About faith and God

I know there are many people who don’t believe in God. They call themselves atheists and other names.

During 40 years of my life in the Soviet Union I knew that “religion is the opium for the people”, that there is no God, that no intelligent person can believe in God.

However, even at that time I wondered why majority of physicists and astronomers believed in God. Those people were discovering new stars, laws of universe, laws of matter. How could they believe in God?

During 40 years of my life in America I studied philosophy, history and essence of different religions. I learned much more about life, about human psychology, about sufferings and faith.

Today I chose the quote below:

god

FAMILY AS A SYSTEM

I started this blog on 10/03/2013. At that time I had no idea where it will go. I only knew that I was close to 80 and so I chose the name of the blog “closetoeighty”.

In the beginning of November I published the post below, then I published many other posts about happiness and pursuit of happiness. I am going to combine them later on a separate page.

In the meantime I decided to reblog this post.

After I became 80 I decided to change the name of the blog to “PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS”. All people want to be happy. However, I am convinced that it is impossible to be happy without pursuing happiness.

I know, I know!

After I published yesterday the short post “Do you believe in evolution? Our relative?” one of my followers (M-R) asked me to clarify my beliefs. I do it by reblogging this post.

About grandchildren.

I know that majority of my followers are young and beautiful.

However, sooner or later people blessed with children and grandchildren.

We have 5 grandchildren and we love them very much.

You know there are some people who say that their grandchildren are geniuses. It’s too much!

Our grandchildren are simply beautiful and very smart! If you doubt it please ask my wife. We have different opinions on majority of topics but in this case we think exactly the same.

Now, I found several good quotes about grandchildren. Please look at them below.

How wonderful it would be if we could help our children and grandchildren to learn thanksgiving at an early age. Thanksgiving opens the doors. It changes a child’s personality. A child is resentful, negative, or thankful. Thankful children want to give, they radiate happiness, they draw people.

 Sir John Templeton quotes 

Grandchildren give us a second chance to do things better because they bring out the best in us.

 Unknown quotes 

Grandchildren are God’s way of compensating us for growing old.

 Mary H Waldrip quotes 

What can I say to my grandchildren?

Just one thing: build a happy family!

Best to them and to you!

Life is fair and beautiful!

Long ago I came to two conclusions: 1. Life is wonderful! 2. You have to pay for happiness. The very best is not given for nothing!

PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

Some years ago I thought that it was not fair that I worked very hard for many years but I have no property.

I never had a bird like below or a horse like below. I never had a castle like below either.

Then I reminded myself that I have a wonderful family, that God gave me an opportunity to live a new life in the USA, freedom to think and choose, ability to learn, appreciate and travel.

I have no property but we visited more than 50 countries and enjoyed beauty of many places including the magical Hawaiian island Maui (see the last photo below).

It is clear that we can easily do without a macaw or a gorgeous horse or a beautiful castle.

There are many pleasures in life each day. A smile, a kiss, a good word, a flower, a cup of coffee, a good book. We just need to…

View original post 59 more words

WE NEED MORE LOVE TODAY!

This poem posted long time ago. I hope that new followers and guests after reading it will think about their relations with parents and grandparents, will think if they fully show their love and will try to make their parents and grandparents happier.

PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

In a happy family love must flow in all directions. Communications are easy and honest between all generations as it is very important to understand needs of every member of the family.

In February 2013 I wrote in Russian a poem expressing feelings of my wife and myself. The poem written  for our children and grandchildren. Later some of our friends told us that it is applicable to all children and grandchildren.

Below is the poem in English and in Russian. I ask your forgiveness for the loose translation from Russian into English. I hope that you will understand the meaning of the poem.

********************  WE NEED MORE LOVE TODAY!  **************************

We were waiting for you when we were
Single. Then when we married.
We were waiting for you for years,
Then daily and every hour.
*
We loved you before you were born
And love you very much today
Thank…

View original post 233 more words

Atheist Professor, Einstein and Snopes.com.

There is a well-known story about an atheist professor and a student:

“The university professor challenged his students with this question. Did God create everything that exists? A student bravely replied, “Yes, he did!”

“God created everything? The professor asked.

“Yes sir”, the student replied.

The professor answered, “If God created everything, then God created evil since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are then God is evil”. The student became quiet before such an answer. The professor was quite pleased with himself and boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.

Another student raised his hand and said, “Can I ask you a question professor?”

“Of course”, replied the professor.

The student stood up and asked, “Professor, does cold exist?”

“What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?” The students snickered at the young man’s question.

The young man replied, “In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-460 degrees F) is the total absence of heat; all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat.”

The student continued, “Professor, does darkness exist?”

The professor responded, “Of course it does.”

The student replied, “Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact we can use Newton’s prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn’t this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present.”

Finally the young man asked the professor, “Sir, does evil exist?”

Now uncertain, the professor responded, “Of course as I have already said. We see it every day. It is in the daily example of man’s inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.”

To this the student replied, “Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is not like faith, or love that exist just as does light and heat. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God’s love present in his heart. It’s like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.”

The professor sat down.

The young man’s name — Albert Einstein.”

I liked the story but doubted the very last sentence. So I went to Snopes.com to check on it.

The answer is HERE

Ok, I was right. The student was not Einstein and the story could be not a true story. But it is not the end of it.

In this article Snopes.com gives several more stories on the same topic like the one below:

“Navy SEALs are always taught

1) Keep your priorities in order and
2) Know when to act without hesitation.

A Navy SEAL was attending some college courses between assignments. He had completed missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. One of the courses had a professor who was an avowed atheist and a member of the ACLU. One day he shocked the class when he came in, looked to the ceiling, and flatly stated, “God, if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform. I’ll give you exactly 15 minutes.”

The lecture room fell silent. You could hear a pin drop. Ten minutes went by and the professor proclaimed, “Here I am, God. I’m still waiting.”

It got down to the last couple of minutes when the SEAL got out of his chair, went up to the professor, and cold-cocked him; knocking him off the platform. The professor was out cold. The SEAL went back to his seat and sat there, silently. The other students were shocked and stunned and sat there looking on in silence.

The professor eventually came to, noticeably shaken, looked at the SEAL and asked, “What the hell is the matter with you? Why did you do that?”

The SEAL calmly replied, “God was too busy today protecting America’s soldiers who are protecting your right to say stupid shit and act like an asshole. So He sent me.”

Then the article says: “Faith can’t be proved (or disproved); if such validations were possible, those concepts would stop being matters of faith and start being matters of fact.”

I recommend everybody to read whole article as I gave only excerpts of it. It is very interesting and thoughts provoking. The link is HERE.

Please don’t get me wrong.

I am for human rights.

We are free to choose our believes.

However, I don’t  support the idea that it is good to be stupid and ignorant or the idea that somebody else (professors, politicians, etc.) should think for us.

Every child asks questions: What? Where? How? Why? He receives answers, evaluates them and grows.

If a living organism stops to grow it dies. We must continue to ask questions at every age.

faith

Quotes about nature

“I think it annoys God if you walk by the color purple in a field and don’t notice.”

 Alice Walker

“My profession is to always find God in nature.”

Henry David Thoreau

“All my life through, the new sights of Nature made me rejoice like a child.”

Marie Curie

“Nature is the art of God.”

 Dante Alghieri

Wisteria Flower Tunnel in Japan by Thomas Mader, shared by Nicolas Green

Wisteria Flower Tunnel in Japan by Thomas Mader, shared by Nicolas Green

Life is fair and beautiful!

Some years ago I thought that it was not fair that I worked very hard for many years but I have no property.

I never had a bird like below or a horse like below. I never had a castle like below either.

Then I reminded myself that I have a wonderful family, that God gave me an opportunity to live a new life in the USA, freedom to think and choose, ability to learn, appreciate and travel.

I have no property but we visited more than 50 countries and enjoyed beauty of many places including the magical Hawaiian island Maui (see the last photo below).

It is clear that we can easily do without a macaw or a gorgeous horse or a beautiful castle.

There are many pleasures in life each day. A smile, a kiss, a good word, a flower, a cup of coffee, a good book. We just need to appreciate them and enjoy them.

Life is fair and beautiful!

A BLUE AND YELLOW MACAW by Dave Packer

A BLUE AND YELLOW MACAW by Dave Packer

       

MASTER OF THE REALM by Bernd Owsnicki-Klewe

MASTER OF THE REALM by Bernd Owsnicki-Klewe

 

INVERARAY CASTLE AND GARDEN, SCOTLAND by Daigo Coral

INVERARAY CASTLE AND GARDEN, SCOTLAND by Daigo Coral

MAGICAL MAUI, HAWAII by Steven Miles

MAGICAL MAUI, HAWAII
by Steven Miles

 

                               

WE NEED MORE LOVE TODAY!

In a happy family love must flow in all directions. Communications are easy and honest between all generations as it is very important to understand needs of every member of the family.

In February 2013 I wrote in Russian a poem expressing feelings of my wife and myself. The poem written  for our children and grandchildren. Later some of our friends told us that it is applicable to all children and grandchildren.

Below is the poem in English and in Russian. I ask your forgiveness for the loose translation from Russian into English. I hope that you will understand the meaning of the poem.

********************  WE NEED MORE LOVE TODAY!  **************************

We were waiting for you when we were
Single. Then when we married.
We were waiting for you for years,
Then daily and every hour.
*
We loved you before you were born
And love you very much today
Thank you, Lord, for children and
Grandchildren, your gifts to us!
*
Our parents and older relatives passed
Away and their love is in our memories.
Some of our friends left this world too.
We miss their love very much!
*
You are our youth and light.
Our love to you grows every day.
Please love us more,
We need more love today!
*
Love us, show us your love!
There is no sense of hiding it.
Nobody knows how long we’ll
Be together. Hope many years!
*
*****************************  ЛЮБИТЕ НАС!  *********************
*
Мы ждали вас, когда мы были одиноки.
Затем когда уж было двое нас.
Мы ждали вас годами, месяцами.
Затем уж каждый день и каждый час.
*
Любили вас до вашего рожденья,
И любим безгранично вас сейчас.
Спасибо, Бог, за ваше появленье,
За то, что дал нам счастье любить вас!
*
Сегодня мы намного старше стали,
Сегодня дети взрослые у вас.
Родителей давно мы потеряли
И их любовь лишь в памяти у нас.
*
Ушли все те, кто нас постарше был.
Постарше был и крепко нас любил.
Ушли ближайшие друзья не раз,
Нам очень нехватает их сейчас!
*
Наша любовь растёт и процветает,
В семье ведь много больше стало вас.
Обратной же любви нам нехватает,
Дети и внуки, любите больше нас!
*
Любите нас, показывайте это,
Любви стесняться просто смысла нет.
Никто не знает, сколько будем вместе.
Надеемся, ещё немало лет!
***********************************************************************