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- Go to Lordy Lordy it's a miracle!
faholo - that could well be true - God could be waiting for us to perform a
miracle of some sort.
Possibly peace amongst our species or maybe even just setting our differences aside long enough to feed all citizens of this planet. . . This is a fair deal don't ya think? He is waiting for something that we have the ability to accomplish but for a multitude of reasons never seem able to, while at the same time he could just send his son back anytime but never seems willing to.
posted by
gomedome
on October 16, 2006 at 5:03 PM
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Maybe God is waiting for a miracle from us!
I do not blame God for all the tragedy in the world, I blame us for doing nothing to stop it, who knows maybe He blames us also. Keep writing gomedome!
faholo
posted by
faholo
on October 16, 2006 at 2:36 PM
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Schatz - I refuse to give credit to some mythical being for my good fortune
This is not to say that I am not extremely grateful for everything that I have and have accomplished but I am equally proud of these things as well. The deflection of responsibility for how our lives turn out is not just a one way street where only blame is transferred to others or to the God that some folks subscribe to. Credit is due to the individual themselves when they manage against all odds to live a productive life as well adjusted contributors to society. I feel that ascribing all of lifes fortuitous outcomes to an invisible being detracts from the ability of some folks to rise above their circumstances. Take credit where you alone have earned it .... has always been my guiding mantra.
posted by
gomedome
on October 16, 2006 at 9:55 AM
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TVBlogger -- that is basically my definition of a miracle as well
Though I try not to use the word itself, the common vernacular is that it describes any event with an inexplicable or remarkably fortuitous outcome. I have to agree however, that as soon as said inexplicable event is ascribed to divine intervention, the not so lucky are immediately branded as not favoured by God. A neighbour of mine from a few years back fell 40 feet from a scaffold onto a concrete floor, albeit with major injuries. His wife claimed to anyone who would listen that God had allowed her husband to live. I didn't have the heart to ask her why he let him fall in the first place?
posted by
gomedome
on October 16, 2006 at 9:39 AM
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I do believe in miracles, I just don't believe they come from a Christian
God who, as you so astutely point out, ignores all of the starving masses to cause a piece of toast to be shaped like the Virgin Mary. LOL
I believe in miracles in this sense: I was raised by the most dysfunctional people I know, abused and neglected as a child, blamed and persecuted by my family most of my life....and yet, I succeed in a healthy marriage and produce glowing children. Why? Who knows, but every therapist I've ever talked to says that it's a dang miracle I turned out the way I did. I agree. So really, it's only something that denies explanation or seems, in some way, extremely fortuitous and lucky that I consider 'miraculous'. I don't think any one of us is hand picked by a divine being for help or harm. I think there are so many of us that any possible outcome to any situation will eventually manifest itself in the big picture. Great post.
posted by
Schatz
on October 16, 2006 at 9:38 AM
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Excellent post
That was like Star Jones talked about being in Indonesia a month before the tsunami struck and how she was blessed because she hadn't been there when it happened. So, I guess those hundreds of thousands of people who died weren't blessed. God sure does favor strange people.
I also found it interesting that when everyone thought 1 man died and 12 had been found alive in the coal mine last year, they shouted it was a miracle. To me, that said good planning and equipment. But when it turned out that 12 had died and only one came out alive, they shouted disaster. For those men and their families, it was disaster but in my mind having anyone survive that, was far more of a miracle. Planning failed. Equipment failed and yet one man came out of it alive and mentally intact... to me that's a miracle. I don't mean that I think God saved him... I use the term more in meaning it was truly amazing and wondrous that even one man emerged from that mine. Our view of what miracles are, is just a little skewed.
posted by
TVBlogger
on October 16, 2006 at 9:27 AM
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Sunnybeach7 - that's the point and to be clear about what I have just said
Where I don't think that prayer itself changes anything, there is no disputing its value as a vehicle to attain a positive frame of mind. For some people this is the only conceivable way to improve their perspective or outlook towards any given situation. For those of us that do not believe anyone is actually listening to prayers, the process though quite similar, is best described as adhering to the power of positive thinking.
posted by
gomedome
on October 16, 2006 at 8:08 AM
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gome
Changing one's perception of things to a positive view does change one's reality quite a bit.
posted by
Afzal_Sunny7
on October 16, 2006 at 7:59 AM
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Sunnybeach7 - I tend to think that what many people describe as a miracle
...falls into the category of the power of positive thinking. There is no doubt that the human mind responds favourably to positive stimula, with the perception of cirumstancial outcomes changed by a positive perspective. As for prayer changing anything in of itself, I don't buy it. When circumstances that have supposedly been changed by prayer are examined, there are always other factors that influence the outcome. However, the quiet and focused meditation that are quite often elements of prayer can be a means of purging the individual's negative perspective of any given situation. Quite often leading to the ability of the individual to deal with, or overcome the negative aspects of that same situation.
posted by
gomedome
on October 16, 2006 at 7:54 AM
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gome
I liked the example you used. While that one house may be left standing in a tornado, and the owner may view that as a miracle...what about the other's whose houses were destroyed? I don't think they'd see it as a miracle.
One man's miracle can be another man's tragedy.
I actually do believe in miracles, to some extent, but I don't know if I'd use that exact word to describe them. I don't believe they come from God, but I believe that they come from the desires of man, and can be achieved through strong prayer, meditation, and so forth.
If you have enough desire and belief, you can create or "change" things.
posted by
Afzal_Sunny7
on October 16, 2006 at 7:29 AM
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naorem - I do as well
. . . if for no other reason than the entertainment that it provides us with.
posted by
gomedome
on October 16, 2006 at 6:58 AM
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i love christianity
posted by
naorem
on October 16, 2006 at 6:51 AM
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