Adam and Eve were told they would be "Lord of all the earth" - and "Adam" and "Eve" are generic terms for "man" and "mother". Thus . . .
I believe we have been given the power and authority to "be God" on this earth - that our decisions and actions (our allegiances - whom we follow and emulate) determine who is the God of this earth.
So, why does God allow terrible suffering and abuse?
Maybe it's because we aren't willing yet to step up and assume our intended roles - and we allow it to continue and be so pervasive. We like to blame God, but we aren't willing to see ourselves as the God we are blaming. In my own sphere of influence, I am that I am - but it's easier to shift the blame to the great I AM and not tackle what goes on around us in our own kingdom of embryonic gods.
Yes, there must needs be opposition in all things, so suffering is inevitable. How we deal with it, however, is up to us. If we know someone is being abused and do nothing to stop it . . . if we know people are starving and do nothing to feed them (or simply over-consume and keep resources from them) . . . if we know women and children are being forced into prostitution and sit back without trying to stop it . . . if we know of evil and don't fight it . . .
We can believe that such things are a result of the Fall and part of the Plan, so, in a way, we can say God is responsible for their existence - but WE, collectively, are responsible for the degree to which these things flourish, and we have examples of peoples who banded together and simply refused to allow them to continue within the spheres of their own influence. They stepped up and represented God, in a very real way - and they changed the world around them.
The Scream
1 week ago
2 comments:
This resonates with me a lot. I've recently gone through over a year of being housebound by spinal problems. As I have started taking walks, 2-3 days a week, I feel like I am re-emerging into the physical world.
Most of my days aren't that different. I still spend most of my week reclining in some way, giving my body the chance to rest and recover from the 2-3 hours a day that I exercise in some way. I still need things to distract my mind while I am both except using and reclining. Most of that distraction comes from either watching television, reading and commenting on blogs, podcasts and the Internet, Facebook, and reading and writing emails.
While I know that being in the world while not of the world is meant to be our goal as saints, it was only when I started my walks that I realized how much of humankind, but not in humankind these last 18 months have been. I interact with others who are out among humans on a daily basis, but up in our 14th floor apartment, with a husband who works from home most of the time, actually interacting face to face, even shaking hands is a novelty.
I will definitely be bookmarking this one, and coming back to remind myself that to be most Godlike, I need to take all of the horrible things that happened in my young life, and return in equal measure, those things that a loving Heavenly Mother would do, and then go beyond that, so that my life not only absorbs the horrendous, but creates those things that are needed.
Julia, I think sometimes we focus so much on being "not of the world" that we forget about being "in the world".
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