I wrote in
my post, the Greatest Power, “Saint Anselm of Canterbury – a Benedictine monk,
philosopher and Archbishop first posed, in the 11th century, the
ontological argument for the existence of God. He argued that the
greatest good is when everyone maximizes his or her talents. Because
nothing can be conceived greater than this power of greatest good and if it can
exist in the mind, it (God) exists in reality. Saint Anselm stated that
omnipotence and perfect goodness do not conflict because it is the cumulative
greatest power. That is why God does not choose evil - because God being
the most powerful will always choose love, which results in the greatest power
and perfection.”
With the recent election
results I have been contemplating love versus evil, light versus darkness. There
are times in our history when evil initially overcame love with great cost to
humankind because we did not recognize and confront the darkness when it first emerged. Those who do not reflect the power of God who
is love, can become addicted to the power of darkness. It takes great discipline that only can come
from God within us, to reflect love in the face of evil. Evil through hate and fear manifests its
power by diminishing the light in others.
In this world it is
important to act from love by remaining vigilant by shining light in the
darkness. We do this by following Jesus,
standing up for those who are oppressed including those who are not Christians,
working for the common good, and not allowing hate and fear to prevent us from our
sacred responsibilities. The greater the
number of people who practice this, the more powerful the light of love shines
illuminating and extinguishing the darkness thereby establishing God's kingdom on earth.
Matthew 6:9–13 (ESV) "Pray then
like this: 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come,
your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily
bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.'" (For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen )
A really good example of this is in the book of Daniel. Daniel and his friends were marched about 500 miles to Babylon when they were young teenagers. Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah purposed in their hearts to remain loyal to their upbringing and to follow the laws of their God. They were educated in the best schools of Babylon and prepared to serve King Nebuchadnezzar. They didn't rebel but excelled in every way, becoming an example to everyone around them. They carried the light of their God into this dark world, and made such a good impression that even the King had to admit that they were ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm! [Dan.1:20] When the King had a dream that no one else could tell it, Daniel told him the dream and the interpretation and the King said, "Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets..."!
ReplyDeleteNow that's what I call being a light in the darkness!