Salvation(?)
Salvation. Heaven. God is above and the devil down below. God punishes those who are bad and rewards those who are good. God speaks to those who love him and seek him. And if you can’t hear him surely you’re not praying hard enough.
Does Jesus exist? Is there a heaven? I don’t know. I can only speak for myself and say that I can relate to Langston. Although as a child my faith was not put to the test, I just assumed god and Jesus existed because the adults assured me they did. Till I was somewhat old enough to question if there really was someone on the other end of my prayer. I never felt any divine presence and I’ve never heard any other voice in my head besides my own. I’ve never seen any form of god, buddah, holy spirit, Krishna nor have any burning bushes made any conversation with me. Like Langston, I wanted to see any divine form or shape of a god or high being. It can be said that what I had was a gradual realization. At first I felt shameful for even doubting the existence of a god for I had been raised to be catholic and what would my mother think of me then? Then I read about other cultures and their deities and I asked myself what made ‘’my god’’ any less false than all these other cultures gods? It’s really too long of a story to tell here but till now my conclusion, and I’m still keeping an open mind about it, is that god is an idea. God is an idea there to help answer lifes complicated questions and dilemmas. And if by chance these result to be too complicated to explain in simple terms are justified with ‘God works in mysterious ways’ or ‘god has a plan’.
I remember going with my mom to my grandma’s grave on mother’s day to leave flowers, and as we made our way out I spotted an area within the cemetery that seemed to be separate from the rest of the other graves. I looked up at my mom and asked her why was this so? She answered that the people buried in those graves were people who didn’t believe in god, people who believed in money. Little did I know she was referring to atheists (although her definition of atheist was wrong). Little did she know her daughter would one day be an atheist.
In Langstons situation, surrounded by fervent christians I think he did make the right decision. I doubt those around him would have accepted that he hadn’t seen jesus and said ‘well I guess it’s not for everyone’. My guess is that they would’ve thought that something was surely wrong with him. This young poor lost lamb who, only jesus knows why, can’t (wont?) see the light. Poor Lanston indeed might’ve either be forced to attend religious retreats, or to sit on a bench while all the elderly women and men and nuns and priests prayed loudly around him for as long as it took for him to feel/see jesus before declaring this lamb officially impure, lost or tormented with evil spirits.
The similarity I see between Langston and Rachel from Eleven is just how they were both unsure of how they should react. Both children who lacked experience in life, that’s about it.
Does Jesus exist? Is there a heaven? I don’t know. I can only speak for myself and say that I can relate to Langston. Although as a child my faith was not put to the test, I just assumed god and Jesus existed because the adults assured me they did. Till I was somewhat old enough to question if there really was someone on the other end of my prayer. I never felt any divine presence and I’ve never heard any other voice in my head besides my own. I’ve never seen any form of god, buddah, holy spirit, Krishna nor have any burning bushes made any conversation with me. Like Langston, I wanted to see any divine form or shape of a god or high being. It can be said that what I had was a gradual realization. At first I felt shameful for even doubting the existence of a god for I had been raised to be catholic and what would my mother think of me then? Then I read about other cultures and their deities and I asked myself what made ‘’my god’’ any less false than all these other cultures gods? It’s really too long of a story to tell here but till now my conclusion, and I’m still keeping an open mind about it, is that god is an idea. God is an idea there to help answer lifes complicated questions and dilemmas. And if by chance these result to be too complicated to explain in simple terms are justified with ‘God works in mysterious ways’ or ‘god has a plan’.
I remember going with my mom to my grandma’s grave on mother’s day to leave flowers, and as we made our way out I spotted an area within the cemetery that seemed to be separate from the rest of the other graves. I looked up at my mom and asked her why was this so? She answered that the people buried in those graves were people who didn’t believe in god, people who believed in money. Little did I know she was referring to atheists (although her definition of atheist was wrong). Little did she know her daughter would one day be an atheist.
In Langstons situation, surrounded by fervent christians I think he did make the right decision. I doubt those around him would have accepted that he hadn’t seen jesus and said ‘well I guess it’s not for everyone’. My guess is that they would’ve thought that something was surely wrong with him. This young poor lost lamb who, only jesus knows why, can’t (wont?) see the light. Poor Lanston indeed might’ve either be forced to attend religious retreats, or to sit on a bench while all the elderly women and men and nuns and priests prayed loudly around him for as long as it took for him to feel/see jesus before declaring this lamb officially impure, lost or tormented with evil spirits.
The similarity I see between Langston and Rachel from Eleven is just how they were both unsure of how they should react. Both children who lacked experience in life, that’s about it.