A Vision had by Charles Dickens

Well, hasn't every Marian apparition confirmed that she teaches the exact same teaching of the Catholic Church. Her apparitions generally always have the same message: repent, ask for forgiveness, pray with fervor, pray to avoid war. Pray to defeat evil for a great chastisement is coming.

Originally posted by curious7
reply to post by theRhenn

 

I guess that brings it home a little for me.

I was born on February 7th, same as Dickens. I'm also a big lover of writing and have been praised for my works (unpublished and none of them are in book form anyway) just as he has.

I also detest organised religion as he did and have been dating a Roman Catholic for almost a year and now to read that Dickens hated that religion yet was told that was the best religion for him.....

As you can imagine, I'm seriously starting to wonder about many a thing now.

Exactly! When I read this, it actually had me thinking about the subject for some time. It made things alot more clear, and opened some doorways for me personaly, yet, still always the skeptic, I hesitate some. One thing I can say that has taken root is how shamed I feel towards some of the ideals Ive held for so long. I think I've asked this same question all of my life... which one is the right one. Sorry to say, In a way, I do feel kinda let down in the sense that someone that hated any religion (or one) would be given the answer, yet, a seaker such as I have not. Im honest about it and feel somewhat shamed by it. But thoughts are inescapable for me, it seems. I dont know if that's ok so long as I dont put them in words. Ive always felt that it's not what you may think but what you say that makes all the diffrence. (actions as well)

Ive always seen athiests, santanists, former of course, that they found a clue or some miracle in life that changed their ways. It often made me wonder if I would have to abandon my faith or my beliefs to be able to get a sign, but I know that's not always correct, because maybe they are meant for people who dont believe and want to and not so much for the people that do and want proof to continue.

So many thoughts, so many confusions, but I did enjoy this story. It did mean something to me personaly and I was able to take a lesson from it, even if a small one.

reply to post by Missing Blue Sky

It could have been Mary .. or it could have been a relative he saw.
But yes .. all the Marian apparitions (the ones approved by the church anyways) do say the same.

reply to post by Itisnowagain

Sounds kinda buddhist. Do you mean the nothingness of "I" ... that sort of thing?

Originally posted by InfoKartel
Yes, I've cracked my skull on the same spot a couple of times if you know what I mean.

I'm just trying to wrap my head around it ....

Originally posted by FlyersFan
Now put all that together with his 'A Christmas Carol' and it gets interesting eh?
I'm wondering how much his spiritual ventures got translated into his writing.

Christmas Carol for me is about how a mean and ungenerous soul is turned around.
Dickens had great empathy for those who suffered as this was obvious in Victorian London and other towns.
I do not think it is a well written article due to it's bias
For example The Pre Raphaelites used religous imagery and their harking back to Medieval Times was due to a romantism for nature and romance itself - they were kicking against the soulesness of their age.
I believe both Dickens and the pre Raphaelites were using religion itself to rail against the corruption in religion.
The idea of Jesus being all loving etc is a role model which religion has stolen and put their own spin on.
My Jesus and your Jesus is what reverberates in our hearts and souls and not some one elses dogma
It would be better if Dickens were here to speak for himself rather than anothers biased interpretation.
Dante is said to be the father of chivalry and courtly love this is what Gabriel Rossetti and others held in high esteem - Dickens purchased Rossetti works.
They were rebels with a cause seeking what many seek today - A better and more caring world and not the wearing of dead mens shoes and their dogma.
Just a few thoughts re this article

reply to post by FlyersFan


I is all there is when the me-sense is seen to be the resistance.
The ego is like the shell of the egg that separates I and me.
When the me-sense and the I realize they are one, God is realized.

Calling it 'Buddhism' will make one not see the truth.

Originally posted by FlyersFan

Originally posted by NoLoveInFear46and2
So basically it's a " whatever floats your boat" message, that's pretty cool actually!

Yep. I found that interesting ... the 'for you the best religion is _________' (and the vision told him the one that he dislikes the most). I don't know if this was a real 'vision' or not, but it was very interesting. I don't know why 'heaven' would not just say which one (if any) was the most truthful.

Truth is truth. Wrong is wrong. But this vision doesn't seem to be saying that ....

You have to live with what you don't understand, in order to understand it.

He had a problem with Catholicism, sew for him to understand why he should have a problem with it, become it.

Ribbit

a reply to: FlyersFan

He was an absolutely fascinating person, in my opinion. Though, I must have somehow missed this dream of his. Thanks for bumping it!

A bit OT, but I thought his 'appearance' in Doctor Who was a lot of fun.

originally posted by: Itisnowagain
Whatever is happening for you is for you. Each of us is unique and every snowflake is different, there is not the same thing anywhere and your experience is perfect for you. There are many religions and they are like different fingers pointing at the same moon.
There is nothing that you experience that isn't an invitation to wake up.
Great suffering is the most effective way to find God.

Are you advocating torture and disaster and plague and war and every nightmare upon Earth so that its people will find redemption?

We'd all be better off with cancer and disease and severe pain. This is what's being said. Only when a person's life is threatened do they commune with the spirits, do they seek god, do they find divinity.

Whad'ya know, science backs this up:
www.sciencedaily.com - Death anxiety increases atheists' unconscious belief in God...

I know Martin Luther King said something about there's redemption in unearned suffering, or something to that effect, and many argue suffering makes us stronger IF we survive, but in my mind all this talk is like saying if you lose one arm you'll appreciate and use more effectively the one you still have. But to suggest everybody should lose one arm so the other is better used is ridiculous and would set us back not put us in a better spot.

Note this sentiment can also be seen in science when evolution theory states natural pressures spur our evolution. For example, lots of grassland and cooling temperatures (and other things) 'pushed' our ancestors to develop bipedalism as a means to better survive. Throughout evolution theory there's this theme in which suffering produces more capable organisms. In fact, the separation of the landmasses by ocean (the breaking up of Pangea) evidently led to more species diversity and is known as Vicariance. Without it, evolutionary theory concludes complex life like ourselves may never have formed. SO great pressures on our survival and separation between us moves us along in a positive direction, whereas peace and harmony and unity, by contrast, likely go in the other.

So do we live in a universe wherein our progress is reliant on chaos and destruction? Apparently so. Not a satisfying thought. This makes me speculate if we were placed in a peaceful world without all this we may very well perish soon after just simply because we were created in such a way chaos and disorder are necessary ingredients to continued living.

I muchly wonder if complete unity and peace is equivalent to a picture. It's a place of changeless beauty where all at once is known, but it's a static place. Chaos might be found in hell, a place where fire and explosive energies rule. No names or distinctions exist there. Change is so rapid there're no forms. What this all means is our universe probably exists somewhere inbetween heaven and hell. We're a marriage between the two, an effort to produce an existence with change and knowledge. All of the evils and goods stem from this conflicted marriage.