Humanly Credulous
AMEN: An expression of agreement or confirmation used in worship by Jews, Christians and Muslims. the word derives from a Semitic root meaning "fixed" or "sure". The Greek Old Testament usually translates it as "so be it"; in the English bible it is often translated as "verily" or "truly". by the 4th Century BC, it was a common response to a doxology or other prayer in the Jewish temple liturgy. by the 2nd Century AD, Christians had adopted it in the liturgy of the Eucharist, and in Christian worship a final amen now often sums up and confirms a prayer or hymn. Though less common in Islam, it is used after reading of the first sura.Clergy are the spinners of tales and of heavenly hope, well schooled in the ancient tradition of inspiring followers to believe and to trust and to have faith in that which cannot be seen to be believed, which must be trusted even when trust has failed, when faith conspires with hope to prolong the agony of human existence transforming it into a prelude to life everlasting.
Human life on Planet Earth has been planned by some heavenly being to be a temporary, temporal one awaiting release into the afterlife, and all those of faith aspire to the afterlife. To become one with forever. Just as the search for the Fountain of Youth proceeded in the belief that a magical elixir would prolong life, so does the faith of the pure of heart believing in the divine words of God promise release from death.
Death becomes a temporary device which the Heavenly Spirit uses as a crucible, purging the spirit from the frail body, so the soul may ascend to Heaven and be welcomed to existence on another plane entirely, forevermore. The very idea of being significantly something, and then suddenly nothing, a vast, dark nothing of non-existence is abhorrent and frightening to the human mind.
Religion has a twofold purpose, to entice the faithful to believe that they must do their utmost to 'earn' eternity by behaving in an exemplary manner reflective of the demands that the Eternal Presence makes upon His flock; to be kind, honourable, just, compassionate and decent creatures, and to honour His Eternal Name. Having earned their place in Paradise, the faithful are assured life ever after.
The example of God's divine love in willingly sacrificing his own beloved son to undergo that fearful transformation from life to death to life eternal had the brilliant purpose and proven success of assuring the insecure that death, while following life, also inspires eternal life. The worship of Jesus Christ as the ultimate sacrifice to prove God's love for His flock stifles the fear of death in mortals.
We humans have no wish to contemplate personal surcease. From everything to nothing. This is simply not feasible. For here we are! Unique, brilliantly alive, ceaselessly, intrepidly inventive. The risen hero, vanquishing and foiling the plans of the Angel of Death is the message of Easter. Only the pious, the faithful, those who believe, need apply.
Verily, it is so. Amen.
Labels: Human Fallibility, Religion, Traditions
posted by Pieface @ Friday, April 02, 2010
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