People do strange things for faith kids. The power of belief is a very powerful and strange force in the world. I told you how I was near death and then didu went to pray at Ajmer chisti. A Sufi saint tomb and well I got better. I cannot pass a temple or a place where I meet God without asking God to protect you two. Mum prays for both of you daily. Now from a scientific perspective it's bunkum. How can we draw a causality line between that faith and our health? We cannot. Obviously not. But I still do it.
Don't get me wrong. That's got nothing to do with religion which is a way of controlling people. That I hate. Faith in God is different. Each of us comes up with their own relationship with God. As they say, it's complicated. You will have a relationship with him as well. You may be an atheist or agnostic or a fundamentalist or casual or indifferent. You may flip between these modes. No problems. No issues. And to be expected.
I was discussing with a friend whose son is also passing through a crisis of faith. He was challenging the presence of God. Does he exist. Does prayer help? All good questions. And I think everybody goes through these existential debates. More I read the more confused I become. It's strange. And I can see the attraction of meditation and prayers. Not the bloody crowded caterwauling with clapping or singing or poking your head in strange directions.
The mind is the ultimate place to find God. Maybe that's where the attraction of mountains comes from. Maybe I'll head off there and potter around having conversations with God. Anyway. I'm rambling.
Here's a fascinating historical story about how people relied on bone dust as an article of faith. Don't laugh at it. We all express our faith in different ways kids.
Love
Baba
Mystery Over 15th-Century Drilled Skull Solved
http://www.livescience.com/49749-mystery-over-15th-century-drilled-skull-solved.html
(via Instapaper)
Credit: Gino Fornaciari/University of Pisa
Researchers at the University of Pisa, Italy, have solved the mystery over the honeycombed skull of one of the Italian martyrs beheaded by 15th century Ottoman Turk invaders when they refused to give up their Christian faith.
Featuring 16 perfectly round holes of various sizes and depth, the skull belonged to an individual who was executed on a hill outside the town of Otranto in Apulia along with more than 800 other men.
The skull was later drilled, most likely to obtain bone powder to treat diseases such as paralysis, stroke, and epilepsy, which were believed to arise from magical or demonic influences.
Photos: Drilled Skull Mystery Solved
Beatified in 1771 and canonized by Pope Francis on May 12, 2013 the so-called “martyrs of Otranto,” whose identities are largely unknown, are now the patron saints of the city of Otranto.
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