JosephM

Paul, I personally can relate to what you have expressed so clearly. It seems to me that being programmed by our parents, church, peers and society in general for so long, it is difficult to get away from judgementalistic attitudes and concepts of black and white such as good and bad, right and wrong, fair and unfair, etc. In my view, it is however freeing to rid oneself of such tendencies and be open to alternate ways of thinking or considerations which is a difficult journey at times... Joseph

Davy, Welcome to the journey and the community. Joseph

Hi Scott, Yes i believe it is valid to pray for moments like those. I have had a number of those moments that changed the trajectory of my life. For the better? I believe so but in truth i cannot say as i rarely think of things or compartmentalize them in terms of better or worse. Joseph

Welcome Scott, You are most definitely not alone here in your expressed feelings. Most all came here to find like-minded individuals that as you say "that nourishes compassion, forgiveness, respect, reconciliation, humble non-judgement, etc." Feel free to join in or start a thread that interests you. Joseph

Welcome Heidi, Hoping you find just what you are looking for here. There are a quite a few Borg and Spong fans here. Again welcome to the community, Joseph

A small upgrade involving a security patch and bug fix has been installed. As usual, please keep me informed of any new problems. Thanks, Joseph

Brrrr.... Its cold in Minnesota. Much better here in FL. Hi Timothy, Welcome to the forum. Sorry i can't help you with any knowledge of the John Hopkins study but perhaps someone else here might be more knowledgeable and chime in. Joseph

Site sponsorship is now paid through to June 7th, 2018. Looking for any new sponsors for the last half of 2018 year. Thanks, Joseph

I would agree with Rom's conclusion. Most people i know use the words free will to indicate we have a choice or that we can freely choose but being connected as part of the whole i see that choice as limited by a multitude of variables that we as individuals have limited control over and therefore it limits our choices to not be truly free. That is a hard pill to swallow for many but that is my current understanding.

Ditto Paul. As ususual you are ahead of us in the US in your Austrailian celebration time. Joseph

Testing reply to this topic at request of Burl,

To: All Members Our Invision software was updated today at 9:00AM EST by JosephM Please let me know if anyone encounters any new problems as a result of the software update. JosephM (as Admin)

Enjoyable read Derek. Joseph

You got me there. Ouch.

Austrailia has just re-defined the word marriage however the US led the way first however not with the people s vote but rather the supreme court decision .

Nice post Paul. Well put.

Thinking about a response to the question, seems to me, would get me no closer to the truth. So i would have to say it is either unanswerable or i don't know.

Spiritfilled, (Scott) I don't know what your agenda is here but i suspect it is not typical of those who come here to share and learn from others or in line with our purpose and function as a forum.. You have posted multiple times identical posts as the one above on numerous sites on the internet. While yo are welcome to participate here Please refrain from further posting of cut and paste posts you have plastered over other sites on the internet or they will be considered as spam. Consider this a final warning or you will be put on Administrator approval of posts or banned from this site.. JosephM(as Admin).

Scott, I noticed you are posting the same exact material on a number of different Christian forums. While we appreciate those who start threads of interest to other members, i would ask that you refrain from the appearance of spamming numerous sites with the same exact material. Perhaps you can make your opening posts more of a discussion than a personal teaching and follow up with responses to your posts. Thanks for your attention to this. JosepM(as Admin)

To all Members, PaulS will be assisting in the administration of this site as an alternate Administrator. This will insure that the forum can still be operated and maintained in the event that i have passed on or am unable to continue to do so. Paul has been a faithful member for the past 7 years and served as global moderator. He believes this PC forum serves a useful purpose and has a wealth of posts for both members and visitors that are both informative and challenging that are stored in its archives. JosephM

Software updated to take care of minor issues and security in last revision JosephM

Good advice Bill, even for someone my age (70). My father had this advice to give in his final days and that was... "Drink plenty of water son, it's basic". Perhaps his advice was more like a parable with dual meaning. One literal and true and one on a deeper level for those who are able to see it. Mine would be "Don't let the sun go down on your unforgiveness lest you find you have destined yourself to the same condemnation until you recognize the same fault in yourself and are able to forgive." Joseph

I do not see God and Christianity as anymore than 1 possible path to the expierencing of the Divine. I think Christianity will continue to decline as an exclusive religion and its survival ( in whatever form it takes) depends on a more pluralistic approach to an authentic religious experience.To me, Christianity itself is an invention of man and is only a pointer to a connection to the spiritual realm and our very source of Life.

Thomas Perhaps you are just curious as you say. I don't know the answer to why?, so i restrain myself from attempting to answer that question intellectually . To me, no explanation is required. So while i might try to empathize with those who require an intellectual answer, i cannot supply one. In the state of conscious divine connection, at least in my case, all questions including those of why one and not another fail to arise. No doubt i am not very helpful in that area to one who requires such. Joseph