Talk About Love - First Chapter - What Is Man

“TALK ABOUT LOVE" All original ideas are Copyright of Richard R Sjaardema, 7/21/2010. (I, Richard R Sjaardema invite you to share and copy this material with Copyright notatation and without charge.)

(Pending table of contents)

1. WHY BOTHER TALKING

A. What Is Man

B. Thou Art Holy

C. Preparing For Celebration

2. KNOWING YOUR BELIEF

A. His Story Positioning

B. Word of God

C. What is Truth

3. UNDERSTANDING GOD’S LOVE

A. God’s Spiritual Gifts

B. God’s Greatest Gift

C. Beginning The Transformation

WHAT IS MAN


If my children read this book, I will be amazed. You see, at some point, they all suffered a common ailment where they appeared to have stopped listening to what I had to say. I called the ailment “being Fourteen”. I am told there is a cure! Just wait till they have Children of their own. Being a parent is not the easiest position to be in when you want to engender love, and by most appearances, I have failed miserably.



So, as I begin this book, I have to ask myself and you, why I would want to write – and why would you want to read this book? Most of us have been hurt by love and self help books of the past have had little affect. Then when you find out it’s about God and his relationship with us and how it affects our relationships with each other, you may be thinking – “I’ve heard it all before and one thing I know, I’ve never felt the love of God in the struggles of my life or relationships – and I certainly don’t want to be bogged down by a bunch more rules. But that’s exactly why I am writing. I hear plenty about a God of Love, but then I see a religious world that is so wrapped up in the rules and attempts to live righteously only to end up lonely and guilty that I felt it was time to take another look at ourselves and our Creator realistically in light of the fact He is considered Love.



One of the reasons my Children didn’t like what I had to say was because whenever they brought a problem to me, I turned the problem back on them. In general, I felt I could not change their problem with another person externally; so I would choose to address their problem internally. This of course infuriated them as I’m sure it would you. However, I must ask you to be willing to be changed from the inside out. I must ask that you be willing to enter into this conversation with your ears wide open – willing to allow your core being to be transformed. Be willing to contemplate new ideas with an admittance that God will always be bigger than your comprehension - As we get started and as we digest these ideas, I will also admit that I do not know everything. I am willing to contemplate new ideas. I am anxious to hear of your experiences and thoughts. With this agreement, understanding, and engagement in place, let’s begin.



My message is a fairly simple one that I think most of you will appreciate, although it is tough to accept. It is my premise that we all are in communion with a Loving God that wishes for us all to get along. I intend to present a message that God, our Father, intends for us to live in peace and harmony with one another – meaning with all of His creation. I intend to present a God who is frustrated by our divisions, our hostilities, and our judgments of one another. I intend to dispute the claims that our God is one of gloom and doom and I intend to argue against the forecasts of wrath and destruction so prevalent in our religious thinking today. As a Christian, I intend on explaining my case through the Bible and inviting your personal involvement in this discussion based on your own spiritual beliefs. It is my hope that by presenting a better understanding of our loving God and Father, we might work with Him in addressing His desire for redemption of His creation.



Again, it is my hope that the message I share in this book will reach across cultural and religious lines and be meaningful to all. My hope is, after all, the same as many pageant contestants – Let there be Peace on Earth. So, if you are strong enough to open your mind and allow pre-conceived notions of your own spirituality and that of others to sit on the shelf through your reading of this book, you just may end up seeing humankind and ultimately your own world and life view with a transformed vision. My intent is not to preach, but to enter into conversation with you as well as that might happen in a book. I would love to share this journey with you. Are you up for the adventure? Let’s go!



A Spiritual Being:



I’d like to begin with considering the “nature of man”. It is my firm belief that Man is first of all a spiritual being. The fact this “God” thing is so prevalent in all of our lives is the impetus for writing this book. It is pretty tough to imagine that the belief in “God” or not believing in “God” pertains to only one nation, religion, race, or denomination. I have yet to meet an individual who has no belief regarding God. I also have yet to meet two people who share the same exact belief. Not only do we each have different finger prints, different features, different DNA, and different personalities, but it would appear we all have different spiritual identities also. As noted, I do not just wish to present my ideas, but to provide a backbone from the Word of God. Therefore, my initial quote for those of you who already wish to throw stones is the same quote that Jesus referred to in John 10:34; “I say, ‘You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you;’” Psalm 82:6 (RSV)



Now, in preparation for writing a book that would appeal to a variety of religious cultures and spiritual identities, I felt I should partner up with some representatives of those cultures or immerse myself in study. However, I quickly realized that life is short and whatever partnerships I took on would appear to be excluding of others. So, with less than 100 years to write & in an effort to avoid arguments and board meetings which would ultimately delay this writing for much longer, you will have to accept my writing and the Biblical references quoted herein. My hope is that this book might start a movement which would allow each of us to learn more about one another in an atmosphere of peace & acceptance (sounds 70’s doesn’t it) and that the environment would be one in which we could mutually share our insights and learn from one another what this “spiritual nature” within each of us is all about. If in fact, it exists at all!



My intent is not to bore you with a lot of details. I would rather you kept on reading. As most of you already know, there is a growing group of humankind that would like us to believe that God in fact does not exist. At the same time, there is also a growing consensus within the scientific community that life as we know it is not possible without an intelligent designer. The chances of not only the existence of life, but of the amazing complexity of that life leave them no other choice. Having moved away from this belief for most of the past century in our public education systems, this acceptance from some of our top minds could foreshadow serious changes in our cultures – and bring about an acceptance of something most of us have been aware of deep down all our lives. I hope you will agree it’s about time! Our spiritual identities don’t belong on the shelf with the myths & legends delegated to a darker time of our history. They are alive and breathing in each and every one of us. In order to begin our investigation into these spiritual identities, let’s start at the very beginning.



Although the majority of organized religion has some story of our beginnings, I would like to mention the stories of Moses as they pertain to several major religious groups and they are those that I am most familiar with. As we as a society consider our beginnings, we often look to ancient Egypt and the knowledge they held. Isn’t it interesting that Moses grew up in a royal Egyptian household and had access through his formative years to the vast knowledge that culture held. Would it not make sense that his stories were held by that culture and time? Could we go so far as to consider that they had been passed down by God Himself?



Therefore, when Moses writes: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1 RSV) we very well could be reading an ancient Egyptian text. And when he writes in Genesis 1:26 “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” the same could very well be true. As the story of man’s creation is told again in Genesis 2:4-23 with slight variation, the idea that these both represented Moses formative years of education in Egypt stands to reason.



The phrase “In His Image” has been used by many throughout history to relate to the spiritual nature of man. The fact that so many of us feel a connection to God in some way stands as even more compelling evidence. Granted, some would say this “God sense” is just a figment of our imagination, but I think its overwhelming nature within humanity causes most of us to disagree. In your own experience, haven’t you found that nearly every one of us appears to be in communion with our divine nature in some way? Let’s pursue that premise without dismissing the challenging value of dissenting argument.



Broken and Bruised



Another common belief within humanity is the existence of good and evil. Nearly all, if not all of our movies are based on a story pitting good against evil, good situations verses bad situations. Good characters verses bad characters.



This carries forward into our religious cultures also. Unfortunately, organized religion too often focuses on the bad of the outside party. Jew verses Gentile. Muslim verses Infidel. Christian verses the world. Catholic verses Protestant. The list goes on and on. In fact, even within a given religion, various factions are often enemies of one another. We are all so certain we understand this “God Nature” thing better than everybody else and we therefore feel compelled to instruct or, God forbid, judge the other person. I have found it difficult to share my faith even within my own culture because my fellow man would rather argue their superior intellect or understanding instead of working together to gain insight. Therefore, as I shall mention often in this book, I intend to share my own understanding to cause reflection for you the reader. You may or may not agree, but please at least consider the possibilities so that, together, we might grow in our understanding of our mutual creator, God our Father.



Now, considering that a multitude of belief systems are used by mankind to search out the righteous nature of self and mankind’s unity or dysfunction with God, there are certainly those efforts by some to find that unity with the evil (from here on to be addressed as d’evil) nature. Whatever the cause of this behavior, the individual has generally made the choice to dabble in the dark side and is very aware of their behavior. Many times, an individual ends up desperately trying to escape the confines of such a life and serious help is required. This nature of spirituality must certainly not be ignored or glossed over. Although this is not the subject matter of this book, it is worth mention and further study. Many times, even these individuals will eventually be reaching out to loved ones, or somebody – perhaps even to you for a renewal of hope and connection.



The truth of the matter is that, on the surface, the main message of most religious groups today calls on their followers to love one another and serve their fellow man. No one religion initially appears to hold the bar on doing good deeds. This is why evangelizing from the point of telling a person how bad they are is about as good as the conversations I’ve had with my teenage children. No one wants to be reprimanded for their failures. For the most part, we all are doing our best to be good to those we love: Our families, our friends, our neighbors, etc. Instead of consistent chastisement, we thrive on consistent blessing from our fellow man. Too often, however, individuals have lost their youthful captivations of hope, love, and purpose. They not only feel unworthy of those connections with God or others, but are also, therefore, unable to pass those gifts on to others in their lives.



At our base, the goal of our spiritual nature – and for that matter, our self esteem, is to find peace and contentment with God and to share that peace, love, contentment, and blessing with those we hold dear. As we age, we often see this dream dashed a number of times and too often question our faith and the meaning of it all. Our health inevitably fails, and eventually, our battered & bruised and broken bodies experience our final day and we are no more. Regardless of cinema entertainment to the contrary, we all are indeed mortal and we all face a common fate. Too often, as our physical bodies succumb to decay our spiritual natures struggle with them. It is my premise that this need not be the case.



Children of God



Since time immemorial, mankind has tried to understand this sense of a spiritual identity with this dichotomy of a mortal physical self. Most of us today have tapped into some sort of spiritual communion which generally appears to become stronger the older and more fragile we become - depending on our investment in it. Through most of history, mankind has lived in communities where the masses had a common belief and method of tapping into this spiritual communion. However, as our world has become smaller, the smorgasbord of spiritual communities has become much closer to home, more real, and carries more of an impact in each of our lives and in those of our loved ones.



Although this should have caused us to learn more about our differing spiritual natures, we have generally done the opposite. We have either withdrawn from religion altogether in complete confusion or disarray, or run to our safe havens crying about what has gone so wrong in our world. Instead of embracing our spiritual differences and learning from them, we have too often cast off those who are different from us as heathen, lost, and in need of our witness, or worse yet, not even worth the effort and discarded by God. The intent of this book is to begin to change that spiritual climate within our world to one where we can embrace one another and through acceptable conversation & interaction. It is my hope that together, arm in arm, we can walk this spiritual journey back to our common center, our Father from whom all blessings flow.



Over the course of history, we have increasingly separated ourselves from our common Father. We have indoctrinated our children according to our own beliefs and customs and refused to teach them about a God who loves all of creation. We may have spoken of such a God and known Him to be true, but we have isolated ourselves in our own worlds and have even gone so far as to legislate against sharing Him with one another. We would rather kill and destroy in the name of peace rather than reach out with love and acceptance. These tendencies have not served to strengthen our children, but have left them to wander, lost and alone – without hope; without compassion; without love. In isolating ourselves from God, our neighbors next door, and those around the world, we have only served to have lost touch with ourselves and our Creator. Isn’t it time to get to know one another again? Isn’t it time to understand how and why each of us thinks, feels, and acts the way we do? Isn’t it time to get along and protect our world together through the power of love, joy, and peace and quit trying to destroy ourselves and our relationships through fear, hate, dispute and conflict? Is that other person truly the infidel we imagine him or her to be? Can’t we figure out how to live in peace and put down our weapons of injustice?



As most of us acknowledge the books of the Old Testament, let’s see if we can find this God of Love and the message of Peace I am putting forth;



God promises that if we live together in righteousness, there will be peace in the land:



“You shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land securely. And I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid; and I will remove evil beasts from the land, and the sword shall not go through your land.” Leviticus 26:5b-6 (RSV)



“Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints, to those who turn to him in their hearts. Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him that glory may dwell in our land. Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other.” Psalm 85:8-10 (RSV)



“Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace. I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war!” Psalm 120:6-7 (RSV)



“Her (wisdom’s) ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called happy.” Proverbs 3:17-18 (RSV)



“Open the gates that the righteous nation which keeps faith may enter in. Thou dost keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusts in thee.” Isaiah 26:2-3 (RSV)



“Until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest. Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness will abide in the fruitful field. And the effect of righteousness will be peace; and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust for ever. My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places. Isaiah 32:15-18 (RSV)



“I rejoice at thy word like one who finds great spoil. I hate and abhor falsehood, but I love thy law. Seven times a day I praise thee for thy righteous ordinances. Great peace have those who love thy law; nothing can make them stumble. I hope for thy salvation, O Lord, and I do thy commandments.” Psalms 119:162-166 (RSV)



As we proceed through this book, I will suggest that we believe that God the Father has become our Prince of Peace; that it is His desire to unite us again in Him as His children and family; that His intent is to destroy our dysfunction and to heal our wounds.



In this so called time of enlightenment, some would claim that there are many truths and that it doesn’t matter whether we work together as we all live in separate realities. I personally feel this is nonsense. My belief is that there is one truth about God. I am willing to admit that I do not have all the answers. I also believe that God is already in communion with the spiritual identity of each individual seeking after Him. I believe He has prepared us for this journey. I believe that when Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 4:29 “you will seek the Lord your God and you will find Him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul” (RSV), God was speaking to all men who seek after Him. Are you willing to seek Him with a brother, or loved one who doesn’t think and act the same as you? Together, you (we) can change the world.



See also Psalm 62 and so much more.