Some Words To Ponder

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Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

If this is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

So do not worry, saying, "What shall we eat?" or "What shall we wear?" For the unbelievers run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

-- Jesus of Nazareth

-- Da Brother (da brother@gods.net), May 23, 1999

Answers

Can we be a little more poetic with this ? Take the last stanze again, please:

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;
and all these things shall be added unto you.

Take therefore no thought for the morrow:
for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.
Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.



-- Blue Himalayan (bh@k2.y), May 23, 1999.

Yes, God feeds the birds but he doesn't toss the worms in their nest. They have to go out and search for them. God provides for them but they have to do their part too. Think about it....

-- thinking (somethingtothinkabout@now.com), May 23, 1999.

Indeed. If we don't gather during the summer, as many creatures do, then our nests will be empty over winter. Where people have really failed is faith in GOD, period. Lots of folks don't prepare or tend their affairs properly as a way of life. They have placed their faith in the works of their own hands, and trust that they can decide what to pick up from the grocery store every day for supper. They make no plans at all, and have no focus or faith in the Lord.

Those are the people who put faith in the "system" and deny that anything could possibly happen. You know, the idea that "well, we built this. All the big businesses and banks have so much riding on this, THEY'LL NEVER let something like this happen."



-- here (here@night.time), May 23, 1999.

Hear, here

-- CT (ct@no.yr), May 23, 1999.

God also gave us wisdom and free will - that these are things we need to use, in addition to faith.

I received another typical DWGI response yesterday. I was encouraging a friend to prepare, and he said, "Oh, they're going to fix that. The bank wouldn't be lending me money to build a new house if they expected problems!" I always wonder who "they" are.

-- Eyes Wide Open (ready@y2k.com), May 23, 1999.



Jesus was a deep ecologist.

Sometime, try reading "The Essene Gospels of Peace." This is a translation of some tablets or scrolls found of things that Jesus said to the Essenes. (I'm certain it's not the Nag Hammadi, as that was found in 1945, and the Essene scrolls were translated in the '20's. BTW - the Nag Hammadi is fascinating as well, including such gems as the "Gospel of Mary Magdelene." I kid you not, this stuff is supressed by the church. Start with Elaine Pagels' "The Gnostic Gospels" for an intro to the Nag Hammadi.)

Anyway, this translation of Jesus' talks to the essenes shows that he would have us walking around naked and eating nothing but raw or barely cooked foods. One long section gives a detailed description of the method and reasons for taking a daily enema by hollowing out a gourd and hanging it from a tree, filling it with water and putting the narrow end of the gourd...

Jesus of the essenes would LOVE Daniel Quinn and Ishmael. Jesus of the essenes may well have visited India and studied with yogis (as has been theorized about his "missing years"). Jesus of the Nag Hammadi was a highly political creature, Jesus of the essenes was highly personal and focused on the body. (I lent my copy to someone recently, so I don't have it handy to snip a bit. The quote above is reminiscent. It can be found in New Age type bookstores. I've NEVER seen it in a christian bookstore)

It's sad what Paul and the church afterwards did to Jesus. He was probably a pretty cool and wise man who would have had a lot to offer individuals about living with the world, but they turned him into this zorastorian myth, a virgin-birthed, resurrected supergod dude, that he became a joke. All that virgin mother and ressurection stuff was typical of religous myths at the time, and was added later to the Jesus story so the pagans would swallow it. Oh well...

-- . (.@...), May 23, 1999.


Don't fret my children. Jesus will show up with the loaves and fishes and feed the world. You can count on it.

-- I Da Man (Psychic@Y2Kworld.com), May 23, 1999.

If da brother is wrong on his interpretation of the meaning of scriptures, he is in big trouble. If I'm wrong, I'm still ok.

Did God provide for the needs of the millions who suffered during the many plagues and famines ? He expects us to have contingenciy plans. He will provide ways to survive to those with wisdom.

Go to the ant, you sluggard. Proverbs 6:6,7,8

-- Jubilation T. Cornpone (q@a.nerd), May 23, 1999.


Don't you know sarcasm when you see it? Be Prepared!!!

-- I Da Man (Psychic@Y2K.com), May 23, 1999.

"Don't you know sarcasm when you see it? Be Prepared!!!"

Not always. I thought you were proposing that we not prepare and that God would provide. So many people have that attitude, it makes me want to puke. I hate it!

To those who don't prepare:

"(They/someone/Bill Gates/the government/God) will fix it." you say.

Fine, but if "they" don't fix it and things get rough, don't come to me looking for help because I prepared and you didn't. Go bother "them", or better yet, do the rest of "us" a favor a just die. You'll be less of a drain on our resources.

-- pissed off (getting@mad.com), May 23, 1999.



Nowhere in the opening quote does Jesus say we have no need to make preparations. What He IS saying is, "Don't worry," a wise, practical, and difficult-to-follow piece of instruction. Anyone who tells his children they need to go upstairs and do their homework, then turns around and says we don't need to prepare for Y2K because Jesus said so, is showing a big lack of integrity. We spend a lot of our time preparing for innumerable things. Y2K, just because it's a little scary, does not lie outside the realm of things requiring preparation. Let's all take Jesus' advice and worry less, so we can focus more readily on reasonable preparations in all aspects of our lives, including Y2K.

-- Bill Byars (billbyars@softwaresmith.com), May 23, 1999.

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