Went to Church this Morning

Undecided

My wife and grandaughter went to church with me this morning. I really would like to believe in God and Christ but it all comes from the bible and the first scripture that was referred to was a contridiction.

1 Sam. 15:29 says,"He will not feel regrets, for He is not an earthling man so as to feel regrets."

The first scripture that came to mind was Gen: 6:6 that says,"And Jehovah felt regrets that he had made man in the earth."

I just can't seem to get past all the contridictions in the bible. It just seems like all religion is just the invention of some man who feels himself some prophet of a God somewhere in space.

How do you get past this feeling???

I would love to feel like I had some real connection with the creator of life, but I can't get over the feeling of there not being any evidence that he is still alive somewhere. Do you just ignore your intelligence and go with your emotions? I don't want to end up in some cult like Jones Town or something.

Ken P.

nicolaou

Ken:

I went through the same feelings as yourself only a few years ago. You should ignore neither your intelligence nor your emotions. However when you have difficult questions to resolve you can only do so by applying cold, hard, mental effort and then embrace the answers and live up to them with all the passion and emotion you have!

It seems to me that your mind has already worked out the answer but your heart and soul feel so uncomfortable with it that you are forced to ask "How do you get past this feeling?"

Accept it. Embrace it. It's a wonderful thing to be liberated from superstition, myth and dogma.

mouthy

How do you get past this feeling???

I know the feeling!!! But tell me . ? How can anyone NOT believe in a Creator? Leave Scripture out of it for the moment. Look at the things created, birds, flowers, animals, Sun, Moon, etc:etc:So many glorius creations... I dont attend a church, but when I walk ( maybe limp) through some wonderful spots, like botanical gardens, Niagaria Falls, The Zoo( I would rather see them in the wild)I am overcome with the Thanks to GOD!!! Yes I see all the wickedness in the world also. But arent they done by MEN/WOMEN????

You asked I answered

Undecided

Hi Mouthy,

I get the same feeling sometimes when I see some of the beautiful things in life, but I see also the horrible things in life also.

Yes I see all the wickedness in the world also. But arent they done by MEN/WOMEN????

No not many of them. Look at Florida right now and see all the destruction and deaths caused by nature, think of all the sickness by viruses, parasites, bacteria, cancer, birth defects, and not to just humans but to animals also. I'm at a place where I just don't know what to think of life and God.

I've had a good life and don't feel any hatred toward nature and thank my parents that they had sex that night I was conceived. Don't know who else to thank.

Ken P.

jgnat

Undecided, I've watched your healthy doubting since I came to the board. I just like you. I don't know why, but I do. If you came to my church, I'd welcome a chat with you. Perhaps you would prefer that your worldview to be more neatly wrapped, but maybe you are just not made that way.

Could you possibly compartmentalize, accept your uncertainty, and attend for other reasons? The very least, I love my church for the fellowship and community. I sense your loneliness, and I'd like to diagnose that cure. If it would work.

If church won't be the thing, maybe it has to be something else. A support group of some kind. You and your wife have been steady caregivers. That has to be wearing sometimes.

mouthy

Undecided your right No not many of them. Look at Florida right now and see all the destruction and deaths caused by nature, think of all the sickness by viruses, parasites, bacteria, cancer, birth defects, and not to just humans but to animals also

I guess I wasnt thinking when I made that remark.... I wonder why those things happen also.!!!! I have very lengthy talks( some might say they are arguments) with GOD & tell him If I was GOD I wipe the whole lot of us off the earth.But unfortunatly I am not able to boss him.

anewme

Ken, there may be more than one way to worship God. There is the church way for those who want to do that.
The Bible reading way for those who love to read. But there is another way, your way, whatever way you choose!

My brother has not been able to believe in God his whole life, but he adores his family and his friends and gives thousands of dollars yearly to charities to save the children and the animals. He loves the earth so much he cries he says. Im sure God loves a man like that and accepts his offerings.

All the different religions are in essence the same in that they are a way for man to show gratitude to the creator. In man's heart is this beautiful quality of gratitude! He just has to thank someone for all the wonderful things he sees and possesses and experiences.

The result of worship is an elevation of the man himself, an introspection that illuminates and celebrates the vast unknown qualities and abilities of the human spirit and soul.
Its not so much that God benefits from worship as do we ourselves.

Your worship could be to smile and laugh daily to spread your joy, courage and cheer all around. You could make music that lifts the human soul. You could grow a garden that makes people stop and appreciate.
Just keeping your garage clean and organized and ready for praise could be part of your worship.
Keeping calm when under stress could be your offering. Speaking gently to children, tolerating neighbors, answering someone in a kind way could be your worship. Loving the earth and keeping it clean of trash and supporting recycling could be your contribution.
Who is to say all that is not part of being a good person who God loves?

I often, daily, fantasize standing way off in outer space and looking at our earth from that far away vantage point. One can see everything differently and clearer, keenly and wisely from that viewpoint.
What does God want? What does he care about? How would he want you to spend your day?
It may not be as complicated as many would have us think.

I agree with you that I have lost faith in books and other people to point me to God.
My dog knows who God is. My cat knows who the true God is. All the deer and coyotes and song birds know. No one has had to tell them. We can know him and his will for us too ....because the answer is in our own hearts. It is there like knowing you are a man. Like knowing you should not hit your wife and knowing you love your kids. Look all around you at this great big world and listen to your heart's answer and be at peace with what it tells you is the truth. You can trust your beautiful human heart.

Anewme

Undecided

anewme

I understand what you are saying, and sometimes I wonder if God exist would he like being the one as the bible describes him to be. I guess I will just be me and hope I don't make God mad.

Ken P.

Carmel

Actually all the worlds major religions were the producto of a "man" who claimed to be the representative of God at different times and locations around the planet. None of them were interested in contoling, or inflicting harm on humanity, in fact they claimed to bring a message of guidance and direction for humanity to save itself from itself. It's been the followers of these spiritual giants that have turned the teachings into dogmas and doctrins of fear and control, distortions that have played into the hands of egotistical ones bent on seizing power over the rest of us. If I were you, I'd take a step back from emersion in the bible and look at the worlds other faiths, read some of their scripture and learn of the history of those religions and see what patterns emerge. At some point you will answer some of your questions about the bible and how it fits into the whole gigsaw puzzle of humanities collective growth from infancy to where we are now. I wish you well. carmel

JamesThomas

I just don't know what to think of life and God.

Take the hint, and stop thinking about life and God.

A time comes when wisdom arises and sees all thoughts about God and Life, are void of the reality of God and Life.

Stop thinking about what is ultimately significant, and just be with Life, right here, right now, in the only real expression of Life there ever is.

You now know that thoughts and beliefs are not the way. So, what's left?

Think only when necessary. The mind is a tool only. The rest of the time SILENTLY be present and really feel what it is to be alive. Feel the air as it passes through the nose. Feel the chest expand and contract with each breath. Feel and be present with LIFE; with REALITY.....and see what beauty arises.

Sit and silently watch the mind. Clearly see that all thoughts and their connected emotions are only passing clouds upon the unmoving still pool of Consciousness which is the most close, immediate and intimate of what you truly are. Look deep into this pool of pristine purity and realize what you really are....what all truly IS.

You are not anything which is believed to be. Genuinely know thyself; and you will have found what you seek. It's that close.

j

Went to Church this Morning

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