Alamar

Thanks for your input Paul. What I read was just a small blurp in a ladies magazine but I went to Snopes this AM and read the whole story. Just another point of "Don't believe all you read" I still believe I have a soul but am happy to be corrected as to the story re weight. with Love Alamar

To John Banks If you are a doctor I am sure you have felt or saw something leave a dying person's body. I think that is the person's soul or God in my thoughts. I believe that God lives inside everyone and acts sort of like your inner voice which tells you right from wrong among other things. When Jesus was asked a question he often answered with another question and expected the disciples to think for themselves. Therefore I think God expects us to use our God given brains to ferret things out on our own, including the bible and adapt it to the 21st century. I recently read that doctors in I think it was California, have made several hospital beds that can weigh the occupant down to the last gram. They put dying patients in these beds and weigh them before and after death. In each case they have lost the same number of grams (i can't remember the amount. I am 81 yrs old) but to me that proves there is a soul in each of us and I call that God. I believe in the sun even when it does not shine. I believe in Love even when it is not shown. I believe in God even when He does not speak. I believe I should remain open and listening so that when He does speak I can hear His voice. Welcome with Love Alamar

You all sound highly educated and use words and ideas which in my opinion are beyond the person in the pew. They are who we want to change as to their thinking of a theistic God. My God lives inside of me which for want of a better word I call my "soul" I try to live my life as Jesus would and I have seen or maybe felt the difference when a person dies----something leaves their body and if you can't see it you can definitely feel it. My definition of God is the same as Bishop John Shelby Spong's. " God is the ultimate source of life. One worships this God by living fully,sharing deeply. God is the ultimate source of love. One worships this God by loving wastefully, by spreading love frivolously, by giving love away without counting the cost. God is being-- the reality underlying everything that is. To worship this God you must be willing to risk all, abandoning your defenses and your self imposed or culturally constructed security system." If we all believed this definition and tried to live it --what a wonderful world this would be! Alamar

Welcome Jay, I'd like to recommend you subscribe to Spong's weekly essay so you learn more about him and to read his book Why Christianity Must Change Or Die Namaste Margaret

Sorry but I misquoted Whitman " Examine all you have been told and dismiss that which insults your soul" Margaret

To reply to Tom S re "out of hand"--- I mean it has been talked about so much that I am like Raven and I am tired of listening to the same thoughts over and over It all boils down to a women and her Doctor and hopefully her husband or her family to make the decision after talking over all the pros and cons of an abortion. Some are medically indicated either because of the women's health or the the fetus shows severe abnormalities. While some are for economic reasons. I do not think abortion should be used as birth control or an abortion after the baby is viable but it is still nobody's business but the family concerned. Examine all you have been told and remove all that insults your soul. Walt Whitman Margaret

This topic is getting out of hand. Every case is different and still requires a judgement by the mother and doctor and often the father too.. Modern medicine now can save babies who would die if it were left up to God to make the decision. I have seen doctors work to save babies which should not have been worked on but the Doctors ego made the choice and so we have extremely handicapped .children and adults who cause marital breakups and suffering for other members in their families no matter how much they are loved. Margaret

Second part from Alamar---I did find my way when we got a new minister who introduced me to John Shelby Spong's books. I have read most of them but I also met him at a workshop at Calling Lakes Center in Saskatchewan and most of my questions were answered. God gave us a brain and expected us to use it and I am now a dedicated Progressive Christian.. I have some trouble with prayer but Greta Vosper helped that. But recently our different minister asked me to talk to the communicants class about the history of the United Church Of Canada and our own church. This I did and then he asked if I could tell them a little about my Faith Journey. I did and then he laughed and said that most ministers already knew this. My question is why do they not preach this to their congregation. I still go to church---I live in a small town but I feel sometimes that I cannot respond to the prayers we have in the bulletin They offend me and make me feel like a hypocrite so I have stopped repeating them. I have given up all the jobs I have done for years only keeping the rep for The United Church Observer monthly magazine. The only thing that gives me hope we are changing is at the General Council meeting this summer the church elected as its Moderator an openly Gay minister.We are moving in the right direction but at a snails pace. Thanks for the welcome everyone. Alamar

I am a new member but an old one too. I am 80 years old and I grew up in the United Church of Canada. I attended Sunday School every Sunday morning and church with my family every evening.I always asked question and sometimes I got an answer that satisfied me but often the answer was to laugh at me and my questions. For instance when I heard at Xmas the readings "they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the Babe lying in a manger" I asked what haste meant and was told hurry . That was fine but when I asked how the three of them could fit in a manger like my grandfather's. They laughed but that's what it said in the old King James Bible. I learned that most people laughed at my questions,so I tried to figure things out on my own. I joined the church at about 13 still with questions unanswered.When I left home for nurses training I went to many different denominations as whoever was not on duty gathered and we took turns at each person's church. I went to the Baptist church and saw a big hot tub in the sanctuary where several people in white gowns were actually ducked under the water by the minister. I asked my friend why and she didn't know. We attended a Roman Catholic church and only the priest got to drink the communion wine.and where my friend went to confession. I asked why confess to a priest why not cut out the middle man and go straight to God. My friend got mad at me. We went to an Anglican Church and I tripped over the kneeling boards and they said the same prayers every week. I went with some people from home for supper and they took us to great hall for a rally. The minister chanted "bow your head and close your eyes" over and over again and then asked us to go down to the front and be saved. I held tightly to my friends hand because I was afraid I would get up and go. So I have checked out most denominations. As an adult attending bible class I discovered that out of the 5or6 who came we had at least 3 different Bibles and when we read from each one it led us to a different meaning. Which was right and when I discovered how long after Jesus death the words were written I didn't know what to think! Continued on another day. Thanks for listening to my Faith Journey. Alamar