slowly going nova

my daughter cannot, through action or inaction, harm a human or allow a human to come to harm

a daughter at rest or in constant motion remains at rest or in constant motion unless acted upon by another force

daughters are never created or destroyed, only transformed

always treat every daughter as loaded, even if you know she isn't

In my AP Art class, there was a girl who was just starting to experiment with mixed media. At this point she was still playing around, trying to decide what direction she wanted to go with her portfolio. So one critique day, she brought in an abstract canvas with some rhinestone highlights and painted and real peacock feathers. She loved sparkles and peacock feathers so she thought she’d try introducing them a *little*. And after everyone had given some input, the teacher gave her his advice, VERY roughly paraphrased here:

“So here’s the thing… I do not like this style. These are just elements that do not speak to me personally, but I see that you like them, and you’re doing interesting things with them.

“My biggest critique is, I only merely *dislike* this piece. I want you to make me HATE it. Go crazy with the things that you like. Don’t hold back trying to make it palatable to people like me. Because I am NEVER going to like it. And if the audience does not like it, it should drive them crazy seeing how much YOU love it.”

Her portfolio was chock full of neon colors and glitter and rhinestones and splashes of peacock feathers and it was a delight. Our teacher despised every piece lol, but she got great marks and I think even won some awards. And more importantly, she was happy and proud of the results. Because she didn’t limit herself by trying to appeal to people who were never going to enjoy what she enjoyed.

Ok but you realize you're not hurting the corporation, right? You know they won't care or notice? Right?

You are, however, screwing over an employee that already makes poverty wages.

It really isn't. The fear is from taking the words of people seriously when you really shouldn't. All of that fear has come from humans, not God. Humans can't send you to Hell, so don't listen to any human that says you are going there. You should also take into consideration that "fear" in the Bible means following God, not literally fearing him. Genuine fear of him is not what he wants. He wants mutual love. The Bible was written centuries ago so things are worded differently than they would be worded now.

In genuine Christian teaching, extreme guilt is not viewed as the work of God. It is viewed as a trick to keep you from loving God. Let's take into consideration that all of the saints never lived perfect lives and they never viewed themselves as worthy of becoming saints. They made the same mistakes that you and I probably have like skipping prayer out of sloth, saying negative gossip, etc., but they didn't shame themselves into viewing themselves as mistakes that God hated. They viewed these mistakes as trials that they could use as examples to try and get better for God. God doesn't expect perfection because no one is perfect. He wants you to learn, explore, and try again if you fail. That shows character building and determination.

First, I finally got to see that on the Easter Vigil when I was confirmed and it's definitely memorable. I wish I'd have been baptized in the Episcopalian church but alas, I was baptized in my old evangelical church when I was like eight and the Episcopalian church does not do it again so such is life. No worries, confirmation was just as memorable.

But on to the actual part that pertains to OP. I think one of those things you need to think about God is that they're like a parent. I heard that a lot growing up, God was a like a parent and I should strive to please them. There was always that undertone that I should fear God's displeasure as well which fit quite well into the whole evangelical worldview of punishment.