about the good things ivolving your beliefs. I do not judge, and I do
not hold my beliefs above those of others. I would appreciate it if we
could listen to eachother and understand the good things that simply
come from just believing in anything. I do not have a specific
religion, so I enjoy learning about others. Please give me some insight
into why you're religion is important to you. I would really enjoy
learning about it.

My FAITH is my strength. It's the energy i need to live.
My CONNECTION with my heavenly Father allows me to bear this insae world
where I happen to live.
My LOVE to God makes me love my brothers and sisters even if they don't
believe in the same as I do, and make me hope that i can see them in
heaven with me.

Regards

TLW

P.D. Notice I didn't use the word RELIGION

Thank you TLW, hopefuly more people give me some insight.

I believe this:

Religion is the search for an individual relationship with God through
prayer, meditation, study, preaching, ritual, and silent worship.

Sometimes religion produces attractive rituals shared by a community to
create an atmosphere of elevation and re-entrance into oneself. There
are those who cannot do without such forms of worship. Where, however,
the form conditions or replaces meditation, where human words prevail
over the Spirit, when the words of Holy Scripture are used in an abusive
manner to bully or destroy and not to build - then we are no longer in
the presence of true religion. Whoever uses colours and sounds, forms
and movements, and other gifts of God under the illusion of building a
staircase to God out of his own resources, can raise, even involuntarily
and in good faith, an invisible barrier between humanity and God
himself.

In its nature silent worship avoids the risk that liturgical forms
invented by man may intervene between the creature and the Creator,
hindering the worshipper from finding the light that comes from the
divine inner spark. Yet group worship in silence is not the only time in
which search for divine light can result in illuminating a newfound
relationship with the Spirit of Christ. Outside of meeting for worship
silence can like prayer become a bridge between human loneliness and
God. People can be transformed into instruments for spiritual awakening.

Once a new relationship to the Spirit has been realised, daily life can
easily be transformed into something continually interesting and
positive. In heretofore unexpected ways witnessing can lead to acts of
solidarity with the enemies of yesterday in an ecumenical spirit which
is both interracial and transcultural.

Everywhere in the atmosphere of spiritual and social peace induced by
silent worship, whether in community or alone, God who has never
abandoned any of his creatures makes His voice heard in His way.

Fanta

WOW Thank you so much. Those are the knids of things that teach in a
positive manner. You have given me much to think about, and I do thank
you. Very much! I hope to hear your voice agian.

enjoying your mind and others,
MSD

Hi Dream,

I don’t think of my beliefs as a ‘religion’. My beliefs are based on
logic, experience, and intuition. I don’t believe any writings because
humans too well known for making things up.

My first premise is quite simple. If there is a conscious aware god
that god must be a nicer guy than me. No gender intended. Just
knowing this make me feel quite secure and loved. I certainly have
nothing to fear from a god that is as least as nice as I am, and it
makes absolutely no sense to me at all that god would be a jerk. So
god is nicer than me is pretty much a given.

From my experience, which includes the scientific knowledge that I have
studied all my life, I feel confident that I have evolved out of this
universe. I am as much a part of this universe as anything else in it.
I am related to every living thing on planet earth. In fact, I am
related to every living thing in the entire universe, and I definitely
believe that there are other life forms in the universe. Although, I
don’t believe that UFOs have visited the earth.

I am also keenly aware that the universe itself is spiritual in nature.
The physical aspect of the universe is a mirage. I know enough about
quantum physics to understand this ghostly aspect of reality. The
universe truly is mystical in its nature. Since I am part of this
spiritual illusion, then I too must be spiritual in nature. I also
know that time is an illusion. There is no past or future. Those are
just illusions brought about by the ever-changing now. I am fully aware
of this aspect of time. There simply is no other time in which to
cease to exist. So there can be no such thing as a death of the
spirit.

I’ve actually known all of this from a very early age. Science, logic,
and life’s experience has merely confirmed my intuitive knowledge of my
true nature. It’s beautiful beyond words. Death is not something to be
feared in any way. Life is beautiful and is never-ending. Moreover,
even if life could end it would be a totally insignificant event.

Abra

I'm sure I will have to re-read your post to completely understand it.
One question that I have right now is do you believe that "God" exsists
in everything, such as, a tree, a person, light, dark, water, rain. Do
you feel the presence of your beliefs in everything around you?

My beliefs, my understandings, are that I am a part of the all, of this
earth, and the infiniteness of the universe.

That the energy, the 'life force' that runs through me, but not from me,
is part of something much greater than my imaginings.

My body is made of organic matter, as is everything natural of this
earth, although the me, the 'I' that I am, is but a facet of this
energy.

My understandings are such, that 'I' am not a separate entity, but
connected with all, and everything intrinsic to this Earth.

I do not use the word 'God', as it feels wrong, for me, and although is
a useful term for others to understand, it is too easily misconstrued by
others' understandings of what 'God' means for them.

“I'm sure I will have to re-read your post to completely understand it.
One question that I have right now is do you believe that "God" exsists
in everything, such as, a tree, a person, light, dark, water, rain. Do
you feel the presence of your beliefs in everything around you?”

Yes I do feel the way that you describe. But like Jess had mentioned,
the word ‘God’ is a semantically problematic word. I don’t think of
god as a ‘person’ so much as a ‘spirit’ which I am part of. I am in no
way separate from god. There is but one mind, and we are all a part
of that mind. So to talk about god as though it is separate from
anything is to get the wrong idea.

For example, you ask if god exists ‘in’ everything. But from my point
of view god ‘is’ everything. There is nothing to be ‘in’.

However, god is the spirit of the universe. And the universe is entirely
spirit. Therefore everything that exists is god. Yet, everything that
exists has it’s own essence. So a tree has its own essence due to it’s
physical existence. But it’s spirit is that of god.

It’s a very difficult concept to convey. It’s not logical, because
logic itself is based on physical reality, as is mathematics. For
example 1+1=2 has no meaning in the spiritual world. That quantitative
relationship only holds true in the physical world. In the spiritual
world all is one in a way that we, in our physical form, simple can’t
comprehend.

Thank you Jess and abra. Many times I find myself at a loss when trying
to explain what I feel is "God". I try to be respectful of others
religion and I always seem to offend them. Perhaps I need to word
myself differently. I try to explain that God to me is not that which
they believe in but something more. It later ends up turned around that
I am athiest and have no beliefs. This, might I add is not true. I do
believe in many things. Thank you for giving me some insight to your
beliefs and your faith. I hope to here from you both agian.

truly
MSD

Well, some people think of god as ‘person like’. Similar to the way
that people thought of gods back in the days of ancient Greek Mythology.
They think in terms of appeasements in the form of worship and the idea
of sacrificial lambs is also pretty popular even today. Not sacrificing
lambs to the gods anymore, but rather in an idea that god sent a
sacrificial lamb as a savoir for the people. It’s unclear precisely
what the people were being saved from though. I hate to think that they
feel they need to be saved from god. Yet the idea of being saved from
evil demons just brings in a whole other entity. They don’t seem to
realize that in such a picture they need to actually have two gods. A
good god, and a bad god. Two gods that are at odds with each other with
humans in the middle. Sounds like the makings of a horror flick to me.

But whatever.

You really can’t worry too much about what other people think. You just
need to live your own life and be faithful to your own beliefs in a way
that feels right for you. If you feel at peace with god then you
probably are. Most people actually seek out god in an attempt to find
peace within themselves. So if you already have that then you obviously
already know god.

Abracadabra,

All you have to do is ask a Christian and they will explain what Jesus
died for and why he had to die. Please don't let the fact that you
don't understand the issue stop you from searching for the truth.

Spider wrote:
"All you have to do is ask a Christian and they will explain what Jesus
died for and why he had to die."

I have been asking this question my entire life. I would be glad to hear
your explanation Spider, especially the part about why it was necessary.

It was necessary because after the Lord's dead he had to come to life
again.
Basically because that is the biggest proof that Jesus is God and man at
the same time.
Jesus come from and is the same esence as GOD him/herself.
At the same is the biggest proof of love from God the human beings
His/Her children.
Regardless.

TLW

For me, God is all around me, He is the trees, and the birds, He is
everything. Being out in nature I have a sense of completeness and
belonging, the feeling that I'm part of the whole.

i'm an i....
i didn't want to say regardless
i just wnated to say
regards
sorry!

Abracadabra,

Jesus died to free us from the bondage of sin. The wages of sin is
death...for the sins we commit in life, someone must die. Jesus paid
the price, so that we wouldn't have to.

We are immortal.

How then can 'sin' equate to death.

their worm dieth not

I reckon you can earn death then.

Me I will simply change state and become something greater than I am
now.