C-19 & an Encouragement Thread

[Ratt Mhule]

24 minutes ago, NUance said:

God could have made us as automatons under his strict control.  Earth would have been like heaven.  No death, no disease, no crime, no evil.  But instead he gave us the ability to choose for ourselves.  We have a long history of choosing evil. 

God making Earth like heaven seems awesome! Seems pretty evil to play games and have all those things you mentioned instead of just doing the alternative...

 

I could give these people eternal life in heaven or I could ravage them with disease, death, crime and evil. I think the latter will be fun...

[NUance]

Just now, Frott Scost said:

God making Earth like heaven seems awesome! Seems pretty evil to play games and have all those things you mentioned instead of just doing the alternative...

 

Maybe the end game is to give us our choice, then sort out and save those who chose good over evil.  

[Ratt Mhule]

2 minutes ago, NUance said:

 

Maybe the end game is to give us our choice, then sort out and save those who chose good over evil.  

Or just make it so we all go to heaven...way easier and more loving also. 
 

The thing youre not mentioning is God doesnt give a s#!t if youre evil or good. You can be the best person ever. Give all your money to people. Help people for a living. Do good deeds but if youre an atheist youre still going to hell. If Hitler decided to get confession before he died in a jungle in Argentina haha then he would be in heaven. It has nothing to do with being good or evil to God. 

[NUance]

4 minutes ago, Frott Scost said:

The thing youre not mentioning is God doesnt give a s#!t if youre evil or good. You can be the best person ever. Give all your money to people. Help people for a living. Do good deeds but if youre an atheist youre still going to hell. If Hitler decided to get confession before he died in a jungle in Argentina haha then he would be in heaven. It has nothing to do with being good or evil to God. 

 

Nobody on earth knows who goes to heaven and who goes to hell.   It's not for us to judge.  Maybe good people who lack faith go to heaven.  And maybe evil people who supposedly repent at the 11th hour go to hell.  No one on earth knows for sure.    

[funhusker]

This conversation isn't about who is going to heaven and who isn't.  It's about the current situation changing the beliefs of people, believers or not.

 

I'd be curious to see what this group of folks do now that their pastor has been arrested...

 

https://www.fox13news.com/news/tampa-megachurch-pastor-arrested-after-leading-packed-services-despite-safer-at-home-orders

 

Will these people "dig in" and continue to flaunt the rules, or will they see that they can worship with the same fervor at home?

[teachercd]

1 minute ago, funhusker said:

This conversation isn't about who is going to heaven and who isn't.  It's about the current situation changing the beliefs of people, believers or not.

 

I'd be curious to see what this group of folks do now that their pastor has been arrested...

 

https://www.fox13news.com/news/tampa-megachurch-pastor-arrested-after-leading-packed-services-despite-safer-at-home-orders

 

Will these people "dig in" and continue to flaunt the rules, or will they see that they can worship with the same fervor at home?

Fervor or fever?  Ha

[funhusker]

Just now, teachercd said:

Fervor or fever?  Ha

By next Sunday it might be both!

[Landlord]

3 hours ago, knapplc said:

 

Plot twist - they're all the same dude.

 

So you're saying God has a penis.

 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, NUance said:

God could have made us as automatons under his strict control.  Earth would have been like heaven.  No death, no disease, no crime, no evil.  But instead he gave us the ability to choose for ourselves.  We have a long history of choosing evil. 

 

So, we have no free will in heaven? What an awesome utopia that sounds like.

[NUance]

2 minutes ago, Landlord said:

So, we have no free will in heaven? What an awesome utopia that sounds like.

 

You like to argue, don't you?  

 

As I understand it the angels who chose Satan over God were cast out of heaven.  Those who chose God remain in heaven.  But then you already knew that, right?  

[Landlord]

1 minute ago, NUance said:

 

You like to argue, don't you?  

 

As I understand it the angels who chose Satan over God were cast out of heaven.  Those who chose God remain in heaven.  But then you already knew that, right?  

 

 

But you just said heaven has no evil.

 

So did God allow evil one time to create his adversary or do we always have the ability and choice and temptation of choosing evil, even when we're in heaven?

[knapplc]

Surely this conversation could go into one of the other eleventy billion debates about religion, right?

[TGHusker]

   Ladies & Gentlemen, can we go back to the original intent of this thread - sharing encouraging words that can help us all through this crisis.  

It is like herding cats whenever we get on the topic of religion.  I was concern that this thread  would degrade to this.  Let's just face it many believe & have a faith in God for specific well thought out reasons and many who do not believe in God have their own  well thought our reasons as well. We can all sight facts, evidence, history, science, philosophy, etc to defend our point of view.  Good - start another thread for that discussion.  I've been involved in many of those discussion in the past and frankly they typically end at the same place.

 

Oh, righty then, let's get back to the topic.  If you have something that helps you to deal with the stress of this crisis that can be of benefit to others - then share it.  If it is scripture, a poem, a rational thought that you woke up with or read, encouraging facts and figures, an article or a recipe for home made beer share it (Ok the beer one can be in the food forums).  This thread was meant to be  a non-judgement zone discussion.  If the Bible encourages you - talk about it, if the Koran or other religious work, or other literature or inspiration from a walk - share it. We get enough bad news during the day - lets make this thread an oasis of encouragement.  We don't have to agree on it all - we have a shared humanity that is multi-faceted. So let the 'multi' speak.

 

 

 

[Landlord]

"The condition of being good is that it should always be possible for you to be morally destroyed by something you couldn’t prevent. To be a good human being is to have a kind of openness to the world, an ability to trust uncertain things beyond your own control, that can lead you to be shattered in very extreme circumstances for which you were not to blame. That says something very important about the human condition of the ethical life: that it is based on a trust in the uncertain and on a willingness to be exposed; it’s based on being more like a plant than like a jewel, something rather fragile, but whose very particular beauty is inseparable from its fragility."

 

- Martha Nussbaum

[TGHusker]

3 minutes ago, Landlord said:

That says something very important about the human condition of the ethical life: that it is based on a trust in the uncertain and on a willingness to be exposed; it’s based on being more like a plant than like a jewel, something rather fragile, but whose very particular beauty is inseparable from its fragility."

I like that  - very true.  The older I get and I'm getting close to 65 - I realize how fragile life is and to not take the blessings of life for granted.  In times like these that is esp true of family and friends - who we are separated from. 

[TGHusker]

Find something productive to do - like planting a garden - can be an encouraging thing.  Promotes life not death.
 

https://apnews.com/5cee4c560af30156a7697fcfe7fdcd29

Quote

 

Dig. Plant. Breathe.

As spring’s arrival in the Northern Hemisphere coincides with government stay-at-home orders, the itch to get outside has turned backyard gardens into a getaway for the mind in chaotic times.

Gardeners who already know that working with soil is a way to connect with nature say it helps take away their worries, at least temporarily.

“I love to see things grow,” Lindsay Waldrop said. “It’s incredibly therapeutic.”

Now more than ever.

Waldrop, a resident of Anaheim, California, has an anxiety disorder. Exercise is supposed to help, but her new job as a college biology professor had prevented her from getting into a routine.

“Sometimes I just like to sit and dig holes in the quiet with my own thoughts,” she said. “Outside, it takes my mind off. It gives something for my hands to do. It gives you a separate problem to think about than whatever else is going on. It gets you off of social media.”

Waldrop and her husband moved last summer from New Mexico, where she didn’t have much luck gardening in a scorching climate. At her new home, she got rid of the lawn, installed an irrigation system, and recently planted dozens of tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and other vegetables.

Over the years, Waldrop converted her skeptical husband, who initially wondered why digging in the dirt and moving things around was considered fun.

After tasting his first home-grown tomatoes, he was converted.

Families, too, are discovering that gardening gives cooped-up kids something to do, builds their self-esteem and brings variety to what has suddenly become a lot of time spent together.

In Miami, Annika Bolanos isn’t a fan of the south Florida heat and mosquitoes. But going outdoors lately has been a lifeline.

Bolanos works at home making cakes and doing bookkeeping with her husband’s golf cart business. Her three young children add an extra layer of busy, and together they’ve seeded a variety of vegetables and herbs.

“We have always loved the idea of growing our own food,” Bolanos said. “It feels good to eat something that you grew yourself too. It also helps my kids eat more fruits and veggies since they find it cool to eat what they have grown.”