Coming full circle

Hi and welcome to CR Still Thinking! I tend to shorten names in my posts so don't be offended if I up and call you Still, or Thinking, or just ST.

Come to THINK about it, after the last seven years' experience here in the U.S. I probably won't use the "T" word very much since if you think too much, there are some people in the U.S. who consider you to be some kind of extremist or terrorist.

You'll find no end to the nice people here. Just play along and you'll have fun like the rest of us.

flow....;)
 
Still thinking said:
Wow, I am so glad I signed up for this site! I, too, feel that I am coming to the place where I can finally admit that I know nothing. Growing up I was taught, and believed, such definite and absolute things about life. I thinks it's a sign of maturity for someone to admit that they really are, as you put it, an idiot. It is so liberating, as a reformed church lady, to just listen to somebody and not be planning a way to convert them. To genuinely consider all possible answers to life's great questions, and not have to choose one of them. I feel free to be myself, but mostly to allow others to be themselves. Strangely enough, this release of religious thought has, I believe, shown me more about the love that God has for people than any church could have taught me. I see people as more than just numbers; more than possible converts. This release of religious thought has brought me closer to God. It has left me very critical of organized religions, especially the one I come from. It has made me a better friend, since my judgemental tendencies are wearing off. Greetings to you all; I look forward to great discussions! :)
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Wow! Welcome aboard sister friend! Tell us where you've been and how got here. What was your previous religious affiliation, and how did you break out?

Chris
 
flowperson said:
Hi and welcome to CR Still Thinking! I tend to shorten names in my posts so don't be offended if I up and call you Still, or Thinking, or just ST.

flow....;)
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Hmm...still thinking. Shorten each word and you get st inking! Welcome aboard Stinky!:p

Chris
 
Still thinking said:
Wow, I am so glad I signed up for this site! I, too, feel that I am coming to the place where I can finally admit that I know nothing. Growing up I was taught, and believed, such definite and absolute things about life. I thinks it's a sign of maturity for someone to admit that they really are, as you put it, an idiot. It is so liberating, as a reformed church lady, to just listen to somebody and not be planning a way to convert them. To genuinely consider all possible answers to life's great questions, and not have to choose one of them. I feel free to be myself, but mostly to allow others to be themselves. Strangely enough, this release of religious thought has, I believe, shown me more about the love that God has for people than any church could have taught me. I see people as more than just numbers; more than possible converts. This release of religious thought has brought me closer to God. It has left me very critical of organized religions, especially the one I come from. It has made me a better friend, since my judgemental tendencies are wearing off. Greetings to you all; I look forward to great discussions! :)
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Welcome to CR!! I am so happy to read your post. Liberation is always joyous :)

Tao
 
Still thinking said:
Wow, I am so glad I signed up for this site! I, too, feel that I am coming to the place where I can finally admit that I know nothing. :)
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You'll feel at home here then. We tend to start out with all the answers and an urgent need to shout them out. Later we come round to the fact that we know very little and are happy to listen to others. It's a little haven of insanity in an unremittingly sane world. :) -cliff
 
Still thinking said:
Wow, I am so glad I signed up for this site! I, too, feel that I am coming to the place where I can finally admit that I know nothing.
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Namaste Still thinking,

Welcome to CR and look forward to more posts from you as well.

I do think you are being a little disingenuous. I've read your other posts you are still thinking, and knowing, and growing...we'll have no more of that.
 
To answer China Cat Sunflower, I was raised mainly Southern Baptist, then became very involved in the non-denominational Christian church. I taught Sunday school, led Bible studies, chaperoned mission trips, cooked church dinners - you name it (and I'm only 26)! I found that church involvement gave me lots of friends, a social life, opportunities to serve others, and many wonderful and spiritually uplifting experiences. However, it also exposed me to the world of church cliques, gossip, backstabbing, and judgement. It soon became clear that if you didn't fit the norm, you were ostracized. Not overtly, never too obvious, but you were gradually excluded until you were no longer there. Some of the cruelest people I've met are regular church goers. I was gladly a part of this crowd until I came of age and began drinking, partying, and doing "non-churchy" things. (This as a result of burnout from so many years of leadership and disenchantment with my peers). I found that as I changed, no one around me was changing with me. They seemed shocked that I would go after "worldly" things. Eventually I left that group and became friends with people different than myself - different religions, races, cultures. It was great - I don't miss my old life at all. I've found that churchy people who only hang out with other churchy people become trapped in a bubble and out of touch with reality. (Sorry, this was a long post!) :eek:
 
wil said:
Namaste Still thinking,

Welcome to CR and look forward to more posts from you as well.

I do think you are being a little disingenuous. I've read your other posts you are still thinking, and knowing, and growing...we'll have no more of that.
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My apologies, I'm not meaning to be disingenuous. I still have very passionate opinions about things, that will never change! :) If you're referring to my posts on the Christian side if this site, I'm not meaning to be hypocritical. When I see someone like myself, who for so many years accepted what was taught to me absolutely, without considering any alternatives, I have this strange need to challenge them. I still consider myself a Christian, just not a fan of the Christian Church as a whole, and I believe that it's possible to be intelligent and think for yourself and still hold those beliefs. When I read someone's posts about gladly not having their own thoughts and only referring to Bible verses when asked about anything, it gets me a little pissy. :)
 
Still thinking said:
Aww, thanks! Feeling kinda stupid here: what does Namaste mean? :confused:
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according to wiki
Namasté or Namaskar (नमस्ते [nʌmʌsˈteː] from internal sandhi between namaḥ and te) is an Indian greeting or parting phrase as well as a gesture. It is commonly used by Hindus and Buddhists.
Taken literally, it means "I bow to you". The word is derived from Sanskrit (namas): to bow, obeisance, reverential salutation, and (te): "to you".[1]
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As it was explained to me, it means "The light in me, recognizes and honors the light in you" And to me the word light represents and can be interchanged with Krishna, G!d, Christ, wisdom...
 
Still thinking said:
To answer China Cat Sunflower, I was raised mainly Southern Baptist, then became very involved in the non-denominational Christian church. I taught Sunday school, led Bible studies, chaperoned mission trips, cooked church dinners - you name it (and I'm only 26)! I found that church involvement gave me lots of friends, a social life, opportunities to serve others, and many wonderful and spiritually uplifting experiences. However, it also exposed me to the world of church cliques, gossip, backstabbing, and judgement. It soon became clear that if you didn't fit the norm, you were ostracized. Not overtly, never too obvious, but you were gradually excluded until you were no longer there. Some of the cruelest people I've met are regular church goers. I was gladly a part of this crowd until I came of age and began drinking, partying, and doing "non-churchy" things. (This as a result of burnout from so many years of leadership and disenchantment with my peers). I found that as I changed, no one around me was changing with me. They seemed shocked that I would go after "worldly" things. Eventually I left that group and became friends with people different than myself - different religions, races, cultures. It was great - I don't miss my old life at all. I've found that churchy people who only hang out with other churchy people become trapped in a bubble and out of touch with reality. (Sorry, this was a long post!) :eek:
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That's fascinating. Well, you're one of the lucky ones. I'm an ex Seventh-Day Adventist. I tell you, breaking out was easy compared to the effort it's taken to get the chip off my shoulder about it. I'm not there, but I'm trying.

I have this pet theory that all the really intelligent people are being somehow compelled to meet up for the good of the planet. I sometimes doubt it, but then people like you show up to tantalize me once again! I'm glad you're here!

Chris
 
It's a little haven of insanity in an unremittingly sane world. :)
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Cliff,

A sane world??? After I read that, I had to double-check to see which country you're posting from. I see it's Britain, which MIGHT still be a sane country. I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt anyway. I'm in America, and I promise you this has NOT been a sane country for the past eight years--and maybe a lot longer than that!

--Linda
 
Raksha said:
Cliff,

A sane world??? After I read that, I had to double-check to see which country you're posting from. I see it's Britain, which MIGHT still be a sane country. I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt anyway. I'm in America, and I promise you this has NOT been a sane country for the past eight years--and maybe a lot longer than that!

--Linda
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Cliff did say world, not country Raksha; so maybe it's just a matter of degree around the globe.;)

You'll be ditching the imbecile in the next few months anyway; and on behalf of Planet Earth could I earnestly ask that you don't replace him with another one (not that I wish to tell you who to vote for! :))

s.
 
nama- aste... literally, I praise ur bones... (nama, praise, asta, plural, aste, bones... due to the rules concerning euphonic combinations in sanskrit, a at the end of a word plus a at the beginning of a word makes the a+a= e...)
 
Snoopy said:
You'll be ditching the imbecile in the next few months anyway; and on behalf of Planet Earth could I earnestly ask that you don't replace him with another one (not that I wish to tell you who to vote for! :))

s.
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Sorry to say Snoop that it's the systemic goings on here in the USA that are pretty imbecilic. With the situation we've got with programmable voting machines these days, there are unlimited opportunities for imbecilic outcomes in elections.

Professor after professor and computer scientist after computer scientist has been telling us for at least five years or so now that the machines are not secure and that their software leaves holes in the systems which allow the hacking and manipulation of results. Nothing has been done to my knowledge to impliment fixes so I'm not optomistic.

I think we should emulate our Canadian brothers and sisters and revert back to paper ballots, but then I'm just another OF who enjoys bitching about the status quo. It seems that all change here ends up being for the worse.

HUMBUG !

flow....:rolleyes:
 
Still Thinking,

Welcome to CR and I hope you hang out for a good long time and soak up the atmosphere, there are many erudite people on board here and they have much to teach. Then there's the rest of us.
Sounds like you are in a very advantageous place right now, I encourage you to make the most of it. I can't speak for the others, but coming full circle for me means an acute awareness of the mental illusions I use every day to fill in the blanks in what is unknown to me. Some use religion others philosophy, some just make it up as they go along or hang on every word of favorite writers and teachers.
In knowing nothing for sure I seem to touch upon an innocence that I thought was gone years ago, giving everything I see a certain freshness that so many yearn for.
Even questioning why I like what I do, and why I stand up for certain issues has become a regular occurrence.
 
Paladin said:
Still Thinking,

Welcome to CR and I hope you hang out for a good long time and soak up the atmosphere, there are many erudite people on board here and they have much to teach. Then there's the rest of us.
Sounds like you are in a very advantageous place right now, I encourage you to make the most of it. I can't speak for the others, but coming full circle for me means an acute awareness of the mental illusions I use every day to fill in the blanks in what is unknown to me. Some use religion others philosophy, some just make it up as they go along or hang on every word of favorite writers and teachers.
In knowing nothing for sure I seem to touch upon an innocence that I thought was gone years ago, giving everything I see a certain freshness that so many yearn for.
Even questioning why I like what I do, and why I stand up for certain issues has become a regular occurrence.
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A really priceless post my brother. It brings to mind the old saying, "Know thyself." That's likely all we're all trying to come to do and know here at CR. Thanks.

flow....;)
 
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