BS: GOD and the SPIDER...

Subject: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: tarheel
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 10:30 AM

GOD AND THE SPIDER

During World War II, a US Marine was separated from his unit on a Pacific
island. The fighting had been intense, and in the smoke and the crossfire,
he had lost touch with his comrades.

Alone in the jungle, he could hear enemy soldiers coming in his direction.
Scrambling for cover, he found his way up a high ridge to several small
caves in the rock. Quickly he crawled inside one of the caves. Although
safe for the moment, he realized that once the enemy soldiers looking for
him swept up the ridge, they would quickly search all the caves and he
would be killed.

As he waited, he prayed, "Lord, if it be your will, please protect me.
Whatever your will though, I love you and trust you. Amen."

After praying, he lay quietly listening to the enemy begin to draw close.
He thought, "Well, I guess the Lord isn't going to help me out of this
one." Then he saw a spider begin to build a web over the front of his
cave.

As he watched, listening to the enemy searching for him all the while, the
spider layered strand after strand of web across the opening of the cave.

"Hah, he thought. "What I need is a brick wall and what the Lord has sent
me is a spider web. God does have a sense of humor."

As the enemy drew closer he watched from the darkness of his hideout and
could see them searching one cave after another. As they came to his, he
got ready to make his last stand. To his amazement, however, after
glancing in the direction of his cave, they moved on. Suddenly, he
realized that with the spider web over the entrance, his cave looked as if
no one had entered for quite a while. "Lord, forgive me," prayed the young
man. "I had forgotten that in you a spider's web is stronger than a brick
wall."

We all face times of great trouble. When we do, it is so easy to forget
the victories that God would work in our lives, sometimes in the most
surprising ways. As the great leader, Nehemiah, reminded the people of
Israel when they faced the task of rebuilding Jerusalem, "In God we will
have success!" [Nehemiah 2:20]

Remember: Whatever is happening in your life, with God, a mere spider's
web can become a brick wall of protection. Believe He is with you always.
Just speak His name through Jesus His son, and you will see His great
power and love for you.

tar...

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: Amos
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 10:31 AM

Great parable, Tar. Dunno about the God part, or the Jesus part, but I liked the part about the spider.


A

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 10:42 AM

Yes, such things have happened. I've even seen kind of similar things happen on the odd occasion. Good story.

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: GUEST,G
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 10:47 AM

I liked that, Tar. And I believe the God part is true. - I think after 50 years I am reverting back to being a Diest.
Todays "Evangelicals" are making me wonder what is what.
Of course, you didn't mean for this to take this route.

Thanks again, though.

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: Bill D
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 10:51 AM

tsk
more tsk

if you MUST preach where preaching is not appropriate, at least attribute these things....it seems to have been a "Devotional -Dr Wende, 1st Methodist
Church, Houston TX"

see here

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: number 6
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 11:18 AM

I liked that .. thanks Tar.

sIx

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: GUEST,Guy Who Thinks
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 11:24 AM

That Marine must have told his story to someone. So what was his name? Exactly where and when did this happen? Basically, why on earth should anyone believe such a story?

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 11:44 AM

"That marine" may well not have existed. Sounds like a fine and moral story like one might read in the Bible. But it's a good parable, and doesn't HAVE to be factually based to have truth to it.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 12:06 PM

yes everybody has an insect threshold.

one spider scampering across the carpet....well it shows you have a rich organic connection with the life force in your house.

three earwigs....thats a conspiracy against the status quo, look out that spray under the sink.

ants in the bathroom......the house is on a invasion footing

a cockroach ...phone rentakill

and all the time they might be sent by God.

You think he'd send some easily recognisable symbol of his bounty...someone who finds who finds you sexually attractive for example.

I wish he'd knock off this 'moving in mysterious ways' business - it's not really working out.

all the best

al

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: Leadfingers
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 12:15 PM

We have a thing in the clubs locally about encouraging people to give the source of the songs they sing ! It is only common politeness , after all ! Same goes for inspirational stuff like this , so I have to agree with Bil D .
And if yoyu want to live and thrive , let the spider run alive - and I learnt THAT from my old Mum !!

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 12:16 PM

There is no reason why anyone has to believe it, is there? It's a parable.

Anyway, if you had the kind of understanding of God that is presented in the religions of the East: that "God" is the entire continuum and fabric of Life itself...all consciousness, purpose, and energy...manifesting as apparently separate phenomena in this World...then you would have little or no trouble believing it.

I think, Guy Who Thinks, it is your presumption that "God" must be necessarily separate from you (if God exists at all)...a distinct and separate being...that is hanging you up. God is not separate from anyone or anything whatsoever. You're like an atom in the body of God. You're like a single thought in the mind of God.

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: TheBigPinkLad
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 12:29 PM

If you believe in an omnipotent diety you must believe it has the power to actually BE a spider. Imagine the shit you'll be in when you snuff it and stand before your god answering for your sins. What? You thought they'd ask if you were good to your fellow man? Nah, it's all about how well you treat spiders.

jackanory, jackanory, jackanory ...

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: GUEST,God
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 12:48 PM

Well, of course I have the power to be a spider. I AM everything, remember? But consider this: Nothing is real except what is eternal. What is unreal passes away. Physical bodies, including spiders' bodies, obviously pass away. They are not real. Yes, you can touch them, you can feel them, you can kill them, but they are not real. Neither is your body, although it feels real. You are in a dream. In dreams, everything seems to be very real, but then you wake up and you discover it wasn't after all. This physical life you think you are living is like unto a dream...a long dream...and in it you have many shorter dreams when you are sleeping at night or when you use your imagination. Those dreams occur in the Mental and Astral realms, non-physical realms, so the "rules", as it were, are more flexible for those dreams. The physical realm (an unreal one) is governed by much more stringent limiations, which is why you think it's real. It's very convincing.

Killing the spider does not really kill anything, but you can think it does if you want to.

You are not your body, and neither is the spider its body. You are a thought-form, and so is the spider. Thought-forms cannot die. They do not pass away, but they bring forth many transitory outer manifestations, like your body.

You will NOT stand before me answering for your sins! I do not punish nor take retribution. Why would I? Only a limited and fearful being would bother to punish, to take vengeance, or to believe in sin in the first place. Such a being cannot be described as "God"...it is a part of God which has completely forgotten its true nature.

You people are the ones who are punishing yourselves and each other. Don't blame me for it. I hold no grudge against anyone. Your "sins" exist only in your own fearful minds. The crazy religions that you have invented to support your fears have little to do with me, and are generally keeping you in conscious separation from me, in fact.

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 12:58 PM

and earwigs......

show a bit of reverence.

when a man's alone in the presence of just his earwig. there's no place to hide. no room for spohistry, and being mealy mouthed about the final truth.

for when the last earwig is counted, who knows what will be revealed.

No use saying to the Almighty, sorry mate I thought you had a sense of humour......

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 01:02 PM

God has the best sense of humour of all, in my opinion, because in it there is no hint of malice whatsoever.

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: Wesley S
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 01:07 PM

I have to agree with a lot of God's points { by the way God - could you PM me ? there are a few things I want to ask you }. They say we were created in God's image but I can't help but think that a lot of us have recreated God in our image instead. I can't believe that a loving God would create a Hell to punish anyone. YMMV.

And by the way - this thread had God in the title. If people are upset by the subject matter then they have come here of their own free will to do so. Since we seem to have enough room at the Mudcat for 5,362 William Shatner threads and room for other people to gripe about tall people , ect , ect - I can't see that this clearly marked thread is harming anyone.

And folks - it's the internet. You can never assume that a poster has written what they've posted. That would be the same as assuming that the next person who performs a Child ballad is the author if they neglect to say out loud " HEY - this is a Child ballad".

Let's chill. The weather is too darn hot for anything else.

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: TheBigPinkLad
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 01:13 PM

Wesley ... post on Mudcat and it's fair game. Who could resist a thread with creepy-crawlies in the title? ;o) It's hot here too (28C yesterday)

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: GUEST,G
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 01:32 PM

My thought - If I were an Atheist (I am not) and saw the first word of the subject, I would not enter the thread as I know it is a nonentity. I sometimes wonder why different degrees of denial are exhibited. Besides, thinking that posts on the Internet reqire sources probably ceased to exist during its' 3rd week of existance.

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: John Hardly
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 01:53 PM

Hey God,

Your horns are showing.

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 01:55 PM

Hardly, John. ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: TheBigPinkLad
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 02:06 PM

Guest, G wrote: My thought - If I were an Atheist (I am not) and saw the first word of the subject, I would not enter the thread as I know it is a nonentity. I sometimes wonder why different degrees of denial are exhibited. Besides, thinking that posts on the Internet reqire sources probably ceased to exist during its' 3rd week of existance. .

First, thanks for capitalizing atheist, it's not required but it's a nice gesture ;o)

Why would the word GOD (sic) preclude anyone from checking out the thread? Would you expect them to not read a thread with 'tooth fairy' in the title?

Pontification on a public forum is insulting to some (in this case atheists) so it's a bit much to expect a bedtime story like this to go unscathed. I have for that very reason donned asbestos undies ...

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: MMario
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 02:12 PM

athiests don't believe in God. For Athiests - non-belief is thier god. *grin*

Generalities of course are terrible, but I have met athiests who were more rabidly religious in their denial of god then any missionary I've met.

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: Wesley S
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 02:13 PM

"Pontification on a public forum is insulting to some (in this case atheists)"

My goodness - if Atheists age going to get insulted eveytime they run into people who disagrees with their views they are going to be miserable. The same can be said for people of faith. I know I've never tried to insult an Athiest by converting him - so why can't this be a case of "different strokes for different folks" ?

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 02:24 PM

Great story Tarheel...enjoyed it and its sentiments. A lot of great things happen to us through true Faith in God and how many of you who make adverse comments and deny God....have actually called out to Him in times of anguish...when you have been at rock bottom? Also how many would be honest enough to admit to having done so?
Each to his own belief I suppose....Best wishes, Mike.

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: TheBigPinkLad
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 02:27 PM

MMario: athiests don't believe in God. Close, but not quite right. Atheists believe there is no god.

Wesley S: if Atheists age going to get insulted eveytime they run into people who disagrees with their views they are going to be miserable. Not true. And expect a reaction when someone gets a pie in the face like this:

Remember: Whatever is happening in your life, with God, a mere spider's
web can become a brick wall of protection. Believe He is with you always.
Just speak His name through Jesus His son, and you will see His great
power and love for you.

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: TheBigPinkLad
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 02:33 PM

how many of you who make adverse comments and deny God....have actually called out to Him in times of anguish...when you have been at rock bottom?

People will do anything at times like that. It's a survival instinct. How many have had their plea answered?

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: MMario
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 02:33 PM

BTW - Wesley - If I remember church history correctly "Hell" is a concept invented by the early Christian church.

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: Wesley S
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 02:49 PM

I agree MMario. It was a tool to keep people in line. Fear works that way.

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: Ebbie
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 02:57 PM

Remember: Whatever is happening in your life, with God, a mere spider's web can become a brick wall of protection. Believe He is with you always. Just speak His name through Jesus His son, and you will see His great power and love for you.

I too am not an atheist but that paragraph above reminds me powerfully of the warriors who died like flies when they were assured and convinced by their leaders that they were, one and all, bulletproof.

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: Ebbie
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 02:58 PM

By the way, if any capitalization at all is called for, it should be
"a-Theist", I believe.

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 03:04 PM

Quite correct, MMario.

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: MMario
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 03:10 PM

BPL - the answer is not always obvious, nor what people expect. My brother has been agnostic most of his adult life - but when his stepson was diagnosed with cancer He and his wife joined a charasmatic Catholic church at the son's request. The priest was very big on faith healing. And though John died at the age of 13 - many people observed at his funeral that he, and many of his classmates - had indeed recieved healing. But it was a healing of the mind and spirit, not the body.

Now *I* do not submit that a god with a capital "G" gave him this healing. I know my sister in law *does* feel that - and that she has received the same from God. My brother however *did* expect a physical healing.

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: katlaughing
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 03:13 PM

Cripes, ya'll! It's a neat story, Tarheel, thanks. I suppose it would've been better to have posted "A Higher Being and the Spider."

Having said that, though, I, personally, would be more comfortable if people didn't automatically assume we are all Christian. Besides that didn't you all know gawd is a Womon!?*bg*

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: Highlandman
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 03:15 PM

It was a tool to keep people in line. Fear works that way.
Now, of course, being superior morally and intellectually, we use ridicule instead.

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 03:18 PM

Anyone who sincerely calls upon God for help gets it...although not necessarily in the form he expects. People who don't believe there IS a God are clearly not going to call on God anyway, so for them it's a moot point, isn't it? Nevertheless, like everyone else, they do get what they need, although not necessarily what they want. And I am not talking about material considerations here. Materiality is the least important aspect of life....but the ONLY important point to a sworn materialist, because he thinks he IS the body, and nothing more than that. That being the case, he has built his house upon sand, because the body dies in a short span of years and vanishes...aside from leaving some bones and teeth behind.

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: Bill D
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 03:30 PM

"...athiests don't believe in God. Close, but not quite right. Atheists believe there is no god."

funny, though I have 'not believed that there is a god' for the last 40+ years. I have never liked adopting the 'atheist' label, though I'm sure I'd be lumped in that group by most. I have just not seen any evidence of any 'supreme creative force' that can be defined or requires being recognized. Personally, I see no reason to even HAVE any 'ultimate explanation for the Universe...it just **IS**.
   Notions like Little Hawk's may...or may NOT.. be true...but they are so all encompassing as to be useful mostly as metaphorical poetry. At least THOSE notions do not usually cause people to start wars to defend them. tarheel's though, I'm afraid, is one of the forms which often demands obedience to its particular format and denies others, threatening eternal torment for unbelievers. THIS form of belief is what I prefer not to see 'pushed' in threads at Mudcat.
   I have no quarrel with those who mention their religious beliefs, or even who refer to them in certain contexts...but starting a thread merely to proselytize, even for a pretty parable, is not good form. I wish I knew how to get that simple thought across to certain folk.

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: GUEST,G
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 03:33 PM

Basically what katlauging says. I don't assume and 'she' might be.

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 03:36 PM

Yeah, why IS it that the moment the word "God" comes up, so many people assume that the one saying it MUST be Christian?

People believed in God long, long before Christianity was ever heard of. Anyway, Jesus was not a Christian, in my opinion.

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: Bill D
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 03:58 PM

Jesus, by definition, could not have been a Christian...followers of Jesus were Christians. (Yes, I'm stipulating that there certainly could have been a historical figure that all the furor is based on.)

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 04:05 PM

Exactly. Now what if the followers got it...just a wee bit wrong?

Supposing that I were to meet some hideous public end, martyred by a mob of local atheists, Christians, and Neo-Cons, due to my promotion of William Shatner, my belief in reincarnation, and my opinions regarding space aliens? Suppose further that some of my more enthusiastic backers decided to make me the centrepoint of a new faith! Suppose that they then perpetrated massive misunderstandings upon the World in my name for the next 2,000 years and basically took over much of the World for awhile and burned a lot of other people at the stake.

This would be, for me, quite unsettling. I might object to them calling themselves LittleHawkists or whatever name they chose... ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: Bill D
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 04:10 PM

durn thing is....with the WWW being what it is, and with all you've posted on it, your collected writings may even now be being collected and collated! And with a name like "Little Hawk", many, many metaphors and images are open to interpretation! I shudder at the possibilities!

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: Ebbie
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 04:14 PM

If your unhappy end didn't occur until after the Shat had passed on, you would probably survive as the High Priest of His Shatnership. I can hardly wait. We need a new god. *G*

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 04:32 PM

Yes, that is a distinct possibility. I would be sort of like John the Baptist, while Shatner would be the Big Kahuna. Wow. This could be big. Really big.

"To Boldly Go Where No Man Has Gone Before" could become the credo of an entire new step in human development.

I would also hope that the collected works of William McGonagall could be added into the holy books of the new faith, as a sort of new Apocrypha...

People could study those, and Shatner's writings and recordings, and upon that firm foundation, build a completely fresh world-view that would take us easily into the next millennium.. (did I spell that right?)

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: MMario
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 04:36 PM

if you were equivilant to John the Baptist then you would forshadow the arrival of Shatnerd - you are more the equivilant of either Peter or Paul. did you have any great mystical experiences while on the road somewhere? Have you ever denied Shatner in the wee hours of the morning?

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 04:51 PM

Ah-Hah! You are so right. I am a Shatnerite disciple, that's what I am.

I hate to admit it...but I once did deny Shatner in the middle of the night. I was in the company of a very attractivde and totally distracting woman, and I completely forgot about William Shatner for about 3 hours!

I know it's shocking, but it's true.

I have done much penance to make up for that grave oversight. I have worn hair shirts and flagellated myself severely. I have denied myself the pleasures of female companionship for extended periods. I have suffered...Yea! how I have suffered for that momentary lapse in judgement.

I also had a mystical experience on a road, yes. It was a road near Sudbury. It was a very hot day, and I think I was a bit dehydrated. At any rate, I briefly slipped into another world, quite apart from this one, where I was vouchsafed some information that was so astounding that I had best not post it here...

Upon returning to normality, I discovered that I was on the wrong side of the road, drifting toward a line of trees! I pulled off to the side, poured water over my head, and had a drink. One should avoid mystical experiences while driving. It's not safe.

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 04:53 PM

Can someone give me the post here that assumes everyone is Christian, cuz I can't seem to find it.....

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: katlaughing
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 05:50 PM

'supreme creative force' that requires being recognized. Personally, I see no reason to even HAVE any 'ultimate explanation for the Universe...it just **IS**. Those are some of the most esoteric words I've ever read in your postings, Bill! I LIKE that not requiring recognition! AND the just IS!

The rest of what you said is pretty agreeable, too, though, of course, I don't think of them as just "notions." Far from causing wars, their believers have often been victims of such.

kat

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 05:54 PM

Reality just **IS** too. Many of the great mystics will tell you that. What I think you would enjoy, Bill, is reading about Taoism. I can recommend two great books by Benjamin Hoff:

The Tao of Pooh
The Teh of Piglet

They're fun to read, and explain Taoism beautifully. And they're paperbacks. Check it out if you can. I think you would be a natural for Taoism, judging by your comments.

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 06:40 PM

... and it seems really, I dunno... weird/ironic/funny that on the one hand apparently old Tar is assumed to be assuming it's all Christians 'round here, while in the same thread he's also being accused of proselytizing, which as far as I understand that word, would have to mean that he had assumed people are NOT Christians (and ought to be, need to be).

Me, I found it a silly story with a big fat invisible THEREFORE just before the last part... which would make it proselytizing, in my book, and I'm agin it. I'm especially agin it when someone starts up a thread just to do it, as opposed to mentioning one's faith in an on-topic way in response to someone else's post-- as many Mudcatters do, you know (happy Solstice!). I can't recall if Tar is one of the proselytizers hereabouts I've PMed in the past asking them to knock it off, but I do that from time to time because as a practicing and thinking Christian, I find time after time that such approaches really close people's minds more than anything else. Especially here.

On a personal level, I don't like it when people choose such an asinine starting point to try to reach anyone, and I don't think it's a good idea at Mudcat in particular. It's the kind of sappy crap I would expect to find at TruthorFiction.com.

But it's also possible that all Tar really assumed is that people at Mudcat can relate to spiders.

Have a nice day, and enjoy your various (old) (same old) jihads! ;~)

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: GOD and the SPIDER...
From: Little Hawk
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 06:45 PM

I took it simply as a story about the power of prayer. That doesn't mean it's exclusively Christian. The Japanese prayed too, and most of them were Buddhists of one type or another. Some were Shintoists, which is a bit different. And a few were Christians as well.