Thoughts of a Mad Man

Troll theology: third-grade-style theological debate

"Thinking a Magical Sky Fairy will come and fix your problems is a problem in itself."





I don't just believe in a higher power. That's a mathematical necessity, by the way; either there is a Higher Power or you're it. I also believe in a living God, one that hears our prayers and cares about what we think. Our thoughts and feelings have impact on the world, or at least, on our life. The thing is, if God exists, reality is either Him or His judgment. Whatever is going on in our life is the cooperative output of God's action and our action.





But, for those of us who believe in that, there is the temptation to do an end-run around Him to appeal to that stupid Magical Sky Fairy, like we did as a child when Mom said "no." The only difference is, in this case, there is no other parent, just me and the Universe. Now, any problem that we have created, God and I, can be uncreated just as easily if I'm willing to listen. To tell Him what I want and need, and then listen patiently and take the turns He directs. Like divine GPS, I will "magically" find my desire in the end. The time machines only move one way, the magic wands are just props, and the miracles can be attributed — however falsely — to the law of averages, but they happen. (Besides, even if I'm stumbling in the dark, the human mind isn't designed to believe that I won't get what I want and need.)





With atheists, it's just the same, except that Reality is it. Of course they can have miracles too, which I suppose they attribute to skepticism — the problem doesn't dissolve, it never existed in the first place. Whatever. In either event, denial and pouting to a false god only prolongs the problem, causing us to delay going to the Source of solutions. So, even if people are taunting you with the above quote, take it to heart, and wonder if they aren't God's angels reminding you to "Seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven, and these things shall be added." Failing that, "Test all things, and hold fast to that which is true," as the apostle Paul said.





Afterword:


The point, in case somebody doesn't get it: God is reality. Not a reality, not just a thing that might be in reality, but the reality; whatever is, that's Him. Trying to avoid that, to appeal to a still-higher power is going to hold us back. That's what creates our problems.