• Blade said on Oct 03, 2006....

  "I am not living a religious life, but I do believe in the one G*d. I believe that his miracles are there in our every day lives and all we have to do in order to see them, is to actually recognize them when they accure."
  
  By believing in “one God”, you are leading a religious life. That doesn’t mean that you attend church regularly or talk about God often; but your belief in the “one god” will always be in the back of your mind and you will live your life according to that belief. That’s what a religious life is.
  
  While I don’t necessarily think that what happened to you is a miracle, I do believe that random events are often underrated. Most often, random events are the things that cause us great happiness or great misery. A puppy runs up to you in the park and licks your face. You drop a package of frozen meat out of your freezer and on to your foot. You enter a raffle and win a trip to Hawaii. A lot of random things happen that affect us deeply. To dismiss random events as trivial occurrences is mistaken. If things were always planned out for us, life would be predictable and boring. It is indeed fortunate for you that the chocolate milk stayed hidden. I believe there is great value in fasting; it teaches discipline as well as inner strength. It also has it’s health benefits. Good for you for being able to do it for so long.
  

• ZsuzsiO said on Oct 04, 2006....

  I can tell that this is an all American, non Jewish respon. See, I am not here to change people's thinking, or justify what I believe in. But Jewish people think of a religious life much different than non Jews. A relegious Jew is one that you can spot from miles away. Relegious Jews dress different, communicate different and even eat different than most of us. The men with the black and white clothes, long beard and the side hair above their ears. Women wear only skirts and long sleeve shirts and they must cover their hair. Most of them wear wigs too. Male and female are not allowed to touch each other unless close family members. When they talk, almost every sentence reminds G*d and they probably do that in Yiddish because they believe that Hebrew was given by G*d therefore we shell only use it when praying. Shell I go on?
  So no, I am not leading a religious life at all. I am as far rom it as you are. But I do beleve and keep traditions.
  And here would be the argument abour G*d's act or random events.
  But I will not get into it. My life is happier because it has a meaning to me. It is not borring, as a matter of fact it is very exciting to recognize things each day. Things that others might not see teh way I do. But to me, each recognition leads to the conclusion that really makes me feel safe. There is some thing after death, and I shell not be scared of it. It is good, because I can control it from here by my behaviour in this life.
  If you happen to believe in some thing else, I'm glad. Because I think that this is exactly what makes life interesting and colorful. Thank you for your comment
  

• Blade said on Oct 04, 2006....

  That’s true. In America, traditional clothing isn’t associated with our primary religion. Religion usually refers to a person’s belief in God and/or Jesus. If we choose not to believe in God, we are not considered religious. That’s why, in my opinion, someone who believes in god is naturally religious.
  
  Aside from the occasional Jeremy Camp t-shirt, there isn’t any attire strongly associated with Christians in America. In the country that you are from, there is much more tied to the term “religion”; such as food, traditions and clothing. So when you say you’re not religious, you mean that you do not follow the traditional methods of Jewish lifestyle.
  

• ZsuzsiO said on Oct 05, 2006....

  I guess our misunderstanding originates from the fact that most over here every one believes. This reflects in our every day style of communication as well. We still add things like "with D*d's help", "RIP", "praise the Lord" and such (of course all in the original Hebrew form) without realizing that non Jewsh only talk this way if they are what you call "religious". I'm talking about who would never go to the temple or do any of the religous originated traditions. Don't forget, being Jewish might have two meanings but the fact is that if no religion, no Jews. Everything is originated from religion when it comes to us. If we would not believe we would have to deni ourselves. You've touched an extremely sensitive area here. However, even in America, there are a lot of people who believe in G*d but do not continiue any further with living a religious life style. They don't go to church, don't pray, don't wait until marriage for having sex, etc... Leading a religious life style is a lot more than just believing the one G*d.
  

• ZsuzsiO said on Oct 05, 2006....

  I really must correct this first sentence....
  most people over here believes (in G*d).
  

• jigneshdodiya said on Oct 05, 2006....

  http://bharattkumar.wordpress.com
  
  u will feel miracles
  

• aeschylus said on Oct 08, 2006....

  ZsuzsiO and Blade ...
  
  I enjoyed this, and could probably discuss forever MHO's, but the best will be last.
  
  There is a large chasm between religion (religious) and spirituality (spiritual, belief in a Higher Authority). I saw the two terms interchanged in your discussion so I'm still a bit confused.
  
  I agree with you ZsuzsiO ... Following the rituals of your beliefs is extremely important, and I'm glad you are taking active means to increase that. You'll find that they will give you a sense of comfort and security at times you need it most. But at the same time, the rituals are not "God" ... they are meant to help you "focus on God" away from other distractions. This is also used by some spiritual followers who wear a veil or shawl, particularly Catholic nuns, if I recall. The veil (shawl, habit headdress) is to shield the eyes from peripheral vision, so as not to be distracted from that which is directly in front of you.
  
  While in intense prayer or meditation, I often find that a shawl or veil completely covering my head AND face helps me focus inward. It doesn't get me closer in my ritual, but it sure does help me focus on what I'm trying to do. Essentially, it shuts out distractions of the physical world. God understands. If I don't have a shawl at the moment, I can always visualize one because I use it regularly.
  
  Blade ... Unfortunately, religion in America is big business. It's less "promoted" in some areas, and less in the news right now, but it's still there. For a couple of dollars, you are promised that you are "buying God" essentially. I won't even go there.
  
  I once wrote a post on Usenet about how people show what they believe by what they wear and how they appear in public. It caused an uproar because, first, the forum was a total mix of beliefs and, second, it was before 9-11 and essentially my position was accepting of ALL beliefs, yet already the anti-Christian or anti-Muslim attitudes were breeding among common people, and being expressed vehemently.
  
  As I go through my archives looking for other things (and that post and Usenet group is one that I'm reviewing for my current project), I'll put the question forth to this forum. Perhaps some things will have calmed down by then.
  
  Finally, and the best is last, as I truly believe God is real and definitely has a delightful sense of humor.
  
  I would wonder if perhaps there wasn't a bit of "humor" in what happened with the milk? Perhaps God was teasing you a bit? Just to know He's paying attention!
  
  aeschylus
  bai ming sheng
  
  
  
  
  ZsuzsiO ...
  

• ZsuzsiO said on Oct 15, 2006....

  Hmmmm.... It just might be the case. OR he knew it before me that I will be weaker than before this year. After all they say all is already written.
  Actually Jewsh believe that Yom Kippur day is the one we all should rethink the past year and feel sory for the things we might have done wrong, people we might have hurt and such. This is the time to make up with friends and family by apologizing and forgiving. The Jewish New Year is just a couple of days before Yom Kippor, when we all pary for a blessed new year, eating apples in honey to make the year blowsome and sweet. But it is Yom Kippur when G*d decides each year what kind of year we each get. Each Yom Kippur a "list" is being created for each soul based on the year before. On that year he already decides the amount of happynes, pain, money success or faliour we should get in order to keep on better ourselves. That's why we say on Yom Kippur :" Hatima Tova!" Wich means something like "may you get a signature on a good year" (Hatima is signature tova is the female form of the word "good" since hatima is a female word)
  we also belive that by fasting we suffer for all the bad things we might have done so we will get that much less of the hard stuff next year to deal with.
  
  So a good Jew does not feel sory for the money he didn't make at the end of the year - or the milk he didn't drink. It simply wasn't on his list for that year. But it might be for the next one!
  
  Isn't that a nice thought - religion or not?
  
  PS I know you've read my story on Moshe so I'll let you in on his answer on why he doens't fast on Yom Kippur:
  
  He says he did all the fasting in WWII and so much more G*d still owes him a lot of years of fast free life!
  I'm taking my son to meat him next week. And I'll make my Hungarian Kosher Porkolt.....
  

• aeschylus said on Oct 15, 2006....

  ZsuzsiO ...
  
  ROFLMAO!!!
  
  I would love Moshe!!!
  
  Too bad we need to get old to learn to be practical! Plus, I do my own arguing with G*d ... usually on a daily basis.
  
  Many people start their prayers with "G*d, this is (person's name)."
  
  I start mine with "Hey YOU! It's me again!"
  
  We have an ongoing dialogue. He doesn't mind at all. I earned it.
  
  I think He's still not sure what to do with me when I die from this earth though. LOL
  
  aeschylus
  bai ming sheng
  

• ZsuzsiO said on Oct 16, 2006....

  Oh, dear you've done it again!
  Not only that you've made me laugh but also made me realize how different people are.
  
  See, I didn't know people introduce themselves to G*d when they start to pray.
  I assum He knows it's me. After all, he supposed to know everything. That's funny.
  
  I don't pray much - at least not in the typical Jewish way, when you read all the same prayers from the prayer book. I don't believe in it.
  But when I need him, I talk to him just like to any other person. Some times I sing a song I'm making up during singing it. Of coourse quietly cause I still feel silly doing that.
  But I don't feel silly to even say out loud when something wonderfull happenes to me :"Oh dear G*d let me always remember this" I do that often, cause I often find wonderfull things happennig to me.
  Like one of the comments I deleted lately. Or when my son does something silly or sweet.
  
  thank you for commenting my friend
  

• keziah said on Oct 24, 2006....

  Miracles happen all the time,nothing happens by accident,everything is connected and all religions are correct.It is important to know and not believe.When you know you don't have to argue or discuss....

• bellringer said on Oct 25, 2006....

  Yes, ZsuzsiO, I believe in miracles, large and small. I have learned to look forward to what I call "hugs" from God. Some are small, some are large but all are sign of God's love for us, I believe.
  Bless you! bellringer

• sam1965 said on Nov 01, 2006....

  our birth and our existence everything is a miracle. spiritual joy can be discovered from the face of a child. In the child lurks the divine.As long as you are jew or a christian,you are spiritual since religion is the banana skin while spirituality is what is found inside the banana. that which is the essence of all religion that is love for all humanity.follow your traditions,but try moving towards the core of all religion.

• aeschylus said on Nov 01, 2006....

  sam1965 ...
  
  Since when does being jewish or christian have anything to do with being spiritual?
  
  aeschylus
  bai.mingsheng@gmail.com
  

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