SEEING Cleary!
As a young person, I recall the desire of wanting to know God. In my innocence, I knew he was a loving God even though I saw so much around me that did not always represent love. After all, I have early memories of seeing people grieve over the loss of loved ones, but somehow, it was explained in a way that did not make me FOCUS on pain and suffering. That helped me to NOT turn away from the desire of wanting to know God more.
Unfortunately, as I would continue to grow, stepping out further on my own and coming in contact with more people, these “experiences” would vary.
I would hear religious people speak of the rules and regulations you MUST follow, like a formula or checklist that would guarantee you a place in God’s Kingdom. Many of these I would tend to openly question, which did not always go over well. I would study the church doctrine (or guidelines) making notes in the book, with questions about things that just did not seem to make sense.
I recall a major youth gathering where I respectfully questioned many of the practices we were charged with upholding. I wondered why no one else was questioning these things. Instead, they just sat accepting without explanation.
Unlike a disrespectful or blatantly rebellious child, I questioned for understanding because I did not understand where God referenced these specific practices in the Bible. “Why are you equating dice to evil? My family spends time together playing Monopoly. It has dice, but the game is far from evil. The dice are used to move you around the board.” This was exactly my “push back” regarding one of the “can’t do’s” in order to “live Holy” and “please God.”
I really got the “I do not understand” look, followed by the “I do not know what to say” look. The response I received was along the lines of, “but people use dice for gambling.” I politely said, but we are not gambling so why are we banning “dice” the same with cards. We play UNO. It’s innocent. What is the issue?
I never really got a real answer to my questions that day. The person thought maybe it was ok but stood with the guidelines and ended up stating, well maybe you could use something else to move around the board. Maybe find another game. They were confused. Why? Because something was “traditionally taught without any real understanding as to why.”
Therefore, people believed what was bad because that is what they were told to believe and that is all they could see.
I SAW something terribly wrong, not just about cards and dice but a bigger issue. I would continue to NOT just accept without being taught. I would be taught by those who had Knowledge AND Understanding. Furthermore, I knew that someday, I wanted to be part of something that would help people SEE truth…SEE GOD CLEARLY.
In the book, SEEING GOD, I take the time to address major issues that affect how we SEE, FEEL, and RELATE to God.
I examine the effects of practicing religious dogma without the understanding of its traditional roots. The purpose is to gain further insight into some long-standing practices we have essentially personalized to realign them back to their original Biblical design. In doing so, we can remove obscurity and barriers to help people SEE the TRUE nature of YHWH…BELIEVING, once again, that He is God in Heaven and earth.
It is not God’s desire to ever have generations lost, that do not know Him, especially because their “ancestors” failed to properly teach them about Him. Too often, I have heard about how “this generation will be lost” or “…will need help.” The truth is, the generations before believed that force-feeding something that some of them either did not embrace or did not understand was the best ‘nutrition” for the upcoming generation. It is not!
It, unfortunately, creates a people questioning how could a god that one claims to be so loving and kind, be so cruel. It leaves, people with more questions about God and wondering where to find them while working to make their way in this world. They are not a lost people. In fact, they are far from lost…There is a difference between lost and rejected or pushed away. Many just, rightfully, refuse to accept everyone’s belief without understanding. Can you blame them? Look at what we have made God appear to be in their eyes.
It is time to SEE God clearly and change this distorted image of Him and how He works in our lives.
It is time to FEEL that we can live freely with God by breaking down these ridiculous man-made barriers.
It is time to build more meaningful RELATIONSHIPS with GOD, and live a life more fulfilled!
