2012年4月2日 God is a door-gunner

As I prepare for Pesach (Passover) I realize there are two serious things that come to my mind often when I think of this Holiday. God likes or has no serious problems with killing people, and hope is extremely important.

Listening to Metallica's Creeping Death I reflect on God killing people. The Biblical God didn't just kill the Pharaoh's first born son, but all first born of just about everything.

Shemot/Exodus

11:4 And Moses said: 'Thus saith the Lord: About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt; 

11:5 and all the first-born in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the first-born of the maid-servant that is behind the mill; and all the first-born of cattle.

After reading that, the lyrics of Creeping Death should chime in automatically in one's head:

Die by my hand

I creep across the land

Killing first-born man

So God basically is a door-gunner, specifically this one here.

And yet there is hope for the future. In fact, the term Passover is about God (maybe literally) passing the homes of the ancient Israelite slaves' homes, as God goes on the war-path of murder and killing.

To me it is interesting that God, who condemns murder, is capable and seemingly comfortable with the killing small children. It's interesting to me. And I remind myself that, this God that I believe in, is claimed as just and righteous by others and I.

But the hope lies in the fact that God and us, ideally, work out our issues with ourselves and then with each other (if possible) so that we can advance. I think without hope there is no point in anything anymore. Just like in the Predator without the hope to try to survive the whole team would have been wiped out. Passover to me is about slavery and our own demons within our lives. When we face our own slavery and demons we have a better understanding of who we are and where we are going. Of course, one night isn't enough for this kind of contemplation. We know that our own demons can bleed, and we know "If it bleeds, we can kill it!"

Does God hear our screams? Should we only scream once?
No! Keep screaming!! Until you have God's attention.