Someone sent me this awhile back and I saved it because I thought it was one of those things that are funny but have a hidden serious side. I would like to share it with you.
Here is a rigours mathemtatical proof of the value of work...
Postulate 1: Knowledge is Power.
Postulate 2: Time is Money.
As every engineer knows,
Power = Work/Time
Since Knowledge = Power and Time = Money, we have
Knowledge = Work/Money
Solving for Money, we get:
Money = Work/Knowledge
Thus, as Knowledge approaches zero, Money approaches infinity regardless of the Work done, proving that some people are too smart for their own good.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Some Good Jokes
The world is a difficult and dangerous place these days. It's hard to pick up a newspaper without reading about some outrage against decent behavior. The world is also filled with hypocrisy and banal platitudes dispensed by leaders more concerned with their own bread basket than the welfare of people they are supposed to be serving.
So, I collect jokes. I'm pretty particular about what I keep. A good joke must make me chuckle, at least, and it must never be the kind of humour that is at someones expense. It can, however, be at the expense of the author. If we would all just lighten up a bit and give each other some wriggle room, the world would be a much happier place. When we take ourselves and our agendas too seriously, we cause problems for everyone around us.
His/Her Diary
My wife and I found this very funny because it really highlights the basic difference between the way most women and men think. Sometimes jokes are funny because they are too true.
1. Her Diary
Tonight I thought he was acting weird. We had made plans to meet for dinner. I was shopping with my friends all day long, so I thought he was upset. I was late,he made no comment. Conversation wasn't flowing so I suggested that we go somewhere quiet so we could talk. He agreed but he kept quiet and absent. I asked him what was wrong; he said nothing. I asked him if it was my fault that he was upset. He said it had nothing to do with me, not to worry.
On the way home I told him that I loved him, he simply smiled and kept driving. I can't explain his behavior. I don't know why he didn't say I love you too. When we got home I felt as if I had lost him, as if he wanted nothing to do with me anymore. He just sat there and watched TV.
Finally, I decided to go to bed. About 10 minutes later he came to bed, and to my surprise he responded to my caress. We made love, but I still felt that he was distracted and his thoughts were somewhere else. He fell asleep - I cried. I don't know what to do. I'm almost sure that his thoughts are with someone else. My life is a disaster.
2. His Diary
I shot the worst round of golf in my life today, but at least I got laid.
Baptist Dog
I found this joke funny because I was brought up in a Baptist church as a youth, attended a Mennonite church for quite a while and now attend a Pentecostal church. I find there are more differences between the beliefs held by individuals within each group than there are generally between these groups. Pentecostals, though, are known their belief in the healing power of the Holy Spirit.
Ever mindful of the congregation, the Baptist preacher and his wife decided to get a new dog, and knew that the dog also had to be a Baptist.
They visited kennel after kennel and explained their needs. Finally, they found a kennel whose owner assured them he had just the dog they wanted. The owner brought the dog to meet the pastor and his wife. "Fetch the Bible," he commanded. The dog bounded to the bookshelf, scrutinized the books, located the Bible, and brought it to the owner.
"Now find Psalm 23," he commanded. The dog dropped the Bible to the floor, and showing marvelous dexterity with his paws, leafed through and finding the correct passage, pointed to it with his paw.
The pastor and his wife were very impressed and purchased the dog. That evening, a group of church members came to visit. The pastor and his wife began to show off the dog, having him locate several Bible verses.
The visitors were very impressed. One man asked, "Can he do regular dog tricks, too?" "I haven't tried yet," the pastor replied. He pointed his finger at the dog. "HEEL!" the pastor commanded. The dog immediately jumped on a chair, placed one paw on the pastor's forehead and began to howl.
The pastor looked at his wife in shock and said, "Good Lord! He's Pentecostal!"
A Baptist Catholic
This joke reminds me of a clear memory I have from grade school, about grade 4 or 5. I had a friend that was Catholic and was not supposed to eat meat on Fridays. Unfortunately, our school was not very sympathetic to the Catholic dietary requirements and every Friday was 'Hot Dog Day' at the school cafeteria. I remember that my friend habitually forgot that it was Friday until his hot dog was completely eaten and then would suddenly remember and exclaim something like 'O my God, its Friday. I forgot.' Also, if you are from the Southern US, you will recognize the characters in this story. They are all archetypes.
Boudreaux, a Cajun highlander from Rapides Parish in central Louisiana, was an older, single gentleman, who was born and raised a Baptist, living in South Louisiana. Each Friday night after work, he would fire up his outdoor grill and cook a venison steak. Now, all of Boudreaux's neighbors were Catholic... and since it was Lent, they were forbidden from eating meat on Fridays. The delicious aroma from the grilled venison steaks was causing such a problem for the Catholic faithful that they finally talked to their priest.
The priest came to visit Boudreaux, and suggested that Boudreaux convert to Catholicism. After several classes and much study, Boudreaux attended Mass.. and as the priest sprinkled holy water over him, he said, "You were born a Baptist and raised a Baptist, but now you are Catholic."
Boudreaux's neighbors were greatly relieved, until Friday night arrived, and the wonderful aroma of grilled venison filled the neighborhood. The priest was called immediately by the neighbors and, as he rushed into Boudreaux's yard, clutching a rosary and prepared to scold him, he stopped in amazement and watched. There stood Boudreaux, clutching a small bottle of water which he carefully sprinkled over the grilling meat, and chanted: "You wuz born a deer, and you wuz raised a deer, but now you a catfish."
Original Title
Anyone who has had to deal with a bureaucracy to get anything done will appreciate this.
A New Orleans lawyer sought an FHA loan for a client. He was told the loan would be granted if he could prove satisfactory title to a parcel of property being offered as collateral. The title to the property dated back to 1803, which took the Lawyer three months to track down.
After sending the information to the FHA, he received the following reply (actual letter):
"Upon review of your letter adjoining your client's loan application, we note that the request is supported by an Abstract of Title. While we compliment the able manner in which you have prepared and presented the application, we must point out that you have only cleared title to the proposed collateral property back to 1803. Before final approval can be accorded, it will be necessary to clear the title back to its origin."
Annoyed, the lawyer responded as follows (actual letter):
"Your letter regarding title in Case No. 189156 has been received. I note that you wish to have title extended further than the 194 years covered by the present application. I was unaware that any educated person in this country, particularly those working in the property area, would not know that Louisiana was purchased, by the U.S., from France in 1803, the year of origin identified in our application.
For the edification of uninformed FHA bureaucrats, the title to the land prior to U.S. ownership was obtained from France, which had acquired it by Right of Conquest from Spain. The land came into the possession of Spain by Right of Discovery made in the year 1492 by a sea captain named Christopher Columbus, who had been granted the privilege of seeking a new route to India by the Spanish monarch, Isabella. The good queen, Isabella, being pious woman and almost as careful about titles as the FHA, took the precaution of securing the blessing of the Pope before she sold her jewels to finance Columbus' expedition.
Now the Pope, as I'm sure you may know, is the emissary of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and God, it is commonly accepted, created this world. Therefore, I believe it is safe to presume that God also made that part of the world called Louisiana. God, therefore, would be the owner of origin and His origins date back, to before the beginning of time, the world as we know it AND the FHA. I hope you at the FHA find God's original claim to be satisfactory.
Now, may we have our loan?"
The loan was approved.
So, I collect jokes. I'm pretty particular about what I keep. A good joke must make me chuckle, at least, and it must never be the kind of humour that is at someones expense. It can, however, be at the expense of the author. If we would all just lighten up a bit and give each other some wriggle room, the world would be a much happier place. When we take ourselves and our agendas too seriously, we cause problems for everyone around us.
His/Her Diary
My wife and I found this very funny because it really highlights the basic difference between the way most women and men think. Sometimes jokes are funny because they are too true.
1. Her Diary
Tonight I thought he was acting weird. We had made plans to meet for dinner. I was shopping with my friends all day long, so I thought he was upset. I was late,he made no comment. Conversation wasn't flowing so I suggested that we go somewhere quiet so we could talk. He agreed but he kept quiet and absent. I asked him what was wrong; he said nothing. I asked him if it was my fault that he was upset. He said it had nothing to do with me, not to worry.
On the way home I told him that I loved him, he simply smiled and kept driving. I can't explain his behavior. I don't know why he didn't say I love you too. When we got home I felt as if I had lost him, as if he wanted nothing to do with me anymore. He just sat there and watched TV.
Finally, I decided to go to bed. About 10 minutes later he came to bed, and to my surprise he responded to my caress. We made love, but I still felt that he was distracted and his thoughts were somewhere else. He fell asleep - I cried. I don't know what to do. I'm almost sure that his thoughts are with someone else. My life is a disaster.
2. His Diary
I shot the worst round of golf in my life today, but at least I got laid.
Baptist Dog
I found this joke funny because I was brought up in a Baptist church as a youth, attended a Mennonite church for quite a while and now attend a Pentecostal church. I find there are more differences between the beliefs held by individuals within each group than there are generally between these groups. Pentecostals, though, are known their belief in the healing power of the Holy Spirit.
Ever mindful of the congregation, the Baptist preacher and his wife decided to get a new dog, and knew that the dog also had to be a Baptist.
They visited kennel after kennel and explained their needs. Finally, they found a kennel whose owner assured them he had just the dog they wanted. The owner brought the dog to meet the pastor and his wife. "Fetch the Bible," he commanded. The dog bounded to the bookshelf, scrutinized the books, located the Bible, and brought it to the owner.
"Now find Psalm 23," he commanded. The dog dropped the Bible to the floor, and showing marvelous dexterity with his paws, leafed through and finding the correct passage, pointed to it with his paw.
The pastor and his wife were very impressed and purchased the dog. That evening, a group of church members came to visit. The pastor and his wife began to show off the dog, having him locate several Bible verses.
The visitors were very impressed. One man asked, "Can he do regular dog tricks, too?" "I haven't tried yet," the pastor replied. He pointed his finger at the dog. "HEEL!" the pastor commanded. The dog immediately jumped on a chair, placed one paw on the pastor's forehead and began to howl.
The pastor looked at his wife in shock and said, "Good Lord! He's Pentecostal!"
A Baptist Catholic
This joke reminds me of a clear memory I have from grade school, about grade 4 or 5. I had a friend that was Catholic and was not supposed to eat meat on Fridays. Unfortunately, our school was not very sympathetic to the Catholic dietary requirements and every Friday was 'Hot Dog Day' at the school cafeteria. I remember that my friend habitually forgot that it was Friday until his hot dog was completely eaten and then would suddenly remember and exclaim something like 'O my God, its Friday. I forgot.' Also, if you are from the Southern US, you will recognize the characters in this story. They are all archetypes.
Boudreaux, a Cajun highlander from Rapides Parish in central Louisiana, was an older, single gentleman, who was born and raised a Baptist, living in South Louisiana. Each Friday night after work, he would fire up his outdoor grill and cook a venison steak. Now, all of Boudreaux's neighbors were Catholic... and since it was Lent, they were forbidden from eating meat on Fridays. The delicious aroma from the grilled venison steaks was causing such a problem for the Catholic faithful that they finally talked to their priest.
The priest came to visit Boudreaux, and suggested that Boudreaux convert to Catholicism. After several classes and much study, Boudreaux attended Mass.. and as the priest sprinkled holy water over him, he said, "You were born a Baptist and raised a Baptist, but now you are Catholic."
Boudreaux's neighbors were greatly relieved, until Friday night arrived, and the wonderful aroma of grilled venison filled the neighborhood. The priest was called immediately by the neighbors and, as he rushed into Boudreaux's yard, clutching a rosary and prepared to scold him, he stopped in amazement and watched. There stood Boudreaux, clutching a small bottle of water which he carefully sprinkled over the grilling meat, and chanted: "You wuz born a deer, and you wuz raised a deer, but now you a catfish."
Original Title
Anyone who has had to deal with a bureaucracy to get anything done will appreciate this.
A New Orleans lawyer sought an FHA loan for a client. He was told the loan would be granted if he could prove satisfactory title to a parcel of property being offered as collateral. The title to the property dated back to 1803, which took the Lawyer three months to track down.
After sending the information to the FHA, he received the following reply (actual letter):
"Upon review of your letter adjoining your client's loan application, we note that the request is supported by an Abstract of Title. While we compliment the able manner in which you have prepared and presented the application, we must point out that you have only cleared title to the proposed collateral property back to 1803. Before final approval can be accorded, it will be necessary to clear the title back to its origin."
Annoyed, the lawyer responded as follows (actual letter):
"Your letter regarding title in Case No. 189156 has been received. I note that you wish to have title extended further than the 194 years covered by the present application. I was unaware that any educated person in this country, particularly those working in the property area, would not know that Louisiana was purchased, by the U.S., from France in 1803, the year of origin identified in our application.
For the edification of uninformed FHA bureaucrats, the title to the land prior to U.S. ownership was obtained from France, which had acquired it by Right of Conquest from Spain. The land came into the possession of Spain by Right of Discovery made in the year 1492 by a sea captain named Christopher Columbus, who had been granted the privilege of seeking a new route to India by the Spanish monarch, Isabella. The good queen, Isabella, being pious woman and almost as careful about titles as the FHA, took the precaution of securing the blessing of the Pope before she sold her jewels to finance Columbus' expedition.
Now the Pope, as I'm sure you may know, is the emissary of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and God, it is commonly accepted, created this world. Therefore, I believe it is safe to presume that God also made that part of the world called Louisiana. God, therefore, would be the owner of origin and His origins date back, to before the beginning of time, the world as we know it AND the FHA. I hope you at the FHA find God's original claim to be satisfactory.
Now, may we have our loan?"
The loan was approved.
Answering Malcomb Parry on Leviticus
Several months ago a columnist for the Vancouver Sun who specializes in writing about what's happening around town, usually with the monied set, wrote a short column criticizing some people's religious objections to homosexuality. A friend of mine sent me a copy of the column with an invitation to comment. I thought I would reprint the column and my comments in this blog.
Malcolm Parry's Writes
There's been some religious fuss recently about homosexuality, the widespread human condition referred to as an "abomination" in The Bible's Leviticus 18:22. But, as a correspondent advised me, many other biblically forbidden matters arouse no such ire from the pulpit.
For instance, Leviticus (11:10) also defined shellfish eating as an abomination, and (15:19) forbids contact with menstruating women. Lev 19:27 also says thou shalt not trim hair around your temples nor "tatoo any marks upon you." The latter is surely more widespread - and certainly easier to spot - than homosexuality.
Lev 11:6-8's proscription about touching the skin of a dead pig seems not to have impeded Notre Dame University's prowess on the football field, my correspondent notes. and, notwithstanding the commands in Lev 19:19, he says his uncle still plants two different crops in the same field and his aunt wears garments made of two different kinds of thread.
Picayune, you say? Well, Lev 25:44 says its ok to own male and female slaves, so long as you buy them from neighbouring nations. No problem-o, either, if you want to sell your daughter into slavery (Exodus 21:7). But never on the Sabbath, right? That would be work. And Exodus 35:2 says the penalty for that is death. [malcolmparry@shaw.ca (604) 929-8456.]
My response to my friend is reproduced below. This response is not to Mr. Parry, with whom I have no interest in debating, but to a friend who is searching for meaning in her life.
Nancy,
I know it has been a long time since you sent me that message from Malcolm Parry regarding Leviticus and homosexuality. Please be reassured that I took no offence at all and the reason I have taken so long to reply is just due to my desire to respond completely and the inertia of daily life interfering. So now, finally, I have some spare time and the 'spirit' is moving me to put some thoughts down and send them along.
I should start off by saying that Leviticus was one of the books in the bible that I often quoted when arguing against Christianity when I was doing that with my sister Beth on all those long walks we took in Mt. Lehman back in the mid 90s. She was very patient. I don't remember her coming up with any counter arguments at the time, but then, Beth is not a debater. Eventually God had to confront me Himself and point out the whole thing about context, or perspective to use another word. Many of the questions and arguments about the bible boil down to that.
What I mean by context is that every truth exists within an environment. Most truths are not universal, they exist in a context. For instance, within our context, the death of a child is a bad thing. We mourn it and wonder why God allows innocent children to die in train wrecks. But in God’s context this life is a fleeting visit to a physical world by an eternal soul. The dead child is not gone, he or she is back with God. So we should not make the mistake of judging God based on our experience or our instincts about what is fair or unfair. Actually, we should probably not make the mistake of judging God at all. After all, He made the whole universe, us and everything we can observe with our senses and probably a lot more. It makes even less sense than for a baby to judge his parents.
What we can and should judge or have opinions about is what the truth of the matter is. God gave us brains and senses and expects us to use them. There is nothing wrong with having questions. But who should we put those questions to, if not God? How can we put questions to God without faith? On the quest for answers to the really big questions you have to start somewhere. You have to have faith in something to begin. You can put your faith in science and limit your answers to those that science can provide or you can put your faith in God and have a chance at answers to questions that science can’t really deal with. I personally don’t think there is any conflict between science and God. After all, science is really just an investigation into the workings of God’s creation.
There is an important reason why we live in this context, why our lives are temporary and we have the free will to behave as we see fit and believe or disbelieve what we want. I don’t know what that reason is, but I am sure that it exists and is essential to what God is doing with mankind. Do we have free will so that we can be judged on the basis of what we do with it? Is there some kind of evolution of the soul going on? Why did God put Satan in the world to lead us astray? Is it to stress us (like sharpening a knife on a grinding stone), so that we will be motivated to adapt and change? I don’t have the answers to these questions, but I don’t stop questioning. The biggest change that ever happened in my life was when I decided to accept God in spite of my questions. That was where the journey began for me.
On the question of Leviticus, consider that the long list of rules outlined in this document were directed at the Jewish people, a people that God had singled out as a starting place for his work with men. He wanted the Jewish people to be set apart from the rest of mankind and not to mingle with them or become corrupted by other religious or social practices. Many of the rules listed here are dietary requirements and many of these make quite a bit of sense based on our current scientific knowledge. Not touching dead animals, for instance, might lead to healthier lives in an antibiotic free ancient world. The proscription against eating shellfish also makes some sense today since shellfish tend to absorb and concentrate toxins. What about the rule against contact with menstruating women? You know that during menstruation, the cervix is partly open and the uterus is more vulnerable to infection. Maybe there is sense in it.
The really important thing though is not the importance of all the arcane rules listed in Leviticus and other places in the old testament. The really important thing is that God became man in the person of Jesus Christ and allowed himself to be tortured and killed in order to redeem us from our sins. Jesus showed us, by His example and His teachings how we should live our lives. He gives us, through our faith in Him, the ability to approach God in spite of our sins.
Jesus expressed special contempt for the Pharisees, a particularly strict sect within the Jewish faith. He said that their insistence on keeping all of a very long list of commandments in a literal and rigid fashion was actually keeping people away from the love of God. When asked what the really important commandments were that we should keep, He said:
Mark 12:29-31‘The most important one’, answered Jesus, ‘is this: Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The Second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.
Now I know that some of your neighbors are homosexual. And I know that you and Mike both follow the second part of this commandment with conviction. So I understand your wanting to stick up for these people who, from no fault of their own, simply prefer to have sexual relations with partners of like gender. I don’t disagree with this, and I too try to love all my neighbors whatever their sins. After all, I am not without sin, and I love myself anyway. The only place where we might disagree is that I believe that homosexual behavior is against the will of God and therefore, sinful.
The big question for me is how do we keep the first part of this commandment. How can we love God without having a relationship with Him? How can we have a relationship when God is spirit and we are flesh? I don’t have the answer to these questions, but I think I know where to begin. Just as every living thing begins as a seed (embryo) , so a relationship with God begins with a grain of faith. If that grain is allowed to flourish, it will grow and mature over time and a real relationship will develop in which love will arise as a natural thing. Remember too, we are more than flesh. We are also spirit. Our minds arise out of a relationship between that spirit and our flesh (neurons, synapses, etc). Without spirit there would be no consciousness.
If you are interested in knowing God, start with a grain of faith and then pray and read the bible with an open and questioning mind and then bring your questions to God in prayer. You are already doing everything else.
Please keep in mind that I am not intending to preach to you about what you should do or how you should behave. I do not consider that I occupy any higher moral ground than you. I am only sharing some of the experience and insight that I have gained in the past ten years or so. Consider this…. If God is real and He created us, and He wants a real relationship of love with us, what could be more important than that?
Jim
Malcolm Parry's Writes
There's been some religious fuss recently about homosexuality, the widespread human condition referred to as an "abomination" in The Bible's Leviticus 18:22. But, as a correspondent advised me, many other biblically forbidden matters arouse no such ire from the pulpit.
For instance, Leviticus (11:10) also defined shellfish eating as an abomination, and (15:19) forbids contact with menstruating women. Lev 19:27 also says thou shalt not trim hair around your temples nor "tatoo any marks upon you." The latter is surely more widespread - and certainly easier to spot - than homosexuality.
Lev 11:6-8's proscription about touching the skin of a dead pig seems not to have impeded Notre Dame University's prowess on the football field, my correspondent notes. and, notwithstanding the commands in Lev 19:19, he says his uncle still plants two different crops in the same field and his aunt wears garments made of two different kinds of thread.
Picayune, you say? Well, Lev 25:44 says its ok to own male and female slaves, so long as you buy them from neighbouring nations. No problem-o, either, if you want to sell your daughter into slavery (Exodus 21:7). But never on the Sabbath, right? That would be work. And Exodus 35:2 says the penalty for that is death. [malcolmparry@shaw.ca (604) 929-8456.]
My response to my friend is reproduced below. This response is not to Mr. Parry, with whom I have no interest in debating, but to a friend who is searching for meaning in her life.
Nancy,
I know it has been a long time since you sent me that message from Malcolm Parry regarding Leviticus and homosexuality. Please be reassured that I took no offence at all and the reason I have taken so long to reply is just due to my desire to respond completely and the inertia of daily life interfering. So now, finally, I have some spare time and the 'spirit' is moving me to put some thoughts down and send them along.
I should start off by saying that Leviticus was one of the books in the bible that I often quoted when arguing against Christianity when I was doing that with my sister Beth on all those long walks we took in Mt. Lehman back in the mid 90s. She was very patient. I don't remember her coming up with any counter arguments at the time, but then, Beth is not a debater. Eventually God had to confront me Himself and point out the whole thing about context, or perspective to use another word. Many of the questions and arguments about the bible boil down to that.
What I mean by context is that every truth exists within an environment. Most truths are not universal, they exist in a context. For instance, within our context, the death of a child is a bad thing. We mourn it and wonder why God allows innocent children to die in train wrecks. But in God’s context this life is a fleeting visit to a physical world by an eternal soul. The dead child is not gone, he or she is back with God. So we should not make the mistake of judging God based on our experience or our instincts about what is fair or unfair. Actually, we should probably not make the mistake of judging God at all. After all, He made the whole universe, us and everything we can observe with our senses and probably a lot more. It makes even less sense than for a baby to judge his parents.
What we can and should judge or have opinions about is what the truth of the matter is. God gave us brains and senses and expects us to use them. There is nothing wrong with having questions. But who should we put those questions to, if not God? How can we put questions to God without faith? On the quest for answers to the really big questions you have to start somewhere. You have to have faith in something to begin. You can put your faith in science and limit your answers to those that science can provide or you can put your faith in God and have a chance at answers to questions that science can’t really deal with. I personally don’t think there is any conflict between science and God. After all, science is really just an investigation into the workings of God’s creation.
There is an important reason why we live in this context, why our lives are temporary and we have the free will to behave as we see fit and believe or disbelieve what we want. I don’t know what that reason is, but I am sure that it exists and is essential to what God is doing with mankind. Do we have free will so that we can be judged on the basis of what we do with it? Is there some kind of evolution of the soul going on? Why did God put Satan in the world to lead us astray? Is it to stress us (like sharpening a knife on a grinding stone), so that we will be motivated to adapt and change? I don’t have the answers to these questions, but I don’t stop questioning. The biggest change that ever happened in my life was when I decided to accept God in spite of my questions. That was where the journey began for me.
On the question of Leviticus, consider that the long list of rules outlined in this document were directed at the Jewish people, a people that God had singled out as a starting place for his work with men. He wanted the Jewish people to be set apart from the rest of mankind and not to mingle with them or become corrupted by other religious or social practices. Many of the rules listed here are dietary requirements and many of these make quite a bit of sense based on our current scientific knowledge. Not touching dead animals, for instance, might lead to healthier lives in an antibiotic free ancient world. The proscription against eating shellfish also makes some sense today since shellfish tend to absorb and concentrate toxins. What about the rule against contact with menstruating women? You know that during menstruation, the cervix is partly open and the uterus is more vulnerable to infection. Maybe there is sense in it.
The really important thing though is not the importance of all the arcane rules listed in Leviticus and other places in the old testament. The really important thing is that God became man in the person of Jesus Christ and allowed himself to be tortured and killed in order to redeem us from our sins. Jesus showed us, by His example and His teachings how we should live our lives. He gives us, through our faith in Him, the ability to approach God in spite of our sins.
Jesus expressed special contempt for the Pharisees, a particularly strict sect within the Jewish faith. He said that their insistence on keeping all of a very long list of commandments in a literal and rigid fashion was actually keeping people away from the love of God. When asked what the really important commandments were that we should keep, He said:
Mark 12:29-31‘The most important one’, answered Jesus, ‘is this: Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The Second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.
Now I know that some of your neighbors are homosexual. And I know that you and Mike both follow the second part of this commandment with conviction. So I understand your wanting to stick up for these people who, from no fault of their own, simply prefer to have sexual relations with partners of like gender. I don’t disagree with this, and I too try to love all my neighbors whatever their sins. After all, I am not without sin, and I love myself anyway. The only place where we might disagree is that I believe that homosexual behavior is against the will of God and therefore, sinful.
The big question for me is how do we keep the first part of this commandment. How can we love God without having a relationship with Him? How can we have a relationship when God is spirit and we are flesh? I don’t have the answer to these questions, but I think I know where to begin. Just as every living thing begins as a seed (embryo) , so a relationship with God begins with a grain of faith. If that grain is allowed to flourish, it will grow and mature over time and a real relationship will develop in which love will arise as a natural thing. Remember too, we are more than flesh. We are also spirit. Our minds arise out of a relationship between that spirit and our flesh (neurons, synapses, etc). Without spirit there would be no consciousness.
If you are interested in knowing God, start with a grain of faith and then pray and read the bible with an open and questioning mind and then bring your questions to God in prayer. You are already doing everything else.
Please keep in mind that I am not intending to preach to you about what you should do or how you should behave. I do not consider that I occupy any higher moral ground than you. I am only sharing some of the experience and insight that I have gained in the past ten years or so. Consider this…. If God is real and He created us, and He wants a real relationship of love with us, what could be more important than that?
Jim
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