Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in mwilliamslive's LiveJournal:

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Monday, December 14th, 2009
9:35 am	EARTH VERSES HEAVEN I have often wondered, when Christian missionaries preached to primitive tribes of people, how those people would aspire to heaven when they see in those missionaries evidence of a culture far superior to theirs. Would the life style of the missionaries be more appealing to those people? If everybody’s perception of heaven is patterned after their own experience in this life, wouldn’t the expectation of a European King, for example, who lived in the fifteenth century, be very modest compared to the expectations of an average well-to-do person who lived in the twenty-first century? Also, what might have been the expectations of early Christians who lived in the first century? I think Christian heaven is being united to God, where Christians, even before death, become united to the body of Christ through baptism; and, after death, they do only God’s will and present no obstacle to God acting through them. They are wedded to Christ, function in perfect union with him. His life is their life. They actually enter into God’s life. I think this destiny far surpasses every human society on earth and makes human earthly accomplishments seem minimal compared to what awaits all of us in heaven. Maurice A. Williams (Comment on this)
8:38 am	NATURE'S INTELLIGENCE Animals show a lot of intelligence in the way they make choices, size up their opponents, and find their way home, many things. They show a real appraisal of situations and a free choice in that it is not automatic; they seem to make deliberate choices. Plus their bodies are under sensible regulation, automatically responding to stimuli like catching their balance and blinking their eyes to ward off dust. When they move their bodies, hundreds of muscles have to be flexed in the correct sequence and at the right intensity. Our own bodies are similar. We do not consciously control most of our reflexes, muscular movement, secretion of our internal organs, our body’s response to illness, like using elevated temperature to destroy pathogens. Even the automatic control of temperature, not only our own personal body temperature, but all human body temperatures, being uniform. Some rational thought and decision-making is operating here, if not our own, then some prevailing intelligence in nature. Take skill in art, for example. Most people do not have a talent for art, but some do. Some people can duplicate a picture merely by looking at it. How do they control the muscles in their hand and arm to cause precise movements that accurately draw what they have seen? What survival value is there in that skill or any skill, talent that many individuals have? Actually, where do those talents come from? How could something so obviously organized come from a non-intelligent source? It’s similar in the physical world: the orderly arrangement of sub-atomic particles to form atoms, the absolute identical property of individual atoms, each atom of iron, for example, has identical properties. Where did all this uniformity and predictability, this sensible response to stimuli come from? It seems to me that there is a lot of evidence for intelligence behind nature. Maurice A. Williams (Comment on this)
8:36 am	SALVATION Jesus always said his mission was to save sinners. In his ministry on earth, he never condemned a sinner; even the woman brought to him in adultery, even though the traditional punishment would have been stoning to death. Jesus spared her. When he came before the High Priest and Pilate, he had enough power to defend himself, and his accusers were certainly in the wrong and probably aware that they were wrong, which would make them sinners. Jesus spared them also. When he was mistreated by the crowd, scourged at the pillar, given a cross to carry, he did not punish the wrongdoers, but prayed for them, interceding with the Father on their behalf. “Forgive them, Father! They don’t know what they are doing.” Jesus accepted the cross and crucifixion to make remedy for the damage caused by sin, as he puts it: “See, I make all things new.” His mission, a mission that still continues through the Church, is to redeem sinners, to join his divine ability to the human ability we have so that, combined, a suitable and efficacious reparation for sin is offered to the Father. It’s not so much a question of enduring punishment for sin as much as it is making remedy for sin, of reversing the effects of sin, so that sin can no longer operate. There are some who will never abandon their rebellious ways. Jesus encouraged them to repent as he makes reparation for the sins they have committed. This mission lasted throughout the earthly ministry of Jesus. Jesus didn’t let it cease with his death; he commissioned his Church to carry on this mission in his name and through its union with his body. There will be no further toleration of sin after this mission ceases, but during the Church age, many will have found salvation through the mission of Jesus Christ. Maurice A. Williams (Comment on this)
8:35 am	COMMANDMENTS The Commandments do not vary in application from person to person. We all have to obey the same Commandments. But human aspirations and shortcomings do vary from person to person, making it relatively easy to obey some Commandments and extremely challenging to obey others. Probably all of us find obeying one or two Commandments challenging. If any of us found all the Commandments challenging, we would have an impossible time disciplining ourselves. Being challenged with complying with one or two Commandments is probably the cross God wants us to carry in our struggles in this life. Most likely, God wants us to discipline our rebellious human passions so we can demonstrate our fidelity to God. It’s possible also that God exposes us to these struggles so he can use the discipline we mastered over ourselves to help others who are still unable to help themselves. Maurice A. Williams (Comment on this)
Sunday, December 6th, 2009
8:09 pm	THE WORLD In my struggle to demonstrate my fidelity to God, I must battle “the world,” “the flesh,” and “the Devil.” “The flesh” is the allure of difficult-to-control passions and my self-centered pride. “The Devil” is instigation by a spiritual being intent on misleading me, and “the world” is the influence of others, the nation I live in, and the culture and customs it presents to me. All three are tough opponents, but the world is the most deceptive. I would not have expected the world, my fellow human beings, to mislead me. And yet, the world seems to have a mind of its own with its subtle influence promoting conduct I would ordinarily feel uncomfortable with. I understand now the admonition of Jesus to be in the world but not of it. Maurice A. Williams (Comment on this)
8:06 pm	MY TURN We all are influenced by “The World,” by the conduct of others, even when we think their conduct is wrong. Previous generations have shaped and guided world opinion, but previous generations are gone now, and “The World” has passed on to us. No matter what the intentions and methods of previous generations, now that they are gone, they no longer have any influence on where “The World” is headed. We do! It is not necessary for us to perpetuate anything we think is not right. We are at the helm. We have the mandate—it is our destiny to put our own imprint on the world. I hope I help make it better, now that I’m here, than it was before. Maurice A. Williams (Comment on this)
7:59 pm	WHAT WE REALLY ARE Many prestigious scholars argue that human beings are simply another evolved life-form, brought into existence by evolutionary influences that are completely random and have never been guided by rational thought. If this assumption is true, then humans are the first discovered life-form that displays intelligence, making humans far superior to any other life form discovered by science. I suppose that would make humans: me, for example, master of my own destiny and maybe endowed by evolution to control the destinies of other less-well-endowed life-forms. If this presumption is really true, then it doesn’t take much speculation to posit that we humans are “gods,” the only manifestation of intelligence so far known to science. A contrary opinion has been handed down to us that an intelligent God really exists, creator of the universe and everything in it, who endowed us humans with intellect and commands us how we should serve God. This is a very different explanation of why humans have intelligence. Both explanations cannot be true. I think it is important for me to recognize which position is true and to appreciate what I must really be in light of what is true. If it is really true that God created me, endowed me with all the abilities I have, and expects me to serve him and obey his commands, then I must be far more than a randomly evolved life-form. There is an intelligent source for my existence that offers me a destiny that I can accept and fulfill or ignore to my own detriment. Maurice A. Williams (Comment on this)
7:58 pm	STAR WARS Our literature portrays adventure stories of humans struggling with extra-terrestrial evolved creatures of enormous abilities. They usually are hideous-looking, very evil beings intent on overpowering humanity and making slaves of us. As adventuresome as these stories are, there is no indication that there is any scientific discoveries to support these stories. However, God revealed the presences of not only extra-terrestrial creatures but these creatures are purely spiritual. They are not composed of flesh and blood as we are. They really exist, and God has revealed that fully one-third of them have rebelled against God’s rule and have pitted themselves against us. God has permitted this. One can speculate on what God’s objectives are, but the point is that God has permitted this. God warns us not to follow their inclinations, but to, ourselves, remain obedient to God, no matter how they try to influence us otherwise. Big challenge here! If this is true, and I’m certain it is, I am already in a much more serious inter-galactic war that writers of science fiction ever imagined. The stakes are very high: there’s eternal happiness on one hand and eternal damnation on the other hand. The only catch is that, to win, I must choose not to disobey God, not to reject who he is and not to turn aside from his ways. Maurice A. Williams (Comment on this)
7:57 pm	LAMB VERSES RAT Popular magazines used to carry psychological tests asking readers if they were to become an animal what animal would they want to be. No matter what animal one chooses, the test results show some flaw in your character. As a youth, I decided a prudent answer would be lamb because a lamb signified Jesus, and I didn’t think anybody could criticize that. I was very surprised to realize I was wrong. So in my mature years, I decided a rat would be better because, if modern society a sinking ship, a rat has enough sense to bail out. But now, in my senior years, I realize that if Jesus bailed out on us, we would all sink. So, in deference to Jesus, I think a lamb is a better answer. Maurice A. Williams (Comment on this)
7:51 pm	CHOICE I can’t avoid choosing. This is part of my human nature. I will never be satisfied acting like an automaton, blindly following my instincts. I find myself always considering possible courses of actions, and pondering the consequences before choosing what I will do. I always choose. I cannot escape this decision to choose. I think this reflects the way God created me. I have free will, but I am expected to obey God. Ultimately, my choice boils down to a consideration of whether what I choose reflects union with God’s choice for me or rejection of what God would want me to choose. Maurice A. Williams (Comment on this)
5:50 pm	REPARATION It seems to me that God does not want to get even with sinners. I think he wants sinners to change their actions and obey God. It seems this was the mission of Jesus: to save sinners. This makes sense to me because punishing wrongdoers presents no challenge to God. Being all powerful and the only source of right and wrong that exists, God can do anything he wants without the slightest obstacle and without any necessity to conform to a higher code of conduct. There is no higher code of conduct for God. He does what he wants, and what he wants becomes the higher code of conduct for everything that exists. However, if God wants sinners to repent and choose to obey, God places a restriction upon himself. If God forces them, they lose the freedom of choice that God wants them to have. They would no longer be persons. I can see the dilemma God has placed himself in. He does not want me to experience eternal damnation though it is unimaginably easy for him to put me there. What he wants is for me to act of my own free choice and recognize that I am wrong and God is right. He wants me to freely give up my rebellious ways and love him, obey him, and serve him in all things. Sounds easy, but try it sometime. Maurice A. Williams (Comment on this)
5:45 pm	HUMANS VERSES ANIMALS If humans are simply a higher form of evolved life, then I would expect most of the successfully transmitted traits, like instinct and behavioral patterns that are so successful in of the evolution of earlier life forms, would still be operating in humans. We humans have instincts but we are not encouraged by everyone to give free expression to those instincts. We have a very strong tradition claiming that the creator commands humans to discipline our instincts, our sexual appetites, to indulge in sex only in marriage and only with our spouses, to eat only what supports good health, to desire only what we can legitimately own, to love others, and to show compassion. I observe that most animals, particularly our immediate predecessors, are truly brutish when driven by sexual passion, to not only mate indiscriminately with any partner available but compete with other suitors, in many cases driving off weaker rivals and mating with all available partners. We are told that this is natural selection in progress and it insures that only the best individuals pass their genes on to the next generation. Also most animals satisfy themselves first when they eat and drive off other hungry members of their own species rather than share. We are told that there is survivor value in this also in that only the stronger individuals survive. As far as showing compassion for each other, this is seldom observed in animals except when maternal instincts come into play. What a big difference between the way animals act through instinct and the way most humans try to discipline their passions! Maurice A. Williams (Comment on this)
Sunday, November 29th, 2009
8:53 am	RECKONING Many first rate scientists stake their reputation that there is no God who created the universe, there isn’t even a cosmic intelligence other that God that is behind the origin of the universe. The universe just happened by chance and its evolution follows predictable patterns based on the properties of matter/energy and chance events like mutations and cosmic collisions, etc. I often wondered about their position because I would have surmised that it is plain common sense that something so complicated and so well coordinated like the universe composed of atoms, energy, living organisms, to name a few, would have to be guided by an intelligent agent, God or some other intelligent agent. I wonder, if I had argued a similar position and then, when I die, discover that God really does exist—how would I feel when it is obvious to everyone that God exists? How embarrassed I would be! Everyone who applauded me on Earth would shun me and try to avoid my presence. What excuse did I have, since God did not expect me on earth to stumble upon incontrovertible proof through human effort of his existence? All God expected was that I accept his word. Now that God is plainly in front of me, what is there about God that would make his word unreliable? I would not want to be in that position when it is too late to prove any kind of fidelity to God. Nothing I do after the truth is plainly visible to everyone would make the slightest impression on anybody. Maurice A. Williams (Comment on this)
8:51 am	CREDENCE If some of the best educated minds argue that there is no intelligent cause for the universe, then, I think, most likely, the human mind is not capable of comprehending what really lies behind the observable universe. I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to comprehend it myself, but there is another source of knowledge. I don’t have to discover it for myself. I can accept the testimony of others. If God really made a revelation, I would be rash to reject it because, among other things, I would fall back on my own inability to perceive these things and I would never have knowledge of them. I think God did make a revelation through his prophets and especially through Jesus Christ. The only avenue for me to enter into that realm of knowledge is simply to believe what has been revealed. There is a question of accuracy of the historical record of what had been revealed. However, I think, because of the controversy between those who are willing to accept that revelation and those who reject it, I can discover a pretty well-researched and well-documented appreciation of what the revelation originally was when it came from the mouths of the prophets and of Christ. If I don’t accept that revelation as coming from God and, therefore, worthy of belief, I will never enter this hidden field of knowledge, not in this life anyway. After I die, when it is too late for me to make an impression on anybody, I expect then to be able to perceive God directly and to be aware of what God has revealed and what God had expected of me when I was still in the flesh. But it will be too late for me then to impress God because, when I had been given the opportunity, I refused to take his word for it. Maurice A. Williams (Comment on this)
8:48 am	ADAM AND EVE There is a widespread opinion that Adam and Eve offended God through sexual misconduct. I don’t think so. It would be easy today for most of us to do that because we have inherited the disordered flesh that resulted from their sin. However, before they disobeyed they were perfect. Being perfect, they would not have had difficulty with bodily desires pulling against the conduct they knew was proper for them. What was the cause, then, of their offense against God? I think it was pride. Since they operated through the spiritual nature God gave them, their bodily instincts would have been easily controlled by their intellect, and passion would have had no sway over their spiritual nature. They were simply told not to eat the fruit of one tree. It was a test of their wiliness to obey God. There was no stirring of their flesh to devour this fruit, no appetite that became difficult to discipline. What happened is the Devil appealed to them saying “God said that because he knows that when you eat it, you will become like God and know what is good and what is bad.” That’s why they ate it—so they could be like God. That’s the lure of pride. Ever since Adam and Eve’s act of disobedience, they and every one of their descendants have had first-hand knowledge and experience of both good and evil in their lives. Maurice A. Williams (Comment on this)
Friday, October 30th, 2009
2:03 pm	JUST BELIEVE   I notice that many well educated and intelligent people do not believe the revelation of God to the Israelites or the revelation of Jesus. They cite human experience to explain why that revelation cannot be true.  But can human intelligence really fathom God? I don’t think so. If it could, there would be widespread agreement of what God is like. This is not the case. Human reasoning has conjured up many contradictory opinions of what God is like and what God can do.   God’s revelation explains who he is and what he expects from us. I can believe it, if I want to. The only caution, for me, would be to be careful that I accept what God really did reveal and not some human distortion of it. Much of what God revealed is in Holy Scripture, and biblical scholars have worked hard at accurate translations.  I can be pretty confident that I will find a reliable translation of Holy Scripture. If God revealed that he created heaven and earth, humans and angels, I am able to believe it. If educated human experts say God does not exist. I, with the same effort, can believe them. But I have a choice because both claims cannot both be true.   I don’t need to make an extensive human investigation or earn a degree in science or theology to be capable of deciding what to believe. All I need is confidence that I am reading an accurate translation of what God revealed. For me, it’s as simple as that: if God revealed it, it must be true.   Maurice A. Williams (Comment on this)
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
11:11 am	WHY ME? We humans must be much different from what one would expect from the Theory of Evolution.  Far from being one more product of random evolution high in the food chain, primitive humans today and our ancestors yesteryear were very much food for larger and stronger animals.  And even if we have triumphed today through our superior culture, we are still very vulnerable to microbes and viruses that survive by feeding on us.  They take a heavy toll of humans even today. What is the purpose of our lives if we are here today for a few decades and gone tomorrow with no obvious value to our individual lives other than to promote the continuation of our species?  Actually, what is the purpose for our species, if it becomes extinct?  Many species have already become extinct, and almost all individuals within each species, including our own, merely pass from a brief existence and leave no lasting memory other than surviving long enough to pass genes on to succeeding generations. I write this because of an altogether different impression, coming from the Christian community, which claims that God created us and somehow our ancestors failed the purpose for which God created them leaving us, their succeeding generations, lost in sin.  Then God became a human being to lead us, not merely the species, but every individual member of the species, back to God.  Here’s where my dilemma lies: Jesus Christ, even though he is God, was willing to endure unimaginable frustration and suffering, even an atrocious execution, to, as Christianity explains it, to save my soul. Wait a minute!  If God became human and endured that much grief just to save my soul—I must be much more that just another evolved life form.  There must be something special about me that God does not want lost.  What could that be?  Christianity never claimed that I simply evolved through random mutations.  Christianity claims that God created me in his image and likeness and destined me to know God, love God, serve God, and honor him forever.  And God endowed me with the ability to willing accept what he offers or to reject it and rebel against God’s rule. However, whatever I choose, there are consequences to my choices.  Why is that?  I think this boils down to what God knows he gave me.  I think he created me as real person with immense influence on many other things he created.  If I choose incorrectly, I disrupt the harmony and happiness that God wanted others, as well as me, to experience.  That disruption could compromise the happiness and security of others, could even bring sin into their relationship with God. This must not be!  God could stop my rebellion in an instant through any number of means available to God.  But God chose to become human and endure what he experienced to convince me, already having chosen incorrectly, to change my direction and choose him.  I think God is doing this to preserve what he gave me, especially my ability to choose for myself.  If I turn away from incorrect choices and, of my own initiative, choose him, what an amazing relationship I would have with God.  I would still be a free person, coming of my own free choice, to know God, to love him and, of my own free will, to serve him.  This dignity that God gave me is worth preserving, even if it entails God becoming human and to endure everything he experienced to preserve this freedom. Maurice A. Williams  (Comment on this)
Saturday, October 17th, 2009
8:35 am	FEAR OF GOD I don’t have a sense of awe and majesty when I contemplate who God is.  He is sometimes criticized and maligned by people, and that, unfortunately, affects my perception of him.  I accept on faith who God is, but I don’t get that gut feeling that I would have if I were suddenly confronted by someone that my physical nature recognizes as superior to me.  My physical nature doesn’t register when I think of God.  It’s all mental and spiritual and based on Faith rather than perception. However, I know that if I were to encounter God under conditions where my physical nature as well as my spiritual Faith immediately recognizes who he is in a certitude that does not lead to any ambiguity, I know my immediate reaction would be awe and probably fear, just like I would feel, after criticizing and maligning a powerful and much respected world leader, if I suddenly saw him standing in front of me.  I would immediately regret all the criticism I leveled at him and hope he is not offended by it.  Under similar circumstances, if I were to be standing in front of God, I’m sure I would begin to experience “Fear of God.”  That would be a healthy attitude for a big mouth like me, but I’m sure I would have preferred a more intimate relationship with him because I would now be standing before God empty-handed. On the other hand, if I had developed a relationship with God before I died, I wouldn’t have that fear.  My relationship would be clumsy and probably not entirely befitting his nature and my nature, but it would be honest and sincere and based on my faith in accepting God’s testimony.  I would prefer this relationship before I die so that, when I do find myself in the presence of this mighty and powerful person, I won’t immediately regret my former attitude. Maurice A. Williams (Comment on this)
Friday, October 16th, 2009
8:38 am	MYSTICAL BODY I think Jesus was serious when he said: “I am telling you the truth: if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and do not drink his blood, you will not have life in yourselves. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him to life on the last day.” “I am the vine, and you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, and I in him, will bear much fruit, for you can do nothing without me.”   Saint Paul apparently believed Jesus. “You know that your bodies are parts of the body of Christ.” “All of you are Christ’s body, and each one is a part of it.” “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Your real life is Christ. When he appears, then you too will appear with him and share his glory.” “Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God?” “And now I am happy about my sufferings for you, for by means of my physical sufferings, I am helping to complete what still remains of Christ’s sufferings on behalf of his body, the Church.” “As far as the Law is concerned, you have also died because you are part of the body of Christ; and now you belong to him that was raised from death in order that we might be useful in the service of God.”    John in Revelation wrote: “For the time has come for the wedding of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself for it.” “Come, and I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” “And I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared and ready, like a bride dressed to meet her husband.”   I can imagine this bride, bonded to Jesus, as it formed through the years. First there were those who, through Baptism, had died to the old human nature and had risen, still in this life, but now within the mortal flesh of Jesus that is still suffering because sin is still operating in this world. They are joined Christ in his suffering. They were the first fruits as also were those who had been killed as Jesus had been killed, martyred pursuing the mission of Jesus the Savior. At first they were a very small number but now, centuries later, they are a vast multitude from every nation and every tongue.   I can visualize this bride of Christ, his Mystical Body, where Christ, even in his divinity, resides, the new Temple not built by human hands, the new holy city, the new Jerusalem as it will appear in eternity. These human members of his Church are united to Christ’s body, his blood, his soul and his divinity, becoming one thing with many parts, all working in unison doing the Father’s will to, throughout the Church age, bring salvation to all. Anyone lost in sin and overwhelmed by guilt can appeal to this presence of the Savior for forgiveness and rescue.   Maurice A. Williams (Comment on this)
8:35 am	ANIMALS THAT DEVOUR OTHER ANIMALS Why would the good God create animals that devour each other? Some of them are frighteningly vicious. Nothing has been revealed explaining this. Naturalists have posited their own speculation: food chains, survival of the fittest, tooth and claw, Nazi theories of master race, etc. How about if I spin my own speculation?   I think God created the angels before he created the physical universe. Then when God created the physical universe according to my speculation, fully one-third of the angels had already rebelled against God. It would not surprise me if God created animals as predatory as they are to show those rebellious angels, and to show me in my own rebellion, that nobody can provide for themselves if they insist on being separated from God. I, for example, cannot create anything from nothing like God did. They only way I can provide for myself is, like a predatory beast, take what God gave to others.   On the other hand, I would speculate that God could easily have created animals very different, where “Wolves and sheep will live together in peace, and leopards will lie down with young goats. Calves and lion cubs will feed together, and little children will take care of them. Cows and bears will eat together, and their calves and cubs will lie down in peace. Lions will eat straw as cattle do. Even a baby will not be harmed if it plays near a poisonous snake.”   That way, we all would live in peace and harmony, and God provides everything we need. I hope my character would not make me appear predatory if I were there with them.   Maurice A. Williams (Comment on this)