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Need life advice - very bad situation
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<blockquote data-quote="Alexander_English" data-source="post: 1565792" data-attributes="member: 18147"><p>This is very true. Mary the Virgin Mother has been with me in the most difficult situations in my life, even before I believed in God. Somehow even as an atheist who attacked God all the time, I was aware of the presence of Mary as a spiritual being and relied on her for support and comfort especially when I was rejected by women, or facing some self-caused issues with women due to my poor choices. She was there to comfort me and make me realize I am not alone, she is with me and I have an eternal companion who provides better companionship than any woman on Earth. I don't know how that made sense to me as a materialist/atheist but it was true. Now that I know she is the God-bearer, it makes sense the truth of Mary came to me first, before the truth of God and His Son Jesus Christ.</p><p></p><p>I was happy to learn from the Orthodox Study Bible that Mary is identified with the Garden of Eden, which brought forth the Tree of Life, Jesus Christ in its midst, among many other appearances of Mary in older times written about in the Old Testament. I like thinking of Mary as unspoiled creation itself, the beauty of the natural world God created for us whether I'm looking at a beautiful unspoiled wilderness or just a beautiful looking tree, patch of sky or beam of light in an otherwise ugly urban-blighted landscape. Speaking to Mary satisfies the natural urge to have a spiritual connection and reverence for Mother Earth, the Queen of Heaven, the Earth Goddess, etc. while being clear that the Mother of God, the most honorable and blessed woman in heaven and Earth, is absolutely NOT a "goddess". The Christian doctrines about Mary place her in exactly her proper place, to be loved and revered, and to comfort us even (especially) in isolation and rejection by the world, without turning her into some kind of pagan Earth-goddess.</p><p></p><p>God provided even more than the truth of Jesus Christ to bring me peace, even though that is already more than enough. He also generously gave the true physical presence of Mary by my side, and the entire community of the saints, in order to have even greater peace and no longer feel alone.</p><p></p><p>Edit: I realized that was self-centered, completely about me. Obviously I am recommending you should start speaking to Mary and realize she is with you. You should get a picture and/or statue of Mary and baby Jesus and just stare at them and pray, to God as God in the form of a little infant child and realize He came to Earth in the flesh for your and my sake and suffered more than we ever will. And, speak to Mary the way you would speak to either 1) your mother if you were a little boy and you had a good, loving mother, or 2) a young, extremely beautiful virgin woman who is your relative or someone else completely un-sexual but who loves and cares about you deeply. One of the beautiful things about Mary is how she fulfills both roles.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Alexander_English, post: 1565792, member: 18147"] This is very true. Mary the Virgin Mother has been with me in the most difficult situations in my life, even before I believed in God. Somehow even as an atheist who attacked God all the time, I was aware of the presence of Mary as a spiritual being and relied on her for support and comfort especially when I was rejected by women, or facing some self-caused issues with women due to my poor choices. She was there to comfort me and make me realize I am not alone, she is with me and I have an eternal companion who provides better companionship than any woman on Earth. I don't know how that made sense to me as a materialist/atheist but it was true. Now that I know she is the God-bearer, it makes sense the truth of Mary came to me first, before the truth of God and His Son Jesus Christ. I was happy to learn from the Orthodox Study Bible that Mary is identified with the Garden of Eden, which brought forth the Tree of Life, Jesus Christ in its midst, among many other appearances of Mary in older times written about in the Old Testament. I like thinking of Mary as unspoiled creation itself, the beauty of the natural world God created for us whether I'm looking at a beautiful unspoiled wilderness or just a beautiful looking tree, patch of sky or beam of light in an otherwise ugly urban-blighted landscape. Speaking to Mary satisfies the natural urge to have a spiritual connection and reverence for Mother Earth, the Queen of Heaven, the Earth Goddess, etc. while being clear that the Mother of God, the most honorable and blessed woman in heaven and Earth, is absolutely NOT a "goddess". The Christian doctrines about Mary place her in exactly her proper place, to be loved and revered, and to comfort us even (especially) in isolation and rejection by the world, without turning her into some kind of pagan Earth-goddess. God provided even more than the truth of Jesus Christ to bring me peace, even though that is already more than enough. He also generously gave the true physical presence of Mary by my side, and the entire community of the saints, in order to have even greater peace and no longer feel alone. Edit: I realized that was self-centered, completely about me. Obviously I am recommending you should start speaking to Mary and realize she is with you. You should get a picture and/or statue of Mary and baby Jesus and just stare at them and pray, to God as God in the form of a little infant child and realize He came to Earth in the flesh for your and my sake and suffered more than we ever will. And, speak to Mary the way you would speak to either 1) your mother if you were a little boy and you had a good, loving mother, or 2) a young, extremely beautiful virgin woman who is your relative or someone else completely un-sexual but who loves and cares about you deeply. One of the beautiful things about Mary is how she fulfills both roles. [/QUOTE]
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