It would be far better to live in an illusion of purpose for this suffering world as preparation for a sufficiently joyful one to come, than to settle for this life's reality as an end and not a beginning. It would be far better to "pretend" that there is more, than to live in the view that this is all there is.
As wonderfully illustrated in C.S. Lewis' The Narnia Chronicles: The Silver Chair:
The children and Puddlegum, the Marshwiggle (something like a large frog with a human upper body and webbed feet) are imprisoned by a wicked witch in the Underworld. The witch is playing wicked magical music and releasing magical incense to make the group forget that there is an Overworld, or a sunshine, or an Aslan (the metaphorical Lion-Christ character in the story).
As the wicked magic works, Jill says:
"No, I suppose that other world must be all a dream."
"Yes. It is all a dream," said the Witch, always thrumming [the music]."
"Yes, all a dream," said Jill.
"There never was such a world," said the Witch.
"No," said Jill and Scrubb, "never was such a world."
"There never was any world but mine,'" said the Witch.
"There never was any world but yours," said they.
Puddleglum was still fighting hard. "I don't know rightly what you all mean by a world," he said, talking like a man who hasn't enough air. "But you can play that fiddle til your fingers drop off, and still you won't make me forget Narnia; and the whole Overworld too. We'll never see it again, I shouldn't wonder. You may have blotted it out and turned it dark like this, for all I know. Nothing more likely. But I know I was there once. I've seen the sky full of stars. I've seen the sun coming up out of the sea of a morning and seen him up in the midday sky when I couldn't look at him for brightness."
Puddleglum's words had a very rousing effect. The other three all breathed again and looked at one another like people newly awakened.
"Why, there it is!" cried the Prince. "Of course! The blessing of Aslan upon this honest Marshwiggle. We have all been dreaming, these last few minutes. How could we have forgotten it? Of course we’ve all seen the sun."
"By Jove, so we have!" said Scrubb. "Good for you, Puddleglum! You're the only one of us with any sense, I do believe."
Then came the Witch's voice, cooing softly like the voice of a wood-pigeon from the high elms in an old garden at three o'clock in the middle of a sleepy summer afternoon; and it said:
What is the sun that you all speak of? Do you mean anything by the word?"
"Yes, we jolly well do," said Scrubb.
"Can you tell me what it's like?" asked the Witch (thrum thrum thrum went the strings).
"Please it your Grace," said the Prince, very coldly and politely. "You see that lamp. It is round and yellow and gives light to the whole room; and hangeth moreover from the roof. Now that thing which we call the sun is like the lamp, only far greater and brighter. It giveth light to the whole Overworld and hangeth in the sky."
"Hangeth from what, my lord?" asked the Witch; and then, while they were all still thinking how to answer her, she added, with another of her soft, silver laughs. "You see? When you try to think out clearly what this sun must be, you cannot tell me. You can only tell me it is like the lamp. Your sun is a dream; and there is nothing in that dream that was not copied from the lamp. The lamp is the real thing; the sun is but a tale, a children's story."
"Yes, I see now," said Jill in a heavy, hopeless tone. "It must be so." And while she said this, it seemed to her to be very good sense.
Slowly and gravely the Witch repeated, "There is no sun." And they all said nothing. She repeated, in a softer and deeper voice. "There is no sun." After a pause and after a struggle in their minds, all four of them said together. "You are right. There is no sun." It was such a relief to give in and say it.
"There never was a sun," said the Witch.
"No. There never was a sun," said the Prince, and the Marsh-wiggle and the children.
For the last few minutes, Jill ad been feeling that there was something she must remember at all costs. And now she did. But it was dreadfully hard to say it. She felt as if huge weights were laid on her lips. At last, with an effort that seemed to take all the good out of her, she said:
"There's Aslan."
"Aslan?" said the Witch, quickening ever so slightly the pace of her thrumming. "What a pretty name! What does it mean?"
"He is the great Lion who called us out of our own world," said Scrubb, "and sent us into this to find Prince Rilian."
"What is a lion?" asked the Witch.
"Oh hang it all!" said Scrubb. "Don't you know? How can we describe it to her? Have you ever seen a cat?"
"Surely," said the Queen. "I love cats."
"Well a lion is a little bit - only a little bit, mind you - like a huge cat - with a mane. At least, it's not like a horse's mane, you know, it's more like a judge's wig. And it's yellow. And terrifically strong."
The Witch shook her head. "I see," she said, "that we should do no better with your lion, as you call it, than we did with your sun. You have seen lamps, and so you imagined a bigger and better lamp and called it the sun. You've seen cats, and now you want a bigger and better cat, and called it a lion. Well, 'tis a pretty make-believe, though, to say truth, it would suit you all better if you were younger. And look how you can put nothing into your make-believe without copying it from the real world, this world of mine, which is the only world. But even you children are too old for such play. As for you, my lord Prince, that art a man full grown, fie upon you! Are you not ashamed of such toys? Come, all of you. Put away these childish tricks. I have work for you all in the real world. There is no Narnia, no Overworld, no sky, no sun, no Aslan. And now, to bed all. And let us begin a wiser live tomorrow. But first, to bed; to sleep, soft pillows, sleep without foolish dreams."
The Prince and the children were standing with their heads hung down, their cheeks flushed, their eyes half closed; the strength all gone from them; the enchantment almost complete. But Puddleglum, desperately gathering all his strength, walked over to the fire. Then he did a very brave thing. He knew it wouldn't hurt him quite as much as it would hurt a human; for his feet (which were bare) were webbed and hard and cold-blooded like a duck's. But he knew it would hurt him badly enough; and so it did. With his bare foot he stamped on the fire, grinding a large part of it into ashes on the flat hearth. And three things happened at once.
First, the sweet heavy smell grew very much less. For though the whole fire had not been put out, a good bit of it had, and what remained smelled very largely of burnt Marsh-wiggle, which is not at all an enchanting smell. This instantly made everyone's brain far clearer. The Prince and the children held up their heads again and opened their eyes.
Secondly, the Witch, in a loud, terrible voice utterly different from all the sweet tones she had been using up till now, called out, "What are you doing? Dare to touch my fire again, mud-filth, and I'll turn the blood to fire inside your veins."
Thirdly, the pain itself made Puddleglum's head for a moment perfectly clear and he knew exactly what he really thought. There is nothing like a good shock of pain for dissolving certain kinds of magic.
"One word, Ma'am," he said, coming back from the fire; limping, because of the pain. "One word. All you've been saying is quite right, I shouldn't wonder. I'm a chap who always liked to know the worst and then put the best face I can on it. So I won't deny any of what you said. But there's one thing more to be said, even so. Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things - trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that's a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We're just babies making up a game, if you're right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That's why I'm going to stand by the play world. I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia. So, thanking you kindly for our supper, if these two gentlemen and the young lady are ready, we're leaving your court at once and setting out in the dark to spend our lives looking for Overland. Not that our lives will be very long, I should think; but that's small loss if the world's as dull a place as you say."
Providing healing and hope for so many who are deprived of either or both, the literature of the 12-step programs states "Would you rather be right or would you rather be happy?" And gives the possibility of the practice of "Acting as If" the God of your best hope exists.
For me and for many others who are caring and honest, if this poor, painful world is all that exists, it is too depressing and terrible to accept as it is. Other than occasional momentary pleasurable experience from our five senses (And that, if we happen to be "lucky" enough to live in a situation that allows those), as Thoreau said, "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them." and the others have generally numbed themselves to deny the meaninglessness of this life with physical pleasure, humanitarian pursuits, what the world values as success or accomplishment or convincing themselves that there is a better life beyond this one via speculating on the spiritual and practicing that (whistling in the dark).
No human really "knows" if there is reason and purpose for this life beyond just transitory animal existence i.e. "survival of the fittest"...or if there is anything beyond this life to hope for. There are many individuals who will tell you that they "know" that there is a God and who He is and what His intentions and desires are (often punitive and exclusionary versions), but it is because of their own need (as we all have) to reassure themselves about their existence beyond this life that they say that they "know". (These are the people that scare me the most!) They in fact do NOT "know"(although their having convinced themselves that they "know" and are "right" leads to negative judgment of others at least and attempts to marginalize, condemn, deprive, and even exterminate others at its worst). While God - or whatever "Force" may be out there - has NOT chosen to give any irrefutable or repeatable evidence in this historical era to validate their claims (or anyone's claims). No one is able to consistently give repeatable "proof" that power, mind, intelligent design or existence exists beyond this material world.
There is no one today that can consistently turn water into wine, walk on water, raise the dead, give sight to the blind, feed 5,000 with two fish and five loaves of bread as evidence that what they "know" is The Truth...or can say "the works that I do in the name (nature/character) of my Father bear witness of me." Thus validating that what they say about a spiritual existence is Truth.
So, none of us can say that we "know" God exists and that we know His plans and understand His methods with any real accuracy, since none of us can validate what we say by any irrefutable witness that can be reliable reproduced in this material world - a"witness" from the "other side" as to our credibility.
And, if there is a Creator-God there, He has not chosen to give this kind of validation to this historical period (and any recent) in order to clarify His existence and intentions. If He exists, it seems to me that for now He has ordained that we humans are in the position that we do NOT "know". And it certainly gives the appearance "For God has shut up ALL into lack of persuasion that to ALL He may show mercy/pardon." Romans 11:32. For this and other reasons in His purposes, He has chosen for us to NOT "know" that He is there or clearly what His nature/character/plans are.
There are so many, if not all, humans who follow various explanations or pursuits that give them a small hope or feelings that this life has meaning and purpose, according to the desire that all we humans have to feel that they may continue to exist and/or to have meaning.
But starving people will eat mud if there is nothing else. And most of the "spiritual" concepts that individuals "Act as If" are true, are the spiritual equivalent of MUD (often bearing little nutrition and often rippling out to other with hatred and destructive effects). But in the absence of clear communication (and reproducible to others) from the "beyond"/God/The Creator, it is the best that they can do and have been "given" (see the post of 3/17/16.... as to God's responsibility to make Himself known/trusted versus man's responsibility to trust/know.)
SOOOOOO...if you understand that it does not seem to be available in this time period to be "right"...and "know" you are right (with all the hazards to yourself and others that seem to ripple out from that) and you would rather be more "happy" than viewing this world and this life as the miserable and temporary existence that it is: I suggest the possibility - that I have found - of INVENTING and practicing the illusion of 1.the most wonderful destiny you can imagine (for all mankind), 2.the most wonderful purpose you can imagine for this life, and 3.the most wonderful Person/Mind behind it all that you can imagine. (see "Song" tab on Home Page of this blog for: If I Am Imagining You). In the future, I hope to post some work-sheets for you deciding what kind practice of God would be most likely to give you comfort, hope, usefulness, and non-negative-judgment of yourself and others.
But it is important to continually remind yourself that you are "imagining" in order to avoid the pitfalls of those who have convinced themselves that they "know" (negative judgment of others, and negative behaviors toward them as well as negative judgments of themselves when they violate what they think they "know" or what others have told them is "right").
The beautiful "illusion" that I practice (that is based on my own translation and interpretation of the Bible from the original languages) is:
- That a Creator God who is Absolutely Loving, Wise, Omniscient, Omnipotent, and Unique apart from everything that He/She/Both has created is There.
- That He/She/Both created this world/universe (and all others) in order to create/form/fabricate an eternal family that will exist joyfully and creatively with Him and with each other
- That no person, spirit, or other minutia of His Creation has been left out and will each be a perfect and unique expression/tool/extension of Him/Her/Both for His/Her/Both AND our Fun, Laughter, Creativity throughout eternity in ways that we cannot now imagine with our limited earthly vision (The BIG Party!)
- That He/She/Both has ordained and implemented everything that has occurred from eternity past (before we or anything was created) in order to insure His/Her/Both purposes/goals.
- That our perceptions are "earthbound" and our understanding of "good" and "bad" are based on our material existence, with none or very limited ability to see how it is ALL ultimately Good for our development/formation for our "Real" existence in the next life
- That each one of us is His/Her/Both creation for His/Her/Both perfect plan and that not one of us is less worthy, since we ALL are the work of His Hand - and equally worthy because we are HIS/HER/BOTH work. AND He/She/Both cannot be other than perfect. "You are Perfect since your Father in Heaven is Perfect." so we as His/Her/Both Work cannot be other than perfect for those ultimate purposes and goal.
- "Free Will" is an illusion and is NOT in the Bible (and in fact was the original "lie" that Lucifer told that got his butt kicked out of heaven). God is absolutely in control and the ultimate source of everything that occurs for His/Her/Both Good and Perfect Purposes: Isaiah 64:8 "I AM the I AM Always AM, and there is NO OTHER. The One forming light and creating darkness; the One causing well being AND creating calamity. I, I AM Always AM, do ALL these."
- God reconciled ALL creation (including ALL humanity) to Himself through Himself - God the Son, Jesus of Nazareth and "rebirthed" all with His Spirit. John 30:19 "It is finished, completed, repaid, accomplished, perfected." "It is no longer I who live but the Anointed lives in me and the life that I now life in the flesh I live by the faith (Greek root: persuasion) of the Son of God (Hebrew/Greek: unique - one of a kind human - fully human and fully God).
I have found excellent justification in the scriptures in their original languages for the above and have shared some of it in previous "blogs" and will, [my] God willing, do so more in the future.
June
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