I didn't say it wasn't blather-ish. I just said I attend. They let me play trombone in the band.heretic888 said:
My views differ from Christianity; but, there is something of value there, nonetheless.
:yinyang:
God says invade Iraq?
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My views differ from Christianity; but, there is something of value there, nonetheless.
:yinyang:
heretic888
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OnlyAnEgg said:
C'mon now, if I thought "Christianity" was really worthless, you think I'd be quoting Catholic saints??
Regarding the whole having chats with God thing, though, I am also reminded of St. John of the Cross's injunction that we "lose the radical self-centered awareness of our being, for it is our own self that stands in the way of God".
My take is that if a person is imagining "God" having a nice little conversation with his or herself, a la person to person, it likely has more to do with his or her own ego than with anything sublime.
Laterz.
michaeledward
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I proposed to my wife in a hot air balloon. The pilot was an evangelical Christian. My wife was not real big on the idea of getting into the hot air balloon. But when the pilot starting asking for God's personal guidance to find a landing spot for the balloon .... I think Sheryl's panic meter spiked.
"Dear Lord, I know you are going to find us a safe landing site. We believe that Jesus will guide us to safety. We trust in your power, and wisdom Dear Lord, please provide us a safe return to earth, in Jesus' name."
I had to explain to Sheryl that this is perfectly normal for "these people" to pray in any circumstance. "Dear Jesus, I know you provide me with the guidance to the Corn Flakes." "Dear Jesus, thank you for having a sale on Chicken of the Sea this week." "Dear Lord, thank you putting this gas station right here where I need it."
I don't mean to imply anything concerning people's beliefs with those statements. I spent a part of my life working with and ministering in an Evangelical music organization. This is my perception of the Assemblies of God fellowship. My experiences their led me to believe that religion should be a private affair.
Do I think Bush made this silly statement? Not a direct quote, but I would not be surprised if he intimated this sentiment.
"Dear Lord, I know you are going to find us a safe landing site. We believe that Jesus will guide us to safety. We trust in your power, and wisdom Dear Lord, please provide us a safe return to earth, in Jesus' name."
I had to explain to Sheryl that this is perfectly normal for "these people" to pray in any circumstance. "Dear Jesus, I know you provide me with the guidance to the Corn Flakes." "Dear Jesus, thank you for having a sale on Chicken of the Sea this week." "Dear Lord, thank you putting this gas station right here where I need it."
I don't mean to imply anything concerning people's beliefs with those statements. I spent a part of my life working with and ministering in an Evangelical music organization. This is my perception of the Assemblies of God fellowship. My experiences their led me to believe that religion should be a private affair.
Do I think Bush made this silly statement? Not a direct quote, but I would not be surprised if he intimated this sentiment.
We just had the hor air ballon festival here in Albuquerque. Really neat! See:
www.aibf.org
www.aibf.org
michaeledward
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Well, it appears our pilot has a new craft. When we took our flight, her balloon was titled "His Amazing Grace". It had a sewn cross, chalice and doves, as I recall.
I just did a google and found this link.
http://www.hotairballoon.org/nh/grace/
Just the doves, now.
Our flight was also during a festival .... the High Hopes Festival in New Hampshire, about 10 years ago.
http://www.milfordnh.com/highhopes/festival.htm
I just did a google and found this link.
http://www.hotairballoon.org/nh/grace/
Just the doves, now.
Our flight was also during a festival .... the High Hopes Festival in New Hampshire, about 10 years ago.
http://www.milfordnh.com/highhopes/festival.htm
Gomen nasai, I never meant to imply you thought Christianity was bogus.heretic888 said:C'mon now, if I thought "Christianity" was really worthless, you think I'd be quoting Catholic saints??
Regarding the whole having chats with God thing, though, I am also reminded of St. John of the Cross's injunction that we "lose the radical self-centered awareness of our being, for it is our own self that stands in the way of God".
My take is that if a person is imagining "God" having a nice little conversation with his or herself, a la person to person, it likely has more to do with his or her own ego than with anything sublime.
Laterz.
My thoughts on direct contact with the deity? Unlikely. Like the Tao (which God may or may not be, no one's telling), I believe we can percieve it's nature, not it's self.
heretic888
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OnlyAnEgg said:
I think this dichotomy between the "nature" and "self" of something is perhaps pulling straws. In the end, I doubt it matters much.
The world's various mystical traditions make it pretty clear that the realization of all this wacky spiritual stuff involves an actual transformation on the part of the self-system (what philosopher Ken Wilber calls "transformative religion", as opposed to "translative religion" which involves merely changing your beliefs or opinions about the world). At the very highest levels of contemplative or meditative awareness, the "self" is thrown away altogether (so to speak). This is true whether we're speaking of Nagarjuna, Ibn 'al Arabi, Shankara, St. John of the Cross, Meister Eckhart, or St. Gregory of Nyssa.
In my opinion, "God" and "Tao" are just words. The traditions they come from make it fairly clear that their referents are pretty much beyond words and labels altogether (which theology traditionally refers to as "transcendence").
Just my thoughts. :asian:
Laterz.
heretic888
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mantis said:
Anyone else ever notice that whenever anyone reports having these private conversations with the Big Guy, it always involves divinely confirming beliefs and thoughts they already had in the first place??
I mean, its not like the personal deity is a projection of the superego or anything like that...
are you kidding? people are like cattle, sadly! if you can control them saying "God talked to me" would you say He told you something against what you want to tell them?! he aint gonna say God said impeach me, is he now?heretic888 said:Anyone else ever notice that whenever anyone reports having these private conversations with the Big Guy, it always involves divinely confirming beliefs and thoughts they already had in the first place??
I mean, its not like the personal deity is a projection of the superego or anything like that...
heretic888 said:
I dunno. Was Noah planning on building an ark before he got the call?
(Bill Cosby had a funny piece about this many years ago...)
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OnlyAnEgg said:
Yea, but western nations call it a "crusade"
heretic888 said:
I am reminded of the days when I worked in ER and we'd see the schizophrenics (there were many days like that). I often wondered why the voices in their heads didn't tell them to take their meds or crochet an afghan or something. It was always 'Kill this' or 'Cut that'. Never anything nice.
Flying Crane said:
Feces is still *****, right? What's in a name?
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no argument from me.OnlyAnEgg said:
FearlessFreep
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(Bill Cosby had a funny piece about this many years ago...)
"Right...how much is a cubit?"
BOOM!
"You and me, God!"
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