faith kirstin faith is being sure of what we hope for and certian of what we do not see. 990418 ... ceorl comfortable with the unprovable 990419 ... amy none explain the way and i won't call it insanity 991209 ... valis i'd like to think that everyone knows something, but no one knows everything, and thats a fact. and you dont have to. sooner or later, we all have to trust someone completely. it's how we learn to trust ourselves. 991228 ... tnt that his green eyes will whisper the truth even when his lips will not. 000114 ... gaudior rain falling hypnotically to the sidewalk a warm fire the green eyes of venus and a guardian 000114 ... old hick Consider the implications of salvation based on faith alone. Faith in Jesus Christ's sacrifice of himself for the sin's of the world and in his triumphant resurection over death. By it's very nature, faith is belief in something unseen. More acurately, maybe, it is belief in something unseeable, unknowable. So picture two people in your head. One has faith that Jesus is the truth the light and the way. The other believes that he is not. Both are beliefs based on something unknowable. A man cannot KNOW that the gospel is, well, the gospel; nor can a man KNOW that it is NOT the truth. If God can only avert his judgement for those who believe one way, the other has to be damned. So here are two guys doing the SAME thing; believing in something unknowable. One gets damned, one doesn't. That could be viewed as arbitrary punishment from God. And before you start with arguments along the lines of "everyone gets to hear the gospel before they are damned" remember that the nature of faith means that someone would have to switch from one faith to another for an arbitrary reason. This is one of the two reasons why I can't be a Christain (notice: can't, not won't). I suppose that fundamentalist Christian thought could be true, but it appears to imply that God is arbitrary in his salvation. Leaving some poor bastards out to dry. God, let me renounce religiousity. 000215 ... MollyCule my only faith is in my own faithlessness . . . 000509 ... e anela but it goes back to my theory -- if he truly was divine, then he knew the outcome of his sacrifice before he made it and the notion of predestination takes hold and seemingly negates the concept of faith. on the other hand, if he was genuinely afraid and not entirely willing to play along with the game then it stands to reason that He Himself was experienceing a lack of faith. It raises the question: If God doubts Himself and the outcome of His own plans, is He really God? 000509 ... tarin faith is when seeing and believing become the same thing. 000509 ... plain religious man faith may be in the unseen; but the unseen is not the unknowable. some things can just be known to be true, by some kind of intuition, without needing any external evidence. maybe you won't believe this to be possible; but maybe if you were one day to feel this for yourself, then you might understand. and thinking of belief as that which others want you to do. forget about the others. just ask yourself, what do I want to believe? 000608 ... vermouth so this agnostic hiker is out in the backwoods on a very challenging hike, when he slips and falls into a gully, breaking both his legs. To make matters worse, a curious grizzly bear spots him and starts loping down the hill. This man is terrified. he has never prayed a day in his life, but at this moment, he piously clasps his hands together and says "Oh, dear god. I know I've been a sinner all my life, but if you will only make this bear a Christian right now, I will be content with whatever misfortune the rest of my life brings, and I will sing praises to your name. Amen." The bear stops in her tracks, clasps her paws together and says "father, bless this food of which I am about to partake..." 000907 ... sabbie faith in myself is all i need... though faith in goddesses and gods and faeries and angels and humans and monsters and spirits and mermaids and dragons and dinosaurs and pooh bear are fun games too. 000918 ... marjorie if you tell me that you are flying i'll smile and nod and i'll believe it but i'll still look cynical 001104 ... daxle as stupid as I think you people of faith are, I would be you if I could doesn't make sense, I know 001229 ... unhinged the day i lost faith in the world i gained an immeasureable amount of faith in myself. my middle name is faith. i wonder if that has anything to do with my neediness. 010123 ... Morelen What happens when you have no faith and god, and one day you realize you are that god 010124 ... chanaka even though i still have a headache even though my contacts are blurry even though i am irritable even though i have a wall of work in front of me and a wall of ice behind me even though my hands shake and my feet ache i still have faith in me. do you know that you can never get to me, get me down? the reason is because i have faith in myself...i am the only one who can make a difference in my life. me. 010124 ... silentbob i get so sick of those fucking jokes talking about atheists and agnostics getting eaten by bears or getting in car accidents or plain wrecks. it really makes me think about that one book that tells everyone to love everyone else and it makes me angry that people "of faith" only have faith in themselves and others like them. i have faith that everyone will get what they want after they die. But other people only have faith that i'm going to be fuel tossed into an endless furnace, keeping the angels warm....some faith... Just because i don't have faith in the same thing as you does that mean i'm worse off? is the idea of someone who isn't "fortunate enough" to have said faith getting eaten by a bear funny? Sure, it's a funny joke. But if i've heard one, i've heard them all. 010124 ... kx21 Can one live without faith? 010125 ... grendel i've been doing it for some time now 010125 ... mikey faith is people who are not fake and pretend to be grand people yet every day but sunday they are scum of the earth like everyone else. faith is letting another person take care of your children. faith is opening the door of your house and expecting your car to still be there. faith is one who holds head high yet wont try and push their mind onto others. faith..is someone who DOESNT need to quote a bible verse every 10 minutes to make them stronger. to me a strong religious person is one who has a open mind not closed. rules are made to be broken. the most predictable thing about life..is the fact it is unpredictable. there are few in this world today who TRULY have faith. most or false claimers and biggots who only follow certain philosophies for selfish reasons or peer pressure. 010306 ... Moe ...knowing that the Devil might take delight in the things that I do, but being a little holy, dont care...fate 010320 ... dB Faith. Improbable. Humans tend to use faith as a crutch to support themselves. Faith is similar to trying, eg: I have faith that he can do it. It's rediculous. 010320 ... mikey i agree with dB 100% 010320 ... kx21 Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence... Faith is Illogical... Faith is Blind? 010321 ... The Truth Faith is the exact opposite of doubt. Faith is knowledge of God's will. Faith is like exercize for your spirit. When you believe (have faith) in good things like healings, and blessings, and good will towards poor people, you are giving with your spirit, and that takes, and makes your faith stronger for the next time. Faith is the power within us that proves that we are children of God. Without it, we are incomplete...always worried that something is missing from our lives. There have been many GREAT men and women (and angels) from many different religions and "faiths" that have spoken volumes of truth about faith. My favorite teaching about faith comes from Jesus Christ, on that one day when he said, "If you have enough faith, you can say to this mountain, 'Lift up, and fall into the sea' and it will be as you have believed." Do you think that's a lie? At first I didn't believe what I was reading, then I wondered about the human mind, what it is capable of, the limitless qualities of the imagination. I know this teaching is true, I have even tried it, feeling luke-skywalkerish and to the amusement of my friends. I tried to tell Mount Ranier to fall into the Puget Sound, I believed I could do it, but there was always that tiny hinge of doubt in the back of my mind that whispered "You can't do it! It's impossible!" I still try. Nothing is impossible. 010412 ... oh pee um everything happens at the right time. this is called faith in the universe. 010425 ... phil there is nothing to believe in, sadly, happily, undoubtedly, who knowedly,. 010426 ... dB Is there nothing to believe in? In this case maybe we need a new casue. Maybe for once we have to believe in ourselves, and each other. If you believe the man in the seat in front of you in the bus is a good, decent person. Or if you believe the lady at the stall who sells you your paper every morning is honest and caring, then it's a start. 010426 ... phil see what I mean? 010501 ... phil Faith is just a part time thing, just sticks on ya, after you stop thinking for a while. You are in your thoughts which are, for me anyways, different depending on how you look at them. They make sense, yet they jsut go off on their own. Faith is when you decide it's ok to get stuck on a thought and you start believing in all sorts of wierd shit. Like everyone burping is telling you something. Or everytime you see a tea bag it means something special. Beliefs cannot be avoided, but I think they are jsut one of those things that can't stand there ground but keep coming back. 010501 ... kx21 Tell me your True Faith and I will Tell you how wonder you are... 010501 ... george michael well i guess it would be nice... 010501 ... Dafremen Yes..yes..yes I do...I've got faith..how about you? Faith is turning your PC on without even CONCERNING yourself with the idea of it crashing on you. Faith is looking forward to your paycheck EVERY SINGLE payday completely disregarding the fact that it's already spent before you get it. Faith is marrying the "girl of your dreams" at a time when you aren't old enough to know what the "girl of your nightmares" is like or whether or not her and your dream girl just might be the same person. Faith is biting into a sweet juicy apple WITHOUT looking for insect holes or bruises first. Faith is assuming that Direct Deposit is so easy to start up that it's probably just as easy to STOP. Faith is eating at Taco Bell. Faith is going to sleep unconcerned with the notion that you might not wake up again or that the whole thing has been one big dream. Faith is unprotected sex. Faith is driving a $300 car, with no insurance on the Expressway. Faith is all of the potato chips you expect to get when you buy that bag o' chips n' air out of the vending machine. Faith is sitting on a public toilet seat without wiping first. Double faith points for not looking either. Faith is trusting contraceptives. Faith is blowing your nose and not looking at the kleenex afterwards. Same goes for wiping your ass and toilet paper. Suicide is NOT faith, neither is religion. Although some might say that suicide is a religion and most would agree that religion is suicide. Faith is believing what you read or DISBELIEVING what you read without REALLY objectively investigating the validity of what you read. Faith is pressing the 'change return' button on a vending machine. Faith is letting someone shave you with a straight razor. Double faith points if they're blind, triple if they really don't like you all that much. Faith is drinking cheap beer and NOT expecting to feel like sh*t in the morning. Faith is taking a chance based on nothing more than willingness to take that chance. So tell me now....do you have Faith? - - 010501 ... kx21 Faith is as fuzzy as Love... 010501 ... anoan faith is the act of being able to deny the reality of the world with a conviction that is unshakable 010501 ... Alexander Beetle If you have none, I pity you and hope that one day you will remember what it is to be human. You know who you are. NEVER EVER EVER confuse faith with religion. I see that happen a lot, and it just makes my teeth gnash. 010501 ... Dafremen Ok so the ABOVE was NOT my blather folx. Here's an interesting little twist. What do you do about some little nitwit that's decided to commit the ULTIMATE online sin....stealing your identity? Hmmm. I think I'll just let him/her give themselves away. In THAT blather the statement "NEVER EVER EVER confuse faith with religion. I see that happen a lot, and it just makes my teeth gnash. " Just ISN'T something I would write. Also, though I might occasionally ACCIDENTALLY repeat a blather, they are normally consecutive repeats. Anyhow, let's just hope this funny little guy gets whatever it is he's looking for out of taking my identity. Enjoy little guy! The REAL Daffy : ) P.S. Hope you're not trying to get me to leave blather...you're setting yourself up for disappointment. 010502 ... Dafremen Ok so I'm obviously suffering from senile delusions. MY browser made it look like that last blather and my previous blather were one and the same. Either that or my more than ancient eyeballs have finally shrivelled to the size of CRAISINS and screwed up my vision. My apologies to the Beetle, sorry do0d....old people...you know. 010502 ... The Truth Faith Vs. Doubt. If have spent a great deal of time thinking about this topic. If you have faith that a cheeseburger is going to make you fat, it will. But If you doubt that you'll ever gain any weight, you wont. If you have faith that your muscles will grow and develop by repeatedly lifting weights, they will. However, If you doubt that your muscles will grow and develop by lifting weights, they won't. Likewise, If you have faith {which is the confidence, assurance, and a focused, solid BELIEF)that the baseball will fly out of the park when you swing the bat, it will. And thus, if you doubt (which is the uncertain, reserved and worrisome disbelief) that you will hit the ball, well then you may strike out. Faith will enable us to do anything we can possibly concieve..but we must have absolutely ZERO doubt. Doubt is the anti-faith. Faith is the thing athletes are talking about when they speak of their determination to be number one. Faith is the thing hypnotherapists are talking about when they say "Visualize yourself climbing that wall..." Faith is the thing motivational speakers talk about when they say, "You can DO ANYTHING you put your mind to!" Faith is the thing your psychology 101 professor was talking about when she went over Self-Fulfilling Prophecies. Faith is the thing telekinetics use to move objects without touching them. (As if faith was the invisible arm of your subconscious mind). Faith is the thing that humans use to believe that their prayers will be heard by the Creator. Faith has an easy pattern: 1..Concieve 2..Believe 3..Achieve Concieve (an idea) Believe (it will happen) Achieve (you did it!) So you see, faith is THE SECOND MOST POWERFUL thing a human has. (Love, obviously is the most powerful.) By powerful, I mean it has the capability to transform the world around them, isn't that what power really is? If you can focus and harness your faith, you can move mountains. But beware, if you focus and harness your doubt and worry, and many people do this inadvertantly, it may seal you into a rut that you may never get out of. 010503 ... Dafremen Ruts are comfortable. 010503 ... Alexander Beetle Yes. Too comfortable. 010503 ... kx21 Dear The Truth:- Given that If you have faith that a cheeseburger is going to make you fat, it will. If you have faith that a cheeseburger is going to make you slim, will it? 010503 ... nemerfaD And hey, Daffy, just so you know, it isn't me either, I distinguish myself by being your shadow, your mirror reflection (that's why I did not remove the bitterness from MY tone either on that other subject) sicerely, - - nem 010504 ... The Truth Dear kx21, Yes. All things are possible to those who believe. That's what pharmacuetical companies are banking on. If you take prozac to help you feel better...it will. But as any lab researcher knows, if you give a depressed person a placebo, and tell her it's prozac. She will believe that whatever it is she is doing (taking a pill) will make her happy, and it will. These are specific analogies that can be applied to the broad spectrum of this topic. 010504 ... kinkazoid i think that i might be losing my faith in god. i used to not even question the fact that god created everything..but now im starting to. all the stuff that i learned in bio about evolution and stuff got me really thinking. like how the hell did god get here in the first place? like who made him? and if he is so powerful why doesnt he just get rid of the devil and stuff so people are like happy and whatnot?i just dont understand anymore. but im not gonna stop believing in god and stuff cuz if i believe and he exists i wont go to hell, and if i believe and he doesnt exist then i still wont go to hell you know what i mean? hell is a scary place so i've heard im not gonna waste eternity on being there. why is life so damn confuesing? why dont i know how to spell well? 010611 ... kinkazoid i think that i might be losing my faith in god. i used to not even question the fact that god created everything..but now im starting to. all the stuff that i learned in bio about evolution and stuff got me really thinking. like how the hell did god get here in the first place? like who made him? and if he is so powerful why doesnt he just get rid of the devil and stuff so people are like happy and whatnot?i just dont understand anymore. but im not gonna stop believing in god and stuff cuz if i believe and he exists i wont go to hell, and if i believe and he doesnt exist then i still wont go to hell you know what i mean? hell is a scary place so i've heard im not gonna waste eternity on being there. why is life so damn confuesing? why dont i know how to spell well? 010611 ... kinkazoid why did it put it there twice i only pushed it once i swear, boy thats stupid 010611 ... nocturnal I bet it was God. it was the best way He knew how to show you He's there. that double blather was a miracle. a miracle I tell you! 010611 ... The Truth see also: GOD_VS_SATAN 010611 ... phil Evolution is a decent theory, but there are many ways to disprove it. Don't lose your faith, there is no way to disprove God and I think that it in some way is good, becuase it is better to believe in that until we figure out what is really going on in the end. 010720 ... aeon flux Why couldn't God create evolution? Why msut God be associated with the creation theory? 011020 ... Norm To me this has nothing to do with god. 011021 ... Norm Try to tell me I'm wrong. 011021 ... Casey I think faith and hope are very closely related in a way. Many different people believe in differant things. And each person can only hope they are right. But who knows, maybe when we all die, we go where we believe we will go. Who knows. 011021 ... Shinji16 For Lent I'm giving up my religion. What are you giving up for Lent? 011021 ... ejo I guess it would be nice if i could touch your body i know not everybody, has got a body like me. but i gotta think twice before i guve my heart away, and i know all the games u play cause i play them too, but i need some time off from that emotion time to pick my heart up off the floor, but when love comes down without devotion it takes a strong one baby but im showing you that door rock gotta have FFFFAAAAAIIIIITTTTHHHHHH GOTTA HAVE FFFFFFAAAAAAAIIIITTTTHHHH GOTTA HAVE FAAAIIIIIITHHHHHHH BABY i know your asking me to stay say please, please please dont go away, cause ur giving me the bluueeeess baby... anyways i like that song, its proly the only song by Limp Bizkit that i like but either way 011025 ... Mahayana ][is married to fate][ 020308 ... Syrope Faith is pushing the blather button expecting it to post, but only once. Man, faithful people are picky... Faith is sitting in a chair without touching it to make sure it's there...so we really put a lot of faith in our perceptions of reality. If we see something and think that it's there (no matter how many times it is proven that the mind creates what it wants in the blind spot right between your eyes)...then we're gonna trust it. We have faith... my favorite faith joke is the hobo that gets his leg caught under a train track. the train's comin and he starts to panic. he cries out to God for help, promises to work for him if he just helps him out this one time, swears that he has faith. well just before the train gets there the man leaps free. he brushes himself off and waves at the sky, says "No thanks, God, got it myself!" 020309 ... eklektic i was listening to some good ol' Bob Marley and was wondering why he was so strong in his faith and what made him that way - to go out and sing about it and try to tell others that its the only way. i started to talked to In SonLITE about it (i call him that because i always spell his name wrong and i think its terribly disrespectful to misspell peoples names - it happens to me too often) and found out that he knew quite a bit about Rastafarism and what Bob Marley believed in. he also told me that Bob was a big part of how he had his faith. its was a lengthy and complicated discussion about Christianity and Rastafarism and God/Jah and Satan and everything else. he was happy that i was thinking about such things. i was happy that at that moment, when i was wondering about something so important, someone was there to talk with me about it. thanks for opening me up about that, In SonLITE. i'll be forever greatful and think of you everything i listen to my 2 new Bob Marley cds. 020706 ... Human Behavior Faith without doubt is meaningless 020707 ... in SonLITE Hope brings Love and Love builds Faith and Faith reveals Grace. 020707 ... v FAITH, n. Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel. -Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary 020817 ... kx21 How is Faith associated with M_Bubble? 020911 ... devalis knowing without seeing, and the willingness to die for the sake of that knowledge. 020912 ... IWishICouldGoWithDavid What I need to fall into, consume, run toward, exist in and trust... It's just SO damn hard! 021217 ... wish~ and it's a leap of faith when you believe there's someone out there... it's a leap of faith when you believe that someone cares. oh, when i call out to you, will you be right there, right there? -michelle branch, leap of faith 021218 ... p2 "Well I guess it would be nice If I could touch your body I know not everybody Has got a body like you." - George Michael (Faith) 021218 ... me its like the wind. i can't see it but i can feel it 021221 ... screwing for virginity "God has no religion." ghandi i have taken this to heart 100%. Anyone who has a good relationship with God, or what ever name you want to give him/her/it/they, will get a positve afterlife, and it doesnt matter if you call your self a christian, a jew, a muslem, a mystic, a whatever. that reason is why i know that if i were to be hit a metior tomarow i will be going to hell because i have let my rlationship with Him sputter and almost die. *warning, the opinions expressed above, may not necessarily reflect those of blather, you, or anyone else. 021221 ... megan anyone who has faith to move mountains, but has not love, he is a gonging cymbal. 021222 ... the box But how? How? How? How? How? How? Oooooooooooooooooooo... Think out of the box. 030410 ... ferret i think my faith is.... not as strong as it could be, i want it to be stronger, i want a closer relationship with God. I feel so.................. empty right now. I need MORE. I feel like i'm spinning right now, it feels so weird, i'm so disconnected from life right now..... I want something deeper. I want to know how to get it. 030413 ... imposter I've got oodles. Don't I? 030904 ... unhinged faith_is_my_middle_name and every time i see the_truth 's name here i shudder at the fight we got into. 030904 ... MeKoy Faith is beliveing in something that cant be proven or shown to you. Just to make your self belive you can some day be set free. 031226 ... anonymous -_- I don't get this thingie called faith. I know in my heart if God existed he would give me a clue. I am not talking about some old dusty book with scary stories - I mean he would really get down with me and chill! But the funny thing is... I was walking home a few days ago passed the ghetto and three guys pulled me into an ally so deep and narrow it was like a tunnel. When I saw the first guy start to unzip his pants I just drop to my knees and started praying. He just looked down at me pull out his nasty old weenie and said - yah grl that's just wherr I wans ya 2 be. And, I just looked away and prayed even a little harder. Then I heard a whoop whoop cop car thingie sound and saw a bright light shine at the end of the tunnel. Next thing I knew they all ran like roaches when you turn on the light. OK so -- it was no burning bush but it sure saved mine! So perhaps I'll have to reconsider this thing called faith! -_- 040218 ... realistic optimist faith applied reasonably is practical magic 050302 ... eggory faith is belief without proof. there is the reason to believe in god that it's a convenient comfortable idea. there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. the only thing that pisses me off is when people have faith, but believe it to be knowledge. the best way of religion, if your particular god allows it, is to believe what you want to while accepting the fact that that is the only reason why, and then accept that that's no reason why everyone else should believe it 050708 ... mt hifives eggory 050801 ... judas hmmm? 060325 ... oosls i have an aunt named faith 070118 ... W.C. Prayer helps when you remember to pray. Pray that I remember faith and pray, so that I may pray for your world to better. I do love you, oh precious and tormented soul; and whenever I pray I pray most fervent for you. 070206 ... karyn I've lost it. I don't have faith in myself as a teacher. That's not who I see me as anymore. I thought it was what I wanted, but it is no more my identity than being a musician is James's. Who am I kidding? I'm not that noble. 100322 ... In_Bloom It comes and goes now Today's fool for believing Yesterday so sure Why when you need it Fleeting torturing so thin Inside out and raw And still here we are Spinning to see it proved true Some things anything Pretendings of Love Or we've maybe the real thing Our faith calls the shots 100323 ... minnesota_chris am I an evangelical Christian? Probably not. I finished high school while attendinga church that halfheartedly believed in evangelism, but deep down knew that they didn't want to go around bothering people. Didn't help god, didn't help the people you were bothering. I still think belief in God is fantastic, but it looks like silliness if you don't believe in God (those two are paraphrases of bible verses). Now I say that, a God that requires a choice to believe in, can't be demonstrated in a way using normal science. It's not like gravity, you throw an apple up a million times, a million times it comes back down, and you can show that to someone else. There's no reason to "believe in" gravity, such a phrase sounds kinda silly, it's demonstratable whether you believe in it or not. But faith in God requires belief, it's what you think, despite not being able to demonstrate it. Again, if it's demonstratable, it's not belief. If I could hand you a cupful of God, I sure would. So are people in church a bunch of whackjobs, believing in the invisible sky-man? (First of all, I have to warn you, churches have tons of agnostics, doubters, as do the clergy.) Not always whackjobs. Most Christians are fairly intelligent and rational. So obviously something convinced them. Which makes me wonder if any person could come to an understanding of God through running a test. Christians call this "taking a leap of faith": if God exists, and God is in favor of some sort of activity, if I bravely take a risk in something like that, I'll see evidence of God's help. Not that demonstratable, gravity-type evidence that could convince anyone in the world, but enough evidence to convince the tester. 131022 ... epitome of incomprehensibility Written on a pad of white paper, in what I am informed is "November the 30 of 2011": "The alternative of faith is reason. The alternative of reason is uncertainty. Always rely for mathematical opportunity on uncertainty." Although my pet name for the supreme being is Infinity. Make of that what you will. 131024 ... e_o_i ...and it should really be "alternative to," unless I've lost my faith in prepositions. 131024 ... unhinged is vital 141101 what's it to you? who go blather from