Thank you for showing us how this inspiration to create beauty in the Earth is an elevation of our spirits into something mingled with the divine. As a writer, I have experienced exactly what you described - this elevated, euphoric state where insights, words, and wisdom beyond me just flows and I create something beautiful. It’s an amazing experience. I love how you explained this.
Also, even though I’m a Christian, we must never forget how wise our Founders were to not make Christianity the “state religion.” Although they were certainly guided by the Bible in their decisions, freedom of religion means freedom to or not to serve God. If we mandate it by law that everyone must obey the sabbath, etc., we are just imposing the same kind of tyranny (a theocracy) we originally escaped in England. Even God says in Isaiah 29:11 that he doesn’t want the fear of Him to be the result of a commandment by men. He wants relationship, not servitude. I hope we always remember this as Christian Americans.
The founders assumed a biblical/Christian foundation to this country. Biblical morality is necessary for the constitution to work as intended. There is documentation showing that when the founders talked about religion, they meant Christianity. Their concern was that one denomination would dominate a state and require taxes be paid to that denomination. The restrictions they put in place were to ensure this didn’t happen.
I can’t go into it all here, but I could recommend some books for people interested in looking into this aspect of the establishment of our country.
Also… Thomas Jefferson didn’t like some parts of the Bible and he actually cut out the parts he didn’t like and assembled the parts he DID like into what is called The Jefferson Bible.
Another point of interest is that the pilgrims were persecuted very harshly by the Puritans in England. They fled to Holland to escape the persecution and to be able to worship as they believed, outside the state Church of England. They stayed in Holland for about 10 years before immigrating to Plimoth plantation in Massachusetts in 1620.
Many people mix up these two groups - Pilgrims and Puritans - or don’t realize they were two distinct entities. I imagine that the arrival of the Puritans on this continent was not exactly good news for the Pilgrims, who thought they had escaped their persecutors.
The Mayflower Pilgrims is an old book I have about what happened to the Pilgrims.
“And while the children of Yisrael were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moshe and to Aharon, and to all the congregation. And they put him in under guard, because it had not been declared what should be done to him. And יהוה said to Mosheh, ‘The man shall certainly be put to death, all the congregation stoning him with stones outside the camp.’
And all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him with stones, as יהוה commanded Mosheh, and he died.”
Naomi! I just learned of you reading through the Geneva Bible and am so interested and excited to go through this with you! I've learned so much! Thank you for sharing your gifts of teaching and love for all things Language with us! Appreciate you so much! Its my honor to help support your wonderful causes! Toda! Shalom, Shalom!
We do not drop our own will, but we understand and submit willingly to what Gods will is. If our will was not different, there would be no value in prioritizing His will over ours. The love of God is expressed in the WILLING decision to subplant our own desires as a gift to our perfect Lord; a recognition of his holy, superior and merciful being, an act of humility, praise and worship.
Thank you for showing us how this inspiration to create beauty in the Earth is an elevation of our spirits into something mingled with the divine. As a writer, I have experienced exactly what you described - this elevated, euphoric state where insights, words, and wisdom beyond me just flows and I create something beautiful. It’s an amazing experience. I love how you explained this.
Also, even though I’m a Christian, we must never forget how wise our Founders were to not make Christianity the “state religion.” Although they were certainly guided by the Bible in their decisions, freedom of religion means freedom to or not to serve God. If we mandate it by law that everyone must obey the sabbath, etc., we are just imposing the same kind of tyranny (a theocracy) we originally escaped in England. Even God says in Isaiah 29:11 that he doesn’t want the fear of Him to be the result of a commandment by men. He wants relationship, not servitude. I hope we always remember this as Christian Americans.
Missing this!
When is the next reading??? Missing it!
Disclaimer: I am not a Christian, but…
The founders assumed a biblical/Christian foundation to this country. Biblical morality is necessary for the constitution to work as intended. There is documentation showing that when the founders talked about religion, they meant Christianity. Their concern was that one denomination would dominate a state and require taxes be paid to that denomination. The restrictions they put in place were to ensure this didn’t happen.
I can’t go into it all here, but I could recommend some books for people interested in looking into this aspect of the establishment of our country.
Also… Thomas Jefferson didn’t like some parts of the Bible and he actually cut out the parts he didn’t like and assembled the parts he DID like into what is called The Jefferson Bible.
https://www.history.com/news/thomas-jefferson-bible-religious-beliefs
Another point of interest is that the pilgrims were persecuted very harshly by the Puritans in England. They fled to Holland to escape the persecution and to be able to worship as they believed, outside the state Church of England. They stayed in Holland for about 10 years before immigrating to Plimoth plantation in Massachusetts in 1620.
Many people mix up these two groups - Pilgrims and Puritans - or don’t realize they were two distinct entities. I imagine that the arrival of the Puritans on this continent was not exactly good news for the Pilgrims, who thought they had escaped their persecutors.
The Mayflower Pilgrims is an old book I have about what happened to the Pilgrims.
Numbers 15:32-36
“And while the children of Yisrael were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moshe and to Aharon, and to all the congregation. And they put him in under guard, because it had not been declared what should be done to him. And יהוה said to Mosheh, ‘The man shall certainly be put to death, all the congregation stoning him with stones outside the camp.’
And all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him with stones, as יהוה commanded Mosheh, and he died.”
Naomi! I just learned of you reading through the Geneva Bible and am so interested and excited to go through this with you! I've learned so much! Thank you for sharing your gifts of teaching and love for all things Language with us! Appreciate you so much! Its my honor to help support your wonderful causes! Toda! Shalom, Shalom!
We do not drop our own will, but we understand and submit willingly to what Gods will is. If our will was not different, there would be no value in prioritizing His will over ours. The love of God is expressed in the WILLING decision to subplant our own desires as a gift to our perfect Lord; a recognition of his holy, superior and merciful being, an act of humility, praise and worship.