“How great is God—beyond understanding! The number of his years is past finding out.”
~ Job 36:26
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you believe in karma? Guys and gals who have internalized a belief that is centered on what a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who was born in Nepal – who became known as Buddha, espoused about freedom from suffering have blamed bad karma for Cyclone Nargis hitting the Myanmar coast earlier this year – possibly resulting in the deaths of over 100,000 guys, gals and kids. This bad karma that is believed by guys and gals who are living in Myanmar – which was once Burma, is to them a karmic consequence of Myanmar’s military’s brutal crackdown last fall on Buddhist monks. Belief norms – which are called noble truths, of a guy or gal who is a Buddhist adherent focus on nirvana – nirvana being achieving a personal inner peace and arriving into a personal inner paradise. A guy or gal – who is a devotee of Buddhism, will at times opt to be a Buddhist monk to live an ascetic lifestyle which will supposedly enable the guy or gal to be enlightened or awakened as his or her triggered defilements and resulting degradations are purged, to the absolute serenity and the total bliss of nirvana. A Buddhist belief norm – or noble truth, is that there is a cause and effect of everything. A vicious, assassinating cyclone was not a random occurrence in the eyes of a guy or gal who is a follower of Buddhism; it was to him or her the result of brutal, alienating actions of mortal men. Ask your dad to show you a picture of a figurine of a Buddha? A picture of a figurine of a Buddha would be of a portly Oriental looking guy. When your grandpaa was with the September 2007 World Race team in Thailand, he often saw Buddhist monks. It is easy to identify Buddhist monks because of the bright orange robes that they wear. A gal is not to touch or speak to a Buddhist monk. Guys and gals are to give Buddhist monks space and exclusive grace. While your grandpaa was in Thailand with the September 2007 World Race team, he went with the team to three Buddhist temples. Buddhist temples are very ornate. Buddha shrines can be seen everywhere in the temples. Most Buddhist monks are guys. Buddhism beliefs are driven by the belief that a guy or gal will sooner or later arrive through his or her own efforts – which involves living a very simplistic lifestyle, employing systematic religiosity habits and always searching for the elusive nirvana, at a place that is equivalent to eternal peace. Because Buddhism is works centered, Buddhism is a religious belief that does not guarantee eternal hope to a guy, gal or kid. Because a guy, gal or kid who is a Buddha-follower is always interpreting whatever it is that takes place in his or her micro or macro world as being the result of something good or something bad that has taken place, your grandpaa believes that it is impossible for a Buddha-following guy, gal or kid to ever find total nirvana. The ‘nirvana’ of a Christ-follower guy, gal or kid is from knowing Jesus Christ as his or her personal Lord and Savior.
When Hurricane Kristina inundated New Orleans – causing massive flooding and possibly drowning over 1500 guys, gals and kids, an evangelical, Christ-follower scholastic leader strongly suggested that it might be God punishing New Orleans for the aberrant, deviant behaviors that has been a part of New Orleans’ nightlife for years. What this internationally known Christ-follower Christian leader was allegedly saying is that God will send natural disasters to punish evil guys and gals which is akin to one of the four core Buddhism beliefs – which is the belief that there is always a reason for something having happened whether good or bad because of something else good or bad having taken place from an outside influence. Elihu’s closing argument to Job – in Job 36, was that Job’s awful afflictions had to have been the result of Job having an unconfessed sin or sins in his life. Elihu may have picked up on what Job had said earlier when Job complained that he really wished that God would just leave him alone. Elihu probably heard Job also say earlier that he really wished God would just tell him why He was inflicting or indicting him with such horrific miseries – such as letting his kids be killed, letting his body be covered with sores and letting four well meaning guys disparage him with absurdities. As Elihu begins his final invective against Job, Elihu seems to communicate that he really believes that he has been blessed by God with a certain authority to tell Job why Job has to suffer that way he has been suffering. Elihu wants Job to know that he really believes that he is speaking for God when he speaks – implying that Elihu perceives himself as having some sort of equality with God in his ability to communicate what he thinks is right. Elihu did have a grasp on the fact that having a hard heart, refusing to yield to God, not crying out to God and not listening to God’s voice would lead to suffering and death; Elihu just never got it that God allows suffering and even death to happen to His own specially chosen and specially elected guys, gals and kids because God knows that through what a Christ-follower guy, gal or kid will learn through any kind of traumatic experience will result – because of having persevered through the experience, a step up or an increase in his or her personal faith in God.
The original Buddha was a guy – who died. God is a divine Being – who will always live. Buddha’s teachings are subject to interpretation. God’s teachings are to be accepted as absolute. Guys, gals and kids can only attempt to be Buddha-followers. Christ-follower guys, gals and kids know what verse 26 says, “How great is God—beyond understanding! The number of his years is past finding out.” Only God can lead you to true ‘nirvana’ – which will take place when you meet God face to face in heaven to begin your next leg of existence there in His holy presence.
Job 36 (923)