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Pastimes : Chatting With and About God the Father -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: gregor who wrote (374)	8/5/1998 7:56:00 PM
From: Gregory D. John	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 638

Gregor, Ha ha... no... buttin' heads is not my intention here. Although there is some common ground between Western and Eastern religions, I'd categorize Judaism and the Old Testament as part of Western religion (and culture). The New Testament and Christianity are very much part of the Western tradition. I would say Islam is Mediterranean. Perhaps that's just my Americo/Eurocentric view showing. To me, Eastern religions/traditions include Hinduism (and any other non-Muslim religions of India), Buddhism (from India, too), Taoism, Zen, Shintoism, &c. I guess, India is the middle land, eh? What's your views on what influenced Christianity? I realize this may be a question that you are not going to answer, since you may believe that Christianity is divine and untouched and uninfluenced by, as Jane would put it, pagans. But... think about why Christmas falls so close to the winter solstice. Perhaps early Christians were just trying to convert pagans. So... another question might be how Christianity has evolved. Greg

To: gregor who wrote (374)	8/6/1998 1:15:00 AM
From: Jane Hafker	Respond to of 638

Dear Gregor, I've been enjoying the discussions between you and Gregory (Gregor-Gregory) so much I hate to put in my 2 cents. I have been thinking about our beloved prayer thread all day and need to share some things. I believe with all my heart that prayer is God speaking through us. He CANNOT and WILL NOT, apparently, if we are to believe the Bible, interfere and control and redirect the FREE WILL of man unless prayer calls HIM IN. Nothing can change my mind on that. Why do horrible things happen? Well, the only cat I have ever seen run across the road and actually in front of a car and actually get killed before my eyes was the ONE POOR CAT I didn't instantly cry out to God to protect. I was in the middle of my backsliding, and just watched in horror, thinking, oh, no, he's running right into heavy traffic. It was just a second or even less making it under and through the wheels of the truck, and prayer would have saved him. But I watched the horrible death, and later God reminded me of that. Without prayer, no, He doesn not simply go around fixing everything 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. I don't understand this, and never will. But I know I learned that lesson with that cat. One of many, many, many. When some prayers come to us, I feel compelled to pray. With others, I'm just confused as to what the Lord actually wants. And I don't. But I will pray always that the Lord continue to answer the prayers posted there by others. Particularly the girl in her fourth marriage, married to a man probabaly very attractive, and visa versa, to her 14 year old daughter. This is not a marriage to me. This is affair # 130, maybe, and perhaps God doesn't want to bless the mess. Maybe he wants her back with the father of her child--or in a convent repenting! Who knows, I don't, but I hope you don't judge me as not supporting all prayers passionately. I keep putting myself in the mind of God, and suddenly I realize I have nothing to prayer but that the Will of the Father be done. When I prayed for the buffalo there, it was actually for the dear buffalo. I have a psychotic love for buffalo. They make my heart sing, somehow. But more the prayers were for the other humans who feel like I do, because I understand them. I really felt that no one would particularly understand the need to pray for buffalo, tbut that is where I bring prayers as I believe they will be heard. If we respect the thread as that place, then everyone's prayers will be heard, and if they are answered, it will be for a specific reason, that it WAS the will of God, or that prayer changed the Will of God. Again, my main concern is for the strange blackness I see on the horizen. It's either coming our way, or it is actually way, way far in trhe distance and we're all quite safe for the moment. The country is polluted from top to bottom. We will all continue to pay. Truly nothing in ancient Isreal, with their vile backslidings as a nation, can rival good old Christian America for lurid history right now. If I even begin to think about it all I get queasy. However, my own life is peculiarly pleasant and without problem. So, go figure. Anyway, may the Lord continue to bless us richly whether we deserve it or not.