tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post1720760229521850346..comments2023-09-28T10:08:44.827+02:00Comments on Gwynt: I Do Not Own My LifeUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-54552205336227522922014-12-24T19:49:00.502+01:002014-12-24T19:49:00.502+01:00Hullo Halle; A truly delightful story. Maybe the...Hullo Halle; A truly delightful story. Maybe the real lesson from this is to recognise that spirituality is essentially practical, so don't look a spiritual gift horse in the mouth. The best of the season's greeting sto you.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09028121782477111901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-13943884413328401692014-12-24T16:00:17.226+01:002014-12-24T16:00:17.226+01:00This is a bit long, but it illustrates a dilemma t...This is a bit long, but it illustrates a dilemma that your post has brought to mind.<br /><i><br />It rained for days and days and there was a terrific flood. The water rose so high that one man was forced to climb on top of his roof and sat in the rain. As the waters came up higher a man in a rowboat came up to the house and told him to get in. "No thank you, the Lord will save me!" he said, and the man in the rowboat rowed away. <br /><br />The waters rose to the edge of the roof and still the man sat on the roof until another rowboat came by and another man told him to get in. "No thank you, the Lord will save me!" he said again, and the man rowed away. <br /><br />The waters covered the house and the man was forced to sit on his chimney as the rain poured down and a helicopter came by and another man urged him to get in or he'll drown. "No thank you," the man said again, "The Lord will save me!" <br /><br />After much begging and pleading the man in the helicopter gave up and flew away. The waters rose above the chimney and the man drowned and went to heaven where he met God. <br /><br />"Lord, I don't understand," he told Him, frustrated, "The waters rose higher and higher and I waited hours for you to save me but you didn't! Why?" <br /><br />The Lord just shook his head and said, "What are you talking about? I sent two boats and a helicopter?!"</i><br /><br />In my confusion, I often wonder if the nudges felt are my ego, or my inner self. Hallehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03847654451426257182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-45438572075217992012014-12-24T08:54:32.395+01:002014-12-24T08:54:32.395+01:00Thank you for being here, Natalie. Wishing you wel...Thank you for being here, Natalie. Wishing you well.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09028121782477111901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-21374173967012212272014-12-24T01:51:02.515+01:002014-12-24T01:51:02.515+01:00Yes, exactly.Yes, exactly.Natalie d'Arbeloffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07757081405040926647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-91562612539648077262014-12-23T17:00:53.854+01:002014-12-23T17:00:53.854+01:00Hullo Vincent; I could not agree more with your f...Hullo Vincent; I could not agree more with your final point that, "it is perhaps (for me it is certain that) profoundly traumatic experiences like these which set us off on a path." Spiritually devastating as that experience was - and I use that over-used word 'devastating' with care - I consider myself among the lucky, or blessed, people because that was where my life began to be turned around, until I saw the 'strait way' laid out ahead of me. And there will always be the scars, as you say; battle wounds to be treasured perhaps, or at the least to be thankful for. Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09028121782477111901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-38041483739205636782014-12-23T13:01:01.621+01:002014-12-23T13:01:01.621+01:00I find myself so much in sympathy with what you ha...I find myself so much in sympathy with what you have written, I can’t add anything further.<br />As for the struggles you mention with your former companion, I went through that too. It was mental illness rather than alcoholism, but wasn't recognized or labelled as such, & no recourse was had to professionals till much later; the whole thing being far too messy and guilt-laden to be spoken about, ever. Suffice to say that time & events have healed the effect on the survivors, leaving only a few scars: par for the course with all living creatures. <br /><br />But it is perhaps profoundly traumatic experiences like these which sets us off on a path.Vincenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18297306807695767580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-27041043547316948312014-12-21T14:28:22.488+01:002014-12-21T14:28:22.488+01:00Hi Lindsay; I would agree with the idea that one c...Hi Lindsay; I would agree with the idea that one cannot have trust without the prior experience of doubt. Indeed, doubt, I hope a healthy doubt, is one of my constant companions.....as is trust. There is an ongoing place for each. I don't know that I can, in reality, surrender to an idea whether of free will or anything else. In the case of surrender alluded to in my post, it was the recognition of a frustrating and sometimes terrifying reality that I could not control. And I agree with your point in the last paragraph. There is about that looking-back experience that speaks to me of grace, at least as I understand that gift.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09028121782477111901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-68835763168231646782014-12-21T04:51:28.320+01:002014-12-21T04:51:28.320+01:00Hi Tom
Maybe it is the temple lobes which act as ...Hi Tom <br />Maybe it is the temple lobes which act as receptacles for such experiences, but only can give us the beautiful essential flavours to contemplate different choices or ways to experience life. I think there will always be some constraint from the ego, for without it ( the Ego ) I posit one could not imagine ourselves as separate to self and all of the mysteries of life that entails, constrained as we are in our earthly abode. Except I think we are left with this ongoing sense of yearning for what tantalising is unknown. Some would say you can’t have a faith (but I prefer the word trust) without first some doubt, just as doubt, can lead to a richer understanding. The idea of a surrender to the idea of free will, paradoxically is claimed by some to enable them to feel free, to unchain one from the worries of physicality. <br /><br />I rather like the idea of looking back from the high hill and making more sense over the preceding terrain that brought us to this point now….. just as you have aptly concluded, to be alive to the future. <br />Best wishes <br />Lindsay Byrneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11030132436987752741noreply@blogger.com