God's Magnificence Of Mind On Differences
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| Toleration is a Christian
courtesy. It is the Christian way to go. Toleration should not be construed as meaning agreement. To say that we tolerate therefore we agree is to misunderstand the meaning of toleration. We may not agree, but with God, we demonstrate a loving attitude of allowing the use of free will that God has given people to exercise. This calls for a loving and enduring Magnificence of Mind on the part of God. God gave some Free Will in making us in His image. So people have a free will they must be allowed to exercise, even though they may do it wrongly. God’s Will is our free will. Giving free will to a people on strange and varied levels of thought and spiritual attainment means disagreements and differences. These difference are allowed by God and are to be respected by us. We may not like every strange view but we allow them. Yet common sense does not ask us legally to allow all harmful actions that may stem from strange views. Many views are novel and not harmful, spice or arts adding to the pleasant variety in life. But the fact remains God has given us free will in some things while other things are predestined. Life is a mix of free will and grace. For example, by free will we decide to have children. But if we have babies, their growth is predestined by God approved and life-affirming forces. What we have started by choice cannot be kept back or held down. The end, adulthood, will arrive. (Our free will choices march to their end appointed and approved by common grace. Every choice is seed thrown into earth, an act of will thrown to fields of grace. Some laws of grace we know; the fullness of grace we do not know. Free Will joins That Written. Thus the wonder of God’s Will continues on glacially and mysterious moving and sparkling down the line.) True Believers in God tolerate. They know toleration of free will has a cost. It is paid in suffering fools gladly, by patience, putting up with others who do not seem real, in listening to twaddle. The diverse often have little to divulge in spite of propaganda to the contrary. But we are contained by Christ. Toleration means we must all be restrained by Christ. Creation has given to us Free Will whose use God expects. We must join God in demonstrating Magnificent Courtesy. It must be to Him a painful courtesy, but He demonstrates it by honouring the often shallow use of free will by sinners and others of insubstantial views and half baked actions. But God’s Mind is Magnificent. It is courteous and accepting of freedom. We, like God should show Magnificence of Mind on differences. Differences are the result of free will used, even if wrongly. I do not lie to you. Why should I? Toleration is a pain best borne out of love of Christ. He suffered real pain out of love for our redemption and the world’s. Toleration, though rarely physical and literal pain, is a type of suffering tedium that, if you sit in enough committees, classes or church meetings, is spiritually wearying, mind wearing and butt-breaking. Toleration involves more of a level two pain, stemming from civilization rather than a level one pain, like violence, caused by lack of civilization. School children penned inside while looking at a “blue sky” day out the window know exactly what I mean and how it feels. I suggest toleration is one of the necessary existential absurdities of life. It is an absurdity we suffer for Christ. It is an absurdity but a necessary absurdity, though sometimes I tolerate for God with a “By God” feeling. If toleration were not a moral implication of the Free Will gifted us by God, I might rarely do it all. But then I am, as I remind you often, an Imperfect Servant of God. It is a good thing I do some things at all, given the way I feel about some, for at times I feel like a “put upon” man. The ups and downs of tolerating that involves showing how strange people may be, can do this to you. But disgusted as I may be, I know God is always with me. We become, as the Apostle wrote, “cast down, perplexed,” but not without hope for we know, like him, God is always with us. He is there to help us TOLERATE many in the world we do not know, as well as others we may know. Of the two, the ones we may know can become harder to tolerate. We expect little from people we don’t know but probably too much from people we do. Toleration involves both groups. |
