tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post1037472644562864115..comments2023-10-18T02:03:42.145-07:00Comments on LEARNING TO LIVE FREE: Open ThreadUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-35245266816425299702005-11-07T11:26:00.000-08:002005-11-07T11:26:00.000-08:00Talking about being bold reminds me of a TV ad t...Talking about being bold reminds<br> me of a TV ad that I loved.<br> (Microsoft I believe)<br><br> In the commercial a women bursts<br> into a meeting with the master<br> on a huge TV screen spouting the<br> party line in a George Orwell <br> (1984) type of totalitarian way<br> to the amorphous masses assem-<br> bled.(All dressed in the same <br> olive drab uniforms),<br><br> She came running down the aisle<br> swinging a huge sledge hammer<br> and hurled it at the screen<br> smashing it to bits!<br><br> Sort of an allegory for finally<br> seeing the light and smashing<br> all her brain-washed fears.<br><br> P.S. Are you still carrying your<br> brain-washed conscious and<br> sub-conscious fears ?<br><br> HURL YOUR HAMMER !<br><br> P.P.S.<br> Orwell also wrote "Animal <br> Farm" with this familiar<br> saying "All animals are<br> equal , but some are more<br> equal than others."<br><br> Which is also what the chosen<br> few like to believe.Trollnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-5205218630831625792005-11-08T03:42:00.000-08:002005-11-08T03:42:00.000-08:00It was actually Apple's ad and can be seen as ...It was actually Apple's ad and can be seen as a break through for the success of the original Macintosh computer.<br><br><a href="http://www.uiowa.edu/~commstud/adclass/1984_mac_ad.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.uiowa.edu/~commstud/adclass/1984_mac_ad.html</a>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-3720773185301261822005-11-08T07:52:00.000-08:002005-11-08T07:52:00.000-08:00Thank you, Troll -- I had never seen that ad altho...Thank you, Troll -- I had never seen that ad although I am a happy Mac user. I guess it came out when I was still sans-TV.<br><br>As to your question, let me say that I suffer no illusions about my mind. It is dotted with superstitions and cranky old reflexes. No doubt my atheist friends consider my faith one of them, a little quaint, like my fear of spiders or of shoes worn inside the house.<br><br>No doubt they are right, sometimes.<br><br>But one of the illusions of materialism is that the only truth is that which is based on consensual knowledge.<br><br>Breaking behind that screen is incredible freedom. If you have an analytical bent, you can become your own walking laboratory, observing all kinds of phenomena with no need to verify or publish.<br><br>What do you think?Julie Whitehornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16921829370327742832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-14233405574530022472005-11-08T19:41:00.000-08:002005-11-08T19:41:00.000-08:00"No doubt my atheist friends consider my fait..."No doubt my atheist friends consider my faith one of them, a little quaint, like my fear of spiders or of shoes worn inside the house."<br><br>Your form of faith seems to be healthy. If it helps you lead a better life, I hope you hold onto it. The faith most non-religious people have a problem with is that which is used to harm and control others, such as in fighting against the use of the soon-to-be-released HPV vaccine.<br><br>"But one of the illusions of materialism is that the only truth is that which is based on consensual knowledge."<br><br>I honestly don't know what this is supposed to mean. Some would describe me as a materialist, but I don't think that something needs to be consensually agreed upon to accept it as true. As a matter of fact, many things I accept as true are rejected by the majority of people around me. I simply don't accept something unless I have a reason to accept it, and that reason doesn't need to be scientific. I can't conjure up and imagine something to be true just because I want it to be so.Ilmarinennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-65974615548535447012005-11-09T06:48:00.000-08:002005-11-09T06:48:00.000-08:00Free2B; Keep in mind in the following discussion ...Free2B;<br> <br> Keep in mind in the following<br> discussion that I have a career<br> in civil engineering where the<br> verification of the reaction of<br> physical matter is the touchstone<br> of my existence.<br><br> If you can't verify the phenome-<br> nom you are observing how do you<br> separate it from a dream, illu-<br> sion ,or hallucination ?<br><br> Even some of the phenomenon you<br> can observe is an illusion. I <br> look out my cottage window across<br> Lake Superior and the world<br> certainly looks flat to me. The<br> sun moves across the sky and at<br> night the stars also. Sure looks<br> like my observations tell me we<br> are at the center of the universe<br> which the Catholic Church once<br> told us to believe or face the<br> rack or burning at the stake.<br><br> Can you tell me what kind of <br> phenomenon you have observed<br> and analyzed ?<br><br> P.S.This is a great subject for<br> discussion !Trollnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-45749719962272724852005-11-09T11:02:00.000-08:002005-11-09T11:02:00.000-08:00I don't think analytical people can survive in...I don't think analytical people can survive in a Laestadian church. Once you start asking questions, people think something's wrong with you and become fearful. Some also say that "seeking out knowledge" is a bad thing because supposedly we are working for our salvation. Is it wrong to analyze...or THINK??Lynnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-27388036072079657262005-11-09T11:04:00.000-08:002005-11-09T11:04:00.000-08:00Maybe that fear of knowledge of the bible is not h...Maybe that fear of knowledge of the bible is not held by all congregations but I know it is held by the FALC. They preach against reading the bible, preaching for a "simple faith". When people tell you to stop reading the bible, RUN!!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-85382719769365032112005-11-09T12:31:00.000-08:002005-11-09T12:31:00.000-08:00Troll," If you can't verify the phenome-n...Troll,<br><br>" If you can't verify the phenome-<br>nom you are observing how do you<br>separate it from a dream, illu-<br>sion ,or hallucination ?"<br><br>From what I can understand, some Christians don't worry or care whether their beliefs are dreams and all make-believe. If they think their faith helps them lead a better life, they just block out those questions and go with what works for them. And as long as that faith is healthy, is there any problem with doing that?<br><br>For myself, I can't just go along with something unless I'm personally convinced of its truth. I'd rather say, "I don't know," than twist my mind into accepting something that I'm not convinced is real or true, even if believing in that something inspires warm and fuzzy feelings.Ilmarinennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-17009074844651325322005-11-09T14:36:00.000-08:002005-11-09T14:36:00.000-08:00Thanks for the interesting posts! To answer you Tr...Thanks for the interesting posts! To answer you Troll, my experiences of love and grief are deeply personal and subjective. Yet for me, they are no "less real" because they cannot be measured, verified or effectively communicated. I cannot "prove" to you that I love my husband and children., and if my "state of being" with them is a dream or hallucination, so be it.<br><br>I don't say this to persuade you of anything, because I don't think it is possible. No more than I could persuade you to love my family!<br><br>Ilmarinen, if Christian belief is simply utilitarian, in the sense of "helping one lead a better life" or in "inspiring warm and fuzzy feelings," that could not explain its vast and varied expression, with great personal cost for many. Could it be that some folks have had experiences that you haven't?<br><br>While "religion" is undergoing a necessary fight for its life, brought on by the advance in science and human knowledge, religion is different from faith.<br><br>It serves the truth better to admit that we cannot know another's mind, or pretend to understand their faith, or lack thereof.<br><br>And if God is worthy of the name, scientific inquiry is no threat, nor are doubts or fumbling, inconstant, contradictory thoughts.<br><br>Once I read a poet compare her experience of God to that of a child waiting to be born, aware of sounds and sensations, capable of thought, able to smile and cry and struggle, yet ignorant of the world that awaited.Julie Whitehornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16921829370327742832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-20184728871517222622005-11-09T16:04:00.000-08:002005-11-09T16:04:00.000-08:00"if Christian belief is simply utilitarian, i..."if Christian belief is simply utilitarian, in the sense of "helping one lead a better life" or in "inspiring warm and fuzzy feelings," that could not explain its vast and varied expression, with great personal cost for many."<br><br>Utilitarianism is not the reason Christian beliefs, as a whole, exist. Nontheless, there _are_ some people who call themselves Christian and hold Christian beliefs because it helps them lead better lives and promotes warm and fuzzy feelings within them. Other people who call themselves Christian hold their beliefs for other reasons.<br><br>"Could it be that some folks have had experiences that you haven't?"<br><br>No two people have had the same experiences. If someone else's experiences lead them to hold Christian beliefs, that's perfectly all right with me, as long as those people don't use those beliefs to hurt others.Ilmarinennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-32557682346504459272005-11-09T20:34:00.000-08:002005-11-09T20:34:00.000-08:00Amen to that. I hope soon you will share your stor...Amen to that. I hope soon you will share your story, Ilmarinen. <br><br>You might enjoy this quote: "The heart will never worship what the mind rejects."Julie Whitehornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16921829370327742832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-7238157632297886752005-11-10T07:28:00.000-08:002005-11-10T07:28:00.000-08:00the quest for knowledge is an interesting thought....the quest for knowledge is an interesting thought...<br>Jesus told the lawyers in Luke 52:11 that through their legalism they take away the key of knowledge. <br>That really hit me! There is a truth in God's realm that he wants us to discover. <br>But the experts of the law will never find it.<br>This makes everything backswards! <br>Dont you marvel how the scriptures do away with the intellect of man?<br><br>Our search for knowledge and our ability to think and question and reason need to be alive and well but in a very different manner than the Pharisees, scribes and lawyers or we'll be ever learning and never coming to knowledge of the truth.<br><br>I'm actually quite dumb!<br>But I sure am rich!<br>Love BHbreathlessly HIShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01824290326677969605noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-72798316321335037052005-11-10T07:36:00.000-08:002005-11-10T07:36:00.000-08:00sorry, my reference is backwards...Luke 11:52dysle...sorry, my reference is backwards...<br>Luke 11:52<br><br>dyslexia...?<br><br>BHbreathlessly HIShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01824290326677969605noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-82036557988991238182005-11-10T07:39:00.000-08:002005-11-10T07:39:00.000-08:00taking that a step further...you know what's c...taking that a step further...<br>you know what's cool about that whole thought is dumb people can become smart and smart people become dumb<br><br>ha ha<br><br>BH<br><br>(come on, it helps us dummy feel better!)breathlessly HIShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01824290326677969605noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-51353008112119471092005-11-10T18:21:00.000-08:002005-11-10T18:21:00.000-08:00Hello, All. I am sending a post from the trenches...Hello, All. I am sending a post from the trenches, so to speak. I know you are all reading about Avian flu, but I would like to present this issue, or better yet, threat, from my perspective. Understand that I am a bit of a "Chicken Little," as I see the world backed into a tight corner, technologically speaking.<br><br>First, there is no IMMEDIATE threat, as the disease is limited primarily to birds and a few who have come in close contact with the infected ones. However, IF (or WHEN, as many experts say) it jumps the barrier and mutates to a form easily transmissible human-to-human, the world as we know it may drastically change overnight. By overnight, I mean within a week or so. No one can predict WHEN this might occur (any more than anyone can predict when "The Big One" might hit California).<br><br>If this mutation occurs, it is expected to sweep the globe rapidly, as it has an incubation period of only 2 days (compared to 8 days for SARS). It is likely to have a high fatality rate, especially among young healthy people. And we are essentially defenseless.<br><br>There is no vaccine. Let me repeat (despite mis-prints in the press), there is no vaccine. Tamiflu will be unavailable to most of us, unless something changes drastically on the international pharmaceutical front, which is not too likely in the near term (months to a year). Furthermore, Tamiflu is most effective taken for prevention, not treatment (most of those infected in Vietnam who were given it died anyway). This preventive regimen would require a daily dose for 1-3 years. I myself have no hope of getting this, and I'm in the medical field. Our hospital has less than 35 doses; there is no significant "national stockpile;" and we are the 50th country on the list to get a "stockpile" from Roche, the company that has the patent. So we cannot place all our hopes on Tamiflu.<br><br>Quarantines would be enacted, but prove useless, because we cannot contain a flu that moves so fast.<br><br>So what then? As I see it, the greatest threat is not from the disease itself but from the mass hysteria that would develop, particularly in this country. Imagine a United States in which: no one went to school; no one went to church; no one went to restaurants or traveled for pleasure; no one went to malls; no one came to doctors' and dentists' offices for annual exams and tooth cleaning. Imagine no one doing anything that was not essential. Imagine no imports and exports. Do you realize, for instance, that the US does not have one shoe factory left within its borders? As one epidemiologist was quoted in Newsweek 10/31, "Even if you survive the disease, what will you do when the entire world economy shuts down?" This, I believe, is not an exaggeration, and many people do not believe it can happen only because it is inconceivable to them. The ramifications are inconceivable to us all.<br><br>I think it is important that we all think about what we would do, how we would live, and how we might change our priorities now, in particular, to protect our families. We cannot afford to be "asleep at the wheel."<br><br>I will add a little prayer. "May God guide us in the way we should go, that we may move into the future, whatever it holds, with wisdom and strength." MTHMany Trails Homenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-59899444256514018212005-11-10T20:05:00.000-08:002005-11-10T20:05:00.000-08:00Yikes, MTH, I've been snoring away at this whe...Yikes, MTH, I've been snoring away at this wheel. Now that I'm awake, what should I do?Julie Whitehornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16921829370327742832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-53183199705755914172005-11-10T23:24:00.000-08:002005-11-10T23:24:00.000-08:00I guess there is nothing else to do than eat tons ...I guess there is nothing else to do than eat tons of garlic and pray God to protect us. But when you run out of garlic, just hope for the best and leave it in God's hands whether you will die or survive. God is great! <br><br>However, I'm quite sceptical about the threat because there have been so many other pandemic threats the media has been hysterical about and none of them developed into a real pandemic so why would this one? <br><br>By the way, have you heard the story of a shepard boy who amused himself by making false wolf alarms? He thought it was fun to see the villagers rush to his help whenever he yelled "Wolf, wolf!". The villagers got tired of this trick and then one day when a real wolf attacked his flock, noone came. I wonder if this will be the case with the false pandemic alarms, too? When the real pandemic hits, noone thinks it can happen because none of the earlier pandemic threats have come true?theoforoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04190193034220386908noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-40379523945678865852005-11-11T10:04:00.000-08:002005-11-11T10:04:00.000-08:00To Free2BMe: Get some masks. Stock some food (li...To Free2BMe: Get some masks. Stock some food (like the Mormons do). Set your intention for health and safety for your family, and pay attention to your inner guidance. Pray, like Theoforos says, but I would suggest for guidance, wisdom, and strength, rather than that "this cup pass by me," because we don't know God's purpose in any of this.<br><br>To Theoforos: If you read the "science," you will know why a pandemic is deemed inevitable eventually. I think it is ironic that the smallest living critters (viruses) are the ones most likely to do us in.<br><br>Here is what "science" is saying right now, as I understand it: The world is overdue for a pandemic; they come by regularly. Viruses are busy mutating all the time, and we have some new ones in the stew (H5N1) to which humans have no immunity. IF this ever mutates to an easily transmissible form, we are stewed. Some virologists think that it should have by now and the fact that it hasn't means that it can't, for some reason. So we may be "safe" from H5N1, and we may not have to face the threat of a true pandemic for some years, until another HxNy comes along.<br><br>The reason I made my post (and that WHO and CDC are so obsessed with it) is that most people - indeed, countries - are clueless as to how fast this could develop and consequently completely unprepared emotionally, as well as practically. We assume "WE" would have plenty of time to react, act, cope. It just ain't so. I hope we will be lucky (that's all it will be) this time.<br><br>For a broader perspective, read the lead article in FOREIGN AFFAIRS, July/Aug 2005. (If you only read pop news, you'll "throw the baby out with the bathwater." Remember that one?) MTHMany Trails Homenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-23325887123006273762005-11-12T09:17:00.000-08:002005-11-12T09:17:00.000-08:00MTH...I was wondering...how did you respond to the...MTH...<br><br>I was wondering...<br>how did you respond to the Y2K threat? Did you prepare?<br>Did you take it serious...?<br><br>Just wondering...<br><br>-BHbreathlessly HIShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01824290326677969605noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-6733651144586995042005-11-12T11:30:00.000-08:002005-11-12T11:30:00.000-08:00BH, you wonder a lot, don't you? I love it; I...BH, you wonder a lot, don't you? I love it; I do too.<br>With the Y2K issue, at first I thought it was baloney. I had worked as a computer programmer for a major oil company in my 20s (and wrote some of those very programs!)and knew that there was no way they would sit on their duffs and let something like this bring them down. But I became more concerned when I heard stories of the complexity of the banking networks etc and wondered if anybody really had a grip on the whole thing. So I did make some preparations, yes, altho I was not surprised when nothing at all happened, as that was my first take. That was a "Cry Wolf," of course.<br><br>But it did get me thinking, and it should get all of us thinking. What if, what if, what if? Someday one of these "what ifs" will happen to US; some certainly affected people in New Orleans, also in New York. These should be opportunities we take to reassess our priorities, both individually and nationally. NOT based on fear but rather "Are we living as God would have us on this planet that he created?" That's just my opinion. <br>MTHMany Trails Homenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-51187420108204655442005-11-12T21:09:00.000-08:002005-11-12T21:09:00.000-08:00" NOT based on fear but rather "Are we l..." NOT based on fear but rather "Are we living as God would have us on this planet that he created?""<br>If we are living as God would have us then we will be like the sparrows and put our faith in trust in him. Does this mean we will never have devastating, trying circumstances in our lives? Absolutely not! She did bite that fruit you know! We just need faith that "in the end", whether is be here or in Paradise, it will all work out in the end.<br>my 2 centsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-31701025978870993902005-11-13T12:46:00.000-08:002005-11-13T12:46:00.000-08:00MTH,Yes, I am a wondering person... I've also ...MTH,<br><br>Yes, I am a wondering person... I've also been prone to worry...<br>something that God is helping me to overcome.<br>I think I have too vivid an immagination and it can be a negative thing... it can also be a good thing... if I can figure out how to keep Satan from using it against me.<br>For this reason I have made a vow that I will not join "band wagons" anymore. I have this tendency to do all or nothing. Its the same way with Christianity for me.. If we're saved by the law, then I'm going to do the law and I'm going to do it right! But if we're saved by grace, let it be by grace and not ONE BIT of our own works. Since the grace of God has been revealed to me I have been on one band wagon and it has been to keep that grace in action. <br>If we get hit by bird flu's or by Y2K or hurricanes tear us up to bits... or disasters of any kind force us into a very different life view or style... This one thing I know... that God is good and I am in His care and keeping.<br>I may find out something terrible tomorrow or next week or year that has nothing to do with Y2K or bird flu... but can devastate my little world the way I know it... Whats the difference? I think that would be even harder since everyone else would seem to go on as usual and my world turn upside down...<br>Thats my thoughts and I'm really starting to look at the motto "THO GOD SLAY ME YET I WILL TRUST HIM".<br>I want to understand a thought like that...<br>... what do you think it is to live like we should?<br>I dont know how to live like we should! Hmm... <br>BHbreathlessly HIShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01824290326677969605noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-55116290301927985832005-11-13T15:42:00.000-08:002005-11-13T15:42:00.000-08:00For those who might be interested in the recent sp...For those who might be interested in the recent split of the First Apostolic Lutheran Congregation of Cokato, MN, there is <a href="http://f2.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/cMV3Q2Yy0DvSRNe8RW1Dda-aZucnS6LdtrE65SXgLyqvubYMZ3kHLZxVhfGkbEQZykykj1UdlMOLpXcztg5tnjXtx-k/Cokato%20FALC%20and%20Grace%20Apostles.pdf" rel="nofollow">some information</a> available at the Yahoo XLLL site. This information was written by Bob Pieti and is from the perspective of those who left to form the Grace Apostles Lutheran Church. The members of the First Apostolic Lutheran Church are also known as Heidemans or Heidemanians, although both the FALC and the SRK/LLC claim Arthur and Paul Heideman as spiritual forbears. Please join me in praying that a healthy and true faith prevails for the members of these groups as they go through this difficult time.The Greatest of these is LOVEnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-16784290293170530122005-11-13T17:52:00.000-08:002005-11-13T17:52:00.000-08:00How do you get to the yahoo exlll site?How do you get to the yahoo exlll site?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-3102429284695309262005-11-13T18:11:00.000-08:002005-11-13T18:11:00.000-08:00You can get to the Yahoo XLLL site by clicking her...You can get to the Yahoo XLLL site by clicking <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/XLLL/" rel="nofollow">here</a>.<br><br>The information on the split can be viewed by clicking <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/XLLL/files/" rel="nofollow">here</a>.<br><br>If you are not already registered, you will need to join the Yahoo Group.The greatest of these is LOVEhttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/XLLL/files/noreply@blogger.com