Thread by @Joe_Varner

@COsweda fantastic thread on spirituality earlier. Mostly because I feel like we've arrived at the same conclusion from different ends of the spectrum. You are absolutely right that the signs are all around but only you can see if you choose to be able to see.

For me personally, I've had my own fair share of interactions with the Divine and having learned, these are things I noticed on a daily basis. The problem comes with people's own perceptions. Something about you sharing your stories makes me want to share mine:

I have nowhere near the traumatic upbringing that you have had, and I do think that's why you are able to see certain things better than others, having lived and come out of that. For myself, I grew up severely bullied. Didn't move around or face death as you did, but it was hard

Intrinsically, and I can't say why, I always knew there was a divine presence at work. But because of my own suffering I can tell you I absolutely hated him with a passion.

I wasn't an atheist, who are some of the biggest poseurs I know of. Atheists are funny creatures to me because they claim they don't believe in God, and yet hold hostility towards anything religious. They are people who hate God but can't admit it.

I always could admit it to myself. "There is a God and he probably hates me giving my life and therefore I hate him."

this was my view point growing up even as my parents took me to church every Sunday. And they weren't doing it for anything other than optics.

They weren't the kind to try to beat Jesus into me, and in fact religion really came up at home other than we better go to Sunday mass and behave. But my home life was rough too with some well meaning but short-fused and emotionally abusive parents.

The change for me happened my freshman year of high school.

being someone who read a lot and enjoyed reading lots of encyclopedias, I came to the conclusion that I knew nothing of this deity that I hated so much there for my hatred was irrational.

So I sent out into the ether essentially a prayer saying "God, if you exist, show me this year. For my part I will do my best to learn and if you don't provide proof by the end of the year, I will become a true atheist." Anti-atheist I didn't mean the poser kind.

I fully intended to just simply not believe but still be polite and courteous to those who do and not hate them for it as I can see the appeal. I figured a year was enough time that if there was a divine intervener, that would give them enough time to work and me to learn

My own church wasn't cutting it and really didn't give a crap about youth. A friend of mine went to one of those large rah rah non denominational complexes, and much to my parents vehement disagreement, I went and actually learned quite a bit there.

The biggest irony is that the second I threw down the challenge to the divine, and held up my own side of the bargain in seeking improvement, that year opened my eyes to a ton of different things. Things I was blind to before I suddenly saw.

To your point, it's because I treated the prayer earnestly and applied myself to improve. I think the Divine creator lovess people who do try to improve. I also love how you use the law of conservation of energy to prove the existence of the Divine. Same type of argument I use

My favorite is to combine scientific theory with probabilities. With the scientific method in experiments, you try to remove all external stimuli in order to maintain the integrity of the experiment and achieve consistent results.

However, we live in an environment where random things that should be statistically impossible happen on a daily basis in everyone's lives and they either don't see it, or give it a benign name like lock or serendipity or chance or the like to avoid assigning ownership

When you stack up all those improbabilities in a person's life, you have a greater likelihood of a parade of asteroids striking Alyssa milano's ass in rapid succession while playing "when the saints go marching in" than for all those experiences to have occurred

Calling it random or luck does not do it justice. when things consistently happen like that going back to the scientific method it only means one thing:

There is some, yet undetermined variable that is influencing the experiment.

And in our lives it's the touch of the Divine

Scientific mathematical proof that a divine Creator exists. You're welcome universe.

Since that time, I've been able to see and know that Creator's fingerprints.

A certain song comes on the radio to pick me up when I'm emotionally down.

Or a certain number combination that I have associated in my head to that Divine creator, just to let me know he's there and watching me.

A couple of times in my life, I have felt the presence of a hand on my back when I was completely alone, radiating what I can only describe

As pure energy yet feeling completely clean and otherworldly.

The most personal was when my eldest had a brain tumor. My wife was with her in the hospital and I was driving home to look after the younger two. Surgery was the following morning.

As I drove home on the expressway, my body locked. The aforementioned energy poured through my entire body. And I saw a vision of everyone I ever knew like ghosts standing outside the gates of heaven with me and my wife as Giants leaving them. All praying for my daughter

God ordered the gates opened. And all of us flew to Him, and hugged Him, crying for my daughter. He then simply lifted a hand and pointed. An entire legion of angels flew out from heaven. They descended to Earth & 2 flanked me on either side while another was behind me

The one behind me was holding my shoulders and keeping my driving hands steady. I then saw the rest of the legion pour into the hospital. They took up positions like it was a military base and they were guarding a VIP. The entrance, all the floors, several in the room

+ 3 around the bed facing out. It felt like heaven itself could not have been more secure than that hospital at that time. The vision ended there and I knew it would all be okay.

My daughter got the surgery and ended up making a full recovery.

Before the surgery I told my wife

When I told her about the dream she went pale.

she said at the same time I had the vision she was praying to God that the prayers of us and everyone who loved our daughter would storm the Gates of heaven in order to ask God to protect our daughter.

I had no way of knowing this before so it wasn't any kind of subliminal thing I picked up on.

Although I truly think things like that are things any person who wants to be able to see can tap into.

You just have to want to improve and be open to it.

I'm not a chapter verse kind of guy when it comes to the Bible but I love the stories.

My favorite is in Ezekiel.

God tells him to go into a cave in the mountain and not to come out until God shows up.

And it precedes that there were earthquakes, and Zeke didn't come out

There were thunderstorms and Zeke didn't come out

there were all these giant wrath of God type things happening outside of that mountain, and Zeke didn't come out.

Then it was finally quiet.

And that was when Zeke came out and there was God.

It's the type of thing that would slip by most people because from there the story just goes on with what God wants to tell Zeke.

But I noticed : God works in the quiet. He works in the in between. people want all this showy wrath of God type stuff as proof.

But even if He did that, they still would demand more because they don't want to see. They don't want to improve. But if you want to improve, now you're able to see.

It's what God meant when He said I will make the wisdom of man foolish and what is considered foolish wise.

Anyway I just wanted to share that and thank you for your thread and just wanted to share my perspective.

Thank you for all you do Carlos.