Hand of God for Sale, On eBay Options

[Kalisurfer]

Hand of God rock being sold on eBay!

(CNN) -- A man in northern Idaho says he has seen a massive hand of God in his life, and he is willing to share it with the highest bidder.

Paul Grayhek says the "Hand of God" appeared in his backyard in March.

Paul Grayhek, 52, listed the rock formation he dubbed the "Hand of God Rock Wall" on the online auction Web site eBay. The highest bid was $250 early Sunday, with three days left to go in the auction.

The hand-like formation, approximately 9 feet tall and 4 feet wide, appeared in Grayhek's backyard after a rockfall during Lent on March 8, he said.

The Coeur d'Alene resident said he faced tough times after losing his job, and believed the rock was a sign.

"I prayed between licking my wounds and looking for a job," he said. "We rarely get rockfalls and this formation is 20 feet from my house. It's definitely a symbol of the hand of God in my life."
However, the winning bidder on eBay should not start clearing out his backyard. Grayhek is not planning to part with the formation.

The buyer will "basically be buying the rights, complete and exclusive rights" to the rock, including literary and movie rights, according to Grayhek.

Grayhek said he plans to use the money from the sale to pursue an unpaid internship in counseling when he graduates with a master's degree in social work in two years. "People think I'm some holier-than-thou person trying to get rich. I'm not," Grayhek said. "The purpose is to spread the story of God and eBay is just a vehicle."

[Homer]

"The purpose is to spread the story of God and eBay is just a vehicle."

This man is more forthright than he understands himself to be.

Story, indeed. The sentence should read: The purpose is to spread the story of eBay and God is just a vehicle.

I know not if shoots of the story sprout from a grain of reality, or not. Do I?

Does it matter what I believe?

[Brainiac]

Wasn't it Nietzsche who suspiciously declared God was dead? Now God's hand shows up?

Makes you wonder where he stashed the rest of the body.

[Strange Pilgrim]

"The purpose is to spread the story of God and eBay is just a vehicle."

This man is more forthright than he understands himself to be.

Story, indeed. The sentence should read: The purpose is to spread the story of eBay and God is just a vehicle.

I know not if shoots of the story sprout from a grain of reality, or not. Do I?

Does it matter what I believe?

Yes, it matters what you believe. My sense is the guy is a complete shyster and nothing else. A con artist and not a very good one. He doesn't believe for one second that this is a sign from God. He just thinks he might be able to chisel some money out of some poor religious-minded chump, or maybe from another shyster who thinks he can milk bucks out of some religious chumps by turning this into a tourist attraction. Ugly.

Whether or not this man is earnest, though, it's a fact that America, more than any other nation, I think, for some reason has a peculiar predisposition for producing people who find Mary miraculously manifesting in the bark of a tree, or Jesus in their soap or something. When I was in college (early 80's), one day there was a story in the local paper about this minister and his wife in a nearby town who said that the face of Jesus had miraculously appeared in an oil burn on the side of their stove. They thought this was a great sign from God of his enduring presence in and blessings on the world. My roommate and I thought this was so hilarious we decided to drive out and actually see this phenomenon for ourselves. For us it was just a lark, just reckless fun, but when we got there we discovered that the couple had set their living room up as a kind of shrine, and put the stove up on cinder blocks in an honorific place, and were welcoming all visitors as if they were pilgrims. They sat us down and showed us the burn spot (you had to look pretty hard, but with some imagination you could see Jesus there, like you can see shapes in clouds if you want to) and marveled at the miracle God had benevolently bestowed on them, and preached and prayed with us, and they were DEAD SOLID EARNEST. It was so sad. My friend and I were just speechless; we were so aghast and disarmed by the whole thing all we could do was be polite and comply with them and wait for graceful moment to make our getaway. We felt very ashamed afterward for having gone there with sarcastic intent. The whole thing was mortifying. And, as I said, very sad. Much better that the Hand of God guy be a scam artist.

[Brainiac]

When I saw the topic title and "ebay", I thought it might be something to do with the football that Diego Maradona won the 1986(?) World Cup with.

[Homer]

Yes, it matters what you believe.

Yes, Pilgrim, it indeed does matter, but not in the sense of reality being altered by beliefs.

Belief , as we see in the scam Hand of God sale, is not related to reality, and whatever we may reverentially hold dear we must be prepared to cast off that which becomes apparent to be no more than business dealing.

"Nobody's right if everyone is wrong."

[Strange Pilgrim]

Yes, it matters what you believe.

Yes, Pilgrim, it indeed does matter, but not in the sense of reality being altered by beliefs.

Quite right. Objective reality exists, completely apart from what we "believe" to be true or not.

But -- our beliefs directly determine the content of the decisions we make, they determine what we do. And that IS within the realm of objective reality, with real consequences. Therefore it matters a great deal what each individual believes.

[Homer]

But -- our beliefs directly determine the content of the decisions we make, they determine what we do. And that IS within the realm of objective reality, with real consequences. Therefore it matters a great deal what each individual believes.

If our decisions are made according to nonsense then the objective reality you speak of will make a slight adjustment (as in the current financial crisis) to bring us into line.

Long live Prince Phillip!

Sign the online petition to have him duty bound to die in Vanuatu among his devotees.

[Tapati]

I'm holding out for God's brain.

[Kalisurfer]

Makes you wonder where he stashed the rest of the body.

Looks like this part showed up in the province of (no joke) Guangdong, China ... known as the Yanyuan Stone.



China could make a killing on eBay with this I imagine!

[Dhyana]

Whether or not this man is earnest, though, it's a fact that America, more than any other nation, I think, for some reason has a peculiar predisposition for producing people who find Mary miraculously manifesting in the bark of a tree, or Jesus in their soap or something. When I was in college (early 80's), one day there was a story in the local paper about this minister and his wife in a nearby town who said that the face of Jesus had miraculously appeared in an oil burn on the side of their stove. They thought this was a great sign from God of his enduring presence in and blessings on the world. My roommate and I thought this was so hilarious we decided to drive out and actually see this phenomenon for ourselves. For us it was just a lark, just reckless fun, but when we got there we discovered that the couple had set their living room up as a kind of shrine, and put the stove up on cinder blocks in an honorific place, and were welcoming all visitors as if they were pilgrims. They sat us down and showed us the burn spot (you had to look pretty hard, but with some imagination you could see Jesus there, like you can see shapes in clouds if you want to) and marveled at the miracle God had benevolently bestowed on them, and preached and prayed with us, and they were DEAD SOLID EARNEST. It was so sad. My friend and I were just speechless; we were so aghast and disarmed by the whole thing all we could do was be polite and comply with them and wait for graceful moment to make our getaway. We felt very ashamed afterward for having gone there with sarcastic intent. The whole thing was mortifying. And, as I said, very sad. Much better that the Hand of God guy be a scam artist.

Awww. Your vivid narrative makes my heart ache. Sad indeed.

[Kalisurfer]

I'm holding out for God's brain.

[center]
FOUND ... near the beaches of Galveston, Texas!



Hmmm ... just how much would God's Brain bring in on eBay????