Originally posted by Rose2:
Just testing 
Receiving you loud and clear ... God.
Signed...
Job
No, seriously, this should be a profound subject.
Testing.
Does God test us like a teacher at school tests us (pass or fail grading) or does he test us in a way in which 'test' was understood to mean what we mean today by - purification?
The teacher tests the student in order to further change the student into something better. But the student does not see it the same way. The student feels as if the teacher wants to see if the student has learned or not. While the teacher should considers the test (even if failed) as just another tool for the further improvement of the student. The application of the tool is what is importantant far more than if the student pass or fail any particular test.
The silversmith tests the silver by heating it. When heated - the impurities rise to the surface like dirt. Heating it further burns off the impurities to smoke. The silversmith knows what the silver has been purified by being able to look onto the surface of the molten silver - and see his own face.
And so we can go through life in two ways.
We can see life as a test - in which we must learn to give the right answers and act in the right way� (pass or fail - heaven or hell) � or we can see life as the stage (the theater) in which we are purified and our purification relies on our cooperation (our intent of will) rather than our intellect (our intellectual answers).
If our salvation is by faith - it is then not by intellect (knowing or having the right answers). If heaven is attained by faith and hope and charity - then it is not attained by having the right answers - doing the right actions - or learning the rules. It is not a thing - we do - it is a thing rather done to us.
Testing.
Just testing.
-ray
