| “…more importantly, what do you personally want from God? I don’t mean what do you want for the “World” but what do you want for you?” |
Hey- I want to tell you about something that happened to me several years ago.
Here it goes…..
It was a cold and miserable Maryland, winter evening, reflecting my current situation. My husband and I were going through a rough patch with each other. I had gotten home from work and told my two boys I was going to lie down for awhile. Instead I went up to my room to cry and pray. Forty-five minutes later, I saw that it was five o’clock. I knew I had to get my act together and go downstairs and start dinner but I was so distraught. All of a sudden a voice, so strong and direct sounded in my head. “What, do you want?” It asked. It was so strong and so real, that I answered it aloud even though it had only sounded in my head.
“Well, I would like him (my husband) to get me some flowers and to tell me he loves me, but that will never happen.” I laughed bitterly. I then got myself together and went down to cook dinner.
A little after six o’clock, my husband came into the house and walked into the kitchen. His hands were behind his back. “I love you,” he said, presenting me with a bouquet of flowers in his right hand. “I love you,” he said again presenting me with another bouquet of flowers in his left hand. I was stunned. Here I had asked for flowers and a simple “I love you” and God had given me twice the amount.
“I hope you don’t mind flowers from the grocery store,” my husband said, “I was driving home and knew that lately, I have not been the greatest husband, so I decided to stop and get you flowers from a florist. I pulled in the parking lot and the sign said they were open till five, but they were already closed even though it was five o’clock on the dot, so I had to go to the grocery store.”
Looking, back, I now joke I wish I had asked for $$$ and not flowers…. but in reality, I was floored when he told me that he pulled into the parking lot of the florist at 5:00, the same time I was answering God’s question.
Bob, I am not a Bible Thumping Christian, but I have had so many “supernatural” things happen to me, that I can not deny that God loves me and is interested in me. I don’t make it to church a lot of the time, I don’t read my Bible everyday, but I do love to read it. When I do, a peace and calmness comes over me. It is like, “coming home”.
I really love God, because he loved me first and he continues to do so. I guess I feel and know that “he has my back”, so when those closest to me don’t come through- I still know things are going to work out. If God, loves me this much, (I am just your average American) then I know he loves us all.
I can bore you with more stories, but I want to ask you two more questions….
1. Do you even believe in God? (I think you do, because your illustration of God sounds like it came from reading the Old Testament)
2. And more importantly, what do you personally want from God? I don’t mean what do you want for the “World” but what do you want for you?
Lastly, if you love talking politics- well I am sure we could have some lively discussions!
Take Care-
Heather
PS. Oh, since I know you are an artist, it is only fair for you to know I am a special ed teacher.
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If you don’t believe in god’s son, he’s gonna kick your fucking ass around like a tin can.
When’s this going to happen?
Click on the link below to find out!
God’s gonna kick your fucking ass!!!
Bob, you’re replies are leaving me in tears. Your thesis on “Why God is a dick” was especially delightful. She walked right into that one.
I can imagine you opening the email, reading her reply “How so?” , smiling and thinking “it’s almost too easy”.
I hate these one-shot letters. I want them to keep replying to you, again and again and again, until finally they give up in utter exhaustion! But no, most of them can only be bothered with a single letter scolding you for being a naughty, naughty boy and making Jesus very sad, and then you never hear from them again. How disappointing.
Let me take a guess at this one. It would be much wiser for God to intervene and send Heathers husband a telepathic message to bring her flowers than to manage and send food or water supplies to thousands of children starving to death daily in Africa with flies going in and out their mouths and their mothers teats dry from malnourishment because she believes in Jesus, that would only make perfect sense to a Christstian…DOH
I have no idea whether she’ll frequent the comment page of her own hate mail file, but this is for Heather:
I have no doubt that you have had spiritual or “supernatural,” to use your word, experiences. I can believe that you really did hear a voice inside your own head. And I can believe that your wish, which you felt would not happen, came true. And I have no doubt that the experience felt profound, even transcendent.
I would only caution you not to jump to any conclusions about the nature of the universe or the existence of god because of it. Bear with me, for I’m not trying to be snobbishly didactic. I think you have something far more valuable than what you think you have, and you have failed to give credit where credit is due. As such, you’re missing out on something you actually do have.
Normal Bob has one of the best and most down-to-Earth answers for the ubiquitous question, “What do you have to lose by believing in god?” (The lazy version of Pascal’s Wager.) His practical, and very wise answer, is that he loses out on the ability to truly appreciate the life he has right now, the only life of which he can be sure. Your comment so perfectly illustrates what he’s talking about.
Listen to your wish, Heather. I would like him (my husband) to get me some flowers and to tell me he loves me, but that will never happen.</b? This was your answer to the voice that arose in your head. As clear as that voice was, so was your heart’s desire. You were that in touch with what you wanted at that moment. The only thing you got wrong was that you believed your husband could not likewise be that in touch with his wife’s desires.
But he was, Heather. Some wives in your situation, but with different preconceptions about how the universe operates, might conclude that their husbands were psychic, and could literally read their minds. It would seem just as real to them as the presence of Jesus felt to you. Other wives around the globe might think the experience validated their own beliefs in whatever god they prayed to – and Israeli wife might think such an experience validates Judaism; and Indian wife might think it validates Vishnu or Ganesh; an Iraqi wife Allah.
But not only are such leaps unwarranted, they are undermining. Your experience was very special, but not because a magical god made it happen. And your focus on the supernatural component you perceive distracts you from the natural experiences of which you can be sure. You were in touch with your own mind, your own consciousness, your own desires. At the same time, your husband was in tune with you as well.
Focus not on the love you think you got from a magical being who made something happen for you. Focus on the love for which you have real evidence – the love you receive from your husband. You and he made that event happen. You were in tune with one another, in a way you mistakenly thought you were not. Don’t give that credit away. Don’t take it from yourself, and certainly don’t take it from your husband. Your cheating the both of you.
You may think the supernatural component you perceive enriches the experience. I probably can’t convince you otherwise. I can only ask that you try to see it from the perspective of atheists and naturalists: The spooky part, the supernatural assumptions – that cheapens the very real experience you had. It distracts you.
You could examine why your husband was so in tune with what you wanted when you wanted it. You could probe into your own minds. But my guess is that you won’t. You’ll give all the credit elsewhere, declaring it a kind of magic, not something that came within him, within you, and as a consequence of the kind of relationship you have.
Some people spend their whole lives waiting for moments like that. But waiting doesn’t make it happen, nor does wishing, nor does praying. People make that happen by having the right connection and communication.
Seize on the natural, study it, and make it grow. You’re lucky to have that love. It is human love, the love of your husband for you, and you for him. Not the love of god.