Day 130e: The Salvation of Stuarts Draft … (September 06, 2019)
I then made it into the outskirts of the town of Stuarts Draft where a series of sightings caught my eye and confused my Soul. First, there was a sign that was clearly missing both a smaller “Y” and a greater WHY – with the former turning its announcement into the latter; shifting its call for others to “ascribe greatness to [y]our God” to having them ascribing Greatness to their own. Second, there was my encounter with the good folks of the Ca;vary United Methodist Church – folks who happened to be unloading a huge transfer of snacks and drinks into the church basement, and yet folks who heard about my walk, smiled thinly & brittlely upon me, and then curtly dismissed my presence with a cold-toned “Thanks for what you’re doing.” Thirdly, as I sauntered on and finally began to exit the town, I came across another sign that boded far better for all encountered – a sign that referenced the common religious belief that “Doing God’s will brings peace.” Of course the far greater corollary of this verse was and remains a far more potent truth – the truth that reminds us all that “To bring peace to others is to do God’s will” …
“From the beginning men have used God to justify the unjustifiable … Rather than remain sealed jars of judgmental piousness, all men of faith should seek only to pour themselves out to others in need. Seeing as how their dogma is exclusively demanding when it comes to attaining any semblance of salvation, it is only right & fair that everything the religious do should mirror the highest tenets of their faith. The God that they worship is supposedly both all-loving and all-compassionate (Otherwise, why would He ever be worshiped or praised?), and so those who follow His commandments and laws should do their very best to emulate the same. In truth, and God who is kind and loving and good wold never ask ask for brief weekly visits to a church or temple, or tiny votive offerings of food or coin, or a few self-focused prayers uttered up every now and then. No, the God who is truly moral – the God who is truly Good – must want all His followers to embody all of Him … And yet man-made litanies and man-monitored rituals demand so much less. And this is why the death of dogma is the birth of morality. This is why the church must recede for God to rise anew.” ~ inspired by Salman Rushdie, Francine Rivers & Immanuel Kant
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