@fmf saidIt must be all the waves and stuff. I think it's a great shame that such an excellent thread is already being hijacked by religion, and is creeping into an argument as to whether or not there's a god, and how my god is better than your god, or no god. Personally I've read enough of that in this forum to last me a lifetime....
How is living on a coast "materialistic"?
Peace, inner peace, tranquility of spirit can come to all of us at certain times, whether we try to attain it or not, the problem that all of us have is that life goes on, with all of its' complexity, and we are born to strive, it's what we do. Some of my best moments have been attained by a sense of achievement at having done or created something, the doing or creating having required effort. Achieving a state of neutrality of being is a good thing, but it doesn't bring in the bacon (or in my case the vegetarian equivalent) and can't last for long, and anyway it gets a bit boring after a while.
As it happens, and kind of in this context, I've learned a life lesson just recently. A few days ago I started to get chest pains, about where my heart is, which was, you know, worrying, and in my darkest moments I more or less wrote my own epitaph and as good as buried myself. I got better, with the help of some painkillers, and I've probably torn some ligaments or something, but it has given me pause for thought, and made me aware of what's important, and what matters, and what doesn't matter, like politics or whether or not we agree with 'Brexit', or whether or not we have enough money, or win games of chess, and so on. Only life matters, for as long as we have it, and if you wake up in the morning then the world is yours.
So, peace and love, brothers and sisters, and may your lives be good lives, however you choose to live them.
@ghost-of-a-duke saidCurious, because there is a similiar concept in the Bible, that God will not give you more than you can handle. I can't recall the verse, maybe someone else can.
Last year I worked with a young Muslim chap with quite debilitating mental health issues (mostly of an obsessional nature that led him to spend hours doing simple daily tasks). One comfort he had was a particular passage in the Koran that said God would never give somebody more woes than they could handle. (Not an exact translation). He seemed to gain great strength f ...[text shortened]... argue validates the faith he had in his particular scripture).
(Yes, I sometimes take the bus).
Three years ago, when the dearest cat I ever had passed away, her illness finally done and her suffering over, I had a moment of peace.
But not at first. And not for long...
It is what led me to look into meditation for the first time, though I didn't stick to it like I should have. In a way, I'm still picking up the pieces.
@secondson saidMatthew 17, 10 - 13
John the Baptist was not Elijah reincarnated. That's not in the Bible.
@suzianne saidIt would be nice to see the quotes side by side.
Curious, because there is a similiar concept in the Bible, that God will not give you more than you can handle. I can't recall the verse, maybe someone else can.
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@ghost-of-a-duke saidI think the concept is bollocks, myself.
It would be nice to see the quotes side by side.
But not because there's no God, mind you.
I would agree that most people don't get this far along a path they can't handle, but every single day, some people do. Every single day, unspeakable things happen to people. And some people finally get to the end of their rope over something that happened months ago, like the beautiful 19-year-old, Sydney Aiello, who just took her own life last week after surviving the Parkland shooting, over a year ago. The PTSD finally just wore her down. Where was God for her? (I'm so sorry, Sydney, may you finally find your peace.)
@suzianne saidMaybe there is no "God" available "for" anyone in the way you presumably believe there is for some people. Maybe that's the lesson to be learnt from Sydney Aiello.
And some people finally get to the end of their rope over something that happened months ago, like the beautiful 19-year-old, Sydney Aiello, who just took her own life last week after surviving the Parkland shooting, over a year ago. The PTSD finally just wore her down. Where was God for her?