Blog Nr. 8

I sincerely hope this blog does not offend anyone, but I have been pondering this for a long time. I have asked myself "Should I start something by putting my beliefs here, or should I leave things alone? Like I mentioned in my first blog, this is a place where I can document my feelings/ideas/thoughts so that my family can see what this old man was about. Here goes:

There is currently a massive debate about "Creationism Vs Evolution". Both "sides" of this debate have put out there their thoughts/beliefs about who/what we (as mankind) are, and why we are here, etc......

I have the capacity of "free will". Was this evolved into me or was it created into me?
I cannot believe that I descended from a monkey/ape/chimp, though science has proven that mankind has 96% of DNA as the chimp. This chimp does not have free will. I do.(Besides, I think I am much prettier that any chimp!!!!)

My free will was a gift for my Creator----you can have a different name for Him but I prefer to call Him GOD. I believe this world that He created was His gift to us, naming us as the predominant species above all the other animals/creatures he also put here. His only requirement for this "gift" was to follow a few rules. I think his words might have been "Here you go, mankind. Follow these simple rules and you will reside here and be happy and there will be no pain/ death/hardships. You, mankind, are also being giving a gift of "free will"....use it wisely." With this gift of "free will", mankind chose to disobey His simple rules (Thanks a lot, Adam and Eve). I think we all know what happened next.

In re-reading the above paragraph, I have over-simplified the actual events that I believe have occurred. There are Bibles, Torahs, Korans, and various other writings that detail mankinds thoughts of the actual events. With my extremely limited capacity, I like the simple explaination.

After seeing how hopeless mankind really was, incapable of following simple rules, I believe our Creator (GOD) decided to give us another chance. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to show us the way, to teach us how to live, to prepare us for Salvation; in simple words, giving us another chance to have Paradise here on Earth. Well, mankind, using his "free will" really blew it again. We murdered Jesus Christ---there are no other words to describe it. Again, I over-simplify, but you have to remember--I am a man, extremely limited in his capacity. But I have "free will" (as you can see, this is a term I use often).

People might ask why GOD hasn't destroyed us all and started over. Again, with my "free will" I believe He has a plan for us. Can anyone give detail of this plan??? Absolutely not....we were not provided with the capacity to understand this plan. Way too complex for a human mind. That is why a word like "Faith" exists. GOD, in His infinite wisdom, is the only one who has the mercy, patience, love, understanding, etc., to have put this plan together. But I have Faith in His plan...it will happen...in His time.

I have to veer off-course a bit, to define (in my mind) the word Miracle. Do they exist? Absolutely they do. Miracles are described in various writings. But I have seen miracles. I see them every day. I had the honor of witnessing the birth of my oldest grandaughter. This was not a miracle? Oh, yes it was. My son had the honor of witnessing a miracle....the birth of his first daughter. Not a miracle? Certainly it was. Miracles are proof, to me, of GOD's power and goodness. I look at my children and I see miracles. There are miracles all around us. Just open your eyes and you can see them. Look at the gifts we are given. I could go on and on but my limited capacity stops me.

I could rant and rave about this for eternity, but to sumarrize MY thoughts, I will make it simple----I Believe in GOD----if you do not, that is exercising your "free will". I will not try to convince you that you are wrong.......I am not intelligent enough to do that. But, I will say, do not blame GOD for the ills that we all suffer through. That is Mankind, doing it to ourselves.

I do want to lamely try to explain my Faith. Having been raised by an Irish-Catholic mother, I attended mass regularly. I was an alter boy (some of my former shipmates and drinking partners are saying "WHAT? NEVER!). I was told I had to pray to GOD see if I should become a priest. I did.....my Faith took me another way.(I had discovered girls!). I have talked with many many people of many many faiths: Jew, Christian, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormans, Muslims. I have heard their sentiments and beliefs. I have made my choice. And that choice is personal and between GOD and me. I thank GOD for giving me that free will to make that choice. I pray to HIM each day to help me in my personal quest and to provide help for mankind. Cause we sure need the help!!!!!!

To my many friends that are thinking "What a jerk! that McLuckie is", that is your choice made with the free will that has been given to you.

As I said at the beginning of this rant, if publishing my thoughts upsets you and you have different thoughts, I would love to hear about them. If you are a non-believer, I would like to hear your thoughts. If you are so upset that you want to scream and yell (via this medium), please do so. If you are so mad/upset that you will never respond or speak to me again, I can only say "GOOD-BY".

Tom McLuckie