The Value if the Negative

But when the hope is to know God inclusively—to realize the divine Ground in the world as well as in the soul, temptations and distractions must not be avoided, but submitted to and used as opportunities for advance; there must be no suppression of outward-turning activities, but a transformation of them so that they become sacramental.... there is need of unsleeping awareness.

    --- Perennial Philosophy, Aldous Huxley

Every so often I re-read this wonderful book. Almost every page speaks volumes to me, and each time something else grabs my attention. This week, the above quote grabbed me. I have been pondering it. This morning, as I lay in bed praying, a profound joy and gratitude for my many and varied life experiences swept through me, and I was tearful.

I was joyfully thankful for all of them! They wove themselves together to form the present me. Each light and shadow held a precious place in my unfolding awakening. Each was sacred, a Divine Gift.

Jesus showed us humanness and Divinity interwoven. He bled, he cried. He was also imbued with complete connection to God. His ground of being was rooted in God here with us, and God transcendent.  Our bodies too are of this earth. We bleed and cry. Our souls are of Spirit. We came to this earthly plane to learn, develop, cherish, live, love and spiritually awaken.

Instead of fighting with the shadows, it seems to me, we would do well to use them for our advancement. My old days of Aikido come to mind. We would say to our partner, "Thank you for testing me." I endeavor to say this to the twists and turns of my life.  In Aikido, we would help the attacker go in the direction they were headed, using their energy coming at us to lead them into a fall. Imagine doing this with the shadows seemingly attacking us. Take a moment and visualize it. 

Everything becomes an opportunity for spiritual growth. Thank You, God, for every moment of my life, every single moment. Thank you for showing me, as You did Joseph - they meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. I praiseYou, God. Amen!

Beyond History

 There are many biographies of men and women in many times in the life of humanity on this planet. There are also great myths and stories that hint at more than the encapsulated soul waking in a body on the face of earth.

A favorite study of mine is the New Testament. The synoptic Gospels, Mark, Matthew and Luke, focus on life stories about Jesus and share some of his teachings, a bit about the eternal Christ. Then we shift to John, Paul, Hebrews that tell a different story, a story about a universal Christ. In "Perrenial Philosophy," Huxley says:

Each in his own way wrote about the eternal "not-I" of Christ rather than the historical "I"; each in his own way stressed an element in the life of Jesus, in which, because it is more-than-personal, all persons can participate. 

So we move from the amazing teacher and healer, walking around Galilee, to Paul's Christ in you the hope of glory.  We move to the Cosmic Christ, to the Christ Eckhart called us to birth in our souls, to the Divine Energy with which we can relate and participate, to Hebrews' High Priest and High Christology.

It is a shift that may be quite a jump for some people. We can see it in the writings, when we look deeply and with new eyes, as Jesus said, Except you become like a little child, you shall not enter the kingdom.  Read through the New Testament and see the shift, allow an internal shift. Allow yourself to participate in the Christ energy, the Divine that calls us each and every moment of our lives, stirring something within us until we at last listen and turn.

Humans With and Without God

 History shows us a sad story of humankind, peppered with golden moments of humans rising above the lower tendencies to glorious moments- so we know we can rise, it is possible. So much of our history, however, exhibits violence, hatred, prejudice, jealousy, meanness, herd mentality, wars, and other horrible things.

So what can we do? Do we have the desire and will to rise above the lower behaviors? Do we realize how dangerous it is, with all the modern technology, to play with the dark side?

My vision shows me the way up and out is to align ourselves with the Divine, with the Higher Power, with God. There are pitfalls there too, because historically and currently there is violence in religion; there is ego; there is theology made by violent and power-hungry men. The story of Christianity is not just the man from Galilee and his teaching, but it is the long history of fighting over fine points of theology, even unto death. Early on there was the fear that if they got theology wrong, God would be angry and punish them with violent weather and earthquakes. There were wars over things like whether Mary was the mother of God or the mother of Jesus, over whether Jesus had one or two natures, over when he became God's son, etc. There was intrigue. 

Even today there is a huge variation of what is the "true" Christian theology, arguments over who is right and who is wrong. Families are split over disagreements over whose church is right. Nations try to destroy churches and imprison advocates of "other" points of view. 

I am most familiar with the Christian story, and  I know there is some of this in other religions too.

All of this, I consider to be life without God. The ugliness glimpsed above is not what any great teacher taught, it surely is not what Jesus taught.

Life with God is a whole other thing. It is Peace that passes understanding. It is Guidance from the Highest Source. It is Love. It is Joy. It is Kindness. It is Compassion. It is Oneness.

If we want life with God, let us heal our brokenness in prayer, introspection, forgiveness, and release. Let us open ourselves to the Highest Light, the Highest Teachers, the Noblest Way, and then walk it the best we can. Let us strive to be all we can be, forgive ourselves when we falter, and pick ourselves up and continue. 

We can change the human trajectory one person at a time, lifting and leading, waking up, and walking with The Divine Presence that is with us always.

P.S. Go back and read my "Turning" article earlier this year on June 6th.

Tethered - But to What?

I've been seeing a vision of tethering. That is to say, being attached with a stretchable cord to something that is hooked into a person on one end and the thing on the other. This is, of course, not visible to the eye, but nonetheless a very real connection that influences the person.

For example, you keep thinking about a negative experience from your past. Each thought makes your tether to it stronger, your feelings stronger, and as it strengthens, it controls you more and more. It is as if this past event is going on, over and over again. It skews how you view the present and the people in your present. It keeps you imprisoned to old shadows.

Of course, to get free, florgiveness is important. Also, diengaging the tether with visualization is important. And then, tethering to the Spiritual, rather than the shadows of the past, is the ultimate freedom.

Tethering to the Divine, opening to Unconditional Love, rooting yourself in that, is the blissful experience of Freedom, of all being well with your soul. 

As Meister Eckhart told his listeners centuries ago, Mary birthing the Christ Child means little to me unless I too can birth the Christ in my life and soul. Let the spiritual birth happen in you. Make ready by untethering from all shadows of the past and tether to the Eternal Holy Presence that calls to you. As we take a step toward God, open arms of Divine Love greet us and welcome us home.

Where Is Our Connection to God?

 Origen, that great authority, suggests a parallel: that God’s Son, God’s image, is in the ground of the soul like a living spring. If earth is thrown on it, earthly desire that is, it smothers it, covers it over, and it vanishes from our ken. But in itself it remains alive, and on removing the soil that was thrown on from without, we see it again.                              --- Meister Eckhart

There is so much to consider here. First, I find it interesting that he is quoting Origen. He was the great thinker of early Christianity, 185-253 C.E. Later Origen was called a heretic for several odd reasons. Here is one of the greatest mystics quoting him 1260-1328 C.E.  So apparently, he saw genius in Origen, as have I.

Anyway, I appreciate the visual of a living God-spring bubbling inside of us in our souls. But then we throw dirt upon it and cover it up. It is unharmed, but we are cut off from It. We are walled off, helled off, from God.

As we remove our negativity, fears, anger, resentments, false ideas, etc, the dirt is removed. We put it there, we take it away.

As Meister Elkhart says later in the sermon:

When the artist makes a statue of wood or stone, he does not put the image in the wood; he chips away the wood which hides the form. He gives the wood nothing, he takes it away: carves it out where too thick, pares off overlay, and then there appears what was hidden.

We find God never left us, was always there, right where we left Him/Her, under our own pile of dirt, in the center of our soul. 

When Your Heart Drops

 There are moments in life when our hearts feel like they just drop. 

This week I had one of those moments.

My husband had a stroke on July 30. While in the hospital, he had a pain in his side, so they scanned it. They said he had appendix cancer, then they said peroteneum cancer. This week the surgeon put a camera in his abdomen, took biopsies, and put a chemo port in his shoulder. The surgeon said his abdomen is full of cancer, and it is likely that chemo could only give him a little more time. My heart dropped. My tears flowed. This Wednesday we go back and get the biopsy results and suggestions of what to do.

I know with surety that life continues beyond here. I know our bodies are sort of suits our souls wear so we can navigate earth and learn and get experience here. I know our bodies are made of earth and return to earth and our souls are divine and eternal. I know this not on second-hand information, but on my own personal life experience. So I am not afraid of the transition from life here to the next existence. 

And, because I love my husband and have been blessed to be married for 37+ years, I want him well and healthy and to stay here with me. My selfish self shouts out, NO God, heal him, let him stay with me. My spiritual self softly counsels me, ask for his highest good, not yours. Tears well up, and my heart drops again.

Of course God is in charge, not me. We should all be thankful about that. Imagine if we ruled with all of our conflicting wants and desires. Chaos!

We had been rolling along, hopeful we would finally get our assets restored very soon, making plans for foundations and lifting others, making plans for our future. And then the stroke and then the cancer. My heart drops just writing it.

So, God, I surrender. I ask You to Guide us. I ask You to bring forth the Highest Good for us, even if we don't understand, even if You don't want to explain. I let my fallen heart fall into Your care and keeping.So be it.

History Is Now

 I'm reading " The Jesus Wars," and remembering how the themes of history repeat themselves ad nauseum. Perhaps we fail to learn from those who were here before, or this planet has a set curriculum, a gauntlet we all must walk. We succeed or we fail. 

It is widely thought that those who fail have to try again as many times as needed, to at long last succeed. And some of those who succeed come back as teachers and some as Avatars.

What would succeeding look like, feel like?

There are huge hints from major and minor teachers, from scriptures and mystical writings from those who remember.

Some I've mentioned before: Unconditional Love, compassion, non- attachment, peace, kindness, generosity, devotion, Oneness with the Divine.

See for yourself. Read the writings of spiritual greats, such as the Commandments and Psalms and Proverbs, the Bhagavad Gita, Lao Tse, Buddha, Jesus, the great mystics such as Rumi, Hafiz, Meister Eckhart, Hildegard of Bingen, Thomas a Kempis, Julian of Norwich, Teresa of Avila, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Teilhard de Chardin, Rufus Jones and countless others. You will see a thread of thinking connecting them.

You will feel a deep inner pull to the eternal truths, as if old friends you just remembered.

Compassion or Not?

What is compassion? Knowing we are not unique, that we are in this together, our joy and suffering shared.                       --- Matthew Fox

We share this planet and all that is here, from air and water to knowledge. We share the hopes and dreams of all humans- a good life for our families, a safe place to live, freedom, etc. If we ruin our planet home, it is ruined for us all. If we lie, viciously compete, cheat, create fear and hatred, we all suffer.

Psalm 85:10 says  Love (compassion) and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other.

The path of Love/Compassion is taught by all spiritual greats. We hear it from every corner, yet so few live it, and fewer still consistently live it.

I muse - how would it look? We would be interested in other people, their hopes and dreams, their ideas, how life looks through their eyes, accepting them with kindness. We would not insist everyone agree in every detail with us. We would be free of hostility towards ourselves and others. We would collectively find a way to deal with those who insisted on violence (any form, such as cheating, stealing, physical), endeavoring to help them heal their pain, so they could live free of inner torment that caused them to hurt others.

I know this is unlikely, but it is not impossible. Let us strive to begin a Love/Compassion revolution today by doing all we can to show up in our lives as walking talking Love/Compassion, as Kindness in action.  

Vision of Awakening

This morning I had a vision I need to share.

I saw earth in a dark gray cloud of hatred, anger, illusion, fear, false ideas. I saw a few sparkles of light of those of us trying to get people to wake up from the nightmares of all of this, to the mission for which we came to earth.

Tears ran down my face. How needless the pain and agony of living in this cloud. How far astray it leads people. How unlike it is meant to be. 

The great religions, the great avatars/prophets/visionaries have told us to love one another, respect one another, treat others as we want to be treated, attune to the Divine. They have told us there are answers. There is guidance available. There are spiritual principles to follow. Our lives have purpose. The seed of the Divine is in each of us. We are not our bodies, rather we inhabit our bodies with our souls so we can navigate earth.

We know these words. We say prayers. we pay lip service, but do the opposite.

How can we awaken?

We NEED to awaken NOW. Earth, humans, animals, plant life - we are vulnerable. Weapons of terrible power have been invented, and some crazily itch to use them. Artificial intelligence is poised to be way too powerful. Look what we with the potential of a conscience have done. Imagine what something with more intelligence, but with no conscience could do.

Listen to the call to awaken. Follow it. Become the Light you were meant to be.

The Past and Now, A Different Angle

 It has long been my understanding that we need to resolve our past issues so as to not drag them into our now and distort it. Yesterday I got a glimmer of a new idea, or a slightly different angle, along that line from a novel I started reading,"An Echo in Time."

Basically, the idea is that some of the patterns in our lives can be unresolved issues of our ancestors, recent or even centuries ago.

That struck a note of recognition. My mother's father put a bullet to his brain in front of my mother, when she was 7. I saw the direct influence that had on her and her sister, mother, aunt, and later to my dad, etc.

But then, yesterday I saw a direct line to me from my grandfather. When there were times in the past that I felt hopeless and thought of giving up, I thought of him and made a choice to not give in and so not carry his hopeless forward. He had just been ripped off by his business partner and lost his fortune; his wife was mentally ill; his son was dead. He apparently talked himself into deep hopelessness and gave his life to it.

In my children and in myself, I see resilience. We have walked some very deep valleys, and we kept on walking. Also, we have strong faith. I don't know about my grandfather's faith, but I assume, if he had some, it faltered.

I am going to consider some of the other, strange and seemingly out of left field, patterns in my life through this lens. Are there other family issues trying  to resolve themselves through me? 

Or is it just the human lessons we all came to earth to learn? Are our lives not so different? Is it just earth-school for all of us? Maybe it's not my family issues afterall.

Marguerite Porete

I have just discovered a mystic I was not aware of, or I simply forgot and just glossed over her name and life 😪,  Marguerite Porete. She wrote a little book, "The Mirror of Simple Sou!s" that was translated into four languages and widely distributed, especially among the Beguines. I just downloaded it myself yesterday. 

She was born in 1250 C.E and burned at the stake in 1310 C.E. Below is just one of the reasons the official church was opposed violently to her, as well as many parts of her writing and teaching, such as that you could find God everywhere. She had tapped into the deep mystical well that has fed the souls of so many. Also, she was a female and part of a religious group not approved of by the Roman church, the Beguines.

 In her book she distinguishes between what she calls “The Great Holy Church,” which is the Church of the Spirit, and “the Little Holy Church,” which she calls the “empirical and scholastic church whose uncomprehending queries are more often placed on the lips of reason than are made to testify to love or the soul . The former church preaches Love; the latter church preaches rules and law and order.          --- "Meister Eckhart - A Mystic Warrior for Our Time"

The church was/is not open to ideas that interfere with their dogma or their control. Yet, all through history there have been people who knew greater, deeper truths. I celebrate Marquette and am grateful for her witness to God's Truth, even unto death.

 

 

Ideologues

 I watch with fascination, and maybe a little horror, as partially aware people rant and rave about some position orthe other. They are wound up emotionally, so not able to use their higher thinking. They are sometimes led to violence. They are civilizations' downfalls all across history. They are controlled by false and nonspiritual ideas. they are not skilled in critical thinking and ao are easily led whichever way their friend or leader leads them. The herd cries "get them" and they do. Group think takes over and bad things happen.

This can happen in any area. In politics we see it. Ranting and raving about this or that party or person, as if they actually knew what was going on behind the scenes and oblivious to how they are being manipulated. There is almost nonexistant civil discourse regarding ideas and principles and consideration of all points of view.

We see paid demonstrators riling up young people to loot and burn and attack. Actually it is to bring down society, but the wild demonstrators think at first it is for some bogus cause and then are so wound up in emotion, they are out of control. The puppeteers behind it all laugh.

I sometimes wonder it Hitler could have been stopped, if people stopped and thought about what he was actually doing, and if they really wanted all that violence and death.

We see it in religiion. Some clergy get people whipped up in emotion and seed in them wild ideas quite unlike the original teaching. All the while, some of the leaders are doing the opposite in their own lives. Think of the clergy who abuse children sexully, or  have multiple affairs with young women, or who live in mansions in lusxury. There is very little actual scholarship going on, if any. There is a twisted and literal interpretation of scriptures with no understanding of what's really being written and by whom.

I don't know how we are going to do it, but I thihk it is urgent that we wake up and help others wake up. We are in a more precarious situation than ever before because of media and also our advanced weaponry. We who see and understand, need to be voices for reason, for thinking beyond the boxes we are in, to step up and live in freedom mentally. 

Please deeply consider this.

Interbeing - Oneness

 I've  been reading some Thich Nhat Hanh and also some Meister Eckhart. Some of their concepts are remarkably alike. I have been pondering one of them this morning. I'd like to share some of my thinking with you.

Eckhart talks about the seed of God in you, about the Cosmic Christ in all things - in other words, about Oneness.

Thich Nhat Hanh talks a lot about interbeing, about everything being connected and interrelated. He has given many examples. I'll share something like his idea. Look closely at a piece of paper. If you look closely, you can see the tree it came from, and the plant that turned it into paper, and all the hands that touched it umtil it came to you. If you look closer, you can see the cloud that rained on the tree and gave it water, and the oceans and lakes and rivers that evaporated to make the cloud to make the rain. You can see the sun that shone upon the tree giving it photosyunthesis and life, you can see the orbit of the earth around the sun and the orbit of the solar system around the Milky Way. And if you look very deeply, you can see the big biang and know that every atom that makes up everything vivible came from that big bang, that the visible is all made of star dust.

It boils down to us being one, participating in a connected, interrelated life. Everything is partof everything.

Everything, everyone, every moment are all sacred and part of the Grand Divinity, the Intelligence orchestrating the manifest universes and beyond.

Contemplate this with me and open to the Great Mystery.

Taste It To Know It

 “The ultimate dimension of reality has nothing to do with concepts,” he warns us. You cannot just describe and talk about apple juice — you must drink it. "Things cannot be described by concepts and words. They can only be encountered by direct experience.”               ---  Matthew Fox,"Meister Eckhart, A Mystic Warrior for Our Time"

Words are useful, but cannot convey meaning alone, for example if the listener has no experience to understand the particular words used or has a mind-made-up-already stance based on other people's experience. They might as well be speaking a different language. The words "apple juice" have no useful meaning to someone who has not tasted actual apple juice. They may understand what the category juice is, but not the taste of this juice.

You may be thinking it's no big thing to not understand apple juice. Yet this is a principle that can be applied to important things, important things like God, soul, unconditional love, forgiveness, peace, and other spiritual principles. 

Most people allow television, internet and social media to colonize their minds. With techniques of hypnosis, these things impart control and seed a mixture of untruths, partial truths, with a smattering of truth. They numb us to the greater Reality.

People become more concerned about what's supposedly going on in some celebrity s life than in the lives of people actually in their lives. They get upset by propaganda. They miss the gorgeous sunset. They miss the tear in their loved one's eye. They block the essence of life and lessons so dearly the soul needs and yearns.

It is an honor to be able to come to earth and experience the spiritual hiding behind the appearances, to develop our spiritual muscle and understanding, to experience the Divine and know Oneness. 

Here in this place we have limits. All is on loan. All is temporary. We must learn to be present so as not to miss those precious moments sculptured, tailored for our soul growth. You may not pass this way again. Be present for every moment.

Speak to Me

 Speak to me,

I speak to you in the morning breeze.

Speak to me,

I speak to you through the cooing of the morning doves.

Speak to me,

I speak to you through the happy faces of the flowers.

Speak to me,

I speak to you through the exuberance of children.

Speak to me,

I speak to you through the eyes of love of all whom you know.

Speak to me,

I speak to you even in the shadows, in deep valleys, and darkest of nights.

I speak to you at all times, in all places. 

I am always with you.

I am everywhere. 

I am the Energy at the heart of all.

I am you.

 --- M. Marlene Oaks

My Teacher Across Centuries

“All roads lead to God for God is on them all evenly.”                                               ---Meister Eckhart, 1260-1328 C.E.

 As Thomas Merton wrote in the margin of one of his journals - Meister Eckhart is my lifeboat. When I first discovered the mystics during my studies in the 70's, I thought "I have found my people." Meister Eckhart  was my first, then along came a village with Mechtild  of Magdeburg, Hildegard of Bingen, Jacob Boehme, Julian of Norwich, Brother Lawrence and many others, including others not Christian, but from other centuries and places.

I discovered there is something like a deep well of wisdom and knowing and that some people in all cultures, all times, have drunk from this well and have known the same truths. You could say Cosmic Christ (as Colossians 1), the Tao (The Way) or use other terms. Interestingly, the original followers of Jesus were followers of The Way.

The same well is open to us. However, we need to prepare our inner ground so that the seed of God in us can grow and flourish, and so that we become ready to receive the immense Truths, Wisdom and Love that await us. To everything there is a season, and for the season of our spiritual awakening we now prepare.

We  need to become gardeners of our souls. Pull up weeds of negativity, fear, greed, selfishness, anger, hatred, etc. Spend time in spiritual practices from reading inspirational words, to prayer, contemplation, journaling, to good deeds of kindness and lifting others.

Be ready for a powerful awakening. Without preparation, we could not stand it or even understand it. As Jesus said that it can come like a thief in the night. Even though we prepare, it can be startling. It is absolutely wonderful and unlike anything else.

In God's Image

 God has formed and created the soul very like himself, for we read that our Lord said: “Let us make human beings in our own image” (Gen. 1:26). And this is what he did. So like to himself did he make the soul of a person that neither in the kingdom of heaven or on earth among all the splendid creatures that God created in such a wonderful way is there any creature that resembles him as much as does the soul of a human being alone. --- Meister Eckhart

How wondrously and marvelously we are made! Our centers, our souls, they are in God's image. There is a sacred center in each and every person.

It is our job, those of us who know the Truth, to live our lives aware and awake to the sacredness within, not only us, but also within each and every person. When we look beyond appearances and see righteously, as Jesus taught us, we help bring out that knowing in others. No matter how confused, lost, angry someone appears to be, deep within is the soul made in God's image.

So we have multiple choices daily. We can ask ourselves - Do we help to continue the appearance that imprisoned a soul by believing it, or do we see righteously and help the person set their soul free to live gloriously expressing the imprisoned sp!endor? Our thoughts are energy, As Isaiah said:

so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;  it shall not return to me empty ,but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,  and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Or as Jesus said according to Matthew:

Listen and understand.

11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”

What goes out of our mouths is energy that either lifts or destroys. 

Let us strive to be lifters who know the soul is sacred, and, even if apparently hidden, is there and maybe, just maybe our thoughts and words can help free it.

God lives and dwells and has His Being in you.

Living a Script?

 I had a vivid vision. I was standing before a wall of bookshelves. They were arranged from left to right, easy to difficult, to very difficult.  I took down one in the very difficult section. The cover said "Job." I told my guide, "I will take this one."

That would certainly explain the strange events of my life. My general life script is like Job's. What was I thinking?

This morning, not wanting to get up yet, I was musing, and I was asking what I am to learn and what am I to do with the rest of my life? 

I saw the Bible as a cast of characters that outline all of our lives. I saw that it tells not only of God, but also of the human condition and the lessons we come to earth to learn. 

I thought of Shakespeare's all the world's a stage. Maybe, just maybe, there is some truth to this and to my vision.

Think on these things...

The Spirit Who Raised Jesus

 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of[e] his Spirit who lives in you. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.--- Romans 8:11, 14-17

 I was reading Richard Rohr again this morning. The section I was reading suggested reading Romans 7. I did and kept on reading chapter 8. Now, I have read the New Testament hundreds of times, and this time I read Romans 8, I was struck with the above verses. This is what I've been saying, and yet somehow I missed that Paul made the same point. Or maybe subconsciously I remembered and joined it with my life experience to know and teach our seeking and yearning for the Spirit of God.

It is the Spirit of God we seek, the same Spirit that worked through Jesus. Jesus showed us what that kind of life would look like, would be. When we become aware of the Union. the Unity, the Oneness, our lives shift into something wholly different from the life seemingly separate from God. The Spirit of God is everywhere, but we have spiritual blinders on until we awaken. It seems we are separate, but we are not. Only in our belief are we separate. Magnificent Oneness is there, knocking on our inner door all the time. We are not orphans, adrift on earth. We are children of God, co-heirs with Christ.

You Belong

 If the veil parts once and you know life is radically okay, then you are — to use the normal Christian language — a child of God. You are in union. There is nothing to prove. Nothing to attain. Everything is already there. It is simply a matter of recognizing and honoring and trusting. --- Richard Rohr, "Everything Belongs"

The veil can part in meditation, in prayer, in nature, in some moment in life that has sudden change,or seemingly random moments. You can't make it happen. You can make yourself ready by your spiritual practices, make your inner ground receptive.

However it happens, it is a profound life change. It may happen multiple times. It changes us more and more. The more surely we know of Divine Union, of Unconditional Love, of what's really going on, the more aware, awake, and at peace we are.

We know from experience that God exists, that God is with us, that life's lessons have purpose, that everything is part of the Whole. We know and know that we know. It's not intellectual, or hopeful, or hearsay.  You belong. You are okay ---  a magnificent one of a kind masterpiece of God, and so is everyone else. 

Arise

 Arise, shine for the light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.           - Isaiah 60:1

I opened my Bible randomly this morning, and opened to the above verse. As my husband walks better and better with a walker and is overcoming the stroke, this seemed like it was personally meaning-laden for us.

And, for all of us in process of overcoming various things, arise. I remember someone long ago saying People say I'm doing okay under the circumstances, what on earth are you doing under circumstances? 

Arise! Life happens. Life and its challenges/lessons happen for us all. We have to face them, overcome them, learn from them, hold out a hand to others also trying to overcome and move on. 

We cannot avoid life's lessons. As the Borg said "resistance is futile." In fact, resistance, complaint, weeping and wailing, only prolong it. 

We can avoid some of the challenges, however, by being present in the present moment and making better, wiser choices. As I have often said, "after most of our valleys we can say I knew I shouldn't have done that." It seems to me that we receive guidance that we ignore.

So let us listen more carefully, choose more wisely, be fully present, and when we find ourselves in a dark place, Arise!

Life Turns On a Dime

And suddenly all is different.

My husband and I were rejoicing that on Saturday it's our 37 the wedding anniversary.

BUT Tuesday he had a stroke. His legs no longer work. He's dizzy, throwing up. He's in the hospital.

Our future is not what we thought it would be.

Time to pray and regroup. There are new things to do, things we never expected or prepared for. What can I do? St. Francis' thought speaks to me.

Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” —St. Francis of Assisi

So I'm about to help my husband do the impossible. Pray for us please.

A Fascinating New Old Book

 I am reading a book written over 100 years ago that is new and exciting to me. Abraham Rihbany wrote The Syrian Christ, Son of the East. He was born and raised near where Jesus was born and raised. He says to understand the Bible, one must understand the life and ways of a culture far different Western culture. It is difficult to understand deeply for those not part of a culture. Most only know a surface snapshot. He goes on to say: 

The combination of our commercial activities and the never-ceasing whirl of the wheels of our industries close up our senses to the intimate whisperings of the divine spirit. We see, but with the outward eye. We hear, but with the outward ear. Our inward senses are in grave danger of dying altogether from lack of exercise.

 I find this sadly true, maybe even more so with all of the developments since he wrote. We are bombarded with the trivial, we are kept busy with things that we have no control over, we are upset and distracted. We often fill our days with the meaningless.

For some people there seems to be no time to be still, to contemplate, to listen, to go inward and upward. Therefore, spiritual senses are dulled, shut down and out of the lives of many people. As he said, "for lack of exercise," spiritual senses may die in us. There then is no richness, no depth, no poetry, no understanding or even awareness of the Mystery. We wander in the dry desert, in the wilderness devoid of greatness of soul.

I urge you to carve out quiet time every day, to be aware when you are busy with the meaningless, to exercise your spiritual senses. Go inward and upward every day.

How Do I Become Anything?

First of all,decide on it and practice, practice, practice. If you want to be a philosopher and wise Epictetus said:

We ought to learn that there is a God and that he provides for all things: also that it is not possible to conceal from him our acts, or even our intentions and thoughts... (We) must with all our power try to be like him. If the divine is faithful, man also must be faithful: if it is free, man also must be free; if beneficent, man also must be beneficent; if magnanimous, man also must be magnanimous; as being then an imitator of God, he must do and say everything consistently with this fact.

 Whatever we wish to be, we must learn the skills of that thing, whether it be music or art or coding and be consistent in our learning and application. 

In addition, it seems to me, we would also do well to seek wisdom and a relationship with God.  There are many writings and teachings about this, of course. Epictetus writes succinctly. His words can add to what we know or seek to know. 

To me, if I say I am something or other, but do not do best  practices of that thing, I am not really what I say I am.. I am a phony, sloppy, an imposter. 

I think that is one of the reasons people have fallen away from religious groups, are disgusted with politics, and don't know what to do or how to find a genuine, congruent teacher. So few practice what they preach, often even do the opposite. 

If we want to turn the world around, we need to embody the qualities that we desire in our leaders, practice them, get more and more consistent, and then, only then, teach others, lead others. As is often said, be the change you want to see happen.

You can do it. God has led you here to these words, in this moment of time. Hear them in your heart and begin.

 

Justice= Truth

 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be well satisfied.”  Justice is another name for truth, and truth is something that stands the test and is durable. Anything less than the truth fades away... Justice is as precious and as necessary as the air that man breathes. When justice is flouted, human equilibrium is thrown out of balance; but when justice reigns in a land, everything functions well.                     -- "The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth" by George Lamsa  

(Lamsa's book on  the Sermon on the Mount  is amazing.  He was an Aramaic language speaker from an area much like it was when Jesus walked the earth.)

It was a new idea to me that justice and truth are the same, at least in the understanding of the Aramaic  language.  

When Truth/Justice are ignored or denied, sad and dreadful things ensue. When they are honored, something good and enduring are honored.

That could explain the current situation in the world. Truth is not being spoken by our leaders in any area - not in politics, not in government, not in science, not in media, not in religion - not in any area. Therefore there is no enduring Justice in our world.

Let us begin a new movement, speak only the Truth. It is a sacred duty in order to honestly be able to say "I follow Christ."

 

Ways to Read the Bible

 There are many ways to read the Bible, many eyes through which to view it.

There are the eyes of an archeologist. These eyes look for clues in the Bible as to where to search and dig. For example, The Armstrong Institute has found verification for a number of things by finding what the people left. I get their fascinating magazine, Let the Stones Speak. Another magazine I get and recommend is  Biblical Archeology Review.

There are the eyes of an historian. These eyes seek to find what actually happened, what was it like back in the day, what were the laws and customs and diet and on and on. What was the Roman Empire like?  One example, they never had a census where people had to go their home town to be counted. Can you imagine the chaos  of that in the huge Roman Empire? They did have a few censuses, but the people just went to an official in the town where they lived.

There are the eyes of a linguist, of experts in ancient languages, experts in idioms, experts in how languages change over time and meanings of words change.

There are eyes of apologists who seek to make it fit their theology. They want it to be all true and literal and do all sorts of contortions in an effort to force it and to stop all thinking otherwise.

There are eyes that skim the surface and give little thought or care.

There are eyes that seek the Truth, that delve deeply, that meditate and contemplate and find deep meanings. They know that some things are myths, allegories, or parables, and they contain great truths. 

This morning in meditation, I heard "No room at the Inn," is there room in your heart to nurture the Light of Christ?" The story might not be historically true, but is loaded with profound meaning. 

I challenge you today to look at the Bible, or any sacred text, with new eyes. Open your eyes, your heart, and your mind to  enter the Great Mystery of God.

What Is a Human?

 Epictetus answers - A rational and mortal being. He also tells us he/she can act like a wild beast and lose the promise of rationality and lose oneself, lose our humanity. When does one become as a wild animal? We act gluttonously, lewdly, rashly, filthly, inconsiderately .. When we act contentiously and harmfully and passionately and violently, to what have we declined? To wild beasts.

Therefore, it is upon our shoulders to get in control of ourselves and to be the person God had in mind when He created us. It is essential we become aware when the beastly rears its ugly head in us, and to send it away and refuse to sink into that dark place 

I think of Jesus extending the commandments. Not only should we not murder, but we also must avoid anger.  Not only should we not commit adultery, we should not lust. Etc. And if we even have something in our heart against someone, we need to stop what we are doing, even worshipping, and go clear it up. 

In so many ways Jesus would have agreed with Epictetus. How about you?

Great Spirit

This morning in my meditation I was asking what am I now to do in my remaining years? I heard guidance to write this down and share it.

There is a Great Spirit that speaks in the depths of souls and has done so from the very beginning of humanity. It calls out the very best of us. It calls out to love, to be joyous, to be kind, to be generous, to be curious, to be creative, to celebrate this Great Spirit in everyone and everything, and to endeavor to be like It.

But It also made it so that we have to work to go beyond appearances. Much like an athlete in training, we have to stretch and flex and develop our spiritual strength. 

The Great Spirit is urging us vigorously to awaken to this NOW. 

It is time to realize the many religions are various attempts to awaken us to the spiritual truths in somewhat similar ways. The details vary as do cultures, but there is Truth to be found everywhere.

It is time to stop making slight differences the stuff of  prejudice, hatred and violence. It is time to stop dividing people into groups and judging them as a group, aka prejudice. 

We are all humans. We all are kin to God, The Great Spirit. We all have greatness of soul. Teach this to one another. Awaken this Truth in as many as you can.

So said The Great Spirit of God to me this morning and asked me to share it with you. I pray you contemplate these words and implement them in your life. God Loves you and so do I.

Why I Don't Believe in the Virgin Birth

Recently I shocked an evangelical friend of mine, when I told him I do not believe in the virgin birth of Jesus, actually of anyone. It occurred to me this morning I might share my reasoning with you.

Long ago I had the realization that God gave me intelligence and expected me to use it. 

I began to question and explore.

 So here is a brief outline of my thinking.

 Paul wrote between 52-64 CE. The only thing he said about Jesus' birth was he was "born of woman under the law." He surely would have said something about a magical birth, if it were being talked about. 

The next writing we have is Mark who starts his Gospel with the baptism. Not a word about a virgin birth. All three baptism stories have Jesus see a dove or spirit and hear a version of Isaiah or Psalms saying he is my son. Indicating he did not know that before this time. 

Then there is the episode in Mark 3 where his mother and brothers want to take him away "for he has gone out of his mind." That does not seem consistent with Mary being made pregnant by God. It seems that story does not develop until The Way has moved fully into the Greek/Roman world where they already had such stories. 

For these and other reasons, such as the genealogies in Matthew and Luke all through Joseph, I am pretty well convinced that Paul spoke the truth

A Really New Idea to Me

 He did not speak to His disciples of His resurrection, His ascension, and His parousia as three distinct acts, since the event to which He looked forward is not identical with any of the three, but is composed of them all. The resurrection is, at the same time, the ascension and parousia, and in the parousia the resurrection and the ascension are also included. --- Albert Schweitzer, "The Quest of the Historical Jesus"

Wow! I never even considered this as a possibility. My mind is whirling.

I can see this as possibly true. All three were contained in this multifaceted event. 

It goes on to say:

 "Jesus spoke of the future of His work and His teaching in a way that implied the consciousness of an influence to be continued after His death, whether unbrokenly or intermittently, and the consciousness that by this influence His work and teaching would be preserved from destruction and the final victory assured to it."

Here we are 2,000 or so years later and various versions of his teaching are still here. I'm going to have to contemplate all of this!

1776 and Us

 July 4, 1776, the official birthday of our nation, is a joyous and sacred day. Courageous and visionary people dreamed of a new kind of government, and surprisingly they did something about their vision. They wrote The Declaration of Independence. They fought the greatest power of the day and won independence with farmers, builders, and other ordinary people. Great men led them, including the incredible George Washington. Then they wrote the landmark document, The Constitution. They realized some more was needed, so they wrote some amendments. It developed and grew and became the place in the world where dreams could come true.

John Adams said, “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

The quote above haunts me more and more. Christianity seems to be unraveling. Marxism is on the rise in the world and in subverting our foundation. Youth are being taught false history and to hate our country. 

It seems to me that it is time to wake up, to think, to stand for what once made this place great. I often think of my long ago political science professor who said, ""You can tell which country is the best by which way the borders leak."   From the very beginning, people with a dream were drawn here. I'm not talking about the current invasion - I'm talking about orderly and lawful immigration. Remember the history of the Roman Empire, weakened by bad emperors and declining morals, finally taken down by the barbarians flooding the borders. 

God bless the American Dream. Will we have the courage of our visionary founders, or will we go down as a failed experiment, a footnote in history?

Are You Upset?

For what, then, has god made you responsible? For that which alone is in your power, the proper use of appearance. Why then do you then feel upset about the things which you are not responsible for? This is only bringing trouble to yourself.                            --- Epictetus

 In these turbulent times, it might be a good idea to listen to what Epictetus has to say. I see and hear all manner of people extremely upset over things they have no power over and often things said that are unverified or distorted.

So and so says XYZ and another says LMN. Pundits then say opposite things about them, and people rage, not being present at the event and not being privy to any inside information to verify, or being too lazy to research. Extreme ravings ensue. 

That's where we are now - polarized.

Before we get upset, let's do some research, listen to all sides, think, use logic, sprinkle with common sense. Take a breath. Calm down. 

Once that is done ask - Is there something I can and should do about it? Is it mine to do?  Do I have expertise in this area? Do I need to learn more?

Say it's a Constitutional issue. Read the Constitution. Listen to arguments pro and con. Think about it logically, not from left or right bias. 

Say it's a religious issue. Do some research perhaps in history, archeology, the study of ancient languages, etc. There are mountains of book, podcasts and YouTube videos from actual scholars. Before you upset yourself, get informed.

If you are still livid, you are in your limbic brain and not using your cerebral cortex. Don't make any decision out of emotionality. You are likely to make things worse. 

Taking responsibility for our own reactions or responses is the sign of maturity and wisdom.

Greek Stoics

First say to yourself, who do you want to be: then act accordingly. -- Epictetus

I keep reading and hearing that Paul added Platonism and Stoicism to his teaching and understanding, perhaps to make it more palatable to the people of the Roman Empire and possibly because it was already part of his worldview. He was a Jew and a Pharisee, but he lived his life outside of the Jewish homeland. He was a Roman citizen.

So I have been rereading Greek philosophy. I had not read Epictetus, except for a few quotes here and there, so I started reading his Discourses. I am now excited about his ideas. The Stoic ideas he presented are very much in alignment with mine, or maybe I should say I am in alignment with him.

The quote at the top of this entry is a simple and profound idea, one of a huge number of thoughts worthy to deeply consider.

Beginning to consider it, I wonder how many have asked themselves what they want to be. Not just career wise, but more importantly as a person. What principles do we stand on?  How do we act in life? Who are we?

Once we begin to get clarity, then action is necessary, unless we just want to be empty windbags. Practice a thing and it becomes part of us. What should we practice? I suggest kindness is a good beginning. Taking responsibility for yourself, not blaming, is essential. Focus on what you can do and do that and do it well. Be the best person you can be. 

A New Vision

 

Menticide

 Menticide is an old crime against the human mind and spirit but systematized anew. It is an organized system of psychological intervention and judicial perversion through which a powerful dictator can imprint his own opportunistic thoughts upon the minds of those he plans to use and destroy... 

Mental courage cannot be cultivated by physical training only. It requires training in mental stamina, in understanding of basic. beliefs, and even in non-conformistic thinking. ---. "The Rape of the Mind" by A. M. Meerloo, M.D.

Our minds, our ability to reason, our critical thinking, all of these are precious and need to be protected. The idea of menticide, the numbing or killing of these, is horrifying.

In the study of mind control, propaganda, hypnosis via mass media, the influence of the internet and now artificial intelligence, I find the dangers of menticide incredibly increased.

One of the things happening, in the overload of varying degrees of information, from totally false to accurate, people are exhausted and just give up the search for truth, thereby live a numbed down existence. Or they just take one strand of "information" and make it their truth with religious fervor.  Or... Whichever response we use to the bombardment coming at us, we have some degree of menticide.

I hear the Zen master shout WAKE UP!!!

God Is Love (Unconditional Love)- So Where Did the Idea of Satan Come From?

 Last night a woman walked out of my Bible study at the homeless shelter. She insisted that God did not create everyone, that Wrath created people and they were created to be evil and had no good in them.  I had never met someone so devoted to such an idea that she ran from the idea that God is Love and created/creates everyone.

This morning I was praying and the insight that came to me was that some people are highly invested in scapegoats. They therefore feel no need to forgive others. Anyone who they perceive as having caused them hurt and pain are bad and evil to the core. Satan becomes the ultimate scapegoat, eliminating self responsibility.

On the other hand, a young man that had come a couple of times, and had mentioned a severe childhood that still tormented him, and he asked me what my grandmother had done to me. Then he was astonished I was able to forgive her. I to!d him if I could do it, I knew he could too. He asked if some things  just aren't forgivable? I asked him what Jesus said on the cross. "forgive them for they know not what they do." His eyes widened and he repeated that several times and suddenly applied that to his situation. I saw the beginnings of inner freedom right before my eyes. I saw God working in his heart. Thank you God.

Blessing and Curse

 Technology is a blessing and a curse. We have access to so much and are mostly relieved of drudgery. Yet we are constantly being programmed, hypnotized, and isolated from one another and the challenges of life. We are examples of Pavlov's  experiments.

We see it wherever we go. Families at dinner "together," but all engrossed in phones or tablets, so not communicating with one another, not developing conversational skills, not debating and thinking. We see it as people are walking with full attention to their devices.

We see it as people take on the opinions of whatever news they watch, and call the "other" channels evil liars. We see it when people are out demonstrating for something opposite of their values or opposite of what is good for them. They are propagandized, hypnotized , not using critical thinking, and not aware of it either.

All of this puts our freedom in jeopardy. I think we need to quickly pivot. We need to teach critical thinking skills. We need to encourage time limits to use of devices. We need to teach people some hands on skills such as gardening, woodworking sewing, cooking, etc. We need to encourage time in nature, quiet time, contemplation, conversation, open debate of ideas, etc. 

I encourage you to think on these things. Debate them with others with different viewpoints. Put down your devices at least several hours a day and reconnect more deeply with real people and places. Think new thoughts. Challenge yourself. Let life be the adventure it is meant to be.

Growth Leaves a Trail of Destruction

 It is ironic. Often to learn something new, an old idea has to go. Often, maybe always, we leave a trail of shards of previous understanding lying on our path.

I think of Paul saying when a child, I thought as a child. Our Santa Claus, Easter bunny, fairytale childish ideas lay strewn behind us. 

Human knowledge has mountains of discarded shards. No longer is Mt. Olympus home to the gods. No longer is the earth the center of the universe.  No longer do witches cause crop failures. No longer a zillion things.

Yet, here we stand, often refusing to learn in order to protect whatever idea we hold dear. 

I long ago had the flash of realization that the the immense intelligence that created the universes, who imbued me with a bit of that intelligence, would not be upset at me for using it. Indeed, if God even could be upset, it would be more likely for not using that intelligence.

I get confounded by those educated people, for example, who insist the Bible is inerrant and infallible. Even without scholarly study, it is obvious that the Bible is full of contradictions. Theology is also a bundle of contradictions. Knowing this does not mean throwing the whole thing out is the only option, but just in case it is the only option, pretend there are none and attack anyone who points them out.

Okay, just a couple of examples. Genesis 1 & 2 are very different creation stories. Theology says Adam and Eve are the first two peop!e. So who were the people Cain went to in order to find his wife?  Genesis 1 repeatedly says that God declared every speck of creation good. Augustine, in the 5th century CE made up original sin, which has tortured people ever since. Compare what is written in Acts about Paul and what Paul says about himself. Compare what the Gospels and Paul say about when Jesus became the son of God also about his birth. Did you know they are very different? I could go on with countless examples, but you can find them on your own. 

For me, the Bible is still full of inspiration, guidance, and sacredness. It tells me a faith story written over centuries. It shows me relationship to God in various times and places. It reminds me how central God is for humans to come to know and follow. It reminds me how intimately we live and breathe in the divine and can be guided and inspired directly. 

Perhaps the flaws are perfect, for they require us to think and get engaged with our spirituality at deeper levels, as we strive to learn what the ancient people were trying to say. 

Mass Psychosis

There have been a number of mass psychosis events of which we are aware. There  were the witch hunts, when thousands of women were killed. It is recorded that in some towns and villages there were scarcely any women left.  There were the Inquisitions. There were the Nazis and Communism under Stalin and Mao and Pol Pot and the Kims, and on and on.

They used torture, hypnotic techniques, drugs, propaganda, threats and more to implant false memories, create mass hysteria, and get people to sign confessions for things they didn't actually do. They were able to break most people, but not all. When their attempts stopped, because the victim escaped, or the captors lost, or for whatever reason, in a few days most of the victims began to regain their real memories.

Now the world is under attack in vast numbers by evil totalitarian people. They are using powerful technology for infiltrating minds. They are flooding the West with drugs. They are creating confusion in a multitude of ways. They are trying to change our language. They are undermining the values we hold dear. They are attacking our religions, primarily Christianity and Judaism, but also Tibetan Buddhism, and others. They are programming our youth to hate who we are and embrace the darkness.

At this  moment in time, a large (not huge yet) number of people are in mass psychosis, or at least neurosis, over propaganda-led attempts to control the world and end freedoms.

It is time to walk out of the embrace of evil. It is time to take back our minds and critical thinking skills.  It is time to stop the mind altering drugs and haze of alcohol. It is time to return to our churches and synagogues. 

Every time mass psychosis has succeeded, even for just a few years, terrible things have happened. We must not let it succeed this time.

It Is a Wonderful/Awful Life

This fabulous earth school offers us the joyous and wonderful moments of love, passion, insight, metanoia, and so much more.

It also offers us moments demanding sacrifice, of terror, of deep sorrow and loss, and more.

Life is not bland, lived in a straight line of sameness. If we are paying attention, we see that this is a good thing. It's not supposed to be easy. All great things come from striving, learning, struggling, succeeding, failing, and finally succeeding. Whether it's learning to master the piano or learning to be the best human we can be, it's not easy. That's not how it works.

I firmly believe we are here to learn, and grow, to flex our spiritual muscles and see beyond appearances, beyond the bonds of ego. 

We are to awaken to the sacredness of all of creation. We are to look in the eyes of those we call "other" and see the spark of God. We are to step out of the shadow of our self-absorption.  

We are to put our feet upon this sacred Mother Earth, and our hearts in the realm of the Cosmic Christ.

The World Before It Is Too Late

 If the world as we know it is not to collapse, we need to re-awaken to spirit shining in matter.... At the heart of matter is the heart of God.

        ----Teilhard  de Chardin

What a different life it is, when we discover sacredness everywhere. The earth is so wonderful, so incredible, created by The Divine Energy that dances throughout all creation. 

Each person is sacred, carrier of Divine Light, the Seed of God.

While we still can, before we tear the earth to pieces, before we let our egos start World War 3, let us awaken to the sacred.

We are in perilous times. What will we choose? A temper tantrum of ego on a rampage? Or the peace of knowing the sacredness of all that is?

Will there be descendants to look back on this time as a turning point? Or will the earth become a barren rock, decimated by the so-called "advanced" weapons of mass destruction used by egotism run amok? 

I suggest - stop fighting with each other and decide to get along and find solutions that work for everyone. We are stewards of sacred lives and a sacred planet. Let's act like it.

Another Look at Forgiveness

When we hold grudges and grievances against ourselves or others, it does not matter against whom, guess what happens? We suffer! Our minds suffer from the pain, sorrow and confusion. Our bodies suffer from the added stress and the extra chemicals running through them as a result of the anger and fear. Our spiritual life suffers because we cannot think of and experience God that is love simultaneously with our anger. Love and anger cannot coexist in the same thought. We waste a precious moment that will never come again when we indulge in the opposite of God’s Love. We lose out on so much life when we do not forgive.               --- Marlene Oaks, "The Key- Forgiveness and Beyond"

Preparing for my sermon April 7th, I decided to reread my book on forgiveness so as to bring to the forefront of my mind the things I wrote. that so many have said helped them. I have become an expert regarding forgiveness, as I've done so much of it, out of necessity really.

One of the salient points is that by not forgiving, we are the person who gets hurt, as per my excerpt above.

Ask yourself the Jesus question "Do you wish to be healed?" Are you willing to live the life of a healed person? You might be surprised at the people who have told me no. They didn't want to be that person, to give up their story, to take on adult responsibilities.

I have come to know this earthly life is a school for souls. So we can use the Socratic method of questions on ourselves. Such as: What am I to learn from this? What are other ways to look at this? (Think of as many ways as you can, brainstorm with yourself) 

Counsel yourself. Use affirmations such as: It's not going on right now. I'm all right right now. Thank you for teaching/testing me. I bless and release this person/situation to God. I forgive you and release you. I forgive and release myself.

Pray heartfeltly, sincerely, turning your pain over to God to grant grace and resurrection power.

Read my book. 😍

Make Room

I just read a simple, yet profound, thought. 

The Ground of Being can only be known by those who make room for God.

The human mind, the unique energy that we are, can be used, let's say, in a positive or negative way. It can be used as a psychopath like Hitler, or as inspired beings like the saints, great poets and artists. It can come up with portable flame throwers, bigger more destructive weapons or Quantum physics. It can be focused on the silly and trivial, or on meaningful reading and conversation.  It can focus on the cult of culture, or on God and seeking that which is the very Truth of our being, our Ground of Being.

Where our focus is, there goes our life. Change our focus, re-aim our energies, and we go to a different life.

Christ of the Gospels or Christ of Religion?

Christ of the Gospels is a preacher and not a dispenser of sacraments or performer of rites; he speaks against vain repetitions; he insists on the supreme importance of private worship; he has no use for sacrifices and not much use for the Temple. But this did not prevent historic Christianity from going its own, all too human, way. 

       --- Aldous Huxley

Such a telling comment. It didn't take long until the teaching and message of Jesus Christ began to morph into various other directions, away from his message. I suppose this is the way it goes for many great inspirations. People want to put their two cents worth in; ego raises its ugly head; power struggles and control dramas ensue. The original is obscured.

It's a shame. Maybe shame on us for participating in the sham. Shame on us for not bothering to flush it all out.

I am convinced that if we took the teachings in the earliest Gospels more seriously, we could create peace and plenty and goodwill for all. Maybe even just focus for awhile on the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 6 & 7, say spend a month or more reading, rereading, contemplating and living with it. Set aside what you think you know, what you've been told, and come open and teachable to the feet of the Master. Let the understanding unfold itself in you. Come fresh and open. Allow your soul to begin to be fed. Let your hungry soul soak up the spiritual food.

If you do this, I guarantee you will never be the same.

The Conundrum

 I wrestle currently with the New Testament. I wonder which part is true or close to truth, as it contradicts itself quite remarkably.

The first 3 are called "synoptic" because they have similar stories or versions of similar stories. Mark was written first and Matthew and Luke used most of Mark, but added to and put their own twist on the stories. But the main point I want to make today is that they tell the story of the life and teachings of Yeshua/Jesus. They primarily tell how he wants us to live to find God and to be ethical people. Let your light shine, love one another, forgive, pray to God in private not making a show of it, etc. It's empowering.

But then we come to John and letters by Paul. Now it's a different story. It's not how you live. There is nothing you can do to get right with God. You have to believe certain things that Yeshua/Jesus didn't require in the synoptic gospels or in James's writing, the brother of Yeshua/Jesus. The most important thing is to believe in the death and resurrection of Yeshua/Jesus.

What??? Both can't be true.

Instead of a son of God, a great prophet, an avatar, someone so close to God that we knew with every fiber of our being that what he spoke and did was a result of his profound connection to God, someone who called us to do greater things, who pointed the way to God - now he became an idol to worship, unattainable, totally other.  In this scenario, we are powerless. Only someone else can save us and only by believing what these guys say we have to believe.

What???

I wrestle with the conundrum, greatly because of what it does to people's lives. You can guess that I am closer to the synoptics in understanding, even though there are discrepancies there. I do understand they were written 40-80 years after the earthly life of Yeshua/Jesus in various areas of the Mediterranean by men who did not know him. Still, they heard stories, a variety of stories, and pieced together what they had. Their conclusions were strikingly different from whoever wrote John and from Paul.

Check for yourself. Read Mark, Matthew and Luke and ponder what they say. After a time, then read John and the 7 authenticated letters of Paul. Ponder what they say.

Since these writings have had the single most impact on civilization for 2,000 years, both for good and evil, it might be important to consider them anew. They have been used for slavery and to cease slavery. They have been used by maniacs like Hitler and Stalin, and by those who stopped them. They have been used by witch hunters and Inquisition torturers, and on and on.

 Sadly, they have been, and are being used, in order to manipulate for good and for evil.

Let us seek out the good and gird ourselves against the evil.

Words Are Not "It"

 Appreciating art does not make us a masterful artist. Enjoying a concert does not make us a composer. Reading a book does not make us an author. We must learn skills, practice, practice, practice. We must fail, pick ourselves up and keep on until we at long last become masterful at our chosen skill.

So too with spiritual life. Reading a Scripture, listening to speeches, reading what other people understand, etc does not lead us to enlightenment, to awakening, to Knowing God, Wisdom, Truth, to know and know that we know deep within our very souls.

Aldous Huxley said a lot about this, such as:

In no circumstances, however, can the study of theology or the mind’s assent to theological propositions take the place of what [William] Law calls “the birth of God within.” For theory is not practice, and words are not the things for which they stand. 

 I am drawn to the way William Law put it, "the birth of God within." Of course I know we live and breath and have our being in God, live every moment in the Presence of God.  For most people, it seems, this is like knowing there are radio and television and wifi waves right now wherever we are, but if we don't have the equipment to utilize them, they might as well not be there.

We can intellectually know a bunch about God (or whatever word you want to use to point to the Divine), without ever having touched the life- transforming experience of the Divine.

I am convinced that most of us walk around hungry, even starving, for the birth of God in our lives. We try to end that hunger with other things (food, drugs, politics, sports, shopping, gangs, gurus, the cult of culture, etc), with no success. Those are not the things for which our hungry soul seeks. We crave a spiritual and robust walk with God, direct, real, Oneness. 

It seems to me, we can only have this with a sincere change of priorities. With actually meditating, contemplating, praying, journaling, in other words, engaging in known spiritual practices that lead to such a life. And, at the same time, turning away from the opposite, from the substitutes we've been trying to use to satisfy our inner hunger. As Paul once said, in Philippians 4:8 & 9

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (NIV translation)

Power Corrupts

Back in Political Science class we were told - Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Aldous Huxley said:

No infallible method for controlling the political manifestations of the lust for power has ever been devised.

We see the lust for power in politics, religion, and actually most groups. Every election year we see it on full display. It seems to me that it is overblown ego and unrealistic assessment of oneself. Lord Acton said that there are no good great men. Wow! That's pretty extreme. But still we must beware of being seduced into the web of a man who is in full blown lust for power. People can get their lust ignited in that circle. Lesser people in the hierarchy of power can feel superior by association.

If we seek spiritual enlightenment, it is essential to remove lust for power from ourselves. We cannot lust for power and also be spiritually awake. We humble ourselves before the Divine and seek to know and love that Presence. We seek to walk, talk, and be a conduit of the Infinite Light and Love. We join Jesus in sayimg, It is not I, but the Father within doing the work.

Painful Friendship

We have friends, a husband and wife and children, whom we love. They are good people, living what they believe. We enjoy being at their home, coming to their potlucks, enjoying music and Bible talks. We realize they are not where we are in theology, but they are good people and we like being with them.

So what's the problem? you might be asking.

They had a guest speaker come who spoke not only the opposite of what we believe, and have come to understand from extensive study, prayer and contemplation, but so far from us that he is in another galaxy. To us, what he spoke was bizarre, unfounded, harmful, besmerching of God and Christianity. He called himself a Pentecostal Presbyterian. His is a god who turns non- Christians into zombies, for example. He is delusional, saying the Bible is not translated accurately, so he's re-translating it using the Interlineal Bible. Not knowing Greek and using this system is ludicrous. I could go on, but this hopefully gives the flavor of the situation.

When I told our friends of my objections to his presentation, they said that they didn't understand the problem. We had a long back and forth via text. Finally, I said that in good conscience, if this is what you teach and believe too, I cannot stand with you.

It is painful. I just cannot support crazy theology. Too many people have been traumatized by crazy theology. I can't even imagine how much damage this man's so-called translation of the Bible will do, let alone his violent god and his zombies.

So with sadness I release and let go, blessing them and wishing them God's  highest and best. At this point I don't know where our relationship will go. I am sad.

What Do You Know? Some Thought Inspired by "The Perennial Philosophy"

When we learn something, our knowing changes us. We learn to walk and talk and learn ever more complex things. Once our knowing  becomes woven into our system of reality, our intuitive ability is overshadowed and can become extinct for all practical purposes. It's a bit like the old saying, My mind's made up, don't confuse me with facts.

With our eyes we can only see a tiny fraction of the trillions of stars. People made assumptions based on what they saw. If a high powered telescope is used, what we can see expands and keeps expanding with stronger and stronger telescopes. We become like super beings compared to those only using their eyes.

Let's take that to spirituality. There is one Divine Reality in everyone and everything. All is sacred. This sacredness is and has been known by many peoples across history- indigenous people, Celtic Christians, mystics, poets, scriptures, etc.

BUT a person cannot directly experience and know this unless certain conditions have been met. 

What are these conditions? 

• Make yourself clear via forgiveness practices. Let go. Work to hold no anger or resentment or regret regarding oneself or anyone.
• Practice unconditional love. Show up to every moment radiating love without discrimination.
• Be pure in heart. Let go of all behaviors, thoughts or attitudes that are not pure and holy.
• Be humble. Know it is One Divine Reality working, moving, flowing through you. Therefore, let ego drift away.
• Spend time daily in the quiet, listening, contemplating spiritual truths, praying. Make a space for daily sacred time. 
• Write thoughts and insights in a journal dedicated to that purpose.

If you do these things, you will become awake to what those who do not do these things are unable to know. You will be like the person looking through the powerful telescope and not just looking with human eyes. You will be awake in ways you never imagined. You will be in tune with the Infinite.