Divine Plagiarism

Uno. There is a fourth check on our actions. The check of conscience. There is a knowledge of the moral law written on the heart of man. We are made in the image of God, and part of His stamp on us is His law. But even this, in a way, is an external check. It does not come from us, but from God. As we sever our ties to Him in our rebellion, we lose our ability to hear the call of conscience. We abandon the safety of this check when we abandon Him.

Dos. There is also a more formal logic-esque way of critiquing the moving of boundary stones. (Yeah, I use made up words. Like redongculous.) First, we tell someone that the value of the life of his unborn child is less than the value of his convenience. Second, that man assesses the value of life of his unborn child to be greater than the value of a stranger’s life. Therefore, by simple transposition, he then assesses the value of life of the stranger to be of less than his convenience, and acts accordingly. He is correct for data. Given the set of assumptions handed to him, he simply completes the equation. We punish him, not for getting the answer wrong, but for following the answer through to its conclusion. And in that conclusion we are offered a preview of our own destruction. So that man is the thermometer, the shape of things to come. But we would rather believe that man got the answer wrong than question the equation. We are afraid to follow our equations out to their logical conclusions, because we know where they go. Consider Nietzsche. He is correct for data. Without God, there is no conclusion possible other than nihilism. We are simply afraid to follow our paths where they need. Perhaps, if we don’t like where they lead, we should simply find new paths. Perhaps narrow ones.

Threve (A combination of the numbers three and five. Simply stunning.) It is our constraints that keep us safe from ourselves. That keeps us in check. But they are an accommodation. They are not as we were meant to be. I believe that we were unshackled when we were in the garden. That there were no constraints, nor need for them in that place. The constraints exist as an allowance for the error we created. Perhaps like training wheels, the constraints will not remain on forever. Perhaps, one day, this world will be un-childproofed. When God’s great story is told, then our hearts will be allowed to seek whatever ends they desire. Without death, and with infinite time, the distinction between intent and act may cease to exist. These things are beyond me, but perhaps in His plan, we inherit a measure of His omnipotence when all is said and done. Not the throne of a king, but the throne of a viceroy. One who rules in His Name. That on the other side of this life, He provides ways for us to express His omniscience, through seeking forever after Him, His omnipresence, forever expanding to claim all of His universe in His Name, and His omnipotence, able to do all things through Christ who strengthens us. I do not believe I can usefully understand much of this on this side of eternity. But I do think that Heaven is a place where we are free to pursue Him without constraints. Unfortunately, as a corollary, hell must then also be a place where people are unconstrained. A place without either God or restraints would be an unimaginable nightmare. We question God for creating hell. But this is the irony. We are the ones who will create hell. If we are determined to live without Him forever, then there is no more reason for the shackles. The training wheels come off, and we make the world we wanted, a world without Him, a world all about us. This is the most horrifying thought imaginable. So He gives us a choice. Perhaps, there will be a day when the child locks come off this world. On that day, we will get what our hearts desire. If we desire ourselves, that is what we will find. A very small universe that will be. If we desire Him, then we will find everything we could ever desire in Him. Forever will be ours to explore the infinite reaches of His glory. What more could you ask?