Raised a Baptist, attended a Church of Christ college, now seemingly lost from the fold, at least to some.
I read a book in college about postmodernism. The cover was dog ugly. The only little gem I remember from this book, which has come to serve me well, is that you can’t put God in a box. The instant we say ‘God is this,’ or ‘God isn’t that,’ we place him inside a constrained proportion.
I’ve learned that God can be logical and doesn’t have to be based on feelings or traditions. We can learn about the character of God and try our best to model ourselves after that. One of the most predominant characteristics of Him that I personally strive for is love. At the root of all that is good we find love. Love for our family, friends, strangers, everyone. That’s the only way I can see this life being worth anything. I believe, to a large degree, that many of the situations where love is applied require a choice. Love doesn’t just happen (except probably with your children and some family). It is overwhelmingly a choice.
The only constraint I can put on God for sure is that he is love. That’s what I want to be.
The hardcore music scene has been a large part of the people and culture I’m surrounded by. It’s where I’ve made some of my best friends and fostered incredible relationships. In this scene I find love, tolerance, positivity and a willingness to share. Aaron Weiss of the band mewithoutYou writes, “In everywhere we look, in everywhere we look, Allah, Allah, Allah in everywhere we look” He’s a Christian but refers to God as Allah. He’s not bounding God up into this Westernized, Republican, Capitalistic piece of work that we so commonly see. We have to strive daily to find the positive aspects in our lives and to try and find God (whoever/whatever that may be to you) in every situation.
The other little gem I took from the class in which we read the postmodern book is from the teacher, Dr. Monte Cox. I’m not sure I agree with him on a lot of things but he repeatedly brought up this paraphrased scenario and I agreed with it wholeheartedly, “People often ask me, ‘Do you think Muslims (insert random religion here) are going to heaven too?’ I don’t know. That’s not my place to say. Many of them practice the same things as I do but call it by a different name, so it is not my place to say yes or no.”