http://www.jpgmag.com/photos/11 [Lovely photo, don’t you think?]
Then I had another thought: While treading lava, I chanced to look up and what did I behold?
I saw at first only a few, but then more followed – thousands more, millions more. More who were also swan-diving into the Lake of Fire
I thought, “With that kind of love, even Hell can be transformed.” All Hells can be transformed by the power of love alone, so let’s do it. Let’s start loving and transforming the Hell that is this three-fold world (forgive me for employing a Buddhist expression, but I think by now you know where I’m coming from).
I have heard tales of Buddhas purposely going to Hell in order to save the suffering and lead them to Enlightenment. Perhaps I shall have that honor some day.
Street Preacher was a fundamentalist calling himself a Christian; I was (and still am) a Buddhist, calling myself a good listener. I am a good listener, but only up to a point; then I brace myself by thinking “Okay, now it’s my turn, so I hope you turn out to be as good a listener as I’ve been.” By the way, I’m usually disappointed to find that most people aren’t very good listeners at all.
Preacher carried on about thisLake of Fire , making several interesting claims: “Those who reject Christ as Savior will be cast into a Lake of Fire
So I asked Street Preacher: “Why does God punish so severely?”
“God hates sin and the unrepentant sinner can never enter Heaven” – him.
“But why torment for Eternity? I mean, why doesn’t God just dis-create the sinner?” – me.
“Dis-create?”
“Dis-create? Un-create? I’m not sure which is the better word. But my point is: If God created man in an instant, couldn’t He simply take each dead sinner and immediately Un-do him, so to speak? I mean, if God means to threaten sinners with eternal suffering, wouldn’t that make Him the ultimate terrorist?”
“God’s ways are mysterious, so I can’t say I understand. But Heaven and Hell are the only choices He offers.”
“I do not accept Christ as my Savior. Nobody died for my sins. It’s simply not possible. It’s like…well, it’s like some guy walking up to me and claiming, ‘Let me make love to your girlfriend for you. Actually, in place of you. It will be exactly the same as if you’d made love to her.’”
“Are you mocking God’s gift to man?”
“I don’t know anything about any alleged gift God made to man, so I cannot mock what I do not know. God is not standing before me now, but you are. So I can respond only to your words. Surely you would not let some stranger have at your girlfriend, not even to test his claim: That when he’s done the deed, you will feel like you’ve just had sex.”
“You have no excuse for not knowing of God’s gifts, for you have the Bible which is the word of God.”
“Yes, you’re right, I have it. But I reject it as not possibly being even remotely believable. But more than that: I reject it as my way of standing side-by-side in brotherhood with the many ‘sinners’ of the world who couldn’t accept Christ simply because they’ve never even hear of Him.”
“You mean, like savages from some remote jungle?”
“Not just them, but I include them and proudly count them as my brothers and sisters.”
“Those who have not heard the word of God come from accursed and condemned bloodlines. That is why they’re so far removed from civilization that they have not even heard of the Bible. It’s best not to stand too close to them, for they are unholy.”
“You mention ‘condemned bloodlines.’ Is God condemning the ignorant because of sins of their fathers?”
Street Preacher basically answered “yes” to that question. I tried to speak of reincarnation and attempts to “get it right” over many life times. I didn’t get far before he made a suggestion:
“Read the Bible and then pray and fast for understanding.”
I replied: “I’m as likely to do that as you are to read Buddhist scripture, meditate, and practice the six paramitas.”
He looked at me silently. I looked at him. I walked away, entered a nearby Starbucks and bought him a sandwich. He looked hungry for at least that. It was the least I could do, so I did. And I thanked him for his time, which is really the only thing of value any of us have to give to each other.
Street Preacher was a fundamentalist calling himself a Christian; I was (and still am) a Buddhist, calling myself a good listener. I am a good listener, but only up to a point; then I brace myself by thinking “Okay, now it’s my turn, so I hope you turn out to be as good a listener as I’ve been.” By the way, I’m usually disappointed to find that most people aren’t very good listeners at all.
Preacher carried on about this
So I asked Street Preacher: “Why does God punish so severely?”
“God hates sin and the unrepentant sinner can never enter Heaven” – him.
“But why torment for Eternity? I mean, why doesn’t God just dis-create the sinner?” – me.
“Dis-create?”
“Dis-create? Un-create? I’m not sure which is the better word. But my point is: If God created man in an instant, couldn’t He simply take each dead sinner and immediately Un-do him, so to speak? I mean, if God means to threaten sinners with eternal suffering, wouldn’t that make Him the ultimate terrorist?”
“God’s ways are mysterious, so I can’t say I understand. But Heaven and Hell are the only choices He offers.”
“I do not accept Christ as my Savior. Nobody died for my sins. It’s simply not possible. It’s like…well, it’s like some guy walking up to me and claiming, ‘Let me make love to your girlfriend for you. Actually, in place of you. It will be exactly the same as if you’d made love to her.’”
“Are you mocking God’s gift to man?”
“I don’t know anything about any alleged gift God made to man, so I cannot mock what I do not know. God is not standing before me now, but you are. So I can respond only to your words. Surely you would not let some stranger have at your girlfriend, not even to test his claim: That when he’s done the deed, you will feel like you’ve just had sex.”
“You have no excuse for not knowing of God’s gifts, for you have the Bible which is the word of God.”
“Yes, you’re right, I have it. But I reject it as not possibly being even remotely believable. But more than that: I reject it as my way of standing side-by-side in brotherhood with the many ‘sinners’ of the world who couldn’t accept Christ simply because they’ve never even hear of Him.”
“You mean, like savages from some remote jungle?”
“Not just them, but I include them and proudly count them as my brothers and sisters.”
“Those who have not heard the word of God come from accursed and condemned bloodlines. That is why they’re so far removed from civilization that they have not even heard of the Bible. It’s best not to stand too close to them, for they are unholy.”
“You mention ‘condemned bloodlines.’ Is God condemning the ignorant because of sins of their fathers?”
Street Preacher basically answered “yes” to that question. I tried to speak of reincarnation and attempts to “get it right” over many life times. I didn’t get far before he made a suggestion:
“Read the Bible and then pray and fast for understanding.”
I replied: “I’m as likely to do that as you are to read Buddhist scripture, meditate, and practice the six paramitas.”
He looked at me silently. I looked at him. I walked away, entered a nearby Starbucks and bought him a sandwich. He looked hungry for at least that. It was the least I could do, so I did. And I thanked him for his time, which is really the only thing of value any of us have to give to each other.
Flash forward to the future
When I become the next President of the
The first will be a reproduction of The Potato Eaters by Vincent van Gogh (a personal favorite of mine).
The second will be based on a painting entitled Unemployment. Sorry, but for the life of me I can’t find this anywhere on the internet. But I remember seeing it years ago: A portrait of a family of four, looking very thin and edgy – on the verge of starvation.
The third shall be an original work showing me swan-diving into the
Some people accuse Barack Obama of having too much style and not enough substance. Nobody could accuse me of not having enough substance – my internet postings amply testify to that. But I wish, by means of these three paintings and through other gestures, to show that I believe firmly in the importance of style as well.
Art, in the best sense of the word, is important in a president. And that kind of art is long overdue. Lord knows, we’ve had too much art, in the worst sense of the word, in that office for far too long.
Steven Searle for U.S. President in 2012
Founder of The Independent Contractors Party
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