Never mind God. I'm starting to pray to Nicholas Parsons!

As well as being a popular and highly acclaimed British actor, comedian, radio and television presenter, Nicholas Parsons was the host of the long running television game show "Sale of the Century".  I would be quick to point out that his personal religious views or beliefs have no bearing whatsoever on this hub.

Neither is this intended as a criticism or condemnation of anyone who has a fervent belief in God. To each, their own.

It sounds silly, I know.......but good old Nicholas was a game show host....and at the end of many programmes, contestants were given a choice.....you can play for the £10,000 cash prize....or for the house!! Now that's the crux of the matter........Like God, he gave us a choice.....but it was a win/win choice....whichever route you chose to take, the outcome was a happy one....
And it's like when I was a kid......my mum used to say to us, when we got home from school.....What would you like for your tea? Fish fingers or sausages?.......Well, it was always a very difficult choice, because I loved fish-fingers AND sausages......and my mother loved me, so the choice was always a win/win choice.......i don't remember her ever saying....You'll take the fish-fingers or else it'll be goats kidneys, soaked in garlic and marmite and you'll suffer for all of eternity for not making the right choice......!!!!!
Do you see where i'm coming from?

As a parent, I would want my children to walk on their own two feet, and to make their own choices, and I will stand by them whatever choices they make. However, if they walk towards an open fire and are foolish enough to think they won't get burned, I will stop them, because I love them. If they make the same silly mistake over and over again, I will consistently come to their rescue, because I love them. If they resent me for interferring, and call me names, and spit on me, I will still show them that same love, because they are my children, and my love for them is unconditional.

I would never set a gram of heroine on the table and say to my child, "This could kill you. You might enjoy taking it, but it could kill you, so don't take it!" I would never deliberately put temptation in their path.

God allowed the tree of knowledge with it's forbidden fruit to grow in paradise. In the midst of his perfect creation, he permitted this temptation to appear before his children. Then he told them, you must not eat the fruit. It is evil and you will suffer. I can't come to terms with that concept. I can't see where the Fatherly love is that would make a parent place his children so close to obvious temptation. And more significantly, I can't come to terms with the fact that He then cursed his children, and his childrens children for giving in to the temptation that He had himself presented to them.  Is that unconditional love?

If my ordinary, but truely wonderful, little mum can make choice such a rewarding experience, regardless of the outcome.........if smarmy Nicholas Parsons can work out that the choice between one GOOD option and another GOOD option, will ultimately always have a happy outome........then why did the all-seeing, all-knowing, wiser-than-wise God of all creation have to give us all such a strange and unpleasant offer. Love ME....and you win the jackpot....the £10,000, the house, the fish fingers AND the sausages.......but if you DON'T chose me........then you'll BURN FOR ETERNITY IN THE FIRES OF HELL!!!!!!!!!!
Choice?
Love?

It's all too difficult to comprehend!