God's Footprints

What 'evidence' of God is most important or interesting to you?

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lunamoth

lunamoth

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I am not one to suggest that we should expect scientific proof of God (what kind of God is under the power of our experiments?), but I thought it would be interesting to discuss what kinds of things you consider 'evidence' of God.

So, to get us started I'll post a poll with this, but feel free to add any of your own ideas.
 
I would have to say "other" because of my personal yet subtle experience. ok, sometimes NOt subtle . LOL. I have been ignoring Him and denying his existence for a long time, and then, almost silently a feeling, an urge, a "pull" towards something and someone was too hard to ignore. I denied and denied, and still felt this pull. (crazy, eh?) "things" kept happening to me, that were like gentle reminders and then as soon as I literally said. "ok, then, God, whats up?" I felt like i was in company of an old friend. Strange feeling, for this hard old girl to have and to admit to.
I didnt realize I had this "dark" shadow over me, until it was lifted. Im still coming to terms with everything and remembering and learning stuff, but to me the evidence was always there, i just couldnt see the forest for the trees. LOL.
Lucky for me, He's a forgiving sort of fella, eh? LOL
So my evidence was basically a feeling, maybe it was the Holy Spirit, or maybe it was Love, real Love. Anyway, I felt it..... and to quote Mee. "It was gooooood" LOL
 
oh, and mybad, to answer the poll properly, that was the evidence, and as far as a footprint he made in my life,,,,,,,,,,,, more like a kick in the (u know what) LOL
 
greymare said:
I would have to say "other" because of my personal yet subtle experience. ok, sometimes NOt subtle . LOL. I have been ignoring Him and denying his existence for a long time, and then, almost silently a feeling, an urge, a "pull" towards something and someone was too hard to ignore. I denied and denied, and still felt this pull. (crazy, eh?) "things" kept happening to me, that were like gentle reminders and then as soon as I literally said. "ok, then, God, whats up?" I felt like i was in company of an old friend. Strange feeling, for this hard old girl to have and to admit to.
I didnt realize I had this "dark" shadow over me, until it was lifted. Im still coming to terms with everything and remembering and learning stuff, but to me the evidence was always there, i just couldnt see the forest for the trees. LOL.
Lucky for me, He's a forgiving sort of fella, eh? LOL
So my evidence was basically a feeling, maybe it was the Holy Spirit, or maybe it was Love, real Love. Anyway, I felt it..... and to quote Mee. "It was gooooood" LOL
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Last time I looked you didn't got religion! It must be cos of all that blood rushing to your head (what with being upside down and that) :p

s.
 
I'm an "all of the above" girl. 'Cept for "fine-tuned universe." As a scientist, I just figure that could be an improbable but obviously possible sequence of events. I don't need scientific or statistical evidence for God, and what is more indicative to me (in that vein) are emergent properties. Though that sort of indicates a grassroots type of God...
 
No prizes on offer for guessing what I chose. If something as omnipresent as a God were to exist I find it highly improbable that it would not be provable through the scientific method.


tao
 
hmmmm

i would say fullfillment of bible prophecies in the past , and undergoing fullfillment right now , and they always come true and of cause the power of prayer
 
path_of_one said:
I'm an "all of the above" girl. 'Cept for "fine-tuned universe." As a scientist, I just figure that could be an improbable but obviously possible sequence of events. I don't need scientific or statistical evidence for God, and what is more indicative to me (in that vein) are emergent properties. Though that sort of indicates a grassroots type of God...
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I'm with Path on the all of the above thing minus "fine-tuned." I've never had any actual wham me along side the head experiences of "God," but I do, like many folk, especially in the quite more contemplative times, simply get a deep felt sense or certainty that there is a grand unitive "something" beyond little old blind me that holds it all in its embrace.:) earl
 
It's visions and supernatural experience for me that did it, converted me from near atheism at age 35 to a belief in the reality of God and the spiritual dimension that has never been shaken in 29 years. Without the supernatural experience I seriously doubt I would have ever become a believer. The Book by itself never did anything because it really does take the Spirit to wake one up out of spiritual slumber. I was a real hard-head and it took God three days of spiritual shock treatment, three days of non-stop synchronicity experiences, all dealing with religious themes brand new to me that my science-oriented mind could not comprehend how on earth this was happening.

At the end of three days I was a believer in God and knew this world was not what it appears to be, it is a Grand Illusion but one ever so real to the players playing out their Scripted roles in archetypal dramas that all add together to teach each soul the morality necessary to enter the World to Come. John's Gospel tells us that without "signs and wonders" we will not believe and for me this was true. No amount of explaining spiritual experience of God to an atheist registers. They have to undergo the experience of God themselves to overcome their worldly prejudices against spiritual phenomena.
 
For me its personal relationship. When I feel the strongest in my faith is when Im closest to the Lord with prayer and hearing His voice.. fasting and meditating on His word to find out deep and serious issues in my life with the solutions to them... and just flat out crawling into the Fathers lap and bawling my eyes out when Im homesick for Him and to feel like Im being hugged back. The supernatural has always been a faith builder for me but not the end all be all of evidence.
 
sonoman said:
It's visions and supernatural experience for me that did it, converted me from near atheism at age 35 to a belief in the reality of God and the spiritual dimension that has never been shaken in 29 years. Without the supernatural experience I seriously doubt I would have ever become a believer. The Book by itself never did anything because it really does take the Spirit to wake one up out of spiritual slumber. I was a real hard-head and it took God three days of spiritual shock treatment, three days of non-stop synchronicity experiences, all dealing with religious themes brand new to me that my science-oriented mind could not comprehend how on earth this was happening.

At the end of three days I was a believer in God and knew this world was not what it appears to be, it is a Grand Illusion but one ever so real to the players playing out their Scripted roles in archetypal dramas that all add together to teach each soul the morality necessary to enter the World to Come. John's Gospel tells us that without "signs and wonders" we will not believe and for me this was true. No amount of explaining spiritual experience of God to an atheist registers. They have to undergo the experience of God themselves to overcome their worldly prejudices against spiritual phenomena.
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Hi Sonoman

My experiences were somewhat similar. I refer to it as the time I got my inner ass kicked. Regardless of the quality of the emotional experience which was intense, it became clear that before this experience I really understood nothing and I could not have stumbled upon this new direction through my own efforts. Proof of God for me then was the revelation of this new potential and my nothingness in front of it. Relativity of "being" manifesting as Creation became obvious and pure being or its source is God.
 
Nick_A said:
Hi Sonoman

My experiences were somewhat similar. I refer to it as the time I got my inner ass kicked. Regardless of the quality of the emotional experience which was intense, it became clear that before this experience I really understood nothing and I could not have stumbled upon this new direction through my own efforts. Proof of God for me then was the revelation of this new potential and my nothingness in front of it. Relativity of "being" manifesting as Creation became obvious and pure being or its source is God.
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Yeah, one way or another God just crunches the hell out of your ego in these experiences, it seems like. But because each of us is different, these experiences of God and Jesus, Spirit of Christ, Mary, Buddha, Kwan Yin, various Orushas(sp), Railians, aliens, Fawns, sprites, God, the list is endless, and we all Believe in them with all our hearts, mind and soul because they happen to us. Some of us are sent out to tell others these visions which are fairly no two alike--Gnosis again, spiritual babble? Unfortunately society has the view, "kill 'em all and let God sort them out." Only trouble is, who's idea of "God" sorts them out? Yours? Mine? The Pope's? the monitors here? God forbid..oops, just kidding.;)

Society has to keep continuity going and that means it is conservative of traditions that seem to be working well enough that the level of disgruntlement is at the manageable minority stage and the majority's happy enough with things as they are--status quo. Translates into, death to prophets and their disruption of the status quo if your in ancient Judea and stigmatization by modern industrial society as religious nutcase unless your new heresy can be successfully commercialized. All in all, it's not an easy road for God to get Their message out.

So back again to the different spiritual experiences of God and what God tells each of us in these experiences. I asked Father about this once and was told the messages come through each person's brain and its culmulative experiences in life, no two alike. We are fallible beings and if one of us had ALL the right answers, they would be...so none of us human beings does, not even Jesus on earth who told us only God knows certain things such as the arrival of the next Son of Man. Jesus and the writers of the Gospels thought that event would happen quickly and it didn't. Point is, no one's perfect, thank God, imagine what would it would be like if there was a really Perfect Human Being. Would they be Jesus? Would they be male? If male, what about females? Why can't a Perfect Human Being be female for a change? feminists would argue and do.

I believe Jesus' in John tell's us the wisdom that "only by signs and wonders will they believe". If blind faith could do it, it would have happened by now. If intellectual knowledge could do it, it would have happened by now. Religious mass movements begin with someone reporting a miraculous vision. And around and around we go from there..

I got some whoppers of my own but thankfully if they get too offensive you have the option of having me electronically stoned to death, the blessings of modern technology at our fingertips;)
 
sonoman said:
Yeah, one way or another God just crunches the hell out of your ego in these experiences, it seems like. But because each of us is different, these experiences of God and Jesus, Spirit of Christ, Mary, Buddha, Kwan Yin, various Orushas(sp), Railians, aliens, Fawns, sprites, God, the list is endless, and we all Believe in them with all our hearts, mind and soul because they happen to us. Some of us are sent out to tell others these visions which are fairly no two alike--Gnosis again, spiritual babble? Unfortunately society has the view, "kill 'em all and let God sort them out." Only trouble is, who's idea of "God" sorts them out? Yours? Mine? The Pope's? the monitors here? God forbid..oops, just kidding.;)

Society has to keep continuity going and that means it is conservative of traditions that seem to be working well enough that the level of disgruntlement is at the manageable minority stage and the majority's happy enough with things as they are--status quo. Translates into, death to prophets and their disruption of the status quo if your in ancient Judea and stigmatization by modern industrial society as religious nutcase unless your new heresy can be successfully commercialized. All in all, it's not an easy road for God to get Their message out.

So back again to the different spiritual experiences of God and what God tells each of us in these experiences. I asked Father about this once and was told the messages come through each person's brain and its culmulative experiences in life, no two alike. We are fallible beings and if one of us had ALL the right answers, they would be...so none of us human beings does, not even Jesus on earth who told us only God knows certain things such as the arrival of the next Son of Man. Jesus and the writers of the Gospels thought that event would happen quickly and it didn't. Point is, no one's perfect, thank God, imagine what would it would be like if there was a really Perfect Human Being. Would they be Jesus? Would they be male? If male, what about females? Why can't a Perfect Human Being be female for a change? feminists would argue and do.

I believe Jesus' in John tell's us the wisdom that "only by signs and wonders will they believe". If blind faith could do it, it would have happened by now. If intellectual knowledge could do it, it would have happened by now. Religious mass movements begin with someone reporting a miraculous vision. And around and around we go from there..

I got some whoppers of my own but thankfully if they get too offensive you have the option of having me electronically stoned to death, the blessings of modern technology at our fingertips;)
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This raises the essential but overlooked question as to what is "normal" Normalcy is defined by society. Real religious experiences as you say are received differently by different types of people and one type will not understand another. These experiences suggest something not normal about Man on earth even though normalcy is now defined by society. It is no wonder then that what appears as abnormal must be destroyed by groups believing themselves normal.


Colours are the deeds of light, its deeds and sufferings. (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

It is obvious to us that colors are just vibratory fragments of white light. We can argue about what color we prefer but we don't seek to destroy other colors since we feel them as complimentary and indicating their unity exists on a higher plane or white light.

Each color though has a special link to the white higher then itself. If this is so, how can there be a perfect human being since we are a type. The question for me then is not in striving for perfection but rather better witnessing and admitting our imperfection. It is in this witnessing that I believe we can be noticed and helped from above. But as long as we remain in denial we also deny help. The Gospel of Thomas describes it so well but its depth is underestimated.

(3) Jesus said, "If those who lead you say to you, 'See, the kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty."

Many authentic religious experiences are lived during times when we can't for whatever reason,act "normal" Then we witness ourselves, become known, and help comes.
 
lunamoth said:
I am not one to suggest that we should expect scientific proof of God (what kind of God is under the power of our experiments?), but I thought it would be interesting to discuss what kinds of things you consider 'evidence' of God.

So, to get us started I'll post a poll with this, but feel free to add any of your own ideas.
Click to expand...

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.


Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky. In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.


Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there were one set of footprints.


This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints.


So I said to the Lord, "You promised me Lord, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there have only been one set of footprints in the sand.

Why, when I needed you most, you have not been there for me?"


The Lord replied, "The times when you have seen only one set of footprints in the sand...


...is when I carried you."


Mary Stevenson (1936)
 
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