What's on Your Mind

[Bhp91126]

I've come to the conclusion that god does not exist

What has made you come to that conclusion?

Not that anyone asked, I don't think god exists in that he's some santa claus looking guy in the clouds doing us favors because we kiss his ass and do silly rituals. I can't say I've completely come to terms of what god is or isn't... I really don't like using the term god for that matter, rather I just call it the divine and until I have a better answer for me I think it seems more appropriate. That all being said, I am curious as to how other people think about things like this who aren't how shall I say, drinking the kool-aid for lack of better description.

people kept telling me, "Gods got something good for you" since I was little and the something never came. plus a lot of people that claim to be Christian are fucking awful. Life just sucks, people say bad folks will get what s coming to them but i dont see it happen. just shit I think about when i"m drunk

I lost my faith a long, long time ago, while I was still in high school. Somehow faith never clicked for me. For the longest time I still occasionally went to church, did the prayer of the lord, but in the last couple of years I’m done pretending. I still believe in community and enjoy when I go back to where I grew up and meet people from my Mennonite church.

[CellarDweller]

I still believe, but I haven't practiced my religion or gone to church since I was 17.

I stopped going after a priest told my mother she was going to hell for having a tubal ligation.

[InbetweenDreams]

people kept telling me, "Gods got something good for you" since I was little and the something never came. plus a lot of people that claim to be Christian are fucking awful. Life just sucks, people say bad folks will get what s coming to them but i dont see it happen. just shit I think about when i"m drunk

Well firstly, I think it is perfectly fine to think about these things, drunk or sober. Just be glad you don't blindly accept things. Yes, there are Christians who are awful... I find that people are awful. We often want to see good things happen to people and bad things to happen to bad people. We often hear about bad things happening to good people and not the other way around. Just turn on the news, you'll hear about all the atrocities of the day and basically the world is a giant bag of shit floating in space.

I also think it is easy to take a look at yourself and think, this sucks, my life sucks, nothing is going right, I'm this and I'm that and so on. Hell, I do it all the time. I can literally write several long winded paragraphs about how awful things are in my life and how unhappy I am and how unattractive and mediocre I feel....but, I try to avoid going there. I know now that it is a biased point of view. Yes, there are tough times and sometimes things suck and they can suck for a long time and it works on you. This year, I don't know what it is, but it seems nearly everyone is having a crummy time. So much stuff has gone wrong.

As far as bad people go. I've seen people on the Pagan/Wiccan groups who are seeking help casting spells to get revenge on their friends ex who was a terrible person. Not saying they're bad for wanting bad things to happen to an asshole but I think using your faith in that manner doesn't make you a good person. Frankly, I have a hard time accepting that crystals and gems and whatnot have any special powers, a lot who practice witchcraft do but I don't see it much different than those who pray or do some sort of ritual. The bottom line is do what make sense to you and it never hurts to have someone as a guide or to ask questions. For all we know we all go around once, perhaps our consciousness will go out like a light and that's it, maybe we reincarnate, maybe we go into another dimension, maybe there is a heaven and hell...None of us really know, we don't know that anyone has come back a second time around. So the best advice I have for you, probably advice I should take, is make it count. Doesn't mean you have to do anything in particular, doesn't mean you have to travel or win some sort of award or whatever, just try to focus on the good, savor the good times. We often focus on the bad things that happen to us. Try not to focus on the news and all the bad shit that happens, maybe it is a family member. My aunt lived with us for about a year, she was horrible and a mooch. I'd also say learn to forgive as well, that's something I have a hard time doing.

Finally, I try not to blame the divine for things happening. I think things do happen for reasons it seems there might be some sort of pattern. Like why do certain things happen when they happen, like just when things can't get worse, they do and then on the flip side, crazy things work out for the good--against all odds. I do think there is some weird stuff that happens that seemingly isn't by chance. However, I take the stance that the universe, the divine or whatever you believe isn't running a call center, I don't think praying that I win the lottery that I'm going to win the lottery...

At any rate, hang in there, things will get better...things ebb and flow, sometimes shit sucks or sucks shit and sometimes you catch a break and you never know when things are going to happen or what sequence of events will lead you to something good or something bad. That's all I got to say, kind of a boring night here....

[LJay]

I prefer to defer my questions on this topic until 4 November 2020, or possibly a bit later.

[InbetweenDreams]

I prefer to defer my questions on this topic until 4 November 2020, or possibly a bit later.

I suppose that's fair. Although for me it will either reinstate or lose my faith in humanity.

[InbetweenDreams]

So my mom was airlifted to the hospital (rural area and the hospitals here can't do much). Not sure exactly what is going on but we think she had a stroke or rather that's what appeared to be happening.

So she was in the ER a few weeks ago for similar concerns...The local hospital released her saying essentially she was dehydrated. Her primary doctor mentioned that one of the tests at the ER indicated that she had a previous stroke....which was news to us. Anyway, I don't want to make this lengthy...I'm tired.

Fast forward to Thursday. My mom goes outside on the deck and falls... My dad had left to go shopping shortly before and I was at work...We have security cameras and she was down for over an hour before my dad got home and found her... He calls me at work, tells me briefly what happened and doesn't mention anything about her having problems indicates she's ok. After seeing that on the camera I left work and came home and she was not with it. She couldn't tell me her name, where she was, when her birthday was and so I called an ambulance.

So they flew her out... She's stuck in the ER because they have no rooms. They don't allow visitors in the ER and even when she gets admitted it is one visitor per day...all thanks to covid.

Here's the thing. Not trying to pick on my dad but you would think that he would know something was up, instead, when I got there he was on WebMD or some shit looking stuff up... I shouldn't have had to come home and tell him or convince him that she needs to get to a hospital.

I don't know what will happen Monday, but I have a feeling that my boss is unhappy with me that I left. It was a busy day. We had people coming in to use the multi-purpose room so there was AV needs and people from the state on campus going over our fiber upgrade and other requests from various departments... we only have 4 people in our department so it was a busy day anyway... So not only do I have this going on with my mom, the incompetence of my dad who acts like a child, I now have to worry about whether I'm going to get wrote up, yelled or whatever over leaving work. I'm probably fine but I get the feeling something is off. Don't get me wrong, I like my job and if this is how they're going to be not sure I want to carry out my career there. I know I can seek out better paying jobs, if you're not treated well where you work there's no reason to stay if something better is obtainable. Anyway, I don't want to get ahead of myself, hopefully I'm worried over nothing. Just stressed out, tired...

[Bookworm]

@InbetweenDreams I hope your mum makes a speedy recovery.

Your dad's indifference does sound concerning. He should have had the sense to call the ambulance himself. He might just be in denial that anything is wrong with her.

Hopefully your work should understand that this was a family emergency. They should make allowances for this type of scenario and not give you a hard time about it.

[Cridders88]

I do hope your Mum recovers and is ok @InbetweenDreams

This isn't the first time your Dad has pulled this kind of thing, unless I am mistaken? It sounds like he is in major denial about things and just wants to bury his head in the sand. Not only is that frustrating it could've had dangerous implications for your Mum so I am sorry that happened man.

As for your employer, if they get funny about you leaving because your Mum had a suspected stroke then yeah, they wouldn't be worth continuing to work for. Hopefully your feelings are off and actually they are ok.

[CellarDweller]

@InbetweenDreams   I hope that your mother makes a speedy recovery.

Regarding your job, they shouldn't discipline you for a family emergency.  As for you leaving, if you're not happy, then perhaps it's time to move on.  I do question whether with the pandemic if now is the time to look for something new.   Give it some thought, you may want to hold off on that.

As for your father, it seems that there is an amount of denial there.  It may be time to sit with them both and discuss a system like "life alert" where they can wear an alert button to push if there is an incident.

[ceez]

@InbetweenDreams I hope your mother has a quick recovery, do you have fmla? I'm not sure if it's the same in your state but in VA we can apply for it to take care of parents to protect our jobs if we need to leave for emergencies.