boasts of Athiests II

One feature of both this and the other thread seems to point to a basic difference between folk, those who seem to be always needful of stimulation and always disappointed that they are not stimulated, and another group that somehow, perhaps miraculously, always seem to find something there to excite them.I mentioned in the other thread the result of a recent rain here at the house, and how it brought out a Brazillion little snails. I spent quite a while that morning looking at and watching the little critters, their eyestalks were amazing and waved independantly, not at all like the uniform motion of grain in a breeze.Now I have seen snails before, collected snails, lay down in the grass and follow one as it searched for whatever snails search for (never have found out), so seeing snails is not new, or even unusual. But that did not prevent my total awe when once again I had an opportunity to experience snails. It was a great moment to be cataloged with other wondrous experiences for future moments of pleasure.Another such incident happened while I was working for GA DNR. I lived about 70 miles from my office, and the daily grind was a slightly over one hour drive south on I-95 in the morning and another hour north on the same concrete each evening. This was the routine 5, often 6, sometimes 7 days a week for over a decade and a half.It was a wondrous experience. I got more done in those two hours than during all the intervening ones. It was a time for contemplation, planning and most of all, observation. One morning another DNR vehicle pulled up beside me and traveled along the route in step with my car for many miles. On that morning I got to see an Osprey snatch up a fish and then while in flight, turn the fish head on to reduce air drag and make flight easier. About a mile further down the road they had recently cut the grass on the shoulder, and a whole family of wild boar were feeding on the new tender growth. There were old tuskers and sows and about a passle of piglets all munching away and totally ignoring the sixteen wheelers racing by only feet away.In the office parking lot I walked up to the driver of the other DNR pickup, excited to talk about what we had seen that morning. He had seen none of it, no Osprey, no pigglets, not one bit of all the awsome things that had been presented to him that morning.Folk have said that it is impossible to be in constant awe and wonder, and they are correct. It can be done, but those who do so simply miss out on all that is around them.I feel sorry for them.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

What absolute nonsense. What? And your point is. LOLCertainly it is the people who get to appreciate the experience of wonder, but it is the reality, the universe, nature that is so awsome.And why lower expectations? Why not raise them? Why not work at enjoyment, at observation, at wondering?As I said way back in Message 49Edited by jar, : appalin spallin

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

If you really believe that "Reality is neither awesome nor un-awesome", then all I can do is pity you. What a dull gray world you must inhabit.I feel so sorry for you.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

And your evidence for that is? Dancing goal posts anyone? Then it's likely you have much to enjoy. As opposed to the world I inhabit? Again, all I can say is how utterly sad. Yet more dancing goal posts?And you have evidence for that?If you bothered to look at the posts made by me in both of these threads you will find they are filled with experience. But because you are so pitiful, I am going to grace you with a secret.To find the awsome and wondrous beauty of nature and life, you need to look. It is not hard, but it does take effort and most of all, practice. Let me give you an example or three.I just got back from a run to the store, needed some burger, doggie bisquits and sodas.As I pulled out of the garage there was a dove in full display strutting out in the middle of the street, and along the edges, struted about a brazillion females just watching the show.As I walked up and down the isles of the store, there was a lady ahead of me who had a child in the basket. The child was reading the labels on a box of cereal, pointing out each letter of each word with a chubby finger as she sounded them out. As they stopped I moved out around, and as I passed I told her she was doing great reading."I'm going to REAL school this year!", she said and the pride and joy in her voice was reflected in the smile on her mothers face.When I came out to the car, a gentleman was loading groceries into his car right beside me. We finished at about the same time and took our carts to the little return pen. I thanked the guy for bringing the cart to the return area and he said "I know. Folk leave them all over the place" as he pointed out several just left in parking places."Let's gettem", I said.And he and I ran about the parking lot collecting carts like school kids. Brought them back and even inserted them to make it easy for the kids to take them back inside. It was fun, took maybe five minutes and totally unneccesary, but still for awhile there we were working together and both of us enjoyed the moment.Reality is what you make it. If you wish to live in a dull gray shadow world, fine, that is your option.It is only that way though by choice. Wonder and awe and love and beauty and excitement and joy and hapiness are also there if you but accept them and work a little.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Was there something in that post, Message 49 that was not reality?Was there something in that post, Message 97 that did not correspond to experience?Edited by jar, : fix mistaken link

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

But not all of us want perfect beauty, the imperfections enhance the perfection. Some of use love cherries with pits (they had some at the store but I decided on apple turnovers instead) and olives with pits and find the difference in those where the pits come free and those where the meat sticks to the pits wondrous. It isn't the be-all and end-all of life, it is life.And GOD has revealed how the flood happened. It didn't.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

We don't doubt that both you and robin believe that. Yup, his filter, life as robin defines it.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Way too funny Faith. The point is that no one but you and Robin have seen the examples that have been put forward by Robin as boasting. That is the filter. We are not discussing the definition of the words but rather Robin's application of those terms in regard to several specific quotations.Look, if Robin wishes to be annoyed or upset over someone saying that they are of exemplary moral character, that's fine. The rest of us can just sit back and snicker. If you want to agree with Robin that's fine. The rest of us can just sit back and snicker.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

If you think that the point of the shopping cart story was related to doing good deeds, then you totally missed it. That is even sadder.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Getting to be quite a habit of yours isn't it? while in reality, what jar said was: Now I know that you love reaading stuff into what others say and then alleging that they infact said what is in YOUR mind, but come on.Since it looks like you were not able to understand the little story, I'll try walking you through it.The key point of the incident was this paragraph: The guy and I had a ball. We played like kids. We laughed, ran too fast for tired old arthritic bodies, giggled and in general simply enjoyed a wondrous moment.It's really sad that you missed the whole point of the story and that you seem incapable of appreciating the joy and wonder that GOD provides for us, whether in the beauty and simplicity and grace of the Theory of Evolution or the awe at the age of rocks or mountains or fossils or the expanse of this marvelous universe.It's sad, and I pity you and I will continue praying that someday GOD will lift the blinders from your eyes.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

We all have that happen. Thanks.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Some here have suggested that these last two threads have demonstrated a lowering of expectations and imagination outrunning reality.I disagee.Instead, what I see in the examples found in these threads is a celebration of the fact that Reality far exceeds even our wildest imaginings and a call to expand our expectations.We have been given testament after testament to the wonder and awe to be found in everyday living, to the grandeur of even simple things, moments in the sea of experience. We have heard exhortation after exhortation to joyfully catch what is there, not as a project, not as some special event, but as the moment passes, to capture it, savour it, enjoy it.The wonder is there, in watching a child learn to balance on one foot or to skip or to blow bubbles or learn the secret of reading or to run when you are really way too old to be running around parking lots in 98 degree weather.This is not boasting, it is celebration.It is not self praise but a joyous affirmation of life itself.Now some might expect me as a Christian to place a religious slant on this, and I will.GOD has given us the ability to see, to experience, to know that there are always Answers to Question. There will never be an end to the Answers we can Question. That is the wonder, the constant awe inspiring reality to life.GOD has given us this universe for us to question, to observe, to catalog, to immerse ourselves in the stream called living.Edited by jar, : appaling spalling

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

So What, Faith?Why would anyone even care if that is true or not?

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Yeah, right. Like objective value has more value than subjective value. Way too funny.See, it is moments like this that are just plain wondrous.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Let me quote your example for posterity. I'm sorry robin but that has to be the silliest post in both of the threads. Where do you get these things?Today I had to run some cds up to my sister. It is a day with a bright sky and small white clouds that look like a flock of sheep dancing on a blue meadow. About a mile south of my sisters, all traffic stopped. It seems that once again someone had left a gate open and the emus and bison had wandered out. I jumped out of the car and helped the folk shoo the critters back inside. The bison are easy but the emus always try to break away. Anyway, in a few minutes all the critters were back inside the fence and the gate closed and bolted.Now, was that experience of more or less value because it was subjective?

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion