i've been trying to read through the Great Controversy again lately, and today i read about the Waldenses. they were so faithful amidst so much persecution. but what got me, was reading about the church of rome. the pope, the high officials, they were all so corrupt and awful. they persecuted innocent people because they were following the truth. "no charge could be brought against the moral character of this proscribed class. even their enemies declared them to be a peaceable, quiet, pious people. their grand offense was that they would not worship God according to the will of the pope." the whole thing is just wrong. "the papal leaders would not conform their characters to the great standard of God's law, but erected a standard to suit themselves, and determined to compel all to conform to this because rome willed it." the whole thing just sickens me.
but how often do we do the same thing, fashioning a religion that suits us? and how often does that sicken me?
reality can be a bit harsh, can't it.
raw and true.
ReplyDeleteyikes. i was happy to be upset with the pope. not as happy to be upset with myself. dangit.
ReplyDeletereality--check.
ReplyDeleteFrom a discussion on FB. what do you think?
ReplyDeleteWE (the human race)
WANT (either a simple desire or byproduct of compulsion)
TO DO (indulge in, act out, depressurize by)
WHATEVER (the gambit of choice and indulgence)
WE CAN DO (limited only by our imaginations and physics)
THAT CREATES (fabricates, hallucinates, precipitates)
FEELINGS (this is always an emotional issue)
OF POWER (controlling one's environment, often looks like predictability)
PLEASURE (physical phenomenon)
AND/OR (things often come in combinations
VALUE (always using the performance-based system--I deserve...)
WITHOUT FEELING (again, emotional)
ALIENATION (the universal undesirable)
AND/OR
GUILT (the "burden" of morality--from the perspective of 'self').
How would my life be different if I was always asking how can I practically and graciously follow more of God's law (as confining as you can interpret it) than less of it. Would that kind of life be more rewarding? I'm not sure. Based on my fruits at this point, I'm too selfish, doubtful, and lazy to go all in--should I begin a year of living Biblically? By the way, I wonder how much prayer has to do with this stuff. How many minutes do you pray every day?
hmm... so true krista. I have never thought of that. That thought scares me. what if i'm thinking that i'm doing great but really i'm just going off of my feelings and not focusing on God. Then creating a religion for myself that isn't following God's "true" religion.
ReplyDelete