When the Samaritan woman spoke to Jesus of her people worshipping God by a mountain and the Jews worshipping God in the temple in Jerusalem, He didn't say, "Oh yes we Jews have got it right, you should worship in Jerusalem." No He told her that the Father wanted people to worship Him in spirit and in truth. Most of the people who built great cathedrals were not worshipping in spirit and in truth. They were glorifying themselves. They didn't even have the decency to help with the manual labour, but watched as others not only risked life and limb, but also gave life and limb in the construction of these spiritual monstrosities. The cathedrals may look beautiful to some but spiritually they have no worth at all. Jesus said that the temple in Jerusalem which was renowned for its beauty, was soon to be destroyed and He didn't say, "What a shame." No, Jesus is interested in our worshipping Him in spirit and in truth. Mostly that means what we are like when we are alone with Him, when there are no other people to impress, just you and Jesus. Is your worship of Him then, in spirit and in truth. It isn't about you praying in the prayer meeting or preaching from the pulpit which can just be to impress your peers. No it is about you alone with Jesus. Can you cope with that?
I have written in previous posts about disasters. In the case of Concorde, decisions by people, plus other factors were directly to blame for the event. In the case of the Penlee disaster it may have been avoided if someone had made a better choice in the time beforehand and as a consequence brave men and the ship's crew and the captain and his family died. 9/11 was certainly the result of wicked men committing a terrorist act, but even in this there was heroism notably by another Cornish man, Rick Rescorla who helped many to safety and left it too late to help himself. In situations like this we see what the human spirit is capable of both good and evil. What of disasters that come on people because of the earth restless movement of tectonic plates. Often people live near volcanoes because the land is rich and fertile and they have the chance of a better life there when the volcano is resting. We cannot blame them for that but sometimes people become complacent...
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