[nefertiti]

This question goes out to anybody who believes in the existence of God,Higher power, Allah,Mungu,Ngai,Jehovah or whatever you call HIM.

When you're praying or even just talking to HIM what do you imagine/see? Is your mind just blank or do you visualize God in a certain way? Do you see HIM as an old white man with a looooooooong white beard and blinding light flashing all around Him? Do you just see blinding light? Do you imagine an old woman? A large hand from heaven? A cloud?

Something i didn't know about my pal is that she sees or rather visualises God as an African elder full with all the trad gear. She has done so despite being raised in a Christian family. And if your like me, y'all recall all those Sunday School papers we had to take home and color and God was often depicted as light or old white bearded man. Now i don't have beef with God looking like this, only that it means that most Christian kids are brainwashed o.k not really brainwashed but guided into imagining God to look that way. So what about the Muslims? Does any Muslim out here visualise Allah while praying to Him and if so, what do you see? Someone else told me that if he is not seeing a particular person that he is praying for but only concentrating on God, he sees nature and clouds. How do you African traditional religious followers visualise God?


And just another question for non-christians. Does your religion teach that man is created in the image of God?

[teejay]

>When you're praying or even just talking
>to HIM what do you imagine/see? Is your
>mind just blank or do you visualize God
>in a certain way? Do you see HIM as an
>old white man with a looooooooong white
>beard and blinding light flashing all
>around Him? Do you just see blinding
>light? Do you imagine an old woman? A
>large hand from heaven? A cloud?
>
>Something i didn't know about my pal is
>that she sees or rather visualises God
>as an African elder full with all the
>trad gear. She has done so despite being
>raised in a Christian family. And if
>your like me, y'all recall all those
>Sunday School papers we had to take home
>and color and God was often depicted as
>light or old white bearded man. Now i
>don't have beef with God looking like
>this, only that it means that most
>Christian kids are brainwashed o.k not
>really brainwashed but guided into
>imagining God to look that way. So what
>about the Muslims? Does any Muslim out
>here visualise Allah while praying to
>Him and if so, what do you see? Someone
>else told me that if he is not seeing a
>particular person that he is praying for
>but only concentrating on God, he sees
>nature and clouds. How do you African
>traditional religious followers
>visualise God?

I imagin this if you read the bible which I always Insist that should be read before some threads are posted here.Now if you trade through the bible you will find that no one has ever laid their eyes upon God with the exception of Moses.

Only Moses saw God and even him was not permitted to See the Lord,s face.

Exodus 33:18-23

33:18 And he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory.

33:19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

33:20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.

33:21 And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:

33:22 And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:

33:23 And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts

No man can see God in the glory of His triune personal presence, but He often revealed Himself through "the angel of His presence" (Isaiah 63:9), a pre-incarnate "theophany" of Christ (John 1:18; 1 Timothy 6:16).
The Lord in Exodus 33:19 says "he will course his goodness to go before moses".....when i am talking to/wordship God I know that am visualising his goodness rather than some caricaturised images of Him.

>And just another question for
>non-christians. Does your religion teach
>that man is created in the image of God?

None christains cannot answer this question appropriately like you want it.Therefore lets us tackle this question by taking a look at the book of Gensis 1:26,27

Gensis 1:26And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

in our image.....

.....God is, as it were, taking counsel here with Himself, not with angels, since man was to be made in the image of God, not of angels. "Our image," therefore, implies human likeness to the triune Godhead. Plants possess a body and animals possess a body and consciousness; man was not only to have a body (of the created "earth") and a consciousness (of the created "soul"), but man was also to possess a third created entity, the image of God, an eternal spirit capable of communion and fellowship with his

likeness......

....Man was not only created in God's spiritual image; he was also made in God's physical image. His body was specifically planned to be most suited for the divine fellowship (erect posture, upward-gazing countenance, facial expressions varying with emotional feelings, brain and tongue designed for articulate symbolic speech--none of which are shared by the animals). Furthermore, his body was designed to be like the body which God had planned from eternity that He Himself would one day assume (1 Peter 1:20).

1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

male and female........

........Note that "man" is here (and often in Scripture) used in a generic sense to include both man and woman. Both male and female were created (the details of their physical formation being given in Genesis 2) in God's image. Thus both possess equally an eternal spirit capable of personal fellowship with their Creator. Shared equally by men and women are all those spiritual attributes not shared by animals--moral conscience, abstract thought, appreciation of beauty, emotional feelings, and, especially, the capacity for worshipping and loving God.

[nefertiti]

Yes Teejay i get your point. Nobody has ever laid eyes on God and that is why i asked what you imagine or how you visualise Him when praying or talking e.t.c. So does this mean that you see nothing when you think of God?
Again your advice that people like me should read the bible first b'4 posting things is very narrow minded. Why? Because you are preaching from a Christian point of view on a PUBLIC forum that happens to have NON CHRISTIANS as members too.

[AfricanPride]

Mmmh...its hard to describe. How do you quantify space above? I picture a very large space filled with God LOL..whatever that means! Its more like an effect than a picture.

Peace

[makaveli]

@nefertiti- I was about to blast the guy for such a shallow comment. He should read the post first himself. Teejay- what is your definition of visualise. Of course nobody has seen God coz then we wouldnt be visualising him but we would have a concrete idea on how he looks like.

as for the original question- I used to visualise a clear white old jamaa with a long stick. That was coz I used to try and compare him to Jesus, meaning he would be an older version of Jesus. Like Father like son, ama. But nowadays, I am as confused as hell. With a picture of Black Jesus on my wall and trying to encompass all religions where only one God exists, I can even visualise how he looks like.

[nefertiti]

Hello African Pride, hi Makavelli!

See the thing with me is that i always visualise a Large Kind hand from the sky (hehhehehe). And get this its bluish/water-ish in color! hehehe!

Honestly i think i developed that concept from that story about the 'Footsteps' and how God carries us thru tough times. What got me thinking is that my pal sees an Old wise African man as her concept of God and another sees a cloud. Its very interesting because both are Christian and yet have not been influenced by Christian concepts which clearly state that we are made from His image and also covertly push the concept of Him being a old wise male of caucasian heritage. It would be interesting to know how other religions not touched by Christianity visualise HIM. How did our ancestors visualise Him??????

[stupak]

Neff my vision is kinda like your but for me I visualize God as a bright light with two hands prutruding from the middle extending out to me.

[nefertiti]

Hey Stupak, glad to see i'm not alone!

[xhee]

God is in my heart, my soul, and in my mind. He is the small, calm voice i hear inside me when he talks to me. To me, God is not some old jamaa with hands enfolding the earth...he is the good guy inside me. Im not into religion sana, but i know there is a higher power, and i believe in that higher power.
hope that makes sense.


ps....Angie, acha wana and holla at yo gurl!!!!

[nefertiti]

>God is in my heart, my soul, and in my
>mind. He is the small, calm voice i hear
>inside me when he talks to me. To me,
>God is not some old jamaa with hands
>enfolding the earth...he is the good guy
>inside me. Im not into religion sana,
>but i know there is a higher power, and
>i believe in that higher power.
>hope that makes sense.
>
>
>ps....Angie, acha wana and holla at yo
>gurl!!!!

Hi Xhee. I understand that you believe in God and that ike most of us you believe that He is in your heart and always present around you but that does not mean that by visualising Him (respectfully off course)it means that you believe that He is a Cloud or old man. We have never seen him-NONE OF US- and so we cannot say for certain that God is a Hand or an old man blah blah blah. We can only be honest about what we imagine when we pray. In all honesty you have not answered the question.Does this mean that when you close your eyes to pray,you do not imagine God in any way? Just curious.