Short of the Glory of God

By E Chamberlain MD, San Diego ~

Christians love to say,

"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of god."

But, verily, verily and really and seriously, could man ever have been anything but short of the glory of god, sin or no sin? Was Adam, before the apple rotted him to the core, ever equal to the glory of god?

Nope, Adam was already built short of the glory of god. Otherwise-- and this part makes more sense to me-- the christian god must not be much of a god.

But, besides that, how could any christian ever even say that I've ever sinned? What if I just say, "Nope. Not me. I haven't." Does the christian know me? What sin exactly does he know that I've committed? Or does he simply think that I must've sinned because it's impossible not to? But if it's impossible not to, then is it also my fault because I breathe, because it's impossible not to?

I won't hold my breath for the answer, because, yeah, yeah, I've already heard it--

"Oh, foolish man, who are you to question god?"

Oh, but I'm not-- I'm questioning someone who dares to think for a second that he speaks for god.

Okay, I'll grant him, for the sake of argument-- so I can trick him into thinking with his own thoughts-- that I've sinned because I don't live up to the highest ideal, to love my neighbor as myself. I, for one, don't believe in the commandment to "love my neighbor as myself." Because I don't believe in the impossible. And that's one million percent impossible. For anyone, ever. (I do believe in "random acts of kindness.")

But, really, if even Jesus ever actually "loved his neighbor as himself," wouldn't he have given all of his neighbors all of his own miraculous powers? If not, then, really, did he love his neighbors as himself? Did he love anyone as himself? And who was his neighbor? He answered that. So there should've been a lot of people with miraculous powers, not just (allegedly) his twelve disciples, who (allegedly) had some of his powers. And if he's around today still, like Christians imagine, then a christian doctor should be able to just write a bible verse on a prescription and, abracadabra (Latin for "This magic is FDA approved"), you're healed. Then I woulda stayed a christian. 'Cause that woulda been soooo cool.'

And what about the similar, though different, idea that we should "Do unto others as we would have them do unto us"?

Hmmm, that was told to us by a man who endorsed and even celebrated that those "others" will be tormented-- at his command-- in hell forever. Will Jesus then be tortured in hell forever, you know, being done unto as he does unto others?

I'm sure that's not what he meant. I think he meant to say, "Do as I say, not as I do."

I don't think he really thought about what he was saying. It just sounded good so he said it.

And all this from a guy who said, "Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

But then he said that we had to take up our crosses and follow him.

Which is it-- Easy and light? Or a miserably painful cross? Is it easy to love my neighbor as myself? Or hard?


See, now, I'm verily, verily beginning to see that I'm not short of the glory of god. I'm better than him.