The Religious Cycle
We can see the cycle, but can we prevent it?
The religious cycle is as old as man himself.
Why does mankind desperately need God at times, and at other times feels sure he can do without Him?
The answer is illustrated in the religious cycle which has persisted in all generations and in all peoples in all places.
We are most humble and devoted to prayer, fasting, and devotion itself, when times are tough and we realize we are not masters of our own destiny but need a higher power, if we are even to survive and perhaps once again prosper.
When times are seemingly easy and we prosper, we forget this need for a higher power and even kid ourselves that we did it all ourselves. We even reach the point where the error of believing that anyone less fortunate is obviously not making the efforts we have made, and are the victims of their own failings.
When our own ease and prosperity are once again threatened or lost due to factors beyond our control, we may return to a more realistic humility in which we finally say "Let go, and let God" handle it, while praying fervently that He will!
This cycle of trials that test our faith, a religious response to severe trials, prosperity followed by feelings of self-sufficiency, and the onset of new trials, is seen throughout history.
How we behave during wars is a prime example. In the extremes of war we come to realize that "we are all in this together" and we not only need each other, we need something only a righteous and loving God can provide in His infinite wisdom and mercy.
We tend to sail the seas of life as fair weather sailors. It is in the over-powering storms that we reach for something deeper within and reach out to something higher above.
When we do, the storm subsides, a comforting warmth returns, and humility will shortly give way to vanity and pride with the consequences which inevitably try us again as we learn again what we should have learned before.
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© 2012 Demas W. Jasper All rights reserved.
Why stop seeking? "Seek and ye shall find."
