Thank you. I’m genuinely curious. How was my word choice thoughtless? I write and edit for a living, so I do consider my words carefully as much as I can. Of course, I start work very early, so by Friday night, my brain’s a bit mushy. :)
My intent was to compress that moment of choice to as short a time measurement I could think of to convey what I imagine to be an instantaneous choice. Does Jesus give us a moment to ponder? Is it an instant yes/no, one-time-only choice? These are things I truly wonder about.
My late dad was turned off religion (and by extension, faith) when his mother died when he was a young child. She was a Christian Scientist and refused treatment for an infection.
So, our family went to Unitarian Church when we were kids, which I got nothing out of, and then we attended a congregational church on Christmas. That was pretty much it, although I had God in my heart. My dad was always searching for the faith that he felt was taken from him.
We didn’t talk about it much, if at all. A month or so after he died, my mom called me to tell me about a dream she had, where he was talking to her, escorted by a tall column of light. He was happy and content. Right before they had to go, my mom asked him (which was strange, because she never expressed much about religion or faith either), “I have to know. Is Jesus Christ the Son of God?” He beamed and said emphatically, “Oh, yes.”
That’s what put me back on the path to seek God. I relayed this to a good friend who prayed with me throughout my divorce, and she said that was what someone would say when they absolutely KNEW that was the truth - and how they would say it. I’ve since relayed this to my pastor and my son - it was wonderful news to share.
So, that’s the reason for my wording. Did my dad have that yearning for God nestled so deeply in his heart that there was simply no other answer he could give? I hope so. Do lifelong doubters, but who don’t retain any hostility or pain toward religion and faith as they die, have such a moment of clarity that no other answer than “yes” is possible?
It’ll take until after my life here is done before I know for sure. But that’s the reason I used the word that I did.
Thanks for reading, and I’m looking forward to your perspective. :)
Well, this is a rhetorical usage of the term ( millisecond ) so as I said the first time, why not a nanosecond?
I only used the term "thoughtless" in the sense that I feel it to be "uninformed". Uninformed that is of the issues it raises concerning physical scale, and let's not forget the physical basis of mental processes, and of course life processes in general.
As a physicist "by training and inclination if not profession," as I sometimes say, such remarks as yours raise these thoughts in my mind like a cloud of dust, which perhaps I pursue in small whirlwinds for my own amusement, but also my own edification if I may believe so.
I might only add that the verse, 1 Corithinians 15:52, sung in Handel's Messiah alludes to a such an instant, but in a very different context, actually, and one which is largely ignored in the popular religious sentiment of today, which favors instead the ascent ( or not ) of each individual soul into heaven at death.