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Hi,
I rarely follow lugnet discussions as I am busy with other things/hobbies,
such as nursing my three children back to health this weekend. However, the
continued stream of messages on this thread did finally cause me to look at
one of the images (a hand around or under the shuttle) and to scan one or
two of the messages.
I have been religious all my life and raised a Christian. I have been
following the Lord in the Eastern Orthodox Church for six years now. One
thing stressed in the prayers of the Church is the mercy of God, that we can
_never_ escape his presence, and that He is "the Lover of Mankind," as our
prayers so often put it. Although we certainly expect God to square
everything with justice as the final curtain drops on this age, we as
mortal, finite humans cannot ascribe actions as varied as the Trade Towers
to the Columbia to anything like God's retribution. True, God's
"retribution" is active on earth as men and women stumble along in the
consequences their own sins (misdeeds) have caused them, and also just the
ramifications of the choices they (we) have made. Choices have
consequences. It is because we live in an imperfect, corrupt world that
Jesus "for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven." But there
cannot be a one on one correlation between God's retribution and seeming
tragedies (i.e., good people contract and die of cancer, innocent children
die in car wrecks). I said seeming tragedies not to diminish the fact that
such events as what happened with the Columbia are not tragedies but to put
into perspective that despite such events the God of creation still is a God
of mercy and judges according to mercy. "I desire mercy and not sacrifice."
"Have mercy on me, O God, according to the multitude of thy mercy" (Ps
51:1). There is a faith system, shared by a billion people, which can also
recognize the hand of God in other faith systems, which captures the innate
response of all mankind to such events as Saturday's disaster: that such a
disaster is a tragedy of the greatest proportion, yet even so, and even in
it and through it, God is able to bring His mercy to bear. God was indeed
with those who suffered and those who died, and He grieves as such
occurrences. But He has not left us helpless: He has united all humankind
to Himself in the Incarnation. And in the resurrection He has delivered all
from corruption and death.
Alan
Alan Carmack
Austin, Texas
--------------------------------------------
Fr Alexander Men' Web Site:
http://home.earthlink.net/~amenpage
--------------------------------------------
"Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ." --St Jerome
"To know Christ is to know Scripture." --John Henry Newman
..
----- Original Message -----
From: "The Rev. Brendan Powell Smith" <thereverend@thereverend.com>
To: <lugnet.general@lugnet.com>; <lugnet.loc.us.tx@lugnet.com>;
<lugnet.org.us.texlug@lugnet.com>
Sent: Monday, February 03, 2003 4:15 AM
Subject: Re: I couldn't sleep so...
> In lugnet.general, Anthony Sava writes:
> > I can understand where you might see something in the pictures that I did • not
> > intend. I was not trying to show some 'hand of fate' or a 'divine • retribution'
> > upon the Space Shuttle. Rather, I was trying to show a divine force • cradling
> > the craft during flight. It has always been comforting to me to think • that my
> > God is with me where ever I go.
>
> Thanks for providing a little about what the images mean to you. It's a
> different interpretation than the immediate one that came to my mind upon
> seeing them.
>
> In case anyone was wondering, my immediate reaction to the images was to
> take them as suggesting simply "this was God's plan". And if someone were
> to honestly suggest that people disintegrating in the atmosphere was part • of
> God's plan for those people, I would find that both a highly distubing
> insult to the people who died and extremely incosiderate to their • surviving
> loved ones.
>
> The other possible and more confusing interpretation of
> http://www.ozbricks.net/ikros/Shuttle/Catch.jpg is that God tried to catch
> the space shuttle and bring it to safetly, but somehow it slipped past • him.
> I don't even want to try to figure out a theology that would support that
> interpretation.
>
> > Now before anyone trys to start a theological debate, I just want to end • it
> > before it starts. I believe the hand of God was with the seven this • weekend, I
> > do not believe God caused the shuttle to disintigrate, but I believe his • hand
> > was there to catch them as they fell, taking them up to be with him. I • don't
> > want anyone dragging this into some debate on God and bad things • happening (I'm
> > not saying I know any particular person would, I just don't want that • debate
> > started). I personally don't believe God makes bad things happen, but • that
> > they just happen, and God is with us to catch us when we fall, and to • comfort
> > us when we are down.
>
> I don't want to enter into debate either. While obviously I don't take • any
> comfort in this sort of thinking, I very much appreciate you taking the • time
> to explain your beliefs, and am honestly glad that they bring you and • others
> comfort.
>
> Sorry to have misinterpreted the sentiment behind the images, and I'm glad • I
> didn't jump to immediate conclusions about them.
>
> -Rev. Smith
>
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