Is the kingdom of heaven actually going to be as perfect as Christians imagine it? Is the lion really going to lie down with lamb? Is God really all-loving and omnipotent? Is that beam of light really infinite? That’s not really the point.
For believers (which I do not count myself among), leaving aside the beam of light, that very much is the point. That God really is up there/down here/in here and it is our duty to live as He has shown us. “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:8.)
I must wonder whether this “as if” conception of God will wear thin in adversity. Are you really going to put a life’s work into building a cathedral for the glory of God on that foundation?
I remember that back in the 60′s, the hippy era, the concept arose of the “earth mother”, a woman fulfilling an ideal of bountifulness, nurturing, and attunement to Mother Nature. It did not take long for people — or at least, the women — to realise that this was a scam to get the women to do all the cooking and provide free sex (which was called free love, but that is another story). As a woman of the time put it, “there’s only so many pounds of carrots you can scrub and still imagine you’re having a valid spiritual experience.”
For believers (which I do not count myself among), leaving aside the beam of light, that very much is the point. That God really is up there/down here/in here and it is our duty to live as He has shown us. “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:8.)
Another has commented that the Unbendable Arm demo is headology, and that you can just do the thing without tricking yourself into it.
I must wonder whether this “as if” conception of God will wear thin in adversity. Are you really going to put a life’s work into building a cathedral for the glory of God on that foundation?
I remember that back in the 60′s, the hippy era, the concept arose of the “earth mother”, a woman fulfilling an ideal of bountifulness, nurturing, and attunement to Mother Nature. It did not take long for people — or at least, the women — to realise that this was a scam to get the women to do all the cooking and provide free sex (which was called free love, but that is another story). As a woman of the time put it, “there’s only so many pounds of carrots you can scrub and still imagine you’re having a valid spiritual experience.”