My "short story" response to today's #InkblotArt challenge.😜🤣😂😆

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nostr:nevent1qqswxj0tuljw42ns7a7cdm4eayj77zgunc3k66qjx8uyzk3mupnr2mcpzamhxue69uhkummnw3ezuendwsh8w6t69e3xj7szyrqcx8a7yeflwctyggw40kmvacut3nhceenhr0r9cyhc2s77fvum7qcyqqqqqqgxersw6

She spends her days going in circles...😢

Actually, poor #dogstr is a blind, little old lady (17 years) who just doesn't know where she's going these days...😢

#Catstr under #Dogstr

It's been a long hot day on the Savannah. You're tired, you haven't gotten any of the big game photos you promised your Nat Geo editor, and you're very thirsty.

As you despondently trudge back toward your Jeepstr, you notice a strapping male cheetah, lapping up water from the only oasis within miles. This could be your chance for glory! Not to mention that maybe you won't be replaced with another freelancer...

You creep closer, snapping shot after shot. This is good! Just a bit closer... You can almost smell the beast, when suddenly he looks up from his drink.

The apex predator, water dripping from its whiskers, locks eyes with you across the small watering hole. His focused gaze is terrifying. You don't have a prayer of escaping from a 160 pound, muscular, meat-eating machine that can run 80 miles per hour...😳

Fortunately, unknown to you, cheetahs are curious, and even friendly around humans, and so you actually live to file this dramatic "money shot" with the magazine.

(Note: The #InkblotArt moment in this short story is the cheetah, staring you in the face across the watering hole.)

Great question; thanks for getting me thinking about this!💖😆

Here's another funny sign I saw while out galivanting today...

🤣💜🫂💖😂

I came across this meme/sign while out and about today...🤔

Love it!😆💜🫂💖

👇👇👇Awesome👇👇👇

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Thanks, Fren.😃

Thanks for reading and interacting!🙏🏻😄💜🫂💖😆👍

Thanks for the challenge....🙏🏻👍💖😆

When I get it built, I'll pick you up and we'll go for a spin...😃

Many men have created "gods" in their own image, resulting in nothing but deficiently inferior fictions. I think your observation that this results in false dilemmas is insightful.

In contrast to man's notion of god(s), King Jesus, the God of the Bible, transcends all the gods of man's imagination. In John's major book, the very first thing we learn is that Jesus is the Creator of every last thing that has been made. And in the first chapter of Hebrews, far outstripping the most fantastic fantasy I've ever read, God is contemplated reconstructing the entire cosmos as easily and swiftly as you or I might change jackets.

Thanks for chiming in.🙏🏻😄

Hey Brother,

Thanks for your encouragement and for the boost.🙏🏻😄💜🫂🚀👍

Please let me know what you think when you get to it?😆

Top of the Morning to you!🙏🏻😄👍

A nostr conversation becomes an article:

https://peakd.com/christianity/@creatr/the-problem-of-evil

🤮More evidence of state evil.🤬

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Thank you for asking!🙏🏻😆

Here's my very personal take on this: I think the paradox contains "false dilemmas."🤔

I'll walk through the posted illustration, focus on the important bullet points, and offer some answers I think the paradox overlooks.

nostr:nevent1qqstl27v8mnrlq3zzh4nw7s8c0txqjayqeztqvnjnqp9kayh5q3f8wqpp4mhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mqzypjed5qpmj0wpt5mj2g8mjgq233qnp9zyyuf4z0gan2xvzzyu8j76qcyqqqqqqghcl73w

Evil Exists <- Agreed.

Can God Prevent Evil? <- Yes.

Does God know about all the Evil? <- Yes.

Does God want to prevent Evil? <- False Dilemma #1... NO, because he has a higher purpose.

Then why is there Evil? <- Read on...🙏🏻😄

Could God have created a universe without these? <- Yes, but it would not have achieved his purpose.

Could God have created a universe with free will but without evil? <- False Dilemma #2. This is a question akin to the childish, self-contradictory "Can God make a rock that he can't lift?" or "Can God create a married bachelor" or "Can God make a square circle."

I think the core problem is assuming (pre-judging) God's purpose and motivation, and (most subjectively) his personal intentions toward yourself. It comes down to a relationship question; "In light of the reality that I am experiencing significant pain as a consequence of the obvious evil in this universe, can I possibly believe that God is kindly intentioned toward ME?"

I have personally struggled with this question. Why—if God really loves me—have I been subjected to so much excruciating pain in my 70+ years? While I have not arrived at a detailed, personal answer to that question, I am comforted by the following observation.

God did not exempt HIMSELF from the consequences of allowing evil into the universe. He instead took evil on in a frontal assault. Father God suffered the pain of seeing his only-born son Jesus egregiously mistreated and ultimately painfully executed. God the Son, Jesus, directly experienced that pain as a mortal man.🫂

As a father and grandfather myself, I can *scarcely imagine* that kind of pain. I have, however, in part experienced it when we lost a grandson to barbaric cancer treatments, unable to intervene because of authoritarian state "laws." Nevertheless, as a follower of Jesus, I am comforted by his promise that both my grandson and I will—even as Jesus was—be raised from the dead to live in a reconstructed universe with every trace of evil eradicated. Jesus extends this phenomenal offer to all:

"Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die—ever. Do you believe this?” She said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the King, the Son of God, the One who comes into the world.” (John 11:25-27)

The Bible is explicit about God's benevolent intentions toward humanity, and particularly toward those who accept what he has said about himself. "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28)

On the other hand, those stubborn enough to rebel against God and continue to wreak evil havoc in the world, despite his kind offer, will be put down.

Footnote: God WILL ultimately destroy satan, along with his followers and all traces of evil. In the meanwhile, we who accept the current reality, personally turn from evil, and express our belief that God is well-intentioned toward us by following Jesus... We incrementally reverse the impact of evil in the world through our lives and daily actions.

BTW, FYI, here's a Wikipedia entry that helpfully describes the paradox more completely:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epicurean_paradox

Harness zero-point energy for both electrical power and non-Newtonian thrust, and incorporate it into a 10,000+ square foot flying house.

The house "hides in plain sight" because it looks like a blimp, but where the gasbag would be, there are actually several decks.

The powerplant enables the house to accelerate at up to three gravities, taking you anywhere on earth in about 30 to 45 minutes... to the Moon in about four hours... to Mars in three days.

My favorite thing to do is pick up friends anywhere in the world and take them on a "road trip" during which we "park" in the ideal spot where I serve dinner and we dine, looking out through the house's picture window at the rings of Saturn.🌌😁

I see a milking machine about to go to work on an udder.

#InkblotArt