Archive for March, 2010

When the eyesight God has given you isn’t enough there is the blessing of quality eyeglasses at discount prices

We are all born with a level of eyesight. As we age that level of eyesight usually will begin to decrease at some point. For some people this takes place early in life. I know several relative with young children whose eyesight is less than acceptable. Then there are those whose eyesight doesn’t start to dim until they reach their 50’s. These people face the challenge of learning to deal with this change late in life. No matter when it happens nobody likes to pay a lot for eyeglasses.
I was online the other day searching for options for eyeglasses and I came across something interesting. There was an article by Eric Hammer that discusses “Cheap Eyeglasses are a Reality”. This is highlighted by a company called Zenni Optical. This company is making waves in the world of online eyeglass delivery and manufacture.
Zenni Optical uses the latest up to date materials and manufacturing techniques. They have a large variety of styles to pick from and they really know what they are doing. The most amazing thing is that the price was so much less than what I thought it would be.
They have a process that is very simple yet takes care of all of your needs. They take your existing prescription and offer you quality glasses at unbelievable prices. They are able to do this by cutting out the middle man. This allows them to provide quality eyeglasses at discount prices.
Go to eyeglasses and see how it works. You will be very pleased with the results.

What religion is preaching the good news of the kingdom of God?

What are the good news of the kingdom of God?

What is the kingdom of God?

What religion is preaching the good news of the kingdom of God?

Matthew 24:14: And this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.

Great question, Boanerge.

This is because Jesus identified the period immediately before ‘the end of the system of things,’ as being the time when the "good news of the Kingdom" would be preached.

Everything else he identified in that prophecy has been fulfilled in a massive way. But, most outstandingly, indeed miraculously, that work is being accomplished by a very unique group of people. Worldwide!

Eug.

The Book of Esther

The Book of Esther

Esther is not a very popular book.

Not many people preach on Esther. Indeed, the lectionary, if you know how that works, only encourages us to read it once every three years. Unlike the gospel of Mark, for instance, from which we will read something like 50 times over the course of this year, we get only this one reading from Esther this year, after which the book retires to its quiet canonical spot until 2003.

It is an unpopular book. More – it is a controversial book. More – it is a book about which no less a character than Martin Luther said that he ‘hated’ it. That it was ‘perverse’ – ‘filled with much pagan impropriety’.

Esther is one of only two books in the Bible that never mentions the name of God. It shares this singular honour with the Song of Songs, which is also a controversial book.

It’s not just that the book doesn’t mention God by name. It’s that there is so little that is ‘godly’ going on in the book. There is no worship, no reading of the Bible, no persons of outstanding godly character in the book of Esther. There is no mention of the great Biblical themes of covenant and grace. There doesn’t even seem to be any love in Esther! Sex, yes, there’s plenty of sex in Esther – another point of similarity with the Song of Songs. Yet Esther goes one step beyond Songs by bringing in that other great Hollywood theme – violence.

Esther is a violent book. There is a lot of bloodshed in Esther. There seem to be a good hundred thousand people killed in the story of Esther – men, women, and children – and Esther herself does much of the killing.

This raises two questions:

Why hasn’t somebody made a major motion picture based on the story of Esther?

Why is this book in the Bible?

I’m going to shelve both of these questions until we’ve looked at the story, so that you might be in a better position to make up your own minds.

Chapter 1 introduces us to both the environment of the story and to one of the main characters. We are in Persia in the late 5th Century B.C. The Jews are living in exile, and a king by the name of Ahasuerus is on the throne.

Ahasuerus is better-known elsewhere in history by another name – Xerxes – and is best known for his complete failure to conquer the Greeks in the earlier years of his reign.

Yesterday I watched some of a marathon being run. Many of you will know that the first marathon was run after the battle of Marathon – where one poor Greek guy ran so hard and fast after the battle to tell the good news of victory to his king that he died as soon as he had given the message!

Marathon was a victory to the Greeks over the Persians who were then led by Darius, Xerxes’ father. Xerxes returned to Greece to avenge his father’s defeat in 480 B.C. with an army that Herodutus numbered at 2.5 million! He defeated the Spartans at Thermopylae, but was then thoroughly destroyed by the Greeks in the naval battle of Salamis. He returned to his capital beaten but, like his father, and like his modern counterpart, Saddam Hussein, he managed initially to hang on to absolute power in his own region.

The other story I remember about Xerxes was that story about his friend who held a banquet for a great part of his army on the night before they headed off to battle. In the morning, the friend asked Xerxes if his youngest son might stay with him on the farm to help him look after it. He had three other sons in the army and wondered whether the youngest one might stay at home. Xerxes had the young lad brought forward, had the boy cut in half down the middle, had his army march between the two halves, and said to his friend ‘enjoy your son’s company’ or something like that.

Xerxes/Ahasuerus is not a godly man. Yet he is the absolute ruler of many nations and peoples in this story, including many Jews.

Chapter 1 also deals with Vashti, Xerxes’ wife, the first woman in the Bible to demonstrate feminine assertiveness. Xerxes and his mates are drunk and they invite Vashti in to come and join the fun. Vashti tells them to get stuffed. Xerxes responds with something as chauvinistic as Vashti’s action was feminist – he holds a beauty contest to find a fitting replacement for Vashti.

Xerxes pulls in girls from across the empire, has them dressed up and perfumed up, gives each of them a trial run in bed, and promises to the one who tickles his fancy most, that she will become the new queen of Persia. Enter Esther.

Chapter 2 outlines Esther’s rise to power. She pleases the king more than any of her contemporaries, and is much encouraged by her uncle Mordechai – himself a loyal servant of the king who helps to uncover a plot to assassinate Xerxes, and so earns the king’s favour.

Both Esther and Mordechai are Jews, but Mordechai seems to prefer to remain quiet about his Jewishness, and encourages Esther to do the same. Why? Because there seems to be a fair degree of anti-Semitism spreading through the empire, as becomes clear in Chapter 3 when we meet Haman – the enemy of the Jews.

Why was Haman ‘the enemy of the Jews’? Because he was an Amalekite, and because Amalekites and Jews had always hated each other. The problem actually starts with Mordechai. Haman is appointed Prime Minister, and everybody bows and shows respect to him – everybody except Mordechai. Mordechai shows no respect to this man, despite his office. Why? Because he is a damned Amalekite.

This is a helpful reflection, I think, of the piety of Mordechai. What did it mean to him to be a Jew? Did it mean a personal devotion to the God of the Hebrews? Did it mean praying each day while facing Jerusalem? Did it mean a strict adherence to the 10 commandments? No! None of these things, but it did mean hating the Amalekites. Mordechai was not a model Jew.

Haman decides to punish Mordechai for his insolence by killing off all the Jews, and he convinces the king that this is a good idea. He sets a date for his holocaust 11 months hence.

In Chapter 4, Mordechai appeals to Esther for help. Esther says that she’d like to help but that she can’t really do anything at the moment because the king, it seems, has already grown sick of her. She’s not allowed to just waltz in for a chat with the king uninvited. The king is quite entitled to have her cut in half for showing that sort of insolence.

Mordechai tells her that she shouldn’t live under the illusion that she will be safe in the palace while others suffer. She will end up getting it in the neck too. Esther relents and in chapter 5 she takes her chances with Xerxes and wanders into his throne-room to invite him to dinner. Esther catches Xerxes in a good mood. He doesn’t kill her, but accepts the dinner invitation.

The king and Haman dine with Esther that night, which gets Haman so excited that he decides to accelerate his plans to murder Mordechai, and he builds a scaffold in his back yard to do the job.

Chapter 6 is a sort of comic relief, where the king can’t sleep one night and gets it in his head that he’s being troubled because he never gave Mordechai his proper reward for warning him about the assassination plot.

Xerxes calls in Haman to ask for some advice as to how he should reward Mordechai. Haman meanwhile has completed his gallows and was about to go and lynch Mordechai. When Xerxes asks Haman what he should do to reward one of his most loyal servants, Haman assumes that Xerxes is talking about him, and he recommends very lavish treatment. So it is that Haman ends up having to walk around ahead of Mordechai, singing the praises of the man he wants to kill.

In chapter 7 everything comes unstuck for Haman at another dinner party with the queen. Esther tells Xerxes that Haman is trying to kill her and all her people. Haman is promptly hoisted on his own petard.

Chapters 8 & 9 outline Esther’s revenge. With the cooperation of Xerxes, she manages to not only have Haman hanged, but also all his children, with their bodies hung up on display afterwards. She then asks the king if her people might not go on their own killing spree against their enemies, and indeed, she manages to have the best part of 100,000 people killed over the space of only a couple of days, which is an enormous amount of bloodshed.

Chapter 10 concludes by telling us that this story is remembered each year at the feast of Purim, as indeed it is still remembered by Jews around the world today. And the tradition is, and it’s an ancient tradition, that at the feast of Purim, you are allowed to drink so much wine that eventually you can’t tell the difference between the cries of ‘blessed be Mordechai’ and ‘cursed be Haman’.

This is related to one of the theories as to why the name of ‘God’ isn’t in the book. People were regularly so drunk when they read it, they might accidentally take the name in vain.

And so let us leave this tale of drunkenness, sex, and so much violence, and let us return to our original questions:

Why hasn’t somebody made a major motion picture based on the story of Esther?

Why is this book in the Bible?

The first question I’m not sure I can answer. The second question, I’m wanting to have a go at.

What’s this book doing in the Bible? It’s such a violent story. The characters all seem so ungodly. What sort of role models for our children to these Biblical figures make! It all seems so immoral, so violent, and so damn irreligious!

Maybe that’s the point we can get from this book. It points to the fact that there is an irreligious dimension to the Bible, as indeed, we might say, there is a very irreligious dimension to God!

It has been traditional of course to think of God as inhabiting a world of religion. God is present in His holy temple. God is present with his people gathered. God is at work through the prayers of those who serve him bringing miracles and healings and salvation and life. And all this is true.

And yet we know too that God who is present in His holy temple is also present in the palace of pagan king Xerxes at Susa. We know that God who meets us with His presence when we come to worship will also be present with us when we get home. We know that the God who works through the prayers of his faithful people will still be at work when nobody is praying and when there are no faithful people to be found!

In the book of Esther, nobody is faithfully praying to God, nobody is talking about God, nobody even seems to be thinking about God. But that doesn’t mean that God isn’t there. Indeed we, who can look at the story in the context of the larger body of the Scriptures, know full well what is going on. God is protecting His ancient people. God is fulfilling His promise made originally to Abraham that he would preserve these people. God is being true to the prophecies of hope given by the prophet Jeremiah to these people in exile. God is acting in amazing and mysterious ways to see that His will is done at this point in human history. It’s just that nobody in the story really recognises what is going on.

It seems like a series of happy coincidences for the Jews – Esther getting into a position of great influence, Mordechai being saved by the fact that the king had a bad night’s sleep one night, the fact that the king was in a good mood when Esther took her life into her hands by going to see him uninvited, the fact that Mordechai fortuitously overhead the plot against the king. To the person of no faith, these guys just seem to be lucky. A person of faith calls this ‘providence’.

Providence is that great reality that St Paul was pointing to when he said ‘all things work together for good for those who love and serve Him’. Providence doesn’t deny that God can work in wonderful and miraculous ways. It just asserts that God can also work through very human and very ordinary ways to ‘bring things together for good’. Providence doesn’t deny that God will work through the prayers and through the lives of those who serve him. It just asserts that where there is no one praying or serving, God is still capable of bringing all things together for good.

This is a great truth, though it can be a little disturbing, as it suggests that we might not be as essential to the plans of God as we might have thought.

You know what I mean? I like to think that the whole spiritual future of Dulwich Hill is entirely dependant on us. I believe that God has called us together in this place, and I believe that God has given us a mission in this area, and that it involves working with people on the periphery of our society, and that it involves building a Christian community that makes no distinctions between black and white people, between rich and poor, between educated and uneducated, between male and female, between righteous and less-than-righteous. I do believe that this is God’s will for us, that it is our calling, and that if we are faithful to God and can open our hearts and our homes to one another, then we will see this happen and God’s will will be done.

And yet, if I read rightly the book of Esther, it would suggest to me that, even if we don’t get our acts together, even if we stuff things up, and close our minds, and close our hearts and close our homes to one another, then God’s will will still be done!

This all seems a bit mysterious, but it is something that is addressed directly in the book of Esther itself. I want to turn to the text of the book of Esther again one more time, for there is a passage there that speaks very directly to this precise concern.

In Esher chapter 4, Mordecai says to to Esther:

“Do not think that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.” (Esther 4:13-14)

Mordechai is appealing to Esther’s self-interest. Perhaps Esther was planning on dealing with the destruction of her people by minding her own business, Mordechai tells her in no uncertain terms that she will certainly get it in the neck too. But there is more to Mordechai’s threat:

If she fails to do what is required of her, Mordechai seems to be convinced that ‘deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter’. We’re not told why he was so convinced of this. Had he had a dream about it? Had he read about God’s promises to the Jews in the Bible? Did his parents tell him about these things when he was younger? We don’t know. But he certainly lets on that he sees some greater destiny controlling the future of his people than the royal decree of Xerxes.

He also wonders if Esther might not have been put in this position for just such a purpose. He doesn’t call it God and he doesn’t even call it ‘providence’. But he seems to believe that things happen for a reason, and he wonders if this might be Esther’s destiny?

Now Mordechai might not have got his theology all worked out, and Mordechai might not have read his Bible well enough to be able to articulate exactly what he intuits to be true, but I think we can fill in the blanks for him. Mordechai is right. It is no coincidence that Esther has been put in this position where she is able to save her people from destruction. God’s hand is in this. This is indeed God’s calling upon her. God has been working in His own mysterious ways as to so order events such that Esther is now given this divine opportunity for service.

And yet? if she doesn’t do it. If she fails her calling. If she keeps her mouth shut and consigns her people to destruction, yet (Mordechai is right) the promises of the Lord will prove true. God will not abandon his people. We can be confidant indeed that, as Mordechai says, ‘deliverance will arise from another quarter.’ God will find somebody else to do it!

Isn’t that a great analysis of the place of Esther in the plan of God – she is an important player, but she is not vital. She is significant, but not essential. Isn’t this a good framework within which to understand the part that we all play in the work of God?

We are all called by God to be servants of God and soldiers in the army of Christ – called to do His will in the various different roles to which he calls us. And if we follow Christ and we do as we have been called to do, then God’s will will be done and His work will be accomplished. And if we don’t genuinely follow Christ and we don’t do what we’re called to do, then God’s will will still be done and His work will still be accomplished – ‘deliverance will rise from another quarter’ – God will find somebody else will do it!

We are important players on God’s team, but we are not vital to the team. We play a significant role in the plans of God for this world, but not an essential role. Every good work we do in the name of Christ contributes to the final coming of His Kingdom. And yet, even if we fail completely in the works to which God has called us, His Kingdom will come anyway.

I find this strangely comforting when I think about our situation here in Dulwich Hill. God has called us together here to be his witnesses in this community. He has brought us together, I believe, to play that special role in caring for people on the periphery of our society. He has called us together to build us into that all-inclusive Christian community. And if we are willing to make the sacrifices and follow Christ and open our hearts and open our homes, then we will see God’s deliverance come to this place. And if we fail to do it, then, I guess ‘deliverance will come from another quarter’. God will choose some other group to do it. We’ll miss out on the privilege of being involved in that wonderful work. The work of the Kingdom of God will go on.

There is a beautiful perspective there in the book of Esther, I think, that takes seriously the ordinary secular human world in which we live in, and which recognises the validity of human decision making, and yet which, at the same time, recognises that this world is God’s world first and last, and that our decisions and actions, while significant, cannot ultimately over-rule God’s decisions about the future of this world.

We are real players in the divine drama, but ultimately He is the Alpha and Omega. He is the beginning and the end. He is the creator and He is the saviour. His is the future and His is the Kingdom. And if we can serve Him then we must serve Him. And if we fail, then we fail. And ‘If we perish, we perish’. And yet we can say in faith ‘Thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever. Thy Kingdom come. Amen.’

David B Smith
http://www.articlesbase.com/religion-articles/the-book-of-esther-139103.html

A Matter Of Chatter – Spirituality Information

I first met Cindy during my second year of college. It was in the cafeteria where she bumped into me. Yes, she literally bumped into me and her food tray went crashing into everything. I heard her mutter under her breath, “What an idiot!”

“Pardon me,” I replied, not knowing what else to say, but definitely feeling that it was not my fault. “Oh no,” she said, “It’s always my fault. I am really so clumsy. I am very sorry.”

Then I realized that she was referring to herself when she had said, “What an idiot.” Over the months I got to know her a little better. Sometimes we’d sit at the same table in the cafeteria and other times I’d be sitting next to her in a class.

It never ceased to amaze me how often she repeated the phrase, “What an idiot”, at the smallest thing that happened. It was as if she had been programmed to respond to the slightest misfortune with self-blame. One day I finally asked her why she kept referring to herself as an idiot. Her eyes opened wide as she said that she was not aware that she did. She confessed that it was probably a habit and that she always felt that when anything bad happened, it was her fault. She told me that the voice in her head always told her that she was an idiot and pointed out that she was not as good as others. The constant, negative chatter in her mind had prevented her from achieving her greater potential.

Cindy managed to graduate and we eventually lost touch with each other. But I always wondered how she was doing. I always hoped that she was able to still the chatter in her mind and to change the programmed voice to a more positive self-image.

The matter of chatter is a very serious one. If we were to listen carefully to what we are saying to ourselves we would find very interesting conversations going on. If we are happy and fulfilled, these internal conversations would probably be positive. If we are constantly worried and depressed, we would probably have sad and confusing conversations.

We can literally change the outside world by first changing our inner world. Generally, it’s our inner conversations that determine what our outer world looks like. If we constantly think sad thoughts, then our self-talk will focus on sad things and the entire world will appear depressing.

If we always think angry thoughts, the world will appear angry. Even a beautiful sunset would appear to be filled with angry shades of red. But if we think peaceful and positive thoughts, the world will seem peaceful and positive to us.

So how do we silence the endless chatter in our heads? Here are a few tips:

* Try to find some quiet time each day and listen to what you are saying to yourself. Don’t be like Cindy who kept calling herself an idiot. Once in a while we all say terrible things about ourselves, but if we do it too often, it becomes a habit and we start believing those things.

* As you listen to the conversation in your head, do not follow them. Just observe them and let them go. If you start to focus on the thoughts, you’d get caught up in them and then get carried away by them.

* After observing your thoughts for a while, you’ll find that they move on and you are not trapped by them. Remember that your thoughts are not you. You only have them. Don’t even worry about replacing them with positive thoughts; that will come later.

Simple as the above exercise may seem, it will have the most profound effect on your life. Gradually, at first, and then faster, you’ll find that a greater calm comes over you.

Because you’ve let go of the chatter, the noise diminishes and you are now able to hear the voice of intuition, the voice of the universe seeking to guide and help you.

Yes, it’s a matter of chatter, clatter and clutter and if we turn the volume down, we will be able to hear the beautiful symphonies of life.

John Harricharan
http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/a-matter-of-chatter-spirituality-information-135290.html

Spirituality Information – You Can Never Get Rid Of Your Problem

“I have a major relationship problem .Can you help me get rid of the problem,Sir . It just does not seem to go away.” said the young man to the spiritual guru. The young man was very successful in his career but was unable to find a solution to his existing relationship issue. He looked very disturbed and had lost his composure. ” I cannot help you get rid of your problem” said the wise sage but i can do one thing for you ……”

” I can help you get out of the problem ….” The young man looked more confused now. The smiling sage went on to explain what he meant by getting out of the problem……

“Whenever you get into a problem there would be two or more people involved in every issue. You are one of them. The reason you find it difficult to get rid of the problem is because the other person/partner does not accept your solution. You have no control over his/her decisions. This gives you pain and you are not able to solve the problem. You drain all your energy in making him/her accept your solutions, you even compromise to a certain extent but still the other person is not interested in your way of doing things. Unfortunately you cannot do much…. and you are frustrated. You do not want to take the extreme steps of separation with your partner and so you are lost …

But there is another way to deal with the same problem. If you cannot get rid of the problem, you can get out of the problem. Here is how you do it. All the troubles,anguish pain and concern are created in your mind. It is your mind which makes you happy and it is the same mind which makes you unhappy. So if you can learn to train your mind to detach yourself from the problem the intensity of the pain would cease to exist. The problem would still exist externally but it does not trouble you beyond a point. It becomes powerless against your powerful mind. The external world exists outside where it should be and not inside where it should never have been. The way you go about making your mind powerful is by building this internal kingdom within you where you are the king and every other person/problem has to take permission from you before they enter into your kingdom.

The more you water the problem the more it grows. You have blown your external problem out of proportion and it keeps growing every day. However, you have never tried even once to build a rock solid support system within you which can tackle all these ongoing problems. The first step is to detach yourself from the problem and thats how you get out of the problem. It is wonderful and the rewards are gratifying. You ought to experience it.”

Vishwriter
http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/spirituality-information-you-can-never-get-rid-of-your-problem-139135.html

Can I start a religion where as the basic premise is that Atheism is not declared a religion?

We can all get in little groups and discuss ways of how we can keep atheism from being declared a religion.
We can have pie and coffee…

Coffee you say?

Hmm…

Sounds like a plan to me.

Spirituality Information – Bad Things Will Always Happen To Good People.

God loves ordinary beings. That is His strength. He does special things for good people. He will help you meet with an accident, he will take away everything from you, he will ensure that you get into deep trouble…. If you think i am insane here you probably are right but God is not… He knows how to play His Game and take care of his beloved ones here on earth…. Bad things will Always Happen to Good people. Here is reason why…..

Good people carry out their day to day duties deligently. They are honest in their dealings and they do not have a crooked mind. They believe in God more than they believe in themselves. God loves all of them . He wants to help them. God conveys his love to these people in various forms through persons,ideas, and events. God knocks at the door of good people everyday but these simpletons do not understand. They fear to open the door. God wants to come in but they are afraid to open the door….. So what does God do…?

Here is what He does. He pushes the door open. He wants to come in … He is more desperate to help you . He does special things for you because he knows good people learn quickly only when bad events happen to them …. Bad events are the need of the hour for good people… There is nothing so bad that can happen to you once you realise that the force which makes all this happens comes from a source which is so genuine that its only intention is to take you to the next level.

Bad things will Always Happen to Good people. Why do you fear when you know that a higher force is entering into your body? Allow those bad things to happen to you just as you allow good things to enter into your life. Good and bad things are both God sent. Don’t doubt the master. He is working for you and he has far greater and bigger plans for you than you thought…

Vishwriter
http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/spirituality-information-bad-things-will-always-happen-to-good-people-139094.html

Spirituality Information – Journey In The Fields Of Forever ( Part 92 )

Gideon then apologized to the manager.”Please excuse my friends. They didn’t mean any harm. Sorry for the inconvenience and commotion. Anyway, they’ll be leaving soon.” The manager seemed only too anxious to agree to anything that would return tranquillity to his restaurant. He thanked Gideon,bowed,turned and left with the two nervous guards in tow.

Marla spoke up, “You always seem to have this effect on others, Kamal. Maybe, you might try to be a bit more cordial? No need to scare others to death. There’s enough fear and anger already. We need more light,not more heat.” Then she smiled her sweetest smile at him.

“You know that I could never really hurt an innocent person, Milady. They scare themselves because of who they think I am,” he replied.

Finally gathering up enough courage to speak, I offered, “Mr. Terror,” and was immediately struck with how stupid that sounded. I continued, nevertheless, “are the legends about you true? Some say you were born hundreds of years ago.”

He looked at me for a moment,then turned to Gideon as if asking permission to answer. Gideon gave a slight nod and the Terror smiled and said,”My dear sir, all legends have their birth in truth somewhere, once upon a time. I was born Kamal, Prince of the Eastern Territories. But that was a long time ago. My mission is to right wrongs and help the helpless. Allah be praised! I am but his humble servant. My followers and I ride the back of the dangerous winds and, by the beard of the Prophet, we will not rest until justice has been served.”

“We have heard of the Terror,” said Pandayji to me. “They speak of him in large towns and little villages across the nation. It’s said that if you’ve lost all hope, call upon him in your heart and he will hear you. He would then dispatch a band of his warriors to help rectify your problem. Some say that Lord Rama on his visit to Lankha was given help along the way by the Terror of Trivandrum.”

To read the rest of the story visit http://www.spiritual-simplicity.com

John Harricharan
http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/spirituality-information-journey-in-the-fields-of-forever-part-92–177631.html

Can someone explain the difference between an Atheism and Atheist Spirituality?

I have had little contact with Atheist and wondered why soo many Atheist participated in Religion and Spirituality. Well, except for the most part to put down those who believe different. Smile. Please explain. For if that is the case, then are you no different than some of those who believe in a Creator? Or are Religious? I do not say all for I know that many ask sincere questions and would like to avoid unnecessary offense through ignorance. Can read, but personal info is better.
Thank you

Have you ever heard of Atheist Buddhists? I surely think they are spiritual. However I am not. Personally I go on here and answer questions about how to do certain things. True Atheism isn’t a religion but it can be attached to any religion that doesn’t believe in a deity e.g Buddhism, taoism, and universalism

What is the relation between spirituality and science?

I belive spirituality can be understood by self instropection. Then life’s aim turns to be being used for purpose higher than yourself. Infact Darwin’s theory of evolution tells us that aim of life is continuation of life as a whole and not that of a single individual. What ever one does which includes self development and struggle of any kind makes me feel the triumph of life and not a mere individual win.

there’s very little relation really. science is just starting to grow with its openness to different topics..
science is based on evidence and u need lots of it if u want money for research.
they’re almost complete opposites right now..
and really WHAT IS spirituality
i personally think darwin had a lot of spare time to think..
respect to him though.