"Without God, all things become permissible."
-The Brothers Karamazov
Happy Easter to the three people who still read this thing once in awhile.
It is Easter eve. Easter is an important holiday in my family which always marked the arrival of spring. It also marked the one day you must absolutely attend church. Easter was for my mom. Always there was dinner afterwards.
Unfortunately, there are a significant amount of people that don't believe in God. I'm ok with that just as long as they don't ridicule or berate my beliefs. If folks cross that line, well things tend to get ugly and animated quickly.
For many years I struggled with the concept of God. I read books, I talked to people, pastors, priests. I discovered that the Vatican had removed books from the Bible in the grand editing process that they employ.
And then, through a series of sobering events, I came to believe. It started in my 47th year.
It began with forgiveness. How could a man, charged with some ridiculous crime, and while dying- ask God for forgiveness for the very people who were now inflicting injury on his body and killing him in the most painful way?
Who is capable of that? Nobody I know of.
And about the time that I was discovering Jesus was different than any man who ever walked this earth, I listened to a man who called this his true test of atheism.
Imagine being alone in the universe. The only molecule among trillions that managed to crawl out of the primordial swamp and become human. And when you die, nothing. Nihilism. Life was a waste of time. Imagine standing naked in front of a full-length mirror and stating, "Behold the greatest power in the universe."
That is the atheist's song. It is a lonely and hopeless song. This is all there is.
Today I am grateful and thankful. One day we will pass through this life and on to the next. That is the meaning of Easter.
