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Seeking answers about everything

YmirGF

Bodhisattva in Recovery
My advise: look for someone who looks like they know where they're going and tag along for a while.
This is probably the best advice I have seen in this thread. Well said, Quaggy.

The only thing I will add is that don't expect to "get it right" from the get go. You are going to fail, but just as long as you remember to get right back up and keep heading where you want to go, all should be well. It might be helpful to carry a towel to wipe the mud off your face, especially at first. :)
 

beenherebeforeagain

Rogue Animist
Premium Member
This is probably the best advice I have seen in this thread. Well said, Quaggy.

The only thing I will add is that don't expect to "get it right" from the get go. You are going to fail, but just as long as you remember to get right back up and keep heading where you want to go, all should be well. It might be helpful to carry a towel to wipe the mud off your face, especially at first. :)

Number one rule in the hitchhiker's guide: Keep your towel with you!:yes:
 

dynavert2012

Active Member
Thanks for all the replies and advice everyone, I still have no idea how to get on the right path but I guess that's all part of the seeking. I wonder though if God ever "has enough" with someone and can't or won't hear them anymore. This is what's been on my mind the most lately, if God even hears me at this point.

all what you have to do is to raise up your hands to the god and ask him to guide you and to show you the truth and his path, and begin to seek the truth, you will find everybody says my path is the right one, and it's easy to be claimed, so don't listen to anybody just the god and yourself, and for sure you can ask for advise when needed in case of not fully understanding,read the scriptures it may help you
 

Pegg

Jehovah our God is One
What I'm really struggling with is "why" I've made the choices and decisions I've made, why I took the actions I did. For the first time in my life I understand what I've done, but the "why" eludes me. I think I always knew the difference between right and wrong but still chose the wrong regardless. I don't understand myself and am not sure I can find the right path now.

I think we do a lot of things under the influence of various outside factors... drugs, pain of heart, upbringing, other peoples negative influence on our lives. Im sure if you look back to that time in your life, and think about who you were associating with, perhaps you'll find your answer.

A good principle to keep in mind is found at 1 Corinthians 15:33
“Do not be misled. Bad associations spoil useful habits.”

But no matter what we may have done there is one thing which is absolutely certain....if we seek God in sincerity, he will hear us and take us in...the following scriptures show this truth:

Psalm 22:24 For he has neither despised Nor loathed the affliction of the afflicted one; And he has not concealed his face from him, And when he cried to him for help he heard.

Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices to God are a broken spirit;
A heart broken and crushed, O God, you will not despise


:)
 

lostCanadian

New Member
Hi everyone, I just wanted to post that I'm still here, mostly just popping in and reading everyone's comments, thank you all so much for the help and guidance. I don't really know where I'm at, just that my belief in God is real and that I want to become a better person, which I'm slowly figuring out how to do.

One thing that keeps recurring in my mind is the thought of "if only I had a time machine". I keep remembering more stuff that I'd forgotten about, more hurts that I've caused or just things that I've done that I should have done differently. I'm finding it hard to remind myself of this when decisions need to be made but I guess that comes with time.

Cheers.
 

JayJayDee

Avid JW Bible Student
Hi everyone, I just wanted to post that I'm still here, mostly just popping in and reading everyone's comments, thank you all so much for the help and guidance. I don't really know where I'm at, just that my belief in God is real and that I want to become a better person, which I'm slowly figuring out how to do.

One thing that keeps recurring in my mind is the thought of "if only I had a time machine". I keep remembering more stuff that I'd forgotten about, more hurts that I've caused or just things that I've done that I should have done differently. I'm finding it hard to remind myself of this when decisions need to be made but I guess that comes with time.

Cheers.

You are making an excellent start. A humble approach to God with sincere repentance and asking for guidance will be heard by Him and you will see God go to work for you if you allow him to direct you.

If you remember the parable of the prodigal son, even after he had squandered his whole inheritance in a debauched lifestyle, when the money ran out and everyone had deserted him, he hit rock bottom and remembered how good life was back home with his father. When he determined to go back and humbly admit his mistakes and ask his father's forgiveness, he was not met with cold condemnation. On the contrary, when his father saw him coming "afar off", he ran to meet him, overjoyed that he had returned.

Bad life choices and experiences can leave a mountain of sins but there is no sin we can commit that is beyond God's forgiveness if we are truly sorry and try to make amends.

"Seek and you will find...knock and it will be opened to you"

Keep seeking and keep knocking....Jehovah will answer you. :)
 
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Pastek

Sunni muslim
One thing that keeps recurring in my mind is the thought of "if only I had a time machine". I keep remembering more stuff that I'd forgotten about, more hurts that I've caused or just things that I've done that I should have done differently. I'm finding it hard to remind myself of this when decisions need to be made but I guess that comes with time.

Hi lostcanadian, i hope those words will comfort you and bring you hope :

”The Prophet (saw) said: “Allah (GOD), Blessed and Exalted is He, Says :

‘O son of Adam, as long as you call on Me, I shall forgive you of what you have done, and think nothing of it.

O son of Adam, even if your sins were to reach up to the clouds in the sky, and then you were to ask for My forgiveness, I would forgive you and think nothing of it.

O son of Adam, even if you were to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth, and then you were to meet Me after death, not worshipping anything besides Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as the earth.
’”

[Tirmidhi]
 

InChrist

Free4ever
Hi, I've come here today hoping to find some sort of direction to look in regarding religion, God, and life in general. Recently I've realized that i've been making very poor decisions throughout my life and that many of my actions have negatively impacted others, some in possibly very awful ways.

I'm a bad person. I won't go into detail about that but will just say I should probably be in prison or dead. Some of the things I've done have changed people's "life paths" and affected them very deeply. I've just lately begun to understand what I've done after seeing someone I wronged a long time ago. This person is doing well, but I wonder how their life may have turned out had I not done what I did to them.

I've always believed in God but had put belief out of my mind for a long time (decades) and thinking about some of the awful things I've done, I believe God had tried to warn me prior to certain events, but I didn't hear him or didn't listen.

Now that I am "awake" and can see what I have done, I want to find a way back to God and being a good person. I know deep down that I'm probably going to hell and can never take back the things I've done but I'd like to at least do the right thing now and bring some light and happiness into the world. Problem is I don't know where to begin, or even HOW to begin.

Any and all advice is welcome, thank you.

All fall short and sin, doing wrong and hurting others, because we are in bondage to the sinful nature and under Satan's power. I finally realized that I so easily became a puppet of Satan wanting my way in various situations with others. The Bible says this bondage to sin and Satan is why we do wrong and it is the reason we need a Savior to rescue us and give us new life.

And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. 1 Timothy 1;14-15

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.Matthew 11:28-29


*edit*
 
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Slave of Allah

New Member
"surely in the creation of the heavens n the earth ,and the alteration of the night n the day,there are signs for men of understanding". 3:190 Quran
 

Rev Hydrogen

Continuity Guru
I would consider finding out who You are. what you are is a
definite precursor to beginning some religious pathway.
start with "Metaphysical Thinking" by E Sprague.
Otherwise you will be more confused than you already are!
 

lostCanadian

New Member
So where to begin today? The more I seek the more lost I become.

I've left out a lot on here that I'm going to share now, as I've reached an impasse of sorts. Recently I've discovered I *may* have a serious health issue, and if that is the case, it will mean a whole lot of suffering for myself and my family, as they will be devastated and worry greatly about me should this problem be real. Now, I most definitely deserve to suffer, although this particular suffering is even more than I deserve, IMO. What bothers me is that my family has suffered greatly over the last 25 or so years and I can't understand why it won't stop. I won't go into details on what has transpired in my family over the years lest one of my family finds this post at some point. I will not air my family's business on the internet.

Let's just say that I saw things and was exposed to things before I was even in grade 4 that would give most people mental breakdowns. If I were to post what has happened in my family over the years most of you would break down crying in front of your computers or tablets. Most of this started before I ever became the horrible person I have described myself as previously, and whether or not it played a role in the person I became is irrelevant now.

But the suffering and anguish has been plenty, and never ending. I, to this day, am a loser. I am in my 30's, do not own a vehicle, never have, I suffer from acne (still!), I have suffered from depression since the age of 13, I have ONE friend (no joke, not an exaggeration) that, if I'm lucky, I get to talk to for MAYBE half an hour once a month, I work at a job that most people would refuse to do, I haven't had a girlfriend since 2006 and honestly the vast majority of society looks upon me like a scab. I accept all of this about myself, I understand it, I get why it's like this, as I've been an awful person. Yet the suffering continues to pile up and I can't help but wonder, WHY? Yes, I've been a bad person, I've done horrible things, I've caused great heartache to more people than I can count, but I already suffer for it, I have for DECADES.

I know it's probably wrong to compare myself to others, but bear with me. I'm a bad guy, ok? But take someone like the rapper, Eminem. This person has made not only a career but tens of millions of dollars promoting things like rape, murder, hard drug abuse, kidnapping and more and continues to live a blessed life. I don't see him suffering, I don't see him having any issues at all other than questions like "how much cocaine should I snort today?" and "how many thousands of dollars should I spend on clothes today?" How is that fair? What I've done pales in comparison to the darkness that this person has spread. And that's just one example of probably thousands I could come up with, from entertainers and others. I know what most would say... "he will be judged when his time comes". Well, I don't think that's good enough, I think that's a cop-out. What about now? What about right now? Where's the balance?

The place I work at now, wanna know what I do? I clean. I clean up urine, feces, vomit, and sadly, drug residue. The place I work at is an establishment that serves alcohol, which in turn brings in a certain clientele. I see these people, I know who they are, they live fancy lifestyles, driving nice cars, dressing in expensive clothes with money to go out drinking, partying, eating out, doing these destructive drugs like cocaine and ecstasy, and where is their suffering? They cause more chaos in our society than I ever have and yet here I am, beaten down again and again, on the edge of even more problems, while they live their happy little lives doing whatever they please and enjoying the heck out of themselves. Where is the balance? Why does my family suffer while these others live in splendor? Most of my family has been what would be classified as poor for a very long time, and we are not government handout people, we work but we don't get any grand lifestyle. I myself live paycheck to paycheck, were I to lose my job I'd be on the verge of homelessness in a matter of weeks. How do these other people live the way they do? Where do their riches come from?

Again, I know it's probably wrong to be so comparative, but how else are you supposed to look at things in this situation after such a long time of being the way I am, and my family having been through what we've been through? Nothing makes any sense.

Where is God in all this? I pray and I pray, and even before coming here after realizing a while back what a monster I'd been, I prayed a lot. Not all the time, I guess I'd say it came in spurts, but I prayed. My belief has always been there, whether I was acknowledging it or not, but now I am more lost than ever. Quotes from religious texts give me no answers, I really want to know, where is God? And more importantly, WHY? Why us? Why MY family? I am sure there are others out there who have been through even worse than us (I know there are, I watch the news) and I guess the question becomes even bigger, yet still the same:

WHY?
 
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YmirGF

Bodhisattva in Recovery
Thank you for this post, lost "fellow" Canadian. I don't have the answers you seek, but I do feel a need in your post to speak, to talk out your problems and challenges. As I said earlier, and I mean this in the kindest, non-judgmental terms possible. You need counseling of some kind. You need someone whom you can confide in and not worry about the repercussions. Seek out people in your community, ask your doctor for recommendations. As that friend you speak to once a month.

In spite of all the terrible things you may well have done in your life and all the terrible things that have been done to you, there still seems to be a person crying to be heard. That person sounds fairly intelligent and makes more than a bit of sense. My advice is don't try to make sense of the often confusing religious ideals before you are able to put your own life into a perspective that allows you to keep moving forward. Though it sounds so very feeble, I do wish you luck and I do wish you get the help you are so eminently deserving of. I really don't know what else to say, but have faith in yourself and don't get sidetracked with a misplaced faith in some fuzzy god concept. It sounds like you need all the power you can possibly muster to heal yourself.
 

lostCanadian

New Member
Thank you for the reply, but unfortunately counseling is not an enticing option, as I have been down that road before. Counseling in this country consists of this:

Step 1: Go to hospital, tell mental health ward you need to speak to someone.

Step 2: Wait 2 weeks to 3 months.

Step 3: Tell psychiatrist/psychologist your problems.

Step 4: Get listened to, then informed of what pills they can offer you.

Step 5: Take said pills.

There is no counseling in this country.
 

YmirGF

Bodhisattva in Recovery
Thank you for the reply, but unfortunately counseling is not an enticing option, as I have been down that road before. Counseling in this country consists of this:

Step 1: Go to hospital, tell mental health ward you need to speak to someone.

Step 2: Wait 2 weeks to 3 months.

Step 3: Tell psychiatrist/psychologist your problems.

Step 4: Get listened to, then informed of what pills they can offer you.

Step 5: Take said pills.

There is no counseling in this country.
I hear you. You can tell them you would prefer not to take medications however. Give them another chance... like the chance you want for yourself...
 

Pastek

Sunni muslim
But take someone like the rapper, Eminem. This person has made not only a career but tens of millions of dollars promoting things like rape, murder, hard drug abuse, kidnapping and more and continues to live a blessed life. I don't see him suffering,(...) How is that fair? (...) I know what most would say... "he will be judged when his time comes". Well, I don't think that's good enough, I think that's a cop-out. What about now? What about right now? Where's the balance?
I think he said in his texts that he suffered because his father left the house, he lived with an alcoholic mother, he was poor, and his ex-wife did i-don't-remember-what to him.
Plus, he said it was difficult for him when his friend (from D12) and his uncle died (maybe he had a depression).
So, it's not because you are rich and famous, that you didn't had problems

Plus, a good person musn't wait that someone "be judge in the day of resurection" but rather you should wish that he becomes a better person before he dies.
Just like yourself, (as you said that you did bad things) you need an other chance.
And not that people say (maybe they said that about you too after all that you said you did) , that you will pay it one day.

The place I work at is an establishment that serves alcohol, which in turn brings in a certain clientele. I see these people, I know who they are, they live fancy lifestyles, driving nice cars, dressing in expensive clothes with money to go out drinking, partying, eating out, doing these destructive drugs like cocaine and ecstasy, and where is their suffering? Where is the balance?
Some people are rich, and other are poor.
That's because people are selfish.
Were is the balance and the suffering ?

The religious answer is : The joyment of this life is nothing compared to the torment in the hereafter for those who do bad acts and don't use their money to help poor people.

Quotes from religious texts give me no answers, I really want to know, where is God? And more importantly, WHY? Why us? Why MY family? I am sure there are others out there who have been through even worse than us (I know there are, I watch the news) and I guess the question becomes even bigger, yet still the same: WHY?

I think that you can have answers from religious texts. Just try to read them.

You said that people who did bad things will be judged. So, you believe in a kind of justice in the hereafter, right ?

Don't you think that God maybe will forgives your sins (and maybe ameliore your life) because you try to be a better person and endure when the difficulties come to you ?
 

JayJayDee

Avid JW Bible Student
Thank you for the reply, but unfortunately counseling is not an enticing option, as I have been down that road before. Counseling in this country consists of this:

Step 1: Go to hospital, tell mental health ward you need to speak to someone.

Step 2: Wait 2 weeks to 3 months.

Step 3: Tell psychiatrist/psychologist your problems.

Step 4: Get listened to, then informed of what pills they can offer you.

Step 5: Take said pills.

There is no counseling in this country.

For someone who has come from such a deprived background and with unimaginable suffering as both a victim and a perpetrator, you are certainly not uneducated. Your posts are articulate and well phrased. It is your intellect that seems the most wounded here, because everything in you is screaming injustice! Your sense of justice comes from God.

I know quite a few people who have been down this road of seeking counseling. It is less than ideal but you have to understand the magnitude of the problem to see why they take this route. Pills seem to be the answer to everything when you don't have the resources or manpower to "fix" damaged people. There are SO many damaged souls out there.

When we see so much suffering and injustice it is good to reflect on what God says in his word.....

The Psalmist wrote: "Do not show yourself heated up because of the evildoers.
Do not be envious of those doing unrighteousness.
For like grass they will speedily wither,
And like green new grass they will fade away.
ב
Trust in Jehovah and do good;
Reside in the earth, and deal with faithfulness.
Also take exquisite delight in Jehovah,
And he will give you the requests of your heart"


This quote is also interesting...

"That materialism had not warped the thinking of the early post-apostolic Christians can be seen from what one of them wrote: “That many of us are called poor, this is not our disgrace, but our glory; for as our mind is relaxed [weakened] by luxury, so it is strengthened by frugality. Yet who can be poor if he does not want, if he does not crave for the possessions of others, if he is rich towards God? He rather is poor, who, although he has much, desires more.” (The Octavius of Minucius Felix, chap. 36, The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 4, p. 195)

Material wealth and prosperity are not what counts in this life.

In Rev 3:17, Jesus addresses the congregation in Laodicea, saying "Because you say: “I am rich and have acquired riches and do not need anything at all,” but you do not know you are miserable and pitiable and poor and blind and naked"

Being rich in God's eyes has nothing to do with material wealth. Spiritual riches make one prosperous and healthy
inside, which comes to the surface and spreads the 'wealth' with all we come into contact with. If you genuinely seek God and desire the spiritual riches he can impart, then you will find him.

This world is ruled by the devil (2 Cor 4:3, 4; 1 John 5:19; 2:15-17) and satan is the one who often blesses people (even wicked people) with an abundance, because he knows the corrupting power of wealth and luxury. (1 Tim 6:9, 10)

Jesus never had either wealth or luxury and we are to follow his example. (1 Pet 2:21-23) He also was born into a poor family.

Keep seeking and keep knocking. Don't look for God in prosperity or wealth...they are actually a curse, not a blessing. :(
 

FearGod

Freedom Of Mind
So where to begin today? The more I seek the more lost I become.

I've left out a lot on here that I'm going to share now, as I've reached an impasse of sorts. Recently I've discovered I *may* have a serious health issue, and if that is the case, it will mean a whole lot of suffering for myself and my family, as they will be devastated and worry greatly about me should this problem be real. Now, I most definitely deserve to suffer, although this particular suffering is even more than I deserve, IMO. What bothers me is that my family has suffered greatly over the last 25 or so years and I can't understand why it won't stop. I won't go into details on what has transpired in my family over the years lest one of my family finds this post at some point. I will not air my family's business on the internet.

Let's just say that I saw things and was exposed to things before I was even in grade 4 that would give most people mental breakdowns. If I were to post what has happened in my family over the years most of you would break down crying in front of your computers or tablets. Most of this started before I ever became the horrible person I have described myself as previously, and whether or not it played a role in the person I became is irrelevant now.

But the suffering and anguish has been plenty, and never ending. I, to this day, am a loser. I am in my 30's, do not own a vehicle, never have, I suffer from acne (still!), I have suffered from depression since the age of 13, I have ONE friend (no joke, not an exaggeration) that, if I'm lucky, I get to talk to for MAYBE half an hour once a month, I work at a job that most people would refuse to do, I haven't had a girlfriend since 2006 and honestly the vast majority of society looks upon me like a scab. I accept all of this about myself, I understand it, I get why it's like this, as I've been an awful person. Yet the suffering continues to pile up and I can't help but wonder, WHY? Yes, I've been a bad person, I've done horrible things, I've caused great heartache to more people than I can count, but I already suffer for it, I have for DECADES.

I know it's probably wrong to compare myself to others, but bear with me. I'm a bad guy, ok? But take someone like the rapper, Eminem. This person has made not only a career but tens of millions of dollars promoting things like rape, murder, hard drug abuse, kidnapping and more and continues to live a blessed life. I don't see him suffering, I don't see him having any issues at all other than questions like "how much cocaine should I snort today?" and "how many thousands of dollars should I spend on clothes today?" How is that fair? What I've done pales in comparison to the darkness that this person has spread. And that's just one example of probably thousands I could come up with, from entertainers and others. I know what most would say... "he will be judged when his time comes". Well, I don't think that's good enough, I think that's a cop-out. What about now? What about right now? Where's the balance?

The place I work at now, wanna know what I do? I clean. I clean up urine, feces, vomit, and sadly, drug residue. The place I work at is an establishment that serves alcohol, which in turn brings in a certain clientele. I see these people, I know who they are, they live fancy lifestyles, driving nice cars, dressing in expensive clothes with money to go out drinking, partying, eating out, doing these destructive drugs like cocaine and ecstasy, and where is their suffering? They cause more chaos in our society than I ever have and yet here I am, beaten down again and again, on the edge of even more problems, while they live their happy little lives doing whatever they please and enjoying the heck out of themselves. Where is the balance? Why does my family suffer while these others live in splendor? Most of my family has been what would be classified as poor for a very long time, and we are not government handout people, we work but we don't get any grand lifestyle. I myself live paycheck to paycheck, were I to lose my job I'd be on the verge of homelessness in a matter of weeks. How do these other people live the way they do? Where do their riches come from?

Again, I know it's probably wrong to be so comparative, but how else are you supposed to look at things in this situation after such a long time of being the way I am, and my family having been through what we've been through? Nothing makes any sense.

Where is God in all this? I pray and I pray, and even before coming here after realizing a while back what a monster I'd been, I prayed a lot. Not all the time, I guess I'd say it came in spurts, but I prayed. My belief has always been there, whether I was acknowledging it or not, but now I am more lost than ever. Quotes from religious texts give me no answers, I really want to know, where is God? And more importantly, WHY? Why us? Why MY family? I am sure there are others out there who have been through even worse than us (I know there are, I watch the news) and I guess the question becomes even bigger, yet still the same:

WHY?

i don't KNOW how other religions explain the differences between people status in one community,such as rich,poor,happy,sad,sick,health...etc.

Islam explains it that our mundane life is made for the test,it is short and everything we gained will be lost and what we got is only the records of bad and good deeds that which we did on earth and which we'll be responsible for.

As for me and alhamdullilah(praise to allah) i don't care about my life and as if it doesn't exist,i'll die one day,then our final destination on earth is death and burried under the soil,all of us will reach this point.all of us will be equal eventually.

Islam means submission,so we have trust on the afterlife and we are completely submitted to Allah till the last second of our life.

According to Islam,the rich should support the poor and the leaders of one community are responsible for supporting the poor.

if you're looking to a religion or a path, then my advice to you is to speak to a creator which you don't know,ask him to help you to overcome your suffering and to guide you to the right path,do it in sincerity and be optimistic,nothing to worry about.

Some people are blinds,poor and still smiling,be optimistic. :)

i wish you the good luck for whatever path you're gonna to choose.

[youtube]iErXCb0awnY[/youtube]
A Brave Danish Girl Chose Islam .. Beautiful Story .. Respect :) - YouTube

[youtube]MjwnlNoM20g[/youtube]
The Brave Girl is taking Shahada .. Alhamdulillah :) - YouTube

[youtube]BSYgxofw-b4[/youtube]
Islam Saved My Life - YouTube
 
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