6) Madaba and You

This page covers three things - "Why Suffering?" "Most Roads Lead To Upstairs" and "Upstairs Loves You". This page sets out the way things are for Humans living in this world. 

It tells you what's what.

A Question For Upstairs: Why Suffering?

Question: Why is there so much suffering in the world? Why did Upstairs make things that way?

Answer: Because individual humans and human societies do things that cause suffering. That is not the fault of Upstairs. That's human nature.

Also, Planet Earth as we know it is just one dimension of reality amongst thousands, so we have no idea about all the other dimensions.

And another thing: This reality is designed to be as realistic as possible. Or at leas it has been designed to be as real as possible up until this exact point in time! Here's the thing: Would you like to be a complex human being, who has grown up in a flawed and at times unpleasant world or would you want to be a one-dimensional cartoonish babyish creature, living in a giant playground. Basically: Would you rather be a Human Being on Planet Earth or a Teletubby in Teletubbyland?

Genesis is all about Human nature being such that Humans cannot live in a state of nature (The Garden) like the animals, and can only be fully human in an imperfect world. To be Human is to live in a real world - not some lush paradise like the Garden of Eden, which is basically a biblical Teletubbyland where everything is basic and babyish.

By exiting The Garden humankind grew up. Life outside The Garden is much more challenging, and also I think much more meaningful. A better ride. A greater experience. A better place in which to live and in which to grow.

We had to get kicked out of The Garden. Clearly God wanted the snake to tell Eve to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge.

Here's the thing: The world's problems are caused by Humans and the world's problems will be solved by Humans! - although Upstairs can lend a hand in them doing that. We need to take responsibility and not moan about Upstairs not making us into Teletubbies.

I don't want to be a Teletubby - I want to have a meaningful capacity for good and a complex nature which can be swayed towards evil. I want a moral challenge in my life. All Teletubbies do is bounce around being twee and innocent. I find that Tinky Winky, Dipsy, LaLa and Po to be boring and one-dimensional characters. I would not want to be like them and would not want to be friends with any of them. They are shallow and without any redeeming qualities, nor even any interesting flaws. They are inhuman.

I want to be human and I thank Upstairs for not making me a Teletubby. I would not wish that on my worst enemies. It would be a brainless and joyless experience. It would be like being lobotomized - and the sad thing is you would never know what you are missing out on. 

Wanting to live in The Garden of Eden like Adam and Eve did in a state of nature (before the fall) is basically the same as wanting to live as a sea-slug or a starfish.

Would you rather be a Human in the real world or a Teletubby in Teletubbyland?????

Most Roads Lead To Upstairs

Upstairs have made it so that there are many spiritual paths one can take. If you want to connect to Upstairs then Upstairs will want to connect to you and you can do so by following many of the world's spiritual traditions. And ultimately you will be judged by a post-death Audit - by the amount of good you have done and how good you have been. And your fate will be based on that. It will be Update who audits you. And I'd avoid the word "Judge" as that sounds a bit harsh and impersonal. But after death the fate of all people will be decided based on how they lived their life on Earth - and this will be determined by an Audit, carried out by Upstairs.

So yes, I am saying that Salvation is ultimately by Audit - which may include considerations of faith, deeds, and character. It is a very complicated thing but fair, all are treated the same by it. And it happens in an instant. And how you behave right now on Earth will very much influence how the Audit tells Upstairs to treat you.

It is possible to think of Upstairs in many different ways - I am more inclined to think of it as The God of Abraham but that's because I was raised as a Christian. It is possible to believe in Upstairs but to only know of it in terms of the words and concepts you have acquired thanks to your culture, influences, and where you grew up.

But not ALL paths lead to Upstairs. Selfish, nasty and hateful paths don't tend to lead there, and the Audit does not like such things. So choose your path well!!!

I personally follow and study Christianity. It is through that lens that I make sense of things and it is through that lens that I imagine Upstairs - I picture Upstairs as The Christian God although he is not exclusively like The Christian God, not at all. But most of the paths that you can probably think of can count towards your eventual Audit if you engage with them, and follow what they teach. Sure, do you own thing without joining another path. But expect to be lonely and to miss out on a great deal of fellowship and community.

You can also invite Upstairs (how ever you conceive of it) into your heart. If you do that you will plant a seed of faith and if you water that seed it will blossom into something worthwhile and beautiful that will make your life much better, much happier. Go to a place of worship and worship with others. Meditate. Pray. Study. Fast. Think. Read a book. It's all good and it will all make you a better person - this is a lot like the concept of Sanctification in Christianity. Which in Christianity is what happens once you are saved - or "Justified" as the jargon calls it. Basically: once you are right with God you will become a better person, the type of person God wants you to be and whom God wants to know.

Once you have a relationship with Upstairs you can cultivate yourself and try and become the person you want to become!

And of course, be good, kind, generous and loving to all others, even those on different paths. If you do that then your audit will go much better and Upstairs will make whatever happens next to you what you have truly earned.

Upstairs Loves You

No, Upstairs does not want to make sweet love to you. But it does want you to succeed and it does want the pleasure of your company and to see you grow, flourish, and be happy. And live a life which contains meaning and pleasure.

You will feel his love as you walk in his light.

If you reach out to Upstairs (no matter by what name you know it) then Upstairs will reach out back out to you. Upstairs wants to cultivate a personal relationship with you. That is what its motivations are with this reality. It wants to know you, love you, nurture you, and be with you. It made this whole world in which you live.

In these regards it is very much like a parent. After death, all people will receive a post-death Audit in which whatever will happen to them will be decided, based on how they lived their life. If you are not interested in having such a relationship with Upstairs then your post-death Audit will give you just that, as whatever happens next to you. But if you love Upstairs (however you think of it) then your future will be based on that, once this life goes to Audit.

If you want to be close to God then the Audit will make that happen to you next. And if instead you value materialism, money, power, hatred, sadism or greed then what will happen to you will reflect that, and will be very much based on that.