"I believe more in heaven. Because there is hope in heaven and there is no hope in hell." These are the words of a Chicagoan recently interviewed by the Chicago Sun-Times for an article on religion, heaven and hell. I read this article during a break at work and later found myself in an interesting conversation with two of my co-workers, one Catholic and one Muslim. The three of us agreed that both heaven and hell must exist, although I was the only one truly believing 'good' people could end up in the latter.
What struck me most about this article was the use of individualistic and opinionated language. 'I think', 'I believe', 'I was taught', etc. We ask someone whether or not they believe in heaven and hell, but does their opinion matter? If I choose to believe in heaven rather than hell, will hell cease to exist? If I dislike the rain, can I pretend it isn't touching me and watch it disappear? I suppose I could, but those watching me would have some questions about my sanity and I would still end up wet. The laws of nature, morality, and spirituality are not up to me. They were decided long ago.
Two more things: 1) I am amazed at Satan's ability to deceive. By preying on the goodness of mankind he has helped twist the truth so far that we can convince ourselves some things do not exist. 2) When did everything become about us?
Although I do not agree with Catholicism in many respects, my congratulations go to Cardinal Francis George for his comments in the Sun-Times article. He hit the nail on the head when he said that "religion is about conversion, self-surrender as opposed to self-righteousness. That's hard in any culture but particularly our own."
6 comments:
Good to you see you blogging again, sister. You're absolutely right that what is real or true is not based upon what we think or desire to be real and true. Truth exists beyond ourselves, we neither make it nor destroy it. Have a great day!
Just wanted to say that I love you and I love reading your thoughts!
Oh, and I agree with you.
Living in a world of metaphor can be both beautiful and deceiving. Attaching reality to only those aspects of our lives which make our souls surge (like glory, honor, and hope) while denying the rudiments of our concrete reality (like death, pain, and personal responsibility) is equivalent to living in the world of make-believe. The author of this article appears to subscribe to squeezing one's eyes shut as tightly as possible to keep the grisly details of life and death (or life after death) away. It's a very romantic take on life. Unfortunately, I can't keep my eyes shut long enough before someone gets shot down the block, a kid gets beat up because he wears the wrong color skin, or I begin to worship myself. Thank God random acts of violence and selfishness are not random, but attributable to personal responsibility, and thank God a man was nailed to a tree to take responsibility for my own actions. Ah, now that's hope.
Dad, I think Craig was referring to the Chicago Tribune journalist's article as being romantic, not mine. I think. But if he was referring to what I wrote I would be confused. :-)
Hey Bethany! Good to see you back in the blogosphere!
Deb and I got to go to Brandon and Kesh's for July 4th! Met Bethany and David at their apartment in Nashville and went to Muncie together. Had a great time! We watched all 7 hours of the John Adams min-series based on McCullough's book and also watched the Wimbledon finals together. Got out to the park a couple of times too.
Post a Comment