[mkfarnam]

I remember when I lived on the farm as a boy. We only had about 280 acres and it was surrounded by heavy woodland, some of the woods was inside our fence line.
When I was about 8yrs old I use to go walking around the property just to be by myself.
I found a spot deep in the woods. It was a small bare spot that had a perfect circle of white pine trees around it. You could almost say that it was enclosed,and it was hard to beleive that it was natures work. But what did I know, I was just a kid.
When I went inside this circle, I felt so relaxed and at peace, like nothing could happen to me. I loved the place and went there as much as I could, especially after getting in a fight, or being bullied by my older brother.
I never told anyone about the place, it was mine,
Reading comments about "vibes" put everything in prospective. Now I realize what was going on.
Thank you

[_redbird_]

That is really cool, mkfarnam.

Sometimes I get the ancient vibes best when I am in nature walking alone.

Walking away from society has always been my release. Not that I am running away from problems, but more like moving toward the harmony and balanced/centeredness that nature represents.

[Mattie Jo]

I think, Greenpasture, that that is why Christ spent 40 days in the wilderness, the desert, because the vibes there are wonderful in some deserts.

As for me I have lost my spirituality in the complex of various religious organizations that I had joined ane left over my life, and I may never get it back. I do believe that there is a God, but not in the sense of the Bible. More so in a sense that we are all one with that God, and that everything that exists is part of it. But my beliefs go no further than that.

[_redbird_]

Jessaka,

I like the way you summed it up so simply and to the point. I believe your beliefs need go no further than that. That pretty much sums up how I believe. Although I joined the catholic church and love going to the catholic church, I don't believe any one particular faith has exclusive rights to the truth.

I just don't get the need for scripture wars and denominational chest-thumping. I have always felt extreme disappointment that those who brought religion to the Native Peoples could so easily dismiss our ways of praying as pagan.

I think a lot of Indians who go to the sacred mountain and fast and cry out to the Creator are just as valid as anyone else's organized religion.

We went to the mall yesterday, and I saw some lady getting so disgusted and impatient because the cashier line was so long in JC Penny. I couldn't help but think, wow, this lady is losing her serenity over gift buying. How ironic.

We have decided not to exchange gifts this year. At our age, we realize the importance of the reason for christmas and the lunacy of spending money we can't really afford to spend.

Although I did score two shirts yesterday. But thats because I have outgrown all my clothes!! Time for a major DIET.

[peggydavis]

I usually just go outside to pray. I actually liked going to church when I did go, but every time the congregation would get into some kind of disagreement with each other. The best church I went to was a little country Baptist church. The preacher's sermons were simple and about the life around us: deer, fences between neighbors, rain, cattle.

I have watched a great movie lately about Native American culture in Oklahoma. Too bad it is definitely rated R, but it was so true. It is available on DVD. The name of the movie is Four Sheets to the Wind. It was filmed in Holdenville and Tulsa. It was funny, and sad. It did win a prize at the Sundance film festival, but it never made it to the theatres.

[Goodpasture]

It is good that this topic can be discussed without the normal preaching that some people seem to have to do, anytime God is brought into the conversation. I guess Okies are more liberal than you thought, eh CG?

Just out of curiosity, have any of you followed Carlton Pearson's "fall from grace?" Frankly his message of inclusion, the foundation of his current ministry, is what I have always, in my heart, believed.

In a 2000 interview with The Dallas Morning News, he said he no longer adhered to the “holiness or hell” credo that is a bedrock teaching of the Church of God In Christ and other black Pentecostal groups. He said he’d been having second thoughts for years about whether one needed to accept Jesus in order to be saved. He added that he could support abortion in “extreme situations” and that homosexuality should be “tolerated but not celebrated.”

Mr. Pearson said if his teachings make him unpopular in some quarters, so be it. “My ministry will be inclusive, not exclusive,” he said. “I’m no longer preaching and living under that fear-based gospel. “I’ve always had something to live for. This is the first time I’ve ever had something to die for.”

http://www.religionnewsblog.com/1382...arlton-pearson

[colleeng47]

Being Inclusive instead of Exclusive is something a lot of the mainstream religions could learn. Who hasn't attended church sometime, somewhere where you just didn't feel "accepted" or welcomed? You may have been tolerated, but I don't think that's what Jesus had in mind.

[colleeng47]

Since this is the chattin thread, I thought I could do this. Have any of you wonderful photographers taken pictures of the "towns" of Mustang and/or Yukon? Do they have "towns"? If anyone has ANY pictures of Mustang or Yukon, could you post them? Thanks.

[mkfarnam]

I've always believed that there was a God, but I've never found it nessecary for a background check.

[RuralCoastalGuy]

Never been to Oklahoma...yet. My Wife and I have traveled all over these United States but have yet to see 12 States. I heard from a little birdie who told me you had a cool Moderator in here so I thought I would come in and ask a bit about your fair State.

What is the food typically like...southern or western?
Do all of y'all wear cowboy hats?
Are all the ladies as pretty as in the movie "Oklahoma"?

.....and if we come visit where are the tourist traps as we want to see the natives...not others gawking around?