It's been a really long time since I have stopped by, and to be honest, the more time that went by, the more reluctant I was to check in again. Simply because I know that I have changed alot, and I assumed that I was going to disagree with 99% of what I read here. I miss you guys, but I feel like I have crossed this giant canyon, where I see everyone here as very very conservative (except for the extreme liberals, who I see as moderate )
I guess that means I don't really have anything useful to add to the conversations here. But I did want to take a moment and say that I appreciate you D4T, and that I am really glad that this was the the first thread that I opened.
A number of years ago I began to have my eyes opened about a few things and I look back now to that point in my life as pivotal.
It wasn't the revelations that I saw at that time that changed me. I think it was the process of realizing that I had been wrong.
Then, on top of that, there was the process of seeing that not everything that others say is wrong. People don't have to be "in the truth" to have truth.
There seems to be a mentality of us & them that pervades religion.
WE are right... absolute and pure.
THEY are wrong... completely and utterly.
There is truth to be found in every measure of error... and... hold on now... WE are included in that measure of error.
I do not believe that I have come to complete knowledge of all truth therefore, within me, is some measure of error. We must face that or we will never grow further.
I believe I have much to learn.
Anyway...
That process opened my eyes that there is truth in what most every person believes no matter how much error is mixed in.
That process gave me an ability to nod my head yes when speaking to someone of another religious persuasion when the words they were speaking were true without a need to insert the ever present "Yeah... but"
I cannot seem to get the thought I started out trying to utter to come out of these fingers so it will have to suffice that I say the following.
When we stop viewing ourselves as the possessors of all that is true and right then we become able to learn.
When we stop viewing "them" as the possessors and harbingers of all that is untrue and unholy then we become teachable (yes... we can learn from "them") and we become something they might want to learn from.
The only people Jesus had any disrespect towards were the self righteous religious folks.
There is a place of understanding if we can find it.
A place where we can speak to others from our common ground and sharpen one anothers swords rather than clanging them together all the time.
There is a place of understanding if we want it.
But it will require a love for one another that includes "them".
There is a place of understanding and I pray that, one day, we will all live there.
It is my belief that my Christ already does.
Thanks for sharing, D4t. Good points.
__________________
Those who say it cannot be done should not interrupt the people doing it. ~Chinese Proverb
When I was young and clever, I wanted to change the world. Now that I am older and wiser, I strive to change myself. ~
)
Linear Mode
