Light, I know what you are saying. The topic reminds so very much of a conversation I had with someone only recently. Incidentally, I do think you accidentally chose a poor metaphor, about the wolves, if only because wolves are symbolic of predators who traditionally eat lambs, and lambs are highly connected with Christianity. It is silly reasoning, but people are more influenced by symbol than they care to realize, or even understand, and you must consider this whenever posing a persuasive speech.
Thank you Disciple, and thank you Faith! I enjoyed your responses so much. I am sorry I mistook your words, Disciple, and used the term “public.” I didn’t mean to misconstrue your meaning! And I appreciate what you said. In the sense of God being a Trinity, and the Angels also being present, as well as the saints, etc. – this I do feel in touch with, and I am most grateful for that. I’ve posted elsewhere (one thread discussed Archangel Raphael, and another, Guardian Angels) that I do feel close with the Angels. I have certain saints that mean a lot to me, too. I often pray to Archangels Raphael, Michael, Gabriel and Uriel, and also to my Guardian Angel (or to the Guardian Angel of a person I am worried about), and to St. Theresa of Avilla. In my family we also take St. Joseph as a Patron Saint (kind of like St. Patrick for the Irish – St. Joseph is the Italian Patron Saint) and we also pray to St. Jude. It’s family tradition!
I do share my spiritual quest with others, “My family,” a small spiritual group of people I’m close to, and we consider one another “Prayer Partners.” We pray for each other, and we focus group prayers towards areas about which we feel concern (the Gulf Oil Crisis, for instance; the wars in the Middle East; those in Africa and China who are struck by AIDS, famine or other hardship; etc.). One of my Prayer Partners is a Jewish woman who is twice my age (and one of my closest friends!), another is an Evangelical Christian woman whom I went to school with, and another is a non-religious person who was raised Methodist and who know has no particular faith tradition. Still, each of us have come to respect and to know God in our own ways, and we approach our prayers with utmost sincerity. This small community doesn’t form a “Church” or even a Synagogue in a traditional sense, but perhaps adheres to the directive that when a group is joined in worship, they do meet up with their Maker.
Faith, you make a good point about the “wolves” scenario being poorly chosen, due to one’s association with wolves! I hadn’t thought of that. Indeed, I used the wolves scenario only because it was handy (I’d heard it before), and only to suggest that I believe a person could be raised outside society and yet still “find God” without being directed to Him. Also, the reason I feel comfortable with “wolves” is because I had a German Shepherd as a child! So I feel naturally close to wolves, and wasn’t thinking about any other associations people might have with them.
It’s very interesting, Disciple, that Joseph Campbell suggested that “All religions meet up with God,” and yet I’d not even heard his stance before.
I always wondered: “Did multiple people invent the wheel? Did the idea keep occurring to humans over and over and over again, so that one person might have been the first to conceive of it, and yet, without having that knowledge, others came to the idea on their own, repeatedly, throughout time?” We may not know the answer to that, but I do believe that this analogy applies to God. It appears to me that with ancient peoples being so disparate, both in area and in culture, tradition and belief, we still witness thousands of instances of “religious” (or faith traditions) existing thousands of years ago – in some cases, hundreds of thousands of years ago (if cave paintings can be accurately interpreted). I guess I find it beautiful for God to be able to witness this, and to be able to see and to know that even before His Holy Books could have been studied and learned, individuals the world over sought to find Him – and in their own ways, perhaps, they did.
I appreciate so much the ways you have tried to understand where I am coming from, and I know that is not easy, from within a specific faith tradition, to recognize the sincerity of a non-religious person. I am very moved by the community you all form together, and by the way you’ve welcomed me to join you in my questions, my interests, and my faith.
I’ve enjoyed what you’ve all shared and I have taken your suggestions and ideas into consideration! I always seek to grow in my understanding.
Peace to each one of you,
Light1111
But I only used this wolves example as a metaphor – like a tabula rasa. I’m not being literal, just attempting to build up an example where you could theoretically exist independent of outside influence (apart from the wolves, of course!).
Let me explain that advocating for relativism is the same as advocating for despair!