mvastano6164
In theology, Divine Providence, or simply Providence, is the sovereignty, superintendence, or agency of God over events in people's lives and throughout history.
Divine Providence
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replied to: mvastano6164
CoachWooden
Replied to: In theology, Divine Providence, or simply Providence, is the sovereignty, superintendence,...
Thank you for the thought provoking question.
Here is my humble attempt at an answer.
So if life was a stage play, and God the Director,
we are all given a script, but we still get to improvise
and ad-lib. When the big stage directions, (miracles),
are given by the man upstairs, a good performer will
take those directions.
Someone like a Tibetan Master, or Silent Monk, or Apache Scout,
who is totally dialed in to the Spirit World 24/7, is getting
stage directions all the time. Someone else, who has chosen to isolate
themselves from the Spirit World, may receive little or no stage directions.
The rest of us are in between, sometimes seeing glimpses of
miracles, and sometimes distracted or self absorbed.
So if Divine Providence trumps free will, is free will an illusion?
Yes, because free will brings about karmic implications, hence DP.
You help someone who needs it, you both feel good, DP wins.
You use free will, choose not to help, you both feel bad, DP wears on you.
That will eventually lead to either you helping someone next time, or
continuing to isolate yourself from the spirit, which may hasten the demise of your
physical body, but your soul will continue into another body, which
will have a better chance at manifesting DP than the current one.
This is Divine Providence at work.
When humans ignore DP so much that they lose their path, they become suicidal consciously or sub-consciously. In fact the relationship between your conscious and your sub-conscious is exactly like the relationship between free will and Divine Providence. You can play around in your conscious mind all day, but at night, and eventually into your days, your sub-conscious will prevail. You can use your free will and ignore DP,
but when you help others or share love, Divine Providence prevails.
So if free will seems to trump DP, it is only a temporary illusion that may
last a week or maybe even an entire lifetime. But most people, even if they have used
their free will to ignore DP their entire lifetime, when they are on their deathbed,
they inevitably say, "I should have spent more time with"... kids, spouses, or other loved ones. In other words, sharing love, which is a manifestation of Divine Providence.
Let's say Saturday night John drinks a bottle of Tequila, and is very rude to Jane.
John chose to exercise his free will. Where was Divine Providence?
Perhaps DP was there, but Jane missed some signs.
Perhaps Jane will learn from this, seek another path, and find her destiny through DP.
Or perhaps Jane will exercise her free will and get even Sunday morning.
So in that house, free will may trump DP, for awhile,
but DP would just look down the street for awhile for another chance to
display a miracle to guide a more aware woman or man into manifesting DP.
Divine Providence will always win, free will is an illusion, but how long you
maintain that illusion is totally up to you.
Here is my humble attempt at an answer.
So if life was a stage play, and God the Director,
we are all given a script, but we still get to improvise
and ad-lib. When the big stage directions, (miracles),
are given by the man upstairs, a good performer will
take those directions.
Someone like a Tibetan Master, or Silent Monk, or Apache Scout,
who is totally dialed in to the Spirit World 24/7, is getting
stage directions all the time. Someone else, who has chosen to isolate
themselves from the Spirit World, may receive little or no stage directions.
The rest of us are in between, sometimes seeing glimpses of
miracles, and sometimes distracted or self absorbed.
So if Divine Providence trumps free will, is free will an illusion?
Yes, because free will brings about karmic implications, hence DP.
You help someone who needs it, you both feel good, DP wins.
You use free will, choose not to help, you both feel bad, DP wears on you.
That will eventually lead to either you helping someone next time, or
continuing to isolate yourself from the spirit, which may hasten the demise of your
physical body, but your soul will continue into another body, which
will have a better chance at manifesting DP than the current one.
This is Divine Providence at work.
When humans ignore DP so much that they lose their path, they become suicidal consciously or sub-consciously. In fact the relationship between your conscious and your sub-conscious is exactly like the relationship between free will and Divine Providence. You can play around in your conscious mind all day, but at night, and eventually into your days, your sub-conscious will prevail. You can use your free will and ignore DP,
but when you help others or share love, Divine Providence prevails.
So if free will seems to trump DP, it is only a temporary illusion that may
last a week or maybe even an entire lifetime. But most people, even if they have used
their free will to ignore DP their entire lifetime, when they are on their deathbed,
they inevitably say, "I should have spent more time with"... kids, spouses, or other loved ones. In other words, sharing love, which is a manifestation of Divine Providence.
Let's say Saturday night John drinks a bottle of Tequila, and is very rude to Jane.
John chose to exercise his free will. Where was Divine Providence?
Perhaps DP was there, but Jane missed some signs.
Perhaps Jane will learn from this, seek another path, and find her destiny through DP.
Or perhaps Jane will exercise her free will and get even Sunday morning.
So in that house, free will may trump DP, for awhile,
but DP would just look down the street for awhile for another chance to
display a miracle to guide a more aware woman or man into manifesting DP.
Divine Providence will always win, free will is an illusion, but how long you
maintain that illusion is totally up to you.
replied to: CoachWooden
rac10s4me
Replied to: Thank you for the thought provoking question.
Here is my humble...
The definition of "providence" is two fold. "general providence," God's continuous upholding the existence and natural order of the universe" and "special providence" God's extraordinary intervention in the life of people. General I accept, special I reject. To me God has set his divine laws in order that cannot be changed. I am refering here to natural laws that have nothing to do with the God given reason given to man and and the ability to understand these laws more and more as history unfolds. This is much different to "fate" or "predistination." I do not believe God has created us to "act out a play" in which the script is already written. Natural disasters, and plagues fall in the realm of "general providence." God has given us reason to find ways to deal more effectively with them. However when we yet do not understand the laws of God and we have done our reasonable best, providence will prevail. Not for one moment do I believe that God strikes down the wicked with a plague or otherwise. Jesus said, "the Kingdom of God is within you." I believe the word "kingdom" could be replaced with the word, "mind." He has left mankind to search out and find the mind of God which will lead to a continuously better understanding of how to act for the best interests of mankind. We will be able to solve the mysteries of God's providence as we let the mind of God work within us. "Miracles" as I see it, is a lack of understanding of the natural order of his laws. We only see them as miracles now, but one day they will be understood.