Thursday, August 21, 2003
I am reading a book that my co-worker brought back from India entitled, "The Holy Cow". She bought so she could get answers to various cultural questions she had, such as, "Why are all these cows wandering the streets?" It's a nice, slick tourist-type book that gives an overview of the culture of India. In the section on Hinduism, I came across this description of one of the many Hindu gods:
KALKI, THE GOD YET TO COME The tenth and according to mythology, the last of Vishnu's incarnations, will come to rid the world of evil during Kaliyug, the age we are currently living in. Vishnu's incarnation will present himself seated on a horse and restore righteousness before the end of the world itself."
This reminded me of the passage in Acts (17:22-31 MSG), where Paul is talking to the Greek philosophers on the Areopolis:
So Paul took his stand in the open space at the Areopagus and laid it out for them. "It is plain to see that you Athenians take your religion seriously. When I arrived here the other day, I was fascinated with all the shrines I came across. And then I found one inscribed, TO THE GOD NOBODY KNOWS. I'm here to introduce you to this God so you can worship intelligently, know who you're dealing with. The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn't live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn't take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don't make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn't play hide-and-seek with us. He's not remote; he's near. We live and move in him, can't get away from him! One of your poets said it well: "We're the God-created.' Well, if we are the God-created, it doesn't make a lot of sense to think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?
"God overlooks it as long as you don't know any better--but that time is past. The unknown is now known, and he's calling for a radical life-change. He has set a day when the entire human race will be judged and everything set right. And he has already appointed the judge, confirming him before everyone by raising him from the dead."
Hi, I'm Debi. Once in a while I have a thought and I like to write it down before it goes away. This is where I write it.
