A Rocky Road ~ The Road Less Traveled

River, YOU ARE DEFINITELY in my team once I get that enterprise set up..

BTW, there are no answers. It's the questions that define us.

HOORAYYYY!!!! I will definitely join your team! =) =) Yes, there are no answers, only questions!

Congratulations you have just started a new religion. Where do i send my money? I was a big party animal in my youth. i got into trouble a lot so through where i worked at the time if you had drug problems alcohol is a drug they would pay the treatment center you also had to attend AA/NA they teach a higher power can help you. I chose JESUS CHRIST. I still don't party 23 yrs . So I'm Christian by faith never seen or spoke to GOD. If you want to really be confused read the denomation history that happened here in the united states. or who created GOD?

You know I've thought about that question too --- who created God and what came before God, if there is indeed a God. These questions boggle my mind. Does God have a "Father"? Something must have existed before God did, unless it was just space with nothingness.

1 hour ago, RiverLight said:

You know I've thought about that question too --- who created God and what came before God, if there is indeed a God. These questions boggle my mind. Does God have a "Father"? Something must have existed before God did, unless it was just space with nothingness.

You are basically pondering upon if a creator needs a creator. That would be a kind of endless chain of thought. Since if a creator has a creator.. then who created that creator. Or if there was nothingness, how did the creator become to exist or what created it or anything else?  And we can only say what we have found to be the most satisfactory or most acceptable answer to ourselves - since if there was a clear cut answer, everyone (or most people) would accept it.

Personally I think that a creator like God is not in need of a creator. Since what He has created is something none of us can do, He is not comparable to us.

yeah, it is an endless chain of thought. I have a very curious mind, and these questions come to mind. What came before God? What existed before God, if anything? God is not comparable to us, yet we are a part of God, if God does indeed exist. I tend to believe that he does and I do pray to God.... it's just an interesting line of thought to wonder about.

Personally I think there was no beginning. That the building blocks were always there, and have been soaring through the nothingness forever. And I don't agree that there really is a perfected motion. The universe is pure chaos, the illusion of harmony that allows us to live in relative stability for now is just because there is so much out there that somewhere sometime it HAD to line up like this, especially since (or so I believe) there is no beginning or end to things so that's a lot of time to work with.

Have you ever felt like you have been here before? Isn't strange/ ever have a conversation and you what there saying next/ it's deja-vu right is that what they call it. Reading through the Bible of the christian faith in the old testament the book is Ecclesiastes or the the preacher written by the son of david i think it is soloman remember at this time he is the donald trump  except donalds not a prophet he says everything is vain there is nothing new under the sun what you see now has been done before and there is no remembrance of former things, neither will there be rememberance of things that are to come with those that come after. he also says the unborn are better of than the living and  the dead are better off than the living is this hell were in now i donno

4 hours ago, verDominai said:

Personally I think there was no beginning. That the building blocks were always there, and have been soaring through the nothingness forever. And I don't agree that there really is a perfected motion. The universe is pure chaos, the illusion of harmony that allows us to live in relative stability for now is just because there is so much out there that somewhere sometime it HAD to line up like this, especially since (or so I believe) there is no beginning or end to things so that's a lot of time to work with.

Hmm,... I would disagree. I think the universe is definitely perfected motion, just as are our ecosystems here on earth. Ecosystems all work in harmony together, with absolute precision and perfection. The food chain, how animals and plants adapt and survive, the flow of the oceans and even our own human existence & evolution. It's all perfected harmony, along with the cycle of life and the pull and motion of planetary systems. I think it's all perfected in order to grow and survive..... something of perfection started this, whether it's the big bang theory or God. But I will never understand it.

2 hours ago, no good relationship said:

Have you ever felt like you have been here before? Isn't strange/ ever have a conversation and you what there saying next/ it's deja-vu right is that what they call it. Reading through the Bible of the christian faith in the old testament the book is Ecclesiastes or the the preacher written by the son of david i think it is soloman remember at this time he is the donald trump  except donalds not a prophet he says everything is vain there is nothing new under the sun what you see now has been done before and there is no remembrance of former things, neither will there be rememberance of things that are to come with those that come after. he also says the unborn are better of than the living and  the dead are better off than the living is this hell were in now i donno

I've definitely experienced deja vu for sure and many times. I don't think the unborn are better off, or the dead. I think life is absolutely astounding and beautiful and spectacular, despite any challenges, crises or personal difficulties I face. I didn't quite understand the rest of what you said, though.... hard for me to follow you on that one. Cheers.

I don't know what its all about . I don't understand deja-vu. Is there a Devil? I think so yes .

I definitely think there's a Devil or Satan... I think just as good and evil exist on earth, they exist in non-human form too... that's what i think.

You never met mytobe ex wife.read forum topic passive agressive narcist relationships.

I've dealt with a raging narcissist too and thought he was pure evil, lol. I'll check out your post. 

On Saturday, July 02, 2016 at 5:51 AM, RiverLight said:

You know I've thought about that question too --- who created God and what came before God, if there is indeed a God. These questions boggle my mind. Does God have a "Father"? Something must have existed before God did, unless it was just space with nothingness.

I was brought up Catholic and went to Catholic school for 11 years. I asked one of my teachers (who was an actual priest) where did God come from. I was 15vat the time. He said, God always was. Now as a questioning young person as I was (i slowly learned to keep questions to myself damn me for that)...I said but what about...and he cut me off saying God always was. He was always there.

Yeah thanks dude.

Yeah, what kind of answer is that? 

I could accept it if there was more to it than that.but I'm not going to accept bulls*** without something more than that. That's the crap that changed me...it ain't just him. It was the shutting down of my imagination. Any abilities I had shot down by anyone who bothered to listen...(except music because that was my parents...though my parents did their share of shutting down)

7 hours ago, Natasha1 said:

I was brought up Catholic and went to Catholic school for 11 years. I asked one of my teachers (who was an actual priest) where did God come from. I was 15vat the time. He said, God always was. Now as a questioning young person as I was (i slowly learned to keep questions to myself damn me for that)...I said but what about...and he cut me off saying God always was. He was always there.

Yeah thanks dude.

This just reminded me of something I asked from a priest when I was about 15 and went to confirmation school (was a member of the Evangelic-Lutheran church back then).. I asked the priest about trinity and Jesus being son of God.. and her answer just was, 'Why do you bother your head with these questions when all you need to do is belief in Jesus..'.Yeah, I I know it's a question to which there is no answer except faith but telling it like that to a teenager who is looking for answers and trying to understand. That set me off for a while until I started reading on my own about other things.. and ended up making a different choice regarding my faith/religion.

10 hours ago, Natasha1 said:

I could accept it if there was more to it than that.but I'm not going to accept bulls*** without something more than that. That's the crap that changed me...it ain't just him. It was the shutting down of my imagination. Any abilities I had shot down by anyone who bothered to listen...(except music because that was my parents...though my parents did their share of shutting down)

Kids' imagination is wonderful and should never be shut down!

 

9 hours ago, feeling_lost said:

This just reminded me of something I asked from a priest when I was about 15 and went to confirmation school (was a member of the Evangelic-Lutheran church back then).. I asked the priest about trinity and Jesus being son of God.. and her answer just was, 'Why do you bother your head with these questions when all you need to do is belief in Jesus..'.Yeah, I I know it's a question to which there is no answer except faith but telling it like that to a teenager who is looking for answers and trying to understand. That set me off for a while until I started reading on my own about other things.. and ended up making a different choice regarding my faith/religion.

Along the same lines, kids' questions shouldn't be shut down either. That priest should have said "that's a great question, What do you think?". To tell someone to just blindly believe isn't a good enough answer, which is what most religious leaders will say. This is why I do not follow any organized religion because I have too many questions and no real answers. Organized religions just tell you to believe what you hear/read and have faith.

So I asked the question "Is there a God"? I now believe firmly that there is. I prayed for protection from my boss.... I prayed for justice to be served. And both happened!!!!! Justice was most certainly served and I am fully protected now at work. HR is monitoring all of my boss's communications with all employees in order to keep things professional. My boss can no longer abuse me. I also prayed for the abuse to end. All of my prayers were answered. There IS a God, I do believe!!!!

Nice to know he likes you. I'm still the comic relief in his nasty comedy. 

55 minutes ago, Natasha1 said:

Nice to know he likes you. I'm still the comic relief in his nasty comedy. 

Time to put a stop to that.

No more stooge.

No more fall guy.

Anyone of us.

Time to change the script.

God or no.

Not waiting around for grace anymore.

21 hours ago, RiverLight said:

So I asked the question "Is there a God"? I now believe firmly that there is. I prayed for protection from my boss.... I prayed for justice to be served. And both happened!!!!! Justice was most certainly served and I am fully protected now at work. HR is monitoring all of my boss's communications with all employees in order to keep things professional. My boss can no longer abuse me. I also prayed for the abuse to end. All of my prayers were answered. There IS a God, I do believe!!!!

Even though I am happy for you, River, that things with your work turned around.. I have to comment on this. If we base our faith on the fact how much of our prayers are answered, we're headed on a slippery slope. Not saying either that your prayers weren't answered or that it is all a coincidence or something. Because the moment we start feeling that our prayers aren't answered, shall we just stop believing? Then it would mean that if things aren't going the way we want them to go, we will just stop believing or just having doubts. Because obviously this life is all about ups and downs, and we things don't always go the way we would like / prefer. And this is actually a reason why many people do lose faith altogether. They feel like God isn't hearing them when they aren't getting what they are asking for. That's something to ponder upon that should all our prayers be answered, and why some prayers are answered and some are not.. just a coincidence or is there something more to it? Interesting things to ponder upon.

But.. nevertheless, Ill do the happy dance with you!  It's great that your boss can't bully you anymore

On 13.7.2016 at 3:37 PM, RiverLight said:

Kids' imagination is wonderful and should never be shut down!

 

Along the same lines, kids' questions shouldn't be shut down either. That priest should have said "that's a great question, What do you think?". To tell someone to just blindly believe isn't a good enough answer, which is what most religious leaders will say. This is why I do not follow any organized religion because I have too many questions and no real answers. Organized religions just tell you to believe what you hear/read and have faith.

And questions of faith are so deep because there are no 1+1=2 type of answers for them... but still it shouldn't stop us from asking and trying to understand. Faith doesn't have to be blind in that way, you don't need to just accept things without trying to understand.

I actually ended up following another organized religion but I was never told not to ask. Quite on the contrary - keep on seeking, keep on asking, keep on learning. And not just believe without understanding or trying to see the reasons behind it. But the sad thing is that often things of faith are taken exactly like that - what you hear/read, and then not truly understanding why it is so or if it is related to something else. Faith becomes a lot deeper when you seek that understanding instead of just repeating things what you hear and read.

Edited July 15, 2016 by feeling_lost

@Natasha1, God isn't against you... though I know you don't believe in God. Like feeling_lost said, it's easy to lose faith when we think God is against us or when things don't go our way or when things keep going wrong in our lives. He cannot interfere with free will.... we make choices in life, and sometimes they're good and sometimes not. But i know you don't believe in God and lost faith a long time ago, so I won't comment further than that other to say that I believe God loves each and every one of us and wants to see us flourish and thrive.

@feeling_lost, I do know what you mean..... when I lost the job offer at Staples then and at Velcro I felt like God wasn't answering my prayers & lost some faith. But then I realized that God answers prayers in mysterious ways and in ways that we don't understand or expect. So then I came to believe that neither opportunity was right for me, and that perhaps it was a blessing in disguise that I didn't get either job. My therapist also said we don't order God around..... I prayed to get the Velcro job and didn't get it. Now I believe that God must know best.... that something wasn't right with that job for me, or in fact, I just couldn't beat the competition, which is out of God's hands. But I do know what you mean because it's easy to lose faith quickly when we think God isn't answering our prayers the way we expect or want. But I do believe he answers all prayers..... and this just happened to be a case where he answered mine in the way that was needed. I also prayed quit a lot for his protection from my boss.

I am glad you found a religion that is open to questioning.... that is amazing. And I agree with you.... faith does become deeper when you do ask the questions and don't just rely on blind faith.