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My father is dead, but with every (important or life-changing) decision I make I think about what my father would do. My father still lives in me because he is one of the most important people in my life.
I build my foundation upon the things I've learned from him and the things he has taught me. Not all of them, because I am not my father. Some things I do my own way and some things I do my father's way.
My father is not a spirit, nor is he a voice in my head but I still 'listen' to him by thinking what he would have done in my place.
Although I miss my father dearly, I do not visit my father's grave. I see no point in doing that. He is not there, he is gone.
My father is not a deity or a spirit or a psychological construct, but he still influences me, even after his death.
So is Jesus or God, even when I've never met them or known them like I have known my own father.
My father is not a deity or a spirit or a psychological construct, but he still influences me, even after his death.
So is Jesus or God, even when I've never met them or known them like I have known my own father.
You're onto to something there that I hope some of the more philosophical folks will expound on.
It sounds like God is more like an 'idea' to you but your father is more than idea....a memory...yes...maybe be more than that....
Let me think on that one a little, Tricky D, and thank you for sharing real conversation.
I'm sorry your father is gone, by the way. I dread the day I have to say goodbye to mine. And he, too, will effect me long after his body and presence is gone.....
Originally Posted by Alpha8207
My father is dead, but with every (important or life-changing) decision I make I think about what my father would do. My father still lives in me because he is one of the most important people in my life.
I build my foundation upon the things I've learned from him and the things he has taught me. Not all of them, because I am not my father. Some things I do my own way and some things I do my father's way.
My father is not a spirit, nor is he a voice in my head but I still 'listen' to him by thinking what he would have done in my place.
Although I miss my father dearly, I do not visit my father's grave. I see no point in doing that. He is not there, he is gone.
My father is not a deity or a spirit or a psychological construct, but he still influences me, even after his death.
So is Jesus or God, even when I've never met them or known them like I have known my own father.
My father,who I dearly miss was a man that I respect very much,but my Heavenly Father is One that I revere and love first and foremost over all.
My father,who I dearly miss was a man that I respect very much,but my Heavenly Father is One that I revere and love first and foremost over all.
I do not quantify love. I either love someone or not. Saying that I love X more than Y is, at least to me, a ridiculous thing to say. I don't think that anyone who loves me would ask me to choose between the people I love. Or ask me who I love more.
My father is not a deity or a spirit or a psychological construct, but he still influences me, even after his death.
So is Jesus or God, even when I've never met them or known them like I have known my own father.
Ah, but these posts abound with analogies!
You internalized your father, beginning at birth, in ways in which you weren't even aware of. He may be gone, deceased, but there is no question that he is still in you, with you, albiet, a part of your psyche.
For the believer, (I guess?) a similiarly analogous process also exists: By having "internalized" God, the Father, from conception in the womb on, He too could be seen as having the same powerful type of influence. It is that same reciprocal "father-child" inter-relationship; interplay. I know who made me; I know who I am in relation to him...
???
It's how we are "known" and who and what we "know," perhaps...
You internalized your father, beginning at birth, in ways in which you weren't even aware of. He may be gone, deceased, but there is no question that he is still in you, with you, albiet, a part of your psyche.
True, but luckily my Catholic father was never as oppressive as the Catholic church. He never threatened me with ritual or sin or anything else. In that regard I was free to choose other options. Even those my parents hadn’t chosen themselves.
I recognize that some parts of my psyche look like a lot like my father’s and some like my mother’s. And there are even parts that do not look like my father or mother. But knowing my parents certainly has helped me in finding out who I am and / or who I want to be.
Faith is so hard to define Nolan. It is easily understood by people who have a strong religious belief in God, but is almost impossible to explain to someone who cannot believe in a creator. Faith is what fills my very soul and allows the Holy Spirit to dwell within me to further my relationship with God. Faith is the tool that is within me that helps me through each day no matter what joys, fears or hardships happen to me. Faith helps me to acknowledge that death is only a threshhold that I must be prepared to cross in order to spend eternity with the Creator and His Son who made it all possible through his sacrifice...I think people who have a hard time understanding faith are looking outward for definitions not inward where faith is...
I totally agree with you. But I have a definition for faith; Faith is believing in something that cannot be scientifically proven. And God is mysterious. Also, there is this Uncertainty Principle. (Scientist's use it.) For example. You can measure how fast the speed of light is going, but if you try to measure how fast the electron are moving. The more you measure one. The less you'll know of the other. And again, God is outside of our time. He could be in the present, but then he could also be in the future, awaiting for us to know what is to come. so it is impossible to scientifically prove that God exists. But then again. That is what faith is. ^^
It is a belief in things unproven. Also...right off the bat, I would suspect that the dancers believe in choreography.
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My father is not a deity or a spirit or a psychological construct, but he still influences me, even after his death.
True, but luckily my Catholic father was never as oppressive as the Catholic church. He never threatened me with ritual or sin or anything else. In that regard I was free to choose other options. Even those my parents hadn’t chosen themselves. 
