Who we worship or pray to depends on what we want and make out of the god or saint we hold on to as object of veneration.
Even if we pray to God Almighty but perceive him as the reservoir of our far from divinely expectations, then there arise in the God figure or iconic representation not God but the embodiment of one far from godly.
We may then make the devil out of the God or saint we em-place in a church or temple. That is sad but is a reality of the modern age of 2014 and beyond.
Likewise, if we pray to the image of a saint or god whom many decry as pagan worship and proclaim that we are influenced by the devil and of the devil, then are we truly of the devil?
Well, this need not be so. God would have forbidden it if it was so. Well again, men say that God gives free will and this extends to the free-will to say others' God is not God but Satan or the devil. Is God so narrow minded and intolerant, so petty and conniving like the many who are bigots?
If we pray to the wrong image or representation of God or saint and even if it happens to be of the devil, what matters is what we want or make out of him.
If we see in him the goodness of God and saint, and if in the process we model our individual precious life and soul in this holistic and wholesome goodness, we make God and saint out of the seemingly devil of an image in that temple or church.
Then though far from God or saint, having em-placed the devil of an image as God in the temple, we are near though far from God and saint. The far may be near and the near far.
The good at heart may be in the temple of the devil but if he has God in his heart in all thoughts, words and deeds, though far as he is in the temple of the devil, he is near to God.
He may indeed be nearer to God than one in the temple or church of God and saint but has the heart of the devil in all his thoughts, words and deeds.
Thus the saying of Lord Bo Tien that the far may be near and the near far is one saying we must remember and reflect to at all times.
It is applicable and holds true even in any of the temples under his name. The pioneers and elders may rightly or wrongly preceive some of the younger lot or upstarts as gone with the wind as far as mission and doctrine to save souls is concerned.
They may be heavy laden at heart and think somehow that so-and-so is simply not up to the mark but please don't be opinionated. Don't ever be too sure.
Even if he is way off the mark and has detoured and gone astray, so long as that so-and-so persists and stays in the temple of the lord, one fine day that so-and-so will reach the end point even if he has detoured umpteen times.
He may be that wrong now and may have even misdirected the temple of the lord to the ever mundane social and worldly pursuits. He may bury away the more wholesome and worthy spiritual and doctrinal goals. That would be no loss, so long as he is in the temple of the lord.
He may however be like the turtle in the turtle and the hare story. Though he may be outright wrong to begin with but so long as he is in the temple of the lord, he may indeed arrive at the spiritual end-point earlier than the hare who is conceited. Though he has gone for the mundane, he may well stand the chance of going back to the supra-mundane, so long as he is in the temple of the lord.
He may be that wrong now and may have even misdirected the temple of the lord to the ever mundane social and worldly pursuits. He may bury away the more wholesome and worthy spiritual and doctrinal goals. That would be no loss, so long as he is in the temple of the lord.
He may however be like the turtle in the turtle and the hare story. Though he may be outright wrong to begin with but so long as he is in the temple of the lord, he may indeed arrive at the spiritual end-point earlier than the hare who is conceited. Though he has gone for the mundane, he may well stand the chance of going back to the supra-mundane, so long as he is in the temple of the lord.
On the other hand, that so-and-so may well not be like the turtle as in the fable of the turtle and the hare. That so-and-so may be seeing and expecting all the wrong things in the temple and the saint of that temple. Though the image is of the lord saint, he may see in the image all the wrong things and end up worshiping the devil instead of the saint.
There is always the danger of men making a devil out of God and saint in a temple and that is more common than we think. This is as long as men think that they are right and others wrong. The word is bigotry.
Is bigotry an issue with religions in the modern world of 2014 and beyond? It may even be an issue within the folds of the same temple and with members and followers of the same God and saint.
Perhaps, devilising God and saint is indeed a problem with some men.
We must see the Doctrine or Word in the saint and not the devil in the saint. The image is the doctrine and the doctrine is the image. This Lord Bo Tien said with respect to his image in his temple.
The problem dear readers is that the devil in man may make a devil out of the image of a saint in the temple of God and saint. Then the temple will appear to be a temple of man rather than of God and saint. The truth is that the temple may descend to lowly level and be a temple of the devil in man.
This is not an uncommon fate of religions and the temples and churches of men. Sad this may be but how else can there be adequate satisfaction of any sorts when men call the tune and not God and saints.
Men may often act on their own word and their word then would seem to be the word of God. Men indeed have the potential to make mockery out of the otherwise good image of God and saints. How else can there be the many unkind acts of all kind and imagination in the name of God and saints?
Men indeed are supposed to be kind and benevolent to those who have erred and to those who do not see eye to eye with them but there is at times not even an inch of give and take.
How unloving can they be. They are far from being able to love their enemies and those who are not with them.
A problem of men is that often men supposedly of God and saint may end up devilising the good image of God and saint.
Omitofo.
There is always the danger of men making a devil out of God and saint in a temple and that is more common than we think. This is as long as men think that they are right and others wrong. The word is bigotry.
Is bigotry an issue with religions in the modern world of 2014 and beyond? It may even be an issue within the folds of the same temple and with members and followers of the same God and saint.
Perhaps, devilising God and saint is indeed a problem with some men.
We must see the Doctrine or Word in the saint and not the devil in the saint. The image is the doctrine and the doctrine is the image. This Lord Bo Tien said with respect to his image in his temple.
The problem dear readers is that the devil in man may make a devil out of the image of a saint in the temple of God and saint. Then the temple will appear to be a temple of man rather than of God and saint. The truth is that the temple may descend to lowly level and be a temple of the devil in man.
This is not an uncommon fate of religions and the temples and churches of men. Sad this may be but how else can there be adequate satisfaction of any sorts when men call the tune and not God and saints.
Men may often act on their own word and their word then would seem to be the word of God. Men indeed have the potential to make mockery out of the otherwise good image of God and saints. How else can there be the many unkind acts of all kind and imagination in the name of God and saints?
Men indeed are supposed to be kind and benevolent to those who have erred and to those who do not see eye to eye with them but there is at times not even an inch of give and take.
How unloving can they be. They are far from being able to love their enemies and those who are not with them.
A problem of men is that often men supposedly of God and saint may end up devilising the good image of God and saint.
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| Lord Bo Tien |
