Did God Say...?
Some will undoubtedly be controversial and downright radical, and others will encounter
detractors left and right. Back when there were only two individuals on this planet, it was no different than what we are experiencing today, except that many more voices are vying for their own perceived defense of their position. We could probably refer to this as godless intellectualism on the one hand or chain-puller humbleness on the other.
By pointing to godless intellectualism, I am merely stating the exceedingly proud and chiefly guided by intellect rather than emotion or experience, as opposed to the chain-puller humbleness characterized by its quality of being changeable.
It is obvious that we are an unruly lot. Peace? It is a figment of our imagination. We have a fleeting, selfish idea of how to achieve it, yet not the foggiest idea of how to permanently keep it. It has been proven time and time again during our 4,000-plus years of existence that we are incapable of living in peace with each other. We have never, since setting foot on this planet, experienced lasting peace for any number of years.
Most of our efforts to achieve peace consist primarily of our ideology of the supernatural: who do we believe our lives should be reflective of?
=
On July 1620 two ships called the Mayflower and the Speedwell, with a group of 102 Pilgrims, including 35 members of a radical Puritan faction known as the English Separatist Church, set sail from Southampton, England to Virginia, America where they established the first permanent European settlement.
The main reason these individuals decided to leave their motherland was because of religious persecution which refused to follow the Church of England's teachings, where many of them were harassed, fined, or even sent to jail.
In 1607 this group (The Separatists) illegally broke from the Church of England and settled in the Netherlands, first in Amsterdam and later in Leiden during the next decade under the lenient shadow of the Dutch laws. Fearing loss of heritage and their use of the English language and economic difficulties, they began a plan in motion to settle in the New World, with an intended destination near the Hudson River which at the time was thought to be part of an established colony of Virginia.
Rough seas and storms were encountered and prevented the Mayflower from its intended destination in Virginia, and after a trip of 65 days reached the shores of Cape Cod, lowering anchor on Provincetown Harbor in mid-November.
Even before the would-be colonists set foot on shore, guess what? Dissention's head showed its ugly head.
Doesn't it prove once again and from a Biblical perspective that something is inherently wrong with our hearts?
Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is desperately wicked".
The passengers who were not separatists and referred to as "strangers" by the more so-called doctrinaire peers argued that the Virginia contract was void since the Mayflower had docked outside of the Virginia Company territory. Some of these strangers had made discontented and mutinous speeches.
What causes this dissension between what is right and what is wrong?
Again, this is - the same donkey with a different mount - what I believe and what you believe.
At the inception of time - "In the beginning God" (Gen. 1:1), two individuals - male and female - decided upon themselves and by an outside angelic interference to disregard a Sovereign command "You shall not eat..."
From the Garden - a divinely perfect environment - to the Flood, to Plymouth, Virginia, to our present age, we can clearly establish that something is wrong with us humans. Something is deeply troubling with our heart condition. We have the inalienable capacity to make choices, whether right or wrong.
Why do the majority of us choose to do wrong?
We berate our children, spouses, and neighbors, we have extramarital affairs, and we lie to make ourselves look good. Instead of apologizing, we make all kinds of excuses and complain about everything and everyone under the sun except ourselves.
" I heard your voice, I was afraid, I was naked, I hid myself (emotional appeal, apolitical stunt still prevalent today intended to deflect) Genesis 3:10. The woman that you(God) gave me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate ( Genesis 3:12.
We tend to minimize our faults and exaggerate everybody else's. All this is because we do not stop comparing ourselves with the success of others and coveting what they have achieved through hard work, dedication, and consistent push forward despite all the odds against advancing.
If we live in the shadow of another, we will never cast our own shadow.
The truth of the matter is that as long as we neglect to recognize the fact of our nature and condition, all the efforts to live a successful and peaceful life will be overshadowed by conflict. He who walks in the dark does not know where he is going... And if you don't know where you are
going, you'll never get there. The question is then, "How do I get there not walking in the dark?"
