make the last hour shine

HE

Chapter 1 - aleph

 There are a lot of means and possibilities for every human being to come near to G-d. Everyone of us can do so by the means of his individually coloured imagination and within the boundaries of his vocabulary. Applying thus our very personal means we all try to get some glimpses of HIM, provided of course, we want to get them at all. To be honest, mostly we are not very eager to discover HIM. But when we try anyway, by using our personal means, to come near to HIM we mostly want to receive solely some kind of confirmation for our actual purposes. And then to draw some benefits from those confirmations for our lives. This seems to be appropriate and sufficient for us. 

We seldomly neither really look out for HIM as HE is, nor are we interested in HIS working aside from our personal interests. The number of possibilities to deal with G-d this way is as high as there are human beings capable to do so. And even more. This is because nobody must constrain himself to just one imagination. The use of several different imaginations at the same time by only one person is nothing uncommon but widely spread. These imaginations must not agree with each other, but can even contradict one another. For every part of our life and for every single situation we can have our own imagination of G-d.

Concerning the big religions of this world, that means those religions with a lot of followers, the imaginations of G-d that pre-vail there are distinctedly shaped according to the purposes and various wishes of the human beings adhering to this specific religion. But this not only works thus in big religions. It's the very same procedure when there are only a few followers to share a certain religious purpose. So you can say this is the way it works in all religions as a whole.

Moreover our imaginations do not have always to show a positive appearance. They may be negative as well in order to ex-press what G-d does not mean. This can turn even to extremes when some religions deny any existence of G-d. Or they even formally and vehemently forbid HIM to exist at all. So there is indeed a very wide range from affirmation to denial.

As soon as the topic ‚G-d‘ is, wherever it may be, addressed, everybody involved has to give an answer exhibiting his very per-sonal point of view. Neutrality is not possible. Either you give an assent. Then of course you have to point out who this is whom you give an assent to. Or you show up with a refusal. In that case however you should be prepared to explain how things work out without HIM. To avoid this sometimes uncomfortable situation some religions tend to distill G-d into a mere idea or to transfer HIM even to a manmade object. So HE may be regarded there as a mere thought or as a phonetic combi-nation, fitting into a metapysical system that has been established in advance. There HE is kept in dependency of our wants. Like a bulb. We decide when we want its light to shine for us. And if we don't need the light any longer, we simply switch it off.

All followers of a certain religion can be distinguished by sharing their distinct comprehension of G-d that is prevailing there. They structurate and organize their lives according to this there prevailing comprehension of G-d. On the one hand this seems to be a disadvantage because these followers are no longer free to imagine G-d in their own ways. On the other hand they gain a very large advantage when adhering to such a distinct comprehension according to their religion. They don't have to think no longer endlessly over and over again how HE may be. Without any further doubts and considerations they can use in the realm of that religion this commonly shaped and worked out idea of G-d for all the activities of their lives. 

Of course this does not mean, that every follower of a certain religion must fully accept this distinct comprehension of the re-ligion he is adhering to. Even if someone would desire to cling fully to the distinct comprehension of G-d in his religion without any flaws, this would turn out to be an impossible task. All distinct comprehenions of a religion are nothing but outlined pro-posals. So everyone sharing the distinct comprehension of a certain religion has to fill out the vast empty places it leaves with his individual imagination and consideration. Sometimes this seems to be the way a child is colouring a painting book. When the child is in an angry mood it will colour the face of the man on the paper with a heavy dark red. When lingering however in a soft mood it will use bright colours and add some flowers and birds around his appearance.

So G-d is to nobody a total stranger. We all have, on what level ever, at least some rudimentary features about HIM in our minds. And even perhaps in our souls. HE thus is, since there are human beings on this earth, part of our world and our human history. Indepently from our approval and our personal notion. So everybody has to take a stand. Either you accept HIM or you refuse HIM. 

Furthermore all our notions and imaginations we have about HIM and all our ideas we ponder are steadily with us. We can not deposit them outside of us, as for example in a bookshelf where they may rest until we pick them up again from time to time. All our imaginations and our ideas about HIM are and stay always inside of us, where they work and loom, even if we do not use them consciously. Thus they influence our thoughts and our acting in all regions of our lives permanently in a very much stronger way than we usually recognize them to do.

It needs to be stated here in all determination and clarity, that while all this happens in everyone of us at various conscious de-grees and levels, all our imaginations and ideas about HIM or about religious topics always are, down to their smallest details, never, never in any way godly but always fully human. Never, never, never is any human notion, imagination, consideration or idea about HIM, godly. This distinction in advance is essentialy necessary. Because sometimes human beings tend to pretend to have some kind of godliness inside of them and then require others to join or to obey. If this should happen, you can know from the start, that this is always wrong. Always. Without any exception. All the ideas we may have about HIM, never rub off anything from HIS existence to our lives. When thinking about HIM we always stay fully human, even if we may have the most fabulous thoughts about heavenly topics. 

And this means: although we perhaps may not openly and lightheartedly be a prey for falsehood, everyone of us stays with his thoughts and actions always inside the zones of his personality. And there we always are open, at least, for errors, if not for selfconceit. This sounds quite normal and seems to go without further saying. But sadly enough, this is not so. We all are human beings. And this means, in every part of our life we can fail. It is not a shame to admit that, but the starting point of human reality. Of course, we do not want to fail, and we must take all efforts we can to prevent our failure in every way. But you never can be fully sure. Neither of someone else, and certainly not of yourself.

Errors are possible. Not always. Luckily. But mostly when we feel safe and do not expect any disturbance at all. 

The only ONE without any fault, without any failure and without any error is HE Himself. And therefore we can only rely com-pletely without any doubting in HIM and HIS completeness or fulness. But never on our own efforts. When having finished a work you should always admit your uncompleteness and plead: 'Father in heaven I did this the best way I could in all my hu-man fragility. If there's still a hidden failure, please let it not be because of my lazyness or leniency. Please make my work be whole in YOUR completeness.' And HE surely will bless you. In HIS way. Out of HIS overwhelming abundance. Jesus our Messias acertains us: „Ask and it will be given to you.“

So making personal images and having individual notions and ideas about HIM never yields wholly sure and safe results, as we may perhaps wish. Even when we stay very sober and try to avoid any fault. Just simply, because in everything we are doing, we allways stay inside our human incompleteness. Is it then useless or even wrong to have imaginations and ideas about HIM? No, not at all. Because HE created and formed us in our human incompleteness. We have therefore no other choice than to use our imagination within our human boundaries. If anyone should pretend to have crossed those borders of our permanent human incompleteness by his or her own efforts, you can know right from the start, this person is lying.

But if you accept in humility the borders of your incompleteness, HE has laid down for everyone of us in a very personal way, you may have inside of them as much considerations about HIM as you want. So we always are and stay human beings. In everything we are doing. From the smallest actions, may they seem ephemer and unimportant, up to widely visible bright shining peaks. Without cessation we always stay to be human beings inside of our human conditions. And as human beings we can never cross the borders HE has set up for us. Staying then inside these G-d given limitations is neither a sign of weakness, nor of inferiority. On the contrary. Accepting to be formed by HIM as individual beings of transcience within G-dgiven limi-tations is the beginning of all and every wisdom. You are not primarily the human being, as whom you may perceive yourself, you are the human being, HE has created in HIS wisdom and in HIS freedom for HIS glory. 

Our limitations and our incompleteness may however sometimes seem to be for us like a large cloth tightly wrapped wholly around us to permit us only to make very small steps forward. While this may be really true on our behalf from time to time, this is in no way true for HIM. Because all our limitations and all our incompleteness are fully surrounded by HIS fullness and completeness. And while we never can move across our human borders, even it we should try and try, it is not the faintest difficulty for HIM to enter from HIS fullness into our incompleteness. If HE wanted to do so, HE really could cross our human borders at any time, as far as HE would like to cross them. But we do not have to be afraid of that. HE is no landlord finding pleasure in peeping into the flats of his tenants.

On the contrary. We can see HIM very cautious and reserverd when desiring to come to us. Because HE neither wants to disturb us inside of our limitations, nor wants HE to show up HIMself in any way. As we as human beings all have together one origin, HIM having created and formed us, but live on this earth in a wide bunch of appearances, HE always has to consider when entering into the limitations of one of us, how much HIS step may affect not only the human being HE actually is dealing with, but also HIS creation with its aims and purposes, as a whole. So HE really is very meek and gentle. In HIS entire being and in all of HIS behaviour towards us.

As beings of transcience we neither can get close to HIM beyond our borders and limitations, nor even enter into HIS G-dliness. So HE is the only One to come from HIS fulness into our narrowness. To our blessing this is so. What a disaster it would be if we were able to move beyond our limitations by our efforts. What strange creatures we would be then. Possibly even real monsters. Permanent freaks. Unstable in all parts. Never sure of ourselves. And still much more harmful for us it would be if we tried not only to move beyond our G-dgiven limitations but to even enter into HIS G-dliness. Entering into HIS G-dliness would require from us to leave human limitations behind. In the very moment this happened we would stop to be human beings. Because to live as human beings is only possible inside of our G-dgiven human limitations. The lines HE HIMself has set up for us. Outside of these limitations we can neither exist nor live.

So if we wish to know HIM as HE really is, and not only as we outline HIM in our imaginations, we have to accept that all efforts from ourselves to reach that goal are in the end too weak and ineffective. But luckily even if we are not able to come to HIM it is no difficulty for HIM to come to us. There may be a special moment in every live when we realize the road we have driven along for miles and miles has come to an definite end. But not to the destination we wanted to reach. We can not go any further. And we do not want to go back. Precisely at this very point HE enters in our lifes. Carefully and diligently. „It's not over“ HE says „it's just our beginning.“ And HE starts to make HIMself known to us as HE truly and really is. On various levels. Slowly but steadily. According to our possibilities and capacities to meet HIM. 

Not somewhere outside of us in lofty ethereal places, not by mighty signs in the nature or as marks in the sky. Here, straight in-side of us, inside of our human limitations HE comes near to us. For all our sake and our blessings, HE really does act in this way. HE truely does make Himself known to us. To every one of us. Provided we want to know HIM as HE truely is.

And HE even goes a step further. A step so bold and so great that it changed space and time and human history forever. HE not only came near to us by way of entering our human limitations with HIS Word and HIS Holy Spirit.

Moreover HE descended fully unto our human level by becoming a human being HIMself. In HIS Son Yeshua, our Messiah, HE lives as a real human being in our midst and invites us to step up to HIS side. So stop trying to reach HIM. Open your heart and soul that HE might reach and touch you. 

© helmut weinreich A. D. 2022 C. M. 5782