Woke up this morning.

[Yechezkel]

I woke up this morning and felt a sense of peace, only a few hours of sleep but I felt like the Lord gave me a full 8.

I have a sense of peace, I felt as if the Lord spoke to me, like He told me welcome home, that He is back beside me again, not that He ever left but I had gone away from Him. I had prayed myself to sleep, prayed when I woke up, and I feel like everything is going to be ok, for the first time in a long time.

I know this is the Lord, calling me back to Him, to the way I was before I fell away from Him, I will follow His voice, and walk His narrow path.

Yechezkel

[Charly22]

Your post is very moving and inspiring to me! The Lord is always there, and I am glad that you have found your connection back to that never ending, always abundent, life giving source of love! We should all strive to pray and seek as you have!

[Yechezkel]

Your post is very moving and inspiring to me! The Lord is always there, and I am glad that you have found your connection back to that never ending, always abundent, life giving source of love! We should all strive to pray and seek as you have!

Thanks for the reply Charly, Faith is truly a gift. I am so glad I feel closer to the Lord again, I look forward to getting closer still....

I'm glad it was inspiring for you :)

[Alessio]

I have not practiced my religion for more than 15 years, but just came back in summer last year.

Going to church every week helps me a LOT. I cannot believe that a few months ago I was so against religion and now I am so into it. I had a sudden conversion that I cannot explain. I went thru two months of insomnia after this conversion. And in Lent, I decided that giving up meat wasn't enough....it has to be real penance...what is my sinful way? P and M....i am giving up both not just for Lent, but forever!!!

I am a catholic and participating in the RCIA program. I learnt that "lust of the flesh" is my weak point. I am not going to let the evil one take over my life.

[Yechezkel]

I have not practiced my religion for more than 15 years, but just came back in summer last year.

Going to church every week helps me a LOT. I cannot believe that a few months ago I was so against religion and now I am so into it. I had a sudden conversion that I cannot explain. I went thru two months of insomnia after this conversion. And in Lent, I decided that giving up meat wasn't enough....it has to be real penance...what is my sinful way? P and M....i am giving up both not just for Lent, but forever!!!

I am a catholic and participating in the RCIA program. I learnt that "lust of the flesh" is my weak point. I am not going to let the evil one take over my life.

That is absolutely amazing Alessio! Congratulations in your renewed walk with the Lord!

I know it wont always be easy but you are doing the right thing, and believe me the Lord is so happy right now that you came back to Him!

We all sin, I do a lot, but I know He never gets tired of taking me back.

If you fall just get up again and realize that He won't abandon you, He knows your going to sin, we all sin, it's not how many times you fall that measures the man you are, but how many times you get back up and try again.

Y.

[rosie]

Congrats Y!

Maybe this is what is wrong with my husband. He is 100% atheist and has no moral or ethical code. NO reason to exist besides his own basic needs, until you die - he doesn't believe that you go on afterwards.

I wish he would turn to spirituality or - something - that replaces p/mb in his world instead of relying on the gaping hole to get him through.

[Phil413]

Maybe this is what is wrong with my husband. He is 100% atheist and has no moral or ethical code. NO reason to exist besides his own basic needs, until you die - he doesn't believe that you go on afterwards.

At least he's honest about it. Most atheists I've encountered (and I used to be one myself) don't seem to think-through the implications of their beliefs (or lack thereof). Dostoevski had it exactly right when he wrote, "If there is no God, everything is permitted."

If there is no God, then our concept of morality, of right and wrong, is nothing more than random chemical reactions in the 3-pound piece of meat behind our eyes. Why should your husband think the chemical reactions in your brain are any more valid than the chemical reactions in his own brain?

Any time we use words like "should," "ought," "wrong," "right," "shouldn't," we're borrowing from a theistic worldview. Such concepts make no sense otherwise.

Phil

[Charly22]

Phil, your post inspired me, and reminded me of a poem I have read and held onto for years:

There Is No Unbelief
By Elizabeth York Case

There is no unbelief;
Whoever plants a seed beneath the sod
And waits to see it push away the clod –
He trusts in God.

There is no unbelief;
Whoever says when clouds are in the sky,
“Be patient, heart; light breaketh by and by,”
Trusts the Most High.

There is no unbelief;
Whoever sees ’neath winter’s fields of snow,
The silent harvest of the future grow –
God’s power must know.

There is no unbelief;
Whoever lies down on his couch to sleep,
Content to lock each sense in slumber deep,
Knows God will keep.

There is no unbelief;
Whoever says “tomorrow,” “the unknown,”
“The future,” trusts the power alone
He dares disown.

There is no unbelief;
The heart that looks on when the eye-lids close,
And dares to live when life has only woes,
God’s comfort knows.

There is no unbelief;
For thus by day and night unconsciously
The heart lives by that faith the lips deny.
God knoweth why!

[rosie]

At least he's honest about it. Most atheists I've encountered (and I used to be one myself) don't seem to think-through the implications of their beliefs (or lack thereof). Dostoevski had it exactly right when he wrote, "If there is no God, everything is permitted."

If there is no God, then our concept of morality, of right and wrong, is nothing more than random chemical reactions in the 3-pound piece of meat behind our eyes. Why should your husband think the chemical reactions in your brain are any more valid than the chemical reactions in his own brain?

Any time we use words like "should," "ought," "wrong," "right," "shouldn't," we're borrowing from a theistic worldview. Such concepts make no sense otherwise.

Phil

I disagree. As a former atheist I can say that my concept of right and wrong were social constructs, they were based on theistic principles but that doesn't make them theistic in nature - the concept of morality was instilled into us as social animals - without society there is not need for morality. There is no innate sense of right and wrong, we are taught right from wrong.

[Phil413]

I disagree. As a former atheist I can say that my concept of right and wrong were social constructs, they were based on theistic principles but that doesn't make them theistic in nature - the concept of morality was instilled into us as social animals - without society there is not need for morality. There is no innate sense of right and wrong, we are taught right from wrong.

It sounds like you're actually agreeing with me. I was saying that in a purely material world, there is no right or wrong. These concepts are, as you say, merely social constructs that we are taught; they have no objective validity. If society decided that from henceforth, child abuse was okay, then it's okay.

But the thing is, nobody really lives like that. We may claim to believe that morality is determined by the society, but we still criticize the Nazis, for example. We don't say, "Well, that society determined that Jewish lives weren't worth living, so that was okay for them." For some reason, we act as if that's not okay, no matter how many people say it is.

So, we act as if there is a deeper, objective morality, that exists apart from the whims of this or that society, and that only makes sense in a theistic worldview.

Phil