Life is a pointless cycle

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Rosie11 said:
I didn’t say he wasn’t real he just doesn’t care about us or some of us
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What an odd conclusion! How did you come to it?
Lee1 said:
I think God leaves us to get on with things ourselves
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This sounds like an absentee landlord theory, which is very contrary to what Jesus taught.
Rosie11 said:
Yes that exactly what I mean he doesn’t care about me
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What has happened that brings you to this conclusion?
Rosie11 said:
he didn’t care about my mother
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Did your mother feel that God did not care for her, or is this your conclusion based upon something that happened or didn’t happen?
Rosie11 said:
he says ask and it shall be given to you everything I’ve ever asked for was met with silence
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There are some pre-requisites to this, especially that you ask according to His will. It sounds like you asked for something, and did not get what you expected.

The reason that requests never meet with “silence” is that God expects that we will listen and implement what He has already said. Once we have accepted all that He has previously spoken, we are then in a position to hear something new.
Rosie11 said:
I’ve never asked for materialistic things
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While this is admirable, there are immaterial impediments that can be even more spiritually debilitating. When we ask for something that is contrary to sanctification, this will not be provided. He loves us, and wants us to spend eternity with Him. Anything to which we are attached that is contrary to that end He cannot grant, out of love.

If your child asked for candy every day at breakfast, would you provide it? Or would you accept that your child might be angry and disappointed that you refused and provided something nutritious instead?
Rosie11 said:
theres 7 billion people in the world it’s pointless to
Work your butt off for someone who doesn’t even know you exist
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Although I am not sure I agree with our conclusion, I do see that it is very difficult to be obedient to God when one is not convinced of His love. As St. Paul wrote, if God does not exist, then “we are of all, most to be pitied”.
Rosie11 said:
Listen… he’s never answered anything.
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I beg to differ. It sounds entirely possible He has said “no” or “wait”, and you just don’t like the answer!
Rosie11 said:
I do believe in him I didn’t say he wasn’t real he’s not my friend he’s a stranger
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Yes, this sounds very much like a relational problem.
 
I agree wholeheartedly. I try to find the common ground, whether it be prayer/morals (conversing with Protestants/Evangelicals), or philosophy/worldviews (atheists), and have had many fruitful conversations and had people give me their opinions without hostility, which is a very good way to handle the workplace.
 
FiveLinden said:
You are assuming that it is possible for there to be ‘nothing’. This is a philosophic speculation. As far as I am aware ‘nothing’ has never been observed. Saying ‘the fact that there is not ‘nothing’…’ Is like saying ‘the fact there there is not a monster under the bed…’. The absence of illusions as real things does not lead to any rational deduction.
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You took my point as “philosophical speculation”, but I wasn’t trying to be philosophical in any formal sense, nor was I trying to rationally deduce anything. To me and most others, the fact that there is not nothing, is self-evident: experience occurs. And that’s a miracle. This may or may not meet someone’s standards for what makes for a sound philosophical statement, but that wasn’t my intent anyway.

And to extend this to monsters under beds: I believe in them, even after someone has turned on the light and “proved” to me that they aren’t there. You see, I happen to know that they know just when to hide, and when to come back. I guess I’m not the right guy to put childrens’ minds at ease. (Oh wait… I am the right guy! But that’s cause I tell kids how to get help from pixies, not because I tell them there aren’t any monsters.)
 
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Roguish said:
You took my point as “philosophical speculation”, but I wasn’t trying to be philosophical in any formal sense, nor was I trying to rationally deduce anything.
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But that is what you were doing. Even the pixies can’t change that.
 
@Rosie11

I very much understand the temptation to say God is not interested in me because I don’t feel him, see him, get my answers ,etc. There is a flaw here, though, that it took me quite some time to figure out. And this is it:

God does not think or act as a human thinks or acts. God is far, far superior to and beyond the understanding of human intellect. God also acts with the benefit of omniscience of the past, present and future. Just as a toddler looks to a parent and says (to use a previous example) “You don’t love me or relate to me because I’ve asked and asked for candy for breakfast and you haven’t given it to me” . The parent HAS answered. The parent has said “I cannot give you what you ask because it is not right or good for you”. The toddler says “How can delicious candy possibly not be good for me? It makes me happy, brings me peace, comforts me, it tastes good and I WANT it”. The parent says “Trust me on this one…candy for breakfast is not what you need. Whole-grain oatmeal with fresh fruit and perhaps a dash of brown sugar is what you need to both enjoy breakfast and to be healthy”. The toddler says “All you ever do is give me oatmeal and bang on about “healthy” and when I ask over and over for candy, you stop answering me. You don’t love me, you don’t care, you’re not relating to me”. The parent sighs and knows that s/he is doing right by the child even if the child can’t recognize it. We are the toddler and God is the parent. Life is our infancy and toddler-hood. Instead of saying “Why don’t You give me what I want and ask for?”, I try to remember that my faith tells me God wills all for my good and I am so NOT omniscient that I must trust, even when I don’t understand. Taking this attitude, I have been able to see the blessings that I DO have, the joys He brings me constantly and the help he give me during struggles. It also helps me to “place the blame”, as it were, more accurately in the right place. On myself and on the way those around me use their free will. And yes, it’s not my natural inclination and it’s hard and I have to re-orient myself to it every day and, frequently, even more often than that…:roll_eyes:
 
I didn’t say God had abandoned us!

Really.

I have posted many times that we are constantly connected to God.
Perhaps you misunderstand.
 
Merry New Years Eve and I wish everyone a blessed New Year this coming year.
🙏
 
Rosie11 said:
I do believe in him I didn’t say he wasn’t real he’s not my friend he’s a stranger
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A friend is not necessarily one who gives you only what you want. A true friend is one who will give you love, which means Truth.

When you are ready to accept what God has to give you, you might be pleasantly surprised to learn that what you have is much better for you than what you thought you wanted.

God wants to sanctify you, and grow His character within you. He has a plan for your life, and wants you to bear good fruit.
 
He does know you exist, God isn’t possible to describe and what we know is limited by intellect and capacity. In other words no one mortal is capable of understanding what God truly is.

Stamping our feet when we don’t feel we get attention won’t help either, I tried that years ago. We are told what God prefers is not clever words or intellectual argument but a humble and pure heart and belief you’d expect from a child. Unquestioning and certain belief in God and a willingness to serve Him in any way we are able.

Faith isn’t bought or bargained for, it’s a gift which our benevolent Heavenly Father bestows on us.

(If you have been baptised you have the acknowledgement of the Holy Spirit, how then could God not be aware of you.)
 
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Have you ever read The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis?
 
Nature is full of cycles. But nature isn’t everything. There exists a supernatural reality. Ask him whether angels and souls are part of cycles. They can’t be, since they are eternal, like God.
 
It’s a series of letters (put into a book) between a junior devil “in training” and his uncle, a senior devil.

Each chapter is a different letter and focuses on a different way in which the evil one tricks us into thinking God is not working in our lives.

It is not a long book, however it took me a while to get through it. Each chapter is so rich in meaning, I needed time to absorb and reflect on the message.

C.S. Lewis did a phenomenal job getting across ways in which the evil one wears us down and inserts himself into our thoughts and actions.

I highly recommend the book to everyone. Especially those who feel God has abandoned them or is not working in their life.
 
Maximus_Power said:
I have this coworker who loves inciting me to argue my faith.

According to him he believes that everything we observe has a cycle. Life has birth and decay and time has begging and end, space expands and contracts.

I can only argue that his universe is pointless and there could have just as easily been nothing and there is something, but thats basically all I can say to him. Any suggestions?
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You could start by admitting that what he says above is right. We live, we die, time comes and goes. Give him a thumbs up and above all, express gratitude that we are here to enjoy the gift of life. Joy is infectious.
 
I’d more suggest CS Lewis’ work on grief for @Rosie11
 
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