Blood

[reallyfled]

I've never been in more pain in my entire life than I am right now

Comments

this is heather

[anonymous]

"most of us grow up with at least an idea of religious tradition. I we are not committed to a particular religious perspective ourselves, we have close friends or relatives who are, and who deeply believe in the tenets of their faiths. I firmly believe that most people who are committed in this way to a particular religion are acting on an honest inner drive to keep its unique contributions alive in the world. This common impulse guarantees the larger human society a wide diversity of religious beliefs through which we can explore many options and thus grow. In my opinion, each positive religious perspective contains an important part of the truth. The general dialogue between the various religions, as vague and fragmented as it is, nonetheless is critical to our ongoing evolution toward a better overall spiritual understanding

Re: this is heather

[reallyfled]

Actually my response to this is highly controversial, and is a question I have... something I am wrestling with- an issue I have with the church. When he says, the looks on their faces said that they knew, but didn't have "words with which to express it"... well, most of my experience, this is not the case. And also, concerning the things where this is the case, there is a stereotype that has been built... a conventionalist construct that the Christian Protestant Church in Western Civilization has built... that says if you don't fit a certain mold down to a T - your ideals, your mode of rationalizing the world and occurrences, how you feel, how you look, what you listen to and watch, EVEN, the tone of your voice when you talk- then you aren't a good Christian. In fact, some say you aren't a Christian at all. I might be wrong, hopefully I am, but it is likely that his experience with these other church members are the same things that haven't ever made sense to me, and are the things I am alienated for within the two churches I've been

Re: this is heather

[anonymous]

there was another paragraph before the last one that i posted. I should have included it before but Heather was getting tired of typing

[innovative_edge]

I'd like to say that this point of view is simply an exploration, not necessarily my personal belief or ultimatum on this issue

[innovative_edge]

Let me also say, God created nature. This is a prime example to display how nothing should fit to a T. Nature is infinitely diverse and no one creation is exactly like the next.

[reallyfled]

I understand what you are saying about the "universal" spirit... but you can't call this the Holy Spirit. Just like I can't say Michael Jordan and Michael Jackson are the same person. The Holy Spirit, as I am writing, is a proper noun that is not ambiguous

[innovative_edge]

" Everybody looked at eveyone else, and at the various institutions that irritated us, and demanded that the social structures reform. In essence, we looked around us at society and said to others, "You should change." While this activism certainly led to basic legal reforms that were helpful, it left untouched the more personal problems of insecurity, fear, and greed that have always been at the core of prejudice, inequality, and environmental damage."
..."To change the world, we first had to change ourselves."

I've only read the first 2 chapters and the preface ( which is where all these quotes came from) so i can't describe it in great detail. You should just read it. Only part of it is about religion and the rest is very interesting. The Celestine Prophecy is next on my list.

[myruinedhands]

Family is immutable. That institution is inherently rigid. Nothing can change your Dad from being your Dad. That, to me, is what separates friendship from family. I point this out because I share many of the same sentiments that you expressed in this post -- that is, about laying down your life for your friends, friends being able to do things for you that your family cannot, etc

[noright_angles]

For twenty years, or ever since my true self came into existence...I have struggled with the fact that - although friends do come and go - my family has always been consistently inconsistent in my life. Of course, my mother would argue that her support of me and my life inherently, no matter what. I love her and I care about her, but I would, without a doubt, argue that point to the death. Support? What is support, really? And then I wonder what is love? I consider that my mother is disrespecting me by not knowing or understanding, while also taking in the aspect of not wanting to understand into account. I know that my mother "loves" me and she wants to be behind me no matter what I do...but who is supporting me and my life while she is running off at the mouth about how much I hate her, greatly dislike her, and disrespect her...when never once have those things escaped my mouth. Whilst she sits around belittling my so-called "philosophical" ideals