Tag Archives: god

Offending God

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Is there really anything we can do to offend God?

Photo by JvL

Photo by JvL

Once, there was a devout man who saw a filthy, unkempt beggar just outside his house. He had pity on this beggar and invited him inside for a meal.

Before the meal, the man bowed his head to say a prayer of thanks. He had hardly gotten a few words out when the beggar suddenly started cursing God. He told the man, “If you want to feed me, just feed me, but I don’t want to hear you talking about God. God can go to hell for all I care.”

The host was visibly surprised and furious, “Don’t you know that if not for the love of God, I would not have invited you into my home? How dare you insult my God! Get out of my house at once.” And he shooed the beggar away.

God came to the devout man in a dream later that night and said, “That beggar has been cursing my name and spreading vicious lies about me for 18 years. Yet, all through this time, I have put up with him, fed him, kept him alive, and loved him. Could you not put up with him for a single meal?”

When we burn with righteous anger at other people seemingly offending God, is it really God who is offended? Or us?

Where is God?

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Photo by Kevin Shorter

 

The king said to the master, “I will give you my entire kingdom if you can tell me where god is.”

The master replied, “I will give you the entire world if you can tell me where god is not.”

Seeing God

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Photo by Julianne Villaflor

The master passed by a preacher who said, “We should not be concerned with the world but with God.”

The master remarked to his disciple, “Wouldn’t it be better to see God in the world?”

“What do you mean?” said the disciple.

“The preacher creates a dividing line between ‘the world’ and God — implying that there are ‘godly’ concerns and ‘worldly’ concerns. But that line is an illusion and is the cause of much strife. Witness the wife who complains that her husband spends too much time at church, or the family that is neglected in the name of God.

That is why I say it is better to see God in the world. See God in your neighbor. See God in your wife and family. See God in your work, in your every action and in every person you meet. That way, everything you do will be a godly concern,” concluded the master.

Is there a God?

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Photo by Dan Paluska

“Is there a God?” asked the seeker.

“Yes, definitely,” said the theologian.

“Of course not,” said the atheist.

The master smiled, then pointed to the theologian. “You are wrong,” he said.

The theologian raised an eyebrow while the atheist grinned like a schoolboy with a pocket full of candy.

The master then turned to the atheist, “Oh, but you are wrong too,” he said.

Now all three were confused. “But how can they both be wrong?” said the seeker. “What is the answer then?”

“There is no answer,” said the master.

“But why?” said the seeker.

“Because there is no question,” said the master.

The Rock

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The people of the village always approached the master when they had troubling questions. He would always listen and respond to each in a way that brought great understanding and enlightenment.

There was only one topic that he would avoid and that was the topic of God. When people would begin to ask, “Is there a God?” or “Why is God so unfair?” and so on, he would excuse himself and walk away from the conversation.

Then someone asked him, “Why is it that when people start asking you about God, you refuse to answer them?”

“Do you see that rock there by the tree?” said the master.

“Yes,” replied the man.

“Can you tell me why it exists — what is its purpose for being?” said the master.

“Um…no,” said the man.

“Then I trust I have answered your question,” finished the master.

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