Any cool spiritual material...

[searching_for_sunshine]

WOW... that was some article!! did you read any of the letters below the article, mav? very interesting.

having been raised in the lutheran church and gradually educating myself as to the world's other religions and spiritual awareness, this article confirmed things (of course in a soft way) and raised more questions in my mind. i feel that some of us, who choose to be, find a path that leads toward, for lack of a better term, enlightenment, those who seek more than what man has written through or "for" God. i always feel i have to clarify myself here because i respect Christian beliefs, as the rest of my family has found solace in those teachings. i, too, have at times found that solace but i also feel that there is just too much hypocracy in organized religion.

wouldn't it be an amazing thing if we could be so in tune with our body and the universe that we would not have to rely on our fellow man to tell us who to believe in and what to believe? and more importantly, wouldn't it be wonderful if "what is good, pure and just" was a universal belief? that would be an amazing thing but of course, where would tabloids and the media find fodder then LOL?

just some thoughts, hope i didn't bore anyone

[quirky]

I like the "nudge the balance" article.

[jimliker]

I am glad u liked it Mav & Quirky

here is something more :

CONFIDENCE, TRUST and HOPE


Below are three most important attributes that one MUST possess.....here
is how it is explained.

CONFIDENCE:
Once all village people decided to pray for rain.
On the day of prayer all people gathered and only one boy came with an
umbrella that's confidence...........

TRUST:
Trust should be like the feeling of a one year old baby
when you throw him in the air , he laughs......
because he knows you will catch him........

HOPE:
A human being can live for
40 days without water
8 minutes without air
but not even 1 second without hope....

[jimliker]

Roses and Thorns


A certain man planted a rose and watered it faithfully, and before it blossomed, he examined it. He saw the bud that would soon blossom and also the thorns. And
he thought, How can any beautiful flower come from a plant burdened with so many sharp thorns Saddened by this thought, he neglected to water the rose, and before
it was ready to bloom, it died.

So it is with many people. Within every soul there is a rose.
The God-like qualities planted in us at birth grow amid the thorns of our faults. Many of us look at ourselves and see only the thorns, the defects. We despair, thinking that
nothing good can possibly come from us. We neglect to water the good within us, and eventually it dies. We never realize our potential.

Some people do not see the rose within themselves; someone else must show it to them.

One of the greatest gifts a person can possess is to be able to reach past the thorns and find the rose within others.

This is the characteristic of love, to look at a person, and knowing his faults, recognize the nobility in his soul, and help him realize that he can overcome his faults.

If we show him the rose, he will conquer the thorns.

Our duty in this world is to help others by showing them their roses and not their thorns. Only then can we achieve the love we should feel for each other; only then can we bloom in our own garden.

[jimliker]

Little Candle


Once upon a time a little candle stood in a room filled with other candles, most of them much larger and much more beautiful than she was. Some were ornate and some were rather simple, like herself.

Some were white, some were blue, some were pink, some were green.
She had no idea why she was there, and the other candles made her feel rather small and insignificant.

When the sun went down and the room began to get dark, she noticed a large man walking toward her with a ball of fire on a stick. She suddenly realized that the man was going to set her on fire. "No, no!!" she cried, "Aaaaagghhh! Don't burn me, please!" But she knew that she could not be heard and prepared for the pain that would surely follow.

To her surprise, the room filled with light. She wondered where it came from since the man had extinguished his fire stick. To her delight, she realized that the light came from herself.

Then the man struck another fire stick and, one by one, lit the other candles in the room. Each one gave out the same light that she did.

During the next few hours, she noticed that, slowly, her wax began to flow. She became aware that she would soon die. With this realization came a sense of why she had been created. "Perhaps my purpose on earth is to give out light until I die," she mused. And that's exactly what she did. Master created you and I to produce
light in a dark world.

Like that little candle, we all can produce the same amount of light, no matter how small we are or what color we might be. But we can't produce light until we receive it from an outside source. That source is God, the light of the world.

[Jimenem]

I'm of the opinion that there is no such thing as mere coincidence or sheer irony. I believe EVERYTHING happens for a reason. But where's the line between Irony and God's poetic romance??

Let me tell you a true story:

About two month ago I was over at my best friends house (not knowing at the time that she would soon become my girlfriend) I wrote a spontaneous poem, completely impromptu (like all the ones I've posted on this site) whilst sitting next to her. The poem wasn't about her, it was about the joy of life. There was a line in it, let me quote "Climbing a mountain and tasting a kiss." It was a pretty good poem, if I don't say so my self. Anywhoo . . . just recently my girlfriend (Who is still my best friend) and I went on a date, the plan was the same old dinner and a movie routine, but due to unforseen circumstances we wound up sitting in a park under the stars just talking. She was upset over some issues that came up and I tried my best to just be there for her and I prayed for her as we were talking and soon enough, she was happy again. We sat together on the merry-go-round and talked and held eachother, looking up at the stars. It made me SO happy to just be with her, and being entertained not by a movie or any activity, but just by her company. Well, as the night progressed we decided it was almost time to leave, she needed to get home and take care of some things, but first I wanted to climb up to the top of this toy mountain they had next to the swingset, so I did, and she followed. We held eachother on the top of that mountain, and that's when we shared . . . our first kiss. It was incredibly magical, and later that night my mind triggered and remembered the poem I had wrote. . . needlesss to say THAT was scary! It's comforting to know that God has his arms around us, and that night. . . he left his fingerprint.

[jimliker]

The Boomerang


Whether we realize it or not, we are throwing the boomerang today.

A boomerang is an angular club we toss away from us that eventually
returns to us. In the game of life, we throw the boomerang daily,
in the form of actions and behaviors that we send out into the
world, and which return to us at some later date -- often multiplied on the
rebound.

We've heard this principle stated in different ways, including,
What goes around comes around. Or the Biblical phrases,

"Give and it shall be given unto you"

and

"As you sow, so shall you reap"

But how does this principle apply to our day-to-day life Simply put,
if we treat others with love and respect, we will find that others will
generally love and respect us. If we serve others, we will likely be served. Of course,
this law a lso applies to negative behaviors. If we are critical and
judgmental, don't be surprised when we are criticized and judged.

Many people don't believe in the boomerang principle because they
fail to view it with a long term perspective. In fact, the return for our actions
is seldom immediate. There is often a delay between our actions and the
rebounding consequences.

People also have trouble with this concept because they look for the
return to come from the same person to whom they gave something.
It doesn't usually work that way. We'll never know where the return
will be coming from -- or when it will arrive -- but it always comes.
It's really quite simple send it out and receive it back. So, if we
want to receive love....give love. If we want people to appreciate us....show
appreciation for others. And if we want others to help us, then lend
a helping hand.

We have the power to create the life we want. It all depends on how
we throw the boomerang.

[fluffy]

wow Jimenem, you really are a romantic lad..............lol.........that's so nice...........

fluffy

[Laura Laing]

Thanks Jimliker..today I feel like the boomerang hit me in the face....but I've been working on my technique for a second try....

[jimliker]

ur welcome laura

[jimliker]

Alexander's Three Wishes


There is very instructive incident involving the life of Alexander, the great Greek king.

Alexander, after conquering many kingdoms, was returning home. On the way,
he fell ill and it took him to his death bed. With death staring him in his face, Alexander realized how his conquests, his great army, his sharp sword and all his wealth were of no consequence.

He now longed to reach home to see his mother's face and bid her his last adieu. But, he had to accept the fact that his sinking health would not permit Him to reach his distant homeland. So, The mighty conqueror lay prostrate and pale, helplessly waiting to breathe his last. He called his generals and said, "I will depart from this world
soon, I have three wishes, please carry them out without fail." With tears flowing down their cheeks, the generals agreed to abide by their king's last wishes.

" My first desire is that! , " said Alexander, " My physicians alone must carry my coffin ." After a pause, he continued, " Secondly, I desire that when my coffin is being carried to the grave, the path leading to the graveyard be strewn with gold, silver and precious stones which I have collected in my treasury.
" The king felt exhausted after saying this. He took a minute's rest and continued.
"My third and last wish is that both my hands be kept dangling out of my coffin ."

The people who had gathered there wondered at the king's strange wishes.
But no one dare bring the question to their lips. Alexander's favorite general kissed his hand and pressed them to his heart. " O king, we assure you that your wishes will all be fulfilled. But tell us why do you make such strange wishes?"

At this Alexander took a deep breath and said: " I would like the world to know of the three lessons I have just learnt. I want my physicians to carry my coffin because people should realize that no doctor can really cure any body .

They are powerless and cannot save a Person from the clutches of death.

So let not people take life for granted .

The second wish of strewing gold, silver and other riches on the way to the graveyard is to tell People that not even a fraction of gold will come with me. I spent all my
life earning riches but cannot take anything with me. Let people realize that it is a sheer waste of time to chase wealth.

And about my third wish of having my hands dangling out of the coffin, I wish people to know that I came empty handed into this world and empty handed I go out of this world."

With these words, the king closed his eyes. Soon he let death conquer him

and breathed his last. . . . .

[quirky]

Bumping. I've wanted to respond to this for awhile, but words are important and I'm not sure yet how to do it.

[mav]

quite a few precious articles you have jimliker!

jimenem, wonderful writing from the heart!

searching, yes I too find I've to change my definition of god from time to time...currently it's 'energy'..lol the kind that Jim had mentioned.
-

[jimliker]

tks Mav

[quirky]

How bout a little joke....my friend sent to me...




Jesus and Satan were having an on-going argument about who was better on the computer. They had been going at it for days, and frankly God was tired of hearing all the bickering.

Finally fed up, God said, "THAT'S IT! I have had enough. I am going to set up a test that will run for two hours, and from those results, I will
judge who does the better job."

So Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away.

They moused.

They faxed.

They e-mailed.

They e-mailed with attachments.

They downloaded.

They did spreadsheets.

They wrote reports.

They created labels and cards.

They created charts and graphs.

They did some genealogy reports.

They did every job known to man.

Then, ten minutes before their time was up, lightning suddenly
flashed across the sky, thunder rolled, rain poured, and, of course, the
power went off.





Satan stared at his blank screen and screamed every curse word known in the underworld.








Jesus just sighed.

Finally the electricity came back on, and each of them restarted
their computers.





Satan started searching frantically, screaming:

"It's gone! It's all GONE! "I lost everything when the power went out!"

Meanwhile, Jesus quietly started printing out all of his files from
the past two hours of work.

Satan observed this and became irate.

"Wait!" he screamed. "That's not fair! He cheated! How come he has all his work and I don't have any?"

God just shrugged and said,

" JESUS SAVES! "