Category: God’s Plan

A New Way of Thinking About God’s Plan and How He Sees Our Lives

 

I came across this description from C. S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity a few years ago and it inspired me:

“If you picture Time as a straight line along which we have to travel [thru life], then you must picture as the whole page on which the line is drawn. We come to the parts of the line one by one: we have to leave A behind before we get to B, and cannot reach C until we leave B behind. God, from above or outside or all around, contains the whole line, and sees it all.”

C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Translation in case of confusion:  Picture a line on a page.  We see life as if we are on that line experiencing one moment at a time with no way to see parts of the line to come.  God’s vantage point is from above the page; He sees the whole page and the whole line of our life all at the same time.

The Lewis paragraph is from a short section in Mere Christianity called “Time and Beyond Time”.  You can see the whole section here: http://www2.esm.vt.edu/~sdross/text/beyondtime.html.  Read it if you want more context on Lewis’ thinking – it’s short and plainly written so it won’t take much time.

I was particularly struck by this paragraph when I read it.  Actually, I was very struck by it and as I thought about it I had a bit of an epiphany of sorts.

 

Some Big “A-Ha”s

It starts with what we all probably already know: God, as all knowing, sees all of our lives, across the span of time, all at once.  Applying that to the Lewis analogy we realize that He can see the whole page and whole line for everyone.

Big a-ha #1: If He sees all of our lines then He must see how lines (lives) intersect and intermingle.  For example, He must be able to see how two people’s lines come together when they find each other, become soul mates and eventually marry.  When two people’s lines intersect that intersection represents how they affect each other.  God, from His vantage point, can see that as it happens but He can also see it coming before it happens.  God’s Plan for us.

Big a-ha #2: Taking that one step further, God must be able to see the impacts on our lives from coming in contact with others.  Intersecting lines (connections with others) can result in life impacts that are significant, trivial and everywhere in between.  And those impacts can be good and bad.  We experience trivial line (life) connections every day at the coffee shop, grocery store and work environment.  However, some connections dramatically change the course of our lives – like the intersection of the two people in the example above.  Furthermore, our connections can impact the life of someone we love or know – or the life of that interacting person whether we know that person or not – or the life of someone else unbeknownst to us – or the life of someone yet to come – or even the lives of many people yet to come.  This is kind of like “the butterfly effect” – a metaphor that hypothesizes how the gentle flap of a butterfly wing could potentially cause a tornado to occur elsewhere – but our connections and impacts have much more direct meaning in our lives.

I hope you’re with me so far.  Some might be thinking, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know this.  So what?”  Bear with me.  I’m getting to the really good part.  First, a few more enhancements…

 

Adapting Lewis’ Analogy

Big a-ha #3: A more effective way to think about God’s Plan and His view of our lives is to extend Lewis’ two dimensional view of lines on a page into three dimensions.  In other words, consider pulling the line off the page and floating it in space so that its twists, turns and bends can be seen from all angles.  Once we move into 3 dimensional space (3D) we can now envision how God might see our lives with all their connections as lines in space coming from above, from below, from the side and all directions in between.  Each of those lines twisting, turning, bending and intersecting with others – all coming together to represent everyone’s lives and interactions.

I’m guessing your brain is trying to imagine such a set of bendy lines intersecting from all over the place.  If you’re like me, your brain is likely having difficulty doing that so extending Lewis’ analogy to 3D made everything worse.  One thing I’ll say about that is “Holy cow, isn’t God awesome!?!?”  It’s far beyond our feeble abilities to imagine in three dimensions all the twisting, turning, bending lines of all people all at once across all life spans.  God is amazing, indeed.

To simplify things, I tend to focus on one person at a time.  You.  Me.  A family member.  A friend.  A stranger.  I also tend to focus on the more meaningful connections– those that significantly impact that person’s life  – not the trivial, less meaningful connections.  I think about the line representing the person’s life with its various ups, downs, twists, turns and bends and then add in lines representing the meaningful connections with others.  Clear your brain of the mess created in the last paragraph and just consider, in 3D, the twist and turns and bends of one line plus a few intersecting lines.  Think about your own life and the most significant connections you’ve had with others – your joys and trials, the good and possibly bad.

Big a-ha #4: I think another meaningful adaptation of Lewis’ model is to show how intersecting lines physically impact the line of the person we’re considering.  For instance, the couple coming together above should be represented as some meaningful bends in the lines representing their lives.  Right or wrong, I tend to think that positive impacts bend the lines up while negative impacts bend lines down.  Other connections that introduce uncertainty or instability might be represented with a bend to the side.  More uncertainty or instability might be represented with multiple bends left and right – like a zigzag.  Connections that cause a great deal of volatility, insecurity or even crazy, tumultuous success might be represented with a spiral.  Some connections completely change the course or bend of a line (life) while others are mere glancing blows.  Some lines can start with a person (e.g., having a baby) while others, sadly, can end when they interact with a person (e.g., terrible auto accident).  Think again about your own life and imagine how your line bends and twists as it connects with others.

Big a-ha #5: While it’s easiest and most tangible to think about how others impact our lives, we must keep in mind that we have an impact on others as well.  Consider the impact that teachers have on children every day.  Those connections can be meaningful to the teachers for sure but in many cases the connections can be significantly more impactful to a student’s life.  Extending that concept further, it’s often the case that our connections with others create meaningful impacts both now and also over time.  Consider the marriage of the soul mates above.  That marriage can create children who further impact their parents’ lives.  One of the children may then go on to develop some milestone improvement for the treatment of a disease thus creating more impacts in the family’s lives and in those who are treated for the disease.  Those who are treated may then go on to create even more positive impacts on even more people.  The impact of two soul mates bonding results in a child that ultimately, as part of God’s Plan for each person in the family, benefits humanity in a material way.

Big a-ha #6: Just like we can represent connections with others, we can also use this adapted Lewis analogy to represent events – those occurrences in our lives that aren’t necessarily caused by direct interaction with another person and some of which might be outside our control.  Winning the lottery or, conversely, a terrible auto accident are dramatic examples of such events but even less significant events can reshape the lines representing our lives.  In my mind, I can envision an intersection representing a new job and causing a person’s line to bend, zigzag or spiral up.  On the other hand, losing a job can cause a line to bend, zigzag or spiral down.  The length and magnitude of the bend reflects the length and magnitude of the impact.

 

The Really Big A-Ha: Representing God’s Plan

What really struck me when I read Lewis’ analogy was its simplicity and how that simplicity helped me comprehend, in my own meager way, God’s view of the world – if I can, in fact, comprehend His view at all.  I know that I made things more complex by moving that analogy to three dimensions and adding the rest of the “a-ha”s but, in my mind, I can now more easily “see” the connections and associated impacts that people and events have on a life.

Now we get to the really big a-ha – at least for me:  Imagining that God sees, all at once, how one life will play out, including its intersections, twists, turns and bends, I can begin to see God’s Plan for the person represented by that line.  Said differently, I can begin to comprehend (maybe just barely) how God uses connections with people and interactions with events to shape our lives so that they fit His purpose.  For example, using my imagination, I can envision how a tragic event that creates sorrow at the time is really part of God’s Plan and that that event may play out over time during the person’s life to create a positive and potentially more significant impact.

Consider Amber Hagerman who, at age 9, was abducted and murdered in Texas in 1996.  The tragedy and sorrow that that event created for Amber’s family must have been horrific – far beyond my comprehension – but it set in motion creation of the Amber Alert system that’s now pervasive in the US and in many countries around the world.  Sure, Amber’s abduction and murder wasn’t the first and likely won’t be the last but I can see God’s hand in the creation of the Amber Alert system and I can imagine how the lines representing those associated with Amber and the Amber Alert system might look – as part of God’s Plan for those people.  More specifically, I can imagine lines for those in Amber’s family that suddenly spiral terribly downwards perhaps followed later by redemptive upward recovery with the adoption of the Amber Alert system.

That’s just one case of how I might attempt to comprehend God’s Plan for a person or set of people.  And even then, it represents a very limited view within my very limited mind.  My limited mind can imagine one or maybe a few such lines over some chunk of time with a limited set of interactions and associated impacts but, using this analogy, God sees all lines, all connections, all events, all impacts, all at once and uses all that to shape His master plan along with our role in that plan.  It’s mind-boggling to even think about God in this way!

To be honest, I find comfort in this adaptation of Lewis’ analogy.  Seeing connections and events impact a person’s life, I keep in mind that they’re part of God’s Plan for that person and I imagine a line and set of interactions that might help explain that plan.  Also, as a hopeful and optimistic person, I tend to imagine that even tragic events create positive outcomes over time.  In many cases, I understand that a positive outcome won’t happen for the person impacted.  I get that.  But I do have faith that God uses even tragic events for good over time.  Back to Amber Hagerman, which I know is a limited example.  I think about all of Amber’s sad predecessors, the pictures of kids on milk cartons, the others whose loss destroyed lives and families – so many lines with sudden terrible downward spirals most of which get no redemption.  The sorrow of abducted and lost children goes back years, decades, and likely much much longer.  Yet now the Amber Alert system helps address that problem and helps bring some degree of societal redemption.  Sure, the system isn’t flawless, but again I can see the hand of God delivering a positive outcome according to His master plan and I find comfort in that.

 

Conclusions

Among all the a-ha’s the first big point here is that God has a plan for my life, your life and everyone’s life.  This adaptation from Lewis’ analogy provides one way to comprehend and envision how God might see that plan – or at least a way for our feeble human minds to begin understanding God’s Plan for us.  God’s Plan is likely impossible to fully comprehend but maybe this way of envisioning it can help us better see the big picture as God does and to see God’s hand in our lives.

The second big point here is: this analogy can help us understand how some twist, turn or connection in life may be due to our involvement in God’s Plan for someone else: our connection with someone may be an important event in God’s Plan for that person.  The interaction may appear inconsequential to us but that interaction might be a very significant contributor to God’s Plan for the other person.  For example, some pray to God when seeking a soul mate but instead find God responds in a different way than expected.  It’s possible that the unexpected response is a significant part of God’s Plan for someone else.  More specifically, the single person seeking a soul mate may find a person they perceive as their soul mate but instead lose him/her to someone else.  One possible explanation is that the perceived soul mate must cleave to that someone else in order to serve a higher purpose in God’s Plan for those other two people.  And that purpose is something that none of the three can begin to understand at the time and maybe not ever.  While the loss of the perceived soul mate causes sorrow for the single person, God’s Plan for that person might call for finding a better soul mate at some later time.  Or, even better, a new soul mate whose interaction may/will be part of God’s Plan for both people and their offspring to come.  We can never fully comprehend God’s Plan for us nor His overall master plan – especially when we view life as one point on a line at a time.  All we can do, when faced with the unexpected, is to try and find solace in thinking about God’s Plan for us and about how we might fit in His overall master plan.  Considering Lewis’ analogy and adaptations helps me do that.

Read on…  The next post should help you visualize God’s Plan

Visualizing God’s Plan Through Sculpture

God’s Plan and Revisiting Good Vs. Evil

Here’s a taste…

 

 

 

Inspiring Sculpture for C. S. Lewis’s Analogy

 

This post is a follow-up to God’s Plan and C. S. Lewis so, if you haven’t read that one yet, please take a few minutes and do so now.  Otherwise this post may not make much sense.

As I thought about C. S. Lewis’ analogy and began to consider the various adaptations discussed in God’s Plan and C. S. Lewis I was inspired to create more tangible versions of God’s Plans – in sculpture.  Here’s a physical model of God’s Plan for one person:

 

Click on the images to get a larger view.

I call this kind of inspiring sculpture art “Inspirational Artifacts”.   While it is “artwork”, the primary intent of Inspirational Artifacts is to be both inspirational and meaningful.  It’s art that can have a very specific interpretation.  Of course, like all art, its particular interpretation is left to the beholder but, unlike most of today’s art, its interpretation is more straightforward and approachable.  The whole point is to represent a particular instance of God’s Plan; to represent how God could “see” the twists and turns of one person’s life including events and personal connections that physically shape that life.

Take a closer look at the sculpture above.  Can you see how God’s Plan for a particular person plays out during their life?  Important Hint: you “read” it right to left.  Another big hint: I call that sculpture “The Soul Mate”.  Note the impact of the black line (connection) on the right and how the gold lines help the person recover leading to the final redemption with the soul mate on the left.  If it helps, consider this to be just a portion of God’s Plan – maybe representing an important chunk of a lifetime.  Does it have any meaning for you?

How about this one?  It’s called “The Good Dad”.  It’s a bit less obvious than “The Soul Mate” so give it a think if needed.  Again, read it right to left.  Note the stability in the midst of the turmoil.  The colors on the 2nd two images may help clarity what’s happening in this person’s life.

Click on the images to get a larger view.

This one is called “Life With Children”.  Note the turmoil in this person’s life caused by the addition of children.  However, it’s colored gold to reflect the overwhelming joy and love that children bring to life!

Finding Comfort With God’s Plan In Inspiring Sculpture

In God’s Plan and C. S. Lewis, I mentioned that I find comfort in Lewis’ analogy and its adaptations.  I also find comfort in these inspiring sculptures.  I find them to be constant reminders of how God might see the span of our lives and how events and connections help to shape those lives.  They also help me remember that God has a plan for my life so when I’m faced with setbacks or other twists and turns I know that those things are part of God’s Plan.  I also find comfort knowing that setbacks, twist and turns can be an important part of God’s Plan for others as well – helping shape God’s Plan for all of us.  Seeing the big picture of my life as God might see it helps me keep in mind that all the ups, downs, twists, turns, joys and trials are part of God’s Plan for me and how I fit into His plans for others.

Shameless Promotion

If you’re like me then it’s possible that you too would like a daily reminder that your ups, downs, twists, turns, joys and trials are part of God’s Plan for you.  If so, I have created a collection of Inspirational Artifacts on Etsy.  Feel free to check them out here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/inspirationartifacts.

Also, if you’re like me in a different way – cynical at times – then you may think that my whole blog site is nothing but a lead-up to the shameless promotion of my Inspirational Artifacts.  Please be assured that this is not the case.  After a life of relative tranquility focused on family and career, I can’t really explain why I stepped off the ledge and made the proverbial leap of faith.  Sure, it’s nice to think of myself as an “artiste” (with tongue in cheek) but the reality is (and in my heart) this all appears to be the path that God wants me to follow at this stage.  So here I am – following it.  Feel free to consider all this as wanderings of a mad man.

Read on…

God’s Plan and Revisiting Good Vs. Evil

 

Consider God’s Plan When Enduring Evil, Pain and Suffering

This post is a follow-up to two others: God’s Plan and C. S. Lewis and Believing in God –  Dealing with Good Vs. Evil.  If you haven’t already done so, please take a few minutes and read those posts.  In the case of the latter post, watch the various videos.  Also consider reading the Visualizing God’s Plan Through Sculpture if you haven’t already done so.  That post may help you visualize Lewis’ analogy and the adaptations discussed in the God’s Plan and C. S. Lewis post.

Reopening The Can Of Worms

Let’s revisit the good versus evil discussion from Believing In God –  Dealing with Good Vs. Evil.  Presented in that post were a series of logical arguments dealing with God and suffering with the ultimate goal of answering the question “How can I believe in and worship a God who allows rampant and unjust evil, pain and suffering in the world?”

At the end of that discussion, however, I found all the logical arguments, while helpful, to be somewhat lacking.  None of them really connected with my heart.  Yet in my heart I have faith that God is the God of good, so, how do we more fully answer the key question above?

I believe “the answer” is found by reflecting on God’ Plan as discussed in God’s Plan and C. S. Lewis and in the sculptures presented in Visualizing God’s Plan Through Sculpture.  More specifically, I believe solace can be found in knowing that whatever happens to us, our loved ones, our friends or anyone else, it must be part of God’s Plan and that plan must be good.  Let’s dive deeper into those two aspects of “the answer”…

Seeing Evil, Pain And Suffering As Part Of God’s Plan

Per Lewis’ analogy in God’s Plan and C. S. Lewis, we can consider ourselves as a point on the line representing our lives.  All we can see is the here and now plus the past.  When bad things happen, including evil, pain and suffering, there’s no way to fully understand it while in the moment – a point on a line – nor likely even in the near-term.  God, however, views everything from above and can see the whole line representing our lives including all the events and interactions that have occurred and those that will occur in the future.  He also knows – this is the critical part – how His plan for us fits into His overall master plan.

That master plan, God’s Plan for everyone, may not work out for our benefit.  Evil, pain and suffering may persist, may spawn other suffering, may cause death and may even cause suffering and death for others we love.  God’s Plan for everyone isn’t about us nor our loved ones nor those we know.  It’s about how we all fit in His overall master plan.  From our vantage point on a line, we can’t possibly understand that master plan.  We can’t see the full picture the way God can nor can we see how His plan will play out over time.  But knowing that everything is part of God’s Plan can help us deal with the emotions of the situation when adversity strikes.  Said another way: we can find comfort knowing that God has a plan for how we fit into His master plan.  The part we play may be trivial but that part is still part of the master plan.

Amber Hagerman Times A Billion

The other part of “the answer”, in addition to knowing whatever happens to us is part of God’s Plan, is believing that God is good so whatever happens to us will ultimately lead to good.  That good may not happen in the near-term nor even in our lifetime.  That good may not benefit us nor even our loved ones.  Remember, God’s Plan isn’t about you, me, our loved ones nor anyone we know.  It’s His master plan – a plan that we can’t possibly comprehend.  That aspect might lessen the comfort factor for you but it shouldn’t.  It should actually improve your level of comfort when dealing with adversity because your adversity won’t be for naught.  It’s possible that your suffering may persist, your prayers may go unanswered, your dreams may fade but remember that your suffering is part of God’s Plan for you and that plan will result in good.

Reconsider the Amber Hagerman story.  That total tragedy resulted in a positive outcome – one that’s shared around the world.  Sure, nothing can fully take away the pain felt within the Hagerman family.  When Amber disappeared and was found murdered, I’m sure the Hagerman family were beyond despondent.  There was no way for them to see how that tragedy could possibly be part of God’s Plan for good; they were like points on a line with no way to comprehend what was to come.  However, with the benefit of time, we see that the hand of God was there, creating connections and impacting others.  The broad adoption of the Amber Alert System is proof that Amber’s life was not in vain and that God’s Plan for her, the Hagerman family and all those involved was ultimately for good.

Here’s another example: In the book Into The Wild, Jon Krakauer documents the vagabond roamings and untimely death of Chris McCandless.  In that book, one person who connects with Chris was Ron Franz.  Franz, an older man, grew close to young McCandless, offering to adopt him, because Chris filled a gap in Franz’s heart – one created by the loss of a son years earlier.  Upon hearing the news of McCandless’ death, Franz renounced his faith in God, became an atheist, bought a bottle of whiskey and got drunk for the first time since he had become sober.  Franz, shocked by the death of young McCandless, was unable to deal with the pain of losing another “son” and thus blamed God.  Franz was only able to see the immediate point on his line plus the past loss of his own son not knowing what God had in store.   The sad truth is that, while denying his faith, Franz didn’t realize that he was part of God’s Plan for good.  Had Franz not formed the connection with McCandless and suffered when the younger man died, the author, Krakauer, might not have included the story in the book, sold thousands of copies and impacted multitudes of people far and wide.  Franz’s suffering was part of God’s Plan and that plan did result in good for those impacted by the story – including me.

I believe God is good because, with the benefit of hindsight, I can see good coming from evil, pain and suffering.  It’s not just the Amber Hagerman story but others as well.  Even the most notorious cases of evil can have positive results, as we’ll see below.  Based on all this, it’s possible for me to conceive of billions of evil-leading-to-good stories like Amber Hagerman’s.  Some stories may be small while others are large.  Some fall below the radar while others reach notoriety.

Fred Rogers, noted host of the children’s program “Mr. Rogers Neighborhood”, once commented when facing tragic or scary events, “Look for the helpers.  You will always find people who are helping.”  In this case, he was talking about those who are seen helping out after a specific event like a natural disaster.  But I think his message has broader implications.  “Helpers” are those connections in God’s Plan for us that turn sorrow into good.  Helpers may be those we know or complete strangers.  Helpers may help us directly or choose to help others.  Helpers may act in the present or over a longer timeframe.  However they impact lives, these helpers represent a clear sign of God’s Plan for good.

Take a look at this material from the Fred Rogers Company for more context: http://www.fredrogers.org/parents/special-challenges/tragic-events.php.

A goal for each of us could be to have faith that God has a plan for us and that plan will lead to good.  The good may not come in our life time.  The good may come at the expense of our own pain and suffering.  The good may even benefit strangers who don’t even know of our suffering.  Faith is needed here because, from our perspective as points on a line, there’s no way for us to know God’s Plan nor its implications.  With faith, we can feel comforted knowing evil, pain and suffering are all part of God’s Plan for us and that we are part of His overall plan for good.

 

God’s Plan And The Holocaust

Oh boy, definitely jumping out on the end of the limb here.  Please, no hate mail.

For some, the Holocaust represents the most extreme and most reprehensible example of evil, pain and suffering.  For others, it’s the genocides in Russia and Asia.  For still others it’s the impacts on native populations from European colonization and/or slavery.  Whatever you choose as the most extreme example, my contention is that it’s part of God’s Plan and that plan is for good.

I know.  You may be thinking “You’ve got to be kidding!” or that I’m naïve, idealistic and some form of crazy to try and rationalize such horrendous examples of pure evil.  Hear me out.  Taking the Holocaust and recognizing the full breadth and depth of its evil, I still see the good hand of God in action.  With the benefit of time we’re able to see what has come from it:  countless books, interviews, articles and references.  Dozens of museums, exhibits, memorials and artwork.   Millions of stories, remembrances, gatherings and prayers.  Children all over the world are taught about it in school.  There’s worldwide recognition of the breadth and depth of its evil.  All of that is dedicated to preventing such an abominable thing from ever happening again.  All of that helps ensure that future generations are wary about and shielded from such horror.  There is now worldwide awareness that a potential flaw in human nature can give rise to monsters that large populations will follow and that we must be on the lookout for warning signs.  Yes even here, with the benefit of hindsight, I see God’s hand working for good.

This kind of optimistic perspective may be difficult for some.  It’s possible that the Holocaust and/or any of the other extreme example of evil is just too evil for you to see God’s good hand.  However, if I allow my feeble mind to try and see things from God’s perspective, that is to see God’s Plan that spans all people, all events, all connections across the span of all time, I can envision an outcome for even the most evil suffering that leads to good.  In reality, God’s Plan is something that we can’t possibly understand in the present term and maybe can only catch a glimpse of in hindsight.  However, I find it comforting knowing that our pain and suffering is not in vain; something good will come from it.  Maybe the good won’t come in my lifetime but I have faith that it will come from God according to God’s Plan.