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God Is Love?
- Thread starter LogDog
- Start date
ayani
member
the image does not challange for me the belief that a quality of God is love. He enables us to witness and repond to the suffering of others. suffering happens. people starve, become ill, suffer the cold of uncaring or misfortune, die, and perhaps get picked apart by scavengers once dead. but He does not leave us without the ability to feel compassion, to respond to others' suffering, and to decide to choose to alleiviate suffering where we find it. my faith does not ask or answer ultimately "why does God allow ugly or painful things to happen". rather, i would hope, it encourages me to respond to suffering and to rely upon Him for the strength to combat the bleakness in the world. i hope that i may do that.
Kcnorwood
Well-Known Member
gracie said:
Why would you need strength from someone else to help others? That sounds like an excuse.
As far has the picture goes I've seen far to many like this & people asking the same question, being a pagan I believe that we're supposed to help those who have less then we do in whatever way we can. With or without the asstaince of any God/s I think it's in out nature to want to help others. I do see where your coming from Log but I think the point is mute.
ayani
member
Kcnorwood said:
on the contrary- for me, to be mindful of others and of God, in other words to keep my faith as my greatest priority, is a gift of grace. i pray daily to be a decent and righteous person. i'm not super good at that on my own- i'm deeply flawed, and often selfish or distracted. i believe that He does give help, and open eyes, and soften hard countenences. it's a two way street- i can't say when i'm pulling of when God is. so i'd say that if i pull, it's through the mercy of God. and a big part of what i do in prayer is ask to be brought out of myself and pull harder for others.
Bishka
Veteran Member
Booko said:
This is absolutley true. God is absolute and true love, and if we listened to Him or our Higher Power, then there wouldn't have to be pictures like this. We need to do more then listen, we need to get up and serve.
"And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." (Mosiah 2:17)
This is my basis in life, I want to serve God with all my heart, mind, and strength. My scriptural belief is that in order to serve God, I must serve and help my fellow being.
ayani
member
Kcnorwood said:
yes, of course! i'd certainly hope that anyone would want to change these things. but i also rely upon my faith to fuel that compassion, and those positive changes. and this reliance (the ability to humble one's self and ask to be made a better person) is, i believe, also a gift from God. of course one also has to get out and do things right. in this respect, my creed is also a guide. i pray to keep this in mind always, so that i might be on the ready and increasingly willing.
XAAX
Active Member
To me and my understanding of God. God is Love as well as Hate...Good as well as Evil...Positive as well as Negative.... In other words God is everything conceivable within the Universe. If "god" did nothing to stop this child from starving and being eaten by a buzzard it would not surprise me at all. God has no "interest" in the human sense of the word for such matters. Only the human ego thinks that we as humans have some special privilege within the Universe. We are all part of God (Universe), that is our place. Most people have trouble getting to this comprehension of self because it is very humbling. With this knowledge comes much more of an understanding of each of our places within the Universe. The infinity of the Universe exists outside our bodies as well as inside our bodies...Infinite Large-Infinite Small...We are the conscience point between...
Gentoo
The Feisty Penguin
We see such pictures, and compare those in them to ourselves. Forces us to take a good hard look at what we have compared to what they have, and that makes us ask "why are we better off?" When really the question should be, "are we better off?"
We have our comfy chairs, abundant over-processed food, entertainment, and whatnot; but does that make us better off? I, personally, would give all of that up to live in a hunter/gatherer tribe, like the child in that picture. I would risk ending up in poverty if it meant that I would be free of the corporate world telling me that money is good and that I need money in order to live. I would rather go through the food shortages knowing that it's because of my own two hands weren't able to catch it, rather than not being able to afford it.
So who's better off? In both situations I would know that the Gods are out there, loving me and helping me in whichever ways they can. That question then becomes "How are the Gods loving?" rather than "Is God love?"
We have our comfy chairs, abundant over-processed food, entertainment, and whatnot; but does that make us better off? I, personally, would give all of that up to live in a hunter/gatherer tribe, like the child in that picture. I would risk ending up in poverty if it meant that I would be free of the corporate world telling me that money is good and that I need money in order to live. I would rather go through the food shortages knowing that it's because of my own two hands weren't able to catch it, rather than not being able to afford it.
So who's better off? In both situations I would know that the Gods are out there, loving me and helping me in whichever ways they can. That question then becomes "How are the Gods loving?" rather than "Is God love?"
beckysoup61 said:
If you and your type were serving god with all your heart, mind and strength, why are we still seeing these types of images? Maybe it's time you all got more organized. How about you buy a bunch of airline tickets, fly down there and put your superior moral values to work. Travelocity's got some incredible deals going on right now.
Gentoo said:
Prove it.
http://www.travelocity.com/?WA1=01010&WA2=GL&WA3=travelocity&WA4=E&WA5=BT&WA6=TM
XAAX
Active Member
It astounds me how humans can be so compassionate for their own but care almost nothing for other animals. We are animals. If you like the fact or not, we are. What do we do for example when the deer population in Texas gets to high and the deer start starving like this? We raise the limit that the hunters can kill. Why are they starving the first place? We took their natural habitat for our own. So why should we feel such compassion for starving people? Because we can relate to them because they are like us. Dont get me wrong, pictures like this tear my heart out. But we should care for all life as much. I watched a documentary the other day that showed Hyenas killing a litter of baby lions after they killed the mother. The camera crew just sat there filming while these cubs were eaten. Should we let the buzzard have at the baby? Isnt it the natural order of things?
I personally would stop both thats just me
I personally would stop both thats just me