General Chat

The Christian festivals supplanted the old pagan ones, and a lot of the symbolism - particularly Easter eggs and bunnies - have nothing to do with 'Passiontide'.

Hi Lynda It's always so interesting to read the many and varied replies to a thread like this. I have come to the not very satisfactory conclusion that I can never hope to know what the meaning of life is and what happens to our 'spirit' when our body ceases to exist. When the most learned and intelligent people who have ever lived cannot agree, what hope is there for little old me? I have a very vivid image of a program I once saw on TV. A man was doing extremely complicated mathematical equations on a blackboard and his dog - a patient and willing audience - was watching him intently but obviously didn't have a clue what it was all about. I feel like that poor dog - I look and listen and read all I can, but I am still none the wiser! God is always referred to as our Father - always a 'he'. Can those who have a strong faith in God please tell me what image they have of God? Do you see him as a benevolent old man watching over us and sitting in judgement of everything that each one of us does? Or do you see him as some sort of creative energy force? Or some other image? Please don't think Im being frivolous - I'd really like to know as this is something I really can't get my head around. My son died of cancer when he was 28 - he believed that there was nothing after death. I could accept his death more if I thought that he was wrong and that his 'spirit ' still exists somehow on some plane. I do envy those of you who have such a strong faith in whatever it is that you believe. Anna

Personally, I don't think there's anything else after we die, however I hope that I'm pleasantly surprised, although not for a while. A question, if the only way to heaven is via Jesus (to paraphrase), does that mean anyone that non Christian is barred from the afterlife then ? thats a bit mean isn't it ?

There are some really interesting thoughts on here Thanks everyone for contributing. I feel like Anna really hear, read see stuff about God and am none the wiser, so I am in limbo land too:)) I'm so sorry to hear the loss of your son Anna, I feel for you. My nan was a devout catholic, well I say devout she had 13 children and never married:)) All of her children hated the religion, she made them scared of it, my Mum was told by a priest, that her children were bastards because she married in a registry office, nice man ! After that she decided not to have anything to do with the church, although because of fear she said she couldn't go to sleep at night without saying pprayers, it had been drummed into her as a child, that she had to pray, or something nasty will happen. My brother and I were never made to go in any direction as far as church went, but if I was anyhing I lean towards budhism, but as a friend said I swear to much to be a budhist :))) I do love churches though, when in Rome a couple of years ago we watched Pope Paul address the people from his window in the Vatican, thought I may have had a bit of a leaning towards the church when I saw that but nothing, I just thought blimey my Nan would be jealous :) As always when I'm in Rome I love to visit St Peters, and see The Pieta, a sculpture by Michaelangelo, it depicts Mary holding the body of her son after his death, I could look at this for hours, not sure if it's a religious feeling, or that it was carved from a single piece of marble by someone in there 20's, whatever the feeling is it's a good one, so mabe I'm not a lost cause after all, Just hope that if we have another go at this life, I am as fortunate again, to have another happy life, well so far it's been great :)) Lynda

Paul - the good news is that the invitation is open to everyone. If someone opened the turnstiles at a football stadium and invited you to come in free of charge but you refused, you could hardly call them mean when you didn't get to see the game, could you ?

Wish someone would open the gates for the England v Sweden game tonight Jayvee, I'd go in :))))

I firmly believe in life after death and that our soul/spirit lives on. I remember the last time I saw my Gran, it was a few days before she died and she was saying strange things to my Mum about not worrying and that she'd only be over the other side etc. She said goodbye to us both that day like she knew it would be her last, I really believe that she knew her time was up on this earth, but I also know that she was not afraid to die - she knew what awaited her and was at peace with that. At Gran's funeral it was all very surreal and when we stood beside her grave to say our final goodbyes I felt her around me and new that she was watching over us. I feel her around me all the time and know that she is watching out for me - it is comforting. Until my Mother married her second Husband when I was coming up 11, I had never been made to go to church - I had gone a few times with my Gran but it was never forced. Mum's second Husband was a Methodist Minister and from that moment on I had the church well and truly shoved down my throat - eventually I rebelled and refused to have anything to do with it. Since then I have thought long and hard about spirituality and have come to fnd my own path - I do not follow any particular religion and do not feel a need to label myself. I simply believe in God and the afterlife in my own way, and it's a way that doesn't interfere with or upset anyone else. I do believe though, that most non-believers will be pleasantly surprised one day - I do not think that God would turn away anyone who basically wasn't a bad person. Kaye x

Lynda,Buddhist swear too!!lol We have the most beautiful'Stuppa' here(Buddhist temple) In Benalmadena, Next time you visit your friend there you should go its really peaceful,I go there at least once a week!

Can I just ask those who think the only way to heaven is through Jesus and the Church of England, what happened to all the people who lived before Jesus and all those who lived before the creation of the Church of England? I'm not being facetious - I'm genuinely interested in your opinons.

I too think Doris Stokes was a wicked fraud. I saw her on TV once, saying 'I have a little blonde girl here, her hair is in bunches...' considering that 90% of little girls had their hair in bunches at the time, I wasnt impressed. Of course, some poor bereaved mother thought it was her child. I simply cannot believe that the Bible is the Word of God. It isnt - God has never written anything down, as far as I am aware! The Bible is the Word of Man, and a very selective, twisted word it is too. The Bible was a collection of religious works, carefully selected by the Roman Church in the 3rd century, and more was left out than was included. The Bible was copied by hand for many centuries, and anyone who has spent even five minutes on Ancestry, can see how easily mistakes could creep in. After all, if you had spent three weeks beautifully illuminating a page of the Bible, you are hardly likely to rip it up and start again just because you mistranslated a word. If I have any religious beliefs at all, they are my own. Like Len, I believe we are part of a massive cosmic consciousness, and that we are all here to learn lessons - if we do not, then we have to come back again until we do. I can, just about, believe that some Superior Power created this Cosmic Consciousness, but whoever that power is, he does not hand out punishments, nor exclude certain people from some exclusive society in the sky, nor does he wish us to give him false praise - he is impassive. OC

I've never thought of it like that David, be interesting to see others views. OC you obviously have the same views on Doris as I have. Roxanne i will be coming to Benalmadina in September, maybe I'll see you there, I wont swear though :)))

Dear David & others who have asked questions, I'm pretty sure no-one said salvation & eternal life comes through the Church of England! Sadly various denominations over the centuries have twisted & interpreted the Bible in different ways & many types of church have become lukewarm & wishy-washy in their beliefs & worship. Leaving this aside, Christians believe that God created us to have a relationship with Him, but because we are essentially selfish & choose to do the wrong thing, we can never be 'good enough' to please him & spend eternity with him. But, because of his love for each of us, God sent his only son to die the most painful death ever invented, and in doing so to pay the price we should deserve. So a ransom has been paid to set us free! All we need to do is accept that free gift; no-one is excluded from this offer, but many choose to exclude themselves, by choosing their own way. If there had been an easier or better way, don't you think God would have worked that out- and spared his son that terrible suffering? Denise

Lynda,If you do, let me know:-))

Denise,I respect your faith, I really do,but you havent really answered the Question. Jesus was a jew, prior to his death Christianity did not exist,does that mean that all those people before christianity will be damed,I dont think so! You do not have to be a christian to be a good person, I know people of many faiths who are good people who do great work ,I also know plenty of people who say they are good people and arent,I think God knows who they are, the tongue can lie the heart can not.

I've always wondered why God, if there is one, didn't just make us with an inbuilt faith, would of made all our lives simpler, we'd all get on because we'd all believe the same thing, cutting out all the wars and fighting. But that's too simple I expect :)) Lynda

Hi Roxanne, I can see now that David asked about people who lived before Jesus...sorry I didn't address that bit! The Old Testament tells us that God tried Plan A before he tried the ultimate sacrifice! He gave the Jews, God's people, the Law to try to keep... but could they manage it? Not likely! And neither does humanity today. But God wasn't prepared to give up on his creation... so he sent Jesus to take the rap in our place. As far as the 'good people' thing, it doesn't matter how hard we try, we could never be good enough to match up to God's holy & perfect standards...so in order to satisfy his love, but also his justice, God has arranged a way for us to be made 'holy & blameless in his sight' by accepting Jesus as our saviour! If this sounds like a load of twaddle to you, that's exactly how I felt when someone told me when I was a teenager- it seemed just to simple to be true! Churches & 'religion' complicate this simple truth so often, but my experience now assures me of what I chose to believe by faith! D

Hey Lynda! Imagine this choice: a robot who followed you, obeyed you & never argued with the other robots OR a friend who got to know you, grew to love & trust you & chose of their own free will to spend their lives with you??? That's why , I believe, God gave us the right to choose to follow Him or to ignore Him! Of course he knows which is best for us, and could force us, but where's the love & relationship in that? Denise

Hi Denise I have a fairly strong faith myself and am C of E but don't seem to see things as the other christians on this thread do:) I think everyone goes to what I see as heaven, regardless of religion, belief or denomination - and as far as different religions go, they are all worshipping different versions of the same God. But the God that I believe isn't going to say well I know Ethel lived a good life, was kind and caring and never hurt a soul but I'm not giving her eternal life because she didn't get my message while she was alive:)

But if God made us, why not make us happy robots, why give us doubts? If I were making the world think I'd do it differently than God did, but maybe God's a man :))

Sorry Dickens, although I respect your obviously sincerely held beliefs, I cannot share them. What kind of God sacrifices his SON?? Which one of us would willingly put our own child through such torture? Now, if God had come HIMSELF, then I might be more impressed. And of course, there are the suppressed Gospels, and historic, eye-witness accounts, which tell us that Christ did not die on the Cross...I dont want to get into all that Holy Grail twaddle, but there IS historic proof that something was 'going on' at the time of Christ's supposed crucifixion. The so-called Gnostic Gospels do not record Christ as dying on the Cross and those Gospels were suppressed by the Roman Church for nearly 17 centuries. I dont have a problem with the concept of God, but I have a serious problem with Man's interpretation of God's wishes, as preached to us by organised religion. Religion has caused more war and death than anything else ever devised by man. OC