A turning point for me was figuring out whether God is personal God or just God.
My Current Battle
by KW13 45 Replies latest jw friends
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dawg
Elivelith, in my mind she's a true christian... I know she'll judge me not for what I'm about to say...that said... I don't think God does either.
I was watching TV the other night, bodies were being stacked like cordwood, one on top of the other... some men had came into this town in Ethopia and slayed these innocent people all becasue they were part of a political organization that they disagreed with... like piecies of wood they were stacked.
I have a photo on my wall I look at each day I leave this humble abode in which I live... a man is holding his wife's head in his hands, crying..,she just died in an earthquake...
Studied? Each and every religion I've studied... none of them are all right and none are all wrong... but the mystery, the mystery of what makes life come into existence...thats what puzzles me... if for my buddy Elivelith, if she finds comfort in Jesus, if that makes her day go along better and she hurts no one by her beliefs, then who am I to judge.. but as for God... where is he, where was he when the long lines of people filled the chambers at Atshwitz...if I'm spelling that right...my answer?
I'm a diest, I think something got the ball rolling and then let it be, everyonce in a while he may throw us a bone, like sending Jesus to come up with a new idea better than the sheepherder's old god Jehovah (YHWH) murderous man made invention that he was. But there's no dogma attached to it because we are the ones that are supposed to make things better for ourselves... like I've said, he throws us a bone here or there, but its really up to us to make things better....
WHen the universe started all matter was in a ball the size of a grapefruit, we all were part of that matter, all the molecules that make up the universe where there with us, we are part of the eternal energy, we are part of the eternal (god)... (I and the father are one just as you and I are one) this is Hindu in orgins as far as philosophy... but its also scientific... when we die we go back to that energy, some call it heaven but it really doesn;t matter what you call it... we must name it and we are limited in knowledge so heaven is its name...matter and energy cannot be created or destryed, we are eternal... I can say more but i think I should stop... keep up your journey my friend, when you realize that we are all part of the same energy, then you will truly know how to "love your neighbor as yourself"....
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Merry Magdalene
All I can say is, I find it so important not to force yourself, label yourself or box yourself in. Your choices don't have to be either__ or__. You can't be something you are not, you can't believe something you don't, so please don't think you have to. Give yourself permission just to be right now. Take the pressure off so you will feel free to question and explore the questions with increasing depth. Your feelings and thoughts can go a thousand different ways; they're not chiseled in stone and I don't believe they are meant to be. It's ok to grow and change.
Some may think this is rather rich coming from a "believer," but this attitude is what made it impossible for me to remain a JW long ago and impossible for me not to become a Muslim more recently. But I didn't force anything, in spite of my impossible desire to know, understand and be able to do everything completely and perfectly and all at once. Believing certain things doesn't mean I have stopped questioning. It doesn't mean I don't constantly re-think what I believe and why. It doesn't mean I don't struggle. I do. And I think that makes for a richer, truer life.
Best wishes to you, Karl (and you too, the Borg). It is possible to care passionately about exploring the issues without worrying yourself to death over them.
~Merry
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hubert
I don't think you have to be a part of, or believe in a specific religion. I think that just believing in God and trying to live a loving life is most important.
Someone either posted or sent me a saying, and I can't find it, so I will ATTEMPT to remember how it went. Kind of makes some sense, don't ya think?
"I would rather die believing there is a God rather than die not believing, and find there is".
Hubert
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dawg
WHy Hurbert? You scared if you honestly didn't believe in God he would hold that against you? What kind of person doesn't give any instructions that are believeable, then never shows up, and then is pissed what you wern't sure if really existed?
What if you answered an add in the newspaper, the man calls you on the phone and says, yes your hired....then you go to a place where he tells you to go and he never shows, he never tells what you're supposed to be doing? Then he gets there at the ned of the day, and cusses you out for not doing that which you didn't know you were supposed to be doing?
I'd tell that man to kiss my ass.....and as for God, he's told us nothing... in my mind that leaves it to me to fugure out what's to be done... and if he exists and I've got it all wrong...its his own god damned fault...period!
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Gopher
"I would rather die believing there is a God rather than die not believing, and find there is".
This is called Pascal's wager, one often cited by believers as a reason for believing. In other words, to play it safe (and be shielded from implied punishments such as hellfire), one would be better off believing.
There are a couple of problems with this theory. First of all, wouldn't an all-knowing God be able to read hearts and thereby know that you are playing the role of believer, just to save yourself? The God I read about demanded worship 'in spirit and truth', not out of the desire to save one's hide.
Secondly, how would we know which of the many gods created or described by man to believe in? Which one should save us from the terrible fate of an afterlife filled with suffering? What you need to do in this case is go god-shopping. Find the god that metes out the worst punishment, and then serve THAT god so as to be saved from that god's wrath.
Actually, I feel that if there was a "loving God" in whose image we are made, then he made us to be able to use all of our brainpower, including the part that questions and is skeptical. And I think such a God would actually like someone like me who is willing to question things and consider all angles, rather than just settling into a popular belief system. He wouldn't punish me for using brainpower that he put into me.
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choosing life
I have excused myself from finding "the truth". Whatever I believe, that doesn't make it true. I have never found a satisfying answer to the question of suffering. That doesn't mean there may not be an answer someday.
I have allowed myself to just observe and do the best I can. It is very restful. If God wants to explain everything one day, he has my attention. Until then, I will live and let live and err on the side of mercy.
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dawg
I believe in God, becasue that girl with the nice jubblies on this add at the end of the page makes me say "oh god, look at those jubblies"...
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hubert
Maybe there is more to this quote that I'm not remembering. I thought it made some sense. I'm certainly not trying to preach here.
I just felt it was a good quote, and if you are trying to figure out if you want to get involved with another religion, this might be a good place to start.
I apologize if I upset any atheists out there. That wasn't my intention.
Hubert
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orangefatcat
I see that you are in a kind of crisis within yourself. I know what ever it is that you are seeking it will eventually come to be. Life and philosophy can become so complex can't it?
As regards to myself I am certain most of you know that I am a firm believer in God and if not well now you know. But that is me and my reason's are simply this, I can't think of existing without God being apart of my life. It took me serveral years after leaving the org. in 99 to decide my life isn't complete unless I have God. But not the God of the WTS, I use to think to myself all the time, certainly if JW's don't have the truth maybe it is this, that a little truth can be found in many faiths and walks of life. I can except that concept. I never believed the JW's had the rights to eternal life and God. I think that everywhere on this planet we can find God and some form of enlightenment. For some it means not going to church but again for me it is going to church. I guess it has something to do with my earlier years when I attended churches seeking something but didn't know what that was as I was merely 7 years old be? I knew that life had to start someplace and beauty had to come from a great source. As humans someone had to have made us. I went to church with my grandma after she found out that I had be attending several other churches on my own. My sister would hate going to Sunday School with me , because I always wanted to be with the adults. So to Sunday school first and then attend the services in the church. My grandma was adament that I attend the Anglican church as this is what we were for hundreds of years. Quite frankly I was happy being an Anglican and was ready for baptizm and confirmation. But alas something was brewing in the minds of my parents and I didn't like it. And I didn't like my father either. He was a brute and cruel man.
My parents scoffed at relgion. But mom never prevented me from seeking my own spiritual journey. But when my father sobered up he converted to the witnesses in 63, then he prevented me from attending church,oh no you must now go to a kingdom hall. Awe the kingdom hall. It was a journey but a journey that lead me in to a world of despair not of happiness like that which I expereinced all the time I attended church with my Grandma. I mean I was all of 13, Can I say to my parents no I don't want to go to a KH. ? Are you kidding me, he 'd killed me. I was devastated. I Didn't know why then but I know why now.
You see we all have to search our own hearts and minds as to what is best for us. If it is not going to church okay ,if going to church okay, being an athiest is somewhat difficult for me comprehend I don't grasp it, it is a complexity to me. That No, God doesn't exist? It just doesn't correlate or interact with me. But this is me.
However if it correlates with you then that is where you want to and need to be, Seek that which puts you in a place of tranquility and inner peace and that is what I wish for you, Peace and contentment.
I certainly in no way am judging you or anything like that I am merely sharing with you my feelings and I hope that you understand that is all I am doing.
wishing you the best of life.
Orangefatcat..