COOLmac, you've inspired me to tell my story to date, and my views on God throughout my life, as well.
The biggest thing that happened to me as a kid was when I was 5 years old my mother died from breast cancer. At the time my dad was never around much, and even though he and my mom were never divorced, he told me many years later that they probably would have ended up that way, because he was very immature. My father was a victim of very physically abusive parents- they were OLD SCHOOL Italians, and it didn't take much for them to hand out severe whuppings to their kids. It was so bad that my dad ran away from home at 16 years old, to live on his own...
Anyway I tell you this so you can better understand the psychology of my father. He was very immature b/c of his bad upbringing, and never spent any time around the house. He was actually addicted to playing basketball- he would play about 4 hours every day after he got home from work...and my mother, myself, and my younger brother and sister rarely saw him. So, when my mom died, my father found himself with the direct and sole responsiblity of raising three kids all 5 years and younger, when he himself was still in his 20s and wanting to just work and have fun.
Before I go on I want to talk about my mother a little. She had a history of cancer, first getting Hodgkins disease when she was a teenager. She came from an aetheist family, but became a Christian in college. Some people may read this and say BINGO- of course, she only believed because it helped her cope with her disease. Which could be true, except for the fact that when the cancer went away for about 20 years and she was living a normal life, her faith only got stronger and stronger.
When she was on her death-bed with breast cancer, she said that she had a vision that Jesus Christ visited her in her hospital room. She even got up from her bed and walked a little, which was not impossible for her- she was just very very weak.
So she dies and my dad is stuck with three babies ages 5 (me), 4, and 2. My mother's family never liked my father, they were straight-laced anglo-saxons, while he was a laborer, an Italian, and they never wanted my mother to marry him in the first place. And so they truly didn't believe that he could raise us kids by himself, and I believe wished that he would have gave us up to them to raise.
But my father was a proud man, and did a great job raising his family. One thing I noticed was how he came to really believe and trust in God, despite our many difficulties. He was raised Catholic by his parents, but then he switched to a Protestant in college. But his faith wasn't strong until after he was forced after my mother's death to be mature, to take responsibility for his actions, and to trust God when he didn't know how we were going to make it.
Now my father was no saint, and neither was my mother. But me as a child seeing their dependence, trust, and love for God made faith a very natural thing for me. I've never questioned the root of it, the fact that faith can make you whole, only seeking to clarify and understand it better.
I feel that I've been blessed. I read that "If a mistake you made causes you to learn something very important, that mistake may be the best thing that ever happened to you." In this same sense, I feel that my mother's death did wonders for my entire family. She was the only one who was ready to go to heaven, so God chose her to come first, and inspire the rest of the family to want to follow.
But let me tell you that I do not that that I have a free ticket to heaven. I have a feeling that my life is supposed to be very important, that I'm going to be a warrior in life for righteousness. Whatever that means...
Now I post all this just so everyone can understand me, who is making so many posts in this thread, better. Although I wish that everyone would read the Bible in some way and would be spiritual, I am not trying to sell anything, to con anyone, to trick anyone. I'm a very tolerant person.
Ultimately, you're going to believe what you're going to believe. I just love talking about religion/God/spirituality.
But I must say, I think that things happen for a reason, and those of you who are on the fence, or totally reject God/spirituality, maybe there's a reason why you have been reading this thread, and you have gained much knowledge and wisdom about the facts, philosophy, and psychology of those who believe and do not believe.
And who would have thought that this would happen here? In an NBA Live forum?
COOLmac© wrote:i’m sorry if this seem to be the longest post in all of the NLSC forums
I think I beat you, dude
for the meantime chow
If you do not believe in God, and there is no God, there's nothing to worry about. (no consequences)
wow your english is flawless, man- I'm shocked it's not your native tounge (you have a bigger vocabulary than me!) 
