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Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2006 11:53 am Post subject: MS Bible Study Support Group
Hi, I'm pretty new to this site and I'm wondering if any of you out there are interested in getting together in a Christ centered group to study the Bible and discuss our overall well-being in dealing with this disease on a day to day basis as it relates to Jesus Christ.
Geez Bromley, don't go scaring new members. I'm with you, I don't think God is on my side - what kind of a God gives the burden of this disease to carry - but that's just my opinion. Some people do find peace and strength in their faith. Pamisu's post might just be better placed in the "mental and spiritual health" section....
Wow Pamisu--I apologize for Ian (even though he posts all of the time and I very litte). I agree with Mary, maybe you might find some like minded people in the spiritual section. This is such a great place I hope you don't run scared away from here.
I do not espouse your views, but I would not lambast them either. I hope you are successful in your search and that it helps you.
Ian, I think you need a chill pill along with your rebif shot. Contrary to your belief, although terrible, this is NOT the worst thing that could ever happen to a person. Have you ever had a terminally ill child? That IS the worst thing!!--I just saw a documentary (6 years in the making) that followed the progress of children and their families battling Leukemia. Some of those kids lost their fight. My husband and I felt so foolish feeling sorry for ourselves.
Get over it or at least don't bury someone else for their opinions and feelings. Get some perspective, Please.
Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2006 2:11 pm Post subject: Yes, Ian...
I've found the compromise of being atheisitic, but not anti-theist, to be difficult sometimes, too. Especially in our MS situation, and those in much worse. Thus, my coping mantra, "it could always be worse." It really isn't very intelligent of others to automatically assume that abolutely everyone is a theist.
Minai (who is Thee of little Faith, but much Hope)
Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2006 2:57 pm Post subject: hugs for pamisu
i have family friends who suffered through a grave illness of their daughter. the daughter thought she was going to die and said, god, if you let me live, i'll never doubt you again. and she lived. half the family became quite devout after that, and so they remain. this girl now has a large, absolutely wonderful and thoroughly religious family of her own, and as far as i'm concerned, power to her. doesn't make it my thing, but she has every right to hers.
i'm with mary, this site does have a perfectly valid faith section. i hope pamisu finds plenty of welcoming people with similar interests there.
Last edited by jimmylegs on Sat Jun 24, 2006 3:31 pm; edited 1 time in total
Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2006 4:59 pm Post subject: community!!!
i'm not 'on the payroll' but: This is MS is an unbiased, unaffiliated site dedicated to eradicating Multiple Sclerosis. We offer an open-minded approach to *all* potentially viable treatments, ranging from the FDA-approved disease-modifying drugs such as Copaxone to alternative treatments such as Low Dose Naltrexone.
so okay, we can all be pissed off, peaceful, religious, scientific, whatever it's all good. you know, i kind of think the way each of us interprets our disease is like how different people find their own personal meaning in sacred texts. so we're not really that different. it's just some people's sacred texts are medical journals. i have certainly developed more inner peace from my reading i felt like i had a black hole in my stomach until i got into my journal studies.
Well, Ian I am truly sorry for what you and your family went through with your child. That is something no one should need to endure.
My point (which I should have stuck to) is that we all deal with this differently, and it's kind to allow others to handle this in a way that works for them. Yours is science, hers is faith and so it should go. As far as I could tell, she was not trying to shove anything down your throat--that is when to get angry.
Thanks for editing your post--I hope Pamisu only read the revised version. She might have gotten the wrong impression of the forum and
you. I know there is much more evidence that you are a kind person than not.
Pamisu,
I, too, am new to the post and haven't received any comments yet from my own post. I understand that we all don't share the same beliefs, but I know from experience that God has been my strength and my refuge during my 13 years of living with MS. Even my neurologist, who didn't necessarily share my belief in Jesus Christ as personal Savior, told me that his patients that prayed and had a strong faith in God have fared better than other patients who didn't. Yes, I'd be interested in your idea. Let me know what I can do to help.
Patagonia C
Joined: Aug 24, 2005 Posts: 47 Location: San Antonio, TX
Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 7:19 pm Post subject: Personal beliefs, and how we affect each other
Dear friends:
Hi! I was looking through the forums, and tripped into this one.
Recently, one of my former students (from a Computer Art class in a community college) asked me for advice. She wanted to know if she should become a teacher, then she added that she didn't want to teach high school because she knew how she felt about her high school teachers, and she didn't want to be hated! This was my response:
"... it was necessary to let you feel negative feelings about authorities in a safe setting, because it is ok to disagree with your teachers as long as it helps you discover what you do agree with (compare and contrast of philosophies, kind of like compare and contrast in art history studies, helps to more clearly define the differences), and sometimes you can't express anger towards your real enemies. Teachers are good punching bags, and somebody has to do it."
Similarly, I think we all feel safe expressing our negative and scary emotions and thoughts on these forums; and sometimes we may get overwrought. That is why we have site administrators looking over our shoulders, I suppose.
But, really, would anyone be able to clearly state what he or she believes if there were no contrasting opinions to compare our own with? I believe in Jesus Christ as my personal Savior, and have since I was sixteen. Before that, my parents made sure that I was a Catholic. When I had the opportunity to explore and think for myself, when I was able to exchange ideas and information with other people, I decided that I was a Christian. Later still, when my husband and I married, we came to the agreement that the Methodist church was pretty acceptable.
And, yes, my faith has helped me immensely in my struggles with MS and anything else that has been flung my way. But I don't bother other people about it, really. And I don't mind talking with other people about ideas and beliefs, without any goals in mind. I don't know that anyone has ever been influenced by my beliefs in anything, except perhaps the importance of letterspacing and kerning in graphic design. But that is what they pay me for, after all.
A Bible study group could be a very good idea. I was involved in a Bible study group in College which studied several different books over the years (I went to college for a long time), but studying Job and Ecclesiastes seemed to really address a lot of ideas relevant to our situation. Things like why me all the time? and will we ever come to some balance again? and well-meaning friends who try to explain to us what we did to make this happen. What exactly do we deserve, and consider the hippopotamus? You know, that kind of stuff!
So, there is a response to your postings, and I hope it really means something to someone! And, Ian, I only know you from some of your various postings (and you removed the ones here before I saw them). I hope you are having better days now, because I like you.
Take care all,
Ronnie
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but: This is MS is an unbiased, unaffiliated site dedicated to eradicating Multiple Sclerosis. We offer an open-minded approach to *all* potentially viable treatments, ranging from the FDA-approved disease-modifying drugs such as Copaxone to alternative treatments such as Low Dose Naltrexone.
