Recently in Religion Category

Except that I think it would get really tedious...

For me...

Because there I would be in all my God-ness... and there you all would be...

Wondering what's in it for you...

Because really... that's the only reason people do anything right?

So I'd have to come up with all these complicated (and compelling) reasons why you doing what I want for ME is really in YOUR best interests...  And lets face it... I'm a little behind the 8-ball on that one...

Unless I can come up with something you really want... and convince you that only I can provide it...

Gotta get to work on that one...

In the meantime... you might want to sign up on this pre-join wait list... Space is limited you know... And this offer won't be around forever...

SO act now... before it's TOO LATE...

First to assume that if other sentient beings actually exist and think, that they think the way we do...

And second to assume that we occupy as much time in the thoughts of other beings as we occupy in our own...

I saw the movie Constantine the other day and found it interesting that the Angel Gabriel thought it not right that out of all creation, humans should hold such an exalted place in the heart of God... And was so incensed by this that (he/she/it) was willing to start an apocalypse so that humans could suffer enough to appreciate their unrivaled position...

This is not an isolated incident... It seems to be a recurring theme in myth, legend and literature...

Do we really think that the balance of the universe is watching us, wishing they could BE us? 

Recently I came across the term grandiosity, which according to about.com is

[...] a symptom of mania or hypomania in bipolar disorder (aka manic depression).

This refers to those 'I can do ANYTHING' feelings that are the more pleasant part of manic-depression.  Apparently it is not unusual in severe cases for sufferers of this disorder to actually think they are supernatural beings, or can talk to supernatural beings or even God... Sometimes they even consider themselves to be equal to God...  Of course these days mental health practitioners use these feelings (in conjunction with other symptoms) to confirm a diagnosis of bi-polar disorder...

Now being an infrequent but regular rider on the emotional roller-coaster myself, I read this and immediately thought to myself, 'DAMN!! You mean I'm not ALL POWERFUL????' Talk about disappointed... To suddenly find out I'm not secretly Wonder Woman, O Mighty Isis, or the reincarnation of Gaia herself???  That I'm perhaps just suffering from a common side effect to a mostly mild case of BPD??  How disappointing is that?  Well at least I'm self-aware enough to admit it!!

But what if I didn't HAVE the internet??   What if I lived in times where the inner workings of the mind were much less known than they are now?  Would I be on the steps of a temple preaching my righteous way (on the upside) or hiding out in the desert arguing with Satan (on the down)?  It bears some thought...

So then is the only difference between me and the prophets of the ages that I am aware that I may be deluding myself, whereas they were not?

Does this make me more than God? Less than God? Or simply another whack-job with an internet connection? (On second thought, don't answer that!)

Photo: http://www.spiritualitea.com/isis/isistv.shtml

Dante and Beatrice gaze upon the highest Heaven; from Gustave Doré's illustrations to the Divine Comedy.

A question generated by a comment from iMorpheus in a previous post...

My initial thoughs, bolstered by a quick search through the font of all that is good and holy wikipedia, are that the road to heaven must certainly be paved with directives against the prevailing human inclinations of the culture and time...

Clear as mud yes?

What I really mean is that while heaven is generally thought of as a state that provides 'all the things I want but can't get now', the method to GET there is generally touted as being to 'do these things (which are generally better for some group) that you wouldn't do on your own'... because it's WORTH it (you get heaven)...

But really... Is there any reason you can't get to heaven by floating along the river you're already in?  Why should that be the case? Does the Supreme Being (whatever that might be to you) want to limit who gets in?  Is it kinda like the cool kids table?  You know, where exclusivity is the point unto itself and so what you have to do to get there isn't logically connected to anything?

Is it just a method of coercing basically selfish humans into making things better for the group as a whole at some sacrifice to themselves?  Convienient... Optimal... Self-sustaining...

It seems to me that if I were the Ultimate Creator, I would want to create beings that were self-sustaining (hence the drive to survive, reproduce and self-actualize)... I would instill them with an inherant dissatisfaction so they would continually strive for more (rather than sit in a mud puddle and happily rot thus bringing an end to my grand experiment)... And I would place in their consciousness the idea that they could only fulfill this unnamed desire for 'heaven'  by following a path that they will recognize when they see it...

This would cause the path to heaven to evolve as people do... And there would be as many paths and types of pavement as there are eras and cultures...

And my perpetual motion machine would be efficient because the individual components would be convinced that their role is the right one... and they will run at an optimal level of satisfaction and dissatisfaction...

Forever and ever amen...