Tag Archives: divine intervention

Brake

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Brake: (n) a device for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle

Oblivion is the condition we find ourselves in just prior to the tragedy we refer to as “an accident.”

This was my situation many years ago when I was driving through the Sierra Mountains in California, completely enraptured in the scenery and infatuated with a gorgeous waterfall.Dictionary B

I had a car with a trailer attached to it. There’s nothing particularly unusual about that. But when you pull such a trailer, you require additional brakes placed on the rear, so that when you want to stop, it helps you instead of mocking you.

So having ascended a high peak, it was time to come down the other side. I remember thinking to myself, how fun this will be–just placing the car in neutral and coasting down the side of the cliff.

The immediate problem was that the trailer I was hauling was actually heavier than the car I was driving. As I was coasting down the mountain, I noticed I was picking up a little too much speed.

I tried to slow down by hitting the brakes. I quickly discovered that my brakes were no longer willing to brake.There was too much weight from the rear.

Faster and faster I careened, descending the precipice.

To my left were rock formations and to my right was the end of the road and a really big fall. Straight ahead were twisty roads which promised to send me into the rocks or over the edge.

I kept pumping the brakes, hoping they would at least consider a bit of grace to cover my stupidity.

To this day, short of divine intervention, I do not know how I finally got that trailer to slow down so I could pull off and stop.

There was a horrible smell of burnt rubber–and pee-pee in my pants.

Ever since then I have been a great believer in brakes, especially when they’re well taken care of … and you don’t ask them to move mountains.

 

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Arose

dictionary with letter A

Arose: (v) past-tense of arise.

Every once in a while, clarity crashes in on my dullness.

I’m not so certain I want it to happen all the time; otherwise I would be constantly alarmed. (A certain amount of dullness is necessary for me to achieve slumber.)

But the piece of clarity that made its way through the wilderness of supposition which surrounds my being was this:

If I don’t believe in God, I’m stuck with Earth.

That means I’m limited by what surrounds me and the hope and talent that lies within me.

  • There would be no creation.
  • There would be no divine intervention for my illness.
  • My prayers would be exercises in futility.
  • I would be limited by empathy and condolences to aid others.
  • And Jesus never arose from the grave.

So this would be it.

When I was twenty-five years old, such a concept seemed somewhat acceptable since I believed I had at least five more decades of mortal passage. But now, as I discover I have more “used days” than “new days,” I am not quite so sure I want to surrender the possibility of possessing a bit of eternity.

I am certainly sympathetic to those who are agnostic–because it all seems such a wonderland of wishing and dreams when it comes to dealing with the issues of God’s love and heaven.

But I consider if I would be more disappointed if I reached the end of my life and was an atheist, and found out there really was an afterlife–or if there would be any disappointment at all to discover that Jesus was second-cousin to Santa Claus, yet I would be completely unaware of my lacking, because there would be nothing but oblivion.

Tricky, don’t you think?

So if the Son of God did not arise, so that we could celebrate that he arose, then the possibility of me doing the same is highly unlikely.

Honestly, I find that distasteful.

Just as being a father of children meant advocating for the North Pole and the toy shop, and describing the tooth angel in visual detail, I think the child in me needs the story of a man who arose from the grave … to give myself a chance to live on past my last breath.

 

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Appease

dictionary with letter A

Appease (v.): to make (someone) calm or less hostile by agreeing to their demands.

“There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end of it is destruction.”

That’s a damned strong proverb.

  • Why aren’t there things that seem to be right in our present thinking that don’t end up destroying us?
  • Why can’t we use reasoning power to discover paths of goodness instead of falling victim to ridiculous conclusions that render us devastated?
  • Is there nothing good in us?
  • Are we devoid of understanding unless divine intervention snatches us from the pit of delusion?

I don’t think God has given up on the human race. I hope humanism hasn’t given up on God. We just need to remember that appeasing certain aspects of iniquity and stupidity is to become entangled in a web of deceit.

So I have to ask myself, where am I vulnerable to such lunacy? Where does my desire to get along with everyone place me in the roll of victim instead of victor? How much collaboration is possible before it becomes dangerous compromise?

There are some things we cannot give up, even to appease:

1. No one is better than anyone else.

Any philosophy that tries to teach otherwise needs to be given the chance to change its position, and if not, needs to be abandoned.

2. Men and women are in this together, not as enemies, but as equals.

So even though many of my peers find it extremely humorous to joke about the battle between the sexes, ultimately there must be a peace treaty, or our race will never make progress.

3. Liberty and justice for all.

Especially for those I don’t agree with. Yes, I must caution my spirit to make sure that my preferences don’t cloud the common sense of granting freedom to my neighbors.

4. Lying is wrong.

Even when I do it.

And lying is the spreading of any untruth or misinformation, even if it seems to advance a good cause.

5. And finally, we are not alone and we’re also not helpless.

True spirituality is accepting the fact that there is a God–but He has entrusted us to do His earthly work.

If I find myself giving in to other people on these issues just so we can have a more pleasant conversation and not get indigestion over our Beef Wellington at dinner, then I stall civil liberties in favor of civility.

If you like sausage and onion on your pizza instead of mushrooms and broccoli, I will join you for one evening, munching on your predilection.

If you want to discuss your superiority over another race, religion or orientation…then be prepared for me to disagree.

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