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atheism, blogging, humor, insanitybytes22, rants, unseen things
I really enjoy my eyes, my ability to see nature in all her glory. I do live in the 9th circuit of hell, but the scenery is really beautiful, from snow capped mountains all the way to the ocean, from the rain forest to the prairies. It is just breathtaking, a visual feast 24/7.
Just the same, some of my favorite things are the things unseen. I have a window where you cannot really see any trees and it is so easy to look outside, see the still, calm air, only to open the front door and get hit by a blast of wind. I love the surprise of having totally misjudged the weather and allowed my lying eyes deceive me.
I really enjoy the warmth of the sun. That is something else that cannot be seen, it must be felt. It is so amazing how sunlight travels all through frigid space without warming a single thing…. until it hits your face.
Most forms of energy are invisible to the human eye. I have a bunch of hair so I can walk into a room and balloons will just start to stick to me. The other day I shocked my husband pretty good just touching him.
There are other forms of energy too, and biological components like pheromones, chemicals we cannot see, but they can affect our behavior. We can sense the tension in a room, we can feel the anxiety or feel the silence. When people (and animals) interact, there is an exchange that happens on a chemical level that is completely invisible to us. We sometimes joke about dogs and their pee-mail, and while it’s rather disgusting to contemplate, people also exchange energy and chemicals with one another, hopefully in a more refined way.
Most of the germ world is invisible to the naked eye. We need microscopes and even that can be an imperfect science. Much of the time we’re actually looking for an immune response rather then a bug itself, because it’s simply too tiny, too elusive. Half of the things we think we know about germs today, will be debunked tomorrow.
I could go on and on and bore you with all my examples of the unseen things of the world, but I just want to say that those who try to claim God is not real because they cannot see a cut and dry figure standing right in front of them have got to be some of the biggest science deniers trying walk upright in the world. Seriously, who ties your shoelaces for you in the morning?
It is from science herself that we have learned that not everything “real” is easily visible to the human eye. There are sounds we cannot hear, there are forces we cannot see, and there are still things in the universe we do not fully understand. The insolence and arrogance of mankind however, is downright legendary, with ample cross referenced, peer reviewed science and history to demonstrate it.
See, there's this thing called biology... 
I feed Terrible the Cat from a dainty little kitten bowl. When she doesn’t leave any left overs a certain neighborhood dog becomes chagrined and makes off with the bowl and dumps it on a lawn up the street; obviously seeking someone who actually loves animals and takes some modicum of responsibility for Animal Planet, for gosh sakes.
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Ahh, I like that very much. 🙂
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It is not a small thing to admit God is real and with us. We are frightened of God because we have no control of Him. He is too holy for us to control, and because He is holy He demands holiness from us. No one wants to give up their sins. No one wants to put the love of God before the love of their self.
Why is the fear of the Lord the beginning of wisdom? To admit our fear is real is to admit God is real.
Before Martin Luther understood how much God loves us — before he conceived of the magnitude of God’s grace, what Jesus had done for us when He died for our sins — Luther feared God. Luther feared God’s Law and the punishment for sin. Only when Luther understood that we are saved by faith could he trust and love God. Then Luther fears began to subside.
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Tom, it’s a common misnomer that we are “saved by faith” as you said. The section in Ephesians says we are saved by Grace THRU Faith. The two are not equal statements.
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Agreed!
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Tom, I love that point you made about how, “to admit our fear is real is to admit God is real.” I’ve written a fair amount about some of the “good” kinds of fear, like roller coasters or skydiving, or perhaps jumping off a ledge into your father’s arms. That’s why we call it, “a leap of faith.”
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I disagree slightly IB with Tom’s portion you quoted. To admit my fear is real says nothing about how real the threat or basis of that fear is. Otherwise the monster under my bed or in my closet as a child was REALLY there. Fears are not always founded on fact or reality. To imply that they are simply because we have them… is silly and a bit dangerous, not the least to say amazingly poor thinking.
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You have missed some of our previous discussions and posts about fear, but the word in the Bible in this case, “fear of God” is probably better translated as “awe of God.” That’s why we are still singing “Our God is an Awesome God.”
Long ago we would say “fearsome,” as a really good thing, as a compliment. Fearsome once meant, “inspires awe.” It was a good thing. Sometimes it even meant, handsome, wildly attractive. One could be fearsome at their job.
We run about in modern times saying “fear is a liar,” because that kind of fear almost always is. Being awed by the power of God and trusting in Him is what gives us courage. Fears are founded on the wrong facts and the wrong reality.
It’s a tricky concept to try to explain to people because so many of us today equate fear with abuse and exploitation. The thing is, to draw close to God we really do need to confront our fears. Fear of the Lord really is the beginning of wisdom. If God is not scary and fearsome, then He is not scary and fearsome enough to protect me.
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I was only referring to his comment that to admit the fear demonstrates the reality. It does not, as I said. It’s a bit of lazy and wishful thinking. I am aware of the different interpretations of the “fear of God” in general.
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Hmm, interesting. Fear itself is yet another unseen thing. It is real, it has a tangible substance to it. It may well be based on lies and the wrong facts, but that doesn’t make it “not real.” So many people outside of faith are dominated by their fears of God, often without even realizing it. They have a multitude of preconceived notions about why they should avoid Him. While that might be based on false information and lies, it is still very real.
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“Tangible substance” to concepts and feelings? Surely you’re either jesting or just hyperbolizing. Again, simply because we feel or can conceive of something being real enough to be afraid.. or “be in awe of it” if you like.. isn’t demonstration of its Reality. You’re committing a logical fallacy and category error. I’m a believer in God and a follower of Jesus Christ. But we don’t need to say such silly and irrational things to support our Faith or answer our critics.
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Well yes, feelings are a real thing, they are tangible. Here we are talking about them and we base that conservation on knowing quite well that they exist.
Jesus Himself said, “what is truth?” So while we are saved by grace, what we believe, what we speak with our mouth, what we perceive as true, also shapes our reality. As I sometimes say, “whether we believe we are saved or we believe we are not, we’re probably right.” While we are saved by grace, some participation on our part is still required.
If one believes their master is, “a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate,” that is going to be one’s worldview and they will behave accordingly. It may be based on lies but the response is real enough.
When it comes to beliefs and feelings, the fact that they are lying to you, does not change the fact that you now suffer the real consequences of being deceived.
It seems a bit silly to believe one can simply tell someone the monsters under there bed are not real and they will just magically poof away. It’s also a bit arrogant, because one actually doesn’t really know what might be lurking under someone’s bed.
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“Perceptible by touch”. I’ll just leave this here.
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Well, I have just attempted to explain how we can be “touched” by things we cannot see or even feel with our fingertips. They are still real.
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It’s important that they can’t see God. That’s proof to them, and that makes them the most powerful.
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The legendary arrogance of nan.
Classic. 5*’s.
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By the way, as a point of my own Participation or comment on the post in general. I would say… “Not believing in things, or persons in this case, is as ‘natural’ and Believing is ‘Supernatural’.” One is a gift of our Natural Senses… what we can and cannot detect or know by simply Natural Means. The other is a Gift of the Supernatural Revelation of God to the heart and mind and spirit of the person who is open and receptive. God grants what we cannot attain by our own Natural Senses.
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Yes, but one problem with that definition is that germs, sunlight, and pheromones are not supernatural things. They are real, material, and do not require any special revelation from God to know.
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And those things are all detectable by scientific methods
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Reblogged this on clydeherrin.
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Wow! That’s a few things to think about. To think when I walk with my 8 yr old granddaughter I tell her not to just look ahead, but to look down and don’t miss the tiny things. And then to look up for cloud formations, birds and sunsets. I had not thought of the things unseen. Thanks!
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