reply to post by Good Wolf
I starred you. I was not able to get to computer for I have had company. I would like to contribute more to this very good thread as I have more
time.
You are a smart, humble young person. I admire your conviction and questioning.
The advice I would give is this:
do not throw the baby out with the bath water! Because religion does not work for you, do not throw the
concept of God out. It is just that; he does not fit our religious concept that we have been taught. It does not mean therefore that he does not have
his own personality.
I have had to recover from hopeless states of mind. It required a higher power to overcome unbelievable challenges. That would include many addictions
and spiritual bankruptcy. I personally have had too many examples of times where I had divine intervention. Too many to count. More than once - he
saved my life.
That being said, I consider myself a spiritual scientist. Meaning; you cannot have science without a God, nor God without science. The two go
together. If I leave the fanatical rule oriented, prejudiced God out of the picture, it leaves new paths to explore.
I believe it is a cop-out to deny the existence of God and rather narcissistic. Just because we don't agree with him or even understand him, does not
translate to his non-existence. What it means is; we have the opportunity to get to know a very abstract being and one that does not enjoy being
pigeon holed! Do we? Religion pigeon holes him (and that includes atheism), we have the choice to not go with the masses.
Is there an afterlife? Who knows! Go with your gut. But know that if you choose a spiritual path, you will have many questions and many changes.
Letting go of the "fairy dust" is hard. All religions including eastern, use or believe in; fairy dust. Take what you want, and leave the rest,
until you have a clear idea of what seems right to you.
You do not have to decide today!
Your friend, Matrix
