"The poet only desires exaltation and expansion, a world to stretch himself in. The poet only asks to get his head into the heavens. It is the logician who seeks to get the heavens into his head. And it is his head that splits."
-G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy
I rarely discuss spiritual matters on WJW because my spiritual beliefs can almost entirely be summed up in the following three paragraphs:
There is a Creator. I believe He loves us, and I believe He sent His Son to die for our sins so that we can spend eternity with Him. The only requirement is that we accept this free gift. This is logical to me. What doesn't make sense is a belief system in which we are "owed" an eternity in heaven based on being just good enough to get in.
That being said, I do not believe that prayer changes anything outside of ourselves. It may change our response to events, but prayer does not alter God's plans. For instance, if I'm ever fortunate enough to impregnate my wife, I don't believe asking God for a healthy baby has any effect on the future health of my child. Christians do not have a higher percentage of healthy offspring than non-believers. I do, however, believe in asking God to mold my character to His will in the event that I do have a sick child. Similarly, if someone believes they beat cancer because of "answered prayer", I believe it was God's will regardless of prayer. Nowadays, my prayers consist of giving thanks to God for the joys of life and for shaping me in the valleys. But whatever obstacles I encounter is His will alone, and I do not ask Him to change things. I only pray for the ability to respond well.
Additionally, I don't believe in present-day miracles. By "miracles", I mean God stepping outside His laws of nature to reveal Himself. People say they believe in miracles, but do they really mean it? No amputee prays for regrowth of his limb. Nobody prays for their loved one to be raised from the dead (at least, not with complete sincerity). But people do pray for healing of cancer and proper repair of a torn ACL because they know these things exist within the realm of scientific possibility.
This essentially sums up my spiritual beliefs. The only evidence I have to back them up is 26 years of observation. There is a strong possibility that I am entirely wrong, and it's naïve for people to assume otherwise regarding their own beliefs. The only things of which I'm certain is that there is a Creator, and there is good and evil in this world. Even with all of my doubts surrounding Christianity, it is the closest fit for my beliefs on truth and moral correctness, though many aspects of Deism offer a believable alternative.
So, what point exactly am I trying to make? Michael and I had a long talk on my porch regarding the qualities we look for in girls, a topic that has been dealt with almost exhaustively on WJW. But discussing girls with Miggity gave me insight into why I've given such little effort towards pursuing a Godly Christian babe. Consider this post to be an introduction, as the true meat of the matter will be addressed in the next blog post. Since I've just pooh-poohed the idea of miracles, I doubt God will reward me with one on my upcoming surgery exam, so I better go study.
half moon console table
3 years ago
10 comments:
God's plans aren't altered. Therefore, aren't you destined to marry a specific person?
superb. though i'm always anxious to read yjy and hoping to find a new post, i find myself more strongly anticipating the next than i have in some time. thanks for writing, justin.
--joe s
Why I believe in prayer: Jesus prayed. He didn't do it to change Himself, because He was sinless. He prayed because He knew His Father heard and responded. He prayed as a form of communion with His Father but He also made requests. One instance is when He told Peter that Satan had asked to sift Peter like wheat, but that he (Jesus)had prayed for Peter that he would turn and strengthen his brothers. Not every prayer was answered (notably His prayer in Gethsemane), but clearly Jesus believed in prayer, taught His disciples how to pray, and promised answer to prayer. However, most of us, including myself, live as if prayer is not effective. What wonders we are missing!
Who's better than Mom?
corn,
I think you're opening a can of worms with "Why I believe in prayer". While I don't disagree with anything you said, you would certainly agree with me that Jesus was God himself. So, saying that we could be effective in prayer just like Jesus doesn't really make sense simply because we are not God.
Prayer is effective because it is, in effect, a desperate search for God in our lives.
-ranj
hello roommate.
my first comment on your blog...
reading your entry got me thinking a little about miracles... how about instead of natural law, it is spiritual law being overwritten by God now to do the impossible of reconciling humans to Himself?
anyhow, later.
We don’t pray to change God’s mind about things, because change always involves time and, since God dwells outside of time, there is absolutely no change in him. His time is always present and whatever he decides to do, he does it instantly. So we don’t pray that God changes his mind; we pray that God does what he deems appropriate, and we believe whatever he considers appropriate is the best for us. We always try to understand God’s way in anthropomorphic terms and the conclusions we draw may be way off target. However, humanly speaking, we believe that our prayers do change his mind many times, but divinely speaking, it doesn’t happen. God just does what he pleases, and what he pleases happens to please us as well.
You're married??!??!??
I think the previous Anon is a newbie to your blog. Also as a side note, when you do get married, please don't ever use the word impregnate...
This was a good blog. Lots of good things to think about.
Would "seeding the womb" be more to your liking, anon?
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