It is apparent to me that no human being is perfect.
I don't equate this with being born 'in sin'.
It seems to me we are born perfect.
It is life and how we exeprience it that causes the imperfection.
Fear creeps in. We learn(are taught) shame. we become self conscious and
aware that we are not 'good enough' because we are taught this, either
directly or indirectly.
I have met one or two truly peaceful people in my life. They had a deep
faith in a Higher Power but none of them followed a religion. They
prayed and they meditated. They changed over time from a place of
unserenity to a place of serenity.
Perhaps, we humans, on our own, cannot reach the goal we set ourselves,
peace, without help of a spiritual nature. Without intervention by the
Great Spirit, if invited. Even then we still do not become perfect. A
belief does not make one perfect.
My own thought is that jesus showed us that to live well despite the
opposition, and despite ourselves, was possible. That life did not end
with physical death. That God was with in each of us and reachable. That
recognizing this could change us if we so choose. That we suffered
because of ourselves, not because we are being punished. that we could
do as he did 'and more'.
a physical life time is just not enough time for a person to reach their
full potential.
I do not accept that God requires 'satisfaction' for our sins. I do not
think God, being perfect, feels resentment, therefore God has no need to
forgive us. we need to forgive ourselves and others. God also knows we
are not perfect so to punish that imperfection is really a terible thing
to do. It is like kicking a dog for not being able to speak or beating a
small child for not being able to understand particle physics.
It seems to me that God would love us no matter what. there is nothing
we could do that would make God reject us. that would be impossible. God
is not like a parent, nor a teacher, a freind, a,lover, a sibling, nor
anything we can understand.
I think we can turn our backs onGod, either deleibrately or thru
ignorance. We can do this by our pride, by our thinking we know best, by
thinking we could not be wrong, by closing our minds. A clsoed mind
cannot be helped. However, i think no matter far in the opppostie
direction we go, the way back is never barred.
I don't think when we die that God sorts us into the good and the bad
and sends us to heaven or hell accordingly. No. I think we do that for
ourselves. I think we are where our 'mind' puts us. I fe don't like our
'place' then we can ask for help and change thus cahnging the place we
are in. Pretty much like life here-it changes as we do.
As someone said, we do not see the world as it is but how we are. I
think the next life this applies even more strongly, since there are no
physical constraints.
i don't believe that survial of the self after death is dependent on
goodness or belief. We cannot 'earn' it by being good and we don't earn
it by believeing something. It just is.
It is sad, to me, that people think the passport to 'heaven', to peace,
is just accepting a belief.
Equally sad is the belief that we will only be loved and go to a good
place by being perfect. That isn't going to be possible.
So I think we are not perfect.That a life time is not enough 'time' to
become so. That we will NOT be punished for our imperfection. That with
an open mind and help we can change for the better. That God loves us no
matter what and we have nothing whatever to fear in that regard.
bw
colin
