Ideation.

The bane of Christianity has been negative ideation :
The notion that sex is a sin creates unpleasant feelings of guilt, fear, and shame.
The idea that suffering is in some way meritorious actually creates pain in the practitioner.

So it is important to practice positive ideation :
Original blessing.
"God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good."  Genesis 1:31a (NRSV)
Sex (including gay sex) is natural - the consummation of love.

"'I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.'"  John 10:10b (NRSV)

Life is a combination of good experiences and bad experiences, pleasure and pain, joy and suffering.

Even though compassion and understanding may come from pain and suffering that does not make pain and suffering good or desirable.
Pain should be alleviated as much as possible so that everyone can live happy lives here on earth.
"'Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.'"  Matthew 6:10b (NRSV)

Guilt serves no positive purpose.

Shame is self-destructive.

The theology which has grown up around negative ideas like the death and suffering of Jesus is a perversion of the truth.
It seeks to make of a failure a victory.
And makes of something which is inherently bad something good - Good Friday.

Therefore because it does not face the failure of Jesus mission it creates aberrant theology :
Original sin, Penal Substitution, Salvation through the Blood of Christ, Universal Condemnation, Penance, Atonement.....
All these are false doctrines.

Can God lose?

The interpretations and beliefs of Peter and the apostles never quite reaches the heights of Jesus' understanding.
"'servants are not greater than their masters.'"  John 13:16a (NRSV)

They were always making mistakes and misunderstanding what Jesus said.
And they continued to make mistakes after Jesus' death.
Peter sought to encourage people to believe that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah - the fulfillment of the prophecies.
But Jesus does not always resemble the Jewish Messiah which is a military ruler and conqueror in some prophecies and a suffering servant in others.

Jesus was the tutelary spirit of the Age of Pisces.
Look at the Piscean symbolism in the New Testament :
Fish, fishermen, nets, water (baptism), Lake Galilee, washing away sins, washing feet, spirits, the Holy Spirit, prayer, forgiveness, healing, wine, vineyards, Jerusalem, faith.....

But it is Jesus' teaching of love and compassion that counts.


(Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.)