GOD MUST LOVE VARIETY BECAUSE HE CREATED SO MUCH OF IT!

 

Today's post is a bit of a Sunday ramble, but I think it holds up, at the end.

Every Christian knows that one of the basic understandings of our faith is that God created each of us in His likeness and image.

"And God created man to his own image: 

to the image of God he created him: male 

and female he created them." Gen 1:27

 

What I find very interesting is that, while we are all created in God's image, none of us is much like any other! Even twins have physical differences, what to speak of the vast psychological differences of each person.

I find this fascinating. What could it mean about God's motives, or is God Himself intrinsically one and a variety? Father, son and Holy Spirit and SO much more?

I am not a theologian, and can't tell you the answer, but I suspect even the theologians probably do not really know. It is likely one of those delicious Catholic "mysteries." Even our greatest minds cannot know much about God's intentions, in particular. We only really know what God Himself has told us about His reasons. There isn't a lot of that. Instead, we have to trust that everything He created is "very good" and behave accordingly.

"And God saw all the things that He

had made, and they were very good."

Gen. 1:31

The fact that God created us in freedom, especially in our freedom of choice, is a concomitant factor of our diverse natures. I imagine that God did not want to create slaves that would love Him and engage with Him out of pre-programed, forced duty. 

Whatever his reasons, He obviously intended to create each one of us as a unique individual, like no other. There must be something intrinsically "very good" about this plenteous expression of diversity, otherwise the Lord would not have done it. And each of us is beautiful in His sight, I am sure of it. He would not create anyone who is not basically "good" in their natures. But that "free choice" I mentioned determines what we do with it.

Whether or not we glorify God by the free exercise of our decisions is another matter entirely, as the history books are full of tales of the mistakes of others who have gone before us, so we can't say that everything every human does is good. That is another topic, separate from the innate goodness of variety.

A related, but more mundane example about how diversity is essential to even the health of our bodies: 

I recently consulted my doctor about some dietary changes, and she talked about older patients needing much more protein (because of reduced ability to digest, as one ages), as well as the necessity for variety of animal protein sources. She told me about how animal protein is better than plant protein because it is "complete" in amino acids, for one thing. The multiplicity of available vitamins, minerals, and whatnot in our food sources are another indication of the need for and goodness of variety that our bodies express.

Given all the variety I've discussed, I am naturally wondering how we are "made in the likeness and image of God." I strongly suspect that we are "like" Him in our spiritual souls, our heart of hearts.

A deceptively mundane example: I really love watching wholesome family dramas in which the members are expressing love and affection for one another, within the context of the ups and downs of life. I rarely watch television, but occasionally, on Sunday, I will watch PBS. Today there is a marathon of "Call the Midwife," one of my favorite television series.

I find it very interesting that, although I was raised without parental love and was, in fact, emotionally brutalized by a sick and self-absorbed mother and an opportunistic and sociopathic sibling, I enjoy watching the family-oriented television dramas very much, and I easily understand the love and caring, the values and higher aspirations of human love.

You'd think I would be unable to understand any sort of love at all, given how I was raised, but instead, I feel tremendous affection and empathy for the human race altogether. I have no trouble loving people, no matter how odd, obstreperous, or difficult to get along with. I can't even work up animosity for the folks who treat me badly. I want the best for everyone. It isn't that I do not notice the cruelty. I do what I can to protect myself. I know that being loving and kind will not prevent them from mistreating me again, so I am careful to guard against future abuse, but it just isn't in me to join them in the dark place in which they live.

Everything depends on that free will and what we choose. Will we be true to God's most wonderful gift of our creation? THIS place of love that resides within us all is where we are most like The Lord. This is where we are made in His likeness and image. But, at the same time, we must choose to be faithful to it.

My family was anti-religious and, particularly, anti-Catholic. My mother had gone to Catholic school, and the nuns had been mean to her, I am told. From the time I was a young child, then throughout my 20's and 30's, I was on a journey in search of God, studying various religions, and even joining a Hindu-based convent for some time, but this search culminated in a radical conversion to Catholicism that began when I read the Catholic mystics while a nun in the Hindu convent. Gradually, gradually, I turned to the Catholic values and religion. From one choice to another, I learned of the faith, followed it, committed to it. It hasn't been easy, and there are no earthly rewards for adhering to the faith. In fact, it is usually a painful cross, but once I understood the stakes, I was "all in."

I am particularly focused on the topic of diversity today, thanks to the toxic public comments of the vulgar convicted felon that currently resides in the White House. Before allowing the families time to grieve, and without reference to any facts whatsoever, he is blaming Diversity, Equity and Inclusion hiring practices for a recent mid-air collision that killed many people.

"D.E.I." is the shorthand he uses for his idea that women, minorities and the disabled are being given jobs for which they are not qualified, and this idea is just another lie he is passing off - like all his other misogynistic, racist and ableist prejudices.

The D.E.I. programs were created because minorities, women, the disabled and the otherwise different were being denied the opportunity to COMPETE for jobs and housing.

The preference is for white males, and there is a descending order of prejudice below that.

People of color were mostly denied access to the higher paying jobs and/or were underpaid in comparison to white people occupying the same or similar jobs.

Qualified women were denied access because of their sex. Many times, women were rebuffed because they were not sexually attractive to the men who run every corporation and business. Countless numbers of women have been fired for not agreeing to sexual relations with their bosses. I myself was pushed out of more than one job for this very reason. Once I was pushed out of a secretarial job for gaining weight.

Disabled people were being denied jobs and housing because of their disabilities. Most work facilities were built or occupied buildings which did not allow for wheelchair access, for instance.

In short: Perfectly qualified individuals were being denied access to the same field of competition. The purpose of the D.E.I. programs is to make sure that qualified individuals are competing on an equal playing field.

These D.E.I. programs were NOT created to give UNqualified people preference over qualified persons. Anyone who says otherwise is misinformed or blatantly lying.

In addition to the sexual harassment I experienced in some of my clerical jobs, I witnessed people of color being actively discriminated against in housing.

More than 40 years ago, when I was apartment shopping in Los Angeles, I was standing in front of an apartment complex, talking to the landlord, when two young black women approached us. It was immediately apparent that they were already very upset, and they proceeded to yell at the landlord because she had told them just the day before that the apartment was already rented but, just as they suspected, she continued to show it to other people - to white people.

The apartment manager seemed stunned. It was an unexpected confrontation and she clearly did not know what to say. Clearly, the accusations were true, as was apparent by the "the look" that the landlord gave me. Clearly, she was expecting that this pretty young white girl standing in front of her would be sympathetic to her racism. But she was very wrong. 

As for the two young black women, what could they do but make their charges and then walk away? I noticed, as they turned their backs and made their way down the sidewalk, that they were dressed as well as I was, well-groomed and shod. But they were black and, upon meeting them the day before, the landlord, seeing that they were not white, told them the apartment was rented in order to get rid of them.

Without missing a beat, I gave the landlord a "piece of my mind," and told her that I would not want to rent an apartment from someone who had racist housing policies.

Then I ran toward the two young women, who were walking away from us, and I tried to talk to them, to reassure them that I would NOT cooperate with this travesty, that not everyone was in agreement about this toxic social ill, but they were so angry, they assumed that I had gone ahead and rented the apartment out from under them, and accused me of it. 

I tried, and failed, to get them to listen to me and understand that I had rejected the apartment. I imagine that lifelong suppression of their dreams and basic survival had given them assumptions about ALL white people so that they were unable to perceive a "friendly" when they ran across one. So both "sides" are prejudiced against the other - something that would, at least in part, be rectified by rubbing elbows with one another on a job site, office, or apartment complex.

They turned their backs on me, and walked away. This is a perfect example of why we need D.E.I. policies, in order to counteract racism, sexism and ableism.

D.E.I. policies are those policies that ENSURE that the best qualified person is hired, no matter their race, gender or disability. Donald Trump has turned this reality on its head. Right now, he is in the middle of a wholesale firing of expert government workers so that he can replace them with know-nothing, incompetent, disqualified lackies whose only qualification is that they are devoted to HIM. But he blames D.E.I. policies for everything bad that happens in government.

Trump and his movement is the worst thing that has happened in government in a long time because he deliberately exaggerates the animosities between different groups of people, using dishonesty as his primary tool to separate people from one another. 

While he is encouraging people to face off against one another, Trump is making diabolical changes to our government, using illegal methods. There are such a flurry of Executive Orders that I imagine he is intentionally flooding the zone to cause further confusion. What do we fight first?

"You are of your father the devil, and

 your will is to do your father's desires. 

He was a murderer from the beginning, 

and has nothing to do with the truth, 

because there is no truth in him. When 

he lies, he speaks according to his own 

nature, for he is a liar and the father of 

lies." John 8:44

Photograph by "Z"

on Unsplash

Does this mean that Trump and his minions are NOT "made in the likeness and image of God," since he uses Satanic methods and has values that are the antithesis of Christ's specific commandments?

No. What it means is that he chose the way of lies and this free choice deformed his nature. He isn't the first corrupt leader to claim to be an adherent to Christianity so that he could bamboozle the public. Claiming to be Christian but behaving otherwise is a path with a terrible price.

Christ's parable about the tares being sowed among the wheat is instructional on this topic.

24. Another parable He put forth to them, saying: 

“The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed 

good seed in his field; 25. but while men slept, his 

enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and 

went his way. 26. But when the grain had sprouted 

and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 

27. So the servants of the owner came and said to 

him, “Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? 

How then does it have tares?

28. He said to them, “An enemy has done this. The 

servants said to him, “Do you want us then to go and 

gather them up? 29. But he said to them, ‘No, lest while 

you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with 

them. 30. Let both grow together until the harvest, and 

at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First 

gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn 

them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”

Matthew 13:24-30

Obviously, people who claim to be Christian but whose choices and behavior are not in concert with Christ's commandments are the tares among the wheat. The "enemy" that planted the tares is Satan.

One thing I LOVE about Catholicism is that there is always time for the repentant to come to Christ, confess their sins, and be forgiven, in a very definitive fashion, until the time runs out. But Hell is not empty, unless you think Christ is a liar.

"Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ 

will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who 

does the will of My Father who is in heaven 

will enter." Matthew 7:21

Clearly, the free choice to follow the will of God the Father, to the extent He has made his will known to us, is crucial to whether or not we go to live with Him in Heaven when we die. 

Jesus clearly tells us that prejudice and discrimination are the opposite of his most important commandments: 

36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment

 in the Law?”

37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with 

all your heart and with all your soul and with all 

your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest 

commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love 

your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 All the Law and 

the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Matthew 22:36-40

God has commanded us to love one another as we love ourselves. We cannot be selfish and at the same time be obedient to what God has asked of us.

If we are really Christians, we want the best for our neighbor, in equal measure to what we want for ourselves. Prejudice is obviously, blatantly inconsistent with this commandment.

The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs are meant to fight the prejudice that is abhorred by God.

There is nothing wrong with refining the program, better tuning it to its mission, but the wholesale destruction of it, without anything to replace its mission, is diabolical. Satan loves to see this chaos.

If God wanted to make SURE that all his people ended up in Heaven, He could have MADE us adhere to His two most important commandments, which would make prejudice and discrimination impossible, but He would have had to give up on the idea of being surrounded by his loving creation. Love, in order to BE love, has to be a gift given freely.

By trashing a program that works to demonstrate our love of neighbor, Trump is demonstrating values that are the opposite of Christian values.

By claiming widespread corruption in these agencies, without any proof, and destroying them without any due process or replacement of services, the current administration is demonstrating hostility toward the American people who are not part of the 1% of Americans who are rich white men and their families.

MOST of us, in one way or another, will suffer greatly by the elimination of services, just as we have suffered over the last 5 or 6 DECADES, as the wealth of our country has gradually been shuttled up to the top 1% of Americans. If you take a look at this chart, you can see that, since 1970, wages have stagnated, rising only 25% in actual money, but when compared to the increase in living expenses, have not increased AT ALL. CEOs of corporations, and corporate profits, however, have soared over those same 5 decades.

The above chart shows the years

1970 through 2005

In addition to the D.E.I. programs, this administration, using an unelected shadow government of gullible teenagers and young men barely out of college, led by an unelected immigrant billionaire (Elon Musk) are being given top secret information, as well as the private financial information of all Americans in an assault on the Treasury Department.

I pray today that Trump and the members of his unelected shadow government become real Christians, that they fall in love with God, fear His might and His reprisals and acknowledge His sovereignty, repent of all their lies and scams, confess all their evil intentions and that they choose to be obedient to the commandments of The Lord - before it is too late.

I pray that GOD take pity on the people who claim to be Christian but who are confused, who follow the lies of the enemy, thinking they are doing a blessed thing when they are actually trodding the road to Hell. May they be saved from their selfish orientation and illuminated with God's Truth and Love.

I pray that GOD take pity on the folks who claim to be Christian, but who know they are scammers trying to bamboozle honest people. May the fear of God be instilled in them so that they repent of their sin and turn their faces to The Lord.

We are all in need of God's pity, my friends, and here is my prayer of the daily recognition of it. I wrote it for myself and it has no imprimatur, but it can be an example for something that you pray for yourself.

My daily prayer of submission

Please Lord Christ, help me to perfectly follow 

each one of your commandments. 

My will is to be more faithful to Thee in every way. 

I pray that you help me do everything in exactly the 

manner and with the attitude that is Thy 

most perfect wish for me. 

Please, Lord, take from me every erroneous idea 

that I may hold, and replace it with the pure beauty 

of Thy ultimate Truth.

I know, Lord, how very easy it is to put a step wrong 

and start to follow the road to perdition, so I offer to 

Thee the ultimate sacrifice - that of my free will. Take 

all of it Lord, and replace it with your holy will.

Please, Lord, save me from every evil inclination. 

I submit myself to Thee.

Amen

Please, friends, join me in the prayers for the Trump Administration and also participate in some kind of prayer of sacrifice of our own will and replacement of it with His. Do we trust Him enough to abandon our selfishness and residual evil inclinations while we take the yoke of His will onto our shoulders?

I have the conviction that it will help us to order our behavior more perfectly toward the Lord's commandments, in order to find ourselves bathed in the light of the beatific vision when our time here on earth is done.

I pray for you, that The Lord enlightens you and helps you follow His holy road. Please also pray for me.

God bless us all.

Silver Rose