If you were alone driving your car, sitting on the couch, riding an elevator, and were suddenly joined by an angel, a being of light, a deceased friend or relative, inviting you to come with them, away from this world, this life, this reality, would you go? Would this be the Rapture? Would it require an instant decision to leave behind everything and everyone from your life. A conscious dying. What would keep you from going? Fear of the unknown? What do you cling to? Your family, your friends, unfinished business, curiosity about the future? Could you let it all go?. It is only vanity that says what you do is important. What matters is what you are.

Is it not possible that your life has been a preparation for this moment? If you believe in reincarnation, then perhaps all your lives have been in preparation for this moment. Liberation. Escape from the wheel of birth and death. Union with the divine. No time to weigh the pros and cons. Ready or not. One moment you're here, the next moment you're not. A crack in the cosmic egg. Speak the name of God three times. Don't look back.

Strange thoughts arise when contemplating TEOTWAKI.

-- Contemplating (Waiting@the.brink), December 23, 1999

Answers

Maybe you could get some peace of mind here>>> http://www.urantia.org

Aloha, Lokelo

-- Lokelo (lokelo@hotmail.com), December 23, 1999.

Strange - yes.

-- Me (me@me.me), December 23, 1999.

nutcase, nutcase, nutcase

-- B_S (same@old.crap), December 23, 1999.

URANTIA=CULT. ITS WIERD, CONVOLUTED, CONFUSING. DON'T GO THERE.

-- A Cult Member (Cults@cultsareyou.org), December 23, 1999.

Oh come on, 1-2 AND 9-10 are both based on belief systems. Every polly or doomer on this board is a cultist.

We're already got chemtrailers, New World Orderers, Tax is optionalists, and a bunch of otherwise nice and sensible people that base their lives on a book that predicts that seven headed beasts with ten horns and ten crowns and six wings will be arriving any time soon. I personally believe that most of the still photos from the NASA moon landings are fakes.

There's plenty of room for another few cults in here. Bring 'em on!

-- Servant (public_service@yahoo.com), December 23, 1999.

For some reason I feel perfectly at ease here!

CultKook

-- Y2Kook (Y2Kook@usa.net), December 23, 1999.

"When I was seventeen, I had a very good year.

It was a very good year, for getting real drunk, and abusing street signs.

The girl I shagged was so fine.

I threw up from too much Beam...

when I was ...seventeen.

When I was twentyfive,

I saw what kept me alive.

I saw it was computers, operated, by chimpanzees.

this did not put me at ease.

I saw no prospects for liife.

When I was twennyfiiive.

When I was I was thirty-two,

I ate a possum or two...."

....if I'm lucky!

-- number six (Iam_not_a_number@hotmail.com), December 23, 1999.

Well, you know. The formatting doesn't do Frankie justice....hopefully you know the toon.

-- number six (!@!.COM), December 23, 1999.

When I was about nineteen (this is a true story), I was sitting in my mothers house downstairs in the rec room. I had dropped a hit of acid about two hours prior when I began smoking crack cocaine. I saw a picture of Jimi Hendrix come alive and start playing a concert right there. He certaintly looked like an angel, being of light, whatever.

I think that is about as close to being visited by a deceased relative I'll ever get. Not that I was related to Jimi or anything. I mean... he is like my soul brother, dude, but not like my real brother you know? Anyway, I passed out before I had a chance to see the end of the concert so I guess if he was there to find out if I wanted to leave this world I missed it. Oh well, I probably wouldn't have gone anyway. You see, I was out of smokes and needed to make a quick run down to the Stewarts Shop to get some Camels and visine. Well, I got a DUI that night, my Toyota was impounded, and spent the better part of the evening in Troop K up near Poughkeepsie, NY, having a bunch of stone faced cops shove pencil lights in my eyes, asking if I wanted to take a piss test or blood test, and playing some alternative rock music on the little radio in the dispatch room. VERY WEIRD!

And then... um,... where was I going with this...??

Oh never mind about that... there was this other time, man, that I was at a Pink Floyd conert.... rememeber the Delicate Sound of Thunder tour?? Yeah man that rocked...

Anyway, I was sitting above the overpass at Saugerties waiting for Floyd to come on stage and eating mushrooms with a few pals. And um...well, I can't really remember that...nevermind.

There was this other time, man, that I went to the Woodstock festival in 1994 up at the original site... and um... uh.... no wait I can't remember that either.

Oh YOU KNOW!, there was this time, dude, at a Grateful Dead sow in Albany, that um, well...uhh, well it was pretty cool anyway. I wish I could remember what happened, because it was pretty cool, you know?? Yeah man that rocked...

Um.... what was I talking about?

OH YEAH! There was this time at Patterson, NJ that I went to see the Kinks, man, and like, it was pretty cool. I was totally, you know, like , HIGH... and um... well, it was pretty cool. I totally raced this other dude that night and I was like, you know, all over the road because I was so HIGH.

And um, well I thought I was going to die. I probably would have opted not to if I had the choice, you know? Yeah, that was pretty cool though, man.

So like, um...what was I talking about?

OH YEAH! Does that kinda, sorta answer your question man??

-- (far@out.man!), December 23, 1999.

Far Out,

Thanks for refreshing my memory. I was wondering where the thoughts came from. I dropped acid on New Years Eve 1970. Jesus asked me to take his place on the cross. I asked him "what will happen to me?" He said "you'll be with my Father". I said I had too much to do. Later I changed my mind, but it was too late.

-- Contemplating (Waiting@the.brink), December 23, 1999.

"I have set before you life. Therefore choose life." Don't get too complicated, guys.

-- Mara (MaraWayne@aol.com), December 23, 1999.

If you were alone driving your car, sitting on the couch, riding an elevator, and were suddenly joined by an angel, a being of light, a deceased friend or relative, inviting you to come with them, away from this world, this life, this reality, would you go?

Most likely you'd be dead and would have no choice in the matter!

-- Slobby Don (slobbydon@hotmail.com), December 23, 1999.