Snowball of what kind

Almost everyone who has lived in the Northern hemisphere knows how a snowball becomes bigger if it rolls down a snowy hill or slope. Its a commonly used analogy in many life's situations - 'the snowball effect'. A snowball that begins to roll down becomes bigger and bigger every inch it rolls down. Longer the distance, bigger the snowball!

In life we have two powerful forces that if pursued behaves exactly the same way a snowball behaves. One is Sin and the other is Faith. Both start small. The longer you let it roll in you, the bigger it gets on you. There will be a time when it gets full blown, what you got rolling gets too big that you (the seed) from which it got started, gets you completely covered and it takes you around for the trip of your death or life of which you have very little control until you finally hit something. I hope the thing (death) we hit upon is not one which destroys us but wakes us up in the presence of our God. Faith leads you to that place. Its paramount to watch what kind of a snowball we choose to be.

Dreams - Effects and Affects

Everyone dreams at least a few times a month, if not more. 'Dreaming' crosses all boundaries among humankind. All genders, age, rich, poor, religious, non-religious, healthy, sick, etc., no exceptions. Yet, very little is known, leave alone understood about the cause and origins of our dreams. I honestly don't understand why this area of our human mind is not well researched into. One possible reason is this grey area criss-crosses several sciences and possibly arts too - Neuroscience, Anatomy/Physiology, and Mind-Body relationship. Dreams cannot be encompassed into any narrow field for it to be studied or understood!

One very novel observation that I have not come across anywhere in the literature world so far is this. This comes from my own experience. My wife and I have noticed that on the days we dream, we dream together and on the days we don't dream, we both don't dream. Next, we all know that we get both good and bad dreams although people don't have a clear percentage of how much of their dreams are either good or bad. It certainly varies with people. But to me this is clear, we found out when one of us dreams a good dream the other person in the same bedroom also dreams a good one. So also with the bad ones. You may think it may have a bias. But listen to this, when we added more people to the bedroom (which we do when our son comes to our room to sleep in on some nights!) we noticed this phenomenon extends to the person/s in the bedroom that night. That is to say, if its a good dream, all the persons in the room dream that way and if  'tis a bad one, everyone has some sort of a bad dream. This is strange, it has happened to us all the time.

I strongly feel this is a not just a human-mind thing. This has got to do with something in the air, in the immediate environment! I suspect it is of the spiritual realm and it may very well have something to do with Godly spirit or the Holy Spirit Or the evil spirit. Wonder what the dream scientists have to say.    

Under Control

In one of our conversations we were wondering about some of the people for whom things go well but yet don't really value any one true religion or trust any God. Many of them still believe there is some big power out there but are not convinced enough, which one truly is. You may call them agnostics.

Most of these people are well accomplished professionally, have enough financial security, understand hard work pays, do no harm to others, have no major family disruptions, knowing trials and worries have their cycles....life seems pretty good.  As long as life goes on with little disruptions, and if everything that they can possibly control are under control, life is under control.

For other things that are of spiritual in nature, they want to really feel that with their every sense to be real, only then would they pursue it. For these agnostics, it is unreal, when they see some religious people exercising a spiritual facet that requires faith to believe. It is just because things are generally under control in their lives and common sense does not dictate them to believe, they just pay no interest to it.

I consider God-knowing socially or financially insecure people "Blessed for eternity" because they are mostly the ones who put their trust in God entirely, for both the worldly needs and needs of eternal value, this is with special reference to Christian faith. They know that they don't have everything under control and they can't, but they know WHO keeps everything under control because they trust in God with Faith. That is the true way to have everything Under Control. It requires pressures in life!

Where is your soul?

Do you know where lies your soul? Have you thought about what is a soul? Is it a physical entity or a metaphysical description like "mind".

Noted Philosophy Professor Stephen Asma from Columbia College, Chicago says this is where the mistake in understanding lies...."The problem with some religious and New Age soul talk is that it exports the soul concept from the domain of subjective expression to the domain of objective fact, where it can have no empirical corroboration". Lot of mambo jumbo here, it may seem. Essentially what he says is that we make a "category" mistake while doing "soul" talk. Its not part of a scientific expression but is part of the primordial language of expression.

Asma quotes philosophers like Wittgenstein, Heidegger and Kenneth Burke who have suggested that language is originally expressive, rhetorical and dramatic but is only derivatively scientific and explanatory.

So the crux is, soul talk is more an expression than explanatorial. The word soul is deemed understood 'when we have arrived at that naked expression of subjective yearning'. You don't have to go any further. Its purely used as a function of a statement and not literally.

Why is everyone talking about "being positive"?

A new concept always intrigues and a s a result gets less critiqued. Being positive is a relatively new slogan and one can never seem to find anything wrong with it.  Its also stressed from pulpits these days. Honestly its not a biblical phrase. Its a secular concept. There's certainly a nice vibe to it. Its a selling point. I have no problems with it. But why are people liking it so much as a "mantra"?

I think I found an alternative if someone is interested, its called "being grounded"....may not sound as reassuring as being positive but its deeper in meaning than just being positive.  It is also Biblical. Translation: "Trust in the Lord". Pray! These words of late are carrying a lot of depth in my life. I have began sensing in my head there is joy in despair when you are grounded in the Trust in the Lord and you can build it by prayer.

I loved when Cliff Barrows, the guy who was a main part of Billy Graham's music ministry, said that they began their ministry together with Trust in God as their central theme. There was joy in his face when he said that and I sensed it in a powerful way. Integrity, Accountability, Humility were 3 of the 5 cornerstones that shaped their 60 year association. He closed the interview he was giving by saying beautifully, how he can't imagine living without his friends with whom he could exercise these fine qualities of character.

Exodus20:5 cancelled by Ezekiel 18:20

Passage Exodus 20:5(2nd book of Old testament):

5 You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me.

This passage was one of the thought provoking topic this week. During sermon, pastor Rich Nathan said as he was contemplating on this he had this vision," If you have a stone in your hand and you are standing by the side of a still pond, you have 2 options either drop the stone or throw it in the pond. Here stone is symbolic of sin. If you drop it, that is the end. However, if you hurl it in the pond, it creates infinite ripples on which you have no control.

The above passage does confirm that our parents sins have consequences for us. However, the passage below helps to break the chain of this sin in our families.

Passage Ezekiel 18:20(6th century BC):

20 The person who sins is the one who will die. The child will not be punished for the parent’s sins, and the parent will not be punished for the child’s sins. Righteous people will be rewarded for their own righteous behavior, and wicked people will be punished for their own wickedness. 

Contributed by Shyni

Recent Study

A finding compared 4 groups of kids who were given a test.....first group was supervised by an adult so that they don' t cheat....second group was told that they are being watched although none was physically present or really watched. Third and fourth groups were not supervised but the fourth group was told so, not the third. Not suprisingly the first group did not cheat, the fourth group had the most who cheated. The surprising finding was the second group was comparable to the first.

Finding: When we are told that we are being watched or someone is watching to whom we are accountable, we put forth our best behaviour. To bring about social sanity, this belief works like a charm. Something to think about.