I don’t read the Bible every day and I can’t quote small
sections from it either but what I can say is that I know the essence that the
Word of God emits when it is read and spoken.
It becomes hard to deal with people that have a certain narcissistic
belief that when they learned something new no one else around them must be
aware of it since it is new to them and I am referring to religion.
I appreciate the newness of it all but what creates a rift
is when that someone then thinks they can tell you about it as if they were “helping
you” become better in some way via their “discovery.” Back when I decided to focus more on my belief
in God I took the daily examples of His presence in my life. All these years that my Mother held me when I
was sad or corrected me when I was wrong started to make sense as I laid on a
park bench trying to get some sleep thinking about why I was alive. I was homeless for roughly a year in total as
a teenager and none of my HS friends at the time or maybe even now ever knew
that. I either couch surfed or stayed
awake all night until I could find somewhere to lay my head down during the
day. Eventually I was able to find a
steady place but it didn’t last too long and there was nothing more certain
than a park bench in Riis Park.
So during these times I would question God as often as I
could and would dare to hear or see an answer. Often I would be reminded about
how I was taken care of by my parents or how a squirrel would make a noise to
alert me that someone was coming down the path that my park bench was on. As time went on I began to see God in
everything and everyone and even as poor and homeless as I was people would
help me or even smile at me almost as if they knew I was searching for that example
of love. Some people that are newly
Christians are always on a “Jesus Loves” you high and just keep repeating that
Jesus or God Loves you to everyone they speak with. It is a turn off for many people and I don’t
think it’s always because people think it’s cheesy but I think it’s in part
because people are aware that those people may not be able to explain that LOVE
in depth. I’ve had people tell me “what
is there to explain!?” with anger or confusion in their eyes “why can’t you
just accept it?!” I then sometimes ask
them “if someone was sexually abused as a child and were told each time by the
abuser that it was done out of love or lived through a domestic violent
relationship and told the same thing about love do you think they would be
willing to accept that word love from you?”
I always get a look of ‘oh umm…’ and there’s the obstacle that comes
with not being able to explain the feeling you have of God’s unconditional love. Now, some of these Christian people say that
they use the crucifixion of Jesus as the basis of God’s love but then I ask how
they relate it in the case I stated above and all I get is the stuck record
syndrome from them “but he died for our sins…but he died for our sins…but he
died for our sins…”
I simply do not believe most of these churches that go out
on the street and “preach” what they believe to be the “right” interpretation of
God’s Word and I say it like that because they take it in its literal form and
justify their opinions around that. I’ll
use this as an example; last week I participated in the Caravan for Peace and
an Anglican Priest said that the clergy coalition, that he is a part of, was
aware of the caravan and a march we would be doing. Out of the 130 clergy I think about 7 might
have shown up and to add insult to injury the church we ended up at, that is
part of that coalition, their congregation was nowhere to be found. The caravan is addressing the issue of the
drug war policies that both the US and Mexican governments have imposed on its
citizens and have failed. In that the
obvious issue of street gangs comes up among other things like poverty, the
legalization of drugs, etc… The one man
that showed up and is not in that clergy coalition was Min. Ishmael Muhammad
from the Nation of Islam. He gave a
great speech and had everyone’s ear and if there was any understanding of God’s
universal love it was coming out of this Brother that night.
This clergy coalition did not show up to the caravan march
or events held earlier that day but they did make sure that there were plenty
of petitions circulating the church that night to get our names on a petition
that addresses the gun laws in IL. I did
not sign it and never will but not because of them but because I believe that
if you address the Spiritual void in our society then everything else will fall
in place…I said that if WE address that void EVERYTHING else will fall in
place! How is it that 130 pastors feel
as if they are lacking power and influence to affect their communities around
the issue of violence? 130 pastors
passing around a petition in their churches to change a law are 130 pastors
that DO NOT believe in the Power of the Almighty Creator God!
Do I need to say it again?
Did you feel what it is that is being said here?
If I believed that violence was a product that came in a box
and once I open that box violence comes out of it and makes me to do violent
things then I’d sign a petition. What we
are talking about is a lack of Faith in our Creator. A lack of depth in people’s Spiritual lives,
a lack of truth in people’s lives, a lack of willingness to understand that Our
God Creator does not have a signature to add on a petition and since He doesn’t
then neither do I.
People can go to all the Christian conferences, concerts,
gatherings, revival’s, etc… but if they are NOT where the People are at then
they have missed it ALL. I do understand
the need for some of those things for some people but when you are amazed at
what someone is doing in some other part of the world then you are denying the
act of God’s love when you see a homeless person smiling.
I know some will say ‘but I go out on the street and
Evangelize’ and the issue with that is it is being done with the intention of “saving”
someone rather than just letting people know that you love and care for them
simply because they are alive, how wonderful would that be to just express your
love and appreciation to people simply because they woke up that morning. If people then ask why then I would share my
experience with them but not to “convert” them but simply to share my thoughts
on what has worked for me.
I had a Priest ask me where was I going to seminary and I
told him that I wanted to go to a certain one and he said quickly that the
seminary I mentioned was not a Christ centered place and I told him it was OK
because I was looking for a place that accepted ALL as the creation of God…he
couldn’t argue with that so he walked away.
I love you because I can
I love you because I want to
Peace/AMOR
Gerardo
