h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

meditation is listening to God . As you stated--prayer is talking to God

oh! gee whiz! I am aparently talking to myself! AGAIN. ha ha Where did I put my brain? I thought I was posting, not creating a new conversation. oops. It was meant to be a comment on the affrimation and prayer article.

It IS a post to the meditation and prayer artical!

I want to reply, but I can't reply now. Nudge me again here in a couple of days if I don't reply before then.

B

ok then! Thanks. See you later

Is, was suppose to be my 1st word, meant to be a question. Sorry,great article.

A great article and thankyou.
Just a general comment.
Prayer and affirmation are important and each of us, whether spiritual or not, require the means to allow our "self" to develop.
Prayer provides an chance for quiet - time when we can talk to God - but more than that, prayerful reflection of ourselves allows us to recognise that all things in this universe, from the mysteries of vast black holes in space to the tiny molecules that compose a speck of dust are all linked by a single life force. In spiritual tems, the Holy Spirit. Each of us are part of this, and each of us has the power and the choice to enjoy these gifts.

Yep. Though I wouldn't use the same words you do, I recognise the concept. I am not sure if each of us here and now has the power to do that, though. It takes many many lifetimes to develop such a power.

B

The power is within us all.
It takes a decision and commitment to develop and the investment of time to nurture.
To recognise Christ in all God’s forms is easy if you are prepared to listen, to see, to feel, and to love. You can start with gazing at the night sky, watching the eternal work of waves breaking on the beach, be part of a beautiful sunrise or sunset, attune with the serenity of a rain forest, study the artistry that it takes to create a rose flower, watch the simple joy of a child laughing, enjoy the company of family and friends, or stop to help someone in need. It can be life changing.

Here's the deal - you don't evangelise to me about Christ and I won't evangelise to you about the things that I believe in.

As I said - I recognise the concepts, but I wouldn't use those words.

Ben

A done deal!

Ok Ben,
You have sparked an instinct of curiosity in me.
I have to ask - what words would you use?

I've been thinking about how to answer this question of yours for a while, and haven't really come up with a very satisfactory reply. I do have two unsatisfactory ones, though.

The first is "I would use the words I used in the article". It really does summarise what I think and feel about the mechanics of spirituality, not surprisingly - since I wrote it with total freedom and no brief.

The second unsatisfactory answer is "what you said, but without the Christ and Holy Spirit bit".

My problems with Christianity are reasonably well documented in odd corners of the site. I am more comfortable with Buddhism as a philosophy than with Christianity as a religion, which has a certain sweet irony, because Buddhism is - in my experience - more spiritual both as a path and as a practice than Christianity.

Anyway, the answers I have arrived at work for me, and I would not expect them to work for anyone else. To be honest, I find all kinds of evangelism, whether religious or political, the height of arrogance and bad manners.

Ben

Ben,
your honesty is appreciated, and basically, if it works for you and you are comfortable then so much the better.
W