Vincent Bugliosi and Atheism

Good day L.A. had Vincent Bugliosi on the show today. it's astonishing to me when people don't believe in God; faith shifts a person's paradigm so fundamentally, they either see God as beautiful, personal, loving or...they see him not at all.

my night

this is my crucible; my breaking point was met with an ear piercing shatter.  My ability to listen, sharpened to a fine edge and in this refinement, he met me in my hurt. i am fortunate to be so loved; his grace has given me strength at the time when i fell and just before i was destroyed.  God loves a rescue just when we see our demise.  when WE see our position cornered, escape impossible, death of our financial situation or at worst our person inevitable, then we are truly ready for rescue and not before.

The Daniel plan has been the single most important diet plan I've ever tried.  Finally!  A plan that actually seems to be working for me, though it is working slowly.  Today, while I was doing my seventh week of the Daniel plan devotional, I got stuck on vitamins and minerals.  Fortunately, a nutritionist through the Dr. Hyman website, has been helping me decide on that myriad of Substances.  It is like shopping on the periodic table!  Calcium, zinc, copper, all these things in my supplement?  And it's making a lot more sense.  She said something that stood out to me.  In order of priority, whole foods first, then supplements, then medicine.

•     Whole food is the most important.  In my own opinion, whole foods present the most unknown factors that we know are good for us.  It has all the good ingredients, plus the supplement's and all wrapped up into, what I hope, is a tasty shell.  Spinach is wonderful for you.
•     Supplements: supplements are helpful, but how many?  Should I take calcium?  I'm actually osteoporotic, but I have no idea if I should be taking calcium?  Generally, I thought I'd take it with vitamin D and magnesium, but now I'm hearing different things.  Supplements are helpful and necessary in our nutrient starved diet, but we should be skeptical as to the motivations of the companies that are selling them and which ones we actually need.
•     Medicine: for all too long, I have relied on medicine as a last resort, which is smart.  The problem, I've also relied on it as by first resort with all my other first resorts?  I actually have.  I would take supplements like crazy, eat well, but not all the time, and then sat down pills.  Is there some way I can handle my spasms, my nerve pain, my depression, cholesterol, without medicine?  It seems so with a few of those.

      learning from her that this is the priority, helped me greatly.  the Daniel plan has not helped me lose any weight yet, as far as I can tell, my nerve pain is not gone and my spasms run amok.  However, I am reporting feeling better, secure, more happy… Happy?  I cannot believe I'm saying that one, given might radical mood swings, depression, anger and the fact that I'm stuck in bed – exasperating all of it.  I've love to blame my condition for many aspects of my life, but I am realizing this: I make bad decisions.  I make them often; as I get older, hopefully, the blinders will slowly peel away and I would think more like God.  I wrote to a friend today and said this regarding his own troubles:

• It's unfortunate that the earlier mistakes we make in life affect us, at times, LATER in life.  I am now realizing in spades, my bad choices with food, my condition, my job choices, whether I worked hard or not, are all having a profound effect on everything going on currently with my life.  I am bedridden now and have few options of healing.  You know how you just use up those lifelines?  Before you know it, though the phrase is more accurately stated "before you are WILLING to know it", you've ran out of those lifelines; you have used them up and now the hour is late.  I'm feeling ALL of the effects of these years of bad choices.  I've always known that God "turns up the heat" on people when they're making bad choices, but now, I know he turns it up slowly.  He is full of grace, turning up the heat slowly to give us a chance to live life by our own decisions.  As with Israel, the best example of his relationship with humanity, it was not immediately that he punished them, but after years of disservice.  CS Lewis said through Screwtape, in the book I told you about, "The safest road to hell is the gradual one - the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”  It's amazing how fast time goes, but you don't notice it while you are in the moment.  While you are making your mistakes about whether that mistake be an extra shot of rum or, in my case, staying longer on the videogame and choosing ice cream over an Apple – the consequences come slowly.
• But I fret not!  God also likes to see that we turn back to him.  He moves us to realize this fact of life and that we are ready to trust him completely.  When we hear the still small voice, that whisper in our ears advising us on our contemplations, maybe NOW we will think to listen.  I will continue to keep your daughter in prayer.  Life really is about his glory and his desire to give us OUR desires, at least what is true in our hearts.  [excerpt deleted]

Virgin Mary toast?

everything in reality, if Christianity is true, is divinely inspired. Maybe the Virgin Mary HAS shown up on pieces of toast and on the bottom of tortoise shells. Does it mean that toast should be canonized into the Bible or put in the Vatican next to Michelangelo's David? Of course not. nevertheless, it cannot discount a person's faith being untrue, even if based on untruths. an example of this would be the six day creation. Some think it was literally six days, others, like myself, believe it was six long periods of time. It makes sense with what modern science is telling us. Nevertheless, I meet many Christians who believe in the literal six day creation. Ultimately, some things are between the person and God himself. Even people of the same faith, will not see a point to speaking in tongues and barking; but an agnostic – will never understand faith, because they just don't believe. In this elegant irony, an atheist will understand a Christian better, as atheists BELIEVE God does not exist.

Prayer

Praying for people helps me get out of my troubles, to see myself as a smaller part of the universe, rather than seeing the universe as a small part of my troubles.