Theology 101

The past few days have been pretty hectic.

I've stayed in the office for two nights mainly to finish next year's provincial calendar (New Year na!) and I must say

I thank the Lord for good bosses.

REALLY.

I've been blessed with great immediate superiors so far in my young career as a designer. And my Jesuit boss ain't an exception. Hehehe.

When you have a Jesuit boss it's nice to take hold of the opportunity to ask all the existential questions that you have in your life... because I think they are really in a good position to know since practically--they spend their whole lives thinking about God.

So amidst my delirium from lack of sleep, powered by caffeine, boosted by a Big Mac takeout courtesy of my boss...I summoned up the courage to ask Fr some questions in the wee hours of the morning. And his answers are worth sharing...

1. "How do you account for the different religions besides Christianity?"

--You have to realize that God is a being so vast for our minds to fully comprehend. The different religions are simply other vistas to God's being.

2. "Father, don't you think that an eternity of punishment is reasonable for a lifetime of sin?

--We really have to do away with the image of hell as a lake of burning sulfur. I believe that hell is simply being away from the from the presence/love of God.

--and another insight surprised me

--The church believes (but they don't say it outright, for subversive reasons) that in the end ALL would be save. Because God is LOVE. Everything would simply go back to him.

3. "Fr., I'm not an atheist, I believe in a higher power...but for the past couple years I really have been in a crisis of faith...but I find myself praying to God in the most desperate circumstances...."

Just be patient. Crisis of beliefs occur not only once in life. God will unravel things to you in his own time. In the mean time, enjoy your life-- being young.

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After that conversation...
I felt freakin' better. I can't believe it!
How--I don't know--unorthodox? the explanations were.

And the belief that all would be saved in the end...just made me feel
more drawn to God. You know...this idea of a Creator...overflowing with goodness and love...

And how poetic is He to create the universe?
when more and more scientists are proving that the whole cosmos came from a single primordial atom...that is continually expanding?

...what does this prove? That the universe IS NOT infinite...but it had a BEGINNING!

My God!
What being, has the power to create--to conceive of the universe! Made up of BILLIONS of galaxies! BILLIONS OF LIGHT YEARS across!!! EXPANDING!

Makes me feel so insignificant... yet the small domestic worries in my planet, my continent, my country, my home--keeps things in perspective...

Why are we here?
Only God knows...
Where did we came from?
--From star dust...
How poetic! Beautiful!

And man in the greater scheme of things ain't insignificant as Lovecraft paints...
Our purpose may never fully be realized but there is a God that is our center.
We're here because of the love of God.

And what is a speck of life in the vast structure of the cosmos?
I don't know about you but the reality of something far greater than me
is more than enough...

Cause even if I have had this falling away from God for many years now... things weren't really different as when I was a devote Christian...this made me resent the Church before but now...

it just only proves that a higher power never forgot about me...
and I've felt it really...

Ohhh... we of little faith.