Broken-Hearted Savior

Yeah... Out on the back street,
Taking love where I can,
I found a sweet madonna
Ooo with a bible in her hand.
She's waiting,
Anticipating well,
For someone to save her soul;
Well I ain't no new messiah,
But I'm close enough for rock and roll

"Rockin' Into the Night" by 38 Special

Rock and Roll Fantasy

Sometimes I have Messianic delusions (a variety of delusions of grandeur and persecution), but then it always gets to the part when I'm supposed to suffer and die. And I change my mind. Well, can you blame me? Nobody likes true pain, the kind inflicted upon us by others. (Masochists don't count.)

Most of us will pain ourselves with various things at times, like worrying over silly things, or sometimes serious things too. But that kind of pain is really just an illusion because we have ultimate control over it. We can stop thinking about whatever and the pain subsides. We can't and don't have ultimate control over external forces though.

Most saviors have to suffer on the behalf of others because the very nature of saving is dangerous. Why do some of us willingly suffer for others? I'll get to that in a minute.

Even Jesus bemoaned his fate because the physical and emotional pain really hurt:

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Matthew 27:46 (KJV)

It is a totally natural reponse to avoid pain. And to complain when we feel it. But pain is a very normal and basic experience, and often unavoidable. So what makes that pain bearable? Well, some people call on God to give them strength, but for those who object to God we can call it Love. God is Love.

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

1 John 4:7-8 (New American Standard)

Love is Divine. How else could such a thing exist than by the hand of God? And if it's purely "chemical processes" in our bodies and brains that result in this feeling and knowing of love then why can't that be considered evidence for God? How can one prove love to someone who's never felt it? Some people spend entire lifetimes trying to prove their love to one person. Why must that mean that love isn't real, just because the one person has never felt it or refuses to see it? Why must it mean that God doesn't exist if no one can prove it? Can anyone disprove love? Likewise, can anyone truly disprove God? Well, if they have I sure haven't heard about it and you'd think that would be pretty big news. ;-)

And if God (and Love) are delusions, as Richard Dawkins proclaims, then they're pretty f*cking awesome delusions and that's why they survive. :-) I'm sure Dawkins is a nice enough guy, but his focus on the bad aspects of human-created, imperfect religions is very similar to the cherry-picking of evidence that the global warming alarmists do to support their ideas. I'm sure if someone wanted to take the time and energy, he could write a book about all the evil done in the name of Science and it would equal if not exceed that done in the name of religion.

Thorns In My Fingers

This post's title comes from a song I heard the other night. I'd been thinking about this post for a while and thought that was an appropriate title.

And now, even later, I've thought of Thorns in My Fingers because I literally have some broken-off blackberry thorns in my fingers. They do hurt. What does this have to do with love?

Oh, yeah, Love Hurts too. Like being a savior and having blackberry thorns in your fingers - or a thorn in your side, whatever works for you. ;-) All of this is related. I endure the pain of picking blackberries because of love. Blackberries need blood (no, I can't scientifically support that statement, but as a 'shaman' I know it), and it's right and proper to offer them a little in exchange for their nice berries. And also I know my family enjoys the berries, and I am willing to suffer a little to make them things that they enjoy. Actually, my entire life is pretty much devoted to my family which means that I've sacrificed many selfish concerns for them. But that doesn't necessarily make me their savior. I'm just the Momma.

This is kind of falling apart, but maybe I can tie some of the loose ends. Or maybe I'll just start a whole new string?

Where was I anyway? Broken-hearted saviors. Yeah. Why are saviors broken-hearted? Well, they are broken-hearted because they know that their sacrifice will not really matter all that much to everyone, especially not to those who refuse to acknowlege the Divine Forces. All of their pain and suffering will largely go unnoticed and unappreciated and even criticized and scorned by the unfaithful. They are also broken-hearted because it's only through a broken heart that Love can really do its work.

Viruses of the Soul

Dawkins calls religion "viruses of the mind." The viruses of the soul are hubris, greed, and other purely human traits that separate us from God/Love. The war on religion and God that so many militant atheists are trying to fight is nothing less than an attack on the Freedom of Thought which is the root of our First Amendment right of Freedom of Speech and Religion. It's terribly unfortunate that 'distinguished' scholars can't or won't see that, ignoring it like a (spiritual) mole that is destined to become a malignant melanoma (of the soul).

Love is God's immune response for our souls. Love can heal our pains, but also the process of healing is sometimes painful, like the hot inflammation of the skin where the body is fighting an infection or has been burned. This relationship between God and Love and pain is complex. It is a mistake for people to judge God because of the pain in the world. That is like judging Nature by viruses and other predators. It's all necessary and natural.

From the broken-hearted savior maybe someone can learn that God is no more a delusion than Love or the Space that scientists still don't quite understand.

And that is today's sermonette.


Previous post on very similar subject.