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Foliage -
I'm looking for it to read as well. Thanks for stopping by.
posted by
sannhet
on August 26, 2007 at 3:51 PM
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Soul_Builder -
That's part of what I do as well, to bring light to the night, so to speak. Thanks for visiting.
posted by
sannhet
on August 26, 2007 at 3:50 PM
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Troosha -
I think both things happen. There are quiet times, when things are going well, when we might not think about God. But I've experienced other times, even when things are going extremely well, where I couldn't hear that "still small voice within."
posted by
sannhet
on August 26, 2007 at 3:50 PM
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Ariel70 -
I've been down the path of non-belief. It didn't work for me. And that wasn't even during one of my "Dark Night" periods. Thanks for stopping by and reading.
posted by
sannhet
on August 26, 2007 at 3:48 PM
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sannhet - Wow, that's amazing Mother Teresa would write and feel that
way. Thank you for writing about this book as I would like to read it.
posted by
FoliageGold
on August 25, 2007 at 5:41 AM
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Sannhet
Beautifully expressed. When this happened to me a long time ago, I used to research to get answers to things I did not know and....I spent many hours in bookstores. I believe that if you don't have the basics on some topics, there is no flow on them! A bankrupt consciousness needs food.... provided by research. This is how I dealt with the 'dark nights' in the past!
posted by
Soul_Builder101
on August 24, 2007 at 6:41 PM
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Troosha
Indeed, I have considered ( innumerable times actually ) what you note about Christians.
But what I have also noted over more decades than you have been alive is that shame, guilt, fear and the deliberate stifling of free thought are the defining characteristics of so many adherents of all religions.Deeply held religious, or indeed political, beliefs seem inevitably to engender the former and suppress the latter.
You will note that I write "so many", and not "all", for unlike so many believers, who refer to us as " the atheist" or " atheists", as if we are some ant-like creature with no individual characteristics, I would never refer to believers in this fashion.
posted by
ariel70
on August 24, 2007 at 2:41 PM
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Ariel
Being Christian doesn’t mean walking around in a state of fear or guilt – nor does it necessarily entail (for many) adhering to a doctrine that impinges on free thinking. For many it is simply acknowledging a higher power. Further…have you ever considered that maybe some Christians don’t go around worrying about what God thinks of them but rather what they think of God.
posted by
Troosha
on August 24, 2007 at 11:39 AM
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Sannet
Feeling or hearing the presence of God wafts and wanes. During periods of sorrow, life changes, or deep introspection we are more aware (perhaps) of God’s hand in the shaping of our lives and the nourishment of our souls. When we’re floating along with few burdens on our mind we tend not to feel a dominant outer presence – not because it’s not there but because we’re not listening as closely. Is it “dark” or is it simply quieter?
posted by
Troosha
on August 24, 2007 at 11:34 AM
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sannhet
I can go one better than that! My so called dark night of the soul has lasted for 63 years ( since I was fourteen ) and I've enjoyed it immensely!
Hasn't been dark at all, but, including the years when the world was more dark than you can imagine ( 1939/43 ) rather filled with light and love and friendship.
Life without God? It's great. Maybe you Christians ought to try it now and again : it's great to be free of all that daily guilt over what you've done/haven't done.
One can be all the things that believers so casually arrogate to themselves ; loving, compassionate, caring of one's fellow humans, all that stuff without having to worry about what God, or gods, think of you.
See, some of think that these attributes are inherently human, not God given, nor breathed into us by some Holy Spirit.
posted by
ariel70
on August 24, 2007 at 10:36 AM
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