Does God Exist? Ricky Gervais Takes Your Questions - Speakeasy - WSJ

"One...

 selflessly did her best for me all my life. 

That’s what mums do though. They do it for no other reason than love. 

Not for reward. Not for recognition. 

They create you. From nothing. Miracle? They do those every day. No big deal. 

They are not worshiped. 

They would give their life without the promise of heaven. 

They teach you everything they know yet they are not declared prophets. 

And you only have one."

~(Ricky Gervais)~

Does God Exist? Ricky Gervais Takes Your Questions - Speakeasy - WSJ: They are not looking down on me but they live in my mind and heart more than they ever did probably. Some, I was lucky enough to bump into on this planet of six billion people. Others shared much of my genetic material. One selflessly did her best for me all my life. That’s what mums do though. They do it for no other reason than love. Not for reward. Not for recognition. They create you. From nothing. Miracle? They do those every day. No big deal. They are not worshiped. They would give their life without the promise of heaven. They teach you everything they know yet they are not declared prophets. And you only have one.

***

Flesh gives birth to flesh, 

but the 

Spirit gives birth to spirit.

During one of Rev. Dr. Beth's Bible Study 101 at St. Mark United Methodist Church, someone asked her to explain the Holy Spirit?

Rev. Dr. Beth didn't exactly answer this question except to say that we have the holy spirit as in with a big "S" and we have the holy spirit as in with a little "s"...?  Someone else suggested, as a possible answer to this question, that we only have one mother.  And the discussion in response to this question became lively; far more so than any other moments I've witnessed within this bible study class.  

But, 

this is the point where Rev. Dr. Beth said we needed to return our attention back to the study of Ecclesiastes.

The subject of Ecclesiastes is the pain and frustration engendered by observing and meditating on the distortions and inequities pervading the world, the uselessness of human deeds, the limitations of wisdom and righteousness and the phrase "under the sun" appears thirty times in connection with these observations; all this coexists with a firm belief in God, whose power, justice and unpredictability are sovereign. History and nature move in cycles, so that all events are predetermined and unchangeable, and life has no meaning or purpose: the wise man and the man who does not study wisdom will both die and be forgotten: man should be reverent ("Fear God"), but in this life it is best to simply enjoy God's gifts.

Earlier during this lession, she confessed to her class this book of the old testament being a favorite of her; maybe even the favorite one of them all:

"You can see why I just love reading the Book of Ecclesiastes!"

This was only my second time attending one of  Beth's bible study lessions, the first one being the Book of Ruth, so I do not know her as well as the others know her; or anything about them really.  

But...

my intuition is telling me that Beth and I have a similar understanding of who God is and how he operates. 

You just can not "love" something this much without it somehow fitting into one's beliefs/persona.

I'm just not sure if she realizes how much she's giving herself away when making comments such as this one.

Then again,  such a surprising small class.  Maybe those present already know.

***

John 3 

New International Version 

(NIV)

Jesus Teaches Nicodemus

3 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”