C_Beth Posted October 3, 2016 Group: Royal Member Followers: 41 Topic Count: 31 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 5,324 Content Per Day: 1.63 Reputation: 3,617 Days Won: 2 Joined: 06/08/2015 Status: Offline Share Posted October 3, 2016 On 10/2/2016 at 1:17 PM, markdohle said: Birds and things Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father's care. (Matthew 10:29) Everyone once in awhile people will ask me what my favorite bird is. I have always been partial to crows. When young I wanted to have one for a pet, but of course that never happened. Then there is the Blue Jay, a bird that I find beautiful as well as strong and powerful. I admire these birds and am always delighted to find out how intelligent both blue jays and crows are. They are quite remarkable. So yes I have a fondness for aggressive and large birds. However there is another side of my love of certain kinds of birds. After Sunday Chapter this morning, I was walking towards the retreat house going around our community ‘inner garden’. On the grass near the water fountain and gold fish pond, I spotted a lone sparrow hopping about the grass looking for breakfast I would assume. Sparrows are small birds, plain, and very numerous. Yet when I looked at this little, tiny, insignificant bird, I felt a level of joy that I don’t get from the larger more aggressive birds. Yet we are told that not even sparrows are outside God’s care. Is anything outside of God’s care, probably not, since he is the creator of all. Yet sparrow’s get eaten, perhaps most of them do in the end, die of diseases and gets their necks broken when they fly into windows. Yet they are cared for by God. I believe that animals are not here for us, as some human seem to think, but here for their own journey through life. I would think that sparrows know of our existence, but we are not human beings to them, perhaps we are not seen as a danger, since we don’t eat them, so to them we are life forms on the periphery of their lives, just as they are in ours. I don’t go around thinking of birds, animals and plants, but when I come upon them, I find delight and then move on. Humans are special because of our type of self awareness, but are we anymore special in the eyes of God (?)…..to tell you the truth I don’t know. We may be the only species that can have a conscious relationship with God (maybe not) and in that we are special, yet the smallness of a sparrow, its plainness, is I believe in actuality parts of its beauty and specialness to God. We are all part of creation and I believe that we are slowly learning to grow in respect for all life and hopefully learn to appreciate the lives that these other brothers and sisters have. Different, yes, but to the sparrow its life and survival is of utmost importance, while to us, it may simply be one of millions. Yet each consciousness, no matter what, must be truly sacred in the eyes of the Father. It is easy to objective other life forms forgetting their complexity and beauty. Even those that we consider pest, still have their place even if we have to fight them, insects for example. Yet many (perhaps most are all) have been around millions of years before man…there is no such thing as a ‘thing’ in nature, though we may try to make it so. We can go full circle and then look at our fellow human beings in a different light. We may learn to see beauty in ways that we may have not thought possible. Each human being has such a vast inner world, that they could be considered a universe all to themselves…..it is amazing that we can communicate at all. Yet it is our common humanity that allows the building of a bridge towards each other, and compassion when we realize like with all of creation we will feel joy, suffer pain and deep loss and then we lose ourselves in death. Faith gives hope and I believe that strength needed not to descend into despair or bitterness. We can choose to trust or not, many do not know that they have that freedom. Yet the death to self that is needed to be trusting towards God can be a long process, for we always trust to our full capacity, yet that inner freedom can grow and will grow each time we choose life over bitterness and death. Love can supply for length of years. Jesus, because He is Eternal, regards not the time but only the love. (Therese of Lisieux) I very much enjoyed what you wrote, and the deeper meaning that is held within it. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Running Gator Posted October 3, 2016 Group: Royal Member * Followers: 8 Topic Count: 91 Topics Per Day: 0.03 Content Count: 10,596 Content Per Day: 3.67 Reputation: 2,743 Days Won: 25 Joined: 06/16/2016 Status: Offline Share Posted October 3, 2016 23 hours ago, Yowm said: The bible seems to indicate differently... "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so." (Gen 1:27-30) "And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things." (Gen 9:2-3) There is nothing in the OP that goes against this passage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenEagle Posted October 3, 2016 Group: Royal Member Followers: 4 Topic Count: 764 Topics Per Day: 0.18 Content Count: 7,626 Content Per Day: 1.80 Reputation: 1,559 Days Won: 44 Joined: 10/03/2012 Status: Offline Share Posted October 3, 2016 4 hours ago, Davida said: This is a different spirit at work here than the HOLY SPIRIT. "And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light." 2Cor11:14 3 hours ago, Davida said: Thank you very much Teditis for calling posts you disagree with as harassment --that is an act of veiled slander. Oh the irony... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Running Gator Posted October 3, 2016 Group: Royal Member * Followers: 8 Topic Count: 91 Topics Per Day: 0.03 Content Count: 10,596 Content Per Day: 3.67 Reputation: 2,743 Days Won: 25 Joined: 06/16/2016 Status: Offline Share Posted October 3, 2016 (edited) 2 minutes ago, GoldenEagle said: Oh the irony... The greatest of ironies is that those the most guilty of it are also the most oblivious to it. Edited October 3, 2016 by Out of the Shadows Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C_Beth Posted October 3, 2016 Group: Royal Member Followers: 41 Topic Count: 31 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 5,324 Content Per Day: 1.63 Reputation: 3,617 Days Won: 2 Joined: 06/08/2015 Status: Offline Share Posted October 3, 2016 12 minutes ago, GoldenEagle said: Oh the irony... At its best... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenEagle Posted October 3, 2016 Group: Royal Member Followers: 4 Topic Count: 764 Topics Per Day: 0.18 Content Count: 7,626 Content Per Day: 1.80 Reputation: 1,559 Days Won: 44 Joined: 10/03/2012 Status: Offline Share Posted October 3, 2016 On 10/2/2016 at 0:17 PM, markdohle said: Birds and things Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father's care. (Matthew 10:29) Everyone once in awhile people will ask me what my favorite bird is. I have always been partial to crows. When young I wanted to have one for a pet, but of course that never happened. Then there is the Blue Jay, a bird that I find beautiful as well as strong and powerful. I admire these birds and am always delighted to find out how intelligent both blue jays and crows are. They are quite remarkable. So yes I have a fondness for aggressive and large birds. However there is another side of my love of certain kinds of birds. After Sunday Chapter this morning, I was walking towards the retreat house going around our community ‘inner garden’. On the grass near the water fountain and gold fish pond, I spotted a lone sparrow hopping about the grass looking for breakfast I would assume. Sparrows are small birds, plain, and very numerous. Yet when I looked at this little, tiny, insignificant bird, I felt a level of joy that I don’t get from the larger more aggressive birds. Yet we are told that not even sparrows are outside God’s care. Is anything outside of God’s care, probably not, since he is the creator of all. Yet sparrow’s get eaten, perhaps most of them do in the end, die of diseases and gets their necks broken when they fly into windows. Yet they are cared for by God. I believe that animals are not here for us, as some human seem to think, but here for their own journey through life. I would think that sparrows know of our existence, but we are not human beings to them, perhaps we are not seen as a danger, since we don’t eat them, so to them we are life forms on the periphery of their lives, just as they are in ours. I don’t go around thinking of birds, animals and plants, but when I come upon them, I find delight and then move on. Humans are special because of our type of self awareness, but are we anymore special in the eyes of God (?)…..to tell you the truth I don’t know. We may be the only species that can have a conscious relationship with God (maybe not) and in that we are special, yet the smallness of a sparrow, its plainness, is I believe in actuality parts of its beauty and specialness to God. We are all part of creation and I believe that we are slowly learning to grow in respect for all life and hopefully learn to appreciate the lives that these other brothers and sisters have. Different, yes, but to the sparrow its life and survival is of utmost importance, while to us, it may simply be one of millions. Yet each consciousness, no matter what, must be truly sacred in the eyes of the Father. It is easy to objective other life forms forgetting their complexity and beauty. Even those that we consider pest, still have their place even if we have to fight them, insects for example. Yet many (perhaps most are all) have been around millions of years before man…there is no such thing as a ‘thing’ in nature, though we may try to make it so. We can go full circle and then look at our fellow human beings in a different light. We may learn to see beauty in ways that we may have not thought possible. Each human being has such a vast inner world, that they could be considered a universe all to themselves…..it is amazing that we can communicate at all. Yet it is our common humanity that allows the building of a bridge towards each other, and compassion when we realize like with all of creation we will feel joy, suffer pain and deep loss and then we lose ourselves in death. Faith gives hope and I believe that strength needed not to descend into despair or bitterness. We can choose to trust or not, many do not know that they have that freedom. Yet the death to self that is needed to be trusting towards God can be a long process, for we always trust to our full capacity, yet that inner freedom can grow and will grow each time we choose life over bitterness and death. Love can supply for length of years. Jesus, because He is Eternal, regards not the time but only the love. (Therese of Lisieux) Hiya @markdohle Thanks for sharing! I think God delights in His creation. By His will everything that exists was created. Everything was created for Him too. And He called everything he created good. We see this from Genesis to Revelation. Reminds me of these verses. Genesis 1:31And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Colossians 1:16For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. Revelation 4:11“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” I think you are onto something about talking about common humility and showing compassion to others. Seeing the beauty in each person God made is key too. Sometimes if we stop seeing everyone who doesn't believe as we do as God's enemies and instead as God's creation it may cause a shift in our thinking. God cares for the lost sheep and those found alike. Sometimes we like to consider ourselves more important sheep than others. As if somehow being found and trusting in God is something to boast of in our own strength. Keep seeking God and sharing your heart in what God is teaching you. God bless, GE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C_Beth Posted October 3, 2016 Group: Royal Member Followers: 41 Topic Count: 31 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 5,324 Content Per Day: 1.63 Reputation: 3,617 Days Won: 2 Joined: 06/08/2015 Status: Offline Share Posted October 3, 2016 17 minutes ago, GoldenEagle said: Hiya @markdohle Thanks for sharing! I think God delights in His creation. By His will everything that exists was created. Everything was created for Him too. And He called everything he created good. We see this from Genesis to Revelation. Reminds me of these verses. Genesis 1:31And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Colossians 1:16For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. Revelation 4:11“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” I think you are onto something about talking about common humility and showing compassion to others. Seeing the beauty in each person God made is key too. Sometimes if we stop seeing everyone who doesn't believe as we do as God's enemies and instead as God's creation it may cause a shift in our thinking. God cares for the lost sheep and those found alike. Sometimes we like to consider ourselves more important sheep than others. As if somehow being found and trusting in God is something to boast of in our own strength. Keep seeking God and sharing your heart in what God is teaching you. God bless, GE well said, and I agree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markdohle Posted October 3, 2016 Group: Senior Member Followers: 11 Topic Count: 77 Topics Per Day: 0.03 Content Count: 641 Content Per Day: 0.22 Reputation: 328 Days Won: 0 Joined: 06/16/2016 Status: Offline Author Share Posted October 3, 2016 6 hours ago, Teditis said: Take heart Mark, not everyone here is going to harass you... we see you as a true Brother in Christ. Keep these great insights and posts coming, I love your perspective on how God interacts with us in the everyday world. Thank you my friend. I don't mind, I know that I can't change anyone nor do I try. I believe that Christ Jesus as the Word of God is vaster than we imagine and that the world that He created is holy and sacred in all of its aspects.....humans being the most beautiful of God's creation. Peace Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markdohle Posted October 3, 2016 Group: Senior Member Followers: 11 Topic Count: 77 Topics Per Day: 0.03 Content Count: 641 Content Per Day: 0.22 Reputation: 328 Days Won: 0 Joined: 06/16/2016 Status: Offline Author Share Posted October 3, 2016 6 hours ago, Out of the Shadows said: Hang tough Mark, your post was beautifully written and the spirit of it was appreciated by many of us. Thank you very much my friend. I really don't understand the reactions of some here, but that is OK. Peace mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markdohle Posted October 3, 2016 Group: Senior Member Followers: 11 Topic Count: 77 Topics Per Day: 0.03 Content Count: 641 Content Per Day: 0.22 Reputation: 328 Days Won: 0 Joined: 06/16/2016 Status: Offline Author Share Posted October 3, 2016 6 hours ago, Davida said: Mark "You" are not new age but some of your beliefs are very commonly held beliefs & practices within the spirituality that is referred to as "New Age". Btw, new age is is actually "Old Age" it is a mish mash of many spiritual practices, religious beliefs and spiritual paths - The main thing to note is it teaches ideas that are Not found in the BIBLE. We who are Bible only believe that this is our yardstick to measure all other spiritual beliefs and spiritual statements and if it is contrary to what is found in the Bible that should be a caution that it is teaching another doctrine then what GOD gave us in His Word. I would ask have you only been taught the BIBLE? have you been taught to believe the Bible is the inerrant Word of GOD and that we must only stick to it for our spiritual understanding? I would guess probably not as that is not what the RCC teaches. Since they have other writings and new interpretations. Have you read other 'spiritual' books by Catholic authors or other devotional books? When people are not firmly rooted in the Word of GOD & don't research the authors they read & their beliefs they are oblivious of the influences that they have allowed in to their Christian practice. Have you read any books or prayers of any of the Catholic mystical writings of various "saints"? Catholic mystic's are deeply Christian, if you don't think that, take it up with the Lord Jesus. Peace mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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