Blonde Cupid ...,
O.K. - I can see that I'm very tired right now and I need some rest. If this comes across as nonsense, I apologize and I'll try to make more sense the next time.
It's hardly nonsense; in fact, it makes quite a bit of sense and merely points toward a fundamental difference 'twixt people's notions of God. As your footnote notes, whatever that power may be.
The hitch I trip over comes when the notion of God is reduced, say, to a book. In the greater scheme of the power of God to comfort, it seems almost arbitrary, and to seek an issue here is to chase after an underlying notion of consistency in one's faith.
For instance, you and I have certain points of agreement 'twixt us in this topic; that I cannot apply that sense of agreement to those points upon which I disagree extends toward the fundamental notions of faith that we (general) fight tooth and nail about here at Sciforums. In the long run, the narrow aspect of the van Dam case points me toward that comfort that the family has expressed. But in terms of notions of God--consider the topic poll, for instance--I find it irreconcilable that God causes positive and negative outcomes as such without my expected consideration of the reasons for faith in this God. (e.g. blackmail and other concepts we shouldn't waste time on here)
I have, however, taken note of your words,
Blonde Cupid, when you note,
When I cried out, it was not done through faith but in desperation. In the immediate, please understand that I understand, sympathize, and even agree to the point that I shan't argue the point. But to take the broader picture, where do we turn in moments of desperation?
If, then, God is manifest in the efforts of the community to save one child--and of events for God to invest itself, this is worthy--then what of the rules, dogma, and proscriptions placed upon God by specific faith?
In the sense of
what God is (per topic post), we must examine the idea of what one refers to when one refers to God. Certes, as your example points out, faith says that God is
something, and of degrees more substantial than faith I will not argue. But when
Blonde Cupid, for instance, offers us a testament that may represent God's participation in an event, we must consider the notion of God at play. Shall we at Sciforums agree by convention that your God is
not represented in the Bible? I raise this issue for a simple reason:
• As notions of God often run soul-deep, I am applying your stance in defense of the Biblical portrayal of God as a telling aspect toward your concept of God.
• As I find that notion of God reduced and limiting, I am curious then how it plays in the larger scheme of life (e.g. considerations of other missing children)
• Thus I hope to understand the consistent nature of God in relation to human trauma and trial in such a manner as is expressed. For instance:
• In the case of God's intervention in the case of your ward, or, as my counterexample has it, of My Lady's intervention in our excursion to LoCal, how does that notion/entity (e.g. God) explain the selectivity of the human treasure? We return to a legend of two souls arriving in heaven ....
If one says to me, for example, that something is God's will, I have a measure by which that summation,
God's will applies. Though it is a bit like giving directions at this point. "Go a little ways past the gas station and look for a left turn ...." We might presume that the left turn is an obvious point in the journey, for
a little ways past the gas station is a touch subjective. So in this manner is the idea of
God's will. And thus, according to the faith by which one prescribes the best of human compassion they can afford, we must examine what that compassion brings. Does God involve itself in wars? Or, as
Godless points out:
Murders, wars, 9-11, Hiroshima, Pearl Harbor, Nazis, Communists, rapists, killers, horror ....
In the immediate sense, I tend to leave people to their faith. But faith in God has a tremendous effect on human conduct;
Godless pointed out 9/11, and Dubya has made it about God, too. To the other, the van Dam family takes comfort in God .... The latter I won't argue, but when the latter has an effect on the former, I am compelled to seek the chance to understand
how that effect manifests.
We can point out what a god does for a person; this is a testament to human faith if nothing else. But the idea of
what that god is, and what it holds true, strikes more toward the heart of the current exploration.
Understand, please,
Blonde Cupid, it's not a matter of arguing but that you've offered a wonderful springboard from which to leap headlong into the sea of
what God is.
And, believe it or not, as such ... I thank you for it.
thanx,
Tiassa
