What should God do?
Is there any suffering in the life cycle of the butterfly?
Whatever that means…
tom,
In regards to waking up, after having a discussion with another about a human being’s value of being redeemable, an agreement was reached that one must want redemption to have it which translates into one must reach for what one needs. Who is responsible for what a Man needs?
Wendy … for me … all humans want redemption … some are conscious of the “want” and others are not. Again at the concrete level … my personal experience … a wise and learned man informed me many years ago … paraphrasing … you cannot help someone who doesn’t ask you for help … ergo … you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make the horse drink the water.
also seems to parallel the analogy I really like … the baby chick must break through the egg shell with it’s own energy … mother hen will not do it for him/her. 
Phyllo … one can expand their knowledge base by reading the words of “others” and listening/watching the actions and words of “others”
One cannot expand their “wisdom” base in the same manner … wisdom only expands with experience. True learning … ergo … wisdom … only occurs when one “sees” without the benefit of explanation.
True. Their wisdom base(needed more emphasis) only occurs when one “sees” without the benefit of explanation.
Silence falls on deaf ears.<—Where did that come from?
I get your horse and chick analogies, but these unwise folks are ruining the planet and each other without conscience. Is it God’s fault or their own? Mankind must assume the responsibility for Mankind’s behaviors.
Now, what’s the deal with the Devil? Is he a disease?
My mom often used the following version of your idiom … on me 
both idioms seem to echo what I wrote earlier …
In the chick analogy … at some point the chick must become aware of it’s “want” to survive … not it’s “need” to survive.
Forgive me Wendy … for me … mankind cannot be held responsible for the missing link(s)/information/knowledge … the fact that mankind makes choices in the absence of full knowledge is noble … pragmatic. Sure some choices don’t appear to be so smart … mankind is a work in progress.
For me … simply the underlying cause of a lot of wasted human energy and effort.
tom,
“It’s time for Mankind to grow up,” calls the Earth Rooster(cousin of the fire rooster), “playtime is near over.” That is my message.
Those that lose close to if not all traces of their humanity is caused by what? I have always thought it the slippery slope analogy, but I don’t know if that covers absolute injustices. Have you never felt evil?
Wendy … I encourage you … and others … to seek the “bright side” … “the beauty”.
Sure the above approach doesn’t make the “ugly” go away … but it is much more fun … and perhaps even much more productive … than wallowing in the manure with the pigs … so to speak.
More emerging thoughts …
in dwelling on the “bright side” … the “beauty” … perhaps we empower it … fuel it’s growth.
If true … the opposite is also true … in dwelling on the “ugly” … we empower it … fuel it’s growth.
I’m wondering if quantum physics … particle physics … is confirming the same reality. Hmmm!
tom wrote
That’s informal prayer, tom. Who is answering the negative prayers, wishes?
Like I’ve already said, Mankind cannot keep living in denial of his destructive behaviors (even if they begin as thought forms), consequences are upon us. Man needs to take notice not only of what is pleasant, but what is not so pleasant as well for only when we are responsible for both forms, from constructive to destructive and back again, can a lasting metamorphosis occur.
Man has done a pretty good job so far … living in denial that is
Wendy … you may be introducing the dialectic “Unity of Opposites” here … constructive to destructive and back again
More emerging thoughts …
Empirical evidence consistently confirms the “travel” from constructive phase … to destructive phase eg. the Dark Ages to the Renaissance.
An ancient Chinese sage labelled this “Reversion of the Extremes”
Perhaps mankind’s ongoing metamorphosis is the “fruit” of these alternating phases.
Wendy … you may have just “sparked” the fusion of religion(spirituality) … philosophy … and science.
tom,
You don’t say? One more phase is all that’s needed, no more going backwards is necessary if people would just “evolve.”
Attention baby chicks, it’s time to grow, honest.
You’re saying that Renaissance was destructive and Dark ages was constructive?
Most people would disagree with those characterizations.
We humans exist in a mesocosm, a middle ground between microcosm and macrocosm. From this middle ground, and by virtue of wanting to know all that exists, we have invented microscope and telescope. We are enclosed in the mesocosm because of the limitations of our senses. Yet we yearn to know more than our senses can reveal to us. Thus we have religion and science. I’d say religion is the second zeitgeist in the evolution of human memes. The first was the primitive, second the religious, third the philosophical and fourth the scientific and technological. All of this evolution owes greatly to the human desire to know, which may be God within, helping us though our stages of development. If the planet can survive our human adolescence, we may see a glorious future of things to know and feel.
Phyllo … I remember a test from grade 8 … all true or false questions … that was about 54 years ago … actually I only remember one question from the test …
Being the smart ass I was at that age I quickly answered “false” … you see I didn’t realize the operative word was “grow”
The Dark Ages laid the foundation for the Renaissance … ergo … constructive
The Renaissance laid the foundation for the destruction of (insert here) … ergo … destructive
God is evident in the yearning of the cosmos to know itself. This yearning is an evolved concern from organisms whose brains have reached a stage of self-consciousness.