What does faith mean to you? (page 8)

cofty

It would seem the age of prophecy is well and truly dead just when we are in the best position to corroborate it. Very convenient.

Have a great holiday.

FlyingHighNow

Faith is something all human beings who can think, feel and reason feel in one way or another. Hey, have a little faith in me.

ammo

This is my 3rd time trying to get on the last too were quite elaborate (and I have lost them) in detail so forgive me if this is not quite so.

Cofty, and others you talk of faith and being a load of bullocks, fair enough but what would you of done on these occasions.

!st time for me hearing "the Voice" I was 15 going to jump into my friends car going for a sunday drive/hoon I went to grab the door "NO" thats what I got, I went to grab it again"NO" long story short, I never got in that car my mates had an accident rolled down 'pokchop hill' just out of Palmerston North NZ, the side where I would of been sitting was wiped out to the point of me being 'toast' if I had been sitting there.

The 2nd time I was on a RDO reading in bed 'the world according to garp' I was about 26 yrs old than fully engrossed in the book, when I hear "leave this house now, "Leave this house now, Leave this house now" I was so shit scared that i could not get out of bed, I stayed there till my flatmate got home and told him, he than admitted to me he was schizophrenic and that he had been feeling 'out of sorts' and had been feeling like hurting someone, he also shared with me that his ol man was the same and had stabbed his mum in the throat, he was in longbay jail at that time still serving. I cleared out that evening, I worked with him for 2 years I would of never expected him to of even had any mental issues, let alone the past he had had.

The 3rd time for me was at 1.30 in the morning in Orewa NZ fast asleep I get piercing through my brain"get up, get up get out now,' than repeated

ok I sat up my partner at that time was still sleeping, and nothing seemed odd, I walk down the hallway -nothing pull the door open and the lounge, dining room and kitchen are engulfed in flames, but not a big roar just like a crackle eating up the walls, The fireman when they did get there said due to the time we had been asleep 2.5 hrs we should of all just died of smoke inhalation, and no you could not smell or hear anything from the bedroom.

I also when I was in my 20's wanted to learn about remedial/shiatsu massages and unblocking meridians etc, I did ok in this to the point where the lady that run the center- Double Bay Massage offered me some part-time work,- good clients- like Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, etc I already had a fulltime job but really enjoyed this so said yes, things were going fine, one day a woman who was a regular came in I started the massage and remember going from happy as,to hearing, ('sick'can't breathe, very sick,) I was crying by the time I finished I asked her if she was ok, she told me she had just that day been diagnosed with Lung cancer and wanted to keep it to herself till her husbands 50th b/day was over that weekend.

The next time I was massaging a very young, rich asian dude, things were ok till I picked up his hand and got 'MURDER MURDER MURDER" very loud and clear, most people you massage have their eyes closed and are pretty peaceful, he seemed relaxed till I picked up that paw of his and heard that he had one eye open and was looking at me, I was crapping myself but thought hey finish up and bail. I went back to the ol gal that run the place and told her what had happened she than told me he was a member of the triads(it was only than I was told about the missing little finger and yes his was missing) and what it meant in relation to triads.I only do friends and family nowadays.

Now there have also been a couple of other experiences in direct relation to God, but these above experiences happened even before I really thought long and hard about God, I was not looking for any sign, life was great, and I had not been off my face on drugs at any of those times, even though I have taken drugs and gotten pretty shit faced at times, nothing ever happened than, even when looking and trying to get some answers.

I am not putting this out there for people to bulloock me and tell me what a Loon I am. I am just wondering what would you put it down too, I don't consider myself special in anyway, infact after reading alot of the posts on this site with the work thats gone down in research I think I am rather dumb in comparisom, but I would put everything I own on these events happening and saving me. I am at a loss where I should stand in all this Logic, fact and reasoning tell me its BS, the very real personal experience I have had with this voice tells me otherwise, its abit like the JW thing knowing somethings up but what, than I read all those against post and think yeah but its just not that simple or explainable unless you have been there yourself.

The thing is if I would of put it all down toa load of bullshit, or I'm going nuts, I very well may of ended up dead.

It has always been the same male,calm clear voice, even if it has had a sense of urgency it never scared me, or even made me think 'F... what was that, it felt right to take heed.

Now remember I'm not asking for abuse here just a little discussion on it all.

cofty

FHN - but don't you see how misleading that is when believers pretend that is all they mean by religious faith?

Normal, everyday faith is constrained by evidence. The opposite is true of theism.

cofty

ammo - thanks for sharing your experiences. I would put every one of these down to either intuition - a sub-concious ability to read clues and reach conclusions without thinking it through - good luck and a human tendency to reinterpret facts in retrospect.

You say you didn't smelll the burining. I suggest you did but didn't realise it. You probably noticed but supressed doubts about your room-mates behaviour and so on.

There are many natural explanations that are far more likely than supernatural intervention. Consider Occam's Razor.

InterestedOne

Ammo - I too have had experiences that I cannot explain. With me, it seems like I'll think of something out of the blue, and then it happens. I don't see any reason to invoke God though. I think it's more like what cofty said. Perhaps it is the brain processing everything at lightning speed, so fast that you are not necessarily conscious of every detail. I say just roll with it and don't suppress that wonderful sensitivity. But also, don't attribute that sensitivity to something that doesn't deserve it - like some religion's deity.

cofty

A scientific example of what I mean concerns a man who had suffered damage to area of the brain that decodes the signals from the optic nerve. As a result he was 100% blind although his eyes were undamaged.

It was discovered under lab conditions that he reacted reliably to movement of light in his peripheral field.

MRI scans showed that an area of his brain unconnected to his visual cortex was processing the signals. Not only that but it was acting much faster than the visual cortex could.

It is possible that this represents a far more ancient and primitive visual centre that could only detect movement. It would have given our ancestors an evolutionary advantage despite its limitations.

My point is that our brains are capable of surprising things. Science is supplying some of the explanations, there is no need to introduce the supernatural.

ammo

Cofty, Umm thanks read the Occams Razor, have started also the God Delusion.

Interested one thanks for sharing that. Maybe I should just 'roll with it'

Me thinks I have killed another thread and I did'nt even mention a dragon!

OUTLAW

I have Faith in Things that Can be Proven..

An Alligator " Will " Eat You..

OK..I`m Convinced..

............................ ...OUTLAW

soft+gentle

amno i really enjoyed reading the god delusion. hope you do too. tell us what you think when you have finished. richard dawkins is a great wirter and speaker.

cofty - you were on fire last night man - I so agree with your 3rd para in post 4106 (obviously not with the other paras )

edit: on vacation form later today too - away for five weeks. see you all in august

What does faith mean to you?

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