A good many people nowadays say, 'I believe in a God, but not in a personal God.' They feel that the mysterious something which is behind all other things must be more than a person. Now the Christians quite agree. But the Christians are the only people who offer any idea of what a being that is beyond personality could be like. All the other people, though they say that God is beyond personality, really think of Him as something impersonal: that is, as something less than personal. If you are looking for something super-personal, something more than a person, then it is not a question of choosing between the Christian idea and the other ideas. The Christian idea is the only one on the market.
Again, some people think that after this life, or perhaps after several lives, human souls will be 'absorbed' into God. But when they try to explain what they mean, they seem to be thinking of our being absorbed into God as one material thing is absorbed into another. They say it is like a drop of water slipping into the sea. But of course that is the end of the drop. If that is what happens to us, then being absorbed is the same as ceasing to exist. It is only the Christians who have any idea of how human souls can be taken into the life of God and yet remain themselves—in fact, be very much more themselves than they were before.
I warned you that Theology is practical. The whole purpose for which we exist is to be thus taken into the life of God. Wrong ideas about what that life is will make it harder.
Again, some people think that after this life, or perhaps after several lives, human souls will be 'absorbed' into God. But when they try to explain what they mean, they seem to be thinking of our being absorbed into God as one material thing is absorbed into another. They say it is like a drop of water slipping into the sea. But of course that is the end of the drop. If that is what happens to us, then being absorbed is the same as ceasing to exist. It is only the Christians who have any idea of how human souls can be taken into the life of God and yet remain themselves—in fact, be very much more themselves than they were before.
I warned you that Theology is practical. The whole purpose for which we exist is to be thus taken into the life of God. Wrong ideas about what that life is will make it harder.
C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Ch. 24, "The Three-Personal God"
After work today I met my best friend Brock at Common Grounds, a cozy little coffeehouse in the Hawthorne district of Portland. He was there working on some details of a screenplay, sitting at a granite bar in the sunny front window. There was a magazine of some kind at the end of the bar, and I took a look at it. It turned out to be a booklet advertising the Body, Mind & Spirit Expo to be held in Portland, Oregon the weekend of April 19/20, that is, the first day of the Jewish Passover. Hmm, interesting, I thought. Also, the Saturday of Lazarus, and Palm Sunday (of the Greek Orthodox).
"Well, what have we here," I thought to myself, as I took a look at the booklet. On the cover a gloriously happy, liberated-looking woman was throwing herself up into the air in a grassy meadow. Four of the featured guests at this expo were also pictured on the cover, all smiling broadly to advertise their proficiencies… Magic of the Tarot… Move Through Life's Crossroads… The Science of Anti-Aging… and Learn to Talk to Animals.
Turning the booklet over, the back cover had four more smiling savants and their specialties… Attract Your Dreams… Become a Psychic Medium… Expand Your Consciousness… and (what I thought said "Potato Spirit 2012" but which actually said) Portal to Spirit: Transition 2012.
It was a long, boring day at the office, and my eyes must be playing tricks on me, I thought to myself. Was I seeing things?
Well, yes, I'm afraid I was. This expo, with 125 exhibitors and 75 "free lectures", acclaimed as the "Northwest's Largest Holistic Expo," is coming to Portland.
Looking inside the booklet, here are some of the other presentations that were advertised…
Fear & Self Sabotage
Fairy Forum
Fishing Guide to the Stars
Are You Toxic?
Direct Past Life Readings
Bliss 101: The Basics
One-2-One with your Angels
How to Embody Shambala Now
Opening the Conduit
Vibrational Awakening
The New Crystal Temple
Seeing Auras
Why Emotions Hurt
Make the Most of Planet Energy
Finding Your Soul's Purpose
"Duh… Too bad I'm gonna have to miss this great expo," I yawned pathetically, remembering I'll be out of town that weekend. And there was even this great offer… Volunteer at the Expo! with a phone number, 541-482-3722. This event comes out of Ashland, Oregon. It makes you wonder, what really goes on down there. Yeah, too bad we'll be out of town. Brock and I could've volunteered at the event… hand out Chick tracts or something!
All this reminded me of yet another saying of C. S. Lewis…
"…Theology is practical: especially now. In the old days, when there was less education and discussion, perhaps it was possible to get on with a very few simple ideas about God. But it is not so now. Everyone reads, everyone hears things discussed. Consequently, if you do not listen to Theology, that will not mean that you have no ideas about God. It will mean that you have a lot of wrong ones—bad, muddled, out-of-date ideas. For a great many of the ideas about God which are trotted out as novelties to-day are simply the ones which real Theologians tried centuries ago and rejected. To believe in the popular religion of modern England is retrogression—like believing the earth is flat."
What he said of "modern England" can certainly be said of "modern America." Sorry to have to repeat myself, but "Lord, have mercy on us!" We certainly need it!
"Well, what have we here," I thought to myself, as I took a look at the booklet. On the cover a gloriously happy, liberated-looking woman was throwing herself up into the air in a grassy meadow. Four of the featured guests at this expo were also pictured on the cover, all smiling broadly to advertise their proficiencies… Magic of the Tarot… Move Through Life's Crossroads… The Science of Anti-Aging… and Learn to Talk to Animals.
Turning the booklet over, the back cover had four more smiling savants and their specialties… Attract Your Dreams… Become a Psychic Medium… Expand Your Consciousness… and (what I thought said "Potato Spirit 2012" but which actually said) Portal to Spirit: Transition 2012.It was a long, boring day at the office, and my eyes must be playing tricks on me, I thought to myself. Was I seeing things?
Well, yes, I'm afraid I was. This expo, with 125 exhibitors and 75 "free lectures", acclaimed as the "Northwest's Largest Holistic Expo," is coming to Portland.
Looking inside the booklet, here are some of the other presentations that were advertised…
Fear & Self SabotageFairy Forum
Fishing Guide to the Stars
Are You Toxic?
Direct Past Life Readings
Bliss 101: The Basics
One-2-One with your Angels
How to Embody Shambala Now
Opening the Conduit
Vibrational Awakening
The New Crystal Temple
Seeing Auras
Why Emotions Hurt
Make the Most of Planet Energy
Finding Your Soul's Purpose
"Duh… Too bad I'm gonna have to miss this great expo," I yawned pathetically, remembering I'll be out of town that weekend. And there was even this great offer… Volunteer at the Expo! with a phone number, 541-482-3722. This event comes out of Ashland, Oregon. It makes you wonder, what really goes on down there. Yeah, too bad we'll be out of town. Brock and I could've volunteered at the event… hand out Chick tracts or something!
All this reminded me of yet another saying of C. S. Lewis…
"…Theology is practical: especially now. In the old days, when there was less education and discussion, perhaps it was possible to get on with a very few simple ideas about God. But it is not so now. Everyone reads, everyone hears things discussed. Consequently, if you do not listen to Theology, that will not mean that you have no ideas about God. It will mean that you have a lot of wrong ones—bad, muddled, out-of-date ideas. For a great many of the ideas about God which are trotted out as novelties to-day are simply the ones which real Theologians tried centuries ago and rejected. To believe in the popular religion of modern England is retrogression—like believing the earth is flat."
What he said of "modern England" can certainly be said of "modern America." Sorry to have to repeat myself, but "Lord, have mercy on us!" We certainly need it!
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