Happy Birthday, Joe Cecil Jr.
Posted by: tony on 09/08/2007 11:22 PM
Updated by: tony on 09/08/2007 11:31 PM
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Expires: 10/09/2007 12:00 AM
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Joe Cecil from In Todays (Liberal Catholic) News has hit me with a case of deja vu. He has had an experience with a premature birth much like I have discussed previously.
Joe reacted to it much differently than I did. Joe states on his blog:
"If your will is to kill my child, no. I won't have it. You aren't worthy of worship if you would kill this child or harm my wife. No. Not your will, if that is your will. My will be done if you really want my worship."
Wow. Such arrogance. Such unmitigated gall. The God of the old testament used to smite people who took that tone with Him. But Joe worships a fuzzy, all loving God. This is God who is a lot like... well... Joe Cecil.
Yet, somehow, the God revealed in Christ seems to oppose all suffering and death.
Jesus never uses his omnipotence except to heal and forgive. He strikes nobody dead, and demands the death of nobody. Even when compassion for the underdog drives him to just anger, he acts violently towards no human person.
And though he bore the cross, his resurrection is the final vindication of the God of life and love!
Talk about creating God in your image. The God revealed in Christ killed his only Son, the spotless and innocent lamb who was the only sacrifice who could atone for the penalty our sin had brought us, for the wages of sin are death. So only the perfect sinless man, while also being fully God, willingly suffering death on the cross, was sufficient to redeem us and allow us the possiblilty of heaven.
Joe and I have had our differences. I used to comment in his boxes until I noticed the bias he used against "uber-Catholic, Elena", that he didn't show toward those who shared his "progressive", Joan Chittister-esque worldview. I find this sort of behavior annoying and I refuse to participate in comment boxes where this happens. My time is better spent elsewhere.
But this rant is unbelievable to me. Especially a line like this:
All I will say that is that a God who would have killed my baby is not worthy of my worship.
So now that the baby is ok (you can thank God now, Joe. I know I am thanking Him for you) Joe will continue to worship God. Should some other adversity befall Joe, it will probably be concrete evidence that God doesn't deserve his worship and Joe will decide to become an atheist.
When my daughter (who is now a senior in high school, contemplating which college she might wish to attend) was in danger, my first concern was to make sure she was baptized before she died so that she could go to heaven and be with God forever. My heartfelt prayer was that she and my wife would both be ok, but my worship was never contingent on God answering my prayer with a "yes".
God is not a magic genie, and our prayers are not "wishes" that He grants at our whim. God is eternal, almighty and entirely out of time. He has his own reasons for doing things that sometimes I think I understand, but most of the time I don't. He deserves Joe's worship because:
"For God so loved Joe Cecil that he gave his one and only Son, that if Joe believes in him he shall not perish but have eternal life" -- John 3:16
And isn't eternal life what we're all praying for? Isn't this world with its trials an tribulations just a whistle stop on the train to forever?
It's taken me a while to get where I am, and I may not remain just here. When trials come I pray like Jesus did: "Father, if you would have it, please let this cup pass from me, but not as I will but as thy will".
Joe will be in my prayer list this week for the scriptural rosary on Sunday. I'll remember him especially when I get to the part. "...and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of they womb, Jesus".
(H/T to Elena)
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