Simple question?

Quote: Evenbob

It was just a couple months ago. Face
said he prayed every day for a year
just to see what would happen. Nothing.
No god got ahold of him, nothing
happened in his life outside of random
chance. Complete waste of time.

Yeah, but he wasn't smited either, so there's that.

Quote: Evenbob

Ask god, ask yourself, no difference. Remember Face
praying for an entire year and no results? What a
waste of time..

Since I am already banned by you I can safely say that how you describe Face's experience is a lie. He would not at all say it was a waste of time. You are outrageous.

Quote: petroglyph

Yeah, but he wasn't smited either, so there's that.

Is anybody these days? That's all a
crock anyway, it never really happened.

Hey FrGamble, what do priests do the day after Christmas? Is that your day off?

It is pretty much a day off unless you have a funeral or hospital visits. There is usually nothing going on at the parish that day though. Good day for priests to spend with family if they can.

Quote: Evenbob

Face
said he prayed every day for a year
just to see what would happen. Nothing.
No god got ahold of him, nothing
happened in his life outside of random
chance.

Correct.

Quote: FrGamble

He would not at all say it was a waste of time.

Also correct.

I also gave my life to the Morning Star, the one called Satan, during this time. Ended up being just a regular Tuesday. And here I still am, self righteous as ever =)

What a weird thing that EB and FrG are both completely right about conflicting beliefs over the same topic. How fun =) EB I won't respond to much because that response is obvious. I still work for USPS, my back still hurts, people still engage in behaviors I despise,... pray and pray and pray and nothing changed. Switch sides and do you know how many times I declared audibly "NON SERVIUM" as I trudged to a porch stoop? How many times I offered my self as a vessel for the Bad Lord? Hell, I just about went on to cover them all. Shiva wasn't listening, not Hades, not Jupiter, not Apollyon, not Dionysus, not Sky Mother, not Red XIII. No gah:ites, not Hermes nor Heracles, not Sheogorath nor Vader,...Wayne Gretzky did ask who I was and how I got his number before he hung up, so I guess one god sort-of answered, but nothing went as was foretold in the Big Book. Expecting divine intervention was indeed a complete waste of time.

But asking for it... maybe not such a waste. It does force introspection. It does constantly remind you of what you truly want. It's a bit like.... it's therapeutic, in much the same way buying a lottery ticket is. It releases you from the constraints of logic, however temporarily, and allows you to... see around corners? No, that's not quite right. But it does bring about a slice, however small, of clarity. It does help cut through the mental roadblocks of "can't" and allows you to dream. It allows ideas to enter your head that stodgy realism kills before it can grow.

Two years and twenty four thousand dollars ago, I was stuffing tabasco infused jerky into holes in my teeth to pain-gate my backpain away. Two months ago I paid my last dental bill, not a GD penny of which came by loan or lend. 31 whole, shiny, pain-free teeth dwell in my mouth right now. Four years ago I was literally in poverty, supporting a child solo on $16k a year making do only by the grace of family. I now just got paid and had a whole paycheck under it. Plus a stack of cash squirreled away on the homestead. Plus a vacay that's fully paid non-loan. Plus about a grand on loan to loved ones in need. Plus a working truck with a 6sp and a $180 payment on $600/yr insurance. Plus being in the position to FINALLY get the GD race car done, ON TOP OF contemplating buying Pops a MF'in .460 for Christmas, just because I f#$%ing can.

God? Nah. I cracked my bleeding ass in half for every single bit of it. But prayer,... it didn't not help ; )

Interesting as always Face. I was kind of under the impression that you had taken the challenge to specifically ask Jesus Christ into your life, to praise, love, and serve Him through regular prayer for a while. Anyway, what I think comes across very clearly is that we as human beings are religious beings. It is ingrained in us to seek meaning and purpose and greater significance to our lives and the lives of others. Some might call this wishful thinking or even illogical. However, everything around us reinforces the idea that we among all living things are radically different. Something transcendent about us, especially when we create or when we make music or when we love in beautiful and sacrificial ways. There is no other animal in the universe that would do what Face did to go from stuffing spicy jerky into his cheeks to where he is now enduring the unbelievably hard sacrifices he did for love of family. There is no other reason to do that unless something other, something supernatural were at work in Face and in all of us.

Quote: FrGamble

Interesting as always Face. I was kind of under the impression that you had taken the challenge to specifically ask Jesus Christ into your life, to praise, love, and serve Him through regular prayer for a while.

Sort of, but you must understand that I can't. I mean, if I were to ask you to join me in Leaf's Nation and wear the Blue and White and chant the chants and sing the songs, you could do it. You might even enjoy it. But could you ever really feel what I feel, and believe the way I believe? You've talked about fishing and the outdoors, to the point that I believe you have a legit appreciation for it. But do you think we feel the same way, are ensconced in the same way, or find the same meanings in these activities?

Similar, maybe, but I doubt it's the same. I very much did attempt, especially the "serve" part. When AZD had made a thread about random acts of kindness, I was already balls deep, having done at least one every day for several months. I even made a point not to say a word, as while I couldn't remember chapter and verse (until Ace recently linked it), I did remember that was a part of it. Serve in silence, look not for reward and all that. I could and will say each one was a pinprick, each one helping to shed light upon a darkened life. But,... it was all very.... mortal. I might have felt like Jesus (and I did / do), but if he's sending messages, he must be using dialup or something.

Next time you speak, tell him 1st class. I'll definitely get it then >< lol

Quote: FrG

However, everything around us reinforces the idea that we among all living things are radically different. Something transcendent about us, especially when we create or when we make music or when we love in beautiful and sacrificial ways.

This kinda seems to be the hubris EB is always bangin' on about. Ever see a dumb ol' salmon? It's just one of those lesser beings, a portable meat packet that just eats and s#$%s and reproduces. Or is it? I caught some last month that hatched as fry no bigger than my pinky nail in a stream 3hrs from my house. And that little pinky nail made it from there, through the entire distance of Lake Ontario, through the entire St Lawrence causeway and all its locks, and out into the great Atlantic Ocean. It survived, by itself, with no formal education, training, or support, not even an instruction manual, a Garmin, or access to Rand-McNally. It evaded sharks, trawlers, sailfish, other salmon, largemouth, blue herons, plastic waste, chemical poison, too warm water, too cold water, and eventually grew to be a 3'+, 30+lb killing and eating machine. And then, through the use of nothing more than its lateral lines and the Earth's gravitational field, made it from the middle of nowhere Atlantic, back up the causeway, back through the locks, back through Ontario, and back up 18mi, all on no food in an environment that is completely poisonous to them, so much so their very skeleton deforms and their skin sloughs off, through infinitesimal changes to the sea and river beds making visual navigation wholly impossible, and wound up right back in the very spot it started some half a decade ago.

I can get why you think we're so bleeding special. I don't think I'll ever understand how you ignore the rest.

Quote: Face

It does force introspection. It does constantly remind you of what you truly want. It's a bit like.... it's therapeutic )

Meh, you can get that with TM, or
any kind of meditation. God and
praying have nothing to do with
it. My sister in law posted on FB
that something bad happened, and
there were at least 40 posts of
people praying for her. It's the
ultimate cop out from actually
being proactive and doing something
that would really help. Prayer costs
you nothing, makes you appear caring,
and helps nobody. It's the biggest
scam ever dreamed up.

Quote: Face

Next time you speak, tell him 1st class. I'll definitely get it then >< lol

I'm in sales not management, but I'll ask him.

Quote:

This kinda seems to be the hubris EB is always bangin' on about. Ever see a dumb ol' salmon? It's just one of those lesser beings, a portable meat packet that just eats and s#$%s and reproduces. Or is it? I caught some last month that hatched as fry no bigger than my pinky nail in a stream 3hrs from my house. And that little pinky nail made it from there, through the entire distance of Lake Ontario, through the entire St Lawrence causeway and all its locks, and out into the great Atlantic Ocean. It survived, by itself, with no formal education, training, or support, not even an instruction manual, a Garmin, or access to Rand-McNally. It evaded sharks, trawlers, sailfish, other salmon, largemouth, blue herons, plastic waste, chemical poison, too warm water, too cold water, and eventually grew to be a 3'+, 30+lb killing and eating machine. And then, through the use of nothing more than its lateral lines and the Earth's gravitational field, made it from the middle of nowhere Atlantic, back up the causeway, back through the locks, back through Ontario, and back up 18mi, all on no food in an environment that is completely poisonous to them, so much so their very skeleton deforms and their skin sloughs off, through infinitesimal changes to the sea and river beds making visual navigation wholly impossible, and wound up right back in the very spot it started some half a decade ago.

I can get why you think we're so bleeding special. I don't think I'll ever understand how you ignore the rest.

I love your writing! It is exactly in the recognition of how special nature is and animals are that makes us so special. The other salmon, nor the hawks or the bears, are waxing so beautifully about the amazing animal that is the salmon. Our greatness is found is seeing greatness in nature around us. I don't think that is hubris but just an unmistakable reality.