http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1655415,00.html [web]http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1655415,00.html[/web] I find this very, very interesting.
^ I was going to put that in my oringal post, then decided against it. So I am happy someone linked to it! I'm going to embed it now. I'd rep ya if I could. <object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8q1m-8npkJ4"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8q1m-8npkJ4" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object> <object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/p3tUuA7WBRE"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/p3tUuA7WBRE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>
Interesting thread, thanks for sharing LT. I have had similar feelings and also very recently I felt abandoned by God. But because I know God and myself are not seperate, I know it's my personal decision to put myself through this. I had to promise myself I wouldn't manifest even when I was at the point of suicide. Individuality and self-expression was more important than anything- and perhaps meeting the all-knowing and thus all-powerful version of myself would cause the limited and mortal version of myself to cease to exist? I just feel that faith is a very strange thing... If God visits you and makes Himself known beyond a shadow of a doubt- where is your faith? The feelings of abandonment and doubt are the only sure-fire way to prove you have any faith at all. Knowing God exists and not doubting it shows you either really trust what people of an authority say or you have no faith because you can have no doubt. I think what she went through was just what she thought- the agony of Jesus: to sacrifice yourself and nothing changes, to work for God but He forsakes you in the end. (or that's how it feels at the time anyways, the story of Job is another example of this) It's all very interesting and very powerful because I know how she feels. I have had experiences with talking to God in my head only to have Him not answer me when I thought I really needed Him. But the thing is- I know training isn't a bed of roses! It could be seen in many different ways but the bottom line is God doesn't make much sense at times. I know He's there but still doubt? How? It's just too difficult for words sometimes but all I know is that there is a reason for it. Perhaps it's not knowing that is the answer and there is nothing I can do to find it... And by not trying to find it- I have inadvertently found it. If I want to figure it out I have to stop trying to figure it out. Wow, what an ass-backwards answer that is. Is God really Dr. Seuss or something? I mean geez... "you see what you look for" "in all possibility there is no possibility" and my current personal favorite- "believe in Me but I don't show up" Why? Why not show up if He wants us to believe??? It seems so mixed up... Like Dr. Seuss. I really think there is a serious reason for it that is being hidden. I think I've seen it before, but still it's not good enough because I can't see it now... It's like thinking about sex you've had before or something- you remember it and all but that's not good enough to really feel like sex... Oh well... I guess there is nothing I can do but wait for the experience again- knowing full well there is something to it I can't grasp but I can sure as hell see for a few seconds
I'm reminded of the verse that follows: "Lord, I believe. Help thou my disbelief" It was the Roman Soldier who was asking Jesus to heal his child. Jesus told him that if he believed, his kid would be healed... He followed with the aforementioned quote...
I'm not suprised at all. Mother theresa wasn't a Christian at all. She didn't believe Jesus was the only way to heaven. She didn't follow God's true path. She was a deceiver, and she was deceived. She worked for the devil and the great whore of babylon, the roman catholic church. Here's a good link on the subject: http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/mothther.htm I don't agree with everything on that website, but still it's obvious enough that she was by no means a Christian. The Church is trying to play it off obviously, saying that she struggled through a period of darkness. Yeah she sure did. But real Christians don't have that kind of emptiness for a week, let alone half a lifetime.God comforts true Christians, and they know and have faith that God is there with them. True Christians have joy and peace. They go through tough times all throughout their life, but God strengthens them and they never go through anything like that. That's the sorrow of this world that God came to save us from.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I smell a fundamentalist up there... Answer the question I asked in this thread, then: http://forum.grasscity.com/spirituality-philosophy/169767-christian-agnostic.html#post1789456