For now we see through a glass, darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then shall I know... - 1 Cor 13:12
I always thought that meant when we die, we meet God, and
all the things that were confusing or conflicting or uncertain would be made
clear. That we would finally know the answers to all the questions of why God
allows suffering, pain, and misery.
But over time I realized there is no God that anoints the
king, brings victory in battle, heals the sick, or brings justice to the
oppressed. There is no God who wipes our butts for us. There’s just us. And like
the fog slowly lifting, all the confusion and darkness faded away. Things became
clear. Where before I knew in part, now I know…
We stop seeing through a glass darkly when we stop believing
in [relying on] God. When we quit seeking for “the laws of the universe be annulled in behalf of a single petitioner, confessedly unworthy.”
How does it feel to realize that everything you’ve been told
about God is just something somebody made up? That it’s all just bullshit? To
stop seeing through a glass darkly?
When one of my sisters was about 8 or 9 years old, my
parents finally told her that Santa Claus wasn’t real. She got mad. Really mad.
She didn’t get over it until she was well into her 30’s, with kids of her own.
That lie shook her faith in our parents. She didn’t know who or what to
believe, but it certainly wasn’t anything our parents had to say. Ever again.
It feels like that.
To get a better idea, try this:
Whenever you hear someone say “God”
or “Jesus” or “the Lord”, just substitute the words “Santa Claus”. If you hear
someone say, “I prayed about it”, just substitute “I asked Santa about it”. (Note:
the Easter Bunny works just as well…)
So when Shelly Kacsmaryk, referring to her husband federal
judge MatthewKacsmaryk, says “God has put him at the right place at the right time”, just
hear it as “Santa Claus has put him at the right place at the right time.” Or
when Kelly Johnson, wife of Speaker of the House Mike Johnson says
any form of sexual activity outside of marriage “is sinful and offensive to God”,
think the Easter Bunny instead.
It’s mildly amusing when you do this with preachers. It can
make you feel arrogant and dismissive when you overhear conversations in a
restaurant, or see comments in an online post.
But it will scare the shit out of you when you hear it from
a Federal Judge, Supreme Court justice, the President, some dumbass Congressman,
or the governor or Attorney General of the State of Texas – people who have the
power to make rules that affect your life, dictate who you can marry, or decide
when and where to go to war. Because you know they are just shouting into the
void, and they are only hearing the echoes of someone else’s screams.
There’s nobody out there. They are just making it up. It’s
all bullshit.