What is God's Message?

God's message (revelations) is stated most clearly in the first of the Ten Commandments. That is, there is a natural and unchanging law (order) in the universe that you must follow or run the risk of God's judgment in this life or the next. God is infinitely patient but not infinitely forgiving.

The only "immorality" is the pollution of the body or environment. All else is custom (convention) and style, variable from one culture or religion to the next.

As a relief, God's judgment is seldom "all or none" for a given act. But, the breadth and extent of our improper acts as adjudged by God is what determines the pain-disease-sickness we experience in this life or the next.

Moreover, the guidelines of what to do have been set up such that there are no absolute guarantees according to the "Law of Probability": If you do it right, most of the time it will turn out right, but some of the time it will turn out wrong. If you do it wrong most of the time it will turn out wrong, but some of the time it will turn out right.

So then, as there are no absolute guarantees of safety, wisdom, health, wealth, joy or happiness, we must be aware that tragedy could strike at any moment but in general things happen because they are supposed to, according to the natural order and Law of Probability. That is, we bring most of our problems on ourselves, and we could change this if we so choose. God's forgiving nature has to do with his patience and our own efforts at repentance by changing wrong to right behavior, sufficiently and strongly enough.

The easy message, which may be missed in this verbiage is that do things right (do the right thing) or get hurt. And you may very well get hurt when you don't want it (early-middle-late-ever). Obviously, Preventive Medicine is the key.

H. Robert Silverstein, MD
Hartford, CT