Respectful greetinsg to you all.
I am a 35-year-old man who has felt called by God for a very long time. I have studied Judaism and Christianity for a long time. I felt especially drawn to the love and compassion of Christ and the idea of a personal relationship with him.
But I study the Bible so much and I am so often horrified by what I see there. I see the love of women condemned as evil, I see God threatening to make parents eat their children! I see a God of anger and hatred. I have been studying the book of Ezekiel and I sometimes feel like crying, or like screaming "This can't be what God would really say to His children! This sounds like a crazy, murderous tyrant!"
But I have started reading the Bhagavad Gita also. Krishna is so different, and his message is so different. He even tolerates those who worship differently because he knows that he is God.
When I first became drawn to Christinaity, I was told to simply speak to Jesus from my heart; to speak to him as a friend or elder brother. Is it possible to approach Krishna in this way, or must one use certain prayers at certain times? Do followers of Krishbna feel that they have a *personal* relationship with him? Or Siva, or Rama? Can one speak with Ganesha as a friend? Will he comfort you in times of trouble or despair?
How do I approach the loving Gods of Hinduism and know whether I can have a relationship with them? Will they communicate with me to let me know they are real?
Can they save me from the Christian Hell? I can't sleep with anxiety. I need the peace of the love of a compassionate God.
How can I pray to teh Hindu Gods, or know which Hindu God I will worship?
Please share advice with me...