Abandoned by God?

Across the span of time and within every land there are people who have given up on believing in God. I believe that the decision to abandon faith is not made in haste, nor in a vacuum. I think that people have an idea of how God is supposed to be, how God is supposed to treat mankind in general and their own life in particular. Many of our thoughts and views of God come very early in childhood. I am not speaking about some type of formal religious teaching exclusively; such as Sunday School or Catechism. Everyday events in a child's life can enforce the teaching or mitigate it.

Life experiences are very powerful forces in our concept of God. Children that are encouraged and embraced as the gift they are to be the norm and not the exception. When that happens they can be guided through the turmoils of living that come to every person. They are nurtured and guided into a world that is at times filled with beauty and at the same time filled with unspeakable evil.

Due to circumstances in my formative and very impressionable times I began to believe that God had favorites upon the earth. If you or your family were lucky enough to be on the good list, you could expect good things. If you were not fortunate to be on the, good list, life was filled with unrest and turmoil. The turmoil in my life will be written about in later pieces. So, I began to imagine God as a being that had favorites and carried a big club.

As the turmoil and unrest continued to grow it also continued to feed my warped concept of God. There were certain reoccurring traumas that seemed to reinforce my concept even greater than the less stressful turmoils and sources of unrest. This, my concept of God, I carried on into adolescence and teen years.

The death of my brother and my perceived fragmentation of my parents following his death was the season of my deepest conviction of abandonment by God.

I will continue this for a while and try to fill in the blanks and make clear the time of my encounter with God Himself.

Slam of the gavel

On Saturday a friend of ours will be conducting an auction at our farm in the Hubbard Lake area. People from far and wide will come to look over, poke through, examine, and probe, through all kinds of stuff. An old antique cream separator, antique apple picking bags, old bouncy horses, a powered wheelchair, 100 gallon tree sprayer and lots of other stuff will go before the gavel of the auctioneer.

I agreed that there would not be any "reserves", that means that what it sells for is it. What I think is worth ten dollars may only be worth a buck. The highest bidder gets the prize, or junk, just a matter of opinion. Now, for the most part it is not such a big deal. Unless, unless something that we value, what determines value, is sold for a pittance. Once it is put into the hands of the auctioneer that is it. Now, a very positive point is this, I have complete, 100% trust, in the auctioneer. She has conducted hundreds of auctions all over the state. And, she is a good friend.

So, this Saturday a lot of stuff will leave the property, never to return. For the most part I will not miss any of it. Donna and I are beginning a new phase in our life and I am enjoying every minute of it. She is pastoring a wonderful congregation and I get to write and work on a mammoth carving and other wood projects. There will however be a bit of sadness as a few of the real treasures leave Genesis Farm.

I am so glad that the value of humanity in general, and me in particular is beyond measure and price. Even mankind in his ugliest hours has the same value as in his most noble and glorious hours. You were not bought back with corruptible things as with silver or gold from your sinful and former ways. But you were bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. The highest price ever determined was the price that had to be paid. The lifeblood of the incarnate Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Creator of all that was, is, and to be, was the price.