God’s Will

We are constantly aided and abetted by God.

I was reading an article today that Arizona Cardinal’s quarterback Kurt Warner eschewed playing for the San Francisco 49ers because of a conversation he had from God while he was visitng the team. God wanted Kurt in Arizona. Why is it that some nominal individuals get to speak with God and others don’t?

Today I was reading a book while having the television tuned to the World Baseball Classic on ESPN. I looked up momentarily and heard the broadcasters speaking about an Australian player, I glanced back to my book and the first word I read was “Austrailian”. It immediately grapsed me as a moment that cemented the reassurance of the existance of coincidence. But then I thought how differently it could be construed by those who deny coincidence and accept intangiable happenings like signs and fate.

To place a life decision solely in the hands of something that you’ve never seen requires such a suspension of reality that continues to confound me. I was at a mall once with a friend of mine and his sister. We were eating at the food court when a woman approached us and implored me to speak with God. Let this be stated: I always was and will continue to be completely game for a chat with God. I would relish it, it would make my day. She told me that she could tell God had something for me–a gift of some sort–and that when I was alone I should begin communicating with God. I was to say “God, if you have something for me, I’m ready to accept it.” I told her I would and, later, I did.

God never said anything back, there was no immediate lightning strike or deep echoing voice. He didn’t call out my name or ask me to complete some unenviable task. But, then again, who the fuck knows? Maybe he zapped some cancerous growth that was spreading throughout my body. Maybe he broke up a clot that was forming in the blood vessels of my hip. Maybe he set the path along which I met somebody important. The truth is, I don’t know if that resulted in anything aside from me feeling awkward for a few minutes in my bedroom. I have just as much evidence of the existence of God as I do that tiny gnomes are doing back flips and singing Buddy Holly covers on the surface of Mars. That is, obviously, none. There probably are no gnomes on the surface of Mars and that even if there were they probably had never heard a Buddy Holly song or had any knowledge about the existence of terrestrial music. Who knows if they would have the physical dexterity to perform back flips.

What kind of decisions am I allowed to make because of God’s input? What happens if Kurt Warner signs with San Francisco? Years of futility? An Old Testament-style beat down? How do I speak with Him? Are we pre-selected or pre-screened like candidates for reality television? Is Kurt Warner one of the lucky few who gets to share His thoughts with the world (Kurt’s doing us a big favor in that regard–“Don’t worry guys, I’ve spoken to God and he said that I should play for Arizona. That’s all hes got for now.”) ?

Believing in God is a terrifying notion, sort of like living in a large ant colony. We’re free to roam but our lives are constantly altered at the behest of something we cannot comprehend. Do we think of evolution as analogous to software upgrades? God realized that the beta version of women was flawed, so He moved their genitals to the front and upgraded the species. He was still content with the placement of genitals on other animals though, that physiological process was still working well.

-Ad

~ by Adam Winters on March 12, 2009.