for everyone |
Warning: This is dangerous territory we’re treading here now. This time, we’re not talking merely about the angels and saints. After only a couple of weeks of blogging, we’re embarking upon the most ambitious blogging theme of all. We’re talking theology now. We are dealing with the real deal, the Big G himself. If we’re not careful, this blogsite could be condemned as heretical, blasphemous, irreverent; and the author to be burned at the stake. It’s a good thing Microsoft Word has provided a gentler alterative, the Recycle Bin.
Btw, did you know that Jews did not pronounce the Holy Name of GOD except for their high priest one day a year and that even today Orthodox Jews carefully spell out GOD as G_D? After all, anyone who has ever heard of the Ten Commandments knows only too well that the first of all such commandments declares solemnly and in no uncertain terms: “I AM THE LORD, THY GOD. YOU SHALL HAVE NO STRANGE GODS BEFORE ME.” And, the commandment that follows is just as important as the first, or a corollary thereto: “YOU SHALL NOT TAKE THE NAME OF THE LORD, YOUR GOD, IN VAIN.” In other words, no name-dropping, please; don’t use God as an excuse to promote your own interest. Throughout history, wars have been fought for the sake, or over some strange incantation, selfish invocation or self-serving interpretation, of these two simple commandments.
So, what gives this little creature the right or the drive to blog about Him. Sabi nga nung kapatid ko after receiving my text containing some religious theme, “Brod, ano ba ang nakain mo.” Roughly translated, it means “Bro, what’s wrong with you. Have you gone mad?” Begging your pardon, the answer is really quite simple. I’ve just been to Mt. Tabor. I have seen God. God spoke to me. (The famous last words of many wannabe prophets before they get stoned to death).
Actually, the answer is much simpler and a bit more down-to-earth than that. I have just come from an XVD recollection (Metanoia2; and there, along with about three dozen other guys, I felt the awesome presence of the Almighty. What gives me the right to talk about it, the nerve, the gall, the courage to even discuss it and accept the consequences? I like to think it’s the same sort of mystical feeling some of the early Christians must have felt before being fed to the lions. I also feel self-assured as I recall a scene from the movie “Oh, God!”where God (played by the old man George Burns) tells and reassures the young man (no, not me, but the timid young hero, John Denver), “Your strength will come from knowing.” In other words, in all modesty and begging your pardon, I should know whereof I speak. I experienced it. I was there. So that makes me crazy, gone loco, lost my marbles? “Ahay, mukhang tinamaan yata ng kidlat yung matanda. Sayang, guwapo pa naman!”
In retrospect, it was a clever idea. There’s nothing quite like a discussion or debate on God, religion or mysticism to get most folks excitable and even emotional. As we have said, wars have been fought over it. There is something in us that triggers some latent brain cells suddenly and unexpectedly to come alive and produce physical, psychological and all other kinds of reactions we never even thought possible. In software lingo, we might say we have been formatted or configured to react or to behave in this way.
Hence, the perfect party hostess will take care that guests do not engage in any conversation leading towards the subject of religion of any sort, especially when alcoholic drinks are freely available. “In vino veritas” – in wine there is truth - is an old Roman saying. There is something about wine that leads the sober man vainly, valiantly or even violently to confront the Ultimate Truth head on.
Since time immemorial, since the fall of man, we have been searching, we have constantly been on the lookout, and longing for God. We all seem to have this vague, slippery notion about a Creator, a Supreme Being that we just can’t seem to grasp much less hold on to. And so through the years, man has managed to worship the moon and the stars, thunder and lightning, earthquakes and volcanoes. Why do you think the ancient Egyptians, the ancient Greeks and the Romans at the height of their power and civilization managed to worship snakes and crocodiles, the seas and rivers, trees, mountains, Jupiter, Apollo, Zeus, Venus and Mars?
Philip Yancy notes that even the Israelites, the so-called God’s Chosen People, repeatedly managed to offend their own God, with their graven images, their golden calf, drifting carelessly from god to god. No attitude could be further from that demanded by Yahweh the true God. He had chosen the Hebrews as a kingdom of priests, a peculiar people set apart. He mocked the ludicrousness of carving a god out of a tree, then using branches from the same tree to cook a meal. (Isaiah 44:16). After all, He is Lord of the Universe, not a good-luck charm.
What about us now who find ourselves living in the Third Millenia A.D. of written history and Western civilization, in this day and age of Microsoft, Google, mobile phones, satellite and cableTV, when we are able to see and hear virtually everything happening around the world – as it happens? Have we come any closer to discovering the real truth about our God? If so, have our ideas, notions and attitudes toward this God and fellowman changed drastically since? We don’t seem to act as if they have. Everyday we are still (pardon the pun) witnesses to people killing each other in what are supposed to be the some of the oldest and holiest places on earth.
Millions are dying of AIDS, famine, disease and starvation in Sudan, Darfur and much of Africa, and yet we seem to show more concern over a minor wrist injury we sustained in badminton. Hundreds of thousands died in tsunamis in Indonesia, tornadoes in Burma, earthquakes in China, floods in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, yet we seem to show more interest, spend much more time, money and effort, and even frantically search the morning paper for the latest results/scores in the US Golf Open, the Finals in the NBA, the French Open, The Open, Wimbledon, Stanley Cup, World Cup, the MLB, AFL, NFL, (the Super Bowl), the UEFA Cup; as if our very lives depended on them. Doomsday advocates over climate change, forest conservation, environmental protection, energy conservation, global warming have cried themselves hoarse trying to call attention to their cause to no apparent avail, yet football fans by the tens of thousands will maim and kill, stampede and trample each other and riot in the streets of all major cities over some soccer match that has been won or lost. Money it seems is no consideration when it comes to buying a scalped ticket to a Manny Pacquiao fight, but we cry “donor fatigue” when confronted with a funding issue for some worthy cause.
In our quaint little pious hometown of Sta. Rita, Pampanga, it used to be that the main attraction for most people to come for the fiesta was their devotion and “panata” to its patron saint, the holy and miraculous Sta. Rita de Cascia. Now, the fiesta organizers have to bring in beauty pageant queens, movie stars and actresses, TV personalities, popular basketball players, politicians and other celebrities. These are now unabashedly known, called and referred to as “idols.” In fact, in this day and age of tarpaulin printing, the fiesta committee had better commission those life-size posters to be plastered all over town for the townfolks to be sufficiently impressed. Hello, doesn’t that remind you somehow of an old commandment against graven idols. No, not at all, you would say. These are digitally and electronically-enhanced tarpaulin printouts.
Then, one day, in a little town called Bethlehem someone came along to try to tell us where to find this God, or why we often fail to find Him. He suggested we could be looking for God in all the wrong places. But somehow, it seems we still could not or would not get it.
We who are now trained to look up to and to watch out for the superstars, the celebrities, the moneyed or enormously successful business people and political leaders, we are liable to fail to notice the God we are all secretly looking and longing for. We who idolize, who thrill or get excited, fall over each other when we suddenly find ourselves in the same room with some TV personalities, well-dressed or distinguished looking individuals, we might just miss this self-effacing God, whom some theologians refer to as “Deus exconditus,” or the hidden God.
Which brings me back to my main point. If you’re really interested, someday let me tell you a little bit about this Man who told us his version of God. You really have to listen and know what to look for, where to look, he said. You have to have a particular sense of values, he said, to discover this God, to even be interested to look. If you’re looking in the high places, among beautiful, glamorous, spectacular people, among the rich and famous, the high and the mighty, o kaya naman yun showbiz ang dating o namimigay ng pera, you’ll probably never find Him.
Someday, if you’ll let me, I will tell you about Him who knew just where to look and why he knew where to look. I’ll give you a little hint. This in effect was his advice:
“Keep your eyes on the one who refuses to turn stones into bread, jump from great heights or rule with great temporal power. Keep your eyes on the one who says, ‘Blessed are the poor, the gentle, those who mourn and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness; blessed are the merciful, the peacemakers and those who are persecuted in the cause of uprightness’ … Keep your eyes on the one who is poor with the poor, weak with the weak and rejected with the rejected. That one is the source of all peace.”
In other words, keep your eyes on the servant, not the star.
Actually, tama yata si Bro. Jules Q. Read his comment in one of my earlier blogs.
KUYA VIK, nandiyan ka na agad, my earliest customer! Actually, your patronage is worth opening the TALYER early. After all, as you know, our idol, Bro. Jess, loved hanging out with TALYER characters and wine-bibbers who love to toast and sing in foreign languages. PROST! IN VINO VERITAS! GAUDEAMUS IGITUR!
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VJ, is that really you. Cno yun artistang sinapupunanmo. Marunong ka rin ano. Wala kang makita litratomo na decente, kumuha ka pa ng artista na ihaharap.Hanggang ngayon masama pa pala ang loob mo sa IPIS carinderia na pnagdalhan ko sayo. Hayaan mo sa susunod dun tayo sa Shenie's. tnx
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"In software lingo, we might say we have been formatted or configured to react or to behave in this way.".... TRUE inded we have been formatted, that is what religion is intended to do, for that matter education itself. That is why discernment (reformatting) is important, because it is the "TRUTH (not necesarily religious beliefs) that will make us free."
"And so through the years, man has managed to worship the moon and the stars, thunder and lightning, earthquakes and volcanoes. Why do you think the ancient Egyptians, the ancient Greeks and the Romans at the height of their power and civilization managed to worship snakes and crocodiles, the seas and rivers, trees, mountains, Jupiter, Apollo, Zeus, Venus and Mars?" You missed the most relevant one SUN god. That is what "Christian Festivals" is about after King Constantine hijacked it, that is why we worship on a SUNday instead of the Sabbath - (SATUR(N)day) All the rituals of the christian church are based on the SUN god worship festivals, yes including the birth of Jesus and Easter. Did I say it was originally a Pagan ritual? Keep blogging James, truly enjoy it. |
Hi, Luke, before anything else, pray tell me, what is that photo u use to identify ur blogsite. ur commentaries are greatly appreciated. However, they tend to sound a bit too cerebral for my own good. I believe that unless we stop pitting our superbrains against the meek and humble, loving power of the carpenter from Galilee, we might just miss out on his central message which will remain the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE long after we're gone.
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ednarivers wrote on Jun 24, '08
I missed Metanoia 1 & 2 and I missed you guys. James L, see you at Metanoia 3 and tell us where to look for Him.
Elmer |
AHAY, Kuya, ikaw pala, akala ko kun cnong matrona. Tnx for vsiting my site and reading the blog. Hope you'll find the time to read the earlier ones. Even if I tell you how or where to find Him, hndi pa rin kayo makikinig o maniniwala. For now, suffice it to say: Lk.2:10-12, and all that it implies.
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This is a picture I took with my cellphone of the ruins of Posiedon's temple outside of Athens. For some reason the sun made a dramatic showing, so I took it to mean that it was a reminder that we are from the stars - spiritual beings having a human experience. Our life - Experience, Stars, Temple, Ruins you make your own connections.
As for the Way, the Truth, and the Life, it is for us to discover what these mean on a personal basis. Understanding the history is part of it. God is simple, religion tends to be celebral, complicated because it is man made. |
Lalong lumalalim, Kuya Luke! Now it seems you want to add some cosmic dimension into the discussion. This is not only dangerous territory we're getting into, it's virtually out of this world. No wonder many a protestant TV evangelist have tried to simplify the equation by constantly telling their audience "Just accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior!" But as for me, an amateur theologian, I think I'll simply take my cue from what some heavenly bodies (a host of angels) said in some grazing fields in Bethlehem some 2000 years ago. Lk.2:10-12. I can relate to that. tnx agn. rgards. prayers.
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