Whilst some are blessed with a simple, enduring and unquestioning faith, others seek over many years, answers, which, whilst going some way to satisfying their intellect, does little to make faith better understood; until there hopefully comes the final realisation that we are not here to understand but to have faith in and to Love God through Christ.
At the last supper, Christ told His apostles, those who were closest to Him, to 'Take, eat' and not 'Take, understand' for He knew that complete understanding of God and His Kingdom lies far beyond humankind's finite intellectual ability to comprehend.
Humanity possesses a level of cognition which enables and encourages a seeking after answers and we see this every day in the progress made by science and technology. But for those things which lie outside the understanding of science such as faith, life, love, joy, pleasure, sadness, happiness etc a different approach must be used.
Without having a real understanding of a subject, much in our daily lives is taken on the word of those we trust. The unscientific amongst us believe in atoms; the existence of the universe; evolution, plus much more besides because scientists (good authority) say they are so. No one can prove by objective reasoning alone that historical events actually took place and so we accept that they occurred due to records being kept by those believed to be 'good authority' figures who claimed to be present at or near the time the events took place.
As Christians we are told by Christ that only two things really matter in this life. To Love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love others as ourselves. We are told this is so on the excellent authority and words of the Incarnate Son of God Himself and that those two Commandments, recorded for us in the Gospel of Matthew ch. 22: v. 40, sum up the whole of the Law and the Prophets and that if they are obeyed to the very best of our ability then Eternal Life with God in His Kingdom will be ours.
For anyone curious about the true meaning of the word Love, its explanation, given to Paul by the unsurpassable authority of the Holy Spirit, appears in 1.Corinthians 13. and the agape love about which he writes in no way resembles the emotional sentimentality portrayed by the world's media.
Let us in what is left of our lives diminish the importance of rituals, palatial buildings, richly ornamented robes, the displays of worldly power, pomp and authority and concentrate all our efforts on Loving God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and loving others (regardless of who they are) as ourselves, for all are made in the image of God, in the image of God He made us. (Genesis 1. 26-27) Even the Bible, unless its content leads its readers to Christ, is of little worth. (John 5: 39) That is all that is expected of us if we want to spend eternity in the arms of our loving God.
The rest is just so much non-essential, frequently misleading and misdirecting dross, frequently deferred to by those who genuinely doubt the power of God to influence events in the world without their continued acceptance and use.
At the last supper, Christ told His apostles, those who were closest to Him, to 'Take, eat' and not 'Take, understand' for He knew that complete understanding of God and His Kingdom lies far beyond humankind's finite intellectual ability to comprehend.
Humanity possesses a level of cognition which enables and encourages a seeking after answers and we see this every day in the progress made by science and technology. But for those things which lie outside the understanding of science such as faith, life, love, joy, pleasure, sadness, happiness etc a different approach must be used.
Without having a real understanding of a subject, much in our daily lives is taken on the word of those we trust. The unscientific amongst us believe in atoms; the existence of the universe; evolution, plus much more besides because scientists (good authority) say they are so. No one can prove by objective reasoning alone that historical events actually took place and so we accept that they occurred due to records being kept by those believed to be 'good authority' figures who claimed to be present at or near the time the events took place.
As Christians we are told by Christ that only two things really matter in this life. To Love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love others as ourselves. We are told this is so on the excellent authority and words of the Incarnate Son of God Himself and that those two Commandments, recorded for us in the Gospel of Matthew ch. 22: v. 40, sum up the whole of the Law and the Prophets and that if they are obeyed to the very best of our ability then Eternal Life with God in His Kingdom will be ours.
For anyone curious about the true meaning of the word Love, its explanation, given to Paul by the unsurpassable authority of the Holy Spirit, appears in 1.Corinthians 13. and the agape love about which he writes in no way resembles the emotional sentimentality portrayed by the world's media.
Let us in what is left of our lives diminish the importance of rituals, palatial buildings, richly ornamented robes, the displays of worldly power, pomp and authority and concentrate all our efforts on Loving God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and loving others (regardless of who they are) as ourselves, for all are made in the image of God, in the image of God He made us. (Genesis 1. 26-27) Even the Bible, unless its content leads its readers to Christ, is of little worth. (John 5: 39) That is all that is expected of us if we want to spend eternity in the arms of our loving God.
The rest is just so much non-essential, frequently misleading and misdirecting dross, frequently deferred to by those who genuinely doubt the power of God to influence events in the world without their continued acceptance and use.
