More is Better

"IF you do not share our opinions, then you will not share our companionship."
The above statement is clearly false but we try very hard to make it true. Some differences we are willing to allow for; some we are unwilling to allow. Unfortunately we only get to make these choices for ourselves. And while we each make our own choices concerning matters of opinion, it is desireable to have company and undesireable to stand alone. Therefor when we have things in common we group ourselves into classifications. We believe this and not that, and we are unified or divided by our beliefs.

Opinions alone are of little to no consquence in the World, yet thoughts become deeds very easily. And its not what we think that matters but how we act. In the real world every action has it's consequences. Small differences of opinion can be the cause of seperate interests, which divide our world.

Once all of our needs have been satisfied we will still have wants. This is the nature of desire, that it has no limits. Seperation and Companionship are both desireable to us, but these are conflicting desires! That we are seperate and unique individuals is undeniable, but we are not seperate from the Universe at large. As manifest creatures of substance here in the Universe we exist in relationship to absolutely everything else. If we take the broadest views of Creation, its very easy to see the underlying unity of all things. And of course we do have a much more immediate relationship with all the substance of the Earth, and even more immediate is our relation to other Human-beings. Ever since Humanity invented Language we have been classifying the world and dividing it, there appears to be no limits to the number of ways we can divide ourselves from one-another. We have larger inclusive classifications and smaller exclusive classifications. Therefor we divide ourselves up into groups of people, but we forget that we are still members of the larger group.

"The greatest and most inclusive classification we can find here on Planet Earth, is to consider all of it's LIFE as a single class."

Humanity is a sub-class of this class; our many racial differences create sub-classes of Humanity and if that is not enough there are cultural differences as well to consider.

But that is not enough for us, its still too large to be manageable. We identify with special interests and create sub-classes of classes. No matter how many times you cut the deck, everyone of us should know that we are part of something larger than ourselves. If we can see that we are part of the Universe it is good for us, and if we can imagine something bigger than the Universe thats even better! It should be easy for us to see ourselves as a part of LIFE on Planet Earth, and as a part of Humanity. Whether or not we feel that we belong here, we do belong.

If i could reveal one Great Truth to the Children of Humanity and remove all doubts, it would be the Creator within the Universe. Unfortunately if the Creator is unwilling to reveal itself to us, there's not much that anyone can do about that.
At the very best, we can only ask for the evidence. If we are very good we may suggest what that evidence should be. If we can be specific in our desires, we can ask for exactly the thing we want. We can describe it in great detail and give shape to a plan. By doing this we create Great Expectations.

Expectations will get us into trouble more often than not. If our best laid plans never bare fruits we will be greatly dissappointed. And even the best laid plans can not account for every possibility, therefor we may be surprised by the outcome. If our plans depend on work being done by someone else, we don't always get what we bargained for. But if we are careful to define what we want, and describe how the work should be done, we are more likely to get the desired results. Most of our material goods do require a detailed plan, knowlege of methods, and the efforts of several different people. If we ask for divine favor it should be no different.

What can the Creator do that we ourselves can not do? Our ability to shape the world around us has limits, we should think that the creator is less limited. The advent of science and discovery has shown us a little bit about HOW the Creator shapes the world. Of course if it was plain and clearly guided by a will, we would have the evidence we desire, but its never been obvious. The creator moves the world in subtle and mysterious ways and we should probably wonder if it has the power to act more overtly. If we assume that our creator does have the power over reality to act in ways obivious to us, perhaps it is still unwilling to act. Or perhaps we are just underserving.

I think its fair to say that Humanity's greatest desire is to know that LIFE exists elsewhere in the Universe, to know beyond doubt that we are not alone. Considering the size of the Universe and the principle that it is governed by a set of rules which are the same throughout, we can make a fair assumption about LIFE here. But of course assumptions are never as good as hard facts. To get this knowledge we are willing to take some considerable risks and go to great expense. But I think it would be far better to know of a Creator. Thats a hard thing to be certain of, you can not solve the problem by throwing money at it.

If we are willing to consider Testamony as evidence, there is already enough! But testamony can never be as good as direct personal experience. If we find any of the testamony believable, some people do have a direct personal experience to relate. In a few cases, events have been plain and obvious to large groups of people who all witnessed the same thing. Evidently our Creator or some other higher-power has been willing and able to produce effects in the past. There are enough of these accounts to think that higher-powers have intervened in Human affairs. There are even accounts of men who have been able to bargain with them.

Clearly its a difficult thing to bargain with our Creator for services. If we do need to be deserving, we don't know what it takes to be deserving. The Catholics say that a vow of chastity will make us deserving of favor from God. But the Mormons say that we get favor from God when we become husbands or wives and parents. These two different points of view appear to be at odds with one another. According to the Israeli people we suffer from our seperation from God, and we need to become pure to heal that seperation. In order to make ourselves pure unto God we must obey many laws and be purified by priests in a temple. But the Christians say that it is enough just to take a bath!

Its very easy to see the seperation if we believe that God is a person of flesh and bone like us. And this is how the story of Genesis goes, such a personal God exits according to that account. Personally I think this is nothing more than evidence of our predjudice. Some people are willing to believe that God is a spirit without form, this is more like the God that I believe in. The God of my beliefs is everpreasent within the Universe to every corner. No one place can be more or less Holy, God's presence is everywhere. Therfore I do not see seperation or a problem of purity. But I do distinguish between that God and our Creator. In my own humble opinion God is constantly giving, and he has already given us everything there is to give. We can't ask for more from God, we can only trust that he sustains us and will continue to sustain us.

If we want more we have to work for it, and grow as individuals. Having more from God requires greater capacity to hold what is constantly given. For the sake of personal growth we do struggle and suffer great pains. At times we must suffer indignity or weakness to know that we are meek. We need to be reminded of Humility, as we find good reason to feel pride. Self-esteem and confidance is the goal of maturity. As we begin to feel comfortable in our strength, the Universe may prove us weak, and if for no other reason because we suffer from this mortal condition.

A Healthy degree of faith can make one man stand while the whole world shakes around him. It can make a man stand in defiance of death if he believes in Eternity. But this is not physical strength, it is not power over the very fabric of reality. It appears to be nothing of substance. But we can always ask for some help from our peers to get what we need, we never struggle alone. If we can see our Creator as one companion amidst the multitude, we can ask for it's help. And if we ask something from a peer we should hope that we can return favor for favor. Always there should be a fair exchange, but what does a mere human being have to offer a Creator? We have nothing of substance to offer, we have no property to call our own for all the substance of Creation belongs to the Creator already. We have no greater claim to the stuff itself, and because of our mortality we must surrender it back the world eventually. Therefor a man has nothing more than his time and attention to offer, and if he is able to do work, a commitment to do that work. Great favor should require great commitment; but once we have found our place in Eternity we can make a commitment that lasts that long. All that remains is a little trust. We each must have something of value to offer the world.

Perhaps even the Creator does need some work from us, perhaps it has a job to offer.