnoises.wordpress.com/veritas
At 11:43 pm, Trebuchet said…
*grin*
fools rush in
where angels fear to tread
(though they might, on the head
of a pin)
At 7:00 pm, Trebuchet said…
What... lazy jargon.
Brainpower is finite, hence there must be some things which consume more brainpower than you have. Likewise the capacity for fun; when all your receptors are firing, there is no more capacity left. Using all your brain's many lobes, whatever, you will eventually run out of brain.
The statistic most quoted here is that the potential number of neural interactions in your brain is more than the number of atoms in the universe. Well, yes. But obviously, the number of interactions between the atoms in the universe exceeds the that neural thing by a large number of orders of magnitude.
We live with it. The finite apprehends the infinite and comprehends it only in part. But that's OK. We're not greedy - only hungry.
At 6:44 am, Anonymous said…
A little Blue Jay landed here. *wink*
At 9:11 am, Anonymous said…
lazy jargon? was that some kind of pun that flew over my head?
the brain is finite, true. but it's pretty pretty much more powerful than most of us think - sze min was just telling me other day that we only use 3% of our brain, and some people seem to be able to use more. she cited you as a prime example of someone who either has a very large brain, or is using much more than average.
anyway, my point is the brain is finite in the same way earth is a conductor of electrostatic charge - ok so it is maybe finite, but it's so big we can take it, for all intents and purposes to be infinite.
although admitedly, i'm just trying to find excuses to slack off. heh. ;)
ahhh...i'm really screwed for chem.
At 9:53 am, brownpanda said…
Dear Blue Jay,
Ah yes, welcome, bro. Do write and share your thoughts.
At 9:56 am, brownpanda said…
I understand martians have large brains and skinny bodies. ETs, on the other hand, have large brains but flat - it bulges out at the back. Hmmm, I wonder...
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