I went to church this morning and got in trouble.

I am not a religious person but my parents are very active in their church. This past week was vacation bible school at their church and the theme was Joseph's journey from prison to palace. Everyone was dressed in costume and they had a marketplace set up outside... it was very well done and I was told the children enjoyed it very much. My father was one of Joseph's prison guards and he made a shield and had a cool costume.

Anyway, today was the wrap up of the week's events so I went to see my dad in the last skit they were doing. One of the directors was talking about what a great turn out they had this year but it was unfortunate that on Thursday some of the kids got a stomach bug. She then went on to say that they forgot to pray for health. She said they prayed for good weather all week, and god answered... they prayed for a good turnout, and god answered... they prayed for the supplies to get to them on time, and god answered, etc. etc. - but they did not think to pray for no one to get sick.

I was sitting next to my mom so I leaned over and said... "gee, you think god would have just taken it upon himself to make sure none of the little kids got sick this week so they could continue to enjoy themselves." I got a very dirty look from my mother. I am surprised she did not pinch my leg.

genie.

Why do viruses exist? Why can people get sick? Is it a natural thing or a spiritual thing. Is it part of existence?


The biblical answer is the man was blind so that God's glory could be revealed. But what about all the people sick that do not get healed? Where is God's glory there?

That exact concept is how some people can think that hardships for some people is the punishment of God. I think many of them are because of imperfections in people, and free will choices of people.



It is also possible that part of existence includes factors that create different situations for different people, so everyone does not live the exact same existence, but in those existences there are ways for comfort.

You could make the comment why not everyone live forever? But people get more entrenched in there beliefs over time, so without people being perfect, things like getting sick, and even mortal death occurs to refresh the learning by a new generation that has not instilled stubborn entrenched views on things, when things are improving over time.


So some people get sick, because in mortal life living forever does not help people as a whole get better.

And healing shows there is comfort in many things.



Although some sickness is spiritual by free will choices, compulsions to choose to be sick by some form of oppression, although that is not all sickness.


Thats how I think on it.

http://www.amazon.com/Gods-Problem-Answer-Important-Question-Why/dp/0061173975

:hi:

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
We had a small family-only memorial service at the little church
near his farmhouse. None of us except MiddleFingerMomMom had
been to church for many years. My little brother held open the
door for everyone when we entered the front. He looked so sad...
and I slipped something into his free hand as I passed him.
.
A nickel. I heard him laugh at my tip.
.
.
.
.
.
During the service, we all sat in one pew... and I realized that we
were all cueing off MiddleFingerMomMom on the far end of the pew
as far as when to sit, stand, kneel.

.
At one point, I leaned over to my sister and asked her if she
realized that we had been doing The Wave. She literally BARKED!!!
.
Disrespectful? Irreverent? Maybe.
.
.
.
But if there IS a Jesus and or an afterlife, I think he and/or my
older brother would have been chuckling, too.
.
.
.

God has repeatedly shown me that He has a sense of humor. I just wish that more people would open their eyes so they could see it.

When my dad died, my brother, SIL, niece, husband, mom, and I repeatedly cracked each other up with the strangest jokes and behavior. We weren't laughing at my dad's death, nor were we being disrespectful to his memory; it was more of a stress reliever. Gallows humor, if you will.

The only person who wasn't amused was my aunt, an uber-Catholic pinch-faced Church Lady of the highest order. She was HORRIFIED. The night of the wake, when we were finally leaving the funeral home, my aunt told us all to go to her house for a late meal, just give her about half an hour to get stuff ready. So the rest of us went back to my mom's house and waited, then drove to my aunt's. We usually went in through the garage, but the garage door was locked. My mom had a key, so we let ourselves in. The inner door was locked. My mom had that key too. We walked into the kitchen, and there was only one light on in the whole house. We started to wonder if my aunt had done something silly like go to the store for fresh bread (she tends to do stuff like that), when she came rushing out of her bedroom in her nightgown and bathrobe. She had COMPLETELY forgotten she had told us to come to her house.

I say if you don't laugh when you can, you lose your mind. I use my aunt as an example.

We went back to my mom's, cleaned out the fridge, ate any food that wasn't nailed down, and had a good laugh about her forgetfulness.

she is well aware of my beliefs... we discuss religion quite often. If we were not in church she probably would have chuckled at my comment.

The comment about her not pinching me was because when I was very young and we were at church, if us kids start acting up she would pinch our leg. Not a painful pinch just a "behave yourself" reminder pinch.

she mentioned my comment and started laughing. She said: "Well, you made a good point!"

"I'm trying to wean myself off sports, it's too time consuming. I don't watch football anymore, I gave that up. I got tired of the interviews after the games, because the winning players always give credit to God, and the losers blame themselves. You know, just once I'd like to hear a player say, 'Yeah, we were in the game, until Jesus made me fumble. He hates our team.'"
~~Jeff Stilson