I awoke this morning feeling a little blue so I decided to read some Jonathan Edwards. His uplifting sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Originally delivered on a beautiful Sunday morning on July 8, 1741, it was given (as a gift would be given) by Edwards with impassioned enthusiasm and bored gusto. In Benjamin Turnbull's A Complete History of Conneticut (1797) we are told that Edwards read his sermon in a level voice with his sermon book in his left hand, and in spite of his calm demeanor “there was such breathing of distress, and weeping, that the preacher was obliged to speak to the people and desire silence, so that he might be heard.” Sweet!
The fact of the matter is we are all equally worthless and God hates us all. So Edward states:
“The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: His wrath toward you burns like fire; He looks upon as you as worthy of nothing else but be cast into the fire; He is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in His eyes than the most hateful venomous serpent in ours. You have offended Him infinitely more then ever a stubborn rebel did his prince; and it is nothing but His hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment.”
I love that passage... that passion. It oozes with hope and optimism doesn't it? As a boil, red and swollen, oozes out puss like a toothpaste tube being slowly squeezed from the bottom up.
Why does God hate us so? Same reason my own father hates me, or YOUR father probably hates you... because we have failed him in every conceivable way despite his generosity... despite the fact he has equipped us all with the means to succeed, to shine, to “lead the field.” He hates us because we are detestable, loathsome, gluttonous creatures, the lot of us, deserving of nothing more than being crushed like a disgusting, impuissant stink bug in the driveway when I back out my BMW.
“ If you cry to God to pity you, He will be so far from pitying in your doleful case, or showing you the least regard of favor, that instead of that, He will only tread you underfoot... He will crush out your blood, and make it fly and it shall be sprinkled on His garments, so as to stain all His raiment. He will not only hate you, but He will have you in the utmost contempt: no place shall be fit for you, but under His feet to be trodden down as the mire of the streets.”
Like a rotten carcass of a dead cat by the roadside with it's bones crushed to the point it no longer resembles a living animal, but a sticky, stained rug a hobo wouldn't even desire to keep in his cardboard box right Jon?
Remember God loves us, and he hates us. It's a bittersweet romance. If he didn't care about you or love you you'd wake up tomorrow and find yourself in Hell alongside Hitler and Vlad the Impaler and everyone else to be tortured and bound eternally facing your worst fears, covered in repugnant spiders and hissing cockroaches from Madagascar... and be served cold coffee like in that Gary Larson cartoon. Yes, they do think of everything.
So be sure to mind your P's and Q's. Don't worry be happy. Oh and Dad I did it, I am a fucking bum and a dismal failure. To quote good ol' Buk:
"You are a bum," he told me. "and you'll always be a bum!"
and I thought, if being a bum is to be the opposite of what this son of a bitch is, then that's what I'm going to be.
and it's too bad he's been dead so long for now he can't see how beautifully I've succeeded at that."
15 comments:
Yeah, God could do a bit better. Maybe he fell asleep? However, I know where I'm gonna go when I die...and it ain't goin' down!
Oye, buena foto, pelon.
deserving of nothing more than being crushed...
I don't quite agree.
The word God has become empty of meaning through thousands of years of misuse anyway. People who have never even glimpsed the realm of the sacred, the infinite vastness behind that word, use it with great conviction, as if they know what they are talking about. Or they argue against it, as if they knew what it is that they are denying. This misuse gives rise to absurd beliefs, assertions and egoic delusions, such as, “ If you cry to God to pity you, He will be so far from pitying in your doleful case..." or Nietzche's famous statement "God is dead."
Enjoyed your writing, as usual. Disagree with your thoughts but your rigid eloquence (if that makes sense) is certainly appreciated by me.
Wonderful, seriously - I take from this that you are not a god-fearing man at all, but one, like me, who adores well-versed vitriol like that spilled by Jonathan Edwards. Personally, when it comes to God and his like it's only entertainment I can see in it.
And, you just made it better by rounding up with some Charlie Buk - I read practically all his stuff some years back and you got me missing it bigtime.
Ruksak - well put. It is purely entertaining. Or, a way for organized religions to generate revenue. But I won't go there right now. I had to re-read after your comment because I took that Hermes is, in fact, a god-fearing man. Am I wrong?
Of course Hermes would round it up with the likes of Charlie Buk. Brilliant. As always.
Desolation Angel. God asleep at the wheel? Not a good thing.
Te sabes? Orale guey!
Exploring Idly. Thanks for the kind words. Yes, I think I probably would fear God if I felt I had done something truly wrong... something I'd eternally regret... which I haven't.
But you're right though, the word God has lost it's meaning. It seems those who claim to really believe in him nowadays are usually nefarious businessmen or hillbilly rednecks.
Ruksak. I love a good shot of vitriol. Especially that of the religious, fanatical kind. What better to chase it down with then some Buk?
Dolores Haze. 1700's about... look up the "Great Awakening." A lot of scary shit going on in the American colonies... witch hunts, the Quakers, the Shakers, the Puritans... However, the question I pose to you girl is what were they awakening from?
yeah, god helps you when you help yourself...i hate this fucking dependence mentality...we've been trained for years and hundreds of years to believe in that....do this and that and he'll favor you. bullshit.
part of growing up is to take on ones responsibilities and stop pointing at others - including god- eyah.
well, despite that i think this text is gorgeous. creating fear.
hm...
sort of, yeah, fits america, doesn't it.....nation of fears......
halleluja
ps for me being a godfearing person means in the first place to freakin leavin this planet alone! i mean, NOT destroying it in the first place. respecting mother earth. you know.
just think of it. what kid is worse. the one who doesn't get along with his dad or the one who abuses his mom???????????/
hello!
I like this piece, I now must go reflect over it.
So so true!
I like my conversations and eternal struggle with him.
And I don't hate myself (if, as it goes, He is I and I am Him...haven't been t'church for a while).
I doubt if God (to whatever manner of {un}conventional identity you ascribe h/s/i) is capable of hate.
It's a rather human emotion.
But the piece was darn good (again)
Piranha. Respect your mother... good point.
Admin. Ah yes, reflection. Like upon eating a good meal. Thanks for coming by.
No-stars. Edwards' archaic "hellfire and brimstone" beliefs obviously don't mirror mine... or anyone alive in the 21st century for that matter. However, I always get a kick reading his use of language and metaphors. As a fellow linguist I'm sure you'd agree it's quite delightful.
I think my god's indifferent to me. I imagine him on a stool in the corner, leaning back on its hind legs as he uses the wall for support, working ever so slowly on a pint of foamy Guinness and smirking at the amusing behaviour exhibited by his subjects.
Me, I think god's the ultimate spectator. The big fucking voyeur in the sky.
Lord knows that if this were my party, I'd be getting it all on tape, man.
Mark Twain wrote an awesome series called Letters from the Earth in which he writes from the Archangel Michael to his buddy, when he's cast from heaven to earth for punishment, and he watches the laughably pious behaviour of Mankind.
I think nearly every perception held by man of god is ridiculously base and uninspired. We have so little imagination, yet so little to go on. We've so simplified the mystical that it's become laughable.
I subscribe to none of it. It's all bullshit.
The Cunt.
lol. that was funny. and i really liked that picture of you- hot- now its back to ye' ol' cigarettes. oh well...
interesting perception of God. Very interesting.
...and here, more proof.
"god" is a woman.
"god" is a woman.#
I can go for that.
Steff. I personally wouldn't even go so far as to call God a spectator. I think he's fucking left us and went on to bigger and better things. We're an experiment... bacteria in a petri dish... or perhaps mold growing in a glass left on the table.
G.D. Only women display this kind of scorn. " Hell hath no fury..." right?
god doesn't care about us. it cares only for the web we weave.
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