Different paths same Goal.

[Oni]

Supose for a Sec that God does things for a Reason (or that All things happen for a reason).
And now suppose that at times he chooses that those things will effect peoples lifes.

Say for example you are a prime basket ball student in High School, and you are about to graduate with a scholarship to a University. You are also searching for a religious path at this time. Trying to find out what church is right for you. What one is the True Church, ect. And through Prayer and reading the scripture, you find out that you think the Mormon Church is the Right Church. Now you have the option to Go To College and achieve your dream, or go on a Mission to spread the word of God. But you can’t figure out what to do. You decide that you want to go to college. But it turns out that a chain of events prevent you from going to College, so you come to the conclusion that God wants you to go on your Mission and spread the word of God. So that’s what you do. And as you are on your mission you become a better person, filled with love, and the strong desire to help others and put there needs before your own. Through that you trip across a young man who has traveled down the path of drugs and living on the street. Though talking with him, and meeting with him regularly you are able to help turn his life around, and give him a better direction. You and him become good friends, but he still does not choose your religion. But you have helped guide his path to a better one.

Now lets say you lead a abused childhood, raised through beating, both mentally and physically abused, and watched as you siblings went through this as well. You were brought and baptized Mormon. You read and followed there teachings. Searching both for god and a way out of your current situation, trying to find a way to safe both your self and your brothers and sisters. A friend comes along and pulls you out of the closet that was your bedroom that you shared with your stepbrother. He tells you he wants to be your friend and can see ablities in you that will help you save yourself and your family if you learn how to use them. So you take on his friendship, and study with him. You learn the martial arts, the skill of mind minuplation, of cause and effect, you learn how to see the aura around people, and control it, how to look into the future, and track people with your mind. Many skills you already possessed just now under your control. Your mother teaches you the way of caring for others, for Love, and respect of your fellow man. To always think things through. To be wise and caring, logical and never vindictive. Your mother shows you love, compassion, and a sturn hand when you do something wrong, she gives you good morals and judgement, guidelines for a way of life. And as you start to realize all this, and just get into learning all this your father pulls you from your life and drags you to the opposite end of the country. Were the abuse continues much harder that it was before. Your Stepmother helps, teachings your father new tricks of the trade for abusings children and getting away with it. Through all this you forget about what you were being tought by your friend, and mother. You start to follow in your fathers lead. Becoming a hellin, adding to the beating and mental and physical abuse of your siblings. It extends out to school as well, you start down a dark path. And one night after seeing your family beat down by your father you walk off. You believe that the Mormons are right in there teachings of God and Family, and not sure why but you feel something is wrong. You disappear for a week, from family and friends. Sitting there in a mental break down, both body and mind tired, you hear you friends voice, he is not around, but you can hear it. You know he is still up north were your father took you from. It was most likely a wisper in the wind some were, but you start to think back. Back to what he was teaching you, what your mother was teaching you.

On your way back home, your view of the world around you changes. You start to see things that you forgot you could, you realize that you can look right through a person, and beyond them. A calmness has passed over you. You go back into your house, with your father and your siblings, and recive the worse beating of your life for walking out. But you don’t feel it, you pain is gone. Over the next year you spend your time training, seaching out sources of knowledge and power. Through that casting your own judgement on people. Fighting for what is right and leaving a wake of distruction and love in your path. Leaving people with a new path to follow one that will guide them out of the troubles they are in, you become a helper, of the people, through what would be considered bad tactics. A chaotic good character. You have watched your father and step mother and learned the art of minuplation, and watched and tested your skills on them. Planting little seeds that will send them down a path just as bad as the one they put you and your family on.

You family moves again, this time to a baron town, only 500 people or so in it. Farm country, were your fathers and step mothers abuse kickes up a new level, because there is no one there to stop them. You take it, not sure were to vent your frustration out, no longer being able to help others and train, you disappear into your farm work, plotting and thinking. Many hours, days, weeks and months pass, all of this time in what feels like an instant, because only your body was there, your mind was else were. You mind was hiding in a place were it could think, and not be disturbed. To the outside world you are a zombie. Working and sleeping and taking the beatings and repeating the next day.
That was how you appeared. To one day when your mind put everything together. You had been in contact with God and yourself, and at that moment you realized who you were, what your path in life would be and you awoke. Honing all your skilles, and nasty tactics you had picked up from your life, you stood up to your Father and to your Step Mother. You used both cunning and physical defence, and offense to get your point across. That you are now the protector of this family and if they question it they can go through you. You offer to those that want it a way out. Your step siblings stay, and you and your sister leave. And as you leave you put into place one final marker of check mate, to insure that if your Father and step mother ever screw up again that your siblings would be able to leave, and your Father and Step mother punished for there Sins.
When you and your sister return back to your true home. To your Mother. You tell her your story, and what all has happened. Now what is right is right, and what is done is done. You take your skills and new found path, and use them to help people, using the darker ways only when you have to, Helping people when you can. Overing out a hand when it is needed.

And through that you stumble across a man. This man is for no reason waving at you. You approach him and ask why he is waving. He tells you that he is a Mormon from and heard that you help people. He tells you about his druggy friend, and you accept his invite to meet him. The three of you sit around at talk and over a period of a year help the druggy kid out of his hole and get a job an apartment and a better way of life. The mormon helps through love of God, and you help through Tough Love forcing him to see how what he does effects others not just him, forcing him to stop his drugs and sit through the coming down. You both show him how he can achieve a better feeling through simply being a good person in life, not nessarly helping other, but just leading a life the challenges him to be come something greater than he already is.

Many years down the road the road the three of you meet up. You find out that your Mormon friend is not a Temple worker, you are a Leader among people, and your druggy friend, is now a budist, that travels the world lending a hand were needed. You all laugh at how you meet and how your life as gone, and thank eachother for there friendship and go on your serperate ways again till the next crossing of your paths.


So my Question is. Could God not direct people down different paths, even different religioins, to achieve the same goal and make them a better person? Will both people get into heaven? Does God love them both? Is God happy with them even though one works with mystics, and a darker way of getting things done, and the other works with a religion, and one was a druggy? Is the religios one the only one who will get into heaven? Did God set those paths in front of those people so that they all could come together and help one another, or did God only do that for the Mormon kid and not look after the other two? Did the Abused kid have God in his life, or did he survive on his own? What about the druggy, did he need god to get out of his toilet bowl life or did he just need a friend?
Oh and what do you think of my story?

[ViewSonic]

I feel it’s possible to achieve the same thing through different paths. I have no doubt that God put me on the path that I am on to achieve a goal, and that he may put some one else on a different path to achieve the same goal. If you believe in God and know that he is the one true creator, you will always be walking in his path, and knowingly helping in his goals for you and the people around you. It has been my experience though that God some times needs some one who has a colder hard than others to do his actions. My path has send me down dark road, and through that I have harmed a lot of people, but I always believe that it is for a very good cause, and the cause of God and justice is on my side. But for my actions I know I will not get into the gates of heaven. And I accept that, but often wonder at times, why I was choosen to do these actions.

[TheGuardianAngel]

What you have just asked kinda goes along with my life. For basicly when I wanted to be a cop, I failed school, I know this wasnt gods plan for me to fail, and when I was in school and out I wanted a job, and well I followed gods path but when you follow his path you have nothing to lose cause you will always be given it back. Infact everything you have is never taken away, Through god and jesus you have all that they have given you. Basicly mankind have a path they follow, but when they follow gods path, He doesnt take the other path away but he waits til you are able to complete it, He helps you with his path and his path will lead you to what you want. For if we were not to rely on him then basicly both paths are nothing, But you rely on god and he will help you get the path you want while placing you in the path he wants you to. Many people think that their path will stop once god makes a path for you, but the thing is, the path he has for you was created even before you could come to this world, He has everything planned just for you and waits for you to take his hand and let him guide you through it. His path takes you to the path you like but through him, Like me, I had a path to get a job. didnt get there by my self, but god lead me to that and now I am getting a job and still following his path but instead his path became stronger with the path I wanted cause it makes both of us happy. The main thing we must remember is Gods Grace is stronger then anything else in this world. His love and grace is what helps you and helps others. If a man wanted to a path would he have to look towards the world? Or towards god? I would choose towards god because not only will he help me, but he will give me the plans I and him both want and combine them. So in a way both paths do lead to one through god and jesus. So remember, when you seek for a leader, seek jesus not man. Seek through what you believe in and believe in him and he will guide you to where you are needed but he will also give you what you wish to have aswell.