To go to Cartography - Part 1, click here.
To go to Cartography - Part 2, click here.
The expression, "You cannot see the forest for the trees", is applicable to the religious human being. Most do not see the Big Picture. They see aspects of the Big Picture but not the Big Picture itself. The little trees that are dear to them block their view of the forest.
The picture presented in Cartography - Part 2, (click here) represents the Big Picture.
Let me explain the elements of the picture.
Like foolish children, Adam and Eve ran away from their home with God in paradise and took us with them into godlessness. Godlessness is not a nice place. To rescue us from godlessness, God established an escape route, defined it with holy places, made a map of them and entrusted the map to the Church. God gave the Church the mission to lead a new exodus from holy place to holy place through the hostile desert of godlessness from slavery under the yoke of Pharaoh to freedom with God and their holy family in the promised land.
The escape from godlessness to God is primary. Nothing else matters. Everything else is secondary. Anything that interferes is suspect
Only by moving from holy place to holy place can we be sure that we are heading in the right direction. The movement of the new exodus is the needle of the compass that always points to God.
The foregoing is a description in words of the Big Picture. The crayon drawing of the Big Picture is found in Cartography - Part 2, click here. What follows is a description of the elements of the crayon drawing. Deeper explanation is found on the pages of this website.
Potential Difference: The sourness of godlessness and the sweetness of paradise create a potential difference between godlessness and paradise. The potential difference will generate a current if a conductor is placed between the two worlds.
Conductor: The Son of God is the conductor. He took His place between the world of godlessness and the world of paradise. Through the bloody wounds we opened in His body with lash, thorns, nails and spear, the current of salvation flows. The current of salvation carries us from godlessness to paradise. The Son of God is the bridge between the two worlds. He is the way, the truth and the life. The Son of God is the sweetness of paradise. He is Heaven's most precious treasure.
Current of Salvation: The current of salvation is generated by two engines. The sourness of godlessness pushes the children of Adam and Eve through the exit of godlessness. The sweetness of paradise pulls them through the entrance of paradise. The current of salvation flows from godlessness to paradise and carries us back to our home.
Godlessness: Godlessness is not a nice place. In godlessness, we are fish out of water. Godlessness is the place into which Adam and Eve ran away induced by the illusion of the serpent. The illusion was that a life lived as gods in godlessness would be superior to a life lived with God in paradise. Reality shattered the illusion. God inserted a delay between our creation and the delivery of the gift of paradise. During the delay, we taste for ourselves the sourness of godlessness. This experience tells us that the serpent is a liar. Godlessness sucks. It isn't the grand place that the serpent described to Adam and Eve.
Paradise: Paradise is the promised land. Our home is with God in paradise. It is the land of milk and honey. God is the sweetness of paradise.
The Escape Route: Like foolish children, Adam and Eve ran away from their home with God in paradise and took us with them into godlessness. Godlessness is not a nice place. To rescue us from godlessness, God created an escape route, defined it with holy places, made a map of them and entrusted the map to the Church. The escape route takes us through the hostile desert of godlessness from slavery under the yoke of Pharaoh to freedom with God and their holy family in the promised land.
The Escape: The escape from godlessness to God is primary. Nothing else matters. Everything else is secondary. Anything that interferes is suspect. The Escape is the new exodus. The new Exodus is led by the new Moses, the Church. The new Exodus proceeds from holy place to holy place that define the escape route. Only by making our escape from holy place to holy place can we be sure that we are heading in the right direction. The new Exodus is the needle of the compass that always points in the direction of God.
The New Moses: The Church is the new Moses leading the escape through the hostile desert of godlessness from slavery under the yoke of Pharaoh to freedom with God and their holy family in the promised land. The mission of the Church is to facilitate the escape not filter it - to be grease for the wheels of the escape not an obstacle in its away. Godlessness is a sinking ship. We are its passengers. The Church is its crew. The job of the Church is not to save the ship but to save the passengers. God is not interested in making godlessness into a nicer place for godlessness people to live. God is interested in exhuming the corpse of godlessness that is rotting in our hearts and is poisoning us. The mission of the Church is to get all of the children of Adam and Eve into the lifeboats and on their way to safety - regardless of their status as saint or sinner, regardless whether they were naughty or nice and regardless of whether their thinking is 100% consubstantial or less than 100% consubstantial with the official thinking of the Catholic Church. Anybody who is seeking God is entitled to a seat on the life boats - no exceptions. Seeking God at the holy places is what is important rather than thinking about God. Going on safari is more important than thinking about or reading about going on safari.
The New Exodus: A new exodus is now in progress from holy place to holy place on the escape route from godlessness to paradise. You are invited to join it.
Holy Place: A holy place is a landmark that God established in the hostile desert of godlessness to define the escape route. The holy places are the precious jewels of a necklace that God set against and in contrast to the hostile desert of godlessness. At a holy place, we include God in our lives and God includes us in theirs. At a holy place, a close encounter with the living God takes place. At a holy place, a connection is made between earth and heaven. Through the connection, the light of paradise illuminates the darkness of godlessness. Nobody walks away from a close encounter with the living God unchanged. Nobody walks away from a close encounter with the living God empty handed. At the holy places, God transforms us. There we come to realize that God loves us and we start to love God. Love opens the ear of the student to the instruction of the teacher. When we love God, we stream to Him as the rivers stream to the sea for instruction. With instruction we grow in wisdom and holiness.
The Big Picture: The Big Picture is the escape from godlessness to paradise. The Big Picture is not reading or thinking about going on safari. The Big picture is going on safari. In the Big Picture, we pick up our roots that anchor us to the hostile desert of godlessness and make our escape away from godlessness to paradise. The Big Picture is dynamic not static. It is a movement. It is the dance from holy place to holy place that ends in the loving embrace of God.