Sunday isn’t soothing anymore. When “God’s plan” excuses cruelty, faith loses its spine. This is about surrender without abdication and conscience that stays awake.
YES. Thank you for stating it so perfectly and clearly and making it so very real. A lot of religions, not just the mainstream ones, are putting that message out, that this has to happen because it's our karma or some BS of that nature (I seriously think Karma was invented by the privileged few to control the struggling many, just like every other religion). Malarkey. Whoever one believes "God" might be, They need our help to fix this. We're supposed to contain little bits of God inside us, so let's use 'em.
Thank you for that distinction. I am honoring the wisdom of not treating Sunday the same as Monday through Saturday today. At the same time, I am upping my game as far as accepting things I cannot control (including others and the weather) and doing whatever I can wherever I have agency which includes how I treat others. Kindness is my priority today - it both soothes the soul and keeps me awake in my thoughts, feelings, and behaviors - surrendering self-deception. That's where it starts. There's nothing passive about surrender. "Make me a channel of your peace." It's active.
This is such an important topic! I gave away my agency for years using that phrase, 'it's all part of God's plan'. I like the idea of Sunday as a day of reorientation.
This is overly simple but I’ll say it anyway and then explain. Love + acceptance + forgiveness does NOT equal approval!!
Years ago we exited a religious denomination/system that used fear, guilt and shame to get people to bend the knee to their authoritarian control and agenda. And dared to call it God. It destroyed people who had over active consciences, tender hearts, and didn’t need help holding themselves accountable. The never ending rules were suffocating. The supposed goal was to make moral, obedient people who could be worthy of God’s salvation. One would think you’d find some pretty pure trustworthy humans there. Instead the things we were taught were “sin” were still there. Just hidden. And interestingly we discovered sexual depravity, substance abuse, and dishonesty was rife in “the church” ESPECIALLY among the ministers, elders and leaders. And the biggest rule of all? Don’t tell! Enough said.
We left and found a church whose mission statement was “love, acceptance and forgiveness”. It was a huge relief. There was joy and wonderful worship and fellowship. It seemed to align with the God of our understanding. Until it didn’t.
It didn’t take long for us to realize we were surrounded by people openly committing adultery, people enjoying pornography, people who had different fetishes, people who were indulging in life destroying addictions, people who were pedophiles etc, etc. All with the pastors approval. Because, you know, love, acceptance and forgiveness. What the actual hell? The minute it dawned on us what was going on, we were OUT of there.
Somehow it has been difficult to find balance in a group setting where we’ve felt safe and where we share similar understandings of who or even what God is and what religion is all about.
In our opinion, God is not a monster who claims to love, accept and forgive us but doesn’t approve of anything and who seems to hope we’ll fail so he can throw us into his fire and enjoy us burning forever.
On the other hand, God is not someone who is so “loving”, “forgiving” and “accepting” he gives his stamp of approval to any and every behavior imaginable even if it’s destroying us and others.
To make what we’ve witnessed even crazier is what we call “the pendulum”. We have watched people swing back and forth between these two extremes. And they’ve invited us to join them.
Gulp. Thanks but no thanks.
The Love(God) of my understanding, loves, forgives and accepts me AND knowing me to the depths of my soul, also loves me enough to say NO when necessary. Love sets me free, yes, but not free to hurt myself and/or others.
So, again in my opinion, the day of rest/true sabbath is about enjoying re-creation, remembering how loved we are and how forgiven. Rejoicing in the freedom we’ve found. Fearlessly facing ourselves and holding ourselves accountable for the choices we’ve made. Gathering our courage to face the world again. Reconciled with accepting what we can’t change and determined to change what we can, beginning with ourselves.
"He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God." (NKJV).
Micah 6:8
On the day of rest, this is the only sermon I need. I remember, am refreshed and renewed. 🙏♥️
Love all that truth you wrote….hate those harsh experiences, disappointments, disillusionments….love thatYOU were brave & determined enuf to keep searching until you finally find what’s truth to you. Touches my heart, gives me hope & faith & fee the love you share. So glad you have found truth & love & God that works for you & appreciate your truth in sharing ❤️🩹💖
This was the epistle on Sunday morning “"He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God." (NKJV). Micah 6:8” Words to live by (literally). Thank you for posting it ❤️
You can't imagine what a relief it is to have someone say this out loud. "It's all part of God's plan" or "The LORD works in mysterious ways." It's like 60 grit sandpaper on my brain when people say that, and the reason is exactly what you've related here, I just never was able to articulate it.
Worse yet, the same people who propose "The Divine Plan" as an explanation are the same ones who insist we have "free will". The fact that these two working theories are mutually exclusive seems to escape them.
Love this! God is Love. God is always patiently and lovingly waiting for us to wake up and will work through us to fix the problems we have made from forgetting Love, humanity, and goodness.
YES. Thank you for stating it so perfectly and clearly and making it so very real. A lot of religions, not just the mainstream ones, are putting that message out, that this has to happen because it's our karma or some BS of that nature (I seriously think Karma was invented by the privileged few to control the struggling many, just like every other religion). Malarkey. Whoever one believes "God" might be, They need our help to fix this. We're supposed to contain little bits of God inside us, so let's use 'em.
In our way, surrender has never meant stepping aside from life. It has meant standing inside it with care.
Dharma is not escape. It is the daily work of choosing right action, even when the outcome is unclear. Especially then.
What cannot be controlled is accepted. What can be touched is tended. Both belong to the same prayer.
A day of rest is not a day of forgetting.
It is a day to realign the heart so action stays clean.
That is worship here.
Thank you for that distinction. I am honoring the wisdom of not treating Sunday the same as Monday through Saturday today. At the same time, I am upping my game as far as accepting things I cannot control (including others and the weather) and doing whatever I can wherever I have agency which includes how I treat others. Kindness is my priority today - it both soothes the soul and keeps me awake in my thoughts, feelings, and behaviors - surrendering self-deception. That's where it starts. There's nothing passive about surrender. "Make me a channel of your peace." It's active.
This is such an important topic! I gave away my agency for years using that phrase, 'it's all part of God's plan'. I like the idea of Sunday as a day of reorientation.
This is overly simple but I’ll say it anyway and then explain. Love + acceptance + forgiveness does NOT equal approval!!
Years ago we exited a religious denomination/system that used fear, guilt and shame to get people to bend the knee to their authoritarian control and agenda. And dared to call it God. It destroyed people who had over active consciences, tender hearts, and didn’t need help holding themselves accountable. The never ending rules were suffocating. The supposed goal was to make moral, obedient people who could be worthy of God’s salvation. One would think you’d find some pretty pure trustworthy humans there. Instead the things we were taught were “sin” were still there. Just hidden. And interestingly we discovered sexual depravity, substance abuse, and dishonesty was rife in “the church” ESPECIALLY among the ministers, elders and leaders. And the biggest rule of all? Don’t tell! Enough said.
We left and found a church whose mission statement was “love, acceptance and forgiveness”. It was a huge relief. There was joy and wonderful worship and fellowship. It seemed to align with the God of our understanding. Until it didn’t.
It didn’t take long for us to realize we were surrounded by people openly committing adultery, people enjoying pornography, people who had different fetishes, people who were indulging in life destroying addictions, people who were pedophiles etc, etc. All with the pastors approval. Because, you know, love, acceptance and forgiveness. What the actual hell? The minute it dawned on us what was going on, we were OUT of there.
Somehow it has been difficult to find balance in a group setting where we’ve felt safe and where we share similar understandings of who or even what God is and what religion is all about.
In our opinion, God is not a monster who claims to love, accept and forgive us but doesn’t approve of anything and who seems to hope we’ll fail so he can throw us into his fire and enjoy us burning forever.
On the other hand, God is not someone who is so “loving”, “forgiving” and “accepting” he gives his stamp of approval to any and every behavior imaginable even if it’s destroying us and others.
To make what we’ve witnessed even crazier is what we call “the pendulum”. We have watched people swing back and forth between these two extremes. And they’ve invited us to join them.
Gulp. Thanks but no thanks.
The Love(God) of my understanding, loves, forgives and accepts me AND knowing me to the depths of my soul, also loves me enough to say NO when necessary. Love sets me free, yes, but not free to hurt myself and/or others.
So, again in my opinion, the day of rest/true sabbath is about enjoying re-creation, remembering how loved we are and how forgiven. Rejoicing in the freedom we’ve found. Fearlessly facing ourselves and holding ourselves accountable for the choices we’ve made. Gathering our courage to face the world again. Reconciled with accepting what we can’t change and determined to change what we can, beginning with ourselves.
"He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God." (NKJV).
Micah 6:8
On the day of rest, this is the only sermon I need. I remember, am refreshed and renewed. 🙏♥️
Love all that truth you wrote….hate those harsh experiences, disappointments, disillusionments….love thatYOU were brave & determined enuf to keep searching until you finally find what’s truth to you. Touches my heart, gives me hope & faith & fee the love you share. So glad you have found truth & love & God that works for you & appreciate your truth in sharing ❤️🩹💖
This was the epistle on Sunday morning “"He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God." (NKJV). Micah 6:8” Words to live by (literally). Thank you for posting it ❤️
Love it!
You can't imagine what a relief it is to have someone say this out loud. "It's all part of God's plan" or "The LORD works in mysterious ways." It's like 60 grit sandpaper on my brain when people say that, and the reason is exactly what you've related here, I just never was able to articulate it.
Worse yet, the same people who propose "The Divine Plan" as an explanation are the same ones who insist we have "free will". The fact that these two working theories are mutually exclusive seems to escape them.
Thank you. Important. "once responsibility becomes optional, cruelty finds cover"
Thank you for this.
YES!!! Thank you so much for this!
Love this! God is Love. God is always patiently and lovingly waiting for us to wake up and will work through us to fix the problems we have made from forgetting Love, humanity, and goodness.