Many times during my life, I have had the time to ponder some of the things that I read. Maybe I have been luckier than most. Some people have such busy lives they don't seem to have the time to draw a breath. But, in my younger and more active days, I had a good deal of time sitting in tree stands waiting for deer, waiting for fish to bite, laying out in the "boonies" waiting for signs of movement, and driving down empty freeways in the middle of the night.

These are times when your senses are fully active and alert and you can't do much to occupy your mind but your mind cannot be idle or you will go to sleep.

Now, don't think that I came up with the answers. I didn't. I came up with more questions that I do not think can be answered.

Take Rene Descartes' statement, "I think, therefore I am," ("Cogito, ergo sum"). For instance, it is a profound statement that any sentient and self-aware creature can understand. However, it cannot be proven. Being aware of one's self does not prove that anything else exists as anything other than as a perception formed by the self. Without telepathy or some other method of knowing for a fact that another creature thinks, there cannot be proof that anything else even exists. Everything that we perceive, our bodies out to the limits of the universe, may be nothing more than a figment of your imagination. It simply cannot be proven otherwise.

Another unanswerable question is on God. I have debated this with many people, those who believe and those who don't. I have read the so-called mythologies of other cultures including the Greek, Roman, Norse, several Native American cultures, and the writings of several writers concerning Oriental religions or philosophies. (You do get rather bored on six-month and year-long deployments).

I've read the Bible from cover to cover more than a few times. ( I wonder at the fact that Christians, Jews, Muslims have killed each other in the name of their God for centuries and even today, yet they profess a belief in one and the same God, the God of Abraham. To me, that is like three brothers arguing that, "my dad is better than your dad!").

Now, I know that I am a product of the culture that I grew up in. I am a firm believer in God, that Jesus Christ is His Son, and that the Holy Ghost is with us always. But, after all, didn't Jesus say that He had "other flocks?" I simply cannot believe that anything perceived by mankind can explain everything about the eternal, omnipresent, and omnipotent God that I believe in. That would be comparable to a dog understanding trigonometry. I think that mankind sees God the same way the three blind men saw the elephant, we each see a small part but no one sees the whole.

For this reason, I have no problem accepting the beliefs of other religions. But there are times when I wonder if some people that profess to believe in the same things as I do are reading the same Bible that I do.

Take for instance, public prayer, whether it is in a school, in a government building, or on the courthouse lawn. According to the Bible, in the words attributed to Jesus Himself (Matthew, Chapter 6), to pray in public or for something is not going to be rewarded. You have received your reward already. However, some would quote Mark 11:24 as contradicting Matthew 6:1-15, but does it actually? In Mark, Jesus tells you to believe in what you pray for. In Matthew, Jesus tells you in verse eight that God already knows of your needs. To my way of thinking, God also knows if you are going to receive what you think you need, too, so there is no reason to pray for it. In Matthew 6:5-7, Jesus tells the Christian how to pray, silently and privately and even gives a specific prayer in Matthew 6:9-13. So why do some Christians wish to do something different that what the One that they profess is their Lord and Master instructed. I don't know, but I know one thing. In my short life, no one has ever stopped me from praying nor could they because the only entity other than me that knew I was praying was God. Believe me, I have prayed at a dead run.

Did God answer my prayers? He always does because I pray as Jesus instructed, that "God's will be done!" I do not know God's plan nor do I think that He is going to change it because of anything that I ask Him for. He knows before you ask and He knows what is in His plan. Isn't it greatly presumptuous to think that the Maker of the universe would change His mind because of a request of one of His creations? Now, I realize and expect someone to respond by quoting other Scriptures that contradict Matthew such as the Epistles. I ask you before you do, to whom do you give the most credence, the writer of the Epistle or Jesus as quoted in the Gospel? Then you must also consider what an omnipotent Being would tell you. I have to conclude that the Gospel is more believable.

I reckon that is enough of a view into my mind for the time being. Sometimes, it is good to consider deeper things than the mundane and petty problems we perceive to be of such great import in our daily lives. I hope that the short respite that I have given you has been enjoyable.