thinking

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What are the Chances


     Just what are the odds of some event happening somewhere back in time setting in motion everything we see? The plants, animals, fish, birds and even the insects and of course us humans came from something or someplace. Something started it.

     The scientifically accepted law of probability which is called Borel’s law of probability, states that the odds of anything happening would have to be better than 1 out of 10 to the 50th power. That is a lot of zeros. However, one might think anything is possible if it is just one point below this. It is stated by some of the very influential evolutionist that for things to evolve from some random something happening would be most difficult. Dr. Carl Sagan of Cornell stated the odds would be 1 in 10 to the 2,000,000 power. One now believing creationist – Dr. Harold Morowitz a biophysics from Yale – states the chances of evolution happening as we are taught in our schools is 1 chance out of 10 to the 340,000,000.

     Putting this in simple words. Based on scientific numbers, the odd’s of evolution happening all by itself, no help, no one starting it, is impossible based on the odds given by the scientific world.

The question we should ask is:

It’s not what started everything, it’s who started everything?

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“Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff”


     How often have you heard the statement, “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff?” There have been books written on this subject. Many of us already ignore the small stuff. Let’s face it, we all have a busy life. We have work, family, home repairs, hobbies, our education, homework, not to mention the little bit of downtime we each need. We may live in a region of the world that just staying alive is the daily objective. So why sweat the small stuff. What difference will it make anyway?

     What if some of that small stuff plays a role in who we really are, or maybe we could say, who we become? Some of that small stuff can have a major impact on our lives. Sometimes the small stuff becomes the foundation behind larger stuff. When was the last time you heard the statement: “It started out small, and then it just snowballed?” At this point, we just remember the snowball, not the snowflake.

     Exploring the thoughts we often contemplate, who am I and why am I here, we find some of the influences that have had a major impact on each of us. We find that around the mid-1800, the influences of a small group of men, did just that. Charles Darwin was a trained theologian, believed in God, while at the same time questioned how everything got its start. After struggling with his health, and the loss of two of his children at a very young age, it appears that Charles became embittered with God. After this, his friends, along with a strong influence from his grandfather, Darwin convinced himself to publish the ‘Origin of Species,’ to go public with his theory. Some might say this is small stuff. Just one book. However, this was the small stuff that started the evolutionary train moving.

     While this was just one book, the floodgates opened for those not wanting to believe in God. Those that wanted to push forward the sciences in the evolutionary direction attempting to disprove that God exists. Darwin was not the first, a few others produced theories for the last 1000 years, but Darwin was the first to push it over the edge, which earned him the name of, “Father of Evolution.” As time moved on, we have others such as Albert Einstein in the early 1900’s who founded the theory of ‘Special and General Relativity.’ Then in the late 1960’s, we find George Ellis, Stephen Hawking, and Roger Penrose pushing the theory of ‘Space-Time Theorem.’ Then around 1993, we have Russell Hulse and Joseph Taylor providing the theory of ‘Second Dimension of Time.’ Now we have ‘String theory,’ and ‘M theory.’

     We continue to see theories designed to enable science to work toward answering the question about life. These theories are designed as true at the time they are considered. Then the effort to disprove them begins. However, this can set the foundation for the theory of evolution to be accepted as reality. If we aren’t careful, we find ourselves totally submerged into the indoctrination of how we all evolved. That there was a big bang that started everything. It is taught in our schools as the only way, not just one of the ways. While we don’t think this is important, it plays a serious role in who we become, how we think, and how we influence others after us.

     This may seem small to us because we have a life to live and we are all very busy living it. But the theory of evolution is one side of the story. Why should we not be given both? Why are there those that only want us to think one way?

    My challenge to each of us is to question why ‘science’ is not also used in disproving what is written in the Bible? The theory that ‘there was a creator.’ The theory that ‘earth is approximately 6500 years old?’ Why not teach this available information in our schools. Why are these theories excluded? Why not allow each of us to determine for ourselves what we would like to wrap our arm’s around, what theory to place our faith in?

     As we work down this list of possibilities as presented at the beginning of the Bible, using available science, and scientific findings, then defining key models around these understandings, we will try to see the other side of the understood but not often told story.

“to be continued”

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What is “Truth”


     In the world of Science, Faith, and Religion, we can find ourselves facing the monumental task of determining what the real “Truth” is. To take a real objective view of the question, “what is the truth,” we need to identify what we understand each stands for.

Question one: What is Religion?

      It is the belief in God, a god, or in a group of gods. It is the organization of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship God, a god or group of gods. It is an interest, belief, or activity that is very important to a person or a group of people.

Question Two: What is Faith?

     It is a strong belief or Trust in someone or something. It is a belief in the existence of God or a strong religious feeling of our beliefs. It is a system of religious beliefs.

Question three: What is Science?

     It is knowledge about or study of the natural world based on facts learned through experiments and observations. It is a particular area of study, such as biology, physics, chemistry, or any particular branch of science. It is a subject that is formally studied in school, college, and universities.

     Breaking down the key three elements that play such a significant role in who we are, what we become, how we believe, and how we react to situations in life, we find that they all cross what we might call “boundaries of life.” Science plays such a critical role in our lives. It has advanced the medical world to levels one sometimes stands in amazement of. The automation world, and most important to most of us, the communications world. The advancement of the phones, smartphones, computers, including the internet, has changed lives. We google a location and trust that we will arrive at that place if we follow the map provided. We choose to place our faith in that search we initiated. If you have had happened to you what I have, it has sometimes been misguided, and I ended up someplace different than planned. However, as these applications advance, they get better at guiding us where they believe you are planning to go based on what you were searching for.

     We have defined a simple way of how science and faith work together, but how does religion fit into this. If religion is a form of interest, belief, or activity that is important to us, then science and faith become a religion by definition. If one believes that a specific area of science is factual, or that a specific application is perfect, then by placing our faith in it, it becomes a form of religious belief. I’m not trying to push the envelope here, I’m just using how each of the three elements of life is defined.

     What is most interesting is that we have so many “Religious” beliefs in this world, it becomes hard to define which of them hold the “Truth.” We have so many advancements, findings (both supporting and negating), and discoveries in the science world, especially in the areas of who we are and how everything began, which of them do we hold as “Truth.” This put’s “Religion” as defined right in the middle. This brings us back to the question, what is “TRUTH?”

     Where do we place our faith? Is it in God, or some other defined definition of god, or in our science’s and how they are defined and taught? It takes faith to believe in God, or any god, just as it takes faith to believe in only what is proven by science.

     If we look at little deeper at science, we find that it is a process of defining a theory and then using scientific experimentation to prove the theory wrong. It is not an attempt to prove it correct. If it cannot be proven wrong, it can then be seen as true with no proof behind it until someone comes along and proves it wrong. Faith now becomes a strong ingredient in science. With “Faith” as an ingredient in science, it becomes a way of believing and becomes a “Religion.”

     What is more important, is the foundation of this short discussion. How do we know what to believe, where to place our faith, what religious belief we will follow? Just what is true, what can we hang our hat on, what can we stake our life’s beliefs on?

“What is Truth”

     I hope you will follow me down this road of discovery as we attempt to utilize science to evaluate and define who we are and how this all could have begun.

 

“To be continued.”

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To Love or to Feel Love


Do you love what you love, or just the feeling? This question was part of a personality test written by Jonathan-Safran-Foer and posted by my friend David Kanigan. A great question that is worth the time to ponder. Giving this some thought it brought many questions to mind. These are just a few.

Do you love the feeling you get or do you love unconditionally?

Do you love when someone is not there or only when you are with them?

Do you spring into action when something attacks what you love or do you sit and wait for the dust to  settle?

Would you die for what you love or only attempt within reason to help?

Can you show your love or is your love just a hidden feeling you can’t or don’t express?

Can you show your love even when it is not to your benefit at the time?

Can you love and forget the shortcomings of your love or do you let the shortcomings affect your love?

Do you always nurture your love or just when you want that feeling of love?

Would you give up anything and everything for your love or would you sit back and wait until your timing was better for you?

Are you addicted to your love for the right reasons or are you just addicted?

Can you let your love go and still love what just left?

What is true love of someone or something? Love is very precious and should hold a place in our heart that no one can disrupt. Only we can spoil that love. That love does not spoil itself. One can spoil love for the other but it was not love that spoiled it. If we could all choose to love unconditionally then love would flourish! The hurts would disappear. The lives of everyone in this world would be affected in a positive way allowing God’s plan for each of us to be fulfilled. The golden rule comes to mind. “Love your neighbor as yourself”. Do to others as you would want them to do to you as my Grandmother always said. True love would change our lives and those around us. My resolution for the future is to attempt to always love unconditionally. What will be yours?

 

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Everyone has Faith


  • It takes faith to believe in Allah.
  • It takes faith to believe in evolution.
  • It takes faith to believe that good works will get you to heaven.
  • It takes faith to believe in the Cast system.
  • It takes faith to believe we only live once and then we are dead and nothing else matters.
  • It takes faith to believe we come back to this world as someone or something else after we die.
  • It takes faith to believe that if you kill someone in the name of Allah you will have virgins waiting for you on the other side.
  • It takes faith that when you go to sleep you will wake in the morning.
  • It takes faith that when you get in a car, a cab, a train or an airplane to go someplace you will arrive safely.
  • It takes faith to order food in a restaurant or buy it in a store and believe it is safe to eat.
  • It takes faith that if you work hard at your job you will get a raise.
  • It takes faith to believe you can do something you have never attempted to do.
  • It takes faith………..

It takes some level of faith to believe in anything. We have those that will try to confuse the idea of faith by adding the word blind faith trying to make your faith unbelievable. Some confuse faith in evolution by removing the words micro and macro. Some people speak as if they have all the answers, that they have facts, that they have proof. Some people believe they are better than you or I. Some people have an agenda that is for themselves and not anyone else unless you agree to the faith they have in their agenda.

You see “FAITH” is something that we all have one way or the other. It is where we choose to place that faith that is important. So the next time we find ourselves thinking we have all the answers, thinking everyone is crazy if they don’t believe as we do, take a step back and realize that everyone has faith in their belief. The key is to make sure that where we place our faith is real or has the highest chance of being true. To openly share your faith and why you believe in it, to listen to the opposite points of view, to look into the chance of something being true, to look into the real background of any faith, religion or belief will bring each of us closer to what we should place our faith in. Faith should not be based on what we like to do or what makes us feel the best or what we want to hear. It should be based on something that is real to each of us, something that we can say holds our faith steady or something that is not threatened by others or ourselves because we look into other faiths or beliefs. Real faith should stand the test of investigation by you or others.

So where do you place your “FAITH”?

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Memory of the Heart


When confronted with a situation that makes us feel sad or overwhelmed with grief – we many times say our heart aches. When we loose a loved one – we say our heart aches. You may experience that feeling in your chest that grabs your emotions and many time will bring tears to your eyes before you have a chance to put them in check. Have you ever heard anyone say their brain aches when confronted with something emotional? A lot of emotion can cause a headache over time, but not instantaneously.

When we think about memory we generally associate this with our brain. It has the ability to hold our past thoughts and experiences. We can recall them and add them to something new that has happened. We can analyze and rationalize our thoughts.

What Causes our heart to ache?

Several years ago I read a true story about a young girl. It has been a while but I will do my best to tell it as close as possible to how I understood it. She was sick and in desperate need of a heart transplant.  The parents of this young girl were notified one day that their daughter needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible. A young girl had died and her heart was a match for their daughter and it was in transport to the hospital. They rushed her to the hospital, the surgery was performed and she received the heart giving her new life and a bright future. This young girl never had any issues with sleeping prior to the surgery. However, after the new heart was placed in her body she started having dreams and nightmares. She kept them to herself for while but when they keep becoming more real she told her parents about them. The doctors told them that this would pass as she recovered from the surgery. But it didn’t. She would see the face of another young girl. She would see that this girl was terrified of something. The dreams continued and she would see an attacker beating this girl in her dreams and ultimately stabbing her to death. The face of the girl and the attacker were so real along with all the details of the brutal murder including names. Her parents decided to ask about the donor and found that she was a victim in a murder but no other details were made available other than the murder had not been solved. After talking to the doctors they contacted the authorities in charge of the investigation and told them about their daughter’s nightmares. They came and met with their daughter and she told them all the details of the dreams which include descriptions and details including what both the girl and the man looked like and how the murder was committed. These details were impossible for her or her parents to know anything about. The authorities took this information and were able to apprehend the attacker and with the details this young girl was able to give, the authorities were able to make a case and the attacker was sent to prison for life.

So does the heart have memory? Does it have feelings?

It has been proven that there is what they call “cellular memory” around the heart and some other major organs even though we don’t understand it well. In this case the terrifying memory was transfer to this young girl along with her new heart. You can find other examples of this with little research effort. People have had food cravings even though they did not like the food prior to the surgery.

When we say our heart aches it is very possible that this is those deep seeded memories that are not just in our mind but buried deep in our chest around our heart. Is it possible that this is where our soul resides – the core of who we are? In the Christian belief, we say that when we accept Jesus for who he is and ask for his forgiveness he will come into our hearts. He never said into our minds. We hear people say let your heart lead you in the right direction. Do what your heart tells you to do.

Many things we just take for granted. We never stop long enough to give it the thought it deserves. If God gave each of us a place in our body that can be filled with love, gratefulness and even forgiveness, maybe we need to give this some serious thought. Just maybe everything that has been written about God is true. Which ever side of this belief you current sit on, it is important to recognize the possible implications this brings to each of us.

 

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“A Short-Cut to the Future”


I can’t add any words to the message of this post. It states it so well all on its own. Powerful word for thought and needs a place in the Think Tank. Thanks Secret Angel

The Abuse Expose' with Secret Angel

“A short-cut to the future”…
is the path many want to take.
But is it the right path…
or a really big mistake.
And these words came to me…
as I lay down and pray.
So I will share with you…
as my message for today.

So many people want…
their destiny to hurry.
But looking to the future…
all they can see is blurry.
So they begin to search…
amongst the many faces…
always looking for love…
but in all the wrong places.

View original post 124 more words

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Why God Why?


Why God? Why did you let this happen? I thought you were supposed to be a good God. They were good people. How could you let their little child get so sick and die? If you really control everything, then why did you do this? That precious little child did nothing wrong. Those parents loved him and they did nothing but help others. I can’t believe you did this. WHY?

Tackling this question can be very controversial. It has so many negatives tied to it. This is also one of the hardest question I have ever been confronted with. The answers are hard to find and many times hard to swallow.  Writing them down using only a few words on the subject is difficult. But this is the Think Tank, so no question is off the table. So here it goes.

The question: If God is a good God, if he created and can or does control everything, why does he allow a child to get sick and die?

We can lose a child to an accident which is tragic. Many times it happens very quickly, and it has long-lasting effects on the family. We want to blame the accident on ourselves or the person that caused it. We tend to place the blame someplace. However, when we lose a child that becomes ill with some disease and is suffering with pain that lingers, we have so much time to wonder why. We have no one or nothing to blame; we just wonder why.

This question is many times at the core of why people doubt God and make decision not to believe He even exist. We as a human race tend to blame every bad thing on God and seldom give any credit to God for any good things. I guess we could say that if God is responsible for and allowed something bad to happen, he is also allowing or making all good things happen. The question is did he make it happen? Does a father or mother make their child fall and get hurt, or did they pick them up and try to make them better? No one knows for sure why God allows something bad to happen. What we do know is that He said He takes care of his own and that He has a place for us forever. He just never told us when we will go there. He didn’t tell us exactly what it would be like, He just said if we love Him he prepared this beautiful place for us. Having a child leave this world to live with him in paradise is not a bad thing for our child. They have no pain, only joy and peace for ever and ever.

It’s for sure a very tragic thing for the mom, dad and family that lost them. We all feel that they never had a chance to live their complete life. They missed out on growing up and so many of the things we have experienced. Most of all, this family has the pain of this loss and miss having their child with them. We as a family are heartbroken. Sometimes we can become very bitter wanting them back with us. Our mind tries to figure it out but all we can say is – Why God? How could you do this?

We all know this world is not a perfect place to live. Even if it started out to be perfect, we continue to mess it up in many ways. Bad things are happening including the many things that we can credit directly to our human race and it’s desires. If we were to start analyzing man’s contribution I am sure it would take a book or two. In this case I truly believe that it is not God that made the child sick. I also believe that it would have been a tragedy if God had allowed the child to stay really sick, continue suffering or to survive and live a life in pain. So maybe God reached down or sent his Angels down and picked this child up. He loved them so much that He took them out of their pain. It hurts each of us when we think of our loss while we are still living, but if we believe in God we will see our child again and live with them forever, not just for our short life here on earth.

There are many thoughts and even arguments on this subject. While I can say I have never had to bare the burden of loosing a child. If I do, I trust that they will be living in Heaven and I will be with them someday forever? I know that I would never get over my loss, but I trust that I will be happy they are waiting for me to join them someday.

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The View of an Eagle


Lifting my eyes towards the sky
Imagining I am an Eagle that can fly
With wings spread wide and head held high
Feeling that uplift can bring tears to one’s eye

The view below was sitting so still
It felt so good it must be God’s will
When looking around the clouds I could see
All puffed up big but soft as can be

As the updraft of air starts to dwindle
Down, down, down I continued
With life’s past thoughts quickly emerging
Both worlds start converging

I start to wonder just what I had seen
Soring so high where the air is so clean
Where it was easy to see and to feel so free
God’s wonderful world came in focus for me

Again I looked down with a new open mind
Treating my past as one of a kind
The updraft was back and rekindled my though
On my wide spread wings it had caught

Higher and higher I began to climb
Above the scant clouds in a very short time
The view from above I could see the earth
I really began to feel my true worth

Life took on a new meaning
A little like spring cleaning
Everything seemed so clean and so free
I just couldn’t believe it, it just couldn’t be

But God opened my eyes so I could see
All is not lost if you just believe in Me
Open your heart and let Me in
And I promise I will forgive all of your sins

I opened the door into my heart
And then my life began a new start
With God by my side I wondered no more
My life had changed right down to the core

As the Eagle flies high
With his eyes he can see
Gods wonderful gift
It’s so great to be free

By: Wm. Forbes