Theos-Talk Archives (January 1997 Message tl00051)

I wrote:

>> Wow. You believe there are unforgiveable deeds and people who can't learn
>> to do better?

[snip]

>> I admit there are people who I wonder about (half serious here), but a
>> little voice inside me whispers the question, "Why would God create someone
>> who is damned?"

mdmgyn@worldnet.att.net (Tom Robertson) responded:

> To draw an analogy from nature, things are created all the time which fail
> in their purpose.  Individual human beings should be no exception to that
> rule.

True in a sense. But on grand time scales, I think human beings *are* an
exception. Man, having consciousness, has a different destiny than mineral,
plant or animal life. Jesus also drew many analogies with human life from
nature, nevertheless He put man on a different footing than anything else in
creation. For example (Matthew 10:29-31)

"Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on
the ground without your Father ...

"Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows."

Your analogy does point to a truth. It is true that much in nature is mirrored
in human life. But I would draw a different conclusion than you: *ASPECTS* of
our life exist for a season without apparent purpose - and die. One life may
appear to be a complete waste - a failed experiment. Nevertheless the germ of
a lesson must remain. Concealed in each defeat is a victory and in each death
a resurrection. Consciousness, the crown of creation, while it may sleep, will
not die.

I further wrote:

>> It really boils down to how God can give us free will, but nevertheless
>> keep us from using that free will to permanently get on the wrong track.
>> Though it looks ridiculously simple, the answer is: karma!  If wrong deeds
>> invoke pain, given the gift of reincarnation and eternal time, we must
>> eventually learn to use our will according to His Will.

Tom responded:

> Enough pain will eventually correct mistakes, but I am not so sure that we
> have unlimited time.  The theory that there is a threshold of failure, past
> which there is annihilation rather than continued attempts at correction,
> makes more sense to me.  Every lesson from nature is consistent with the
> ideas that only the fittest survive and that success, rather than being
> guaranteed, has a deadline.

Again, I find your comments to contain insight, but I personally would have to
tweak them somewhat. I am aware of deadlines in human development. Missing one
means missing an opportunity that could cause you tremendous inconvenience and
cost enormous amounts of time and pain. One individual incarnation presents a
big deadline. But nothing in the recycling universe is completely wasted. Here
I would have to put in an analogy that is somewhat lame - as all analogies are
- but it illustrates the point: A daily train ride represents a cycle that you
can take advantage of. If you make good on your opportunity, you have swift
attractive travel. If you miss it, you may have to walk those 200 miles on
stony ground or may not get to your destination at all that day. There is the
next cycle however ...