Will the real God please stand up?

Will the real God please stand up? 

One of the songs we used to sing lustily during Sunday morning church service was, "Jesus is the sweetest name I know". 

Okay, Carl's a pretty sweet name, too.  And so is Jim, Sue, Jack and Jill. 

We sing the songs without thinking.  We sit through sermons and read our scriptures without thinking.  We pray to God that He will deliver us from Evil, and then go about doing Evil.  The church fails it's people.  It does not teach folks how to go inside and work to make the changes.  They allow folks to believe that all they have to do is to "turn their lives over to Jesus" and put a tenth of their money in the collection plate. 

Back during the unrest of the mid to late 60's, I was a born again Christian.  I attended a prayer meeting and listened to a woman cry out how happy she was to have given her life to Jesus.  Why people cried when they told us this is beyond me.  I'd have thought they'd laugh and smile...oh well. 

After praying for a few minutes she suddenly called out to God, "Smite those Evil niggars who are threatening my friends in Los Angeles..."

I nudged my wife and whispered, "Let's get out of here". 

While I didn't break away at once, this woman and many like her helped me understand that God is created in the prevailing beliefs and customs of the day and of the people creating God.  There are a wide variety of Gods, each one the Almighty, Perfect Being.  Each one unwilling to accept anyone who does not conform to His Word.  Each God demands total commitment and the refusal to compromise with any other False God. 

And we wonder why we can't get along, or why congress can't pass any useful legislation. 

Carl Jarvis