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I am an atheist.
But I love the Bible.

Let's go through this part of the Bible, Psalm 23:

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Our only lord, our only god, is our common sense, always becoming more sensible, by always learning, and, those around us who have some common sense, and might help us.

So, sensible ideas, and sensible folks, can help us, as an experienced shepherd helps his or her sheep.
I shall not want, since I know how to bring home the bacon, (I am collecting my Social Security check, nowadays, after four decades of living paycheck to paycheck) and I know how to find help from others, if I truly need it.
My sensible nature stops me from over eating, or over indulging in any way (that's what a shepherd does, when he makes the sheep lie down, when the pasture is too lush, so they stop eating a while, to avoid becoming sick). And the still waters, means consuming what we need, when we need it:
"Quiet and gentle waters, running in small and shallow channels, which are opposed to great rivers, which both affright the sheep with their great noise, and expose them to be carried away by their swift and violent streams, while they are drinking at them. Such is the difference between the gentle waters of the sanctuary, the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and the rapid, muddy, and noisy torrents and overflowing floods of worldly and carnal enjoyments."

[biblehub.com]

I know, we all like a little carnal enjoyments, but too much of a good thing can do us more harm than good.

My wife often "restores me soul," meaning, she assures me I am doing quite well, even when I feel discouraged and depressed.
I lead myself in the paths of righteousness, as I understand them, for my sake, since it simply feels so good, to do what I feel is the generous thing, such as, when I help my disabled wife, when she asks me for help, and when I do laundry or dishes, for the rest of the family.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the thoughts of my own death, (coming up in about twenty years or so), I will not dwell on those things that seem depressing or things that scare me, because I have the tools, (the rod and the staff) the tools, in my common sense, and others I can turn to, I have these tools, that give me emotional comfort, the comfort I get in knowing these tools are here, to help me, when I need help.
I can always prepare a table for myself and my family, both in food and other goods we have right now, and building potential, for more. (My brother-in-law is building up a lawn and tree removal service, and doing quite well.)
" in the presence of mine enemies:"
I don't have any enemies. Everybody likes me. So, I don't have anything clever to do with that particular verse.
My cup runneth over, with material things, with love and respect from my wife, and from her family, and, I have the internet, for more information, so I can keep improving my common sense, and, social interaction, such as might come from comments to this post, and, if I'm desperate, I have found that I can get money from strangers, by way of Gofundme. My cup does runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me, all the days of my life, since I am a nice guy, I am a sensible guy, and I know how to ask for help.
But there is no life after death, so the part obout dwelling in the house of the lord forever, is just a silly fairy tale.
When I die, I will just be dead.
Thanks for reading.
Please tell me, in the comments, do you like my little rant?
If you like it, I can do the same, for many popular Bible verses.
Just let me know.
Thanks again.

bigjac 6 June 7
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53 comments (51 - 53)

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1

Yeah no thanks. I don't need to read idiocy used to control the masses for "fun"

0

Yes, I love the 23rd Psalm, but not because I think it's "true" or holy. Rather, I think it's because it puts me in contact with my past and lets me feel again how the world used to seem, at least to some extent. Maybe it's sort of like discovering an old nursery rhyme and remembering how it once made me feel. Accordingly, rather than to restore its value, your attempt to update it completely destroys it for me.

0

Geez Louise I think you've posted on the wrong Site.
But, okay then, let's start at the very beginning shall we.
A) "I SHALL not want," so why do people pray for things in the first place IF this Great, Magical Shepherd has already provided them with absolutely EVERYTHING?
B) " He MAKETH me to lie down......." so you MUST lay down when ever and where ever God tells you, there goes your Free Will right out of the window, the same Free Will this Shepherd claims to given you in the first place.
C) Hmmmm, " He prepareth me a table......," so what about all those homeless, starving Christians, the countless starving children all around the world, etc, etc, don't they get their very own table laden down with foodstuffs or are they just the 'forgotten' ones?
And last, but by no means least,
D) " Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me.......," well where exactly was this 'goodness and mercy' when students were being SLAUGHTERED in Schools over the few years and more in the U.S.?
Was it missing because they weren't believers so the Shepherd just sat back and watched as they died?
Yep, I love the bible too, it makes the perfect, eco-friendly Crawling insect deterrent of them all, drop it from a height of a couple feet on to them, instant absolution of their 'sins', conversion to religion in the blink of an eye and an instant one way ticket to "Bug Nirvana."

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