Ode to the bullet dodged...

Ok, there's no ode, but there is definitely a dodged bullet!  Paul was my first husband.  We had some good times, but as I grew into adulthood (we married as soon as I got out of HS), I came to realize the "ride" was not the direction I wanted my life to go.  He was always pretty church-oriented, and church was NEVER my thing.  Preachy, always right, judgemental... I think he really tried to subdue some of these traits, but I always felt him "holding them back", probably because he knew those things turned me off.  And I have a feeling that once we split, his desire to be the self-righteous know-it-all took off like a bat out of hell!  Since he retired, some of his posts to FB have been infuriating.  I try to resist comment, because I've always been of the opinion "live and let live" and if someone wants to hold oppressive, archaic and sanctimonious viewpoints, that's none of my business.  

Here's his recent post that's been buzzing around my head like an annoying fly:

     Ever wonder how much power the devil has? We know that he only has the power that God has allowed him to have. And he is a created being, an angel that rebelled against God. So he has less power than God.

     But consider this. Jesus, the Son of God, and God in human flesh, was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness and after forty nights was tempted to change stones into bread, because He was hungry, and of course, Jesus refused to give in to the temptation.

     Then according to Matthew 4, the devil first TOOK Jesus from the wilderness and had Jesus stand on the highest point of the temple and tempted Him, which of course, Jesus chose to reject the devil's offer.

     Following that, the devil TOOK Jesus, God in flesh, from the highest point of the temple to a very high mountain and again tempted Jesus, but again, Jesus rejected satan's temptation.

     If God, the Father, allowed the devil to TAKE Jesus, God in human flesh, from one place to another simply to test Jesus, then think about this.

     Could God allow satan to TAKE you from one physical place to another physical place if he so desired, to tempt you? Most of us do not need to be physically TAKEN, we simply need to be presented with a temptation, to fail, and satan knows that.

     The only power we have to resist the devil is to turn our lives over to God and allow the Holy Spirit to give us the power to resist Satan. Without the power that comes to each of us who believe in Jesus when the Holy Spirit comes and lives within us, we cannot resist the temptations that the devil and his spirits TAKE us too.

     But because we believe in Jesus, we know that the Holy Spirit comes into us to give us the power to say, “ Away from me, satan.” And because God is all powerful, the devil and/or his spirits have to obey.

     The best part: You can be free from anything the devil TAKES you to. All you have to do is allow Jesus full authority in your life. It's the hardest and easiest thing you will ever do.

Okey-dokey. I don't even know where to start... I won't even go into my opinion about The Bible because it has become abundantly clear to me that most people have been brainwashed and convinced of its validity.  Of course I believe in God.  But I certainly do NOT believe in the God that is portrayed in The Bible!  That guy is a vengeful, hateful son-of-a-bitch!  My God, on the other hand, is loving, never violent, always benevolent... He created us and loves us for all we are, in spite of our shortcomings, in spite of our worst "sins".  "Right" and "wrong" are concepts that are built into us and comes in the form of a conscience, and none of us need to stop and think "am I breaking a commandment"?  None of us need to ask for forgiveness from God.  He created us and he accepts us for who we are, no matter what. Our conscience guides us and when we don't listen, we may have something to apologize to ourselves for, and sometimes there is an injured party that needs an apology.  But God is simply an observer, sometimes a confidant, someone who we inherently love and look to for strength.  

When people start touting the concept of the Devil, it's all about one thing.  Control.  And that's why Hell and all of that was made up.  To control. To "keep people in line".  But think about this to its logical conclusion... Why would a good, pure, loving God create a monster like the Devil to torture his children for eternity?  Does that sound like a God you want to worship?  Not me!  "Oh, Satan was a 'fallen angel' who turned evil."  Well, God is his creator, and as so, he certainly could have destroyed him to protect his children, right?  Or at the very least, he could have denied him the power to "take" his children to a place of eternal damnation, assuming it exists.  But no... the Bible Thumpers would rather believe that God would let the creature come into our lives and "tempt" us to do bad things that take us away from God's grace and condemns our souls to Hell. Really?  You believe in THAT God?

I guess if some people want to believe in that God, that's their prerogative.  The concept of the vengeful God was what always completely turned me off about traditional religion and kept me looking for the truth.  Because I do not believe for a moment that the story that The Bible paints could possibly be true.  And if I'm mistaken and it IS, that explains the human propensity for war and hatefulness towards each other.  It's everywhere in The Bible.  

I don't believe we have anything to be "saved" from.  Jesus was an extraordinary human being whose message contradicted the violent message of the Old Testement, the one that was meant to control the masses.  His message threatened the powers that be of the time, and he was crucified to stop his message from changing the status quo.  I don't believe Jesus was any closer to God than any of the rest of us, except in the fact that he maintained his connection to God (I call it "source") better than most of us do.  What I'm trying to say is that I don't think we have to "accept a Savior" to be in God's good graces.  We are born into pure positive love and nothing we can do here on earth will stop us from returning to pure positive love when we leave these bodies behind. The only "hell" that exists is the one we create here when we ignore our God-given conscience.  

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Well, it's the first day of the new year.  2023 started out pretty rough.  I'm at that point, as I was after Mark died, where I'm regularly thinking "a year ago right now..." about where Mom was in her process.  I don't really remember any specifics about Jan. 1st last year, but I just remember the feeling of that time.  Sadness that I couldn't be more helpful, that she was feeling so miserable.  I just tried to be there for her and do what I could for her.  But I'd rather not dwell there...

I'm hopeful that 2024 will have better times.  My hip is not responding as well as I'd hoped to the soft wave therapy, so I'm thinking about stopping that and just getting on with Dr. Jana and a hip replacement.  I just worry a bit that this time, I'm on my own with no one to assist me.  It wasn't a really difficult recovery with the other hip.  In fact, it was pretty darn easy.  But the first few days, I needed a bit of help... not much, mind you.  I could pretty much take care of myself, but it was more about having someone there "just in case".  I think if I asked Aunt Judi, she would come back and hang with me for a few days.  I may give that some thought...

I'm going to apply for the property tax relief now that I'm 65, but I guess it wouldn't be effective until next year, meaning I have to come up with the $4000 this year.  ($1000 more than last!)  I'll manage it, but it just seems everything keeps going up and up.  I swear, groceries cost me more just for ME than it did for Mark & I.  Of course, I eat out a lot less, so I am saving money there.  Gas is now more than electric.  A little over a year ago, I bought one of those devices that's supposed to "clean up" your electricity and make everything more "efficient".  It touts reducing you electric bill by 50%, even up to 80% or something like that.  Well, I looked at my usage for the 12 months after I bought it and 9 of them were MORE than the year before!  Seems to be having the opposite effect for me! GRRR!

Well, dinner is almost ready so I will stop here.