Hi Roger,

I think I am a very mixed up person right now, because I see too many things that are not truth

After hearing these posts and what we said in Sunday School today. WE discussed religions. Mostly the Catholic church and their beliefs on baptism. They think theirs is the only way, things have to be their way or else.They are the only ones that have it right. Then we have the sprinkles, the dripers, or whatever you want to call it. To me it is a dictatorship, it surely is not freedom and diffidently not from the heart and where is the love

I really think the Native Americans have had it right all along. They were with the earth, the winds, stars,and etc. I love their prayers.

Traditional Native American Prayer

O Great Spirit,
whose voice I hear in the winds,
and whose breath gives life to all the world
-hear me-
I come before you, one of your children.
I am small and weak.
I need your strength and wisdom.
Let me walk in beauty and make my eyes ever behold
the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things you have made,
my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise, so that I may know the things
you have taught my People.
The lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock.
I seek strength not to be superior to my brothers,
but to be able to fight my greatest enemy, myself

Make me ever ready to come to you,
with clean hands and straight eyes,
so when life fades as a fading sunset,
my spirit may come to you without shame.

Author Unknown

I love this, so much meaning to me so much thought.

Just some of my take on things as I see them. Don't mean, or want to upset anyone, think for yourself. Think with an open mind.
Myrna

Quote:
Hi Roger,

I think I am a very mixed up person right now, because I see too many things that are not truth

After hearing these posts and what we said in Sunday School today. WE discussed religions. Mostly the Catholic church and their beliefs on baptism. They think theirs is the only way, things have to be their way or else.They are the only ones that have it right. Then we have the sprinkles, the dripers, or whatever you want to call it. To me it is a dictatorship, it surely is not freedom and diffidently not from the heart and where is the love

I really think the Native Americans have had it right all along. They were with the earth, the winds, stars,and etc. I love their prayers.

Traditional Native American Prayer

O Great Spirit,
whose voice I hear in the winds,
and whose breath gives life to all the world
-hear me-
I come before you, one of your children.
I am small and weak.
I need your strength and wisdom.
Let me walk in beauty and make my eyes ever behold
the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things you have made,
my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise, so that I may know the things
you have taught my People.
The lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock.
I seek strength not to be superior to my brothers,
but to be able to fight my greatest enemy, myself

Make me ever ready to come to you,
with clean hands and straight eyes,
so when life fades as a fading sunset,
my spirit may come to you without shame.

Author Unknown

I love this, so much meaning to me so much thought.

Just some of my take on things as I see them. Don't mean, or want to upset anyone, think for yourself. Think with an open mind.
Myrna

Myrna, I have quoted all you posted because it just says so much of how I feel about now. The graphic is so true. I love being outside at night and hearing the those beautiful songs and during full moon it just has an awesome glow to everything. It is also about the only time I can just be alone and listen to those songs.

I was raised Baptist, joined a Methodist church during my first marriage hoping that husband would go since his parents went - no luck with that. I went back to Baptist and remained until I came back to Kansas. I was so disappointed with the church here in Burlington that I went to the Christian Church and finally joined there. To me, you find Jesus & God in others if they reflect it. Most of the people were loving and kind, I felt the love of God there. Recently we have had major changes. Our older pastor retired and we have a very young man with wife and son. No problem with that and he does have a gift of sermon delivery. His other gift, which in my opinion is his love, is performing with singing and guitar. So now each Sunday, we have a band performing on stage with new music that none of us know. But who cares about old folks anyway, right? I have lots of friends there and love to see & hug them but I am finding it very difficult to sit through a service. What is a person to do? Change churches - I am told they are all that way anymore. Yes, I too, am confused.

Hugs,

Sara

Dear sweet ladies,

Confusion is to be expected if we only receive the truth as others see it.

I was brought up as a Church of England christian. When a King for various reasons found that the church in Rome wouldn't let him marry and other demands he broke away from Rome and made himself the head of the new church. How can that church really hold credibility, there again, how can a church that murdered, plotted and lied through it's infamous Popes claim that their leader is chosen by God and is infalible.

No ladies. Sweep away your confusion. Even your churches don't have all of the truth either.

If you wish to follow a christian way of life then find others who share your wider beliefs. Live your life as you do, by being kind and thoughtful and MOST OF ALL understanding. I don't believe in a God that will punish you for what you either didn't know or understand.

Anyone on this planet who thinks that he has all the answers is deluded.

Your native Americans had beliefs that stemmed from their closeness to nature but later many accepted christianity but kept their other beliefs.

I quote that old adage often.

Moderation in all things.

Boring but so true and it also has it's equivalent in spiritual matters too. We should always be aware that others might seek to drag us to their cause or belief.

I always illustrate the traditions of a church in this way.

If I start a new church tomorrow along with five others and we sit around eating biscuits and drinking coffee, then, a hundred years from now, somewhwere on the planet people meet around five leaders and share coffee and biscuits IN HIS NAME. Why, because people need identity. Even your church or mine are guilty of this or similar. Is it bad? No. but it gives a church some control and identity.

I love and respect you and I hope that this helps.

Roger

Do you know who you are?

Do you have an interesting ancestory?

Although I can't join up all of the gaps I'm able to trace my family back to Donegal in Ireland (Now Eire).

This would have been the home my ancestors knew.

Roger,

The photos are fantastic! The tree has more glory than the nice building and man-made stuff, no matter how great the buildings and railings are, the trees are always better without even trying.

I was raised Catholic, had to be, my grandparents were from Ireland and my mom's entire family was Catholic. The rules of the nuns and priests always being right...not good...we're all mammals first, whether some people want to admit that or not, we're mammals, then people, then created in the image of God. Some people may not like that, since Christians are taught to believe we're created in the image of God first, but the Bible only says, "God created man in His own image" it doesn't say in the exact physical image, does it?...so we should look for inner ways that we're created in the image of God. I think the ways we're created in the image of God are...we keep trying and creating, even after numerous failures, we try and we create the things we want to accomplish, and in another way, we need an audience. Why would a perfect God need to create billions of people to worship Him? Perfection does not require worship, perfection knows itself and doesn't need to be verified by lesser beings. So if we're created in the image of that God, then we REQUIRE the audience, just as He REQUIRES the audience. Why? Who knows?

Catholic church mistakes, letting human nuns and priests behave as mini-gods, instead of requiring them to remember they are people, and should be punished as people, if they abuse kids, and the nuns are just as bad in their own way, intimidating and pushing little kids around in school, it seemed to be a requirement that nuns must strongly dislike little boys and badger all girls into becoming nuns or teachers or librarians. But then again, public schools are total chaos, if there were some way of enforcing the rules in school with the teachers and parents as a team, as in the olden days of Catholic school, when the parents usually sided with the nuns...today's public schools could use some of that tag-team adult enforcement without the abuse or verbal harassment.