Communication

Hi! On another forum, Oprah.com, everyone was challenged to:

Define: religion, evil, sin, spirit, soul, free will, hell, and heaven separately, and give directions without using scripture or a dictionary.

Here are my thoughts - what are yours?

Religion is often something that is done habitually, like brushing teeth. It is what one becomes accustomed to, and often does by rote, without giving much thought and/or consideration to. For example, faithfully attending church every Sunday because our parents do or did. I take baths religiously - not because I have a thing against the dirt as much as I love reading in bubble baths. And there it is - we do what we want because we find it agreeable.

Evil is sinning against God, our fellow man, and ourselves. Evil is a force so powerful that many succumb to it out of fear. For example, gang wars are evil, yet so many youngsters join gangs because they fear not to. Evil is the control people use to manipulate others into playing out their agendas for self-aggrandizement, self-glory.

Sin is that which is against God. It is most often deliberate because we choose to follow our own ways above the Will of God, our Creator. Missing the mark as the fisherman casts his line after the beautiful rainbow trout and pulls in an old boot. Yes, you do your best and often fall short. Or, if you are careless, you will make a lame attempt and receive lame results. God gave us His Ten Commands to show us how short we fall from His righteousness and to prove us, whether or not we will humble ourselves to obey Him. If we disregard His Commandments, preferring our ways to His, we sin. I committed the sin of adultery.

The soul is our humanity. Our physical being. It is animated by God's breath. As souls, we are given choices. As carnal souls, we make bad choices more often than wise choices. We please our bodies more than we seek to please our Creator. For example, my soul craves to satisfy its emotional hunger with Jordan Almonds and Ruffles Potato Chips. I worship my body by feeding it that which greatly harms it to the tune of being 100 pounds overweight. This is not a sin against God as much as it is a sin against my beingness.

Spirit is that which animates our souls. When I am happy, my spirit is high. Conversely, when I am depressed my spirits are low. God breathed His Spirit into me. When I receive His new heart, I receive His Spirit which is preferable to the one that has led me from manic highs to the blackest despondency. My self-created spirit has too often been influenced by what people have expected me to be. If you look at me cross-eyed I am liable to burst into tears. My spirit, because of Christ - will live on through eternity. It is His most precious gift to me. It is when my spirit becomes one with His spirit that I will truly experience the joy of knowing that God is my Father and then I am content. I cannot fathom how some people can consider themselves purely spiritual without Him. If I was purely spiritual, I would not require this earthly body. Right now, my body is merely a temple that houses the Holy Spirit within me, Who teaches me of my need to love and worship my Creator. I am able to do this through my Savior. It is a continual learning and healing process for me.

Free will - there is the rub. We have been created with the power of choice. This separates us from being purely animals, yes? Are we created with the intelligence to choose wisely? Of course. But does our intelligence supersede our desire to please our holy and righteous God? Witness Satan - the covering cherub - possibly the most beautiful of God's creations. But - and there is always a but - Satan was so enamored of himself that he thought to make himself equal with God. His free will took him beyond what he knew to be right, as did Adam and Eve. Their sin was not the eating of the forbidden fruit, but the willful choice they made.to sin against God.

Hell - I believe that this is eternity spent without God or His Christ.. This separation, whether in a pit of fire or spent on the Pacific Coast would be the most painful life imaginable. To be without the One Who loves us so much - an agonizing split from our Father - this is hell to me.

Heaven. The very word says it. Peace. Freedom from the passions of carnality. Freedom from the tyranny of wants and must-haves. No more tears. No more pain. An eternity spent at the feet of my Savior, asking questions and receiving answers for Millenia. The bliss of being with the One Who loved this emotional wreck so very much that He reached out to me and captured my soul, infusing me with His Holy Spirit. To reside forever in His Kingdom, where the only light required comes from Him! To be able to converse with His prophets! To be able to actually place my finger in the holes of His hands, knowing He suffered and died for me, and that God, having resurrected Him, has made it possible for this most unworthy subject of His to live with Them forever! Heaven, indeed . . .