Interesting. I have experienced both. I have felt God answered my prayers, and I have agonized and felt inadequate when my prayers were not answered. Who is to question another’s faith? Now at 90 it is a combination of both.
I think I don’t know the answer, but just try to do the best I can each day with a love of self and compassion to others.
To me, this is the foundation of much relational discord - that we go around thinking we can read minds, and that other people can read ours.
And it's not that we are actually reading minds - it's more to Dan's point above - that we often conclude on our assumptions (reading minds) rather than getting curious about where I assumptions have arisen from, and then leading out with curiosity.
Here's a more pointed example:
Based on your original comment, I am making all sorts of assumptions based on the content of the comment. Just informationally - this person believes in a God, they believe that God is gendered, that God made our mind, and that God can communicate with us in a way we understand it, and that it is within God's discretion (not human's) as to when that God will communicate. And all of these specific ideas can find their origin point by referencing a specific passage of ancient Hebrew scripture.
That is just based on the content.
That is a lot.
And there are a million ways I could enter into to asking you about that, which can take us on any number of avenues to explore...
Based on this exchange, a question I would ask would go like this (in compassionate and curious tone).
Martin, I noticed that you were quick to add a comment that would conclude the matter, making an appeal to God, and then sealing it with a stamp of approval with the bible verse. Would that be a fair description and illustration?
And if you answered in the affirmative, I'd investigate a bit deeper with a series of questions that illuminate the internal mechanisms that might be driving some of these actions...
Interesting. I have experienced both. I have felt God answered my prayers, and I have agonized and felt inadequate when my prayers were not answered. Who is to question another’s faith? Now at 90 it is a combination of both.
I think I don’t know the answer, but just try to do the best I can each day with a love of self and compassion to others.
Love that, Bette!
But apparently MRI scanners infused with AI can read minds…. Which is wild in its implications.
We can't read others minds, but God can read ours, because he made our mind and, if he wants to, can tell what we are thinking: Gen 18:9-15
The funny thing is, we can't read our own minds either.
ok, I will bite, what do you mean?
Hi Martin, I mean exactly what I wrote.
We cannot read our own minds.
To me, this is the foundation of much relational discord - that we go around thinking we can read minds, and that other people can read ours.
And it's not that we are actually reading minds - it's more to Dan's point above - that we often conclude on our assumptions (reading minds) rather than getting curious about where I assumptions have arisen from, and then leading out with curiosity.
Here's a more pointed example:
Based on your original comment, I am making all sorts of assumptions based on the content of the comment. Just informationally - this person believes in a God, they believe that God is gendered, that God made our mind, and that God can communicate with us in a way we understand it, and that it is within God's discretion (not human's) as to when that God will communicate. And all of these specific ideas can find their origin point by referencing a specific passage of ancient Hebrew scripture.
That is just based on the content.
That is a lot.
And there are a million ways I could enter into to asking you about that, which can take us on any number of avenues to explore...
Based on this exchange, a question I would ask would go like this (in compassionate and curious tone).
Martin, I noticed that you were quick to add a comment that would conclude the matter, making an appeal to God, and then sealing it with a stamp of approval with the bible verse. Would that be a fair description and illustration?
And if you answered in the affirmative, I'd investigate a bit deeper with a series of questions that illuminate the internal mechanisms that might be driving some of these actions...