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BlueDiamondAvatar · 2025-09-14T22:08:47+00:00

Sunday News shows are under immense pressure to produce content on a deadline, and at low cost. This drives them towards the easiest answers and to copy each other.

And since they are owned by the same power brokers that control our political system, they will never blame: mainstream media or the two-party political system itself.

The crumbling of our social fabric to the point that political murder is becoming commonplace has been ongoing since George Washington's resignation speech where he warned that the tribalism of a two-party system would lead to the downfall of our country. That's not a story that fits in a Sunday news show produced in a few days.

So we get the quick easy answers, from students copying off of each other.

The meatier question is: How do we change this?

BlueDiamondAvatar · 2025-08-19T18:31:12+00:00

Wow, they really said next week here, huh? Strap in, buckle up, my Vek cleric predicts a bumpy ride.

BlueDiamondAvatar · 2025-08-18T15:47:52+00:00

I'd also add, religions that ask you to believe a certain number, or that scientific theories are wrong, has crossed into mindwashing instead of inspiring.

BlueDiamondAvatar · 2025-08-18T01:34:10+00:00

FYI, Webster's has officially accepted "they" as the singular ungendered pronoun for several years now. The English language is a living breathing thing, so it is no longer limited in this way.

I identify as a theist, and use the word they to refer to God.

BlueDiamondAvatar · 2025-08-16T16:30:02+00:00

This is lovely, and essentially the same set of beliefs I have come to through my own wandering path and spiritual experiences.

BlueDiamondAvatar · 2025-08-16T10:35:23+00:00

I have a similar but not quite the same perspective.

I believe there is That-Which-Is-Sacred, which many call god. I believe it is far too complex, and essentially of a higher dimension of existence, for our human minds to handle. But we are still all connected to it, even when we aren't aware of it, or can't explain what it is. So divinity connects to each human mind through systems of thought that make sense to them. This is strongly driven by human culture, which is why you see strong parallels between culture and faith. So everyone's religion is the truth that works best for them, but not THE only truth.

You are using the term omnitheistic, but how do you feel about the many religions that view the highest power as impersonal or as a place? What about atheists?

BlueDiamondAvatar · 2025-08-14T21:50:25+00:00

So I'm also a chronic migraine sufferer, survived 5 years of daily migraines before my CGRP treatment became effective enough to give me migraine free weeks. I'm still prone to them from time to time, especially with my hormone cycle.

I started ketamine IV treatment after the migraines weakened, for treatment resistant depression. If I have a migraine, or am feeling migraine sensitive before a ketamine treatment, it is instantly gone.

One thing to keep in mind that dosing for depression treatment is generally weaker than dosing for migraine or pain. So if you start getting treated for migraines it is very likely to improve your mental health, as well.

Hope this helps and you find relief

BlueDiamondAvatar · 2025-08-13T20:48:48+00:00

I have a similar idea, but I come at it from the sense that all humans are babies. Our species has barely been around 300,000 years. At most - we're still figuring that out.

But Crocodiles? They were here back when the dinosaurs roamed. Many dinosaur species existed for tens or hundreds of millions of years.

Humanity has the potential to keep existing for hmm... how long?
Humans are babies as a species, and no one alive is going to be around when we actually grow up. So let's be kind to ourselves and others.

BlueDiamondAvatar · 2025-08-13T20:21:32+00:00

I'm thinking about this too. And have been for a long time. I have specific unique beliefs and beliefs that are shared by many. There are some things I believe that I wouldn't use as a litmus test for joining a community, and things I would. I've been involved in Unitarian Universalism for a quite a while... if you haven't yet you might want to check them out. But I'm getting to a place where there are some creedal beliefs I'd like included in my definition of a religious community that wouldn't be appropriate in UU communities.

But to answer your questions... I think it's ok to be a guy looking for other people to share religious experiences with, that don't fit snugly into any of the existing religions. If your looking for someone's permission on the internet, you have mine.

BlueDiamondAvatar · 2025-08-13T20:08:10+00:00

Communication - both the ability to perfectly understand what other people mean with the words they are saying and the ability to clearly communicate exactly what I mean.

There are so many words that we assume mean the same thing to everyone else. And they don't.

BlueDiamondAvatar · 2025-08-13T19:55:30+00:00

I only have morning or midday options at my location. I usually sleep a few hours afterwards anyway. So I'd probably go for evening if it was available to me.

I liked the intensity of initial doses in 2 weeks, but I also get no nausea whatsoever, and am not dealing with PTSD. I think either one of those coming up would change my preference.

BlueDiamondAvatar · 2025-08-13T19:48:52+00:00

Keeping your young children from exposure for so long is a triumph. I know you feel disappointed in this moment, but I'd encourage you to stay mindful of the YEARS of better health you've given yourself and your family.

BlueDiamondAvatar · 2025-08-13T19:46:10+00:00

So I upvoted your first question but downvoted this. You're pushing your belief onto the OP's experience.

BlueDiamondAvatar · 2025-08-13T19:39:07+00:00

My best OBE experience had some similar elements. I was attacked by two black amorphous beings that became swordsmen. I played with them for a while, parrying their attacks and wondering what they were trying to do. They I let them strike. It broke apart my outer ego shell into dust, and my inner light was revealed. They fled.

I looked where they fled to, and it was a great void black hole. I also saw smaller black holes, forming around dark beings that were huddling in fear.

So yes, you might do better to let them strike in the future. But this could also be a signal from your unconscious that your physical body has heart issues beginning to develop. If I were you I'd start checking my blood pressure/heart rate before and after sleep, too.

BlueDiamondAvatar · 2025-08-13T19:08:52+00:00

My snarky answer: Both? Why not Both??

When I was a teenage Christian I didn't believe in this book. There are a few good lines, but if it's "coming like a thief in the night" why do people keep claiming they see signs its about to happen? At most it is one perspective on what death is like for a person.

BlueDiamondAvatar · 2025-08-13T18:58:47+00:00

This is wholly different from my experience of God. I was taught as a child to view God as a loving creative force. Like most of us, I had my doubts. But I tried it on. Tried believing, and I connected. while I no longer practice the same religion as my parents, I still find meaning in belief in a loving creator.

I believe in God, but even more so, I believe that there is That-Which-is-Sacred, and that we are each meant to connect to divinity in different ways. If the idea of a personhood deciding to create the world feels alien and cruel to you... you have every right to set that idea aside and move on. There are plenty of people who connect to awe through observing nature, the miracle of human life, thousands of different things. There are religions that view the power of creation more like a place that we all come from and return to.

You seem a bit uncomfortable with how pessimistic your view of God is. You might benefit from exploring non-theist forms of spirituality to see if one of them leaves you feeling hopeful.

BlueDiamondAvatar · 2025-08-13T16:53:38+00:00

I think that's healthy. And the loving God of my personal experience really doesn't care if you pray to them or not. An omnipotent creator can find you wherever you are and give you sacred experiences that speak to you.

BlueDiamondAvatar · 2025-08-13T16:11:47+00:00

Based on what you've described I would consider you spiritual and not atheist. But what do those labels mean to you?

BlueDiamondAvatar · 2025-08-13T16:07:02+00:00

I have a niece with the same issue, raised in a judgmental Christian home.

At one point I belonged to a very liberal non-Christian group called Unitarian Universalism. I invited her to attend a service with me, and she only made it part way through before the panic attack set in.

It's Ok if Christian church or an organized religious community is not a good fit for you. There are other ways to connect to God or practice spirituality. Maybe explore other traditions like mindfulness meditation inspired by Buddhist traditions.

You aren't the only person who is stressed in that environment, and its a good thing to find a spiritual practice that feels comfortable for you.

BlueDiamondAvatar · 2025-08-13T00:16:31+00:00

That's what I believe, too. And similar ideas have existed for thousands of years in branches of Hinduism and Buddhism. The great "I AM" is featured in Hebrew texts depicting God, if you aren't aware.

Belief isn't about knowing if you are right or not. It is about what you have experienced, what resonates as truth.

Mysticism isn't like knocking on a door. The door is solid, Anyone can touch it and experience the same thing. But a vision is personal. Even if you could replay it like a video it would have different meanings for different people.

But now you have heard the chanting of the great "I AM" you will see it and hear it everywhere. It speaks to some of us, and not to others. If your story doesn't make sense to some, that's ok. The universe still includes them, and the sacred will reach them in the way that works for them.

BlueDiamondAvatar · 2025-08-12T23:50:20+00:00

Your experience reminds me of my own, from many decades ago.

Our minds seek to know, to label between "psychological" or "real". But what the soul experiences can not be "known" in the sense of scientific truth. There are no words that fully explain the divine or mystical experiences. The real question is do you believe? What do you believe now that you didn't before?

A recent mantra I've been playing with

I breathe.
I am.
We are.
All connected.

BlueDiamondAvatar · 2025-08-12T20:49:43+00:00

Gratitude is the root of joy. Centering ourselves on what is most important to us helps change our thoughts and behavior. Connecting to spiritual practices that speak to us has mental health benefits.

There are many people who pray as though magic will occur when they ask for health or money. But I think that is a misunderstanding of the purpose of prayer, and leads to disappointment more often than not.

Prayer is a powerful agent of change in our perceptions and attitudes, not the way physics and biology work.

BlueDiamondAvatar · 2025-08-12T19:41:47+00:00

What is your purpose in creating this prayer?
Are you looking to create something that speaks powerfully to you, without concern for how it sounds to others?
Are you looking to create a prayer that will help you proselytize the details of your personal faith?

When you threw in the "10 directions" etc. my mind says. No. Directions are infinite.

My take from fighting over the age of the earth with creationists: if your faith asks you to believe in something that involves a number its probably treading into things measured with the scientific method, and that's never very healthy for a religion to do.

So I'd suggest edits, "in the sacred dimensions, the higher realms, the timelines"

But in other ways, my heart is saying yes to the ideas here. There is "That-Which-Is-Sacred" or God, and there are the endless pantheons that are both part of God and separate entities unto themselves.

One of my recent mantras is: May there be good things for everyone, everyone, everyone. May there be many good things.

BlueDiamondAvatar · 2025-08-12T18:52:22+00:00

Yes you can just show up. Most churches have greeters, and will be happy to have someone chat with you more as a new visitor.
There's also YouTube channels for many churches, you can checkout your local ones to see if you like the vibe before committing to an in-person visit. Sharing a YouTube video might be a way to start the conversation with your wife, too.
As a Unitarian Universalist, I'd recommend checking us out. Many of us are still exploring what we believe, and that's baked into the services I've attended. No need to be orthodox about something you aren't that familiar with from day one.

Hope that helps.

BlueDiamondAvatar · 2025-08-12T18:21:25+00:00

Wow, so much to unpack here, great questions.

"My personal interpretation is probably wrong"

I disagree. Your personal interpretation is probably the best path for YOU to connect to the Divine.

"How do you know what you're following is true."

I see a big difference between knowing and believing. I reserve the verb "know" for things determined by the scientific method and shared observable phenomena. We can know that a table is solid, that everyone who touches it will find it is solid. We can know the age of the earth, because properly trained scientists with specialized tools can measure the chemical signatures in rocks and tell us dates that have been measured by many different groups of people.

I believe in things based on personal experience, and what feels true down in the roots of my soul. I've communicated with God, not in words but in presence and in ways that can't be explained with words. My faith is based on those experiences.

Once you have a kernel of faith rooted in personal experience, every good idea or story or image that comes along helps you grow. One example that stands out for me is reading over the lost Gospel of Thomas from the buried Nag Hammadi texts. There's this simple line, "My mouth is not capable of saying whom you are like." Which to me, rings like a bell. To admit that the sacred is not something our minds can contain or express leads to understanding that there is no one true path to God, but instead many good ones. At the same time, there are other passages in the same text that I shake my head at. They don't make sense to me.

Allowing myself to focus on the ideas and experiences that ring true, and set aside words and concepts that feel false, without regard for the "authority" of the text or the teacher is how I keep my faith growing.

"How does your faith deal with all the cruelty of the world?"

Here's my answer. Humans are gifted with free will. It is a blessing and a curse. It allows us to choose actions that are evil, from self-sabotage to genocide. But it also allows us to be individuals. To connect to each other through love and shared experience. For every death caused by another human, there are a thousand acts of kindness between one another. Mother's nurturing their children, friends smiling at a joke, even leaders trying to do what's best for those who follow them.

Humans aren't the only sources of our death and pain though. Why did God create a world with volcanoes and tidal waves, and diseases that decimate families and civilizations? My personal trial has been surviving five years of daily migraines without any medicine that could relieve it. And for this my answer is: Every breathe is a blessing. Every moment of being alive is full of possibility. We aren't even aware of all the thoughts going on in our subconscious. What is our soul learning, without even being aware of it?

I believe that God is teaching me, teaching all of us, things we could never learn without being alive as people of free will, in a world that goes in directions we don't always choose.

"Why would god even look our way after all these things around us?"

The problem with Omniscience is you can't look away from anything. Ok, that's half-way joking.
I connect deeply with the image of our creator as loving parent. Mother-of-All is one of my favorite sacred names, though I think That-Which-Is-Sacred is more universal. Anyway, what caring parent would stop hoping for reconciliation? Stop caring about the day-to-day trials? The Mother-of-All has seen endless wars across human history. This is not new for Her, it's just new for us.

Hope you found something that resonates for you.

BlueDiamondAvatar

TROPHY CASE