My perception is that when someone says they find the guidance they need to live in the Bible it’s not the words themselves that is providing this guidance, but the presence of their God that is directing them, in some way, to the passage(s) they need.
I read the Bible a lot as a teenager, looking for the guidance I needed to get me through my trouble youth. I never felt the presence of God and the Bible did not help me. I turned to other books which helped me understand why I felt the way I did and gave me the information I need to learn how to make my way through life.
My inspirations were Buckminister Fuller, Henry David Thoreau and Charles Darwin.
A question for my Christian friends – when did you first read the Bible and sense the presences of God guiding you?
A question for everyone – Who provided you with the inspiration you needed to choose your walk in life? (for my Christian friends I mean someone other than Jesus or God)
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July 15, 2008 at 4:31 am
plutonearth93
well, i can’t say everybody will experience God the same way but i’m going to share a wonderful promise with you.
‘If you seek me, you will find me’
if you haven’t sought Him yet, maybe that’s the reason why you haven’t felt ‘guidance’ or ‘directions’ from Him yet. but the answer to every trouble is simple, you got to keep praying and seeking Him, wholeheartedly.
seek Him, not to ride through your troubled times, but to really seek Him and have a relationship with Him. to really find Him, its not just about reading the bible and following the ‘rules’ and the commandments. its truly wanting a relationship with Him. you cannot be self centered in the relationship, you cannot keep focusing on what you’re going to get out of reading the bible or out of praying to Him. you need to set the focus on Him, not on you.
the more i read the bible, the more i realise that things aren’t about us. us living through our troubled teenage years, is just one of the many ways we use to honour Him.
i don’t know you well, and i can’t possibly tell what you really need since i don’t know the full story. but perhaps the reason why you hadn’t been able to hear Him is because you’ve been focusing on yourself, more than Him.
keep seeking Him, you’ll find Him. (:
July 15, 2008 at 6:04 am
Indian Lake Papa
ED – These are two of the easiest questions you have ever given on your blog for me to comment!
) My mother – was my greatest influence – she had us as children reading the bible early as children. By the time I was reading I had my own Bible. I learned the books of the Bible in order before I was 10. Still can repeat them in order! One of the first scriptures mom had me memorize was 1John1:9.
Ed – I hope we can sit down at lunch someday and share – not preach – why my mother had such a tremendous influence – I saw Christ in her life. I watched life saving miracles happen in her life (She had over 20 major operations over a 7 year span – all were less than 50/50 chance of survival). She had been given less than 3 years to live at the age of 40 – and yet lived to almost 95! Christ lived through her – and I hope my life will show the same. He IS very real to me – His presence I feel daily – not words Ed, reality.
July 15, 2008 at 9:33 am
ric booth
Hey Ed,
When I read your post I had a deja vu moment. I have similar experiences and I could have written this myself (yesterday!):
Because it is true be me as well. The first time I felt the presence of God was when reading the bible at age 39. But I cannot explain it too well.
I attempt to describe it as a one of those 3-D poster/pictures. You know the one that looks like a mess with no discernable pattern? Well, to make it even more interesting imagine it is a 3000 piece jigsaw puzzle. This pile of puzzle pieces is my life. Each one represents a different event, person, or time in my life. As the pieces come together it still makes no real sense.
So I think it is similar to watching the last puzzle piece fall into place and then looking at what, on the surface, still appears to be a mess and then I saw/felt God for the very first time.
Then of course, being a monday morning quarterback kind of guy, I could, in hindsight, see God’s hand in each and every piece. I was oblivious to his hand at the time.
So I cannot prescribe the verse(s), events, or experiences that someone else would need to get to a completed “picture” and subsequently see/feel the presence of God.
I do think my decision to seek God at age 38 was one of the huge pieces missing prior to that. I did not let on to anyone that I had decided this course of action. And my motive ‘to seek’ were definitely not holy. They were at best self-serving and at worst, manipulative. I think if anyone would have asked if I was seeking God I would have passed it off with a joke (Why? Is He lost?)
Who provided you with the inspiration you needed to choose your walk in life?
Inspiration… Grandma and my adult bible study leader, Leah.
But I am not entirely sure that they inspired me to CHOOSE my walk in life. Feeling God’s presence that first time … I’m not sure if it was me choosing Him or Him choosing me. Or both? It all happened so quickly and frankly, mysteriously.
From the day of me seeing/feeling God’s presence to today, it is really not a choice so much as it is reality. I cannot NOT choose him anymore than I could choose to believe the earth is flat.
July 15, 2008 at 3:34 pm
edfromct
Hi plutonearth93, thanks for stopping by with your thoughtful comment.
I can see that you have clearly found what you needed to help you in your walk in life, God’s guidance.
I have found what I needed as well, what I think of as decision making based on reason and logic. I have no motivation to change.
We have both found what we needed.
Again, thanks for stopping by with your thoughts.
July 15, 2008 at 3:53 pm
edfromct
Ric, some people are lucky enough to be find the inspiration they need early in life, as Papa did with his mother. It took me 18 years, and you even longer, not until you were 39.
I think it is a search and when you find that source of faith, when all the pieces of the puzzle come together, it can be like bolt of lightning. I also agree that when we find our answer it seems obvious. That it was right front of us all the time.
You also mention your grandma as a source of inspiration. The happiest days of my youth were those spent with my grandmother. She passed away when I was 9. Grandmothers are so often be the cement that holds families together.
July 15, 2008 at 4:05 pm
edfromct
Papa, you are very lucky when it comes to women, first your mother and then Mama.
I see the word legacy used on many Christian sites, that that is what I see in you, your mother’s legacy, in the many people, and horses
, you have helped.
I can see that the bible has been a important part of your life from the time you were a child. Your were lucky to have found that inspiration so young, lucky to have had a mother to lead the way for you.
I look forward to that lunch Papa.
July 15, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Indian Lake Papa
Can I bring the infamous mama with me? We will make her pay!
July 15, 2008 at 9:44 pm
edfromct
Papa, given the current state of my finances either Mama would have to treat me or I would end up doing the dishes.
July 15, 2008 at 10:01 pm
alece
i first felt the Bible come alive to me as a young teenager…
and i think i need to say my parents provided me the most inspiration to choose the walk of life i’ve chosen…
July 15, 2008 at 10:23 pm
edfromct
Alece, where your parents active in the church. Do you have another missionaries in your family?
July 15, 2008 at 10:30 pm
alece
my parents were active in church. but i think the biggest way they influenced me was by their encouragement to make the decision on my own and to find my relationship with God on my own (and not on their coattails — if that makes sense). they always supported me wholeheartedly when i chose to spend summers overseas on mission trips, starting at 14 years old.
there are no other missionaries in my family, that i know of…
July 15, 2008 at 10:36 pm
edfromct
Alece, I was just thinking of Katherine Hepburn in the African Queen. She played a missionary in Africa opposite Humphrey’s dirty, rough boat captain.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Queen
Have you seen the movie? If not you have got to rent it.
July 15, 2008 at 10:38 pm
edfromct
correction:
Humphrey “Bogart” , you may have hear of him.
July 15, 2008 at 10:42 pm
alece
i haven’t seen it! i haven’t even seen the classic “out of africa”. mental note: rent both.
July 16, 2008 at 10:44 pm
therealstorie
I am working on my comment for your questions…and in the meanwhile, I have a question for you.
“I turned to other books which helped me understand why I felt the way I did and gave me the information I need to learn how to make my way through life.
My inspirations were Buckminister Fuller, Henry David Thoreau and Charles Darwin.”
What did these three people inspire in you?
July 16, 2008 at 10:48 pm
therealstorie
“You also mention your grandma as a source of inspiration. The happiest days of my youth were those spent with my grandmother. She passed away when I was 9. Grandmothers are so often be the cement that holds families together.”
First of all, I am sorry that you didn’t get to experience your Grandma for longer than the age of 9. It sounds like she was a true inspiration to you.
What about her inspired you?
How do you see Grandmas’s as the “cement” that holds families together?
July 16, 2008 at 10:49 pm
therealstorie
oops, sorry for the quote typo up there!
July 16, 2008 at 11:14 pm
edfromct
Storie, Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution has given me hope for the future. We humans are continuing to evolve and with a more evolved, better, brain, we will build better societies. We will overcome the barriers of race, religion and nationality that divide us and lead to conflict.
I copied this from an earlier post:
Two books that influenced me the most are “Walden” by Henry David Thoreau and “No More Secondhand God” by Buckminster Fuller.
1) There is a complete annotated edition of Walden online at http://thoreau.eserver.org/walden00.html .
My favorite passage, that literally changed my life is from Chapter 18, Conclusion, paragraph 10:
“Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does no keep pace with companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.”
2) Buckminster Fuller is someone I related to because at the 32 he was a bankrupt and jobless, living in a housing project. He had lost his daughter to polio, which he felt responsible for. A complete failure in life. On the verge of suicide he decided instead to embark on “an experiment, to find what a single individual can contribute to changing the world and benefiting all humanity”, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckminster_Fuller . A great deal of what he wrote was, and still is, beyond my ablility to understand. As a teenager I considered my self a complete failure like Fuller. If it was possible for Fuller to change his life so completely so could I.
July 16, 2008 at 11:25 pm
therealstorie
“My favorite passage, that literally changed my life is from Chapter 18, Conclusion, paragraph 10″:
I totally agree with this.
” A great deal of what he wrote was, and still is, beyond my ablility to understand”
I would like to understand more on this. Like what? Can you site a couple of phrases, or things he wrote. I can totally relate! I have authors that I have really been attracted to, and yet could not yet understand.
July 16, 2008 at 11:31 pm
edfromct
Storie, so many familes move apart. I think the relationship between grandparents and their children and grandchildren is likely to be better than the one between siblings and their own children. Grandparents can act as the faciliator between the different generations in a family.
It’s more often the grandparents who organize family gatherings. We might turn down a request from our siblings, but not from our parents.
Also one of the advantages to being a grandparent is that you can “spoil” your grandkids. It isn’t that unusal for kids to prefer to spend time with their grandparents rather than their parents.
With comes wisdom, hopefully.
Grandparents have been through all the trials in life and are in a better positon to help with advice, even if their children don’t want it. 
July 16, 2008 at 11:59 pm
edfromct
More than you probably ever wanted to know about Bucky Fuller’s mind.
1) From No More Secondhand God:
“Though you have been out in
a froth-spitting squall
on Long Island Sound or
in an ocean liner on a burgeoning sea
you have but a childlike hint of
what a nineteen-year-old’s reaction is
to the pitch black shrieking dark out there
in the very cold northern elements
of unloosening spring
off Norway’s coast
tonight
15,000 feet up, or
fifty under or
worse,
on the smashing face of it and
here I see God.”
2) Some of his quotes
“Either war is obsolete, or men are.”
“God is a verb, not a noun proper or improper.”
“Great nations are simply the operating fronts of behind-the-scenes, vastly ambitious individuals who had become so effectively powerful because of their ability to remain invisible while operating behind the national scenery.”
“How often I found where I should be going only by setting out for somewhere else.”
“I just invent, then wait until man comes around to needing what I’ve invented.”
“If humanity does not opt for integrity we are through completely. It is absolutely touch and go. Each one of us could make the difference.”
“Let architects sing of aesthetics that bring Rich clients in hordes to their knees; Just give me a home, in a great circle dome Where stresses and strains are at ease.”
“Love is metaphysical gravity. ”
“Nature is trying very hard to make us succeed, but nature does not depend on us. We are not the only experiment.”
“Parents are usually more careful to bestow knowledge on their children rather than virtue, the art of speaking well rather than doing well; but their manners should be of the greatest concern.”
“Pollution is nothing but the resources we are not harvesting. We allow them to disperse because we’ve been ignorant of their value.”
“Search others for their virtue, and yourself for your vices.”
“The end move in politics is always to pick up a gun.”
“There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it’s going to be a butterfly.”
“We are called to be architects of the future, not its victims.”
“We are not going to be able to operate our Spaceship Earth successfully nor for much longer unless we see it as a whole spaceship and our fate as common. It has to be everybody or nobody.”
“You can never learn less, you can only learn more.”
3) Some writing of his that is beyond my ability to understand:
From Universal Requirements of a Dwelling Advantage:
Dewey’s aesthetic philosophy provides a context and source of orienting statements in respect of frequency modulation.
His description of aesthetic experience is rooted in a conception of the live creature, whose existence is mediated by rhythms of various kinds.
As to rhythm in general:
“As far as nature is to us more than a whirlpool of confusions, it is marked by rhythms… Mathematics are the most generalized statements conceivable corresponding to the most universally obtaining rhythms. The one, two, three, four, of counting, the constructions of lines and angles into geometric patterns, the highest flights of vector analysis, are means of recording or of imposing rhythm.” (1934, p.149)
In respect of the organism:
“As an organism increases in complexity, the rhythms of struggle and consummation in its relation to its environment are varied and prolonged, and they come to include within themselves an endless variety of subrhythms. The designs of living are widened and enriched.” (ibid., p.23)
This can be compared with von Bertalanffy’s formulation:
“Metabolism is maintenance in a steady state. Irritability and autonomous activities are smaller waves of processes superimposed on the continuous flux of the system, irritability consisting in reversible disturbances, after which the system comes back to its steady state, and autonomous activities in periodic fluctuations.” (1981, p.93)
To see how this relates to psychological processes, we may refer to Sanford. Discussing subject readiness in reaction-time experiments, he mentions that,
“it is well known that preparation cannot be kept at the maximum for very long, and that subjects usually control (modulate) the points at which they prepare maximally. It is not clear why such modulation is necessary, but it is worth pointing out that subjects alter their breathing patterns when they are preparing, typically holding their breath, and that complex changes in heartrate occur. The task is being carried out by the biological organism, and its state of balance is disturbed by preparation.” (Sanford, 1985, p.84)
(These thoughts can be pushed yet further. Miroslav Holub discusses the hypothesis of a three-second poetic “carrier-wave” in “The Dimension of the Present Moment”.)
These documents themselves may be read rhythmically.
July 17, 2008 at 12:17 am
therealstorie
was he a biologist?
July 17, 2008 at 12:31 am
edfromct
From Wikipedia:
Buckminster Fuller was an American architect, author, designer, futurist, inventor, and visionary. He was the second president of Mensa. He lends his name to a family of complex Carbon structures called Buckminsterfullerene also known as Bucky Balls.
He invented the geodesic dome, Spaceship Earth at Epcot, Walt Disney World is based on this design.
July 17, 2008 at 12:35 am
therealstorie
wow….
He is still a scientist! In the writings you quoted, you would think that he understood something of biology.
July 17, 2008 at 12:49 am
edfromct
Fuller is simply one of those unique genius whose mind works differently from the rest of ours.
I was drawn to his story because he was such a complete failure at the age of 35 yet look at what he accomplished once decided to focus his energy on making the world a better place. He had to pick himself off the ground and take that first step, which is always the hardest, just like I had to.
I thought of myself as mad. I discovered with people like Fuller that wasn’t such a bad thing.
July 17, 2008 at 12:53 am
edfromct
Storie, it’s 3 am here in CT and my mind is beginning to power down.
See you tomorrow, somewhere in somebodies blog.
July 17, 2008 at 1:32 am
therealstorie
I was drawn to his story because he was such a complete failure at the age of 35 yet look at what he accomplished once decided to focus his energy on making the world a better place. He had to pick himself off the ground and take that first step, which is always the hardest, just like I had to.
Yes, people who express their failures gives us hope, doesn’t it?
You have learned a lot from others…..
I admire that…
July 17, 2008 at 1:33 am
therealstorie
That thought crossed my mind Ed….I kept thinking….it has got to be 2, going on 3 there.
sleep well…
talk tomorrow…somewhere!
July 17, 2008 at 7:55 am
danielle
I have clear memories of being in childrens church (elementary age) and hearing Bible verses that connected with my heart.
Inspiration for choosing my walk of life? First (and continuing) are my parents. As a teenager our youth pastors, who continue to be very good friends. And today what inspries me to continue my faith is my girls (to be an example for them) and people that don’t know Jesus (I have a hope that is real and I want everyone to know).
Good questions.
July 17, 2008 at 10:57 am
gchyayles
Hey Ed! I figured I’d stop by and introduce myself since our conversation over at Tam’s
Nice to be here and thank you for allowing us to share our thoughts and experiences with you.
To answer the questions in your post: I thought about it and really there’s a lot to my personal experiences of becoming a Christian. You can read the more detailed version in my “me” section on my blog but the short version is I grew up in a Muslim home and worshipped a god that never responded to me. It didn’t matter what I did, how I acted, what I said, where my heart was, it was never enough. I came to America for college and was surrounded by Christian friends. I believe the seed was planted right there. I had my first church experience with my boyfriend [now husband] my SR in college. Another seed planted. I believe my best friend/spiritual sister was the one who inspired me in terms of human inspiration. I saw the joy she had and I wanted to know what it was about. She was and has always been an awesome witness to me. But if I really think about it, my inspiration really wasn’t all that human. It was the darkness that I had been experiencing for 24 plus years of my life. It was the loss of hope and the increased depression from childhood abuse. It was the feelings of despair and the lack of joy that inspired me to know more about Him.
I got saved on January 31st 2006. The day I got saved, I started reading the New Testament. Note that before I was saved, I did go to church and “heard” scripture being read but did not neccessarily take any of it in. It wasn’t until after I got saved that I actually sat down and read the Word. So my coming to Christ wasn’t based on what I read in the Bible perse, it was based on the Spirit of God that I had a divine encounter with. Anyway, you cannot imagine how the Word spoke to me during that time. I couldn’t put it down. The joy, the peace, the hope that I experienced is undescribable. The healing that I experienced from a long time illness that I was going through was amazing.
And ever since, moments in my life where things have been uncertain or I have needed answers, I have read the Word and received answers. Whether it was on how to pray about a situation, or whether to be still, or how to respond, or how to act. God has been faithful to give the answer through His Word. I have been sick and God has directed me to promises concerning His healing in His Word. I have been hopeless and He has directed me to scripture concerning Him being our hope and our salvation. I have been confused and He has directed me to scripture concerning wisdom. I have been scared and He has directed me to scripture concerning fear not being of Him and that He has give me a spirit of power, love and sound mind. His Word is truly living. After having spent 24 years of my life not knowing Him, I can truly vouch for that.
Have a blessed day!
July 17, 2008 at 12:13 pm
edfromct
danielle – thanks for dropping by. I see that providing inspiration has been an important part of your families life. Your parents inspire you. You inspire your children. A legacy of inspiration.
Children learn not by the words their parents speak to them but by seeing how their mothers and fathers live their lives. This is a lesson that your parents learned and have passed down to you as you have to your children.
Keep up the good work!
July 17, 2008 at 12:31 pm
edfromct
Hi gchyayles – Any day I meet a new friend is a blessed day.
You story, an inspiring one, points out the difference between the words religion and faith. One is just a label the other describes how people lead their lives.
We share in having found our way in life after reaching the bottom of the well. I think knowing what despair feels like helps to inspire us to keep that faith we have found in our lives every minute of every day.
Sometimes this can be hard work but the taking the easy path is no fun.
July 17, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Michelle
Hello, Ed. I’ve seen your comments on so many sites but have never really interacted with you. I truly appreciate your respect and consideration for different opinions than your own. When I first started blogging I spent much time at a site called “de-Conversion.” I’m not sure why I went there, but in retrospect it’s where I met NorEaster, and he has been a great blessing in my life. Anyway, your respectful discourse has helped me to feel differently about my earlier experiences in online discussions with atheists and agnostics. Sometimes it can get ugly.
Yesterday’s discussion at Tam’s was great. I didn’t participate because I couldn’t see how to answer succinctly. It’s a problem I have.
I have now responded on my site to one piece of your question concerning the soul/spirit distinction. It’s not my words, just biblical definitions and nuances I found. It may interest you, just wanted to let you know.
Now, about the Bible…I started reading the Bible for guidance at age 11. I had a New Living Bible (a paraphrase) which helped me to more easily understand. I’d tried many times to read King James and just couldn’t get through it. It wasn’t until I was 26 before I began to dig, to look into the meaning and context of the books. It has been an amazing ride. I learned I had misunderstood much from being spoon-fed. I needed to find the answers for myself. I’m 46 and have just barely scratched the surface. But it’s been the most enlightening study I have ever embarked upon, and I LOVE to study.
My parents and grandparents led me to the Lord. They were all ministers of some sort. I loved what they modeled and wanted to live the same.
Your questions are great. Thanks for the prodding to get me thinking, it’s been good.
July 17, 2008 at 3:04 pm
danielle
Thanks
A fun side note — if I remember right, you are a big baseball fan (right??). My dad was visiting my brother in CT and they went to the All Star game at the soon to be no more Yankee Stadium.
July 17, 2008 at 3:31 pm
edfromct
Hi Michelle. Thanks for coming by with your thoughts on the bible.
“It wasn’t until I was 26 before I began to dig, to look into the meaning and context of the books. It has been an amazing ride. I learned I had misunderstood much from being spoon-fed. I needed to find the answers for myself. I’m 46 and have just barely scratched the surface.”
Truths about the important things in life, like faith, we need to discover for ourselves, not the just the definition of words, but how these words will help us lead our lives.
I think learning is a life long pursuit, even for the most knowledge person about any subject. Every day the world changes. Every day we can learn something new. That’s one thing that makes me look forward to each new dawn.
July 17, 2008 at 3:42 pm
edfromct
danielle – Baseball is my favorite sport. Yankee Stadium holds a lot of history, even if it is the home of those hated Yankees.
That was a long All-Star game, 15 ininnigs. Your dad and brother must have got home very late.
Last year was a bad one for my Mets, something I have had to get use to. The Mets are playing better right now, nine wins in a row. At least I am not a Cubs fan. They have had to wait 100 years for a World Series championship.
July 18, 2008 at 1:39 pm
danielle
Yes, they pulled up to my brothers house and found a car waiting to take my dad to the airport at 4 am that morning! He was tired, but he loved it.
We understand stretches of losing being from Detroit. Those Tigers! But my dad was a Tiger fan “before it was trendy” here a couple years ago when they were winning.
My dad has taught Emma to cheer (even Anna is working on it). She knows “Take me out the ball game” and loves going to the games with Papa!
July 18, 2008 at 4:29 pm
edfromct
danielle – I love the seven inning “stretch” were, in many ball parks, all the fans sing “Take Me Out To the Ball Game”. I simple song that just seem to bring everyone at the stadium closer together.
The first Detroit All-Star I remember was Al Kaline, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Kaline .
Kaline’s career is a testament to hard work and never giving up. A bone disease in childhood had deformed Kaline’s left foot, leaving him with constant nagging pain.
July 18, 2008 at 9:05 pm
therealstorie
A question for everyone – Who provided you with the inspiration you needed to choose your walk in life? (for my Christian friends I mean someone other than Jesus or God)
As I said, I would ponder these questions and get back to you…
A question for my Christian friends – when did you first read the Bible and sense the presences of God guiding you?
9…..
when my mom, who left me at 3…
told me that He would never leave me, nor forsake me.
His presence has been so real to me Ed. I can’t say any more than that.
Through the heat, the brokeness, he has revealed himself time and time again.
there is so much to this story, I can’t take up the space here….:–)