more on those same lines...

More thoughts on that same sermon...

One of the things not mentioned in yesterday's ramblings, was that in some new translations, the question what will it profit them... is interpreted at the end... if they lose their true selves? That gives it a different twist. Because everybody loses his life eventually. We already know that. From the day we're born we start dying, some of us just do it faster than others.

But one of our values as humans seems to be: to BE true to ourselves, and the self we long to be true to is always better than the one we generally exhibit. It's an exhausting process, being true... no wonder it's easier to cop out and be somebody else's self. Especially when somebody else's self has more money, prestige, and fun in life. Been there, done that.

Yet, the longing is not easily (nor permanently) silenced for most of us. Guilt, remorse, regret begin to creep into our daily mix of emotions and the money, prestige and fun lose their luster.

Some will ask "But why is a relationship with an imaginary dead guy so important? Can't you be true to yourself on your own?" I'm sixty years old. I haven't been able to do it on my own yet. I haven't even been able to do it that often with help from the imaginary dead guy, although His statistics are better than mine. I need help.

One of the best approaches to God is the realization that individually we're helpless in the long run. (It's one reason AA has worked for so many for so long. It's the required first step in the 12-step process.) So when I accept that I'm helpless, then I have to look outside myself for a helper. The Christ... the Jesus... (to some, the imaginary dead guy) is the key. His example, his teaching, his mystery and irony all combine to unlock the secret that my helper comes from within, not without. My true self is already encoded in my DNA. Child of God.