Well, blow me down. God told Moses "I am who I am" when Moses initially tried to get a grip on why he was talking to a burning bush that was talking to him which displeased Almighty God that a mere human might be trying to horn in on/question his power. The Bishop only made a little mistake. He's probably rejoicing with the Lord in Heaven, or not, depending upon God's decisions. God doesn't hold grudges nor hold himself to man's claims on himself. None of us have the power to tell God what to do, including people who love God and whom God loves right back. In fact, I may be wrong, because God's goodness is actually too great for me to fully understand, because he is who he is, from knowing how many feathers cover a bird we may consider insignificant because we do not fully understand God and forget to remember He is who He is. All I know is that God is good, God is in charge, that I believe in his wisdom fully, and that I am not fit to dust off his sandals! But through it all, I know that God loves his creation mankind and patiently waits for us to see his light. And the scripture is true: "we see through a glass, darkly, but then, face to face." Have a blessed New Year, Mr. Marc. Even Moses disgusted God with disobedience once and only once, but so much that God decided a fit punishment for his lack of faith of his chosen leader would NOT see the promised land. Why? Because God is who he is. His laws are to be obeyed, and he demands great people to set a sterling example in return for the power he bestows upon them. Does beauty and intelligence without belief and obedience please God? No, it doesn't. Belief in God and obedience to his laws does please him. And those who put all their trust in him have been known to be lifted into heaven without suffering as was the case of Elisha in the Old Testament. I can only guess that Elisha fulfilled the obedience and belief line that God himself draws the line in the sand. Few of us love God enough to put him first and ourselves last. Very few, but we know from Elisha's lifting up straight into heaven was the choice of God to let mankind know that belief and obedience, trusting and obeying is more important than most of us know. If we can say "thy will be done, oh Lord," instead of the "gimme gimme" stuff God listens to ad nauseum, he rewards acknowledgment of his power over our own is a little more important than we think or can wrap our minds around such a critical point of salvation in Him.
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