Obviously....

Turning water into wine!

I'd take a video camera to see how it was done so I could try it.

The resurrection!

There's no need to explain that wonderful fulfillment of victory over death!

Be Blessed,

IB

I'll have to think about this question a bit ... but for sure I would not want to be on Noah's journey! 

It might be cool to be a warrior of Xion.

Ibelieve

you took the words right out of my mouth

I'm in for Noah

That sense of doing something when all about you say it is the wrong thing to do, and then that moment of the dove with the olive branch....and the fresh air.

 The Ascention.

Probably this:

Isn't that funny, I was just thinking about how cool it would be to watch Noah try to fit every species on earth into the ark.  I'd be in my own dingy, by the way, watching.  With a video camera.

Actually, I would want to meet with Jesus somewhere in the wilderness, where he went to be alone with his god.  I would ask him if he was into Buddhism because he spoke so much about compassion and wanted to end suffering and free peoples' minds from dis-ease.

What an interesting idea, Cassandra!  You know they say that the birth of Jesus was the most ecumenical event in the history of world religions with people from the east bringing gifts - people who were not Jewish...

I think I would want to be at the manger scene.  But MadMonk if things did not happen literally than the events are not quite as they are written and do we really want to be at any of them?

Welcome back Mad Monk,

A thread such as the one you have begun is a balm and a leavening quite needed here at the Cafe' right now.

All of the stories or events outlined would be on my list and of course so many more.

But my one event isn't a story.  I think I'd like to sit with Jesus and whatever group was gathered with him, lounging in the shade of a tree on one of those searing, hot days.  And hear him teach, and watch him interact with those around him.  Maybe a wineskin or water jug is passed around, along with some bread, or dates.  And out of that rough meal comes a joining of the group into a closer unit, as we have all experienced at one time or another.

And within the warmth of that group I would listen. And watch. And seek to move beyond these five senses to glimpse the divine as he evokes a personal relationship with a loving God.

God bless,

Possibly we've lived 1000's of lives and some of us were present when certain events  ( some that are possible) took place! How's that for my very own story?

I'll pick Daniel in the Lion's Den. I'd like to witness such a miracle.

I'd like to be Mary, sitting in rapt attention to Jesus, while Martha complains about having to do all the work.

AND MARY JUST KEPT SITTING THERE!!

She didn't give Martha a guilty look and get up and help.

I wish I had Mary's courage -  housework martyrs piss me off. (I keep telling them that no woman has ever said on her deathbed "I wish I'd done more housework!)

Welcome back, MadMonk!

I'd be present at the creation of the world, and then write a book about it.

Actually, I was. And I did.

Whom they take they take into space, to behold the birth of stars, to learn one of the meanings,

To launch off with absolute faith, to jump through the ceaseless rings, and never be quiet again.

-Walt Whitman

Pilgrim's Progress

Jesus defended Mary. He didn't care much about housework either. That's why I hold him in such high esteem

Arminius : quote:

I'd be present at the creation of the world, and then write a book about it.

Actually, I was. And I did.

I love it! Why yes...of course you were there! You win again. You're putting us and our poor stories to shame

Waving to Mad Monk. Its nice to get a touch of madness back

Hi Serena,

While I may not agree with the contention of your question it is a valid point for discussion.  But I think in the second paragraph the Monkster asked us to suspend our Biblical and theological criticism (scholarly, not personal) and do the blue sky thing. 

And yeah, I'd like to be looking over your shoulder at the manger scene.

God bless,

Serena

We all know lots of the bible stories didn't happen literally. Yet, I love to talk about them as if they were real. I grew up with them. They are very dear to my heart. Wonderful mysterious stories for those who love a mystery

 I would like to see the Ascension to witeness the defining moment of  Christianity. Every man dies. But to see Christ ascend into heaven...that would be something.

Hi stardust:

Mirror, mirror, on the wall,

Who's the maddest of them all?

Arminius

I see no problem in your  informing the people of your accomplishments. You've kept it a secret for much too long. Is there anything else you might care to divulge?  No...on second thought, never mind.

Its always prudent to retain some mystery as in God is a hidden God.  Us poor peasants might not be able to absorb too much all at once. We might go right off our rockers!

In all seriousness (as serious as I can be for a topic like this, anyway), I would choose to be present at Lucifer's ejection from Heaven. Seems I should make sure the scribes got the beginning of the story right before examining the rest.

ergo ratio - I didn't realize that story was in the Bible.  I always thought it was from Milton's Paradise Lost or Pilgrims Progress or something like that.

Where can I find it in the Bible?  I would like to read it myself.

My story - it's from the end of the Gospel of John.  I would like to be there in the boat with the disciples when they saw someone on the shore, building a fire and cooking breakfast.  I would like to join them for the communal meal and watch their faces as they realized that Christ was there in their midst. 

It seems like a common thread here that people are drawn to mystery and real-life experience - really opposite ends of the spectrum in one sense but in good United Church theology we strive to find the sacred in the ordinary.

Thanks, everyone.

I'm with IBelieve on this one.  I would love to be present for both the end of Jesus' life, and then when Mary Magdalene sees him afterwards.  It would break my heart with the beauty and hope of it all.

Well, Ergo Ratio, Lucifer was the Angel of Light, meaning that he was enlightened enough to know that he was at-one with God.

This, perhaps, was an esoteric secret when the story was written, a secret that had to be kept from the masses. But now, that the sparrows are wistling it from the tooftops, there is no more need for secrecy.

Pandora's Box has been spilled, the Ark of the Covenant has been opened and the Covenant revealed, Schrödinger's Cat is out of the bag and running loose. Things will never be the same.

Hi stardust:

You are right, I shouldn't divulge too much, or I'll be sent to hell, like Lucifer.

But, as I just said in my reply to Ergo Ratio, THE Secret is secret no more. So we better explore it, and find out what it means to us.

I like the part when God moons Moses.  Exodus 33:23  It's kinduv Pythonesque.

I'd like to be walking along watching the sower flinging the seeds with great abandon upon the earth...not paying any particular care to make sure seeds only fell in the prepared soil.  You know the story (Matthew has the longer one "Sower and the Seed" in Chapter 13:3ff).  It speaks to me of the love of God being entirely inclusive...the seed lands wherever and the land and nature make of it what they can.  This story brought me to realize that I needed to do some work on myself so I could have better understanding of how the scriptures really are filled with wisdom....some of them more helpful than others, I admit.

Anyway, wouldn't it be great to be out in a field on a warm spring day?

Satan means "adversary, deceiver, contrary, enemy or accuser etc."

He can transform himself into anything he wants, just to deceive!

2 Cor. 11:14

    And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.

Isaiah 14:12  
    "How you are fallen from heaven,
    O Lucifer, son of the morning!
    How you are cut down to the ground,
    You who weakened the nations!

Luke 10:18  
    And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

Rev. 12:7-10 
    And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, [8] but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. [9] So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. [10] Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.

Be Blessed,

IB

Wow, for me, it would be the one story in the Bible that has not yet happened... Armageddon and every thing that comes after it...Why? Because this is the story that all these other biblical stories hint towards.

I would like to be there when Salome danced. I would like to stand up to her mother, Herodias and tell her she needs to take some parenting classes.I would like to take the books of history and try and change Salome's story for what it really was.

I would like to see the Sermon on the Mount. TO be part of the crowd and feel the energy

Hi MadMonk.

I'd like to be present for the restoration of Peter.

Not because it is Peter finally standing up and doing the right thing.  He actually is on the verge of blowing it big-time yet again.

Rather, I would like to be there.  To hang in the moment where Peter has just failed to answer Jesus' question, "Peter, do you love me?" for the second time.  To feel the tension ripple and hear the silence.  To watch the face of my Lord and my God as he inhaled and then asked the question, "Peter, do you love me?" in a way that Peter could honestly answer.

It is, in my mnd, one of the greatest stories of Grace in all of the Gospels.

Grace and peace to you.

John

oooh- i'd be at the manger, easing that night for poor scared Mary & Joseph.

I don't know if that would be the ONE I would choose, from a selfish, curious perspective but I could have helped out there.

How about Moses & the burning bush - now that would be a faith-restorer. 

Or Saul having his eyes opened - imagine the energy around moving in a new direction

lol - how about the Song of Solomon??  Would that be allowed?  or censored?  or x-rated?

I was at the Metropolitan Museum of Art yesterday and saw a painting ( now I have forgotten it's name as well as the painter) depicting the birth of Jesus.

He was the first to insert the shepherds and the wise men together at the birth.  As I looked at it i thought  "and it was you who mixed up these time lines and created hundreds of dopey Christmas cards"

ROFL!  Nice one, lastpointe :)

 haha no kidding! what a mess that turned out to be.

 It is almost as bad as the person who first depicted an angel as a lovely fairy-godmother type being.  NOT. Angels are huge and  carry swords and have names like Michael and Gabriel and Raphael.  Why else did people throw themselves on the ground in terror when they saw one, thinking 'That's it, I'm a dead duck now." 

And when people lose a baby others try to comfort them and say  "your baby is an angel now".  I had this happen when I lost my baby boy.  I was already to launch into a theological discussion but seeing  the tears of compassion in the nurses' eyes I decided it wasn't the time. 

I'd want to be there when the jews tried to stone the woman caught in adultery and Jesus said "Whoever is without sin cast the first stone." He knelt down and wrote something in the dirt though... WHAT DID HE WRITE??!??! Always wanted to know...

What I would like to do is go back to Jesus All-You-Can-Eat Buffet.

Free fish, loaves of bread, surely some hashish-tokers in the crowd, the God on Earth himself talking to us.

I'd sit there, puffing away on some hashish with some fellow Good Samaritans and listen to what he had to say while having free food.

I mean it's free food and Jesus!

I'm gonna say two - in the old testatment with the talking ass who sees the angel on the road  - I'd have a few questions for that ass myself, and also - the last supper - I want to know if Jesus really did have a thing going on with Mary M . AND I'd also like to chat with Judas -to see what kind of character he was. I've always found it hard to believe that anyone who chose to follow Jesus as closely and completely as his disciples did could turn around and betray him for money. There is never any talk about people being hard up for cash (that I know of) so it seems pretty extreme to me.

I'm gonna say two - in the old testatment with the talking ass who sees the angel on the road  - I'd have a few questions for that ass myself, and also - the last supper - I want to know if Jesus really did have a thing going on with Mary M . AND I'd also like to chat with Judas -to see what kind of character he was. I've always found it hard to believe that anyone who chose to follow Jesus as closely and completely as his disciples did could turn around and betray him for money. There is never any talk about people being hard up for cash (that I know of) so it seems pretty extreme to me.

heh sachyriel...good one!

and..karen..I think I have met a few talking asses in my time...oops, wait, that isn't the kind you meant?

Yes, lots of lovely cherub types angels in the Renaissance period.

Really funny hanging in one room.

in one spot a picture of Madonna and Baby ( at around 1??) and the future John the Baptist aroudn 1 beside.  cute, accurate ages, typical renaissance style.  Two pictures over  another Madonna and child ( same age)( really they got stuck with that theme) and john the Baptist only now he is 25ish.  I mean did they miss the part in the bible when the women were pregnant together???

and sooooooo many Madonna and child pictures. 

they are beautiful but wow, not much of a thematic shift anywhere unless you slip over to the crucifiction paintings.  

the last book in revelations that talks about how wicked would be completely destroyed and there would be no more crying, dying, sickness, war, that god has prepared a place for us. .because this is the true objective of salvation. This would let me see that all my efforts to learn the will of god and abide as best I can. this is the prize. and its awesome. when a person could change there ways by blind faith just believing the prophecies and the promises of the scriptures given by god. and to watch it all unfold in the end. what an awesome feeling that will be. just to know that you have lived a life desiring all that is good. all that is the ways of god. And to obtain an existance without adversity. never being able to remember sin or fear, are anything in your body. just newness that was born from promise and activated by sacrifice. that to me is worth the obstacles and sometimes persecution and ridicule....why not hope in something so divinely positive. surely this life could not be all there is....what a blessing just to have hope for a better existance....