Zoo Testimony

[Indy Coug]

I've had instances where I believe I've had intervention of one degree or another and other instances where I feel like I was left to my own devices or at the mercy of the whims of another. My testimony was strengthened from experiencing both extremes.

The best answer I can come up with for the whys and wherefores of when one happens or the other doesn't is that the sum of those experiences has led me to where I am and I believe where I am is where my Heavenly Father wants me right now. I have received spiritual confirmation to that effect.

To the pathological cynic, I am certain that is a wholly unsatisfying answer, but the answer I received wasn't intended to be given to a pathological cynic.

[Goatnapper'96]

"I don't know" is the response you're suggesting and I think that response is appropriate.

If there is an explanation for why he intervened in one circumstance (based on righteousness, for example) shouldn't there also be an explanation for why he failed to intervene in another case?

I don't believe there is any known reason for any intervention. I think sometimes after the fact we can come to our own conclusion about why He might intervene, but "I don't know" is, IMO, the only honest conclusion for any intervention.

I will say that we often put our own interpretation on others' conclusions when they might only be articulating their love and gratitude for the believed intervention on their behalf or that of their loved ones.

My personal interpretation/belief is God knows each of us individually and does what He does to bring to pass His purposes, but that his motivation is something we have to accept on faith as the inconsistency, or at least how we interpret it, leaves us all mystified.

[LA Ute]

Wow, that is an amazing story.

What about the mother of the infant who was killed? If she asked you why God protected you and did not protect her infant, what would your response have been?

I haven't the slightest idea. I knew the baby's parents and went with the father to identify his daughter's body. I was badly concussed and not in a position to be very helpful but I will never forget that moment. I've always assumed it just wasn't my time. Had I been killed my family would be saying that it must have been my time.

[wuapinmon]

Somebody higher up in the thread mentioned Augustine. His advice for Christians espousing absurdities seems as valid today as it was in the early fourth century:



He was way ahead of his time, thought Genesis was an allegory.

I wouldn't call me a higher up, just your betters. And please keep quotes from that dirty, no-good, Manichean, Pelagius-hater out of this thread.

[PaloAltoCougar]

Yesterday's was a fairly routine F&T Meeting, until our 17 year-old son stunned us by going up the stand and bearing his testimony. Among other things, he related how earlier this semester he had had a severe ear infection that dragged on for days despite antibiotics and a doctor's care. After three days of agony, he couldn't sleep and around 2:00 AM he got on his knees and prayed, lengthily and earnestly for relief. He said even though the pain didn't go away instantly, he felt a great comfort believing things would get soon. The pain then subsided within the hour and he slept well for the first time in several days.

He knows it may have been the antibiotics finally kicking in, or maybe something popped to relieve the pressure, and it almost certainly wasn't simply Heavenly Father saying "okay, let's give the kid a break." And he also knows that other people (we have a couple of cancer patients in the ward) pray for cures and don't get it. But he knows he received comfort from the knowledge that things were going to get better, and that comfort came from a prayer.

Unbelievers would write it off (with some justification) as the result of medicine and time. But I'm glad my son appreciates that the comfort, if not the cure, is always available to the faithful.

[CardiacCoug]

I haven't the slightest idea. I knew the baby's parents and went with the father to identify his daughter's body. I was badly concussed and not in a position to be very helpful but I will never forget that moment. I've always assumed it just wasn't my time. Had I been killed my family would be saying that it must have been my time.

What a sad day for those parents.

I'm glad you survived, man. Nobody can know for sure whether it was dumb luck or the Lord's tender mercy that you sat in a different seat that day. I respect the belief that it was a tender mercy and don't object to anybody feeling that way.

We can definitely all agree that life is fragile and fleeting and could be over on any given day. So we should be exceedingly grateful for the days and years that we are given, especially after a close call.

[SeattleUte]

I wouldn't call me a higher up, just your betters. And please keep quotes from that dirty, no-good, Manichean, Pelagius-hater out of this thread.

Pelagius vs. Augustine = Salieri vs. Mozart

[PaloAltoCougar]

Pelagius vs. Augustine = Salieri vs. Mozart

Maybe, but consider the end of Amadeus and reflect on who Pelagius is hanging out with here. You're the dude in the cage Pelagius is waving to as he's wheeled outside for a break.

[SoCalCoug]

Einstein is on my side on this one. He said that anyone who believes in a God who intervenes is childish, using exactly my reasoning.

Einstein's dead. I think you're seeing a ghost.

[il Padrino Ute]

Einstein's dead. I think you're seeing a ghost.

There is no such thing as a ghost.

[wuapinmon]

I love this thread. It encompasses so much that is good about CUF.

[woot]

This seems perfect for this thread:

[Guest]

This seems perfect for this thread: