[Ravok99]

Asha, Kal, and Laurelin -

That's the stuff that makes this thread worth taking the time to write. Thanks for taking me seriously and working to show me your points of view. I certainly don't think they are trivial points.

Yeah, man to man open displays of affection do turn me around a bit. It wrinkles my nose out of reaction. But I also look away when a woman and a man display their affection, too. I feel pretty embarrassed about being there during an intimate moment. I would like to be anywhere else, and "leave a tender moment alone."

My opinion about an omniscient being is that my free will is already known. I can do anything I want inside of creation, and if God is omniscient, He knows what's up with me. There's a bunch of songs about how God knows when I wake, and when I choose to sleep. That is just a way of saying nothing passes without His knowing. It either empowers someone to boldly stand up, or to shy away. And that reaction is what I think is really important. I argue with God. If He knows it all, then He knows my struggles - and I bring it to Him in the kind of prayer that says, "If you are holding out on me, now would be a good time to let me in on it."

Asha is completely right about prayers that don't do anything. I think if people read the Bible more than just soaking in sermons, they would have a better idea what to do about things. That is why it was written down. Christians that don't read the Bible as they would any other book I don't think can ever truly understand their own faith.

That is where I have to also agree with Kaleban's earlier stuff. Those kinds of people hear all the rumors and whispers, and don't quote the source.

Wow, Asha, sorry you had a coach like that. Sounds like he didn't know how to use a playbook. *shudders* In that case, I woulda stuck with J.V. all the way, and keep out of his soup. He coulda got you injured as well. He forgot his main concern, his main concern should have been mastery over the art of the game. Not victory.

"A general does not worry over victory or defeat." <- another Sun Tzu quote. And one that coach should read. Winning and losing does not necessarily mean good or bad deployment/employment of troops on the field. Though modern day military historians pick all sorts of stuff that determined victory or defeat, you will find that the best generals have limited choices by the time of battle. Everything that is truly variable happens before then, and anything that can vary during the fight happens as a result of the chain of command - and every soldier's mastery of the field.

Belief in God relies on two things, in my opinion, one: That this world is indeed a planned creation. two: that we are stewards over it, and not masters of it.

Stewardship says it well - we have a little piece of the world for a little piece of time, yet what we do in that time shows our faith. What is the afterlife? Is it a physical imprint you leave on those that come after you? I believe that is true, for you are remembered after you are gone. And in a sense, that means you live more than your years. Is it a tomorrow you can help to build? I believe that is also true, as our influence can alter the way people see the rising of the sun. Is it a spirit that was created by you, lives in you, and will see beyond your physical years? That is debate-able to most people, but to me, that is also a true statement - as my life is fully unique unto me, and therefore - every atom that constitutes my physical being has a history before it, and ever piece of matter that is transferred into energy has a history after it; then it stands to reason that such a thing is more than possible.

Laurelin, I do pray for your happiness in what you seek. I cannot stand in authority by any means, and say what should or should not be; I do respect your willingness to devote yourself to someone, for that, in essence, is the most enduring way to care about someone else. And I think that is really the point.