[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by BigWalleye

Thank you, Steve, for your civil and thoughtful response. If I may, I'll try to respond.

And thank you for your own civility, and for understanding that I wasn't trying to criticize you or your faith.

Yes, Steve, it is belief. If we could prove it, there would be no need for belief. If Christ came down to Central Park, cured the sick, and raised the dead live on CNN, there would be no need for belief. And no more free will to believe or not.

That's a good point. Of course afterward there would still be many who did not believe, but that's another story.

I have no way of knowing what you formerly believed, but I suspect it was different from the belief that has changed my life. Or maybe my life was more in need of changing.

No, it was the same. I believed my life truly was changed, but over time I began to see that there were things about me that were no different. I suffer from maladies that my faith couldn't cure. It's not something I want to go into in this current thread, but I'm a true sceptic. I question everything, including the questioners. I came to realize that I truly don't know anything, and I can't see that anyone else does either.

I still admit the possibility of the truth of the Gospel, but I also admit a lot of other possibilities. I'm not a believer, but I'm not a disbeliever either.

Of course there are, although I think "a great many" is a stretch. I can only speak from personal knowledge of the transforming power of Christ. Formerly, I followed the teachings of the Buddha, which is a powerful moral philosophy with much in common with the teachings of Jesus. But I never found a God in Buddhism.

Well put, and you may be right about "a great many".

First, Jesus never had a problem with people having a good time. His first public miracle was done to keep a party going! (How cool is that?) It is rather the pursuit of good times, to the exclusion of caring for others, that gets us off the track.

Good point, and the best I've yet heard it said. When I believed I saw anything not directly related to God as a diversion. I realized I needed those diversions, so I had a painful dichotomy. On the one hand it's easy to say "God made me this way. I should enjoy it." On the other I realized I could also say that about the evil temptations as well. For me it was always an uphill struggle.

Second, and more important, if people don't see the impact of Christ in my actions (and too often, I'm sure they don't), my words won't carry much weight. St Francis said: "Preach Christ crucified. Use words when required." My OP was to share the joy I was feeling, not to preach.

Thank you for that. I didn't want to distract from the point of this thread, but the word "know" always gets a rise out of me. The thread is about Easter, and that should be honored without argument. I honor your faith, and I hope it continues to serve you well.