The Good Fight

The things of God can sound like foolishness to man, but it is in trusting that foolishness that we open the door for God's miracles to work in our lives.

God has to be something we are willing to fight for. The battle is waged within, won within, and that victory is confirmed by the love that we share with the world.

Twitter Rant: A "Miracle" or "Good Luck"?

Oh, give thanks to the LORD!
         Call upon His name;
         Make known His deeds among the peoples! – Psalm 105:1

Today’s Reading: Psalms 105-106; 1 Corinthians 3

This is a twitter rant from earlier today as I thought about a back and forth exchange that I had with a friend about the Chilean mine rescue. Was it a miracle or just good luck?

Enjoy.

In this post I suggested that the Chilean miners' survival was a miracle.

We have been so well trained to try to understand everything that we have abandoned miracles as things out of fairy-tale thinking.

It's as if only the least educated of those among us can believe in such silliness.

What happened with the miners was a mixture of scientific know-how and luck. Miracles don't happen anymore, if they ever did.

I disagree with this line of thinking. When I see a series of events go impossibly right I look to purpose rather than chance.

Miracles are at least as equally plausible as random luck. The difference is one's perspective.

If you believe that there are no purposeful outcomes outside of human understanding then luck wins.

Also it is more comfortable to deal with a belief in luck when we look at other situations where the victim is not so fortunate.

But this rationale, though strangely comforting in the bad cases is quite lacking in the good ones.

I readily agree that the logical problem that occurs when one tries to explain the problem of “good luck” arises when explaining God's purpose in tragedy.

The reason why I side with miracles in the end is because I do not dare to explain the purpose or reasons for anything.

Only in hindsight do we pretend to see, clearly, past events. And those too are rarely seen with 20/20 vision.

So for those who believe in luck I ask... why do you chose to believe this way? Does it help you understand the world?

Cause from what I see luck and miracles are the inverse of each other. One explains the good the other the bad. Both are logically weak.

Both luck and miracles require specific systems of belief regarding the existence and role of God.

Or lack thereof…

Twitter Rant: Why

Reading Job 38-40

Sure it was a bit much of Job to want to state his case to God but I feel him

Sometimes things are so rough that we can't get past asking "why".

“Why” is such a problematic yet beautiful question. It is the wellspring of much suffering, but also much creativity and growth.

We must never stop asking why, but we must also recognize the futility of demanding an answer.

Answers come when we have born them through fruitful action and perseverance.

Focusing on "why" blinds us to the present. It is a question shackled in the past or future.

Twitter Rant: On Love

My last post made me think about something. Is there love without God?

Can one truly love without accepting the love of God?

I'm sure my atheist/agnostic friends out there would disagree with me but I'm not sure how any kind of lasting love exists without God.

What is the fuel of love without God? Emotion? Thoughts? Desires? All of those things are fleeting.

When folks get married they promise to be together till death do them part.

I feel that is a promise that romantic love cannot make on its own. It cannot walk that path on its own two legs.

I do not aim to prove this because proof cannot be had when it comes to spiritual matters or matters of the heart.

But this is what I believe.

I have tried to love without including God, and like all man made things, that love passed away.

I am now on a journey of love with God and I believe that will be the key... the companion that we have on the road.

I see now that the "whys" of the world don't matter nearly as much as the actions they endeavor to understand.

Love is much like the other beautiful things of this life. It is to be done, not understood.

And hopefully our leaps of faith will allow us to fly over the canyons of disappointment to the lands of joy and fulfillment.

Twitter Rant: Tyler Perry, M Knight, and Hatin' Folks

This twitter rant was inspired by my borderline hatred of the job that M Night did on my beloved cartoon Avatar: The Last Airbender, the Boondocks episode about Tyler Perry and my reading of Esther. Enjoy

12:25 AM  07-06-10

So I'm reading Esther and I came across this interesting passage…

Have you ever seen someone succeed at something that you do when they aren't as talented as you?

Have you ever had an idea that you slept on only to see someone else do it, but not nearly as dope as you would have?

What if you were God's plan A for that task... but you bullshitted to the point that God had to holler at plan B..?

This makes me think of Tyler Perry... so many folks hate on him but he didn't start off with a silver spoon.

I wonder how many other people had the same idea that he had but didn't have the heart to follow through?

Now they're looking at him and hating real strong... they only have themselves to blame.

For every Tyler Perry and M. Night I bet there was a super talented person who wasn't on their game...

No longer will I hate on the prominent folks that I think are wack... I'm gonna hate on the folks who slipped and gave up their shot.by not stepping up and following their own dreams.

Rant done. 

Twitter Rant: Challenging Our Beliefs

“These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. John 16: 1-2

Today's Reading: 2 Chronicles 25-27; John 16

I was talking to my buddy Adam last night at Yohance’s birthday party. Earlier in the day he posted this great thought about the writers of the gospels that was a bit challenging.

“Thinking a lot about writers. And Gospels---well, biographies. Is your best friend a good writer too? Is the person who holds the truest, deepest understanding of you capable of writing your biography? Wondering if Jesus had any BFFs who were just bad writers. Anyway. There.” - Adam

Verrrrrry interesting question that could go in many different directions. Awesome.

so we were talking about how sad it is that folks don't challenge scripture and how questioning is the path to true understanding. Then he said something that was so true...

Why be scared to challenge the scriptures? I'm pretty sure they can stand up to it.

That's real as steel. They've been around for 2000 years. I think they'll be aight…

If we don't challenge our beilefs can we truly say that we have faith?

I don't really think so.

Yes, faith does require a leap. But I also believe that it requires careful consideration and understanding.

When we believe in things that we don't understand we've just been brainwashed.

It is up to each of us to do the work to understand why we believe what we believe… regardless of what that may be.

Twitter Rant: 06-06-10

06-06-10 11:51 pm

I am starting to realize some things.

We tend to look at life through the prism of our own understanding, this is problematic.

Our individual perspectives are mere dots on the surface of single grains of sand on the vast shores of wisdom.

we assume that we know all and in this assumption we become blind to the truth.

it is only when we realize that we know nothing that our vision clears enough to reveal the truth.

and that truth is so impossibly grand that we can't help but to be humble before it.