Paradise

[Wayne Goodwin]

What Does Paradise Mean Too You ?

Is It Here On Earth ?

Is It A Place In Your Mind That You Think Of ?

Is It In Heaven ?

Could It Be In A Different Dimension Of Time ?

Your Thoughts Please .....

[Merry]

This morning about 6am, everything was perfect , all the grumbly people who needed to kick themselves hard to get to some crappola job were still slumbering peacefully. And it was cool and clear and nothing was bothering me. Hello, zero baggage moment. So golden. It reminded me of mornings in Maine when I was a child and everything was perfect.

[crestofwaves]

Merry:  Yep,I can remember driving to work on some mornings that were crisp and clear and being as happy as I could be.

One morning I had the windows open, the music on, singing along, and I got pulled over by a cop.  I was speeding--not crazy speeding, like 45 in 35 mile zone.  Instead of giving me a ticket, he said, "I know.  You were cruisin'."  He gave me a warning and I promised never to do it again.  But, yes, paradise is a moment.

[Merry]

Ya know, I used to speed and speed and speed and try to get pulled over by a cute policeman. Sadly , it never happened. "Cruise ON! My fine Sistah!"

[Wayne Goodwin]

If a Person believes in the Bible then there is Paradise . Bible says when we die . We go to a place called Paradise . It may not be a dreamy world some think . But it is a resting place for the believers . Till Christ comes to gather the Believers .

 Now you say there is no God . Well there sure a lot of Believers in this world that have passed on believing in God , The Bible and that Christ died on the cross for any one that believes shall go to Heaven . I have been taught that all my life . I desperately want to believe that . I feel i am stuck in the middle to believe or accept we come from Monkeys or something of that nature .

Now what i was referring too is each person has their on interpretation of that word . I never said Paradise had to be religious in nature . It can be a moment like Joanna described being happy and feeling good . Is it wrong to feel happy ?

People shouldn't put people through hell because they believe in God and want to convert a person that happens to be a Son . A person shouldn't even go around someone and harass that person .

Have i embarrassed myself enough yet ?

I prefer to feel happy thoughts ever now and again , not gloom all the time .

[Snagg]

As some one else once pointed out - Why do christians get so upset at the idea of us evolving from apes, but are perfectly okay with the idea of us being molded from mangey, cruddy ol' dirt ?

And - "People shouldn't put people through hell because they believe in God and want to convert a person that happens to be a Son".

When believers accept that the reverse of that is also true - That they shouldn't put people through hell because they DON'T believe in god, and that it's up to each individual how and if they 'come to god" - Then guys like me wouldn't be so quick to get in their face.

Why is it that strongly religious people can never tolerate non-religious people acting like them and using their own arguments against them ? Personally, I'm pretty sure I know the answer to that - But this is not the place to get into it...

It's not "wrong" to feel happy - But when that happiness includes the careless or inconsiderate hurting of innocent others, then that happiness is unfair and undeserved.

And I don't think "happy thoughts" all the time, and neither am I "gloomy". I just don't depend on an unrealistic level of happiness just to get by every day. If I was a "happy thoughts" person all the time, I'd be Rachel Ray, who makes me and everybody I know, unhappily nauseous.

[ProblemAgain]

so how does that correlate to the promised paradise in the koran? does that make muslims christians?

the concept of evolution and religious belief are not mutually exclusive. shazaam...you can actually believe in science and the religion of your choice....(cept maybe that one that has the big flat earth floating thru the universe on the back of a giant turtle)

[flippr 2.0]

a man's gotta believe in something..i believe i'll go fishing.

[ProblemAgain]

by the way there was a great twilight zone episode back in the day about 'paradise'

A Nice Place to Visit

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Henry "Rocky" Valentine is robbing a pawnshop after shooting a night watchman, but before he can get away he is shot by the police. He wakes up to find himself seemingly unharmed by the encounter and in the company of a pleasant individual named "Pip" who tells Rocky that he is his guide and has been instructed to grant him whatever he desires. Rocky is suspicious, having never received anything for free in his life. He believes Pip is trying to con him and asks him if he is a cop. Pip proceeds to quote personal information about Rocky's tastes and hobbies from a notebook. Irritated, Rocky demands that Pip give him his wallet. Pip says he has no wallet but obligingly gives him a large amount of money and is willing to give him as much as he desires. Rocky believes Pip wants him to commit a crime on his behalf and that the money is an incentive.

Rocky holds Pip at gunpoint, following him to a luxurious apartment that Pip insists is Rocky's. Demanding to know what he must do to acquire all this luxury, Rocky remains skeptical when he is told that it's all free. Despite his suspicions, he begins to relax, changing his clothes and taking a shower, after which he is presented with a meal served on a silver platter. He abruptly becomes suspicious again and demands that Pip taste the food, believing it to be poisoned. When Pip claims he can't remember how to eat, Rocky shoots him in the head but finds that the bullets just bounce off, leaving Pip unharmed. Rocky now realizes that he is dead and immediately assumes that he has died and gone to Heaven and that Pip must be his guardian angel. Pip replies, "Yes, something like that."

Later, we see Rocky in a casino, surrounded by beautiful girls and winning every game he plays. Outside he sees a tall policeman and is able to make him smaller and thus pick on him. After returning to his apartment with Pip and the "dolls" (as Rocky refers to them), Rocky asks to see some of his former friends who have died. Pip says that won't be possible, as this "paradise" is his own private world, and none of the people are real except for Rocky and Pip.

Rocky becomes curious as to why he was allowed into Heaven. "I must have done something good that made up for all the other stuff. But what? What did I ever do that was good?" With Pip, he visits the hall of records, but it merely contains a list of his sins. Rocky is puzzled but he decides that if God is okay with him being there, he won't bother worrying.

After a month, Rocky becomes thoroughly bored by always having his whims satisfied and predictably winning at anything he attempts. He tells Pip, "If I gotta stay here another day, I'm gonna go nuts! I don't belong in Heaven, see? I want to go to the other place."

Pip retorts, "Heaven? Whatever gave you the idea that you were in heaven, Mr. Valentine? This is the other place!!"

Pip begins to laugh as Rocky unsuccessfully tries to escape his "paradise".

[crestofwaves]

True, it would be boring.  We need friction to strive.

[Merry]

Oddly enough my picture of my sewing room from this morning does have a heavenly sort of air about it.

[crestofwaves]

I choose to believe in something greater than myself--God, Supreme power, Mother Nature, the Cosmos--something that is benign and knew what it/he/she was doing..   I choose to believe the soul goes on.  I was regressed once and saw things that could have been former lives--I don't know. But if this is it, if this is all we get, if this is all we can hope for, yikes.  It has its good moments, its paradises, but there is also a lot of work and pain and suffering and heartache, maybe not so much in my life, but the little skinny kids who are always batting flies away from their eyes with their skinny little fingers--they don't have it so good.

I think the soul gets lots and lots of chances to get it right. Then and only then can the soul rest--maybe.

I CHOOSE to think this way because it makes me HAPPY.

[flippr 2.0]

I CHOOSE to think this way because it makes me HAPPY.

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