I just got back from church, and while I don't like the priest we had, he said something in his homily that made me think. The one line I caught was where he was asking if you saw Jesus in the homeless and hungry and other people who need help. Normally, I wouldn't bat an eye at this sort of a question, but it made me go through the good things I've done lately.

For example, in the past few months, I sent money to a friend so she and her brother could eat, and I sent money to another friend so he wouldn't go to jail.

But why? Why did I do these things? I mean, I'm an atheist. I don't believe in God, I don't believe in Heaven, and I don't believe in Hell. I go to church because I have to or I get kicked out, mind you. I came to the conclusion that...I just don't want others to suffer. When the priest asked that question, what I thought to myself is that I don't see Jesus in others. I see that they are human, and that should be enough.

Something else that caught my attention happened yesterday when I was at work. I work as a cashier in a grocery store, and it's usually the same old stuff from day to day. This time, two boys didn't quite have enough money to pay for what they were getting. What was special was that the lady behind them gave them the extra money they needed. Now, sure, it was only a dollar, but I know it meant the world to those boys. The lady's reason was her own, but her action made my day even though I wasn't the one being helped.

I'm not bragging about what I've done, and I'm not asking anyone else to brag. I've simply come across too many instances of people being hurt by what others have done. I want to see the good in the world for a change.
What I want to know is:
What good things have you done?
Why do you think you did them?
What good things have you seen other people do?

I don't like seeing people sad. So I'm almost always helping when I can. I've gave money to my parents to help pay for bills they couldn't afford. I gave money to friends that needed help. I even give money to strangers. I used to work in a grocery store myself. And I remember this little girl (six years old!) coming in wanting to purchase a gallon of milk (as her mother had sent her to the store). Now I knew this girl and her mother, they aren't the wealthiest people let's just say. She was short by about $1.40 or something. I didn't even tell her she was short some change. She just gave me all the money she had and I put it in the drawer. At the end of my shift, I put in the extra money she needed for it.

And not long ago, I sent out a box full of gifts to my friend that I only know online. She hasn't been doing so well lately and I felt it would cheer her up. So she gave me her address and I was more than happy to send her the box full of goodies. It made her happy and it made me happy.

What's great to know is that so many others are so giving, too. My family has been in helped in so many ways. What with my fathers disability and him unable to work at all anymore. And my stepmother not able to find work herself -- and having to raise two of her own children plus my sister Elizabeth. It's not easy for a lot of people and their families. So it's so great to see others put forth their time and effort to help others.

Well, I do over 200 hours of volunteering each year.
Why? Because if I'm not going to do it, who will?

I'm a very cold person, and don't feel emotions for other people
(when holding a friend who's crying, I often find the situation kind of funny ^^;; ).
But this year there's this guy who seemed to be hurting,
so I started giving him a good deal of attention.
Now we're close friends and he's told me things that he's never told anyone else.

My friend Liz was struggling with an abusive boyfriend
and I prayed for her each night
(harder than it seems =_____= )

My sister's a flying bitch.
And I've been trying to show her that not everyone's out to get her.
... unsucessfully mind you.

I've befriended a girl an international student from Japan
and another from Brazil,
who I hang out with weekly.
(But Monica just returned to Brazil! ;__; )

There's a bunch of other people that I try to tend to,
simply because if I don't do it,
who will?

And I guess,
overall it's just spending a lot of time and effort into helping people's emotional state.
That's what I do.
It's amazing how much better these people feel,
now that they have a sense of security in someone else.

Why did I do these things,
well, actually, because I'm Christian. ^^;;
I was a very cold and harsh person when I wasn't,
but I guess I have something behind me driving me to care for others
and, not to mention, portray myself in a nicer light.

It's a stupid reason, but that's the only one I have.
I'm sorry.

I usually do small things for people, like holding open doors, smiling at strangers, etc. I don't believe a gesture has to be large to be appreciated!

Originally Posted by Supreme Commander Gavrila

It's a stupid reason, but that's the only one I have.
I'm sorry.

You shouldn't put yourself down like that! There are no stupid reasons really when it comes to doing good things for people. No need to apologize. Your reasons are your own! As long as they matter to you, that's what's important. :)

Originally Posted by Nocere

You shouldn't put yourself down like that! There are no stupid reasons really when it comes to doing good things for people. No need to apologize. Your reasons are your own! As long as they matter to you, that's what's important. :)

Thank you. :)

I guess it can be intimidating at times admitting that I'm a christian,
especially because everyone on Menewsha seems to think so lowly of the religion.
I'm respected by my friends because they see the effort I go to, to help people, and avoiding being a hypocrite
(which is actually very easy, if you actually follow Christianity, and you're not just insecure and therefore judging everyone but yourself.)
I just don't want people tearing me to shreds because of my beliefs. ;__;
You'd be amazed,
I mean amazed!
At how many times this happens.
My friends have been spit on after turning down going to a party because they'd have to wake up early for church in the morning.
And I used to have two fine gents follow me in the halls yelling "burn the Christian" for two years
(but ever since they got to know me, we hang out every once in a while ^^;; )

I apologized simply for the people that I may have offended by simply admitting my beliefs to.

Originally Posted by Supreme Commander Gavrila

Thank you. :)

I guess it can be intimidating at times admitting that I'm a christian,
especially because everyone on Menewsha seems to think so lowly of the religion.
I'm respected by my friends because they see the effort I go to, to help people, and avoiding being a hypocrite
(which is actually very easy, if you actually follow Christianity, and you're not just insecure and therefore judging everyone but yourself.)
I just don't want people tearing me to shreds because of my beliefs. ;__;
You'd be amazed,
I mean amazed!
At how many times this happens.
My friends have been spit on after turning down going to a party because they'd have to wake up early for church in the morning.
And I used to have two fine gents follow me in the halls yelling "burn the Christian" for two years
(but ever since they got to know me, we hang out every once in a while ^^;; )

I apologized simply for the people that I may have offended by simply admitting my beliefs to.

This is exactly why I started this thread. I hear about people being mistreated all the time. I'm sorry you've been bullied because of your beliefs. I don't have a problem with religion. I just see it abused for personal gain pretty often. You work at being a Christian, which I admire. Keep up the good work! True Christians are hard to find.

Originally Posted by Nocere

This is exactly why I started this thread. I hear about people being mistreated all the time. I'm sorry you've been bullied because of your beliefs. I don't have a problem with religion. I just see it abused for personal gain pretty often. You work at being a Christian, which I admire. Keep up the good work! True Christians are hard to find.

Thank you. I appreciate it. n__n
I guess I'm lucky to be in a Church that believes in the quote
"Preach of Jesus always, if needed use words."
In other words, it's what you do, not what you say, that's most important.
There's a huge generation of kids that I know who are "true christians", I hope that'll wipe out a lot of the discrimination in many situations.

One man that I definitely consider a true christian that I admire would be Tony Campolo.
He promotes social justice. He has fought for women's rights, rights for homosexuality, stopping racism, stopping discrimination against other religions, and other things.
He won't fight for homosexuals having right to marriage,
but he does go to rallies in order to stop the harsh treatment that many insecure Christians communicate towards homosexuals.
Because being a christian is supposed to mean "Christ followers". Such harsh treatment is most definitely against the religion.

I hope that, by the time our parents are senile and old, the harsh treatment will be a thing of the past,
and the only people following Christianity will be true to the faith.

Originally Posted by Nocere

I just got back from church, and while I don't like the priest we had, he said something in his homily that made me think. The one line I caught was where he was asking if you saw Jesus in the homeless and hungry and other people who need help. Normally, I wouldn't bat an eye at this sort of a question, but it made me go through the good things I've done lately.

For example, in the past few months, I sent money to a friend so she and her brother could eat, and I sent money to another friend so he wouldn't go to jail.

But why? Why did I do these things? I mean, I'm an atheist. I don't believe in God, I don't believe in Heaven, and I don't believe in Hell. I go to church because I have to or I get kicked out, mind you. I came to the conclusion that...I just don't want others to suffer. When the priest asked that question, what I thought to myself is that I don't see Jesus in others. I see that they are human, and that should be enough.

Something else that caught my attention happened yesterday when I was at work. I work as a cashier in a grocery store, and it's usually the same old stuff from day to day. This time, two boys didn't quite have enough money to pay for what they were getting. What was special was that the lady behind them gave them the extra money they needed. Now, sure, it was only a dollar, but I know it meant the world to those boys. The lady's reason was her own, but her action made my day even though I wasn't the one being helped.

I'm not bragging about what I've done, and I'm not asking anyone else to brag. I've simply come across too many instances of people being hurt by what others have done. I want to see the good in the world for a change.
What I want to know is:
What good things have you done?
Why do you think you did them?
What good things have you seen other people do?

I try to do as many good things as I can. I do them to please the Lord and to make people feel good. I see people do all sorts of good things. I see some people hold doors and when I'm out and I get lost because my sense of direction sucks, I've had someone help me out. When I fall, some people ask me if I'm all right. Yes, I live in a nice
place.
@Supreme Commander Gavrila: I'm a Christian too and I'm glad to find another Christian on here. Keep it up!

Originally Posted by Nocere

1.What good things have you done?
2.Why do you think you did them?
3.What good things have you seen other people do?

1.Well, I try to do little good things. Some small things that look like they help people. Probably like hold doors for people when they walk through, give my seat away on the train or bus to the elderly or those with physical impairments. I've also done a little bit of charity like put some of my time into a rundown orphanage for boys as well as take some of the homeless kids to a farm and played games with them.

2.I probably did them because I feel that I need to. Its a good way to show that you care for other people in general. I also hope that other people can follow the example and it doesn't need to be huuuge donations whatsoever, but little things can change the world. You don't have to be super rich to help the needy. There are so many things that you can do for others ^^

3.I've seen people hold the door for me and help people pick up scattered stuff even in busy areas and it makes me happy. Lots of people donate to charity and make the effort to participate in programmes and events that go to charitable causes.

It really makes me happy when people do nice things for others :)

i only seem to do nice things for sheenagh lol

I try to do nice things for my friends. Cats. People at random. I can't think of any specific examples at the moment--but I do them because I want to. I'm more likely to be nice to children, etc, than adults--on first sight, at least--just because adults and adolescents? Most of them are asshats. It's really 50-50, but still. With children and animals? They're fairly defenseless, and they probably don't deserve crap. For the most part, they're young enough (with children) or don't care enough (with animals) that stupid prejudices and the like haven't entered into their consideration. I cannot stand idiotic people, but ignorance is different. Errr. Mostly it's because there's no reason to be horrible to them. Holding the door for people and stuff--yeah. I mean, they're on their way, and it'll only take an extra minute or two. Doesn't hurt me. That sort of thing.... I explain myself poorly. It's what I need to do to feel good about me. Although I don't like people much, there are some good ones--so I may as well be generally polite.

And going to the Christian sub-topic, the only reason that I have for disliking a lot of Christians is because so many of the ones I see day-to-day are people I wind up disliking. They use Christianity as a crutch to be discarded when they find it to be weighing them down. Or they use it as an excuse to do something objectionable.... Or the ones who continually try and convert you. XP It's a wee bit annoying.

But, yeah. A lot of Christians are fine people, and the morals that they hold to (a lot of them, at least), are fine morals. And really, there's no excuse for discriminating against Christians--just as there's no excuse, in my mind, for discriminating against anybody based on religion, gender, sexual preference, race, etc. Those are things that don't hurt anyone. Just being a Christian shouldn't earn you any abuse. *returns to the idea that, although I think most people may be disappointing, some aren't--and the tiny things aren't the ones that make me decide whether or not it's worth being polite to you*

hey guys this topic really caught my attention because it makes you think.

kay here's my list.

My buddies house just burnt down and he lost pretty much everything. Mind you everyone help him and his family, the town gave him a snow machine. I kinda laughed at that. I mean you'd think they would give him a place to stay but meh what ever. I now live far away from him because I'm in college now and he chose to stay in highschool for an extra year. Anyway next year he's going to the same school and taking the same program as I so I'm going to give him all of my text books that I used last semester so he won't get ripped off by the school like I did.

I'm a big karate guy lol I'm really into it and I've been doing it for as long as I can remember. When I came up here for school I had to do some scouting for a dojo that teaches my exact style and what surprised me is that I did end up finding one, thought that was really cool. But the thing is the black belts that taught there thought I was really good and offered me a job to teach the kids class. I said hell yeah. But the thing is these kids just so happen to be from childrens' aid and one time I overhead some of the black belts saying that they get beat up and picked on a lot by bullies. That really made me want to teach these kids how to deal with stuff like that because I remember having to deal with it and I'm sure you guys had to also.