When I was about 7-8, an argument about Job with my Sunday school teacher started me on the path to atheism. By the time I was in college, I was an atheist, and remained one for almost 60 years. A few nights ago, an entity woke me about midnight to tell me I was among the chosen few who would be rewarded in the afterlife. He told me that in spite of being an atheist, I was deserving of reward in the afterlife, although there was no description of the nature of said reward. I was told that living a good life & concern for god’s creatures was sufficient for salvation. For most of my life I owned dogs and treated them with respect & love. When I retired, sold my house, & moved into an apartment, I could not longer keep a dog: I have adopted some squirrels who live at my apartment complex. I buy large quantities of nuts (in shells), which I leave for them from early fall to late spring, knowing that the winter months are difficult for them. Several recognize me and approach when I leave the apartment, knowing that I always carry unshelled walnuts & Brazil nuts. It seems that most religions have led people astray. There is a god of nature who rewards those who are kind to animals (and are not mean to people). I was told that there is/are no other god/gods. I was also told that it was known that I did some research & discovered that squirrels require nuts in shells in order to keep their teeth healthy. Perhaps all of the above was merely a dream, but I am going to continue feeding the squirrels just in case it really happened. I now profess belief in the god of nature who likes squirrels. For theists without a sense of humor, I am teasing & trolling
Man, if I were your age and I'd been told that, my first thought would be, okay most of my life's over and I've been good. Sorted. From now on it's PARTAAAAY!! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Oli: I cannot afford to party all the time, but I am doing my best to die broke without being homeless or hungry in the last year or two.
Omniscience has strange bedfellows. It also knows no boundary. The duality of nuts in shells is strikingly evident in this passage. My advice: Find a female entity. Soon.
I would be very surprised if a squirrel couldn't open about any nut they cared to. It would probably be good for keeping their teeth down if you use a lot of peanuts, which don't. Some squirels will take poisonous nuts, chew a hole in the shell, plant the seed and let it sprout, then come back and eat it after the sprouting detoxes the poison.
Any god anal about the crap religious people say their god's anal about really isn't that interesting.
please write what you saw as best you can. PM me if you prefer. to obseve God as all that exists (nature/universe) then 'we' being born in 'the garden' makes perfect sense. As you honor nature (god's kids) you honor God (existence).... and like the Love returned from your dogs, the critters offer you peace, learning as well they live a little better based on your choice to give to them. You have that choice to 'support life to continue' and you will live longer by them contributions. (you are granting your energy for the furtherance of life, by choice; that is how you live longer) you giving the reasoning of compassion for the good of life (you are not planting seed on rocks, but considering the soil, water, light... for the good of the life) you be a natural and perhaps why you have been enabled to see; it is your humility, compassion and care; the beauty of the human heart! And often when others had dreams, they started wars but you are different, you are humble to life and observed the sign in Love, not self. Sir, you are what i could only hope to be; Naturally Good! Yes! Life should be your ever-lasting! Please write what you have learned and offer another 7-8 year old the chance to see the light of truth! Thanks for the heart filled thread! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! p/s... what in Job specifically opened you up?
StrangerInAStrqngeLand: Squirrels have no problem opening Brazil nuts. Some times I find Walnut shells which have been slit in half at the natural seam. Sometimes I find intact shells with holes about the size of a dime. Peanuts make good squirrel food, but the soft shells do not provide proper dental care. Squirrels (& I think other rodents) have teeth which never stop growing. They need something hard to gnaw on in order to keep their teeth from becoming unusably long. Bishadi: I thought that god treated Job terribly. It seemed wrong to cause Job to lose his herds & wealth, have sores, have his wife & children killed. All this to win an argument with Satan. I did not think that giving him new herds & wealth afterwards made up for the suffering. He got a new family, but his first family died before their time. What did they do to deserve having their lives cut short? My Sunday school teacher was never able to convince me that it was right or fair to treat Job so badly. The discussion led me to start questioning the ethics of religion and later made me question the existence of god. I also started noticing that many supposedly religious people often behaived badly. Did you ever read The Devil's Disciple by Shaw (I think)? The protagonist had a mother who was held in high regard by the religious people in her community, but who was a miserable person. He said that if his mother was an example of a worthy theist, he would be a disciple of the devil.
Fair and compassionate observance. but in a real sense, you are talking about the lesson, you are honoring 'their' life in the Love of compassionate reasoning. Job and the family are alive in you; the lesson. The idea of pursuing Good at the expense of all personal pursuits is what most any 'knight' would do. Look at Nostradamus: he lost 2 sets of families all because he was a medical mind that stayed within the plague riddled lands assisting people. Most do not realize, he SINGLE-HANDEDly perhaps did more to slow and stop the spreading of the plague than any single human being on earth. My point is, 'we the people' are still talking about these folks (they still alive in what they did (contributed to mankind). and i don't see God as making choices but that each person makes their choices. The ones that seek to stand by truth, reality and the good of life as a whole are the choices to make and Job, did his Job and is within the 'book of life' (knowledge) because of it (He is still alive, as well his family is within your heart) because many believe God and devols make the decisions when in reality, the people are responsible for what they do (otherwise what are commandments for?) i did not read the book but is it good you observes the truth of the matter; being a theological adherant is not what is pure as the guidelines are not creations of God but of men/women's standards. The pure rules say 'follow the rules' the religions want people to follow them.
StrangerInAStrangeLand: I forgot to mention that Brazil nuts are packed into a shell like the segments of an orange. The outer shell is about the size of a coconut. There is some Sourth American rodent which can open the outer shell to get at the nuts. I am not sure that a North American squirrel could open that outer shell. I am not sure that a North American squirrel would recognize the big object as a nut and even try to open it. I am going to check with some of my friends who travel a lot and see if one could bring back a few unopened Brazil nuts. I would like to see how a squirrel would react if I rolled a coconut sized container toward him. Bidshadi:Your last post makes me wonder if you ever read the entire story of Job. God decided (Id est: choose) to treat Job outrageously.
