UMETA1.TXT
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SUBJECT :Blackness & guilt
SOURSE: URANTIA

Organization: Open Communications Forum
Ok, look.  My view of God is like this.  If It exists, how could It let
>>this abuse go on.  "God protects the little children."  Right.  Sure.
>>At the time of my abuse, I believed in God.  I went to Bible camp.
>>I prayed every night.  I, too, thought God was punishing me.  I was
>>wracked by guilt.  As I grew older, I realized I had not done anything
>>wrong.  If there is a Supreme Being, It cannot be all-powerful, or it
>>would have prevented my abuse.  If it is not all-powerful, how can
>>it be the Supreme Being?  If we assume abuse is the fault of a Devil,
>>then how can a Devil be more powerful than an all-powerful God?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
>   Im certainly no expert on God/dess, but maybe these ideas will help.
>
>   There is indeed a Diety, a Supreme Being who is all-powerful and
>   who is intimately aware of all of our problems and trials. This
>   entity is entirely real and does truly exist. By the dogmas of my
>   own personal belief system, I can say that God even actually
>   lives within all of us. That is, we are all spiritually indwelt
>   by a fragment of God. So it is true that God is ALWAYS there for
>   you, always aware of your pain and hurting, always sharing in
>   your experience.
>
>   However, God has a very very longterm approach to Creation.
>   Not being an interventionist, he does not arbitrarily abrogate
>   ANYone's freewill decisions. What this means is that he allows
>   bad things to happen.
>
>   In physical creation, there is always potential for error, for evil.
>   Since we all have freewill, we are all able, at any time, to
>   act as we please. Since few persons always choose to do as God
>   would have them do, we are almost constantly choosing the path
>   of error. Only those who ALWAYS do God's will are perfectly
>   free of error, of evil. The rest of us are bound to go against
>   the divine will regularly.
>
>   God fully understands this inevitability. God realises we are
>   bound to choose error, evil, with some regularity. He is,
>   afterall, pretty wise.
>
>   God decided long, long ago that when we choose to do the wrong
>   thing he will forgive us. In fact, he forgives EVERYTHING bad
>   we do, on the spot, then and there. Forgiveness is one of his
>   strong points.
>
>   To actualise that forgiveness, we must accept it. Until we accept
>   his forgiveness, its a universe potential but not a universe
>   reality. Anyway.
>
>   God is NOT an interventionist, that is, he does NOT arbitrarily
>   decide to fix things, to correct error, to punish evil. He allows
>   people to hurt, abuse, even murder each other. Most people
>   believe this means that he either can't or won't help them.
>
>   The truth of the matter is that God has already provided for
>   those who suffer. First, remember, he is literally inside all
>   of us, he is WITH you right now, trying to help you grasp
>   any truth you can get from reading this. So he is always
>   actively trying to help you integrate those truths that will
>   help you to be made whole.
>
>   Also, God has a longterm view. He has already provided a place
>   in 'heaven' for you, an unending career, an agelong race
>   towards perfection. He hopes that you will accept his challenge,
>   'be you perfect even as I am perfect'. He has set aside a
>   vast amount of resources for you to achieve that goal of
>   perfection, for heaven is really a place where everyone is
>   encouraged and prodded to learn and grow and eventually
>   find perfection.
>
>   So in a way, anything bad that happens to you here, in this
>   embryonic existence, is an opportunity to learn and grow.
>   Steel must be tempered in fire, so must a soul be tempered
>   in pain, suffering, and doubt.
>
>   I realise this might seem to be a cop-out. But its truly
>   how things are. God has said "In all your afflictions I am
>   afflicted." God suffers. God is not immune to pain. God
>   is not hardened to suffering. God hurts when we hurt, he
>   cries with us in our pain.
>
>   The fact of the matter is that is is necessary for us all
>   to endure the trials of time to achieve the assurance of
>   eternity. Did Jesus suffer? Did Jesus bear the abuses of
>   the ignorant? Was Jesus not afflicted and cursed by the
>   evil of man's tortures?
>
>   I guess what matters is that our suffering not steer us to
>   bitterness, to self-hate, to self-destruction. We must
>   use our sufferings to grow, to learn, to become.
>
>   Those innocents who die at the hands of evil men go to
>   heaven. In essence, all they truly lost was their life.
>   Those who murdered them also go to heaven. Hitler is even
>   now in heaven. We can hope that those Hitler murdered
>   gain from their suffering, their experiences, from
>   the evil that touched their lives. We must also hope
>   that Hitler has learned too, and now has found the path
>   of goodness. It's almost as tho good and evil need each
>   other, are complimentary. For without the bad example, how
>   may we choose the good?
>
>   What it all boils down to is that God DOES care, he IS aware,
>   he TOO must suffer. Since we all have freewill, he is as
>   'helpless' as we are, and must suffer evil. Since he refuses
>   to override, to negate, ANY of our freewill decisions, he
>   too bears pain. Those who always choose sin eventually find
>   the nonexistence they desire. Paradoxically, God cant force
>   anyone to choose his way, his will. He must hope and pray
>   that we will choose good. But even Jesus allowed men to
>   murder him rather than override their freewill decison
>   to destroy him. Afterall, we need never REALLY die, we
>   are all potentially eternal. What matters is that we grow
>   from our sufferings, we gain strength from our afflictions,
>   we gain wisdom from our pains.
>
>>I have heard the argument of "It was a test for you."  Little seven year
>>old girls who love Jesus do NOT need to be tested.  Well, I'm sorry, but
>>if the test was to see if I would remain faithful, I guess I failed.
>
>  No, God did not will for you to be abused. Your perpetrator
>  willed for you to be abused. He chose evil, God was 'helpless'
>  to stop him. But God WAS there with you, suffered with you,
>  endured your pain. God also was there inside your perp, God
>  suffered even as he choose evil, God endured the self-destruction
>  and animalistic tendencies your perp chose. Which is worse,
>  God enduring the abuse with you or God forced to allow your
>  perp to abuse you? God cried for both of you I'm sure.
>
>>I would dearly love to be able to lean on a diety in times of loneliness
>>or need, but I cannot.  I have been betrayed too often.
>
>  It was not God who betrayed you but your perp. When your perp
>  chose to be disloyal to the will of God, he betrayed you, God,
>  and the entire perfection plan of the universe.
>
>  You must realise that God is the one 'person' who will NEVER
>  betray you, who will ALWAYS be there for you. And he is always
>  ready to accept you, to grasp your hand as you stretch it out
>  to him. God uhderstands the horror of what you went through.
>  He is so full of love for you. Please, accept his love, and
>  realise that he always has and always will love you no matter
>  what.
>
>>
>>Please do not get angry, if you read past the SPOILER, you were warned...
>>And please, argue rationally if you like!  I am willing to change my mind,
>>but only for some pretty good logic...
>>
>
> I didnt intend to sermonise or anything. As I said, I'm anything
> but an expert on God/dess. I believe all of that, and hope some
> of it will help you to integrate your experience.
>
> Don't worry, if you cant buy any of it now, maybe once you get to
> heaven, get the grand tour, etc, it will be easier to buy.
> God doesnt hate you for not believing, he loves you as you
> are, now, forever, and always.
>
>>Silver Tiger
>
>James