Having my first kid was the moment I began to believe in god again. It was just so visceral. The feeling that every trauma, misstep, hardship was necessary to bring that specific life into existence.
It put all my suffering into perspective and made me realize that life is so much larger than me and some force (God) had been shaping my life all along.
Kids are the best man. 🤙 
Feeding him some nutritious goy slop. Great parent.
Yes. My kid got sugar for the first time in a month.
Tomorrow we're shooting guns again.
Might wanna call cps on me for being a bad parent....
🤷🤣
Adorable
Yes, indeed. Watching them turn into little people is a beautiful thing.
Like notches on a key meant to unlock a single lock. All things are blessing when viewed through an eternal perspective. Both the good and the bad.
nostr:nprofile1qqsp4lsvwn3aw7zwh2f6tcl6249xa6cpj2x3yuu6azaysvncdqywxmgpz4mhxue69uhk2er9dchxummnw3ezumrpdejqzenhwden5te0ve5kcar9wghxummnw3ezuamfdejj7mnsw43rzun5d3ckxcfcwgmxzatev9mn2m34dqekcdf5xgexgmf5wde8jdty0fnx2ef5xcunven3v5u8xdn3va6kg6mnxajx5arxwvlkyun0v9jxxctnws7hgun4v5dpfm4n BRO HAVING 3 KIDS THIS HAS ABSOLUTELY BEEN THE BEST THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO ME AND MY WIFE .. WE CREATED THIS TOGETHER ITS A BEAUTIFUL THING AND A LOT OF TIMES SO OVERLOOKED. WE SHOULD NEVER TAKE THIS FOR GRANTED ❤️🙏🏼
CHARISH EVERY SINGLE MOMENT ✨
I started in a similar place but find myself somewhere different these days. It took a while, but I’m ok with it.
Amen
It is quite the experience seeing your first kid come into the world. Hoping to be blessed with more.
it’s a very hard path to go trough.
i started believing in god again after my mom passed away from cancer.
she was a devout Christian and gave me the best values she could have.
peace and trust from god are among the greatest gifts in life.
Having a child is like seeing the invisible threads of life woven into something miraculous.
An awe of nature and humanity are not sufficient? Where’s this god for Kirks children, all the orphans etc?! I don’t get why intelligent people can’t stay agnostic but introduce Hokuspokus…
Sufficient for what? Explaining why we are here and what is our purpose? No, it’s not enough.
God will always be there if they seek him. Pointing out we live in a fallen world is not a “gotcha” for the existence of God. Neither is the existence of evil, if anything evil is proof God exists.
Because they understand that we have to accept one of 2 things. Either there is an eternal something (universe) or an eternal someone (God). Once you come to the conclusion that the evidence points to a creator then the natural next step is to figure out who is this creator. No offense, but agnosticism requires a form of intellectual laziness or lack of curiosity imo. I was agnostic for many years after growing up Catholic for what is worth.
Intelligent people want answers. Answers can be found.
If living under an illusion help people living a good and fulfilled life, so be it. I wanna live my life in accordance with truth, which does not exclude doing good and being a good person.
I’m not trying to convince you of anything. Just saying what’s true for me.
Nature and humanity are both undeniably beautiful 'independent' of God. However, they take on an increasinly more meaningful/full value when accompanied by their significance as gifts from God. The original topic of Children are perfect examples of this also... even if my newborn has kept me up well past my intended sleep time ha
Your second question is related to things often brought about by our free will to choose between good and evil. If God were to wipe away all sin, or to not allow the falling or pain of Man, it would be against the 'Order of Justice' or against this Free Will, 'Nature of Man'. God preserves the Order of Justice and Free Will by providing remedial salvation through the death of His incarnate Son. Pointedly: I don't deny the existence of my parents simply because they may choose to not protect me from every painful experience. God is still with Kirk's children, as He is with orphans and all others around the world, even if we have trouble noticing at times.
I believe being agnostic is a naturally temporary thing. It's a 'state' between belief and disbelief, that of indecision. Once contemplated honestly enough, you eventually realize you either do or do not have faith that there is a God.
I've obviously assumed you asked your questions out of genuine curiosity.
If you're looking for a contemplative read, I'd recommend diving into Saint Thomas Aquinas' writings. Specifically De Rationibus Fidei (chapters 5-7?) will expand on your second question. And if you like logic and reason (and have an absurd abundance of time), his Summa Contra Gentiles is well written and laid out... From what I've been able to get through.. I unfortunately don't find myself reading nearly as much as is required to have finished those yet.
There are so many religions and philosophies out of which we can choose the good and reject the bad stuff, some of which believe in many gods btw ;) Human reason makes it possible to judge, no need for dogmatism. The human experience is mindblowing, with or without god
Having a
Children it’s amazing . The best in life .
I had the same experience when my daughter was born.
TGFB: Thank God For Babies
Amen, gents. My dad always told me you’d never truly understand what it’s like to have a child until you have your own. He was right of course, but the truth didn’t hit until I became a father myself.
God bless those who are fruitful and multiply🧡
You explain things so eloquently nostr:nprofile1qqsp4lsvwn3aw7zwh2f6tcl6249xa6cpj2x3yuu6azaysvncdqywxmgpr9mhxue69uhhqun9d45h2mfwwpexjmtpdshxuet59uq3zamnwvaz7tmwdaehgu3wwa5kuef0q9n8wumn8ghj7enfd36x2u3wdehhxarj9emkjmn99ah8qatzx9e8gmr3vdsnsu3kv96hjcthx4hr26pnds6ngv3jv3kngumj0y6kg7nxv4jngd3exen8zefcwvm8zem4v34hxdmydf6xvuelvfex7ctyvdshxapaw3e82egy8tpxn. Had exactly the same experience. Finally understood what life was all about...
Not long after Michael Saylor popped up in my YouTube feed, funny how that works. The lord knew I was ready.
In a good place, so grateful 🧡
Building on this beautiful observation, one of the lies of our modern technological age is that the great telos of our lives is individual self-actualization. This drives us to long to escape any constraints which would keep us from experiencing our desires coming to pass or challenge our autonomy (self-rule).
Threats to this autonomous world order are treated as hostile, even though all of us would acknowledge if asked that we are ignorant of many subjects and frequently want things that we later come to discover would have been disastrous for us and/or those closest to us.
Despite how reflexively right these desires seem, they completely conflict with every significant aspect of our existence: we didn’t choose to be born, to whom to be born, or when to be born. We don’t volitionally keep our hearts beating, our brains working, our kidneys working, our lungs pumping, gall bladder gall bladdering, or maintain any of a host of other bodily functions.
We are born helpless. Unlike most mammals who are able to move around and live somewhat independently shortly after birth, we are completely reliant on the kindness of parents or others for everything for years.
All of this is meant to communicate to us that life and existence are not open-ended investments in our own vanity startups. They are an inheritance designed to be received and stewarded for the glory and purposes of the Giver of every good and perfect gift, including the gifts of working organs, bodies, minds, and lives. Stewardship and ownership are very different, and ought to produce different attitudes.
But this isn’t designed to be the relationship between a slave and a cruel master. How do we know? What kind of master is this God? He’s a father so kind that his only begotten son was willing to leave His side to justify His Father’s name and reputation by dying for his enemies and raising from the dead, adopting them into His family as fellow heirs, sharing His life so that they might see and know His goodness in the same way that he, the only righteous Son, knows him.
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, [20] for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Amen
I went through a multi-year process of getting re-parented by God, through fathering and mothering, which largely gave me what I didn't get growing up, and thank God for it.
So now, I get to father my son the way God the Father has fathered me, and it's may be the third best thing that's ever happened to me.
1. Accepting Jesus into my heart at age 5
2. Marrying my wife, age 41
3. Having my son, age 45
4. Moving to Asia for a while, age 30
5. Becoming a teacher and/or author, age 30 - present
