Ok, so i have started my 4th year through the bible, and i noticed that i was adding a lot of commentary on the bible app, which will eventually be lost forever and i would never be able to review it ever again.
so i have decided to attempt to start a blog about what i am reading and thinking, this way i can keep it in my records and review it later in life if i so choose to do so.
for now i will just copy here what i already wrote, and tomorrow i will start afresh and post directly to this blog.
the following is commentary i took from Jordan Petersons lecture on Sodom and Gomorrah
No nostalgia for catastrophe. I think that’s what that means: when you leave what’s not good, you wash the dust off your feet, and you don’t look back. That’s a very harsh lesson. The idea of necessity for immediate action is echoed a bit in the New Testament. These are some of the harsher words that Christ said. This is from Matthew 8. Christ is addressing a multitude and asking people to follow him. A disciple comes up to him and says, "Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father." It seems like a perfectly reasonable request. "But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead."
This is from Matthew 12: "While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him. Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, ‘Who is My mother and who are My brothers? For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.’"
Well, what does all that mean? It means that there’s no excuses, whatsoever, for not getting up and getting at it. That’s what it means. It even means that, when people are beset with a catastrophe, like, let’s say, the death of their father, that they’re prone to use that as an excuse for not going about the business that they should be going about. They can say to themselves, ‘well, I would, except…’ Believe me, there’s always good reasons for not doing what you should.
That’s for sure. Reasons pile up, day after day, to not do what you should, especially because you’re aiming at things in the future; you can put them off indefinitely because of the demands of the day. But these stories say a variety of things, especially in combination. They say, ‘when you leave somewhere terrible, do not look back. There’s no nostalgia.’ That’s the letting the dead parts of yourself go. And then, if you’re going to follow the good, it means no excuse, whatsoever, under any circumstances. It’s taken even farther with regards to familial relationships: you can’t even let them stand in your way. I think that’s all true. I think I’ve seen virtually all of that in my clinical practice. There’s no excuse for not getting at what it is that you should be doing.
There’s something else that’s going on here, especially in the New Testament stories, which is even, maybe, worse: it’s absolutely reprehensible to justify your inaction with the catastrophe that extracts mercy from other people. There’s a tricky game—‘well, of course I can’t do that. Look at the terrible thing that’s just happened to me.’ ‘Ok, I understand. You’re absolved of any necessity to move forward because of your current catastrophe.’ Well, actually you’re not, and it’s rather rude of you to use it as an excuse, and it’s certainly counterproductive.
Skip down to lot’s incest experience. . .
The story’s outlined the ethical catastrophe of Sodom and Gomorrah; the dissolution of the civilized constraints that should regulate all behaviour. And then the city is destroyed, but there’s an echo of it because Lot had lived in Sodom and Gomorrah. What happens to him, even after he escapes, is that he gets tangled into an incestuous web. I think that’s—it’s not foreshadowing: it’s postshadowing, if there’s such a thing. It’s an echo and a reminder of how terrible whatever it was that was happening in Sodom and Gomorrah was—that, even after escaping, the iniquity still remained.
(My thoughts) I really like the last part here, of a post shadow. The effects of sin survived the flood and were echoed through sodom and Gomorrah. And we have since been on this battlefield to try and reclaim Eden, which when done through human strength looks more like a conquering empire and tyrannical oppression and excessive laws. Yet when God does it it looks like a humble innocent man being killed on a cross, going to hell and conquering death. We strive so badly to bring the world back to a state of Eden, but that was never in Gods promise, we still have to die, not just physically but mentally. We were and are created as eternal beings, otherwise i think we would be much more anxious about dying than we are. We inherently understand this, you see it in most world religions that there is some life after this. I don’t think that is a mistake or false hopes i think it’s just what is so we know it.
So the underlying question is what is after this life. Is there one place for all? Or is there a heaven and a hell. . . If you look through history and study the religions, most seem convinced that there are more then one option, most religions see it as what you do here determines where you go next, it’s based on your morality, or mummification or sacrifices offered or your wealth or status. But in Christianity it’s based on what Christ did for you. The belief that the God that created you wants you. And at no point in the biblical narrative does God not claim to want us to be in relationship with Him.
(this is just my first test to see how this blog works, i hope others can read it and critique and comment as well!)
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