Blaming God

"God did not make death, nor does He rejoice in the destruction of the living. For He fashioned all things that they might have being; and the creatures of the world are wholesome, and there is not a destructive drug among them, nor any domain of the netherworld on earth, for justice is undying. For God formed man to be imperishable; the image of His own nature He made him. But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world, and they who belong to his company experience it. -- [Wisdom 1:13 - 15; 2: 23-24].


We Christians all know the Old Testament story of Genesis: How God created the earth and the skies and the water and the stars. How God made the first man, Adam, in His own image. How God then fashioned a soulmate for Adam, in the person of Eve. How Adam and Eve were promised a life in Paradise, a life imperishable.

But the devil was jealous, and came in the form of a snake. Once Eve, and then Adam, gave into temptation and ate the fruit, they partook of the Tree of Life. This gave them the knowledge of Good and Evil. But, despite the luring promises of the devil/snake, Adam and Eve did not become god-like. They knew only sorrow. They were banished from the Garden of Eden. They faced labor, trials, pain and even death.

And SO, Death is something God never intended to create. Death came from Sin.

In the Christian sense, Sin = Death. This is so because when we Sin, we cut ourselves off from the Life-giving forces that emanate from God. Sinning creates barriers to God.

I experienced this in my childhood home. I saw how my parents were confused about the difference between Love and Money; between God and Human Achievement. My family would say, "We worship the Almighty Dollar." BUT, money is man-made, and wealth is not meant to be a force to make us more God-like. If we worship money, we forget to worship God.

My family would say that Christians are losers because, possessing no talent or strengths on their own, they can only rely on God to make it through the day. BUT, when we worship human achievement, we forget that our gifts come from God. We forget to praise and thank God for our talents.

I believe that most Sin comes from this confusion. Sin goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden and the Original Sin of desiring to be God-like.

If I gossip or judge my neighbor, I am making myself God-like, because I am giving myself the title of Final Arbiter, the one and only Judge.

If I try to control another's behavior, I am making myself God-like, because I am pretending that I am in charge of the Universe.

If I hate my neighbor for who he is, I am making myself God-like, because I am questioning God as Creator.

If I grab all the material possessions I can, and deride the poor as losers, then I am making myself God-like because I am unilaterally deciding that everything that God made is MINE --- and NOT, as God intended-- for all of us.

If I decide that abortion and the death penalty are okay, then I am making myself God-like, because I am the one who gets to decide who lives and who dies.

If I get all hung up on beauty -- compulsively remaking my own looks, or judging someone else's-- then I am making myself God-like, since I am finding fault with what God has made.

If I lie, then I am making myself God-like, because in making up my own truth, I am forgetting God's Truth.

If I am jealous, then I am making myself God-like, since it is all about me and MY plan for myself; and I am forgetting about God's Plan for me.

Sin causes Death on Earth. When we tear around, trying to arrange events to our liking, trying to make others do things our way, trying to control the Universe and everyone in it, trying to egotistically chew up and spit out the environment, to lie and tell ourselves Untruths, to cheat and grab everything for ourselves -- we become anxious, depressed and lifeless. When we try to set ourselves up to be God, we fail.

AND the worst thing we can do is to fail at becoming God-like, then blame God for the trials and pains in our lives. Because if we blame God for all the misfortunes in our lives, then we are confusing Sin and Death --with God.

For God is NOT Sin and Death. Nor, are we God. To remember that is to gain Life.

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