Originally Posted By Mr X ***I remember one story of a gorilla who was taught sign language. This gorilla ended up in a zoo. And afterwards, just kept signing "I'm sorry" over and over again.*** That's just way sad.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Many years ago, my family was visiting a park in Hawaii. Between shows, we were in the amphitheater where there was a dolphin show. The tank was at the center of the arena, it was a circular tank with glass walls, sort of above ground level so you could see the dolphin. No one else was in the theater, just the dolphin cruising around in its tank slowly. The dolphin tossed a rubber ball out of the tank towards us. We started laughing and my younger brother went after the ball and tossed it back down to the tank. Again and again, the dolphin would toss the ball out towards my brother. But each time, the dolphin would toss it slightly less far, drawing my brther closer and closer to the tank. Finally, it just nudged the ball over the top of the tank. As my brther bent to pick it up, the dolphin started thrashing the water with its tail, drenching my brother. Then it swam around with its mouth open, "laughing". So I do think they have a sense of humor. My brother disagrees.
Originally Posted By JohnS1 "I would think that if the higher power is not Jesus, that power could look into the heart of someone like Teddi and see that her beliefs were sincere, that she lived her life in an effort to do the right thing. I can't imagine any God being without compassion and mercy." Ah, but you see Toonie, this viewpoint of yours reflects what true believers of any religion would call "cafeteria-style" religious selection - choosing what you want to believe is good about a religion or belief systems in general, including (but not limited to) being a good person, not hurting others, sincere belief in a god, etc. Believers of most religions, however, say that you have to take the entire gamut of ingredients making up their religion if you are to be saved. You can't just be a good person and hope God will give you the benefit of a doubt. That's why many people stay with a religion - the fear of dropping out and having the wrath of God on them for not following instructions of that particular religion to the letter.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>this viewpoint of yours reflects what true believers of any religion would call "cafeteria-style" religious selection<< Yep, I've heard that. I just think that any higher power would be flexible enough to guage a person's life in it's entirety. Catholics call it grace.
Originally Posted By LPFan22 Late to chime in but I believe my purpose in this life is to continue to follow on God's intended path for me... which is to set an example to others by doing the right things. From taking the shopping cart back to it's designated area to showing unconditional kindness, love and consideration towards others... all simple yet complex things that some people just don't seem to stop and think about.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>From taking the shopping cart back to it's designated area<< Bless you! I do that all the time and my kids roll their eyes at me.
Originally Posted By JohnS1 I do that too, Toonie -and more than one store employee has commented to me in words such as "Funny, all the men seem to bring the carts back, but the women just leave them in the middle of the lot." I didn't know how to respond to that.
Originally Posted By pecos bill My meaning of life is being fully aware that I really dont know anything. I am one of those strange people who walk away from the campfire at night to spend an hour staring into the sky in a state of bewildered fantasy.
Originally Posted By jonvn "Funny, all the men seem to bring the carts back, but the women just leave them in the middle of the lot." This is why Hillary Clinton won't win.
Originally Posted By Lisann22 You know I thought long and hard about this question when Kar2oonman first posted it. I had every intent to write something really meaningful. So I thought and thought and thought and then I realized I don't know squat. Here's my take... In layman's terms one day God was screwing around and decided to make the world. So along came Adam and Eve. Neat little invention. They screwed it all up, ticked God off, a whole bunch of stuff happen because God lost his temper in his disappointment. Then he sent his son to kind of act like a last resort and agent. Giving us humans a goal - to be Christ like and quit screwing things up. Some of us get it and some of us don't but he left us options this time. I think God is like any parent. He was anxious to have us, then he got us and there are lots of ups and downs but being his love is unconditional he's seeing us through. I think the purpose of life is to be Christ like - loving, caring, teaching, nuturing beings. And like Road Trip said to have fun. I know this probably sounds really simple and maybe even silly but I quit racking my brains about it years ago and my life is much richer for it.
