Response to Comment from Oct 23, 2019

The metaphor of the potter and the clay is an interesting one. 

If God is all knowing he would know from the beginning that a "pot" or piece of clay won't work out. He would also know how they will turn out and how it fits into the grand progression of time. Does that stop God from working on "bad" clay and trying to make it into a pot? Do some pots require many "re-works" before they can be turned into the "pot" God desires (and the "re-works" are part of the process)?

I think the metaphor of the potter and the clay actually shows freewill more than predestination in that the clay has a choice to adhere to the potters hands or not. I find the metaphor actually lessens God into that of a human potter. We actually have to change how we see the potter into that something more like God while we very nicely fit into the category of hard clay.

We are the clay and have free will to choose. God sees the choice we are going to make. Even if God can see the choice we are going to make I believe that does not remove our freedom and power to make the choice. Even if we choose in the end not to pick God I believe it does not stop the potter from trying his hardest with many re-works to change the clay into a pot (until the clay is unworkable). This still does not change that if in the end if the clay does not listen it gets thrown out. I believe this is the love of God that we are to try to emulate. Even if people are lost we are to try to love them like God.

"But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." Matthew 5:44-45

God's Love

1 John 3:1 "What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we’re called children of God! That’s who we really are...."

I am learning how self talk is really important. I used to be overwhelmed by how great God is and how insignificant we are. God has told me I need change how I view myself and change my self talk when I feel how insignificant we are. Even though we are so insignificant I need to focus how marvelous the "love the Father has extended to us!" This still keeps our perspective in line but changes my feeling of worth. Even though we are insignificant God Love is deeper. I truly feel we could not completely feel all the love that God has for us and if God were to show us we would be overwhelmed.

God help us to see and feel your Love for us
God help us to change our thoughts to your thoughts
God help us to listen to you
God help us to trust you
God show us a bit of your love for us this week

Gods Promises

“If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving . People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

Matthew 6:33 MSG

God help us to trust you with our everyday human concerns

God help us not to worry about missing out

God help us to see your truth

God help us to hear you

Promises of God

God's promises are not something you can prove with reason. Yes there are stories that can incourage your faith. But at the end of the day it is faith that is required. The middle ages I believe understood the limitations of reason better than us. It seems sometimes we have put reason as our god.

God help us have faith in you

God help us to stop putting reason as our god

God help us have faith in your promises

God help us to hear you

God speak to us

How God Sees Us

It is easy to feel how insignificant we are or be blinded and think we are important but I think it is important to see ourselves as God sees us. 

We are loved by God no matter what we do or what life throws at us.

God help us to see ourselves as you see us

God help us to trust you

God help us to see you

God help us to hear your truth

Work on the Eternal

When you make me feel like everything is temporary.

When we see that we are smoke in the wind.

Is that when you are asking us to pray for you God to show us how to work on the eternal? For you God to show us what is eternal and what is not.

God show us the eternal

God show us how to love for the eternal

Speak your truth and help us to hear you

Speak your peace and truth unto our lives

Help us to focus on you God

Fleating

God is pressing this in on me. We are a vapor and smoke in the wind. Here today and gone tomorrow. Even though we are a vapor God tempers that with his immense love for us and how valuable we are to him.

Are these contradictory statements? They may appear to be but I believe not. We can love things that are seen only for a short while. As well when the bible talks about how our life is fleating it talks about more how short our life is and how it can be spent on things that disapear or things of worth

I guess God is trying to tell me how easy it is to spend my time on fleating things and how often my mind goes to such things.

God teach us the difference between fleating and things of eternal worth.

Help us to know the difference (your true understanding)

Help us to change our ways to the valuable

Help us to listen to you

Help us to trust you with our fleating life

Help us to get a true understanding of our lives.

Authorities

C.S. Lewis in his book The Discarded Image makes a very interesting point. The medievals were all about authorities. They were very bookish and trusted and tried to understand the books that had been passed on to them and trusted them as authorities. We would point out that the books could be wrong which is true and they would agree in theory but would most often disagree.

He then points out the we put our trust in observation. He doesn't elaborate here but in other parts he talks about how we very often find what we are looking for. How much does it depend on the observer for what is observed? How much does the interpretation depend on the observer? By depending on observation what are we missing? Is this what future generations will say about us?

God help us to listen to you

God help us to trust in you

God speak your truth

The Territories of Science and Religion

The Territories of Science and Religion by Peter Harrison

C.S. Lewis says we should not get stuck in think that our current way of thinking, world view, way of organizing the world, government structure ... etc. is the best because it is current or 'new' every way of thinking. They all have strengths and weaknesses. 

Peter Harrison points out in his book that the current 'conflict' between science and Religion is because of our current definitions of science and religion. Just like the way Europe is divided has caused conflict the way human knowledge is divided defines the conflict into existence. 

Maybe we need to change the way we think about science and Religion and maybe we need to not even think about it as science and Religion. Does this mean we remove God and Chistianity? Not at all. Just change the way we think about it. 

The middle ages had no definition of 'Religion'. They were more concerned about correct worship than correct definitions of what they believe.

God help us to trust you.

God help us to listen to you.

God speak your truth to us.

God bless us.

God help us to live for you.

Medieval World View

I have been reading two books recently

The Territories of Science and Religion by Peter Harrison

The Discarded Image by C.S. Lewis

I hope to delve into them in more details on this blog but some interesting things I have learned.

First the majority of people in the middle ages did not believe in a flat earth. Just as there is today people who believe in a flat earth so was there in the middle ages. For some reason these few people's opinions have come to be understood to be the opinion of the day.

Because of the appearance of a earth centered model of the universe it would appear that the people of the middle ages thought they were important. But on the contrary they understood themselves to be on the outer fringes. Not important at all.

Our model of the universe is mostly empty. The middle ages was full of life. Spirits and Demons and didn't have the feeling they were alone at all.

God teach us to learn from you

God help us to listen to you

God help us to love one another