Endless fascination with the possibility of the "afterlife" ;

I do not share your views Cole, the bible tells us - God said 'before you were in your mothers womb I knew you' hardly waiting for us to feed him info .

Jingle, what do you want God to do? Stop wars, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, housed the homeless ? Mans greed causes these not God's neglect

As a Christian I believe God has given us free will. We can sort out many of the problems in the world as Annie says if we weren't so selfish and if there was a lot more love/kindness around. I believe the bible is the inspired word of God but it shouldn't be quoted out of context or it doesn't make sense. I'm sure God loves each of us individually and wants to redeem all of creation. I know it is hard to discuss without using Christian jargon but I do believe in the afterlife and believe that Christ on the cross has redeemed us. Everyone is entitled to their own view/ beliefs .

What mumofmadboys said.

ab yes. I can see that. But God doesn't actually help much does he?

No. It's all electrical thingies. Like my DS explained to me. It makes more sense.

Oh God! What an effing time of life to lose yer faith.

I think God does help. There is plenty of food to feed the whole world. It needs us all to be more thoughtful , considerate and generous. If only everyone 'loved their neighbour as themselves' the world would be such a better place. I hope jingles your faith returns. Faith is never easy- everyone I imagine has doubts at times but I couldn't imagine this world without some sort of purpose and a loving God behind it all.

I think the older one gets, the harder it is to retain faith.

Jingle, what do you think God should / could do?

I don't effing know!!!! He's the God. Not me.

And stop being so bloody confrontational with me, Madam.

'scuse my French.

I didn't used to believe in the existence of an afterlife, but a couple of inexplicable incidents have made me review this, so I think I do now.

The simple fact is that we do not know about an afterlife. I reconciled myself to that decades ago, and now embrace that "not knowing" with equanimity. It is simply the human condition. We can only be kind to one another, and plough on as best we may through this faulty world not all of whose faults are man-made - some are gifts from this "loving god".

Or, to put it another way.....

Breath of Angels

I do not hear the breath of angels
I do not kneel and humbly pray
I do not sense the moving of the spirit
Or thank a lord for every dawning day

I do not see the need for praising;
I do not find the world that kind.
I do not share the guilt of ages
For ancient crimes I cannot call to mind

I do not place that burden on my children
I do not seek a meaning where there's none
I do not spend my time in striving
To solve life's mysteries; chase the sun.

I do not waste my life in speculation
I do not turn away reality
I do not rate the lives of mystics
Who hide away from life's brutality.

I do not shun the mess of loving
I do not seek an outside hand to guide
I do not want a ghostly being
Forever skulking at my side

I want to greet the world in all its sorrow
I want to taste the joy before it dies
I want the sullied purity of living
And do not look for heaven as a prize.

Jingle, do not address me as madam, thank you. You are the one eho complained that God could do more, I only asked what you thought he could / should do, just a question

Alright. But you can call me 'madam' whenever you like. I think it would be very appropriate.

That was a joke!

Well, depends what sort of madam you are Jingle

You'll never know will you?

True jingle, true

So many different views aired here, and lot of strong opinions exoressed on a very emotive subject. Thanks for your sensitive and balanced posts mumofmadboys. Rosesarered, I find it's easy to become more cynical as I get older, many more grey areas now than when I was younger! Even in believing there are elements of not knowing, I guess that's where faith comes in. Not knowing isn't always a comfortable place to be, but I did like that piece of writing Luckygirl, who wrote it?

I did grannyqueenie.

I understand that some people find not knowing an uncomfortable place to be. I have never felt like that - I just accept it as how things are. And I have never thought that a religion is a prerequisite for living life decently and kindly, and see it as an irrelevance that arises from a desire to explain the unexplainable. If you are able to live without those explanations then it is a liberating situation to be in. You can just get on with doing your best to be kind to others.

That's the terrible thing about 'faith' - it gives you an excuse for not wanting to know, for remaining wilfully ignorant, for not trying to find out... and that is really all that it is. I can't see that it is in any way a virtue.

Sorry feetlebaum I don't quite understand what you mean. 'Not wanting to know' what? 'Remaining wilfully ignorant' of what?
Would you please explain further?

Extra thanks for sharing it then, Luckygirl I guess for me the uncomfortableness, (don't think that's a word but discomfort doesn't fit what I'm thinking!) is about holding faith and not knowing in tension with each other. But for me that is the only way to live with integrity as once you open your mind to questions, there's no going back. It was much easier back in the day when I saw things as much more clear cut than I do now, but I'm probably the better for it!

I certainly don't think that people of faith, and I don't just mean Christians here, have the monopoly on living decently and with integrity. There's much to learn from one another as we journey through life in all its complexity.

Christianity is actually wilfully knowing, not wilfully ignorant.

*I do not want a ghostly being
Forever skulking at my side*

Oh, that is so wrong.

The Holy Spirit is a joyful thing/feeling/help

[I admire your writing skills though]