For all the Athenians and the
foreigners…spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some
new thing. Then Paul…said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you
are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of
your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:
TO THE UNKNOWN GOD…”
Acts 17:3 NKJV
…because, although they knew God,
they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their
thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they
became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made
like corruptible man – and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
Romans 1:25 NKJV
And my speech and my preaching
were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the
Sprit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in
the power of God. However, we speak…not the wisdom of this age, nor of the
rulers of this age,
who are coming to nothing.
I Corinthians 2: 4:6 NKJV
_________________________________________________________________________________
Parker had
acted in such an animated, nervous way during his visit that I asked him if
seeing me in bed, hooked up to tubes and wires, bothered him. He nodded such a
vehement “yes” that Chris and I decided that Parker wouldn’t be returning again
to the hospital to visit me.
Throughout
the weekend, Dr. Gordon checked in three or four times a day and kept us
apprised of my status and his treatment plans. When I stabilized to his
satisfaction, he would transport me to Palomar Hospital in Escondido, which had
several physicians specializing in high-risk pregnancies. He knew I feared being
released into the care of my regular obstetrician, who hadn’t called to speak
with me or confer with him.
The medical
director and my primary care physician had called, however, attempting to
obtain my speedy release. Dr. Gordon remained adamant in his refusal to allow
movement of any kind until I stabilized. As my stay lengthened, I sensed a
battle culminating between my original medical group, (who once again seemed
obsessively concerned about the charges being tallied up at a non-provider
hospital), and Dr. Gordon. Fortunately, Dr. Gordon’s primary concern was
practicing good medicine and protecting me.
My brain alarm
bells rang when I learned of the
higher-than-average maternal death rate statistics at the hospital where I’d
been scheduled to deliver. (One of my nurses, who worked at both this and the
other hospital, provided that jaw-dropping morsel of information.)
If the
paramedics had transported me there,
I might not have survived.
The
realization started to sink in that God was
present, and He had intervened in my
care. That realty was underscored when Dr. Gordon informed me that if the
bleeding had started fifteen minutes earlier – in the car on my drive home that
night – I would have bled to death. The massive blood loss would have quickly
sent me into a coma before I reached a highway call box to phone for help. All
of this startling information forced a decision that should have been made
months earlier: I would never return
to my former physician and medical group for care.
Meditating
more on God’s presence and the miracles played out, I prayed again for yet another
one to occur: saving the life of my unborn child.
************************
Four days I
lay in that lonely hospital room, attempting to entertain myself by vacillating
between watching television, praying halting, apprehensive prayers, and
attempting to master mind-over-matter New Age principles. I was more familiar with those techniques than authentic, power-harnessing
prayer; liberal college professors had successfully integrated them into my
thinking.
If I could
just think enough positive thoughts
and visualize myself getting well – holding a beautiful, healthy newborn infant
in my arms – I might gain control over my health and positively affect the outcome
– maybe even rectify the ordeal and heal myself!
This religion
(and a religion it certainly is!) promotes the doctrine that all of us – possessing a “natural power” within – have
the potential to be like God, or even become “little gods.”
It’s a horrible
hoax that sounds like the lie first uttered in the Garden of Eden, pleasingly and seducingly wrapped
in twenty-first century euphemisms. “Then the serpent said to the woman, …‘For
God knows that in the day you eat of [the fruit of the tree in the midst of the
garden] your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and
evil’” (Genesis 3:4-5 NKJV).
It’s not
just constructive positive thinking, which is
proven to positively affect a person’s health and pain tolerance levels. It’s
the ardent belief that deep within we all
possess the capacity to rise to God’s level, or achieve perfect enlightenment, if we spend time meditating on, calling
forth, and harnessing that otherwise concealed, undeveloped energy – and in the process spend
an inordinate amount of time concentrating on ourselves and practicing
goodness. In many people’s mind that latter point adds everlasting brownie
points to their personal tally to get elevated to the next rung on the eternal
holiness ladder. You’ve convinced yourself – and perhaps others – that you’re a
“good” person. But just how good do
you have to be?
And then
there’s that concept of reincarnation.
A pastor had
recently divulged to me that in order for him to believe in a “loving God,” he had to believe in reincarnation: the
chance to do it over until he got it right. I blinked at him. “Get what right?” I wondered. How long
had it been since he’d seriously studied Scripture, or taken God at His word
instead of mixing erroneous philosophies with it? Even a Bible illiterate such
as I knew reincarnation was contradicted in the Bible: “And it is appointed for
men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27 NKJV). I, and the other person present to hear
his confession, sat silent and stunned at his revelation and personal assessment of a
“loving God.”
I didn’t
think it particularly loving to have a soul inhabit numerous bodies – human or animal; for retribution, reward or
refinement, over possibly hundreds or thousands of years – to attempt the
impossible: obtaining perfection in
earthly life. If that were truly the case, wouldn’t God give us the
knowledge and ability to have vivid flashbacks in order to correct our past
mistakes, to not repeat them? Why wouldn’t we come with a set of mental instructions
on what went wrong in a past life? And which body would I assume on
resurrection day anyway? A nice combination of all of them? (Of course, with
ultimate enlightenment achievement, no body’s necessary; your “perfect” spirit becomes
eternally one with the universe. Game over, no real, eternal life. Fun.) That kind of thinking made God seem
indecisive, mean, petulant. Since God is
love, I knew He possessed none of
those character traits.
If I’m
anything, I’m logical. And that thinking – although it might make for an entertaining,
non-fiction storyline – is anything but
logical. Christians just didn’t
believe those things! I just couldn’t believe those things.
Since that
time I’ve met more Christians who profess belief in, or who are willing to
consider, reincarnation. And they do so not
because of validation through Scripture, but because they just “feel” it. They
point to entertaining, “convincing” stories they’ve seen on television or have
read in magazines or books. Their beliefs rise and fall wholly on emotional experiences
and feelings – theirs or others’. How saddened God must be to see people,
especially His own, go to the world instead of Him for truth. Why did I, or
anyone else, think that the world had better answers for life than the Creator
of life? What kind of self-destructive lies had I, and others, bought into?
Yet, at
that vulnerable moment, I was desperate to “try” anything.
So … away
with rationality and doubt! I’d simply banish them from my psyche. Instead, I tried
to paint pretty pictures of a perfect, happy future in my brain. I thought
positively, and thought positively…and
thought positively some more.
I wore
myself out trying to think positively.
God gave me
plenty of time to delude myself with positive self-talk.
The problem
is, eventually self and prating pep talk will run out.
In whose
hands would I place my life then?
_________________________________________
NEXT WEEK: A
two-timing Christian: the self-assessment and search continue…
Thanks for joining me!
Until next week –
Blessings,
Andrea
Footnote: Please
don’t misunderstand me; I believe strongly in a positive attitude. A negative
disposition and propensity to ‘awfulize’ everything in life devours you, and
probably everyone with whom you come in contact. It’s destructive.
However,
upbeat attitudes and positive thinking will
never win the ultimate battle we all face in this life. We need an unfailing Source of deep, abiding joy; a
Source of love that casts out fear and gives a peace that defies understanding
– in success and adversity.
That Source
is not us! It never has been.
The million-dollar
question is: Do you know what the Source
and the ultimate battle are?
______________________________________________________________________
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