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Saturday, April 12, 2014

life is fair-- or not

 Yachats, Oregon March 2014

Once in awhile it seems good to stop and think about life values and philosophy. For me, there are so many things that can inspire that kind of thinking. I read someone talking about how unfair life was in a certain situation and i wrote the following.

One thing about fairness... life isn't. As best I know and have seen it, it's just the truth. We do bring on some of our own woes but often what happens is something we call fate. Seeing it go well for someone who doesn't deserve it based on faulty character and another suffer with losses or trying to do something good and finding it turned to dust definitely can be frustrating if we think there should be fairness. Maybe it is fairer than it looks, if we could see the cosmic picture, but my personal take on fair is don't look for it in how things work out. Live it as best you know and that's the only reward you can expect-- that you did it your way and true to what you believe is right.

If someone has a belief in a cosmic daddy, they will look for rewards and punishments to what has been done. it gives the believer comfort to think it all is balanced out eventually. I even wrote a novella (second in the series to come end of this month) called When Fates Conspire, which came from a dream, about purpose and fairness in life. It's a paranormal but based on things I've read and that dream.

The book indicates that life is fair but only in the long run and with the assumption that reincarnation is true. I know some think the fundamentalist Christian view of life is fair but to me it would not be. So a man lives an entire lifetime as a good person but at the very last he rejects Christ because he ceases to believe-- hell. Another man lives a life of hell raising and hurting others but at the very last he declares he believes-- heaven. 

The Old Testament view of God and eternity would seem even less fair. It indicates a god who can attack for reasons humans barely understand, who can ask a man to kill his son to prove he loves God, who tests a loyal man by putting him through hell but then it's okay because he later rewards him... Really, you want to believe in that version of fairness and God? It's more like the Greek gods than what I'd want to see as the god that really determines our fate.

So if reincarnation is true, regardless of the story of Jesus or not, then life can be fair but not in one lifetime. That would mean we learn and make right what we can and if we didn't in this lifetime, we will in another. For those who suffered seemingly to no reason, it would be fair because it would be their choice to have gone through that to grasp a deeper level of say compassion. Reincarnation would enable life fairness-- nothing else really does.

And even with reincarnation, we cannot worry about whether it's fair. We should concentrate on learning our lessons and understand that we can't make right a terrible wrong with a few pretty words. It will take recompense. We should not look for life being fair to determine how much joy we can receive from living. 

If we have been blessed-- good. If we have suffered-- hope it had a purpose we cannot see. But live each day as best we can with what level of truth we have to date. Then fairness doesn't matter.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree with you. Life is not fair. Life just is. Some people suffer; some people have it easy. I don't think there is an underlying purpose, though.

Diane Widler Wenzel said...

The forces of nature are beyond the control of any benevlent essence which may or may not exist. I remain in awe of the change of seasons and all that is good and beautiful in nature. As for the Biblical tantrums of "God", I take those with a grain of salt -myths of various tribes to explain the unknowable, and attempts to bring order to groups of people so they could live well together. The Old Testement is only a record of old beliefs with a continual evolution of interpretation and wisdom. Interpreting the Bible literally is preposterous. Yet, I try to understand why people need to see it as concrete truth.

Rain Trueax said...

I think we want to see a reason behind life that gives it purpose. It is a human need that we see in all cultures whether they have a god behind the belief or not. We also would like to think it's fair, that we reap what we sowed but then we look around and don't see it to look that way-- so a need to come up with an explanation. It must be part of our human condition. Even atheists want to think they make a difference but do any of us...

Tara said...

Most of my life I suffered from the belief that life is "fair." Even when others told me it wasn't, I firmly held on to my belief. Because, if life wasn't fair, what was the bloody point? I've resolved this, and am now content to understand that life is not fair at all...and that makes me seek and treasure the goodness even more. Because some calamity can befall us at any moment, and it usually does. How could life possibly be fair when you look around the world? I sure had some thick rose-colored glasses affixed to my face.

Steve Finnell said...

WORKS THAT SAVE AND WORKS THAT DON'T
THE WORK THAT SAVES

What work endures to eternal life.

John 6:27-29 Do not work for the food perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, for on Him the the Father, God has set His seal." 28 Therefore they said to Him, "What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?" 29 Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He as sent."

The work that men do to be saved is believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and their Lord and Savior and that God raised Him from the dead. Yes, there is a work that men do, that can save them. Believing is the work men that do that saves.

THERE IS A WORK THAT GOD DOES, THAT SAVES.

Colossians 2:12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in whichyou were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

God does the work in water baptism. Not men.
You cannot separate faith and water baptism.
Mark 16:16 He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved....

1 Peter 20-21 ...safely through the water. 21 Corresponding to thatbaptism now saves you ---not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience--- through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

You cannot separate faith and water baptism. Man's work is to believe. God's work is to forgive men of their sins.

Colossians 2:12-13.......When you dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,

You cannot separate faith and water baptism.

WORKS THAT DO NOT SAVE.

Galatians 2:11-16....16 nevertheless know that a man is not justified by works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ Jesus and not by works of the Law; since by works of the Law no flesh will be justified.

The apostle Paul was not telling Cephas (Peter) and Barnabas,
that believing in Jesus was a work of the Law Moses,
that being baptized in water for the forgiveness of sins was a work of the Law of Moses,
that repenting (turning from unbelief and making a commitment to turn from from a sinful lifestyle and turning toward God) was a work of the Law of Moses,
that confessing that Jesus was the Son of God, their Lord and Savior and believing that God raised Jesus from the dead, was a work of the Law of Moses.

FAITH-REPENTANCE-CONFESSION and WATER BAPTISM are not works of the Law of Moses.

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been savedthrough faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.
Colossians 2:12 ....baptism...through faith in the working of God...
Ephesians 2:9-10 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in the.

Believing in Jesus is not a good work.
Repenting is not a good work.
Confessing is not a good work.
Being baptized in water is not a good work.

Believing (John 3:16) Repenting (Acts 2:38) Confessing (Romans 10:9-10) and Water Baptism (Mark 16:16) are all essential for salvation, however NONE of them are Laws of Moses nor are they good works.


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