Big Brother Up There

You can get help from parents, school counselors, help hotlines, etc.

Here's a good web link with a slew of organizations that are there to help you:

TEENS 411
NATIONAL HELP RESOURCES

http://www.child.net/teenhelp.htm

Also, there are a lot of people here on A2K who are very knowledgeable and willing to help you.

Welcome to A2K, S-N.

Once upon a time in a land that is closer to India than to the United States a young man was chosen as a "cheela", a learner, by a very ancient and respected guru.

The young man studied and learned and studied and pondered and studied and gained much wisdom for a young man.

His master sent him out along the Great Trunk Road, walking north, to seek God.

The cheela felt the sun on his shoulders and the dust between his toes and muttered, "I am God. Thou art God. God is in the world."

Walking south along the Great Trunk Road was an elephant belonging to the local maharajah. The mahout call, "Out of the way. Out of the Way. The great elephant of the Maharajah is marching south."

The cheela fairly squirmed with religious revelation. 'I am God, he chanted. Thou art God. The elephant is God." He did not get out of the way.

On the mahout's command, the elephant lifted his trunk and swatted the cheela off the Great Trunk Road and into a very smelly ditch.

The cheela crawled back to his teacher. "I realized the entire meaning of the universe. God was in me. God was in the road. God was in the elephant. Why was I humbled."

His teacher asked, "Why didn't you listen to God on the elephant's back telling you to get out of the way?"


Now, in a land closer to the United States than to India, a woman prayed to God to win the lottery. Her husband was disabled, she had been fired from her job. The children were hungery. She prayed and she prayed and she prayed. Nada.

She died suddenly in a traffic accident. The first thing she asked Saint Peter was "Why didn't God answer my prayers?"

Saint Peter explained, "You didn't buy a lottery ticket.

Now, I'm an articulate agnostic. Do you really feel that you, yourself, are important enough for the special attention/neglect of a god/goddess?

Do you want a personal miracle--or do you want a shortcut without listening to God on the elephant's back or buying a lottery ticket?

A2K can give you some common sense advice--we're not in the miracle department.

Good luck.

P.S.

Check out:

http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=17382&highlight=

Big Brother
There is no guarantee that God will answer your prayer in the way you would prefer. What you may get from Him could be the strength to carry on, the courage to bear your troubles, the wisdom to know when to pursue something and when to give it up - things like that.

We may think we know the solution to a difficulty, but the intangibles like these may be more important in the long run. God may know better than we do what help we need. What you think may be the answer may not be so at all, in the long run. All of this sounds rather Pollyanna-ish, but I have found it to be generally true.

Then there's always the old saying - especially applicable to those who pray for a specific solution, thing or event - "Be careful what you pray for. You just might get it."

Your dilemma runs deep and, IMHO, undercuts almost everything else we can talk about on this or any forum. I, too, come from a background steeped in strong religion, and I have made the tortuous journey you now appear to be on. When I finally broke free of the fetters of faith, I vowed that I would never climb a pulpit and become part of the problem. Live and let live would be my shibboleth. However, I am touched by the feelings that are probably behind your words, and I must break, (or, at least, ruffle), my promise to myself.

Most Christians, (and many who have other gods), will say that you cannot beg the question with god. His/Her answer to you is whatever you now have, no matter how unsatisfying or poisonous it may be. Pain, injustice, terror, doubt, or illogical self-contradiction is all just a matter of His Inscrutable Will. Christianity and it's fellow faiths survive because they have learned the "right" answer for absolutely everything. That it doesn't always make sense is quite irrelevant. Faith overcomes everything -- including fear and common sense. It is, argueably, the most powerful force within this species. I do not know if faith will save us, but every day on the news I am reminded that it certainly has the power to destroy us.

My advice to you is to not be afraid. You are not falling into a terrible abyss. You will not turn into a devil-worshipper or a drugged-out libertine. You are actually on the verge of having a great leaden weight lifted from your shoulders. You may lose some friends and you might frighten a lot of people who are close to you, but they'll get over it when they realize that their god isn't going to strike you down on the spot. You might be very uneasy and frightened yourself, at first, but you'll get over that, too.

If you are (or were) a Christian, you might be very interested to look here:

http://pages.ca.inter.net/~oblio/home.htm

It will lead you to some enlightening places. Make sure to look at the short list of links and read the reviewers comments. And take heart! You may be all you've got, but, by god (pun intended), that's all you need!

dark cloud
God gives us life, the rest of it is up to us. Many of the problems we have are of our own making and we really do have the ability to solve them for ourselves. Keep searching for the answer, never ever give up on yourself, the truth is in there.
Depression is a very difficult problem to overcome, many people have overcome it though, so it's just a temporary thing. I have tried several things and I can't say there's one specific cure, more a combination of remedies. I've used Bach flowers, rock climbing (there's nothing more revealing than a dice with danger to show one how precious this life is!), I've studied scriptures, I've practiced meditation, taken prescription drugs and I've spoken with counsellors and psychiatrists. All these have helped in there own ways. Most importantly, as human beings we need love. Family, friends, pets, strangers, whatever, they are all resources. But to find the greatest love of all....well we have to find the Source.