An excellent comment by Cal Roeker - yes, it is difficult to see the face of God, in his sense - that is, to understand that the tragedies of our life were meant for something greater. The trouble is, what that "greater" thing is, often cannot be seen by the outside world, or even the afflicted themselves.
A friend of mine's daughter recently had to bring one of her twins to the hospital for a rapidly growing brain tumor. We were all asked to give prayers or good thoughts to help him through his surgery. The surgery was successful, but the infant was badly damaged - he might have to be fed through a tube and breath through a tube for the rest of his life. He might be paralyzed in other parts of his body. And difficulties of water pressure on the brain are continuing, which could lead to further damage. The mother of the infant has written that it seems this is happening to someone else in an alternate universe - and that she has to face the hard facts of what might be years of great expense and constant care. Where is the good in this? Where is the benevolent hand of God? I cannot even presume to judge - it must be and can only be judged on faith if it is to be seen as positive.
Grave misfortune is as common to man "as the sparks fly upwards," as the Old Testament says. Confronted with this, humans world- wide have developed a relationship with the gods or God or the spirits, one that invovles sacrifice. Some sacrificed parts of themselves - the vision quest or the Sun Dance of the Plains Indians entailed voluntary and sometimes brutal suffering to gain favor with the spirits. In the time of Abraham, child sacrifice to the gods or God was common - which we see as we read of Abraham and the near sacrifice of his son. Instead, though, the god of Israel substituted the sacrifice of a lamb for that of a human (human sacrifice continued for other tribes of the region). We see in this that humans, in their misfortune or longing, understand their helplessness and feel that a sacrifice of some kind will gain aid from supernatural forces. It is one of the great underlying concepts of humanity. In fact, to mention UFOs briefly, one John Lear, son of the inventor of the famous Lear Jet, reported that he had learned that the aliens were actually using human and cattle blood with their abductions and mutilations - as well as keeping human bodies in vats for later use, and at times even eating humans, all required for their survival. For Lear, it is just a matter of time before they turn earth into a slaughter house.
It gets more complicated than even that, but we see the impulse to believe such a thing - which is hopefully only an impulse to the archetype. It is a natural explanation for humans. Christianity, however, strikingly turned this idea of the sacrifice to the gods on its head. The Gospel phrase, "the meek shall inherit the earth" is, on the face of it, ridiculous; everyone knows that in real life, the meek get nothing but scraps. But the backwardness was (of course) said in a much higher context - from the time of the Crucifixion onward, humans would not even be required to sacrifice a lamb - for the ultimate lamb,and the one for all time, was Jesus Christ. He could be this last because, by the belief, he was the actual son of God. Thus, things were reversed for all times: God the Son was sacrificed to God the Father to absorb all sacrifice. In effect, God finished with the sacrifice by sacrificing Himself for humankind. The reversal could not be more striking. And instead of the gods eating from our flesh or deriving sustenance from our blood and/or death, God gave back, through His human form, His own body and blood, as witnessed in the Last Supper and practiced today by Christians. This is the essence of the miracle of faith," as well as the End of History in its way. And thus Christians believe that by a repentant faith in Jesus, the sacrifice will be fulfilled. Glory in heaven can thus be obtained.
What, though, does this reversal have to do with alleviating individual suffering on earth? While we might expect the rewards in Heaven, what does it do for the mother of the horribly sick child? Miracles happen, to be sure (doctors call it "remission"), but they are called miracles because they are so uncommon. In Christian belief, the only reward promised for faith is more faith. But that can be quite enough. By this I mean: faith in the face of adversity elevates the status of the afflicted person, and bolsters the faith of those around him/her/them as well. With this, people are more willing to help or otherwise show their better side. In this, the world at large becomes a better place, even if tragedy or adversity are at its center - really, because they are at its center. This process is no small thing: Gandhi became a superhero of India through such faith, even as he suffered jail, starvation and threats. His faith bolstered a nation. Such it is that faith can affect very earthly things.
But some might say that this is only a delusion, this faith, where only others with a similar delusion are so moved. And so it might be - and it works. But that's part of the mystery of faith and of spirit in general. It does not work according to the logic or ideas of progress we see in this world. It comes from another world - and yet, paradoxically, it can work in this. Might the meek inherit the earth as well? As we can see with Gandhi - and in Christ, for that matter - yes they can. As implausible as it seems, yes they can.
A friend of mine's daughter recently had to bring one of her twins to the hospital for a rapidly growing brain tumor. We were all asked to give prayers or good thoughts to help him through his surgery. The surgery was successful, but the infant was badly damaged - he might have to be fed through a tube and breath through a tube for the rest of his life. He might be paralyzed in other parts of his body. And difficulties of water pressure on the brain are continuing, which could lead to further damage. The mother of the infant has written that it seems this is happening to someone else in an alternate universe - and that she has to face the hard facts of what might be years of great expense and constant care. Where is the good in this? Where is the benevolent hand of God? I cannot even presume to judge - it must be and can only be judged on faith if it is to be seen as positive.
Grave misfortune is as common to man "as the sparks fly upwards," as the Old Testament says. Confronted with this, humans world- wide have developed a relationship with the gods or God or the spirits, one that invovles sacrifice. Some sacrificed parts of themselves - the vision quest or the Sun Dance of the Plains Indians entailed voluntary and sometimes brutal suffering to gain favor with the spirits. In the time of Abraham, child sacrifice to the gods or God was common - which we see as we read of Abraham and the near sacrifice of his son. Instead, though, the god of Israel substituted the sacrifice of a lamb for that of a human (human sacrifice continued for other tribes of the region). We see in this that humans, in their misfortune or longing, understand their helplessness and feel that a sacrifice of some kind will gain aid from supernatural forces. It is one of the great underlying concepts of humanity. In fact, to mention UFOs briefly, one John Lear, son of the inventor of the famous Lear Jet, reported that he had learned that the aliens were actually using human and cattle blood with their abductions and mutilations - as well as keeping human bodies in vats for later use, and at times even eating humans, all required for their survival. For Lear, it is just a matter of time before they turn earth into a slaughter house.
It gets more complicated than even that, but we see the impulse to believe such a thing - which is hopefully only an impulse to the archetype. It is a natural explanation for humans. Christianity, however, strikingly turned this idea of the sacrifice to the gods on its head. The Gospel phrase, "the meek shall inherit the earth" is, on the face of it, ridiculous; everyone knows that in real life, the meek get nothing but scraps. But the backwardness was (of course) said in a much higher context - from the time of the Crucifixion onward, humans would not even be required to sacrifice a lamb - for the ultimate lamb,and the one for all time, was Jesus Christ. He could be this last because, by the belief, he was the actual son of God. Thus, things were reversed for all times: God the Son was sacrificed to God the Father to absorb all sacrifice. In effect, God finished with the sacrifice by sacrificing Himself for humankind. The reversal could not be more striking. And instead of the gods eating from our flesh or deriving sustenance from our blood and/or death, God gave back, through His human form, His own body and blood, as witnessed in the Last Supper and practiced today by Christians. This is the essence of the miracle of faith," as well as the End of History in its way. And thus Christians believe that by a repentant faith in Jesus, the sacrifice will be fulfilled. Glory in heaven can thus be obtained.
What, though, does this reversal have to do with alleviating individual suffering on earth? While we might expect the rewards in Heaven, what does it do for the mother of the horribly sick child? Miracles happen, to be sure (doctors call it "remission"), but they are called miracles because they are so uncommon. In Christian belief, the only reward promised for faith is more faith. But that can be quite enough. By this I mean: faith in the face of adversity elevates the status of the afflicted person, and bolsters the faith of those around him/her/them as well. With this, people are more willing to help or otherwise show their better side. In this, the world at large becomes a better place, even if tragedy or adversity are at its center - really, because they are at its center. This process is no small thing: Gandhi became a superhero of India through such faith, even as he suffered jail, starvation and threats. His faith bolstered a nation. Such it is that faith can affect very earthly things.
But some might say that this is only a delusion, this faith, where only others with a similar delusion are so moved. And so it might be - and it works. But that's part of the mystery of faith and of spirit in general. It does not work according to the logic or ideas of progress we see in this world. It comes from another world - and yet, paradoxically, it can work in this. Might the meek inherit the earth as well? As we can see with Gandhi - and in Christ, for that matter - yes they can. As implausible as it seems, yes they can.
As for Alannis Morrisette, where has she been? In Christianity, God IS one of us. That's the point - her lament that God is above our suffering has been answered in the story of the dominant theology of this country. Yes, I know its poetry, but I couldn't resist. FK
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