[ Jopson is, and has always been, practical. Philosophy and religion are the practice of men beyond him and his responsibilities. So the answer to Irving's queston is, to him, much the same as the last. He laces his fingers together between his knees, drags his bottom lip between his teeth as he thinks of a different way to answer it.
He knows that the most straightforward one is one that Irving isn't going to like, so he'll talk around it if he can. This doesn't need to be another spat. ]
I did struggle. Different from how you are, but you know what I think. The way I understand it, the angels saw fit to make my test different from yours. If this is how we show our quality, I won't presume to know God's mind about it more than I can see for myself. But at the start I was sure all of this temptation was a trick. Of course I was. But what I was seeing didn't match up with what I knew, so I asked questions and I paid attention.
[ He reaches for his device then, goes searching for something. When he finds it, he hands it over to Irving to read at his leisure. ]
No one is punished here for gross indecency, or for adultery, or anything of the like. No one. But you do get punished, really punished, if you push back against how they do things, or if you refuse to take whatever they throw at you. You only get fire and brimstone if you forget your place. I've not forgotten mine. I can't know what the right choices are to find peace, or why the tests are what they are. All I can hope is that I can pass on my stripes alone, at my best. And I don't think I've been anything less than my best for the people who need me.
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Date: 2022-04-28 09:59 pm (UTC)He knows that the most straightforward one is one that Irving isn't going to like, so he'll talk around it if he can. This doesn't need to be another spat. ]
I did struggle. Different from how you are, but you know what I think. The way I understand it, the angels saw fit to make my test different from yours. If this is how we show our quality, I won't presume to know God's mind about it more than I can see for myself. But at the start I was sure all of this temptation was a trick. Of course I was. But what I was seeing didn't match up with what I knew, so I asked questions and I paid attention.
[ He reaches for his device then, goes searching for something. When he finds it, he hands it over to Irving to read at his leisure. ]
No one is punished here for gross indecency, or for adultery, or anything of the like. No one. But you do get punished, really punished, if you push back against how they do things, or if you refuse to take whatever they throw at you. You only get fire and brimstone if you forget your place. I've not forgotten mine. I can't know what the right choices are to find peace, or why the tests are what they are. All I can hope is that I can pass on my stripes alone, at my best. And I don't think I've been anything less than my best for the people who need me.