And again what this demonstrates very nicely is that there is no one truth. If anyone thinks there is then demonstrate it clearly beyond mere words. ;-)
Something that I've found interesting with christianity, is that a person is expected to have the belief in the truth of christianity, before the evidence is experienced.
When I was much younger, I was having a very tough time in my life, after talking with a christian friend, I decided that I would give christianity a try. I went home, I repented of everything I could think of that I may have done wrong, I asked for jesus to come into my heart, I asked god to help me. I really wanted to believe that there was a god out there that loved and cared about me, because at that time there was no-one else that did.
Nothing happened, I thought maybe I was doing it wrong, (the bible says "ask and you shall receive"), and I took this as literal. I asked the minister of the church my friend attended, told him what I was doing, asked his advice on whether I was doing it right. What I was told was that I had to believe in god, before I could experience anything. I found this strange, I thought that if I already believed in god, what would be the point in asking to be shown evidence of gods existance.
I tried this repenting and asking several times, and still nothing happened.
I decided then to find my own path in life, to form my own values and beliefs, and to love myself, and help myself.
This is when something really did happen, I found freedom, and I found connection with the energy that I was a part of and that was all around me. I forgave myself for anything that I may have done wrong, and found that I didn't have to go through some god, or man , or anything else to have this connection.
"When I was much younger, I was having a very tough time in my life, after talking with a christian friend, I decided that I would give christianity a try. I went home, I repented of everything I could think of that I may have done wrong, ">
Holy shit that must have taken weeks.
har har har.
Ya that is pretty much what got me to give it all up along with that I realized it was fantasy invading my head.
Yep, there is that saying "insanity is doing the same thing again and again, and expecting a different result", and as I'm not insane, I stopped asking.
What happened, or didn't happen to me, back then, makes sense now that I know that god is imaginary. It wasn't a matter of me not doing it right, but a matter of nothing was going to happen, because god does not exist.
Something else I found interesting is the notion that if nothing happens when a person asks to experience god, it is the fault of the person doing the asking, not the fault of the god who broke his word.
This suggests to me that if god did exist, he is a liar.
I posted an experience that I had when I was much younger bewnyfur, I wanted very much to believe in the bible god at that stage in my life. I had no firm beliefs one way or another. Even now I keep an open mind about the things that I have not proven to myself. What I did prove to myself through my experience was that there is no bible god. There is universal energy, but the god character portrayed in the bible, is not universal energy, but a projection of the ideas of human beings. This is why I could not experience this god for myself, because this god does not exist, however much I wanted him to.
The connection to universal energy that I felt, goes way beyond the limited concept of the bible god.
"The connection to universal energy that I felt, goes way beyond the limited concept of the bible god."
Of course the Biblical concept is limited to the real thing! At the same time the explanation is about as far as it can go on paper. Omnipotent, Omniscient, OmniPresent, The Way, The Truth, The Life, Creator.
I used to think none of it mattered, so I can relate in a sense. I experienced people in churches that were oppressive. I also experienced some people that were tremendously forgiving and supportive of people without condition.
I think there were those in the past who were deep thinkers that realized that knowledge and power were to be used for good as opposed to evil. They encoded this concept in the Bible guided by the Spirit of Truth and Life.
"I tried this repenting and asking several times, and still nothing happened.
I decided then to find my own path in life, to form my own values and beliefs, and to love myself, and help myself."
Something did happen. You took responsibility for your actions. Just as God would want you to. See how love really works.
"I forgave myself for anything that I may have done wrong, and found that I didn't have to go through some god, or man , or anything else to have this connection."
Connection? That sounds like attachment-(religion)-belief. It seems you may have experienced God, yet you have an aversion to using that term.
Good for you. Looks like you received. Just like the Good book said you would. It just wasn't the materialistic way you thought it would happen. It was a creative way. This is why the Father is the Potter is the Pater is the All-Potent Power. It has to do with deciding the 0 or the 1 the x or the y, as opposed to actually being the Matter=Mother=Math=Money of the Material 0 and 1.
+addition on this statement+
"It has to do with deciding the 0 or the 1 the x or the y,"
The sperm from a father(paternal) chooses the sex of the child, because the male carries both the X and Y chromosomes, where as the female carries 2 x chromosomes. This works for most mammals, insects, and plants. However it is opposite for birds.
The Mother(Maternal) has two x chromosomes.
"Both males and females retain one of their mother's X chromosomes, and females retain their second X chromosome from their father. Since the father retains his X chromosome from his mother, a human female has one X chromosome from her paternal grandmother (father's side), and one X chromosome from her mother."
This is an example of fractal logic.
"And he took bread and, having given praise, he gave it to them when it had been broken, saying, This is my body, which is given for you: do this in memory of me."