And the lord said "Let there be light" Little did he know...

[Witgar]

Originally Posted by smiled

(As my mother remarked afterwards - "For a first attempt, he did very well...").

I think that's quite beautiful!

Originally Posted by smiled

I guess I just always wished that our thoughts (which are intangible) would somehow exist somewhere after we ended...

Ah, that's where the Internet comes into play. The thoughts of millions of people whose lives have ended will be around for a long, long time.

Originally Posted by smiled

My limited interaction with other atheists has shown them in the main to be intelligent, critical thinkers,

I agree with you entirely, of course!

[smiled]

Thanks for sharing that Mr Black. Touching moments...

Originally Posted by The Irreverent Mr Black

The "try to die" remark may be commoner than we realise, Smiled.

My father went out with a brain tumour.

The last time I saw him alive, he was fully paralysed down one side, and lying there with his eyes fixed on nothing, making "gachhhh" noises.

The medical staff had said he might last a year to eighteen months in that state.

I was in the room with him, talking to him, just in case he was able to hear and understand. (His verbal centre had been one of the first signs as things got worse, and to see him "lose" yet another word, and the frustration involved, was painful. Still, no harm in trying...)

Suddenly, for only a few seconds, all the lights came on, in a figurative sense. He lifted his head, gripped my hand with the one of his that still worked, looked me in the eye,

"I suppose I've got to go through with this", he said, then lay back. Everything was back as it had been.

He developed pneumonia and slipped away within a fortnight.