WONDER IF… There is or ever was a God?

All kinds of ideas pop up in my Lectio Divina meditations. Here is one that asked myself and the answer that came almost before I stopped asking the question.

My answer is, life would go on, but I would still have the spiritual framework that allows me to become more human and move with hope to the next level of my human evolution. If there is no God…

If there is no God, would life be wasted? For me, it would make no difference, although I would have thoughts that all this time, I had been focused on my relationship with the transcendent and now must get my values from the Democratic or Republican party or whatever morality of the moment fantasy has coopted social media with its inane and insane perversion of history. But, all would not be lost because I would still keep the bedrock values and beliefs I always had, but now without the hope of the Resurrection. Life just quits, like turning off a television set. I would be a secular humanist or a pagan, or atheist, or even something more garish, someone with no interest in being anything, even an atheist.

• there is no resurrection to new life in Christ Jesus
• I have no hope in anything beyond what I can see
• there is no basis for morality outside of corrupt humanity’s flavor of the week
• there is no other arbiter of right or wrong other than me
• no one can tell me what to do so, to believe, or how I should live my life to move to the next level of my evolution
• I can live authentically as a human, but there is no interaction with the presence of a higher purpose in life other than fame, fortune, love as the world defines it, lust, and jealousy (Galatians 5)

If there is no God, I would still have the teachings of Christ that would make me more authentically human. These teachings are:

• The Ten Commandments
• The Beatitudes
• The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit
• Chapter 4 of the Rule of St. Benedict–

Read the Rule of St. Benedict from the monks at Christ in the Desert Monastery. There is a wonderful commentary on the Rule that you will find helpful.

Chapter 4: The Tools for Good Works

1 First of all, love the Lord God with your whole heart, your whole soul, and all your strength, two and love your neighbor as yourself (Matt 22:37-39; Mark 12:30-31; Luke 10:27).

3 Then the following: You are not to kill,

4 not to commit adultery;

5 you are not to steal

6 nor to covet (Rom 13:9);

7 you are not to bear false witness (Matt 19:18; Mark 10:19; Luke 18:20).

8 You must honor everyone (1 Pet 2:17),

9 and never do to another what you do not want to be done to yourself (Tob 4:16; Matt 7:12; Luke 6:31).

10 Renounce yourself to follow Christ (Matt 16:24; Luke 9:23);

11 discipline your body (1 Cor 9:27);

12. Do not pamper yourself,

13 but love fasting.

14 You must relieve the lot of the poor,

15 clothe the naked,

16 visit the sick (Matt 25:36),

17 and bury the dead.

18 Go to help the troubled

19 and console the sorrowing.

20 Your way of acting should be different from the World’s way;

21 the love of Christ must come before all else.

22 You are not to act in anger

23 or nurse a grudge.

24 Rid your heart of all deceit.

25 Never give a hollow greeting of peace

26 or turn away when someone needs your love.

27 Bind yourself to no oath lest it proves false,

28 but speak the truth with heart and tongue.

29 Do not repay one bad turn with another (1 Thess 5:15; 1 Pet 3:9).

30 Do not injure anyone but bear injuries patiently.

31 Love your enemies (Matt 5:44; Luke 6:27).

32 If people curse you, do not curse them back but bless them instead.

33 Endure persecution for the sake of justice (Matt 5:10).

34 You must not be proud,

35 nor be given to wine (Titus 1:7; 1 Tim 3:3).

36 Refrain from too much eating

37 or sleeping,

38 and from laziness (Rom 12:11).

39 Do not grumble

40 or speak ill of others.

41 Place your hope in God alone.

42 If you notice something good in yourself, give credit to God, not to yourself,

43 but be certain that the evil you commit is always your own and yours to acknowledge.

44 Live in fear of judgment day

4546 Yearn for everlasting life with holy desire.

47 Day by day, remind yourself that you are going to die.

48 Hour by hour, keep careful watch over all you do,

49 aware that God’s gaze is upon you, wherever you may be.

50 As soon as wrongful thoughts come into your heart, dash them against Christ and disclose them to your spiritual Father. 51Guard your lips from harmful or deceptive speech.

52 Prefer moderation in speech

53 and speak no foolish chatter, nothing just to provoke laughter;

54 do not love immoderate or boisterous laughter.

55 Listen readily to holy reading,

56 and devote yourself often to prayer.

57 Every day with tears and sighs, confess your past sins to God in prayer

58 and change from these evil ways in the future.

59 Do not gratify the promptings of the flesh (Gal 5:16);

60 hate the urgings of self-will.

61 Obey the orders of the abbot unreservedly, even if his own conduct–which God forbid–be at odds with what he says. Remember the teaching of the Lord: Do what they say, not what they do (Matt 23:3).

62 Do not aspire to be called holy before you really are, but first, be holy that you may more truly be called so.

63 Live by God’s commandments every day;

64 treasure chastity,

65 harbor neither hatred

66 nor jealousy of anyone,

67 and do nothing out of envy.

68 Do not love quarreling;

69 shun arrogance.

70 Respect the elders

71 and love the young.

72 Pray for your enemies out of love for Christ.

73 If you have a dispute with someone, make peace with him before the sun goes down.

74 And finally, never lose hope in God’s mercy.

75 These, then, are the tools of the spiritual craft. 76When we have used them without ceasing day and night and have returned them on judgment day; our wages will be the reward the Lord has promised: 77 What the eye has not seen nor the ear heard, God, has prepared for those who love him (1 Cor 2:9).

78 The workshop where we are to toil faithfully at all these tasks is the monastery’s enclosure and stability in the community. And have a great horror of Hell.

Read the commentary on the Rule of St. Benedict by Abbot Philip Lawrence, O.S.B. This website is one you should take some time to explore. Rather than quote these sources in this book, I encourage you to look up all of these URL sites and take some time to ponder their terrific message for your spiritual maturation.

https://christdesert.org/prayer/rule-of-st-benedict/chapter-4-the-tools-for-good-works/

Now think about if there is indeed a God and there is a fulfillment of humanity that exists outside of existence.

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