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Dear Not_Now.Soon,

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You wrote :

« What I'm saying is that the existence of God has been confirmed several times in my life. Most of them through the interaction of prayer »
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Like Toni Lavis, I’m having difficulty understanding how that can be NNS. Either you’ve said too much or not enough.

If you want us to understand how you could possibly have had confirmation of the existence of God several times in your life – “most of them through the interaction of prayer” – then it would be necessary for you to give us a detailed account of exactly what happened, how it happened, in what circumstances, and what proof you have.

But if you don’t want to do that, then there’s no point in even mentioning it.

If it is so personal, and if you are the only person in the world to have exclusive right of access to “confirmation” – not just once, but “several times” – that God really does exist, then you are an extremely privileged person indeed.

I’m sure the High Priests of all the Christian denominations, the Imams, Mollahs and Ayatollahs of Islam as well as the Chief Rabbis of Judaism would all have liked to have been informed.

It’s amazing that God should single you out among the seven billion people on earth to make a revelation of such magnitude. How long have you kept it secret ? Why did you not announce it immediately to the rest of the world ?

Why should he choose you rather than all the suffering and the needy, the hundreds of millions of innocent people massacred by ruthless tyrants down the ages : Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol-Pot and the like ?

Many of those poor, innocent victims must have been sincere in their faith. Many must have placed their trust in God. Many must have prayed with all their heart, pleaded as Jesus pleaded on the cross …

Torture, massacre, famine, thirst … men, women and children … prayed and prayed … with all their heart.

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Banjo Paterson, You are cynical!
Ask twenty ten and eleven year old children I mentioned in my last post, if God confirmed their prayers? The department of meteorology were predicting another four months till May 2020, of drought and fire which created great anxiety for these children, whose homes were threatened by fires, they decided as a class to pray. Was their prayer answered and their anxiety turned to praise?

People are praying all the time and getting answers and insights and directions. God is both transcendent, beyond our comprehension, and imminent, is close to our desires and thoughts.

Toni Lavis,

Long live Deinococcus radiodurans!

It will probably outlive us all. In fact one writer once described us humans as a taxi cab for bacteria.

And the final score will always be science 1 / religion 0.

//Banjo Paterson, You are cynical!//

You know what's really cynical? Getting small children to pray for rain two days before rain arrives when two day forecasts are readily available and highly accurate. Some some might consider that an underhanded trick, but you've gotta admit it's a very clever way of convincing credulous children - and apparently at least one credulous grown man - that there is a God who will answer their prayers.

I can't help but be reminded of the tale of Christopher Columbus and the eclipse. On 30 June 1503, Christopher Columbus beached his two last caravels and was stranded in Jamaica. Initially, the native peoples (Arawak Indians) welcomed the castaways, providing them with food and shelter, but as the days dragged into weeks, tensions mounted. Finally, after Columbus and his men had been stranded for more than six months, the Arawaks halted the food supply.

Columbus requested a meeting the Arawak leader, and told him that God was angry with the local people's treatment of Columbus and his men. Therefore, he was about to provide a clear sign of his displeasure: three nights hence, he would all but obliterate the rising full moon, making it appear "inflamed with wrath," which would signify the evils that would soon be inflicted upon all of them. When a blood red moon appeared in the sky on the appointed evening, the Arawaks were terrified. Columbus' son Ferdinand wrote that the Arawaks "with great howling and lamentation they came running from every direction to the ships, laden with provisions, praying the Admiral to intercede by all means with God on their behalf; that he might not visit his wrath upon them".

But of course, God had nothing to do with it. It was a trick; Columbus had an almanac accurately predicting lunar eclipses and cleverly used that knowledge to his advantage. It's a good story.

Who wants to bet that Josephus' newphew's teacher had a BOM website accurately predicting rain and cleverly used that knowledge to their advantage?

Oh, and Josephus, before you protest 'but the BOM said it wouldn't rain': I'm afraid that's nonsense. Climate forecasts and long-term forecasts are not the same as short-term weather forecasts, which these days are highly accurate. And that rain was definitely predicted. When I'm not stood down due to pandemics, I work as an outdoor guide at a school camp in north-west Sydney, fairly close to the Blue Mountains. Given the nature of the work, we're very much at the mercy of the weather so we pay close attention to forecasts. I remember that particularly wet Monday in mid-March... and I remember that it was predicted in the short term forecast.

Toni Lavis: I'm delighted to here about your personal account of the power of Thor. Praise be to Thor!

Like you I can also relate a personal account of the power an interventionist God. I personally am a disciple of the goddess Freyja. A few months ago when the corona virus became a thing, I was very worried that it might get me. So I decided to pray to Freyja for protection. I was very sincere in my supplication and very devoted. I prayed so much that I even refused to go out, instead I just preyed all the time. Even if someone came to the door I refused to greet them because it would be a diversion from my plea for deliverance from the virus. And now, here we are on the other side of the pandemic and I'm still alive. I really feel that if it wasn't for Freyja then surely I would have died, I just know that it was her that saved me.