The Doxology a major part of many church services says:
Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise God above, all you heavenly host
Praise all creatures here below
Praise Father's Son and Holy Ghost
The implication of the first line is that we are happy and thai God for all the blessings that come our way but how about the heartaches, the adversities, the apparent curses. Some even believe that the curses on our lives are our fault or that God is mad at us so withholding blessings. Others believe that the blessings are only because of God and nothing to do with us. It is the worst kind of duplicity of the duality of life. This implies that blessings are on God and curses are all on me so that I do not get any credit for the good and all the credit for the bad. That seems unfair and twisted. Blessings and curses, good times and bad times just are. We do not do anything to get or not get them. This makes it fair and untwists the duality. As God pours goodness into everything and as God turns all the good and bad into "some good in our lives" so God invites us to raise God at all times when the blessings come and when adversity visits us. God invites us to in the best of times not take him for granted and in the worst of times make them better by finding good an during goodness into them.
So here is a possible new first line:
Praise God from whom all goodness flows!
About Me
- Don Paine
- I am a pastor and a clinical psychotherapist. My life's passion is defining healthiness from a human perspective and paralleling it to the holiness of God, divine perspective. Shifting perspectives creates a paradigm that is alongside of rather than over and against. The parakalein of God and the paradoxes of humanity are redefined. Humanity is all about winning and yet we are losing ground everywhere. Divinity is all about letting go of the desire to win and the fear of loss. The Divine embraces the world with loving care regardless of anything.
0 comments:
Post a Comment