How do you keep your hopes up while in this doomed existence?

by sabastious 107 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  AGuest

  it's how this world treats each other that gets me down.

  I am sure it's gets most people down, dear one (again, peace to you!). They wouldn't be very "human" if it didn't. People CARE; they just don't always manifest that care tangibly.

  If the simple words of Jesus were just applied things would be completely different.

  They would. Regardless of who applied them... or who they BELIEVE said them.

  When you really take a look at the world scene right now it's depressing as all hell.

  I don't see it that way, dear one. To the contrary, I see the world with eyes of HOPE... because of the HOPE given ME. I realize that it's easy to just write the world off... but I can't do that. Why? Because God... so loved... the WORLD... that He gave His only-begotten Son. If the Most Holy One of Israel loves the world (well, the people), then I must try to, as well. Sure, I get tired, even discouraged, but each day is a new day. Each day I can start anew with the hope that another will "get" it and wake up. Indeed, in contrast to how the WTBTS and others view "the Lord's Prayer," I actually shiver when I think of God's kingdom coming. I DON'T "crave" the day of JAH... but hope it holds off until EVERYONE wakes up and gets it. I also know, though, that that won't happen. Still... I have hope.

  I wish the world could just wake up.

  Maybe they will, dear one. And maybe they won't. But if we write it all off NOW... they certainly won't. As perhaps might not some who truly would have, given a few more days. Me? I hope everything just slows down a tad. I'm in no rush. My life isn't perfect by ANY stretch... but it isn't so bad that I want it/things to end, perhaps to the detriment/cutting off of others'. Like JAH, I don't want ANY to die... and so MY prayer is, yes, for that kingdom to come... but maybe not just now, maybe a little while longer so that even more than wake up and come in. Maybe. HOPEFULLY.

  In the meantime... the beat goes on. And it's not always a bad beat. Everyday a mother (and father) rejoices somewhere because a new life has come into theirs. Everyday someone rejoices because they "get" it. Everyday... someone is joined to Christ. True, things must... will... change, in JAH's due time. But in the meantime... well, for me, there is nothing greater than "seeking" the kingdom. And isn't borne out in knocking on doors, handing out magazines, attending boring meetings where people lie to me... or considering "goats" those who don't listen to me.

  For me, it's borne out in learning to love MORE, be MORE peaceable, have MORE faith, be MORE joyous and joyFUL, being mildER, goodER, kindER, MORE patient/long-suffering toward others... and MORE self-control when it comes to myself... even when these seem way out of my reach, perhaps even impossible. They are goals that I KNOW I will never perfect... but for me, it's kind of fun trying. Sure, I get down when I fail... but I SOAR when I am able to accomplish just a small particle of any of these. Because I have to ask for help with each of them... and that causes me to have to talk with, listen to... and rely on... my Lord even more. It doesn't discourage me; it raises my hopes.

  Dear one, I don't know what all you're dealing with, truly. But perhaps asking for just a tad bit of the fruit of God's holy spirit that is JOY might help. I realize that that might not take the place of perhaps some other kind of assistance you might need and that might help (and only you can speak to that), but I can honestly say it works for ME. No harm in asking.

  Also, keep in mind how YOUR "countenance" can/will be observed by, affect, and possibly manifest itself in those YOU love. Including the still impressionable. To have the prospect of doom and gloom as one's future hope... I don't get that that worked well for YOU. Do you think it's going to work better for the next generation?

  Again, peace to you... truly... and to your household. Truly!

  YOUR servant (always) and a slave of Christ,

  SA
• 

  panhandlegirl

  Afterlife, friend, afterlife.

  -Sab, If you believe in an afterlife, why worry about the future? I am not sure there is an afterlife, but there is life now. We are not assured of the next minute. Life is fragile. We have to live life to the fullest this day, this time. Others in history have had a more difficult life than we have. They were destroyed by invaders, the plague. the Spanish flu, and many other catastrophies. We are living in a better age now than anyother time in history. Besides, there is no proof that our brains are devolving; that was just a paper someone wrote. It has not been proven true. Don't worry about what may or may not happen. Enjoy what life you have today with your little one and don't worry about solar flares or the world freezing over. I know it is important to plan for the future, but there are some things you cannot control. Like flipper said, we have spent too many years concerned about Armageddon.

  PHG
• 

  panhandlegirl

  Another universal principle is recycling. Everything living came from dirt and will return, whether human, plant or bug. Water recycles, carbon, even the some of the continents recycle, being subducted, eventually. Stars also. Being that this principle is universal, it could be used to support the reincarnation idea. Evolution is another universal principle.

  S

  That is something you certainly learn when you study Earth Science. The earth is in a continuous state of recycling itself and everything on it. I find it an amazing thing. I hate to think of me being recycled but that may be our fate. If it is, it is. We are alive now. If this is all the life we have, it is even more precious.

  PHG
• 

  ziddina

  In the long run, all species of life eventually become extinct.

  In the short run, this probably WON'T happen within either your lifetime or the lifetime of your children.

  If you spend too much time dreading what COULD happen, you'll waste your life living in fear.

  At the risk of quoting something really corny, I agree with the "ghost rider"...

  "You can't live in fear..."
• 

  EntirelyPossible

  T-16 days and counting to the return of sanity.
• 

  sabastious

  This is why I don't discuss philosophy. Its just mental masturbation.

  Well, you know, the brain is a muscle.

  So sebastious it seems you have reached a distinct period of life where it all begins to seem so devoid of purpose and abiding satisfaction. I have been exactly where you are, in my own life, actually. Science seems to answer so many questions, yet this deluge of knowledge mesmerizes our intellect and nothing more. Science is well-esteemed for answering the "how" but almost never answers (satisfactorily) "why". Have you lost all belief in the Bible and/or religion as a whole Seb?

  I sure can paint gloom pretty well, can't I? These ideas do not reflect how I view the world from my religious perspective. I am just running with some secular ideas. You say that I see life devoid of purpose, but what I see is a world full of purpose. I see a universe full of purpose. Enough to believe that the Big Bang had a purpose. The people in the day I live, however, are off the track of destiny so to speak. That's what it looks like to me, a world full of regret and missed opportunities. The "if only's." The new generations feel the pain of the mistakes of the past. However the human spirt endures and after feeling and seeing so much pain and anguish humans always tend to attempt to not make the same mistakes that created the pain they had to endure. Mantras such as "history repeats itself" is good for historical science, but bad for society to live by as a standard.

  I agree with you that education is key because without that you won't be able to understand why you are suffering and options will remain limited. So many people go through their life just thinking that "life's a bitch and then you die" and that's exactly what happens for them. It's scary and I was raised in an environment that nourished that type of thinking. I desperately make attempts to flee from that mindset, but when I hear "The universe is going to freeze over" or "when gallaxies collide" I get a melancholy feeling. This is resolved by my faith in God rather quickly, I do wonder how non believers deal with these types of feelings,however. Which is, in part, why I made this thread.

  Really what encourages me is that we are still standing as a species. Almost like if someone is looking out for us a bit. If you really think about it we have been standing for a quite a long time despite all the cosmic catastophes that are possible in this existence. It's a warm and fuzzy feeling to think that something is out there defelecting doom because they know that familes, lives and destines are at stake. One may fly past the defenses, but there should always be someone to blame. Maybe we have to wait to find out why those ones were allowed. Like when a small space object comes to earth and then people get a myterious sickness. It's been shown that space objects can carry damaging organisms and there has been speculations that they are the result of intergalactic biowarfare. Regardless, it's a taste of the chaos that dwells in the dark deep of space if nothing else.

  Another universal principle is recycling. Everything living came from dirt and will return, whether human, plant or bug. Water recycles, carbon, even the some of the continents recycle, being subducted, eventually. Stars also. Being that this principle is universal, it could be used to support the reincarnation idea. Evolution is another universal principle.

  Would you feed yourself to starving cubs?

  Shelby that was a beautiful post. Yet, with every baby that comes into the world how many are afflicted? Is there a ratio somewhere I can lookup to know that happy familes are being created faster then afflicted familes breaking up? I don't mean to sound callus, but does the "yin/yang" principle strongly apply here? What am I to teach my son? That good things and bad things happen? How much control do I say he has? This really is a question of free will. Are the babies being afflicted because people are choosing to hurt children or are they simply existing exacty as they are supposed to exist? I learned a great deal aabout life by having less then desirable parents. I had to parent myself as a kid and my brother practically. I never really was a kid and my dad even told me that. He said I was to grow up as fast as possible and that being a kid was something that you just endured what was thrown at you (that's why I left home a year before becoming a legal adult). Because that's exacty what he did and therefore it was the only way he knew how to see me.

  -Sab, If you believe in an afterlife, why worry about the future? I am not sure there is an afterlife, but there is life now. We are not assured of the next minute. Life is fragile. We have to live life to the fullest this day, this time. Others in history have had a more difficult life than we have. They were destroyed by invaders, the plague. the Spanish flu, and many other catastrophies. We are living in a better age now than anyother time in history. Besides, there is no proof that our brains are devolving; that was just a paper someone wrote. It has not been proven true. Don't worry about what may or may not happen. Enjoy what life you have today with your little one and don't worry about solar flares or the world freezing over. I know it is important to plan for the future, but there are some things you cannot control. Like flipper said, we have spent too many years concerned about Armageddon.

  I don't know what the afterlife is. I have my speculations but I only know that it exists and not a whole lot about it. Do we sit there and talk about all the horrible stuff we went through? Is heaven like a really big therapy room where everyone shares their life lessons with each other? Maybe that's a good metaphor. Not worrying about Armageddon is how it gets you. Who are the prophets of today who know what is going to happen? They have always been there throughout the ages, where are they today? I know one group that it's NOT, that's for damn sure. I looked into the Mormons and they are peaceable people, but too much group think for me. Who has the answers? Should we be asking that question?

  Another universal principle is recycling. Everything living came from dirt and will return, whether human, plant or bug. Water recycles, carbon, even the some of the continents recycle, being subducted, eventually. Stars also. Being that this principle is universal, it could be used to support the reincarnation idea. Evolution is another universal principle.

  S

  That is something you certainly learn when you study Earth Science. The earth is in a continuous state of recycling itself and everything on it. I find it an amazing thing. I hate to think of me being recycled but that may be our fate. If it is, it is. We are alive now. If this is all the life we have, it is even more precious.

  So we are the Recycle, Reduce Reuse Dinosaurs? Is that what I tell my son?

  In the long run, all species of life eventually become extinct.

  See, this is the negativity that I am talking about. All species become extinct...except us. That's a pretty big caveat you are ommitted there. Have you seen the human planet series? Humans are a species of great fortitude.

  

  -Sab
• 

  perfect1

  Everything is designed to repair, to reproduce itself , to function, to harmoniously intertwine so profoundly and endlessly....that if we never aged we would live forever.

  Thats one big IF.

  Utter nonsense.

  Second Law of Thermodynamics.

  read Richard Dawkins and come back later.
• 

  fakesmile

  keeping my hopes up in this tumultuous world we live in. easy, plan for contengincies for you and your family. throw faith out the window and take responsibility for youre families well being. you never know when god will throw you under the proverbial bus to teach a future generation a lesson.
• 

  Satanus

  ''So we are the Recycle, Reduce Reuse Dinosaurs? Is that what I tell my son?'

  Childhood should be sheltered. Facts of life don't need to be shared untill an appropriate time. I would say that you are old enough.

  S
• 

  perfect1

  Sab, the same facts that make you feel gloomy have also been understood by others as beautiful, intricate, poignant, resonant. The basis for poetry and great art. The essence of the human experience.

  Maybe the idea of an actual ending is threatening something else within you.

  Do you believe that something needs to endure to be of value

  also, what if there is no guiding force, other than affecting you emotionally, so what.

  It sounds like you believe cause it makes you feel good. An OK reason, to a point.

  As far as your kids, you seem like a thoughtful person, maybe you have passed that on. Be a loving parent. You dont need all the answers, kids are smart, they just need love.

  Cheers.