Lions and Tigers and Atheists, oh my!

Why so much Christian attention on Atheists? (And vice-verse?)

Can they hurt us?  (And vice-verse?)
Are 'we' supposed to 'convert them'?  (And vice-verse?)
Why are some Atheists so bratty towards Christians, sometimes? (And vice-verse?)

...Here are a few of my ideas on this sticky subject:

From my perspective, what we Think is secondary to who we ARE and the Action of God in our lives.

Some people think there is prolly a God, some don't. Some people think there has to be a God, some think there can't be a God. Some don't think God matters one way or another.

But how we think about God is our MIND talking to itself.
When thinking takes over, it is our BODY trying to be in charge and act in the world; trying to survive, trying to what we need through non-spiritual means, trying to win. 
If we are not soul conscious, if we are not in charge spiritually, who can blame our body for trying to get the job done, best it can!

It is we as spirit who experience God, not the flesh.

Many, many people experience spiritual reality, regardless of our beliefs about God.
We are all the same, after-all: children of God, spirit in flesh.

I believe
focusing on what people think about God is a distraction,
and this often causes more harm than good.

What matters is allowing ourselves to Stop Letting the FLESH RULE.
For almost all of us - Christian or not, WHATEVER we consciously believe - a crazy fecundity rules us.  Physical focus and operation rules us!
How about we Stop Believing, Acting, Identifying-with the flow of our own thoughts, feelings, survival instincts, sexual urges, stories, habits, compulsions, ego drives, control issues...
(I could go on and on ; )

How about instead, 
we learn more and more, deeper and deeper to

Listen to that still, small voice.
Ask God to give us Ears to Hear, Eyes to See.

And then follow the Living God,
as we hear the voice behind us saying: this is the Way, walk ye in it.

IF we actually DO This,
regardless of what we think about God,
God leads us
- and where we go is in God's hands. 
No Matter What We Think About God.

We do not have to force anything down our own or anyone else's throat. 
What they think is really none of our business, what we think is usually a distraction - none of this really matters very much!

Ok, but - What can we do?
We can be with God and BE filled with Love, Life, Light... and shine,
and we say yummm, and they say hmmmm??
That is what drew ME into fellowship - the Experience of Spirit - not a bunch of stupid ideas about God!
That is what spiritual things sound like to our flesh - stupid.

 

Did we not hear Jesus say to not throw pearls before swine?

Did we not hear Paul say only AFTER we present our bodies to God, we stop conforming to the world; THEN we are transformed, then our mind is renewed, then we can Know and BE the proof in the pudding:
Then we can BE in God's will - our beautiful opportunity, only when we are aligned with God.

If this is so - the cart must come after the horse, so:
WHY would we try to convince the flesh of anything?

WHY would we try to operate rationally with materialists?

WHY would we try to force others or ourselves into some mold, of our own fleshly design?

WHY would we expect anyone - including ourselves - to ever show the fruit of alignment with our Source
BEFORE aligning with our Source?

Because we have our head up our derriere.

It is vanity, a chasing after wind to fight rationally about spiritual things with an atheist (with anyone! with ourselves!)
When we do it, we are off track; often because we are taking their unique journey, personally.
We are making their thoughts about US, not about them and God.

And when we do this, we annoy people, at best.
At worst, we make enemies.

Let me be clear, when we let our own thoughts try to control others:

We hurt people.

We invalidate their expereince.
We try to take away the free-will God GAVE them.
WE Make Enemies.

 

It is very understandable that many who identify as Atheist feel resentful and put-upon by Christians. It is understandable that Atheists sometimes lash-out, push-back, become bratty.

They are operating through their brain, as almost all of us do, as our society has taught us to do.
And their brain tells them this God stuff is hooey - very understandably, BTW.

And then religious people try to argue with them rationally.
And honestly, to my ears, it is the religious people who sound crazy, because we pretend our points are rational - WHEN THEY ARE NOT RATIONAL.

God is Spirit, we must know God spiritually.
There IS NO OTHER WAY.

All right, so is there anything that we can we do?
How about we encourage ALL of us, every day, to taste and see the Lord is Good - yum.

How do we do this?
Well, we are monkey-see-monkey-do creatures.
How about we look to God and bask in the delicious delight of our Creator - the giver of all good gifts...

This puts the cart before the horse, for us.
Then maybe they can notice how we do it, and figure out their own horse!

How about we ask God to bring us into alignment with God, with God's Light and Love, with God's unique Way for us.
How about we ask God to hold us in embrace, as we behold and reflect the Glory of God.
How about we ask God to help us to stop looking at Them, and start looking to God.

IF atheists bug us, that is all about US!
Are they lighting up the doubt in our own space?
Is something they say making sense (which it often does, BTW) and that feels scary.

How about we let God be God.
Let God take care of God's PR.
Let God hold each and every Divine Child.
And we keep our eyes on our own page.

If something is bugging us, undermining Our experience of God, seeming to pull us away from God; lets's go to our own Source to work this out in us.
God is big enough to work it out with us.
God is big enough to work it out with them.

AMEN, Wendy