It's Simply One Or The Other!

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Mintaka said:
The idiomatic phrase “Get over yourself” has never meant “commit suicide”. It means “put aside your empty pride”.

It’s not a very polite way of saying so, and of course none of us know the true state of another’s issues. But I have often thought that the great Christian writers would have appreciated the simple and profound wisdom of it.

We must all get over ourselves, and go from empty pride of self to humility and love of God. If we do not get over ourselves, we will be stuck on ourselves. We will crown ourselves Lord, and send ourselves to Hell.
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This thread should be killed.
 
The second one is more poetic and I like that about how the scriptures were written. It just seems to flow when you read it. 🙂
 
Mintaka said:
The idiomatic phrase “Get over yourself” has never meant “commit suicide”. It means “put aside your empty pride”.
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I will ask this with considerably more respect than I have been given here…

Tell me, Miintaka, am I a liar or is my mother, all my brothers are ans sister and all the people I grew up with are liars? Which is it?

This thread should be killed.
 
This thread is uttlery reprehensible and is heretical and promotes apostasy.

This thread should be deleted.
 
Thie question posed by this thread is fundamentally evil and should be deleted.
 
LilyM said:
I honestly don’t see that it does have to be one or the other. The first quote has to do with the Father’s generous provision for us and our salvation. He is prepared to accept everyone in the event that they genuinely seek salvation. There is no one who he is unwilling or unable to assist if they seek Him and His grace and His help.

The second quote reminds us of our own human frailty and tendency to go for the easy path which ultimately leads to damnation.

In other words all can be saved, the Father wants all to be saved, but not all choose to co-operate in their own salvation because it involves some sacrifice.
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**[SIGN]**What Lily said…****[/SIGN]
 
I just picked the first one because even though the way is narrow and I often find myself off the path, I am relying on God’s mercy.
 
El_Paulo said:
I hope people don’t mind being asked to take part in a bit of an experiment. Of the two scriptures, which one do you most identify with…

In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. (John 14:2 NIV)

Small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:14 NIV)

You might want to say why you opted for the one you did, but remember, there’s no right or wrong answer!
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I would like to thank ALL who took the time to vote and post on this poll - it is very much appreciated! 🙂

There were a few reasons I posted this poll in the first place…
  • Firstly, I wanted to see what people’s response to this question would be - that was genuine.
    I recently took one of those “personality indicator” tests (similar to Myers-Briggs) and this was one of the questions - I have to admit to feeling REALLY uncomfortable in answering it - and I wanted to see how other people would respond to it too.
  • Secondly, my spiritual director is a religious Sister who also acts as a prayer guide on Ignatian retreats. One of her repetitive pieces of advice to me when reading scripture is to allow it to speak to me on an emotional level!
By asking people to comment I wanted to see what emotional response were being engendered by these pieces of scripture.

My Reflections
I think it is true that people respond to God’s word in very instinctual ways. I don’t think there is anything wrong with this (as I tried to make clear at the outset). The beauty of St Ignatius’ wisdom is that instead of asking us to concentrate on the ‘what’ of scripture, it invites us to look more deeply at the ‘why’. Why does scripture have the effect on us that it does and why is it different for each one of us?

One of the most interesting responces to this poll was Tonks40’s post (though there were others). I felt it was submitted as a real and personal piece of self-reflection…
Tonks40 said:
If given a choice (and please don’t interpret this to be totally conclusive of my opinions) - at the point in my journey I’m at, I most definately identify with the second statement. I’ve got so much work ahead of me!

BTW - has anyone seen any road-signs to that gate???
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One of the most important things I wanted to explore was that there was in fact no right or wrong answer. I wanted scripture to speak for itself and to do what it does best, which is to hold a mirror to ourselves.
Other questions that might be worth asking are, “what do we bring to scripture that could bias our understanding of it?” “Does another person’s understanding shed further light on the scripture?”
I have to admit to being chellenged to see these scriptures in a different way after reading some of the posts - thanks!

I would love to hear other people’s thoughts on this as a way of responding to the scriptures. Has anyone else experienced this style of Bible reading?

El Paulo.
 
Hello El Paulo,

I do not see how both verses are not equally possible. The verses do not counter one another.

Before the flood, people lived to be hundreds of years old. After the flood, in which the world was destroyed because it was so evil, life span was limited to 120 years. (I cannot find the exact verse.) The concept being that when people lived so long, they were far less likely to focus on leading pure and holy lives out of concern for the after life.

To me this tells me that God, in the begining, was looking forward to a much fuller heaven. God reduced man’s life span to increase the number who made it to heaven. In other words, God widened the narrow path to heaven a bit by reduceing man’s life span.

I do believe that the path to heavan is narrow and few find it. I also believe that there is room in heaven for every person who was ever born times a gazillion.
 
I respond more to the second verse because the scriptures tell us to Work out our salation with fear and trembing.

I believe the things Jesus said about heaven. Both statements are equally true.

The God of judgement is also the God of mercy.
 
Thank you both for your replies - there really isn’t a right or wrong answer, even though I may have appeared to have framed it in such a way.

I wanted to see whether people opted for one or the other or tried to walk a middle road - people may identify with one at one point in their lives and another at another point. I wanted to encourage people to dig more deeply into why this was the case and what it might reveal to them/us personally. 🙂
 
I’d vote the second, for me only. I need to do a lot of penance, and with the help of BSP/CFP have begun to do so. I also pray for the holy souls and want to do more for them
 
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