"Identity apart from God is inherently unstable."

 I felt I was an insignificant loser. A lot went wrong in my middle-age life. I couldn't control those crises exploding in my face. Anti-depressants didn't help. Only a depressant, alcohol, seemed to make me forget about the battles I was fighting because I no longer saw any purpose in my life.

After I centered my life around God's will and re-discovered sobriety, I found this in The Reason for God, by Timothy Keller: "Every person must find some way to 'justify their existence' and to stave off the universal fear that they're 'a bum....' In our contemporary individualistic culture, we tend to look at our achievements, our social status, our talents, or our love relationships.... Some get their sense of 'self' from gaining and wielding power, others from human approval, others from self-discipline and control. But everyone is building their identity on something....

"Identity apart from God is inherently unstable."

Read that last sentence again. It's the most succinct statement of the cure for alcoholism I've ever come across.

Maybe the Collective Unconscious Keeps Us Feeling Jung

My career as a journalist, writer, and community relations manager has brought me in contact with thousands of people. Going back to my school years, I've been close to hundreds of them. A few I still see, a few more I communicate with through social media, but for most I've lost contact. I remember some names and I remember some faces, and some have disappeared from my conscious mind. Nevertheless, all are still with me and make me who I am now.

Could our brains be hardwired to the brains of others, and even to all of humanity? I think so. Psychologist Carl Jung thought so. He called it the collective unconscious. He taught that a segment of the deepest unconscious mind is genetically inherited and not shaped by personal experience. The collective unconscious is common to all human beings, responsible for a number of deep-seated beliefs and instincts, such as spirituality, sexual behavior, and life and death instincts. I submit that the collective unconscious mind connects us to those we know and used to know. (See https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-collective-unconscious-2671571)

I believe we find God in our collective unconscious. That's where he abides in all of us, and so knows our thoughts and deeds. But that's a post for another day.

Today, I want to share a passage written by psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb in Maybe You Should Talk to Someone. She doesn't mention Jung here, but she seems to embrace the theory of collective unconscious. "Relationships in life don't really end, even if you never see the person again. Every person you have been close to lives on somewhere inside you. Your past lovers, your parents, your friends, people both alive and dead (symbolically or literally) -- all of them evoke memories, conscious or not. Often they inform how you relate to yourself and others. Sometimes you have conversations with them in your head; sometimes they speak to you in your sleep."

I have lived a lot of years. I hope I carry with me a little piece of all those who mean so much to me. You too?

There's an Old Man in My Mirror

 Aging is tough, but it sure beats the alternative. And it's nothing to drink over. Bear with me through this post until I get to the point.

I've watched sadly as school friends keep passing away. Last month it was John, one of my besties throughout school. Tom died of a heart attack quite a while ago. Keith went to the University of Arizona on a football scholarship but died in a dune buggy accident. Van ran cross-country with me. He died in his 30s near the finish line of a 10K sponsored by his own uncle, a local restauranteur. I played basement hockey with Jeff, who died on a golf course last year,

In my own family, I lost my dad when he was just 49. I have a sister who survived cancer, another had a stroke, a brother-in-law died of cancer, and another suffered a serious stroke. I am older than all of them.

I work out and eat salad for lunch almost every day. Yet arthritis prevents me from running (I completed 29 marathons), I had a hip replaced, a knee replaced, an intestinal blockage removed, and back surgery to give room to my spinal cord because I couldn't walk as far as the mailbox without collapsing.

Now the point: I don't drink over any of this. Instead, I thank God for getting me through another day. I accept my mortality and the mortality of friends and family as part of God's will. My daily prayer is please, God, may I do your will, whatever that is. "...on earth, as it is in heaven...."

Giving Thanks for My Alcoholism (Huh???)

 Everything happens for a reason.

I believe that. Believing that makes me feel better about terrible things that happen in the world. Some may call that Pollyanna thinking. I guess it is. But it helps me accept God's will better.

In The Reason for God (See video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3juJzFbGpMk), Timothy Keller, pens examples of people who suffer crises in their lives. "Though none of these people are grateful for the tragedies themselves, they would not trade the insight, character, and strength they had gotten from them for anything. With time and perspective, most of us can see good reasons for at least some of the tragedy and pain that occur in life. Why couldn't it be possible that, from God's vantage point, there are good reasons for all of them?"

Maybe the most impactful tragedies in my life came from overconsumption of alcohol. I've listed many of them in my book (https://covenantbooks.com/books/?book=corking-the-bottle) and this blog. As a result of my alcoholism, I have come closer to God, I know dozens of people I never would have met, I fulfilled my lifetime dream of writing a book, and I have come to understand addictions so that I might be able to help others. None of these good things would have occurred if I weren't an alcoholic.

Thank you, God, for my eye-opening tragedy. Everything happens for a reason.

Finding God Climbing the Stairway to Heaven

 I find God in Nature. Much of my childhood involved camping and hiking. In high school and college I got interested in Indians' reverence for the Great Spirit and his natural creation. I brought my kids up to respect the outdoors. In fact, my younger daughter and her husband moved from Louisville to the Colorado Rockies by choice, where they hike and sightsee many weekends.

A Search for What Is Real: Finding Faith, by Brian D. McLaren, expresses beautifully why I seek and find my higher power in nature. "...that running water and singing birds can become God's voice, speaking to me of joy and comfort...."

Which reminds me of my favorite song of all time, Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin: "...And a new day will dawn for those who stand long, and the forests will echo with laughter."

But I digress. Back to McLaren. "That is why I make it a habit to go into the woods and to walk by the streams.... I find myself saying, 'God, what an amazing artist, engineer, scientist, inventor, manager, and risk taker you are...' One of the essential experiences of mysticism is an awareness of a glory hidden in all creation, in every tree and blade of grass and speck of dust and grain of sand. That experience, I think, is an experience of the creator, coming through the medium of God's creation."

Some sort of an "experience of the creator" is an essential part of healing our addictions. See Steps 2 and 3 if you need some help getting started. And again from Stairway to Heaven: "And if you listen very hard the tune will come to you at last."

The Worst Trips I've Ever Been On

This past weekend, I went with my wife and sister to visit Mom and another sister in Grove City, Pennsylvania. The drive home Sunday was slick and quick. But the trip up from Louisville through heavy rain took about two hours longer than usual. It was the worst trip to PA ever.

No. Wait. That's not true. There were worse. When I was drinking, I needed a slug of vodka the night before and sometimes again the morning of the trip so that I felt okay until I returned home to the bottle. Ugh, those trips were terrible. My wife always drives, so there was no risk of DUI. But sometimes I shook so much in the car and at my mom's that I couldn't keep food on my fork or hold a glass to my mouth. One time I kept throwing up, then dry heaving, through the seven-hour ride and then throughout the night in Grove City.

I couldn't wait to get home. A drink would make me feel better again. Of course, that was only temporary. Why did I think I had to drink? Eventually, I learned I needed God, AA, and Antabuse, along with want-to, before I could get sober for good. Well, sober for this day. Tomorrow I start over.

Grace Really Is Amazing

 Sometimes I make the point at AA meetings that everything happens for a reason. If it weren't for alcoholism, I wouldn't know anyone in those rooms, I wouldn't have achieved my lifetime goal of writing a book, and I wouldn't be in a position to help others battling addictions. I say thank you God!

Chuck Smith, in Why Grace Changes Everything, (https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/why-grace-changes-everything_chuck-smith/323595/item/690097/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=pmax_non_scarce_used_nca_22292660096&utm_adgroup=&utm_term=&utm_content=&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22296401182&gbraid=0AAAAADwY45hJ8GR9uxFB9kWBAhuG2SFIe&gclid=CjwKCAjwi-DBBhA5EiwAXOHsGQRUcJNhRYVanXm4tzTbzhexWB2X6oB5vt5FOcK22SKOGVoWb3shZRoC1OYQAvD_BwE#idiq=690097&edition=2309660), writes, "Wherever we find ourselves, God has a reason for placing us there. He has his hand upon our lives and upon each circumstance in our lives. We may be going through difficult trials, but hardships are necessary. God wants to develop in us the characteristics that will enable us to fulfill his plan for us."

Please, God, work your will through me, whatever that will is.

Everything Happens Beneficially, Officially

I wrote fondly before of the book I recently finished, Everything Happens for a a Reason, by Mira Kirshenbaum. And I just finished The Alcoholism and Addiction Cure, by Chris Prentiss, who offers a similar perspective on the everything-for-a-reason theme.

First, let me explain why that theme is especially important for me now. Last March, we left our home of 35 years and moved a few miles away, still in Louisville, to a smaller, lower-priced house. The kids are long gone and we both have retired, so a smaller house would mean less upkeep and less expense. The difference in the price between our old home and our new one was to be put away for traveling around the country with our camper. But here we are, seven months later, and our big former home is still on the market. We keep lowering the price and paying the mortgage on the new house (at 7% interest).

Why have our plans gone pffft? I dunno. It's frustrating and demoralizing. Is there a reason for this? God? Karma? I tell myself there is a reason why we are watching our nest egg fall from the tree. Some days, I have trouble convincing myself.

Nevertheless, Prentiss writes in his aforementioned book, "If you believe that God or a Supreme Being of any other name is the cause of everything, and if you believe in the popular conception of a Supreme Being that is all-knowing and all-powerful, it follows that whatever comes from that Supreme Being, such as the Universe itself, has to be perfect as well....

"(W)hatever happens is the best possible event that can happen. If one thing that could happen that was truly bad -- one thing that was imperfect -- so could three, four, five, and more imperfect, bad events happen, which could possibly lead to destruction. But that doesn't happen. The Universe continues to be perfect at every moment....

"Even if an incident hurt me or took something from me, it would always work to my benefit since the Universe will not let anything bad happen to itself, and I am a part of 'itself'."

That explains why my drinking problem, in the long run, was to my benefit. And watching my savings slip away like sand in an hourglass is to my benefit. Somehow. Someday. At least, that's what I keep telling myself.

 Be Still And Listen: "The Tune Will Come to You at Last"

This blog is sort of a sequel to the book I wrote, Corking the Bottle: A Day-by Day Guide to a Sober Life (https://covenantbooks.com/books/?book=corking-the-bottle), published last summer. The book started as a series of daily blog posts I wrote during the first few years of my sobriety. The purpose is to lead, I hope, someone -- anyone -- to a new and improved life.

Here is a sample, written on Day 19 of my sobriety:

"I grew up as part of a family active in church. There, people told me what to believe. And I did believe. But later, in my adult life, I became disillusioned with formal religion as it was taught to me. In my community relations job, I became painfully aware of basic needs being unmet. It seemed churches didn’t know or else didn’t care about the people living all around them who were struggling to be healthy families. I no longer felt religious, but I still believed in God. What’s up with that?

"It wasn’t until I got into AA that I learned religion and spirituality are different. I can be spiritual: love God, pray, seek to do God’s will, and don’t judge others’ spirituality. I believe there is one God, but how I perceive him is up to me. We choose our own higher power. I had never seen spirituality from this perspective.

"Where you find your higher power doesn’t matter. Just find it!

"One of my favorite books is Awakening in Time by Jacquelyn Small. She writes, 'When we honor the higher power’s principles of love -- of truth, goodness, and beauty -- we are using our energy as a creative positive force, and we feel serene. When we violate its laws of love and wisdom which are in fact our nature, we feel isolated, heavy, uninspired, and out of sorts.... In order to connect with our higher power, we simply need to be still and listen. Our intuition already knows the sound of its voice.'”

 A Cure Is All In Your Head

I don't really know how I recovered from my alcoholism. And yes, I have recovered. I believe. I recognized all the problems I was having that led me to drink too much. When I accepted that God was beside me and had work for me to do, I was able to get well. That's when my world became a better place again for me. I'm not sure whether it was my improved outlook that led me to quit drinking, or whether quitting drinking led to an improved outlook. That isn't important. They both happened and that's all I care about.

Chris Prentiss in The Alcoholism and Addiction Cure stresses the importance of a positive attitude in overcoming addiction, cancer, and any other affliction: "If you have been told and you believe that you have the incurable disease of either alcoholism or addiction or both, throw that belief overboard now. It is a ball and chain that is weighing you down and interfering with your complete recovery. This is your time to take on the belief that you live in a wonderful world, a magical world, a world where suffering people -- not mot just alcoholics and addicts, but everyone, even those afflicted with the most diverse and difficult diseases -- can be healed, and you will be one of them. It is that empowering belief that is foremost in your arsenal of recovery."

Seeking the Creator Near a Pond

Here is one more quote I like about finding God in the wonder of his creation. Brian D. McLaren in  A Search for What Is Real says this about discovering a red eft, or newt, in his yard at the age of five. My sisters as kids, along with their friend who many years later became my wife, collected these salamanders and kept them in a terrarium. They are beautiful. The newts, I mean.

"Who can assign a value to those creatures? Who can deny the existence of a Creator when viewing such wonders? Who can help but love these creatures, and in loving them, who can doubt that his or her love wants to reach through and beyond the creatures to their Creator?"

 See God at AA Meetings

Ever been to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting? Maybe you are like I was and are afraid to go, not knowing what to expect or how uncomfortable you may be made to feel. Well, I came across this account of what AA meetings are like. It is in A Search for What Is Real by Brian D. McLaren. https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Faith-Search-What-Real/dp/031027267X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1482512494&sr=1-1&keywords=a+search+for+what+is+real+mclaren&linkCode=sl1&tag=mclaren0f-20&linkId=eeb7c29aa85e4afb22bf4c2310956349

"You will better understand this means of experiencing God powerfully if you attend a few meetings with a friend in recovery. At nearly every meeting you will hear a true story from someone whose life has gone out of control due to some form of addiction. This person realized that he was completely powerless over his addiction, and eventually reached 'bottom,' a point where he despaired of his own ability to change his own unmanageable life through his own willpower. At that bottom point, he reached life through his own willpower. At that bottom point, he reached out to God -- a Higher Power outside of himself of whom he admittedly had little understanding -- and in the days, weeks, and months that followed, he found that this outside power was restoring him to sanity. Over time, he learned more about this power. For example, he learned that God was morally good and that part of God's healing process involved not only release from addiction, but release from moral anarchy; the person will tell you about how he engaged in a searching moral inventory, identifying his wrongs and seeking, wherever possible, to make amends to those he had hurt.

"He also learned that this Higher Power cared about others, and so he began to dedicate himself to carrying the message of a caring, restoring God to others in similar pain. In addition, he learned that he would very easily relapse unless he sought to maintain constant conscious contact with God through prayer and meditation and to practice moral discipline in all of his daily affairs.

"Story after story you will hear...you will sense the presence of God. At least I know I have."

Yes, and I have, too, How about you?

 Finding the Creator in His Creation

Kathy and I went camping last weekend in Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area in western Kentucky. After 35 years of living in Louisville, we finally got over there to explore. We haven't gotten to camp enough during this, our first year of both of us being retired. We had a good time. We saw elk, bison, and deer. Kathy saw a fox and bald eagle.

Better yet, I got to see God in his creation. Nature is important to me and my faith.

"...running water and singing birds can become God's voice, speaking to me of joy and comfort; that thunderheads can shake me and battle me and charge me with the power and majesty of God. That is why I make it a habit to go into the woods and to walk by the streams." (Brian D. McLaren, A Search for What Is Real, https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Faith-Search-What-Real/dp/031027267X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1482512494&sr=1-1&keywords=a+search+for+what+is+real+mclaren&linkCode=sl1&tag=mclaren0f-20&linkId=eeb7c29aa85e4afb22bf4c2310956349)

I moved to Idaho years ago so that I could live close to the mountains and forests. My daughter moved to Colorado for the same reason. She hikes in the Rockies many weekends throughout the year.

"The Lakota was a true naturist -- lover of Nature. He loved the earth and all things of the earth, the attachment growing with age. The old people came literally to love the soil and they sat or reclined on the ground with a feeling of being close to a mothering power. It was good for the skin to touch the earth and the old people liked to remove their moccasins and walk with bare feet on the sacred earth. Their tipis were built upon the earth and their altars were made of earth. The birds that flew in the air came to rest upon the earth and it was the final abiding place of all things that lived and grew. The soil was soothing, strengthening, cleansing, and healing....

"Kinship with all creatures of the earth, sky, and water was a real and active principle. For the animal and bird world there existed a brotherly feeling that kept the Lakota safe among them and so close did some of the Lakotas come to their feathered and furred friends that in true brotherhood they spoke a common tongue." (Chief Luther Standing Bear, Oglala Sioux)

"And a new day will dawn for those who stand long, and the forest will echo with laughter."  ("Stairway to Heaven," Led Zeppelin)

 Just Say Yes to God

There was a time for me when to stop ruining your life with alcohol seemed easy: Just don't do it. Until I was part of the disease, I didn't understand that the brains of alcoholics are different. Just saying no didn't work -- not without a higher power.

"Years ago, the First Lady of the United States challenged the youth of America to 'Just Say No' to drugs as she warned them of the dangers of drug use. When I first heard the expression, I thought, 'Does she really believe that this is all it's going to take to solve our drug problem?' However, in thinking about it further, I realized that this is the same kind of strategy the Church has used for years to try to keep people from sinning. We've told them to 'Just Say No' to illicit sex or alcohol or some other vice. But just saying no alone doesn't work. There must be something more appealing to which a person can say yes. A person must experience something that will offer him a greater pleasure than the allurements of sin....

'Drugs, alcohol, and other worldly pleasures are just demonic counterfeits for what people could experience in God's presence.... Ultimately, the only thing that will liberate the human heart from the slavery of sin is the supreme satisfaction found in God." (Enjoying God by S. J. Hill, https://www.sjhillonline.com/)

I take exception to the author referring to drinking as a sin and demonic. But I do agree that devotion to God is a necessary alternative to drinking. The need for God in our lives is made clear in AA's Twelve Steps:

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

God Could and Would and, For Me, Did

I couldn't have gotten well six years ago if not for Step Two and Three:

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

Some AA people say they have or had problems accepting the existence of and grace from a higher power. For me and countless others, Step Two and Three are essential for conquering the demon rum. Here is a post by Bruce Reaves from Recovered Alcoholics group Facebook site:

"God could and would if he were sought

"Not 'understood,' not even 'believed in,' just 'sought.' I was somewhere between agnostic and atheist when I came in. But I could see that SOMETHING was at work in the lives of the sober members of AA, and I decided to seek the help of whatever that was. THAT is God as I understand him. I turned my will and my life over to the care of that undescribable undefinable whatever-it-is and proceeded through the steps. I call it 'my buddy HP.' It's been working for over 40 years now."

Make God your buddy, too.

 Church Is No Museum for Saints

I was taught as a child that only good people get into heaven. Likewise, only good children get gifts from Santa on Christmas. I'm glad I'm not that child anymore. I have discovered God's grace, and what I do doesn't matter. There is no St. Peter at the pearly gates to review my life's works in some big book. Really, that's what I was told. Were you?

"I learned to relate to God on an entirely new basis; not on the basis of my works, or of my righteousness, but on the basis of God's love for me.... That is grace, and that is what makes life worth living.... For it's true you know: Grace changes everything!" (Why Grace Changes Everything, by Chuck Smith. You can read the book for free at https://www.cclakeside.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Why-Grace-Changes-Everything.pdf)

We talked about God's grace at my AA Big Book study group yesterday. Chris said he told his sponsor once that he didn't deserve God's grace. Of course you don't, was the sponsor's reply. "Grace isn't getting what we deserve. If we deserved it, it wouldn't be grace."

Chris added later, "I had a preacher in church who said church isn't a museum for saints; it's a sanctuary for sinners."

I like that. I need to do God's will, not to get into heaven, but out of love and gratitude for God's grace.

Change Comes In All Shapes and Sizes

I guess God didn't want me to post what I just wrote. I believe he tells me what to write, and now what not to write. I was describing my depression over moving to a smaller house and being unable to sell the old house, which has been on the market for five months. Then, when I was almost finished typing the post, my screen went blank and I lost all I had written. So here goes again. I'll omit all my sad details and go straight to the quote I wanted to share.

"In time you come to learn that something is always coming. No road ever runs straight.... Even if everything continues, it will change, and you have to be willing to adapt to those changes.... Change can be tough, even when it takes you where you want to go.... 

"As a result, fear of change is present in every aspect of our lives. We dread the pain that could wait for us over the horizon, and we do everything we can to avoid that potential discomfort. That is why we quit our addictions and our vices only when the consequences of indulging them hurt us or others more than the pain of quitting them." (The Fun Formula, by Joel Comm,   https://www.amazon.com/Fun-Formula-Risk-Taking-Serendipity-Revolutionize/dp/1400201942)

Leaving behind the lovely house where I lived for 35 years and raised two wonderful children has been hard on me. I needed to be more ready for such a giant change in my life. Lesson learned. Someday I will leave this house too -- either in a moving van or a pine box. I better be ready for the change.

 God Has Some Pretty Good Reasons

I didn't want to move to Louisville, Kentucky. But everything happens for a reason.

Ultimately, I did move to Louisville. For 16 years, I had the best job I ever had. My wife worked at the Louisville Zoo and overcame her shyness. Both daughters received scholarships and worked their way through the University of Louisville to earn advanced degrees. Both met their husbands in Louisville.

I never prayed to get the job in Louisville, uproot my young family, and move here from Kennewick, Washington. I  didn't have to. God had a plan for us. Likewise, God wanted me to recover from my alcohol addiction, then write a book and this blog to help someone else struggling with the same problems that used to pound me down. I didn't want to become an alcoholic. But it's true: Everything happens for a reason.

There's a Signpost Up Ahead; Your Next Stop: The Twilight Zone 

I remember this episode of The Twilight Zone. I wish I could meet someone like this character. Oh, wait. I  already have: It's the God of my understanding.

The story goes, an old street vendor enters a bar. No, this isn't the start of a joke. He has an uncanny ability to foresee what each costumer will need. Moments after telling a washed up major league pitcher he needs a ticket to Scranton, the player gets a phone call offering him a job there. The old man tells someone else he needs a pair of scissors. The man scoffs but takes the scissors. When his scarf is caught in an elevator door and the scissors save his life, he understands. He returns to the bar and tries to force the vendor to tell him the name of the horse that will win a race. The greedy man wins a bundle, but next time all the salesman will give him is a pair of shoes. I won't spoil the ending, but the thug gets what he deserves.

God kind of works like that old salesman. He knows just what we need, even when we don't know yet ourselves. Today I started reading a book, Everything Happens for a Reason. "Whatever reason you went through what you did, it was to help you get just what you've been needing in your life."

God has thrown me more curveballs than that pitcher going to Scranton ever threw. Some things that happened I learned the meaning of, like those scissors in the elevator. Others, I'm still waiting for.

I think I know why I drank: It was to numb me as I passed through a tough time in my life, and so that I could recover and write a book and this blog to help someone else struggling with alcoholism. Drinking led to many repercussions, but it was what I needed.

I'm sure I'll blog again about life's reasons as I read this book. I've thought and said out loud many times, "Everything happens for a reason."

 If God Created Heaven and Earth, Did He Create Evil Too?

I remember learning in middle school science or someplace that there is no such thing as cold. There is only heat. More on that in a moment.

But first, Mental Floss Presents Condensed Knowledge, in a chapter about religion, discusses “The Problem of Evil.” The authors present five propositions:

              1. God is omnipotent, or all-powerful.

            2. God is omniscient, or all-knowing.

            3. God is omnipresent, or everywhere.

            4. God is benevolent, or all-good.

            5. Evil exists.

“Logically, one of these statements must be false. Why? Because a god who has all the characteristics of propositions1-4 cannot allow evil to exist.” (https://lightsailed.com/catalog/book/mental-floss-presents-condensed-knowledge-a-deliciously-irreverent-guide-to-feeling-smart-again-editors-of-mental-floss/9780061747649/)

But if there is no evil, how do you explain murder, war, violence, North Korea? St. Augustine, I think, had the right idea. He rejected the fifth proposal. “Augustine knew that if evil exists, and if God is the creator, then God had to create evil, so he argues that evil is ‘the absence of good.’”

Now back to cold. Heat is energy that speeds up molecules. Cold is the absence of heat, or the slowing of molecules. Hence, there’s no such thing as cold; it is merely the absence of heat energy. So it makes sense to me that here is no such thing as evil. God didn’t create evil. Instead, evil is the absence of good.

Condensed Knowledge claims that Christians have trouble accepting St. Augustine’s view because it “sacrificed too much of the Christian worldview since the fight against evil is central to their beliefs.” So what? Why can’t we promote good instead of fighting evil? That brings up the movie and the concept, “Pay It Forward.” By promoting good, we are eliminating evil. By turning up the furnace, we are eliminating cold.