I often read Billy Graham's column and thought today's was particulary pertinent to our profession. I'm just curious as to your own personal thoughts and feelings on the matter. (Please, no screaming at one another...this is not a debate.)
Dear Dr. Graham,
I'd like to be a Christian, but I have a hard time believing that Jesus rose from the dead. You see, I'm an intensive care nurse, and I know that once a person dies, that's the end. Maybe you can help me get past these doubts. -- Mrs. K.W.
Dear Mrs. K.W.:
The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the most important event in all history -- and yes, incredible as it may seem, it really did happen.
In fact, it might interest you to know that one of the Gospels was written by a medical doctor (Luke). Like you, he knew that death is final and irreversible -- and yet he also gave us one of the most extensive accounts of Jesus' resurrection from the dead. Why? Because he had thoroughly investigated the evidence for Jesus' resurrection for himself and he knew only one conclusion was possible: Jesus had come back from the dead.
Why is the resurrection important? Why did God raise Jesus from the dead? One reason was to prove that Jesus was who He said He was: the divine Son of God, sent from heaven to save us from our sins. The Bible says that He "was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 1:4). The resurrection sets Jesus apart from every other person who has ever lived.
But the resurrection points to an even greater truth: Death has now been conquered! The grave is not the end, but heaven's doors are now open! Jesus is alive, and He wants to come into your life today. Why not discover this great truth for yourself by turning to Christ today?
Edited to remove the dead link that stretched things past the edge of the screen - hope it makes it easier to read :)! - Ratched
If so, I should probably take my leave right now...
Shel
I've read that the Neanderthals buried their dead with flowers, so it goes back a long way. Personally, I do like the idea of giving live plants. Or maybe mums, since they are edible. (Kinda bland, though. I hear nastursiums (sp?) are quite tasty.)
Squirrel is delicious, by the way, although I must admit I would rather watch them living.
A little off-topic, I know, though for some vegetarianism is a religious question.
I suppose it would be a big no-no to start a thread on, say, Pseudomonas, then continue the discussion you started. Anyway, I hope you'll stick around.
Sometimes people have attacked me for saying Xmas saying that I am X'ing out Christs name. But it is only in their ignorance of Greek. In Greek, Christos is reverently abbrv. with an X.
Just another tidbit of info. Perhaps for your time on Jepardy one day!!
The abbreviation X came in handy for me when I was taking notes at church. :)
LOLOLOL!!!!:rotfl: Ya know, up until they were merged, we were having such a nice discussion, save a few select people. We were even talking about how good we were all being.
So true! Goes to show how volatile this subject can be. Actually, I think the mods know, are testing us, and trying to see if we can all get along. Can we??
I have just read the 393 posts (to date) in one sitting, and am a little overwhelmed, so please excuse me if I phrase anything in a way that feels inflammatory - that's not my intent.
I'm interested in why some Christians (and I mention Christians only because the representatives on other denominations don't seem to have such a strong reaction) seem so incensed at the idea of people having different belief systems.
For example (and I'm not picking on her, this is just an illustrative example):
It just really angers me when people question our precious Lord. Speaking nicely to them won't reach out. Just because i am a christian does that mean that I can't stand up for God (what is right). I'm not going to just let people degrade my Jesus and what He stands for without a fight. I feel as strongly about Him as I do any other member in my family. He is sooo Precious. He's my Savior. I love Him wholeheartedly and someone has to stand up to these NONBELIEVERS. It is not my job to convince them to believe, but it is my DUTY as a christian woman to correct their ignorance when speaking about GOD.
I appreciate feeling strongly, particularly if you believe that Jesus is a concrete person (versus an ideal or a prophet) and your personal savior. But surely Jesus' validity isn't ursurped because it's questioned - if this stance is correct then Jesus is divine, omniscient and omnipotent, and therefore not capable of being hurt by a human being's disbelief. I'm not talking about a God-feels-the-fall-of-a-sparrow kind of awareness - the level of outrage seems disproportionate to the cause, and I'm genuinely (non-trolly) interested in why this is.
Also (in for a penny, in for a pound), why is it that people care what faith other people have? Given that there is so much diversity even among people who have the same background and articulate having the same faith, it's not even as though one can predict what kind of person an individual is based on the professed beliefs. After all, I'm sure we all know church-on-Sunday types, who are unpleasant and divisive during the week, and lovely shirt-off-their-backs non-Christians.
I find religious debate very interesting, and can highly recommend a site for anyone else interested: http://www.beliefnet.com - as well as having religion-specific sites (eg in the Buddhism section you can learn about Buddhism, and ask questions, and debate aspects of living a Buddhist life in a 21st century world) there are also gloves-off areas, where some spectacular flame wars break out. It also has a quiz that gives you information on the religion which most closely fits with your belief system - many people I know have a top three match with Unitarianism (hi Owney).
In response to questions such as Why are some Christians so "intolerant"? :
If you believe that the biblical character of Jesus is real, and you believe what he said, that is, his claim to be the only way of salvation, then that would exclude all other ways. It doesn't necessarily mean you are attacking other people or being unkind or mean to say that you believe he is the only way.
A verbal disagreement isn't the same as actual killing or confiscating property over different beliefs, as has been done (wrongly) at times in church history (and some religions still teach hatred and killing of those who don't believe as they do).
Specializes in LTC, CPR instructor, First aid instructor..
In response to questions such as Why are some Christians so "intolerant"? :
If you believe that the biblical character of Jesus is real, and you believe what he said, that is, his claim to be the only way of salvation, then that would exclude all other ways. It doesn't necessarily mean you are attacking other people or being unkind or mean to say that you believe he is the only way.
A verbal disagreement isn't the same as actual killing or confiscating property over different beliefs, as has been done (wrongly) at times in church history (and some religions still teach hatred and killing of those who don't believe as they do).
Mother Theresa set an excellent example of Christianity.
Wow, someone mentioned that it is her "duty" to correct my/our "ignorence" with regards to God. I am speechless. I was not aware that I am an "ignorent" person because of "my" faith is not exactly of yours. Is this really how some people live their lives??? They hold the divine absolute truth and everyone else is ... well.. stupid? "ignorent"? illiterate? unsophisticated? rude? uneducated? crude? naive? oblivious? uncouth? hmmm. That saddens me and in the same moment it actually makes me thank God for giving me the mind that I have. I respect everyone's faith, but apparently they don't respect mine. Oh well, not my problem. But as for the woman who feels she has this divine "duty" to "correct" "ignorance" how about becoming a law enforcer/police officer? That is the only way in my opinion that you will be able to successfully achieve such a goal. For the record... cults scare me.
What saddens me is that somewhere along the line so many people have had dealings with "righteous Christians" that have totally turned them against Christianity. I was always taught that I had no right to force my beliefs on anyone. All people are loved by God, whether they all believe alike or not.
Whoever you are thank you! This is exactly how I feel. I agree 105,000% and I appreciate you and your respect. ALOT of people could use a lesson or two from you. GOD BLESS YA!
I think the influence of Christianity and the history of nursing went hand in hand. Today it's very individual. But according to what we were told in school, before Christianity came along, women weren't thought to be worthy to care for the sick. No, I didn't go to a religious school. It was a secular community college.
How insightful! I didn't even think about the historical aspects of it. Thanks for bringing this up. Time for a lil research! :)
Shel, would you like to enlighten some of us as to the topic of your thread?
Sure. My thread is (or was...ugh) about Religion and Nursing. I wondered if perhaps your religious beliefs brought you to nursing or if maybe your religious beliefs help you cope with death and disease on a daily basis. I don't much care about what your religion is, who preaches to you, and who is wrong or right. :)
I left them a message under the Contact Us link. I'm still fairly new to this place and if this is how things are run I'd like out now before I waste any more of my time. I am quite sure there are plenty of places out there where threads are left unbroken and where questions are able to be answered. I feel quite strongly about being able to create my own thread and not have it smashed together with something that was totally different by some admin who didn't read either of the threads in full. And that's enough about that. I'm tired of talking about the flub and on to better and brighter things. If anyone else is left confused as to where the old thread went and why this big huge jumbled one has over 300 posts...click that lil Contact Us link and ask em yourself! As for the topic, again, I repeated it a few posts up from this one.
K thanks bye. *stumbles a bit as she steps off the soapbox*
nursemike, ASN, RN
1 Article; 2,362 Posts
Squirrel is delicious, by the way, although I must admit I would rather watch them living.
A little off-topic, I know, though for some vegetarianism is a religious question.
I suppose it would be a big no-no to start a thread on, say, Pseudomonas, then continue the discussion you started. Anyway, I hope you'll stick around.