August 19, 2009
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Edited to add:
I went through this line by line getting permission. When I got to the part about making the salad I originally wrote “today we made a salad.” That didn’t pass. I had to change it to read “…God made a salad.” Each time I used the word we or I, he made me change it. I found that EXTREMELY interesting. I mean, come on, I did all the work:).
In response to Jay’s Slag_Runner comment on the last post, I stand corrected. God says he is a he AND a she. I’m going to continue to use He, as that feels more familiar.
I tried to get information about whether or not he found Jay amusing but I was denied permission.
Okay, the lesson I learned yesterday was that when I get an answer to something and I come back later and want to rehash it — I’m always rethinking everything — God’s not playin’ that game. He cuts me off. It must be too akin to worrying.
Today God made a salad. It was a pasta salad and the dressing was better than anything I’ve ever concocted. I went to the cupboard and looked at the top shelf. This is what transpired:
Me: There’s something here HE should use.
God: Nothing (which means no).
Me: Woops. “It’s okay to get this information.”
God: Yes
Me: “Okay. There’s something here that I should use.”
God: No.
Me: Hmmm, that’s odd because I totally got the feeling it was going to be a pasta salad. I go back to the refrigerator to start with the dressing, thinking that will give me some idea of what he’s making.
Me: “It would be beneficial for me to use” — Sour cream was the first thing I saw.
God: Yes.
Me: Ohhhhh. Maybe I didn’t say it right and that’s why I got a no on the pasta. I go back to the cupboard where all the rice and noodles are. “It would be beneficial for me to use…” and I grabbed the first noodles I saw.
God: Yes.
Me: So it IS the way I said it. There’s a difference between “It would be beneficial…” and “I should use…” I pick up another bag of noodles, like elbow macaroni only slightly bigger but smaller than the first bag, and get another yes. I think maybe he’s playing with me again and go for some white rice.
God: No.
Me: So he IS making pasta salad. But why two mismatched noodles? I lay them both on the dining room table and point to the bigger one.
God: No.
Me: Then I pick up the smaller noodles.
God: Yes.
Me: Wow, God cooks.
Comments (8)
Hi Prudy,
Please put in a good word with him on my behalf. I prayed for intercession from the blessed mother for the first half of my life, to no avail. I am ecstatic over having found a conduit for my requests here on Xanga.
Peace, always,
Jay
I’m not sure about god, but I didn’t find Jay amusing above. Condescending, but not amusing, which really surprised me as I doubt Jay intended it that way…..anyway you must be ecstatic and I hate to say anything but I think you might discover that sharing too much of what god reveals to you will lessen it’s impact upon your own life. Other people’s thoughts, opinions, reactions to your own spiritual revelations are irrelevant. I’m VERY glad you’ve shared what god has allowed you to share, I just don’t want to see it become any less real to you. I remember. I know it’s real, but it can and does go away without good and constant tending. You’re just as special as I’ve always thought you were.
i will think about this post often as i have a friend who says that God never talks to her- no matter how much she talks to him/her (don’t really care what sex he/she is) and yet… i hear him loudly at times as if by yelling he can finally get through to me. he’s never cooked with me, but i’m sure he’s a great cook… i struggle with my faith all the time and am so ready to disclaim those times i hear him- as if it’s my imagination. and yet…. i ask myself why God talks to some all the time and not at all to others. my friend who never hears him? her faith is stronger than mine. she believes because she believes and yet i tend to not believe bc i hear… odd isn’t it? thanks for sharing this. it was important!
Hi Snow,
You are right. I did not intend to appear condescending to Prudy. I respect her and consider her a friend. I would not patronize her nor do I hold myself above her. My comments were tongue in cheek. Even as I submitted my comments, I was aware that not everyone can tolerate a non-reverential word about their individual god.
While I acknowledge that there are things in the universe that we do not understand, I do not have any belief that there is a being, spirit or force that is omniscient, omnipotent or omnipresent, let alone all three. That having been said, I respect the faith of others. In fact, I envy them their faith. It would be very soothing to pass ones troubles off to some imaginary being to resolve as he/she sees fit. It would be soothing, but I have no belief that our universe works that way.
I can understand that you may challenge me on whether I truly respect the faith of others based on my comments in both this and my earlier post. One could find them disrespectful to the supreme being they worship. They may feel obligated to step in and defend him/her. I don’t even have any issues with that. I appreciate the depth and the strength of the conviction that many people hold.
I do fear, however, that some who hold deep seated religious beliefs hold them so strongly that they would not only rise to the defense of their lord on a web site exchange but they would also act against others who do not share their beliefs with varying degrees of discrimination, rejection and even violence.
Faith is wonderful. Freedom of religion is a cornerstone right of man that I defend. But I assert that it works in more than one direction. It’s OK, in my good book, to be flippant about god. I know, blasphemous; but it’s what I honestly believe.
By the way. I am getting a flu shot this season. I have friends who will reject the vaccine solely because it would show a mistrust in god’s providence. They believe that god will watch over them and if they contract the flu, then god’s will be done. These same friends get up in the morning and go to work and pay their tax bill when it comes. Won’t god cover the taxes and make sure there is food on the table also?
I struggle to sort it all out.
Love ya Snow,
Peace,
Jay
Jay -You will NOT find me among those who defend their faith, nor assert that my way is the right way. In fact that is exactly why I don’t talk about my faith much, because I know it is only true, right and real for ME. I hold that each person must and will find their own way up the mountain, or not, and that each path that gets them where they’re going is obviously the right path for them. That all “saviours” that have presented on this earth were there to try and show the path to whomever could listen at that point in time, and that each was real, honest, true and divine. If there even is such a thing. I sometimes think that I do not have any belief that there is a being, spirit or force that is omniscient, omnipotent or omnipresent, let alone all three. I miss believing when I find it impossible, but knowing the inherent joy available in faith I welcome it when it feels real. I think if feels real to Pru today and that’s a joyful event I choose to celebrate with her, and envy just a bit as I’m not in the believing frame of mind of late.
Pru-hope you don’t mind us conversing here on your site, but since you were the instigator it seems right to share it all here.
I’m happy to provide a space for people to share their views, somewhat privately — Hardly anyone reads me anymore — and you two seem equally matched in a lot of ways. I respect both of you and your views immensely, not ever having had much of one. Mostly for lack of education. I took up the study of the Bible through my young friend last summer and found his church to be small-minded, exclusionary, based on fear, and just no place I wanted to be. Always having had a strong connection to Mother Earth, and then, later, Father Sky as I like to call them, I’m thrilled to have this new connection. The closest I ever came to this kind of love was with a tree.
The proverbial can of worms has opened here I see. Take it from me that there will always be ones that disbelieve and will throw stones quickly. I recently got blasted from a fellow xangan and had to block them…sadly..marilyn
This makes me wonder where tough love and coming of age fall in the whole deal. Intuition can be powerful, but it is very often wrong. Corrections are made even with animals and their young and that seems like it could be God’s work too if crediting a God. A caution not to listen to anyone but yourself is as much an endorsement and defense of a belief as coming out for it.
What if you had said demon or another person’s name? Would the support be the same? What if intuition and the voice credited to God thought it wise to set you up for a logical knockdown? What if it was and is just you in there, amazing you and all the atoms you share with every thing that has ever been and ever will be?
That being said, it seems like it is very much hard work and difficult to start this questioning, but it also seems to be bringing a tone to your writing that is joyful and playful and for sure there is a wonder in it that is very appealing.