Lent - Day 11

       LOL. I simply cannot contain myself that there are actually people who believe that God chose Donald Trump to be President of the United States. I am not sure if it is the height of lunacy, arrogance or stupidity. It all reeks of something really bad. A miasma of the years of religious right fervor for literalism and some form of American theocracy. Without supposing we could ever know the mind of God, the mere idea that God would officially choose any person let alone a person of Trumps moral turpitude and mental instability is beyond the pale.

     However, having said that, the idea that God calls people is not for us to really decide.  It is not beyond God's abilities to pick anyone, however far fetched. God could choose a Donald Trump just as much as God could literally make the oceans pristine with the wave of her hand. But God has never worked that way.  As paramount as love is; as paramount as our innate desire to reach out to our Creator, there is God's decision to give us free will. We are called to use it wisely. It is the concept of Original Sin.  It is us making the decision to send ourselves to 'hell'. God does not send us there, it is our own decision in free will that does so.

       I think we would be better served in every way if we felt less compelled to proclaim what God's official choices are. We have no idea. It is not for us to decide and even thinking that way shows an arrogance of monumental proportions.  

       The real issue is how we respond to God's call.  Do we answer Yes or No?  God's call to each and every one of us is not to be taken lightly.  We may take some erroneous human comfort in thinking someone else will do it, whatever it is God is calling you to do. The fact is, God made you so special that you are in fact the only person that can do what God is calling you to do. The question is cooperation or turning your back. It has been my experience that God will tap you on the shoulder and if you fail to respond, God will often give you a reminder 'tap' , very often not as subtle as with a 2x4.  Not literally of course.

        The questions that remain are how we respond and when we respond, are we doing so in a manner consistent with God's will ( all inclusive, all embracing love ) or our own self serving, arrogant or ignorant plans. First ,say yes to God, we pray. 

Hebrews 5:1-10

Every high priest chosen from among mortals is put in charge of things pertaining to God on their behalf, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is subject to weakness; and because of this he must offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people. And one does not presume to take this honour, but takes it only when called by God, just as Aaron was.

 So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the one who said to him,
‘You are my Son,
   today I have begotten you’; 
as he says also in another place,
‘You are a priest for ever,
   according to the order of Melchizedek.’

 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.