?I NEVER , ever, thought I would say this....

by azaria 16 Replies latest jw friends

  • azaria
    azaria

    MB:

    For the past week or so my mind has been going a mile a minute. I’ll be at work, in bed, wherever, things come into my head, and I have to write it down that very moment. I wonder if it will lead to anything, what does it mean? Are they light-bulb moments or manic episodes. Over the years I have accumulated some information (in my mind) by reading, watching programmes (on PBS and the like), talking to friends, rolling things in my own mind, etc. Is it just all starting to come together for me? or just nonsense? I have asked God for understanding. Last night as I turned on my light to write something down for the second time, I kind of chuckled, I didn’t ask for this much, it’s too much information! (I’m joking-I think?) But I wasn’t stressed at all. It just seems to come. Does this happen to anyone else, or am I just wired wrong? Anyway one of the things that I’ve been mulling in my mind, was the first humans. First of all I had read a book written by a rabbi a couple years ago, that he thought that humanity started with Adam & Eve. It was a slightly different take on it. I have always thought, God created animals and then He created Man. Could man really have been first a chimp and then over time some became man, just as evolutionists had said? A couple of days ago I thought, maybe...and this is the thing that I thought I would never say; maybe it's possible that we did come from chimps. At this time it’s not something that I believe, but just thinking about. Maybe the moment that Adam & Eve (call them what you will) made the decision to eat from the apple tree (symbolism) that’s when they became human. Today coming home from work I was listening to the news. A scientist stated that the dna of a chimp and a human is 99.4% (or was 94.9%) the same. That blows my mind! I don’t think this has to take away the validity of the bible at all. That to some extent they can go hand in hand. (but only so far-I will never believe that the universe just happened) Maybe in time I will discard this idea, and say that it was an insane moment in my life. I do believe in God, that He created everything, that the Bible is inspired (but I don’t think that he dictated word for word) Each person that wrote parts of the bible was inspired but still kept their own unique character and personality. Just like when a composer or artist creates something, they may be inspired, but something or someone outside of themselves isn’t telling them what to write or paint. Just some crazy thoughts? Please, please be kind.

  • refiners fire
    refiners fire

    I went thru a couple of stages like that, when I was 28 then again when I was 35. So I dont think theres a problem. Enjoy it cause by the time you get to 40 (if youre a male) your imagination will dry up.

  • onacruse
    onacruse

    azaria, welcome to the journey! Just this last couple of weeks I've been going through a similar "phase;" things that I've read and thought about for years are beginning to congeal into what is, for me, becoming a meaningful and useful "package." No-holds-barred, everything open to question, true-to-myself kind of stuff.

    imho, that's what it's all about. God expects nothing less, and nothing more, from us. I'd rather go to my grave with 10,000 questions than 1 answer.

    Craig

  • foreword
    foreword

    I've heard a little bit about the chimp / man news that came out lately.

    Evolution exists and I always thought that creation and evolution went hand in hand.

    Since I believed in creation, my only explanation in the past about the scientist's claims that we evolved from apes was that maybe god had experimented before he finally made a more refined and final version of what we know as man.

  • Introspection
    Introspection
    Just some crazy thoughts?

    Well, to me it doesn't really matter so much whether it's crazy, it's just thoughts. After all, what's to say that your thoughts are crazy besides yet another thought? It's all of the same class of things. Things start getting interesting when we include more than just thoughts.

  • Francois
    Francois

    Listen not to the wine-imbiber from down under. I am far past the 40 year mile post and I am still full of imagination (no puns, please).

    I have some very settled ideas about this very topic and as soon as I figure out how to post an original PM, I'll send a note about it.

  • teejay
    teejay

    Just from what I read here I can say that you and I don't see things the same way, but I think it's grand that you are putting things together for yourself... finding your own way. Without picking out a particular idea that I can speak about, all I'll say is that you seemed to be ready to stretch your mind outside what's been accepted into brand new ways of thinking. And lemme tellya... that's ALWAYS cool.

  • SheilaM
    SheilaM

    I do my best writing at night, when I am supposed to be sleeping. I have found I need to get up and write it down or I freakin forget it. But yes I do think of things put things together and get epiphanies. LOL

  • jws
    jws

    I too have thought about this. I do believe in creation, but what defines a species? DNA. But, everyone and everything's DNA is slightly different. When are the DNA structures of two different things unlike enough to call it a different species? Since science seems to say the code to produce an organism is in it's DNA, the facts seem to say that DNA can change and mutate. We see it all the time. Organisms that are more resilient to the things we try to kill them with, plants that can live on less water, etc. That, to me, is evolution. To some, it may still be a cockroach or a tomato, but it does not have the same blueprint as those before it.

    Did God create species and then let them evolve from there? Perhaps. Did he create man? I tend to think so.

    But there's so much of the Genesis story that doesn't seem to jive - at least not with the remnants of my JW upbringing. What about dinosaurs? Did God create them to die off? A friend of mine was involved with a religion that believes that dinosaurs were part of a past world on this planet, that God wiped clean and started over, creating the creatures we know today - and that's where Genesis starts. Then too, the Genesis account of the Flood also doesn't seem plausible. Can every species possibly fit into one vessel of those dimensions? And if they could, then what happened afterwards? Why are there species limited to only certain areas of the world, like koala bears? What, after the flood, they swam over to australia, leaving none behind to inhabit other areas? If the ark story is true, then it would seem that not all species could have been aboard and that our great varieties of life have evolved since.

    By the way, I don't know the exact percentage, but from what I remember hearing, most life as we know it is shares a high percentage of DNA that is identical. Maybe not all 99%, but from what I remember, it's a pretty high 90's percentage. So if we are 99.4% identical to chimps, that .6% must still leave room for a LOT of differences.

  • Brummie
    Brummie
    and say that it was an insane moment in my life

    Even if you are wrong it doesnt matter, we ALL have insane moments in our lives, somethings we strongly believe in today may not make sense to us tomorrow. You learn as you go, its all part of the progress, some things you believe will seem odd to others, some of their beliefs will seem odd to you, we are all at different paces and are seeing things differently, who knows, you may be right about the chimp/human thing, right now I doubt that you are, but tomorrow I might totally agree and you might reject it.

    Glad you shared, we are all human and it makes me feel better to know I can relate to you.

    Brummie

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