What's on your mind?

[ReesePiece23]

Just sat in tears writing a letter I hope my Nephew never has to read.

Two of my colleagues have now died to Covid and my line of work and environment is third highest risk of all professions. I'm not scared of death in the least, I just never expected I'd be in this position.

Even having cancer I never felt this close to death or being taken from family.

I've known you seven years, and I honestly never knew you had cancer.

Personally, I'd take that letter and burn it. Not because it's nonsense (I'm sure it isn't) but more as an act of defiance. You didn't go out to cancer, and you're sure as hell not going out to this.

Our front liners WILL go down in history as the war heroes of this generation. Mr Patel down at the local NISA became 'the little engine that could' virtually overnight. Proof, that you haven't got to be a movie star to change the world.

 

[High Fidelity]

I've known you seven years, and I honestly never knew you had cancer.

Personally, I'd take that letter and burn it. Not because it's nonsense (I'm sure it isn't) but more as an act of defiance. You didn't go out to cancer, and you're sure as hell not going out to this.

Our front liners WILL go down in history as the war heroes of this generation. Mr Patel down at the local NISA became 'the little engine that could' virtually overnight. Proof, that you haven't got to be a movie star to change the world.

Only in remission recently. Generally quite a private person so didn't really mention it. Wasn't going to change the situation so I just got on with it

 

[Rene Loup]

.

 

[High Fidelity]

I'm very sorry you are going through this. I honestly don't know how to comfort you but I will say that if I was in your position, I'd seriously be considering Pascal's Wager right now.

View attachment 275263

Thanks

I'm not afraid of death, I'm fortunate in that regard. It's more so the painful thought of not seeing family again, especially my Nephew that's like a son to me.

 

[( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]

Thanks

I'm not afraid of death, I'm fortunate in that regard. It's more so the painful thought of not seeing family again, especially my Nephew that's like a son to me.

Have you always been an atheist? I thought I remember you having some sort of faith as your status a while ago.

 

[( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]

eskimo

 

[LadyOfMystery]

 

[High Fidelity]

Have you always been an atheist? I thought I remember you having some sort of faith as your status a while ago.

Grew up in an Agnostic household, explore faith and various belief systems, was Christian on and off for a few years until I accepted it wasn't for me.

Tried and tried, threw myself in deeper and deeper expecting it to click one day but it never did. There will always be too many doubts or issues I have with it that there are no answers to.

I'm at peace now though. Trying and pretending to be something I'm not and never will be was exhausting and a source of anxiety and other problems.

At this current moment if I were to say what I believe or practice it would be various aspects of secular Buddhism and I lean a lot on Stoic philosophy for personal resilience, understanding and general interest.

 

[ReesePiece23]

Grew up in an Agnostic household, explore faith and various belief systems, was Christian on and off for a few years until I accepted it wasn't for me.

Tried and tried, threw myself in deeper and deeper expecting it to click one day but it never did. There will always be too many doubts or issues I have with it that there are no answers to.

I'm at peace now though. Trying and pretending to be something I'm not and never will be was exhausting and a source of anxiety and other problems.

At this current moment if I were to say what I believe or practice it would be various aspects of secular Buddhism and I lean a lot on Stoic philosophy for personal resilience, understanding and general interest.

When they meet me, people never think I'm a Christian. They always assume Hinduism/Buddhism by the way I talk and the principles I believe in. I don't prescribe to the churches view on sin, and I find the vast majority of Christians to be egotistical and sanctimonious. So I tend to avoid them for the most part and pray/meditate in solitude.

But, I do believe in Jesus. I think my vision of Him is just that of a socialist hippie who preached peace, love and encouraged the death of the ego - and just like MLK or Gandhi, was assassinated for it. Even today, there are Christians on this very forum, who as good as do exactly that with their political views. Seriously, if I went into the political forums now and said "I'm a socialist" I'd be tarred and feathered for it.

I think for you, it's not worth pursuing it. If it wants to find you, it WILL find you. But don't force it.

 

[High Fidelity]

When they meet me, people never think I'm a Christian. They always assume Hinduism/Buddhism by the way I talk and the principles I believe in. I don't prescribe to the churches view on sin, and I find the vast majority of Christians to be egotistical and sanctimonious. So I tend to avoid them for the most part and pray/meditate in solitude.

But, I do believe in Jesus. I think my vision of Him is just that of a socialist hippie who preached peace, love and encouraged the death of the ego - and just like MLK or Gandhi, was assassinated for it. Even today, there are Christians on this very forum, who as good as do exactly that with their political views. Seriously, if I went into the political forums now and said "I'm a socialist" I'd be tarred and feathered for it.

I think for you, it's not worth pursuing it. If it wants to find you, it WILL find you. But don't force it.

Exactly. I must admit the political side of things definitely didn't help because it's everywhere and it's a damning indictment of the Christian brand many subscribe to.

I'm open-minded. If the future holds faith then so be it, if not, well, that's okay by me too.

It's a personal thing and scare tactics don't work on me, if anything it drives me further from it. Being told I'm going to burn in hell doesn't encourage me to love the person prescribing said judgement and having people trying to 'save me from myself' really has the opposite effect.

That said, I think faith here is far different to faith in the U.S. etc, and the majority of members here and as a result the majority of Christians I have contact with are American, so that probably didn't help things. It's quite a private matter here, as I am sure you've experienced and can understand the difference I am talking about, where information is presented and you can take it or leave it. People like Lord Rowan Williams... I could listen to him talk all day and if I were to have a conversation on matters of faith with someone, I'd hope they had even an ounce of his character, intellect and ability to communicate matters of faith.

Anyway, I am waffling. Will see what the future holds.

 

[Rigatoni]

Exactly. I must admit the political side of things definitely didn't help because it's everywhere and it's a damning indictment of the Christian brand many subscribe to.

I'm open-minded. If the future holds faith then so be it, if not, well, that's okay by me too.

It's a personal thing and scare tactics don't work on me, if anything it drives me further from it. Being told I'm going to burn in hell doesn't encourage me to love the person prescribing said judgement and having people trying to 'save me from myself' really has the opposite effect.

That said, I think faith here is far different to faith in the U.S. etc, and the majority of members here and as a result the majority of Christians I have contact with are American, so that probably didn't help things. It's quite a private matter here, as I am sure you've experienced and can understand the difference I am talking about, where information is presented and you can take it or leave it. People like Lord Rowan Williams... I could listen to him talk all day and if I were to have a conversation on matters of faith with someone, I'd hope they had even an ounce of his character, intellect and ability to communicate matters of faith.

Anyway, I am waffling. Will see what the future holds.

I've been frustrated myself at the state of Christianity, especially here in the United States. Many believers today seem so focused on tearing down other Christians or unbelievers, and complicating something that should be so simple. I don't care for the "fire and brimstone" preaching either; that's not how you win people over (Romans 2:4).

As someone once said (paraphrasing): "Christianity is not a showcase for saints, but a hospital for sinners." I think there's a lot of truth in that. Our God came as a servant to help mankind; He is described as being meek and lowly in heart. Christianity in general would benefit if more would adopt such a mentality.

 

[High Fidelity]

I've been frustrated myself at the state of Christianity, especially here in the United States. Many believers today seem so focused on tearing down other Christians or unbelievers, and complicating something that should be so simple. I don't care for the "fire and brimstone" preaching either; that's not how you win people over (Romans 2:4).

As someone once said (paraphrasing): "Christianity is not a showcase for saints, but a hospital for sinners." I think there's a lot of truth in that. Our God came as a servant to help mankind; He is described as being meek and lowly in heart. Christianity in general would benefit if more would adopt such a mentality.

Absolutely. A lot of deflection of one's own issues by trying to highlight the issues, or perceived issues, of others.

It seems to be a problem exacerbated by a general laziness to learn the subjects we debate and discuss. Matters of faith can be quite simple from a high level perspective, but there's also a lot of intricacies and understanding that underpins various things. Often those are ignored or, in most cases, never known or understood, and polemics and dogmatic soundbites are thrown around as the apparent 'thing to do'.

There are still various Pastors and theological academics I respect and will gladly still listen to, but I think I need to let the dust settle before I pull that particular book off the shelf again.

P.S. I hope your game(s) are going well!

 

[LadyOfMystery]

This is definitely a 3x Cup of coffee kind of day. Maybe more.

 

[Rigatoni]

Absolutely. A lot of deflection of one's own issues by trying to highlight the issues, or perceived issues, of others.

It seems to be a problem exacerbated by a general laziness to learn the subjects we debate and discuss. Matters of faith can be quite simple from a high level perspective, but there's also a lot of intricacies and understanding that underpins various things. Often those are ignored or, in most cases, never known or understood, and polemics and dogmatic soundbites are thrown around as the apparent 'thing to do'.

There are still various Pastors and theological academics I respect and will gladly still listen to, but I think I need to let the dust settle before I pull that particular book off the shelf again.

Yeah, I think there's a whole array of issues affecting western Christianity today. But, I could go on and on regarding this topic lol.

 

[Rigatoni]

This is definitely a 3x Cup of coffee kind of day. Maybe more.

I thought it was normal for Jennies to have at least 8x cups a day?

 

[LadyOfMystery]

I thought it was normal for Jennies to have at least 8x cups a day?

Oh Mr Rigatonis No not eight cups of coffee, but maybe 3... or 4.

 

[somebodysangel_88]

Finally able to relax...

 

[LadyOfMystery]

Finally able to relax...

Being able to relax is the best. I don't know if you remember me but I use to be LadyofMystery or JennieAmber. I've changed my username so many times I can't keep up. I hope you are doing okay.

 

[ReesePiece23]

Exactly. I must admit the political side of things definitely didn't help because it's everywhere and it's a damning indictment of the Christian brand many subscribe to.

I'm open-minded. If the future holds faith then so be it, if not, well, that's okay by me too.

It's a personal thing and scare tactics don't work on me, if anything it drives me further from it. Being told I'm going to burn in hell doesn't encourage me to love the person prescribing said judgement and having people trying to 'save me from myself' really has the opposite effect.

That said, I think faith here is far different to faith in the U.S. etc, and the majority of members here and as a result the majority of Christians I have contact with are American, so that probably didn't help things. It's quite a private matter here, as I am sure you've experienced and can understand the difference I am talking about, where information is presented and you can take it or leave it. People like Lord Rowan Williams... I could listen to him talk all day and if I were to have a conversation on matters of faith with someone, I'd hope they had even an ounce of his character, intellect and ability to communicate matters of faith.

Anyway, I am waffling. Will see what the future holds.

Well, I personally don't think it's God's style to dish out ultimatums and death threats - in my view, hell is whatever we create for ourselves here on earth; I know because I've been there. I firmly believe that at certain times in August/September last year, I walked a literal hellworld - and all of it was down to BAD choices, and my knucklehead-mentality for NOT moving away fast enough from the dark veil. God didn't put me there, the devil didn't put me there *I* did. (The devil is a common cop out - honestly, it's just a figure Christians use to dump their blame on.)

If you think you're going to get any sort of special treatment for being "a warrior for Christ" or a "Godly man" then you're delusional. The human race was created on a level playing field, and in PERFECT balance. Everyone is loved equally, whether Christian, Atheist, Muslim, Buddhist, or whatever. God isn't an Instagram influencer chasing followers, the whole point is that everyone is granted paradise. Otherwise, why go to the effort of creating a human to buy our sin? "Oh, I'll come and die for you - but you owe me!" - Seriously, that mentality is just abusive. Love is unconditional, God knows it, I know it, and anyone with half a brain knows it.

Christianity (the label) needs to get over itself.

 

[SarahsKnight]

So, as part of my short bit of time for relaxation just after a night at work but before sleep on consecutive work days, I decided to finally sit down and, after 24 years of curiosity lying somewhere in my subconscious, see this supposed critical darling (at the time) of a film titled The Truth About Cats and Dogs. .... Some (likely lame) PG-13 romantic comedy about a radio hostess who somehow knows enough about veterinary medicine to give advice over the air about ... well ... cats and dogs, and I think she falls in love with a guy eventually or something. (So, hah! Dual meaning on the cats and dogs thing, get it?!)

.... Why such a special moment for me when I almost sound bored at what the movie is going to be about? Well, somehow I remember that this is the very film my one and only "girlfriend" Amy Radford wanted to go see for our first "date" together in the sixth grade. We never did; the prospect of going to the movies to see something of an "adult" film (to 11 year-olds, anyway) for a date was as much all talk between us as actually being a boyfriend/girlfriend pair in itself, in any realistic sense of this human societal notion of relationships But hey, it is a good memory, for what it can be worth. So now, let us see just what this first-date movie would have been like, shall we?

I wonder if today, 24 years and 12-and-a-half school grades later, Amy even remembers me at all, or our playing at a Saved-By-the-Bell romantic relationship for just three months before deciding "umm, what do we know about love at this age and with our relative maturity?" between ourselves.


SIDE NOTE: As I was typing this post, one of the first scenes in the movie involved a guy (probably the one who will become the love interest) calling up the protagonist to ask what he should do about the large dog who keeps drifting back and forth by him on roller skates,and is apparently really angry at him for it. ... No, I am not joking.