Stream of Consciousness
This is a little piece of a thought I had which was written for specific people to address a specific issue at hand, but I thought it was a postable stream of consciousness and since I haven't posted in..........never mind how long..... I thought I would put it out there to maybe do some good.
[I am eternally grateful that God has sought me in His Love (as He seeks all of us) and has allowed me to find Him and ultimately give my life to Him as His spouse. True, it is not easy to give up one's life and all that one loves, but if we really think about it, everything belongs to Him anyway - everything we have, including our lives, are gifts from Him.
It saddens me to think of many young people today who are wandering; seeking happiness, seeking a reason for their lives or seeking the truth by which to guide their lives. Without Jesus Christ life has no meaning. If there is no heaven or hell, that is, no eternity with God or without God, then all there is is this life and then afterwards... a nothingness or annihilation or whatever, so you might as well make the most of it while you can. Carpe Diem!! How sad and pointless!
People turn to material things, money, games, clothes - nothing satisfies - when they get one thing they just want more, newer, better, bigger, because man was made for the infinite. Within our hearts we have an infinite longing which can only be satisfied by God. Often too the one seeking happiness turns to pleasure, sex, drugs - but again it is all empty, the ecstacy is fleeting and incomplete - the "love" is selfish and therefore false - essentially it is all a lie. And if he seeks truth, he is confused by a society that declares that there is no truth or rather there is "your truth" and "my truth." But multiple "truths" never work. That is how we arrive at situations where truths conflict. For example: What happens when my truth determines that you are a burden and that your life no longer has value (whether you are an unborn child, a mentally or physically handicapped person, an elderly person, a Jew, or any other person that just happens to be inconvenient at the time)? Precisely, you die!! ...either in an abortion clinic, nursing home, concentration camp or in your own bed at home. So does this "truth" satisfy the yearning heart, No!!
Selfishness, pride, greed, hate...unfortunately, these evils are characteristic of man because of our fallen human nature. It is man who is responsible for the moral evil in the world. God wants man to chose the good (Him) and to love Him and so love our brothers too, but love is only true when it is free. So God gave us free will and allowed the consequences. Man rejected God and chose evil, but because God loves us, He always brings greater good out of the evil man does. If God forced us to love Him and to always do good it wouldn't be true love. [ i.e. Someone is at gun point and is told to love you or die, so they say "I love you" ...somehow I am not convinced. I would only be convinced that they really loved me if they were free to say "I don't love you" but instead freely chose to say "I love you" and to prove it by sacrificing themselves. For example: If you aren't feeling well and your husband won't do anything to help - he sits and watches his favorite TV show while you struggle to make his dinner - you know that at least at that moment he is not showing love for you.] So if you could immagine the strongest, purest, and most perfect way of showing true love, what would it be? I think probably if a person freely chose to suffer and die to save you from some evil. Whenever we read about someone who has undergone torture and/or death to save his family, friend, or someone he loves we instinctively know that we are witnessing an act of true and selfless love. Well, that is exactly what God did for us!! When man rejected him, He respected man's free will, but He also said, "Wait, let me show you really how much I love you, and then I'll let you choose again"...and so He sent His Son to suffer, die and rise (conquering sin, death, and the devil) so that we might not die eternally. Can you think of any more powerful way of proving your love than by giving yourself to the last drop of your blood? Then God said, "Now that you can see how much I love you, choose again." And we do choose with our lives...and we are still free to say, No! However, if we say "yes" to love, if we accept Jesus Christ, "the Way, the Truth, and the Life" then our life has a purpose and we have a future beyond this present world. Jesus is the One Who makes life worth living and worth living joyfully, even in suffering and trials (because those too take on meaning and become redemptive when united with Christ's sufferings.)
This very real awareness in my life of the Presence of God and His love for me has drawn me to respond to His call to give my life to Him and to be united more closely to Jesus Christ as a spouse. Then in truly and freely loving Him, hopefully my love will bear fruit in the souls of others when they too come to love Him. I hope I can at least assure you that I am supremely happy with a deep joy that does not pass but is rooted in my heart and in God.]
[I am eternally grateful that God has sought me in His Love (as He seeks all of us) and has allowed me to find Him and ultimately give my life to Him as His spouse. True, it is not easy to give up one's life and all that one loves, but if we really think about it, everything belongs to Him anyway - everything we have, including our lives, are gifts from Him.
It saddens me to think of many young people today who are wandering; seeking happiness, seeking a reason for their lives or seeking the truth by which to guide their lives. Without Jesus Christ life has no meaning. If there is no heaven or hell, that is, no eternity with God or without God, then all there is is this life and then afterwards... a nothingness or annihilation or whatever, so you might as well make the most of it while you can. Carpe Diem!! How sad and pointless!
People turn to material things, money, games, clothes - nothing satisfies - when they get one thing they just want more, newer, better, bigger, because man was made for the infinite. Within our hearts we have an infinite longing which can only be satisfied by God. Often too the one seeking happiness turns to pleasure, sex, drugs - but again it is all empty, the ecstacy is fleeting and incomplete - the "love" is selfish and therefore false - essentially it is all a lie. And if he seeks truth, he is confused by a society that declares that there is no truth or rather there is "your truth" and "my truth." But multiple "truths" never work. That is how we arrive at situations where truths conflict. For example: What happens when my truth determines that you are a burden and that your life no longer has value (whether you are an unborn child, a mentally or physically handicapped person, an elderly person, a Jew, or any other person that just happens to be inconvenient at the time)? Precisely, you die!! ...either in an abortion clinic, nursing home, concentration camp or in your own bed at home. So does this "truth" satisfy the yearning heart, No!!
Selfishness, pride, greed, hate...unfortunately, these evils are characteristic of man because of our fallen human nature. It is man who is responsible for the moral evil in the world. God wants man to chose the good (Him) and to love Him and so love our brothers too, but love is only true when it is free. So God gave us free will and allowed the consequences. Man rejected God and chose evil, but because God loves us, He always brings greater good out of the evil man does. If God forced us to love Him and to always do good it wouldn't be true love. [ i.e. Someone is at gun point and is told to love you or die, so they say "I love you" ...somehow I am not convinced. I would only be convinced that they really loved me if they were free to say "I don't love you" but instead freely chose to say "I love you" and to prove it by sacrificing themselves. For example: If you aren't feeling well and your husband won't do anything to help - he sits and watches his favorite TV show while you struggle to make his dinner - you know that at least at that moment he is not showing love for you.] So if you could immagine the strongest, purest, and most perfect way of showing true love, what would it be? I think probably if a person freely chose to suffer and die to save you from some evil. Whenever we read about someone who has undergone torture and/or death to save his family, friend, or someone he loves we instinctively know that we are witnessing an act of true and selfless love. Well, that is exactly what God did for us!! When man rejected him, He respected man's free will, but He also said, "Wait, let me show you really how much I love you, and then I'll let you choose again"...and so He sent His Son to suffer, die and rise (conquering sin, death, and the devil) so that we might not die eternally. Can you think of any more powerful way of proving your love than by giving yourself to the last drop of your blood? Then God said, "Now that you can see how much I love you, choose again." And we do choose with our lives...and we are still free to say, No! However, if we say "yes" to love, if we accept Jesus Christ, "the Way, the Truth, and the Life" then our life has a purpose and we have a future beyond this present world. Jesus is the One Who makes life worth living and worth living joyfully, even in suffering and trials (because those too take on meaning and become redemptive when united with Christ's sufferings.)
This very real awareness in my life of the Presence of God and His love for me has drawn me to respond to His call to give my life to Him and to be united more closely to Jesus Christ as a spouse. Then in truly and freely loving Him, hopefully my love will bear fruit in the souls of others when they too come to love Him. I hope I can at least assure you that I am supremely happy with a deep joy that does not pass but is rooted in my heart and in God.]
posted by TED | 5:47 PM
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