Originally Posted By: TnslimIt all boils down to one of my favorite sayings.
For those who truly believe no explanation is necessary.
For those who refuse to believe no explanation is possible.
Over the past few years I've had some mighty troubling times. I had a granddaughter murdered, I had an extreme bout of sciatica with intense pain that kept me stuck to the bed for 8 weeks and then I lost my Cindy, the love of my life. I simply cannot imagine going thru all that without my faith in God to keep me going.
People can talk about faith all day long. For myself, I could not begin to put into words it's therapeutic value nor strength, into a context I could comprehend while I lived a lone life on self will. Up until my latter 20s, I had morals and values but I also had a void, down deep. I found fleeting things to fill it with, things like women, money, alcohol and other substances.
The very mention of religion would cause me to recoil like as from a hot flame. As my life spiraled into chaos and unmanageability those fleeting things worked fewer and further between. The void grew, I passed thru the darkest places in life alone. My attitude and outlook turned apathetic and cold, my response to a seemingly cruel world was anger and hate. Occasionally, I see others in this world with what appears to be the same spiritual malady. Seeing them has taught me the difference between sympathy and empathy. My experience has shown that like my former self, most of them are in denial of their plight and have an attitude of indifference or intolerance towards spiritual principles.
This seemingly hopeless state of mind and body is common among alcoholics. A spiritual experience, moment of clarity or the gift of desperation can be the catalyst to a new life dependent upon a power greater than oneself. This is what taught me the difference between believing "of" God and believing "in" God. I have found in this relationship with God, the evidence necessary to build my faith. It is rather personal but most of all it has the power that no human strength could take. While I need not try to force it on others, I do have an obligation to bare wittiness to anyone reaching out.
While I am just a common man with limited knowledge, I cannot find the connection between the location of the blow hole on a whale or the time stamps analyzed in geologic formations and how it could affect my faith. And for those of you who are able to live a life on self will, unaffected by the woes of this world and still stay straight with your moral compass, you are blessed, I mean lucky. Not all are born that way. Today, I feel down deep into my inner most self, in the place that used to exist a void, that what I have today is beyond real. If it is just a smoke and mirrors or one big lie, then it is the best lie that I have ever fallen for. Beyond what I know to be in my head and what I feel down deep, leaves me with no doubt.
For those who truly believe no explanation is necessary.
For those who refuse to believe no explanation is possible.
Over the past few years I've had some mighty troubling times. I had a granddaughter murdered, I had an extreme bout of sciatica with intense pain that kept me stuck to the bed for 8 weeks and then I lost my Cindy, the love of my life. I simply cannot imagine going thru all that without my faith in God to keep me going.
People can talk about faith all day long. For myself, I could not begin to put into words it's therapeutic value nor strength, into a context I could comprehend while I lived a lone life on self will. Up until my latter 20s, I had morals and values but I also had a void, down deep. I found fleeting things to fill it with, things like women, money, alcohol and other substances.
The very mention of religion would cause me to recoil like as from a hot flame. As my life spiraled into chaos and unmanageability those fleeting things worked fewer and further between. The void grew, I passed thru the darkest places in life alone. My attitude and outlook turned apathetic and cold, my response to a seemingly cruel world was anger and hate. Occasionally, I see others in this world with what appears to be the same spiritual malady. Seeing them has taught me the difference between sympathy and empathy. My experience has shown that like my former self, most of them are in denial of their plight and have an attitude of indifference or intolerance towards spiritual principles.
This seemingly hopeless state of mind and body is common among alcoholics. A spiritual experience, moment of clarity or the gift of desperation can be the catalyst to a new life dependent upon a power greater than oneself. This is what taught me the difference between believing "of" God and believing "in" God. I have found in this relationship with God, the evidence necessary to build my faith. It is rather personal but most of all it has the power that no human strength could take. While I need not try to force it on others, I do have an obligation to bare wittiness to anyone reaching out.
While I am just a common man with limited knowledge, I cannot find the connection between the location of the blow hole on a whale or the time stamps analyzed in geologic formations and how it could affect my faith. And for those of you who are able to live a life on self will, unaffected by the woes of this world and still stay straight with your moral compass, you are blessed, I mean lucky. Not all are born that way. Today, I feel down deep into my inner most self, in the place that used to exist a void, that what I have today is beyond real. If it is just a smoke and mirrors or one big lie, then it is the best lie that I have ever fallen for. Beyond what I know to be in my head and what I feel down deep, leaves me with no doubt.