Thursday, November 26, 2009

FAITH AND RELIGION


When Jesus Christ lived, preached and worked miracles no one was prepared to believe HIM. HE was badly scourged, mercilessly beaten up and crucified.

The disciples who lived with HIM, walked with HIM, heard HIM preaching, saw HIM working miracles, witnessed HIS crucifixion, and HIS ascension to Heaven started preaching the message of Christ no one believed them. They were mercilessly put to death. St.Thomas came all the way to India to be martyred.

So if Jesus is to come back again in human form and start preaching, no one will believe HIM and HE will be shot to death.

If we can’t believe in the existence of God by looking around us and expect a miracle to happen in front of our eyes, we are going to be disappointed.

Faith is above science and proof. It is something which we feel deep within our heart and we don’t need proof. Besides we can’t convince some one against his or her will. And it is pointless to prove the existence of God to someone who refuses to believe.

Here are two interesting comments to test your faith. If you have a strong faith, it will become stronger. If you have a weak faith, it will become weaker. I assure you my faith has become stronger.


Bindhu Unny said...
Since I am not a Christian and raised by parents who believed in God, but not religion, I feel this man would not have given up religion because his prayers were not answered. He didn't convert and join another religion in the hope of gaining something - material or spiritual. Instead, he is finding solace in the nature itself.
Is there any point in calling oneself a Christian, if the mind is full of greed, hatred, and such negative feelings? Wouldn't world be a better place if there are more people who believe in good deeds than religion?
I am not against Christianity, but I am not for any religion. I prefer to believe in the goodness of human beings. :)

nikgee said...
Religion is a man made creation, not Divine. Not to glorify God, but to exalt man and justify their actions. Look down through the ages at how many people have been killed in the name of religion. I debated long with myself in using the word killed in the above statement. At first I was going to use the word died, but to me it weaken my point. The other word I considered which is closer to my thoughts on the matter is murdered. So for the sake of diplomacy all these people where killed. It sounds so much nicer than murdered in the name of religion

So what am I saying, I don't believe in God... Nothing could ssbe further from the truth. For the lack of a better word to define the existence of an undefinable entity, GOD is my closest choice

Please feel free to write your frank opinions and comments. Your comments need not necessarily conform to mine.

17 comments:

Brian Miller said...

smiles. joseph, a wonderful post. i do enjoy talking with people of various backgrounds and beliefs because i do think it strengthens my belief in God, and appreciation there of. religeon is in and of itself a scary thing...even misleading at times. good deeds in an of themsleves wont make the world a better place, because what is the motivation behind them? who defines what is good? for the many? for the one?

great thought provoker!

G Lucciano said...

What a great post Joseph.
More than anything, a strong post.
Extremely important, and relevant for this day and age.

Thanks
G Lucciano

Bhushavali said...

We just need this feel to feel safe when feel otherwise. In simple words, we just have this need to soothe us and put us to sleep on a black out night when we are all alone at home. So we trust we need that one who is superior to us and takes care of us when we think that things might go out of control. We just gave different names and faces to them. And now we fight with those images we created by ourselves instead of finding solace in them...

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Jeannie said...

I have a strong belief in God - and it is the God of the Old and New Testaments - but I don't think today's Christianity has it right. There is too much lust for power, too much greed, too much hypocrisy, too much scamming, too little love. While I do not have all the answers and my thoughts are a little ethereal for words to describe but that's okay because words aren't always accurate or adequate to describe something beyond our comprehension anyway

A New Beginning said...

Our faith in oneself and in the power and grace of the Almighty, gives us strength to fight any eveil in this world, especially the one that resides within us.
Our faith makes us a good human being, coz we know that wherever we go, there is someone who we would have to answer.
Thanks for the elightening post as always :)

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

Hello Joseph, A wonderful post and pictures. You are right in expressing one can'tforce one's faith on another it has to come from within. In my life my faith has been tested many times but it always wins through in the end.

Take care.

Yvonne.

Haddock said...

That reminds me of the movie I saw "Oh God" starring George Burns.
What a wonderful movie.

Unseen India Tours said...

Hi Joseph !! These were some really beautiful shots !! It is my wish to visit the Church from inside and some day i will definitely see !! For now your photos are great..Unseen Rajasthan

Amrita said...

Someone has rightly said,"Man is the same rancorous beast, if Christ returned to earth once more he would cruciufy Him again" But the good news is that Jesus is not retiuning to earth as a helpless little baby, but a powerful ruling King in order to crush the evil one and establish His reign forever.

Nicholas Garcia (Nick) said...

Hi Joseph, This is by far your best post to date. Topically spirituality number one in my book. It's like the more we think and discuss the issues beyond religion n the sooner we will come face to face with the true and living GOD...

May be I should add. If you haven't already.

I would like to comment one time further if I may. At first I intended not to mention that you place an excurp from one of my posts.As I didn't want to draw attention to myself, if even for a moment..Joseph I don't know if I'm explaining myself clearly. This is all about GOD..

My words are starting to get tangled in my mind so in conclusion; Joseph I wanted you to know I'm surprised,honored, and humbled, that you would quote me in one of your posts. I've never experienced this before. God I hope I explained that right. Thank you so much, nikgee......

Satheesh Kumar said...

I have a strong faith in GOD. But that doesn't mean that I believe only in Hinduism. I'm following Hinduism just because I was taught the relious principles of Hinduism from my parents and elders. But I never blame any other religion. Every religion has its own significance.
I agree with Nikgee. Religion is a man-made creation,not divine. And our Ancestors created them only to justify their actions. None of us has ever seen the God. But there's nothing wrong in believing in God when even in this scientifically advanced day no one can confidently say that he knows everything about the UNIVERSE. The very existence of human life itself is a mystery. And today after having already proved that there are possilbilities for calamities potentially devastating the human life on Earth(like Solar Flares) we are still living here.
So what I would like to tell here is there must be a Supernatural Power preventing all these calamities. And I call this supernatural power as "GOD." And no one knows the form of God. I'm just believing the form which I was taught by my elders.

Danielle&Hannah said...

Hi Joseph,
God asks us to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Him... He also says that we should prefer another over ourselves... this world is very selfish and therefore one looking for hope in God can be quite disillusioned by looking at humanity. We all fail each and every day in many ways. It is the hope in God that helps us trust in pure love and truth. In-fact is is in our short-commings of humanity that God shows His immortal goodness.

I can see where the first statement comes from. I pray that God graces them with His truth. cheers,
Danielle

Rajesh said...

Great post. Beautifully written.

Mark D. said...

Great post, Joseph. Thanks again for sharing your wisdom and insight with the broader world. You expressed quite well the idea that faith is essentially trust -- it doesn't rely on tangible evidence but rather the experience we have of God's love -- his grace -- shared to us.

Thanks again.

Swagatika said...

hello sir...sorry for posting a late comment on this amazing post....but anyhow i suppose i was made to read this article coming out of so busy life..life has its own meaning with it's spirituality....often i ponder about salvation,religion and so far the true contentment...i believe religion lies in the thing where both the mind and the heart coexist...for me it is in both being happy and giving happiness..helping the needy...being a cause of smile on somebody's face..and moreover fealing the divinity in the open air as we breathe in and out each time..god lies in good deeds rather than the rituals..hoping you having a prety good time sir...wishing you a merry christmass..hope to get some more visionary post as the yuletide spirit is on!!good day.

Terry said...

dear joseph...i like what YOU said in this post and what a picture..that bright empty cross shining in the dark...the world is dark and the ONLY choice we DO hsve IS god!
religion is empty! the lord jesus is the important one and the only way to heaven..
jesus came to call the sinners and not the good people[not that there ARE any good people...we are ALL sinners!]
Isaiah 64:6
But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
i wish that willy could have read here what YOU said!
i wonder how he is doing and if he is thinking about what ever you told him joseph?
from terry

Ellen said...

I don't need to explain my faith. I live it. God is as real to me as my favorite ice cream.. as real as a lovely sunrise.. as real as a pebble in my shoe.. as real as fire trees aflame in June :-)

Thank you for writing this wonderful piece. May God bless you and your family.