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| From: | ozpastor | Oct-7 8:36 pm |
| To: | ALL |
(1 of 23) | | | | 4000.1 | |
greetings! I am writing my forst post here after a period of intensive reading of Bishop Spong's books. After some years in ministry and partly as a denominational head here in Australia he echoes much of what I have been thinking and feeling - especially as I battle a second encounter with cancer and experience the naive approach by so many Christians to this issue..it has challengred my faith deeply.
Whilst I support the Bishops wonderful biblical studies and his perspective I have some interesting life experiences that do not totally fit the mould..I am speaking of specific personal events that defy explanation - they seem to indicate the esistence of a realm of commhnication beyond the physical - certainly a "spiritual" realm...these are undeniably real to me.
I wonder if others sense this, and how this fits into the Spong explanations of our religious experience. I look forward to following this discussion as I enter into a new phase of my spiritual journey. My biggest regret is that I have spent many years living in a flawed sytem, teaching flawed ideas.....at 60 I have less time to reflect and change than I would have liked!
blessings to all |
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| | | | | 4000.2 in reply to 4000.1 | |
Dear Ozpastor, Welcome to the forum! At 61 I share the regret you speak of, but today is the first day of our lives, so all is not in vain....it's just that it's now time to know the truth. I hope your second bout with cancer will be successful. I have some mixed feelings about God's role in disease and death, and basically everything in life. We all will encounter sickness and death at different times, but I do believe in the power of focused and positive belief and probable influence on outcome. I think the churches are way too vague about this power because they don't understand it and tie it into what the bible records and scribes have doctored. and it's not an easy thing to have the mental strength and spiritual belief to pull it off IMO. Some have the ability, and others do not. Unfortunately the biblical teachings are based on fables, so therefore cannot be taken seriously, IMO. But the premise is to be found not just in the bible (which does a terrible job of convincing people with a brain) but everywhere in life if you look and feel and observe. And I'm sure you have/do. I wish you continued life and health. Kath |
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| | | | | 4000.3 in reply to 4000.2 | |
Thank you Kath for the welcome and response! My prognosis is good and I am going through precautionary chemotherapy unil the end of the year - this has been the first year of my life that I would gladly forget - although that is not wholly true - I have had time to reflect on a lot of things and read the Spong books! So next year is a whole new journey!
Kind regards and thanks again |
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| | | | | 4000.4 in reply to 4000.3 | |
Ozpastor, Knowing Spong - Be sure and fasten your seat belt because you're in for quite a ride. At this moment in time I'm not like either you or 888 (Kathy) and I don't regret anything I've done or not done in my life. For many years I thought like that, but I'm convinced that there's not much you can do about the past, but there is plenty to do about the here and now. The part I like about Spong's latest book was the Epilogue. He seemed to hit the nail on the head, at least in my way of thinking. His writing is very easy to understand and so much of what he has experienced in his lifetime, I have too. I especially liked the part about the "if" and "when" words when people talk about dying. Most of us use the "if I die" version, but it really should be "when" I die" I've said this before, that if you really think about 100 years from now, most all of us living today will not be here. Isn't that kind of mind boggling? So using the "when" word makes the most sense to me. Most people don't like to think that way, however. Welcome to our forum - and make the best of your time here. You will find some peace and comfort among most of us. Judith |
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| | | | | 4000.5 in reply to 4000.4 | |
Thankyou for your welcome Judith - I am looking forward to the coming discussions as I explore this new spirituality...it confirms so many things I have sensed for years! I must re-read the last chapters on the eternal life book as it didn't pull me in at first - it seemed almost anticlimactic. I have real doubts about the life after death deal! But, as I said in my first tentative post, I have also had some specific experiences that are inexplicable using the scientific method.....thankfully there is still room for the mysterious on my thinking!
Regards
Barry |
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| From: | 888 | Oct-12 10:09 pm |
| To: | ozpastor unread |
(6 of 23) | | | | 4000.6 in reply to 4000.3 | |
Dear Oz, Just an aside....be sure to take PROBIOTICS and plenty of anti-oxidants. Also, get some chelation therapy and mega vitamin C intravenous (anti-oxidant)...the chelation because you probably have an overload of mercury and/or iron. Also, make sure you have no MOLD in your home. Carry on, then .....:-) Kath |
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| | | | | 4000.7 in reply to 4000.4 | |
Hey Jude, You don't regret ANYTHING you've done in your life? Wow! I wanna be you when I grow up. You must have reached an whole 'nuther kinda echelon in your life and good for you, girlfriend. I believe now more than ever that it doesn't end here. I agree with you that it's not a matter of 'if' you die, but 'when' you die. I don't know who in their right mind doesn't get that. But I think this whole life and death thing is very short-sighted. I can't believe that people don't realize that what we currently believe to be true and a reality will change in the future, just as it always has and new awarenesses will come into play to change the paradigms for future generations. I can't believe that people will get 'stuck' in a time warp where they believe that what seems to be today actually 'IS' what it 'is'. Haven't we learned anything from our predecesors? The earth?....NOT flat. Kath |
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| | | | | 4000.8 in reply to 4000.7 | |
Kath, In the Smithsonian magazine there is an advertisement for The Alpha Publishing House. It sort of talks about what you have been posting of late. I'm going to post some of it, and then you can tell me what you think. It's too lengthy to post the whole thing, so I'm just going to post some of it. Judith |
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| | | | | 4000.10 in reply to 4000.6 | |
Thanks kath for the advice re supplements - doing most of that already!
Blessings
Barry
ozpastor |
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