Anonymous wrote:God has shown himself, in the person of Jesus Christ, and continues to do so, through the Holy Spirit. Are you really looking?

But he only shows himself to people who have been taught to believe in him. Jesus doesn't make appearances to people of other religions who don't know much, if anything, about him. And other people's gods don't show themselves to Christians offering comfort.

God, as powerful as he is supposed to be, seems to depend completely on humans to teach other humans to believe in him, in his various incarnations around the world.

God shows Himself to me everyday through the beauty of the cosmos and the goodwill of my fellow human beings.

Anonymous wrote:I know this truth will be lost on many of you, but I heard God after my dad died when I was 15. I was alone crying in the bathroom and prayed to have a sign - I should never have asked since faith means not asking for proof. I didn't want proof of God only proof I was supposed to be living. I heard a bomb explode which sent me scurrying from the bathroom yelling for my mother. She just looked at me and said "what sound"...she heard nothing. I heard a gift from Heaven, and I am alive because of it. (Some may think I hallucinated the sound - doesn't matter - I received the message.) mjm

I lost my dad when I was 17 and I send you my sincere condolences for what happened to you, but honestly that is what is called a coincidence.

Here's another: when I was in high school a girl in the Senior class saw a rose bloom in the snow outside her house after a snowstorm. She took it as a message from The Virgin that she should become a nun. At the time, I said, "what if it was near the heater." That was not the first time I would be accused of having no faith, nor the last. Turns out that ultimately they were right. But guess what? After a year, she quit the nunnery and rejoined the worldly life.

Arguably, neither anecdote proves a thing ... and so it goes.

In the end, I don't need God to show himself.

To quote Robert De Niro (appearing on "Inside The Actor's Studio"): "If there is a God, he has a lot to answer for."

Anonymous wrote:Which god are you talking about? Zeus? Zoraster? Quetzalcoatl? Amenhotep? Baal? Gaia? Ra? Horus? Inanna? Ishtar? Lakshmi? There are literally tens of thousands of gods. Please specify.

Bring on Bubba Ho-Tep! Seriously, that was a fun movie: http://www.bubbahotep.com/

Anonymous wrote:I know this truth will be lost on many of you, but I heard God after my dad died when I was 15. I was alone crying in the bathroom and prayed to have a sign - I should never have asked since faith means not asking for proof. I didn't want proof of God only proof I was supposed to be living. I heard a bomb explode which sent me scurrying from the bathroom yelling for my mother. She just looked at me and said "what sound"...she heard nothing. I heard a gift from Heaven, and I am alive because of it. (Some may think I hallucinated the sound - doesn't matter - I received the message.) mjm

Sounds like the gift from heaven frightened you terribly. Still, you interpreted it as God answering your prayer for a sign. Ever wonder why only you got the sign? -- why did god favor you, when you asked when you know you shouldn't have? why a bomb sound?

Anonymous wrote:God shows himself to us--just not necessarily in the way that you want him to.

In fact hardly ever in the way you expect or want. He's incredibly capricious to the point of seeming completely unlikely.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should feel naive.
You are like children still believing in Santa Claus.

I believe God shows himself by acting through our emotions. We get feelings to avoid certain people or things, or to reach out for certain people or things. I also have a strong sense of faith, which is a real feeling. I don't think this is like believing in Santa Claus at all. Pretty naive of you to think that most people on this planet are childish because they have spiritual beliefs.

Not childish, necessarily - but naive. The god you describe above warns you to avoid bad things and directs you to good things, but surely this is not always the case -- bad things happen to you too and sometimes, after much careful deliberation you might make a decision that turns out to be bad. Where is God then? Same place as when you felt protected or guided -- nowhere.

I know this truth will be lost on many of you, but I heard God after my dad died when I was 15. I was alone crying in the bathroom and prayed to have a sign - I should never have asked since faith means not asking for proof. I didn't want proof of God only proof I was supposed to be living. I heard a bomb explode which sent me scurrying from the bathroom yelling for my mother. She just looked at me and said "what sound"...she heard nothing. I heard a gift from Heaven, and I am alive because of it. (Some may think I hallucinated the sound - doesn't matter - I received the message.) mjm

I actually appreciate that God gave us free will and choice. This wouldn't be possible if, instead, he appeared to us as, say, a bearded old guy with a finger pointing at some task or rule we need to follow. Choice goes away if we're all terrified into being ant-like followers.

God shows himself to us--just not necessarily in the way that you want him to.

What is the prayer for visitation?

God has shown himself over and over again through out history. There will always be those who continue to doubt even when he is standing right before their face - part of it is human nature. But as Christ said, blessed are those who have not seen and still believe.

Reading the Word of God is how you can surround yourself in God's guidance and that will make it easier for your recognize him when he does appear. There's a prayer for visitation - perhaps you would find that helpful.

Anonymous wrote:No. Because he doesn't exist.

Oh, yes, He does. But I have no evidence that you exist...

No. Because he doesn't exist.

Anonymous wrote:You should feel naive.
You are like children still believing in Santa Claus.

I believe God shows himself by acting through our emotions. We get feelings to avoid certain people or things, or to reach out for certain people or things. I also have a strong sense of faith, which is a real feeling. I don't think this is like believing in Santa Claus at all. Pretty naive of you to think that most people on this planet are childish because they have spiritual beliefs.