Faith and life (was Re: Harry Potter and God)

[Geoff Bannister]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Tonks" <tonks_op at ...> wrote:
>
> --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Geoff Bannister" <gbannister10@> wrote:
> >
> > --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, No Limberger <no.limberger@> wrote:
> 
> 
> Tonks:
> I see the battle goes on. If you really want a place to discuss this sort of thing, apart from Harry Potter, might I suggest Yahoo Answers, Society and Culture, subheading Religion and Spirituality. I argue this sort of thing out there all the time. But beware... very dangerious waters, take your wand and invisibility cloak.
> 
> Also I will again suggest to all.... go to Amazon and get the book "A New Vision of Reality" by Bede Griffiths.  You will find that there is a way for all of us to live in unity and towards a common goal. This one book covers everything... science, psychology, religion, and more. He even predicts what is happening in the world now, with the collapes of the banking, etc. It was written in 1989.
> He talks in the end about a New world view based on peace amoung all religions. Great reading!!  Hard, but worth it.

Geoff:
I think that battle is perhaps a strong word. However, I must admit that 
when the subject copped up again, I wondered whether the same old 
arguments would surface.  I have been following the posts from Cardiff 
during last week but, at the weekend, I went to South London to meet 
my new grandson and was divorced from computer contact for a couple 
of days. So I am belatedly coming back to answer your post.

First though. I have been concerned by No.Limberger's insistence that 
he refuses to believe anything which cannot be substantiated and 
quantified in measurable terms. This implies that he does not accept 
anything to do with faith, or hope, or love, things which are the bedrock 
of being human and also appears to be patronising about those who 
seeks a true faith, Christian or otherwise.

In considering Christianity, I would remind those reading this post that  
have observed in the past that there are m any people – in the UK at least 
– who would claim to be Christian but really aren't. They were baptised as 
infants; they were taken to church; they try to live good lives; church 
attendance means an occasional visit, possibly for a funeral or a marriage 
or a baptism. These peripheral activities and the pursuit of what I might 
term "heavenly Boy Scouting" allow them to believe that this is all that 
God wants.

With that point in mind, I see that Bede Griffiths (whose name is new to 
me) predicts a new world order based on peace among all religions. My 
problem is that this is about religion and not faith and I  view the two as 
different. Which then takes me back o my last paragraph; how far has this 
writer and a number of contributors to the thread have had an experience 
of God or  are just "belief shopping" – looking for a religion or belief 
system which looks OK but not really seeking any deeper meaning.

You cannot select your belief as you would, say, a golf club. "Ah, their 
rules and facilities look good. I'll join up; if I don't like it, I can always 
look for another club." I have a cousin through marriage who has  belonged 
to at least three different religions; he has seemingly changed just to find 
a belief system which supports what he wants to do.
 
As an evangelical Christian, I had an experience of God which brought me 
to faith. Before somebody "aha!", let me say that I was not looking for faith. 
I had said in previous posts that I became a Christian in my last term at 
teacher training college. I was friends with many guys in the Christian 
Union but that was for other reasons. I met one student, who later went 
on to be my best man, playing chess. But I did find their outlook and general 
attitude made them attractive people to be with. However, on that day, I left 
home expecting another usual college day. I was not looking for answers to 
life; I had not woken up and said "I must become a Christian today". The 
event was almost casual. I wasn't in an evangelical rally with massed choirs 
and a charismatic preacher; I wasn't in a life-threatening situation which 
might have brought forth a prayer. I was in the college kitchen with a fellow 
student washing up coffee cups. I cannot recall the conversation but at one 
point I made a comment along the lines "Christians should do
.." whereupon 
Pete said "What do you mean by Christian?" I gave a rather woolly answer 
similar to things I wrote a couple of paragraphs previously. Pete went off 
and brought back his Bible and talked to me about his faith and after some 
while, a whole series of jigsaw pieces fell into place and I got the "light bulb 
in the head" reaction. I felt the presence of God. I am a fairly pragmatic 
person and have only experienced that sensation again occasionally but it 
created my foundation of faith. I believe that, on that particular day, I was 
open to listening to God in a way that I wasn't always.

So, I can only echo Martin Luther and say "Here I stand. I can do no other".

What I have written will leave some of you cold; some of you dismissive; 
some of you possibly irritated I hope that your reaction may also be to think 
about life and its meaning. I am not asking you all to agree with me, but just 
hope that you have a foundation for what you think life is all about and are 
not just dodging the issue and just eddying gently in the flow of everyday life.