By Dave Petty 8/11/2001
How not to put words into God’s mouth or… how not to blame God for our own silly notions:
To “think our thoughts after God” is the dilemma since our beginning. The intent to do otherwise (the art of second-guessing, dismissal, or denial) is what we seem to do best. “Fairness is the measure” when of course we are the determiners of what is fair. “If God cared then certainly…” and we decide that all else is inadmissible into our courts of believability. Ultimately, my hip-pocket God is too small to be seriously considered and so, we deny his everlasting-Tom-Thumb-existence (“old gods never die, they just fade away”… especially when, true to mythology, made by us!).
Spiritual alchemy, for it to truly work, is a very tricky business. Lead to gold, God to convenience. Contrast and compare. Only for the master of illusion and disguise can this be convincingly achieved. We have basically three problems to address. First there is the audience. Then there is God. And finally, there is the illusionist.
History, which most certainly does repeat itself, teaches us that the task of convincing the audience is by far and away the easiest.