Wednesday, February 20, 2008

A Dream about Oprah & God

I had an interesting dream last night. I dreamed I was having a conversation with Oprah re: a project she was working on. She basically was trying to get a consensus view from the world religions about how to live life, treat people, and treat the earth (sounds like Oprah, doesn't it?!). There were only two of us talking with her... at one point the other guy had a marble glued to the side of his head... go figure. Anyway, I was there to give the Christian perspective... and I remember feeling incredible nervous at one point considering the responsibility I had to get this right. I mean, my answer to her question would be out there for millions of people to consider and critique. What would other Christians say about my answer? The pressure was on!
Then it came to me... and I felt at total peace with my answer... because it was the answer Jesus gave when asked basically the same question, "Which is the greatest commandment" (Matt. 22:36)? Jesus replied, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself." I went on to explain it to Oprah like this:
Repeatedly in the Bible, we are exhorted to "acknowledge God" (Rom. 1:18, Prov. 3:5, Matt. 6:33, etc.), meaning we are to consider God in all we think, say, and do. God is an unique, personal God (unlike Eastern thought- Hinduism: many gods, Buddhism- god is all) and he wants us to check in with him, consider him in all we do. We are to walk with God, and if we did this moment by moment, it would have a profound affect upon us and the world.
Secondly, human beings are valuable, unique, and worthy beings, created in the image of God, that we should treat each individual with dignity and respect (Hinduism- cast system... some more worthy than others, Buddhism- there is no individuality, no unique dignity, all are one). Our treatment of others is important to God and we should treat others no differently than we would treat ourselves. If we follow these two commandments, and not get hung up on all the other stuff that gets attached to them (laws, rituals, traditions, the list of "sins" that a group may judge as bad, etc.), than we will live a life of dignity, purpose, and fulfillment.
Oprah got it... and it radically changed her thinking. But, it was only a dream...

Just some random thoughts...

2 comments:

Wini said...

How about if you just give that little talk in all the churches of America. What a difference we could make if we actually were Jesus to the world. We could show so many Christ just by our love!

Anonymous said...

Good words.