tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44838771662791790722024-03-16T11:50:27.629-07:00Spiritual QuestAs far back as I can remember, I have been focused on God & my spiritual life. I am writing thoughts & ideas here to share & hopefully to produce some dialogue with others also seeking. I hope others will join this spiritual quest with me.Rev. Dr. Marlene Oakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916205843521844167noreply@blogger.comBlogger983125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4483877166279179072.post-37934935418211805052024-03-15T08:08:00.000-07:002024-03-15T08:08:37.233-07:00Christ of the Gospels or Christ of Religion?<p></p><blockquote>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. </blockquote><blockquote> --- Aldous Huxley</blockquote><p>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.</p><p>It's a shame. Maybe shame on us for participating in the sham. Shame on us for not bothering to flush it all out.</p><p>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.</p><p>If you do this, I guarantee you will never be the same.</p><p><br /></p><p></p>Rev. Dr. Marlene Oakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916205843521844167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4483877166279179072.post-30861410613296956132024-03-05T09:22:00.000-08:002024-03-05T09:22:53.388-08:00The Conundrum<p> <span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I wrestle currently with the New Testament. I wonder which part is true or close to truth, as it contradicts itself quite remarkably.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">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 </span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">how he wants us to live to find God and to be ethical people. <i>Let your light shine, love one another, forgive, pray to God in private not making a show of it</i>, etc. It's empowering.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">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.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">What??? Both can't be true.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">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.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">What???</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">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.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">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.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">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.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> Sadly, they have been, and are being used, in order to manipulate for good and for evil.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Let us seek out the good and gird ourselves against the evil.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>Rev. Dr. Marlene Oakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916205843521844167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4483877166279179072.post-59537843512827986272024-02-29T07:33:00.000-08:002024-02-29T07:33:55.077-08:00Words Are Not "It"<p></p><p> 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.</p><p>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.</p><p>Aldous Huxley said a lot about this, such as:</p><blockquote><blockquote>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. </blockquote></blockquote><p> 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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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. </p><p>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</p><p><span class="text Phil-4-8" id="en-NIV-29451" style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;"></span></p><blockquote><span class="text Phil-4-8" id="en-NIV-29451" style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;">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.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 19.2px;">W</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;">hatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;">And the God of peace</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;">will be with you. (NIV translation)</span></blockquote><span style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;"></span><p></p><p></p>Rev. Dr. Marlene Oakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916205843521844167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4483877166279179072.post-81027511053511799472024-02-21T08:40:00.000-08:002024-02-21T08:40:44.450-08:00Power Corrupts<p>Back in Political Science class we were told - <i>Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.</i></p><p>Aldous Huxley said:</p><p></p><blockquote>No infallible method for controlling the political manifestations of the lust for power has ever been devised.</blockquote><p>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.</p><p>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, <i><u>It is not I, but the Father within doing the work.</u></i></p><p></p>Rev. Dr. Marlene Oakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916205843521844167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4483877166279179072.post-58976710671975908082024-02-18T08:20:00.000-08:002024-02-21T08:48:53.585-08:00Painful Friendship<p>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.</p><p>So what's the problem? you might be asking.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Rev. Dr. Marlene Oakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916205843521844167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4483877166279179072.post-11212359014055875332024-02-10T09:26:00.000-08:002024-02-10T09:26:29.412-08:00What Do You Know? Some Thought Inspired by "The Perennial Philosophy"<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">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, <i>My mind's made up, don't confuse me with facts.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">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.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">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.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">BUT a person cannot directly experience and know this unless certain conditions have been met. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">What are these conditions? </span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Make yourself clear via forgiveness practices. Let go. Work to hold no anger or resentment or regret regarding oneself or anyone.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Practice unconditional love. Show up to every moment radiating love without discrimination.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Be pure in heart. Let go of all behaviors, thoughts or attitudes that are not pure and holy.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Be humble. Know it is One Divine Reality working, moving, flowing through you. Therefore, let ego drift away.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Spend time daily in the quiet, listening, contemplating spiritual truths, praying. Make a space for daily sacred time. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Write thoughts and insights in a journal dedicated to that purpose.</span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">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.</span></div><p></p>Rev. Dr. Marlene Oakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916205843521844167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4483877166279179072.post-37131325736693716972024-02-05T18:39:00.000-08:002024-02-05T18:39:37.684-08:00Hear My Sermon/Talk<p> On YouTube:</p><h2 class="slim-video-information-title slim-video-metadata-title-modern" style="-webkit-box-orient: vertical; -webkit-line-clamp: initial; background-color: white; color: #0f0f0f; display: -webkit-box; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.8rem; font-weight: 500; line-height: 2.6rem; margin: 0px 0px 3px; max-height: none; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis;"><span class="yt-core-attributed-string" role="text">Temecula United Methodist Church Worship for February 4, 2024</span></h2><div><span class="yt-core-attributed-string" role="text"><br /></span></div><div><span class="yt-core-attributed-string" role="text">Yesterday I was honored to give the sermon at our church. If you'd like to hear my message on The Sermon on the Mount, please go to our church's YouTube channel.</span></div><div><span class="yt-core-attributed-string" role="text"><br /></span></div><div><span class="yt-core-attributed-string" role="text">I'd be interested in your feedback.</span></div><div><span class="yt-core-attributed-string" role="text"><br /></span></div><div><span class="yt-core-attributed-string" role="text">I pray you are having a blessed beginning to 2024.</span></div>Rev. Dr. Marlene Oakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916205843521844167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4483877166279179072.post-14986394301046963142024-01-29T10:01:00.000-08:002024-01-29T10:01:07.638-08:00Mining Spiritual Texts<p></p><blockquote> <i>One has to live with the texts, and then they unfold. -- "Bonhoeffer, Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy"</i></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">It is my experience that very little of enduring value is on the surface. Here is a statement from Bonhoeffer's biography that states it so well. In today's jargon we might say that we need to unpack it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">One of the important practices is called lectio divina, or divine reading. Pick a short scripture or some inspiring quote and take 5 to 10 minutes total. Begin by reading it slowly several times. Then read each word and roll it over in your mind. Then sit still and quiet for a couple of minutes. Have your journal and pen or pencil handy and begin to write without censoring, stream of consciousness it is called. Just write for a couple of minutes without stopping. Read what you wrote. Often you will be amazed at the insights that flowed through you. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The more you engage in this practice, the insights will be</span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> deeper and more meaningful. Best case, do this daily. </span></p><p></p>Rev. Dr. Marlene Oakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916205843521844167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4483877166279179072.post-28381280053518858032024-01-26T17:28:00.000-08:002024-01-26T17:29:54.122-08:00Celtic Christianity<p><i></i></p><div><i></i></div><p>Ever since I discovered Celtic Christianity, I have been in love with it. I wrote a little book on it and taught seminars about it. It nestles softly in my soul, cozy with I have come to experience and believe. I'm going to be starting a series on it next week, so I am reading some new things, right now "Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul." Here's a tiny quote.</p><blockquote><div><i>Pelagius taught that it is not so much what you believe about Jesus that matters. The important thing is becoming like Jesus, becoming compassionate...</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Celantia, who asked Pelagius for a rule of life. “Tell me how to live,” she begged. To which Pelagius responded, “Don’t ask me.” The source of such a rule “is inside your own heart.”</i> ...</div></blockquote><blockquote><div><i>If what she read within herself was in conflict with the teachings of Jesus, then she had misread her heart...</i></div></blockquote><blockquote><div><i></i></div><div><i>Pelagius’s response to Celantia is saying that the teachings of Jesus are like a touchstone for the soul, a measuring rod of inner wisdom. --- J. Phillip.Newell</i></div></blockquote><p>All of this lives within me as truth, as my guide posts. </p><p>Maybe you could read this quote daily for a week, and let it unpack in your heart.</p><div><br /></div>Rev. Dr. Marlene Oakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916205843521844167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4483877166279179072.post-88046380800153583552024-01-22T08:03:00.000-08:002024-01-22T08:03:16.896-08:00Science vs God or Science Reveals God<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">If you believe God created all, but also believe science is opposite of God, hear me out. I had some thoughts in meditation this morning that I want to share with you.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The logic is this:</span></p><p></p><blockquote><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Everything sprang forth from God.</span></li></ul></blockquote><blockquote><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Everything reflects God, for out of Itself all was formed, everything is sacred.</li></ul></blockquote><blockquote><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Discovering how it works can lead us to know more about how God set it up, to know more about the Infinite One. </li></ul></blockquote><blockquote><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Science tells us the laws and procedures that God set up. It does not go against God. It reveals more and more how magnificent God is.</li></ul></blockquote><p>Religious head honchos across history were more concerned about power and control than about enlightenment. They didn't want people to think for themselves. They wanted good little people to believe only them, all else was labeled dangerous and heresy.</p><p>Furthermore, they made up farfetched ideas and sold them as truth. It's called various things, brainwashing, propaganda, manipulation, ignorance, etc. </p><p>Some examples: They sold the lie that ancient myths (stories that hinted at some truths) were in fact literal, factual, historical, and to be believed as such; that in times of illiteracy, with no one to write them down, with no one understanding even rudimentary science, all stories on the approved list were factual and required to be believed; etc.</p><p>They used shame, shunning, threats, violence, torture, and even death to force compliance.</p><p>Yet here we are in the 21st century, and some of this is still stifling people's thinking. There are far too many believing what they have been told without considering it seriously. I suggest that the magnificent intelligence that set up this universe in incredible ways awaits our awakening.</p><p> </p><p></p>Rev. Dr. Marlene Oakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916205843521844167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4483877166279179072.post-89748507957445980792024-01-18T21:34:00.000-08:002024-01-18T21:34:43.328-08:00All Is Sacred<p>I'm reading John Phillip Newell's book " Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul." I have long been in love with Celtic Christianity, even writing a little book on it. This recent book of his is as powerful as all the others of his that I have read. I want to share a moving quote.</p><p></p><blockquote><i>The Mohawk elder stood with tears in his eyes as he spoke. He said, “As I have been listening to these themes, I have been wondering where I would be tonight, I have been wondering where my people would be tonight, and I have been wondering where we would be as a Western world tonight, if the mission that had come to us from Europe centuries ago had come expecting to find light in us.”</i></blockquote><p>But of course they came as an arm of Empire, so unlike Jesus, so unlike the truth of the sacredness of everyone and everything.</p><p>But once Empire, via Constantine, took over, it never went back to what it was and what it could be. Once Augustine made up original sin, the innate sacredness was vanished. Layer upon layer of false teaching, controls, coercion, violence and more led Christianity far away from resurrection, newness, and sacredness.</p><p>Can we find our way back? it is my belief that it is imperative we do so. Imagine what history we could write, if we looked for the light in everyone and everything.</p><p>Go out today and look for the light.</p><p></p>Rev. Dr. Marlene Oakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916205843521844167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4483877166279179072.post-71238045134276003032024-01-12T18:06:00.000-08:002024-01-12T18:06:05.347-08:00Continued Dive Into the Bible<p></p><blockquote> <i>Jesus said, "If they say to you, 'Where have you come from?' say to them, 'We have come from the light, from the place where the light emerged on its own, established itself, and appeared in their image.' If they ask you, 'Is it you?' say, 'We are its children, and we are the chosen of the living Father.'If they question you, 'What is the evidence of your Father in you?' say to them, 'It is motion and rest.'"</i></blockquote><p> ---The Gospel of Thomas, </p><p> saying 50/114 </p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">This Gospel obviously did not make the cut as far as those who selected the Canon thought. It was known to have existed because others mentioned it. In the 19th century fragments of it were found, and then in 1945 the entire Gospel was found, along with a number of others. Some scholars say it is as old as the Gospels in the Canon. About half of the 114 sayings are in the Bible already. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I am fond of this Gospel, especially its many references to light. The above excerpt is one of my favorites. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">So I was rereading it this morning and considering the idea that God inspires what people can comprehend, as I recently noted. I decided I would start unpacking some more, beyond Genesis 1 and the Big Bang. I turned to Jesus' teachings and what Mark said about him teaching different things to the disciples than the crowds. What could he not teach the disciples because they didn't know science, but is waiting for us to decode?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The final line caught my eye. Motion and rest = mechanics. An object is considered in motion when it changes its relationship to an other object and at rest if it stays in the same relationship. Except perception can alter that. An atom is always in motion, but as I look at the table, it seems static. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Therefore, proof that the Father is in us is perception. All kinds of people have told us that we live and move and have our being in God, that the kingdom of God is within, etc. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">We can ask ourselves some questions. Do I perceive the Light of God in myself? Do others perceive it in themselves? Do we perceive it in others? How can we have eyes to see? Let us think on these things.</span></p><p></p>Rev. Dr. Marlene Oakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916205843521844167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4483877166279179072.post-45760905980227815392024-01-07T08:48:00.000-08:002024-01-07T09:19:07.633-08:00Reading Sacred Texts<p></p><blockquote><blockquote> <span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Only if we will venture to enter into the words of the Bible, as though in them this God were speaking to us who loves us and does not will to leave us along with our questions, only so shall we learn to rejoice in the Bible.</i></span></blockquote></blockquote><p> ---- Dietrich Bonhoeffer</p><p>This morning, as I read Dietrich Bonhoeffer's biography, another way to view our reading came to me.</p><p>Imagine God is speaking directly to us, inspiring us just as those who wrote down the original inspirations. It is a personal letter to us.</p><p>The Presence of God spoke according to the ability to hear. The bronze age person, no matter how brilliant, could not understand the advanced physics that prove some transcendent Power initiated the Big Bang, for example. So they were told the magnificent creation story of Genesis 1. <i>In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth</i>- God already existed and was more than the material world that was created.</p><p>I think of Jesus saying we need to come like a little child, and I think I must hear the inspiration as the early person heard. I must walk with God through history, through the stages of maturing, until we come to Jesus who intimately knew God and spoke powerfully out of that knowing. And, furthermore, he challenged us to have that relationship ourselves. He asks us today - do you accept the challenge?</p><p>Read the first 3 Gospels, starting with Mark, the oldest, then Matthew, then Luke. God and Jesus are talking directly to us. Set aside what you've been told and do your best to read and listen with new eyes and ears. <i>Let those with eyes to see, see, and those with ears to hear, hear.</i></p><p>Let our hearts and ears and eyes be opened to truly awaken to our Oneness. God is with you.</p><p></p>Rev. Dr. Marlene Oakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916205843521844167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4483877166279179072.post-35664859398872738642024-01-06T10:00:00.000-08:002024-01-06T10:00:52.657-08:00Nothing Can Do Nothing<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I've been watching some Fr. Spitzer lectures on YouTube. I love his joining science and religion. I am going to discuss one of his points today in a very diluted way. To get the full impact of his arguments, watch some of his videos, or go to his website www.magiscenter.com</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The Big Bang, 13.8 billion years ago was caused by something transcendent of materiality. If you say nothing caused it, you speak impossibility. Nothing can do nothing. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Plus, the Big Bang was elegantly perfect to create the possibility of life developing. If one thing was a fraction of hundreths of fractions different, it couldn't happen. If gravity was a riny, tiny, tiny bit different, for example, it would have imploded on itself or exploded continuously, eliminating the possibility of life.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">So, the bottom line is the Big Bang was created by a transcendent reality that existed outside, before material matter emerged. "Sounds like God!!!" Fr. Spitzer says. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I think so too. What do you think?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>Rev. Dr. Marlene Oakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916205843521844167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4483877166279179072.post-66145063962496311122023-12-31T08:06:00.000-08:002024-01-01T08:27:05.833-08:00At Least Consider This<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">If you are not a serious scholar of religion, you may not know this. The scholars have many viewpoints about the Bible. Historically there have been fiery debates, violence and wars over divergent understandings of what was or was not meant by various sections. Within the Bible there are not homogenous stances, but often widely different statements, sometimes opposite statements.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">This has led a growing number of people to just throw the whole thing out. If you are one of those people, please consider what I am going to share today.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Context is important and affects everything. What era is it - Iron Age, Bronze Age, Greek/Hellenistic Age, Roman, etc? Who was writing? How long after the fact was it written? Is our thinking about it mostly influenced by later philosophers or theologians? How do we know what we think we know?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">For me, the crucial issue is the New Testament. Jesus's teaching has been the guide for my life. I am convinced over and over again that by all of us actually living his teaching, we would bring forth the kingdom of heaven here on earth - peace, loving kindness, end of poverty and hunger, etc. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Let's go back to the first century Roman Empire - brutality controlled society, literacy at 5-10%, poverty for the vast majority, dirty, smelly, short life expectancy, etc. Into this came Jesus's message. The people called him Rabbi and some called him Messiah, King of the Jews, the one to sit on the throne of David. Only the Roman Emperor could be ruler, no exceptions. They crucified all who fought their rule, thousands of them. They only crucified for sedition. Jesus was crucified. They thought they were done with him.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">But, he appeared to people after he was crucified. His followers grew instead of disappearing. People told stories about him. Those who had heard him in person shared what they remembered of what he taught. The stories spread around the Mediterranean area. Peop!e who could write and could afford papyrus wrote down the stories they heard. Since they were in different areas, some heard other stories and wrote them down. Some were copied and shared. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Eventually, some were lost and so no longer copied, and later in the 4th century and beyond, some were destroyed because the people in charge didn't like them. Some were buried to save them. Scholars knew about some of them because earlier writers mentioned them or quoted parts of them. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Starting in the 19th century, archeology became a thing and parts of some of discarded writings started to be found. The big find in 1945 was in Nag Hammadi. Some of the Gospels found had been mentioned very early, as in the first century. The Gospel of Thomas, for example, has been dated by many historians/scholars as old as the Gospels in the Bible. It has 114 sayings of Jesus, half of which are in the Gospels in the Bible.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I have gone on a long while here, and I could continue. But I want to ask you to consider that through all of this and more, a string of the life and teachings of Jesus has made it here to us in the 21st century with his core teachings intact. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Whether you call him teacher/rabbi, savior, or both, he is here and can open our hearts and lives to a bigger life with The Divine Presence, The More, The God. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">In his name, I ask that God awaken us this very day, the last day of 2023, so that we walk into 2024 living and loving the teachings of the amazing man from Galilee. Come into our hearts Lord Jesus.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>Rev. Dr. Marlene Oakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916205843521844167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4483877166279179072.post-37766188387727724532023-12-26T08:59:00.000-08:002023-12-26T08:59:32.106-08:00Monolithic or Not?<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">This morning I was praying for guidance about someone with whom I had a conversation yesterday. He is 1,000% sure he is right about everything. He is aggressive in his conversation and hostile to any other viewpoint, so not at all convincing about his points of view. He does not have the magnetic draw that Truth has.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I know there is so very much we do not know. With so many holes in our knowledge and understanding, it is quite unlikely that we can be absolutely definitive about anything. It seems to me that we need to be open and questioning while living and making choices with our best guesses. As you know, my yardstick is the teaching of Jesus.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I also look for patterns that seem consistent and possibly mostly true. My dad said little quips that seemed mostly true like <i>you catch more flies with honey than vinegar, you can do anything you make your mind up to do, still water runs deep. </i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The great religions and philosophies that we know about teach some form of karma, sowing and reaping, so some form of personal responsibility for one's life choices.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">But there are holes in it all. I don't see how we can be responsible for seemingly random occurrences or other people's choices that affect us. We can be responsible for our responses to it all though.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Maybe the yin yang symbol is a good explanation of some of it. In light there is a seed of darkness. In darkness there is a seed of light. Little to nothing on earth is all anything. Everything can change, everything is in the process of change.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">There have been great holy men and women across history. They thought they were teaching great truths that could lift others and that others could understand and live by. But along came the less enlightened who diluted and twisted the great teachings into strange shapes and shadows.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I can imagine the horror Jesus must experience as he watches his holy teaching of love, forgiveness, generosity, care for others, healing, prayer, meditation, oneness with God, etc into wars, pogroms, gas chambers, slavery, all manner of violence and tortures for those with different theologies - all claiming to be following Him.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">It seems to me nothing on earth is monolithic. There are many ways to look at anything here. Maybe we could be more charitable to our companions on this journey on earth. Maybe we could be more humble and give our egos a rest.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>Rev. Dr. Marlene Oakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916205843521844167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4483877166279179072.post-88263965346997909332023-12-23T16:20:00.000-08:002023-12-23T16:20:29.267-08:00Interesting or Liberating or Shattering?<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I have recently heard a discussion regarding the opposite perspectives of the Gospel of John and the Synoptic Gospels as well as the Gospel of Thomas.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I had not really defined it as such, but now that I've seen it, I can't unsee it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The Synoptics and Thomas come from the understanding that the Kingdom of God is Light and is within. <i>Let your light shine... You have come from the Light and are Light... the Kingdom is within... etc etc etc</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">John comes from the point of view it is outside a person and has to be gotten, achieved, received, or gained by belief in one outside of self. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Which is true changes religion and therefore life. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">If we don't have the Light, it's pretty scary. Who can we trust to tell us how to get it? If we don't have Light, how can we even be alive? What energy energizes us, if it is not Divine Light within? How can our Light go out if we don't have it to begin with?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">If we have Light, it's a matter of tuning in to it and letting it guide us. Its the Holy Spirit, the Kingdom within, the Father doing the work with and through us.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">It seems to me that the authors of Mark, Matthew, Luke, and Thomas were onto something wise and profound and true.</span></p>Rev. Dr. Marlene Oakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916205843521844167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4483877166279179072.post-59437251643947003522023-12-18T17:53:00.000-08:002023-12-18T17:53:23.640-08:00Faith - Works<p> Note - <span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">You may notice that I have switched to a larger font. My macular degeneration has degenerated, and so I need a bigger font to see what I am writing.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">*************************</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">James, the Righteous, the brother of Jesus, the leader of the Jesus movement after Jesus left, yes </span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">that James, told us that faith is dead, if it does not lead us to do good works. He implied that faith is a verb and not a noun.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">For as far back as I can remember, I have done my best to live that teaching. Yet I see and hear so many who claim to be followers of Jesus declare loudly, <i>You just have to be saved!!! </i>This generally means believe a list of things, thanks a lot Martin Luther.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Jesus did not teach - sit on your rear and just believe this or that. He taught to care for others, to actually forgive, even though it might be challenging, to be kind and generous. He taught about actions we should take, and those very actions lead us to enter the kingdom even while here on earth. Think sheep and goats (yes that again, I don't think most people get the significance of his story about the sheep and goats). Think what we call the "Lord's Prayer" - <i>thy kingdom come, thy will be done <b>on earth</b> as it is in heaven!</i></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">How could we help.that happen if we just sit down and don't participate? We need to give our faith some exercise. Stand against the darkness. Stand for the light. Refuse to fall for false ideologies (communism, fascism, anarchy, terrorism, etc.) Use Jesus' litmas test - what is the fruit of ........? What has it historically brought? What is it likely to bring in the here and now?</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">We are at a critical juncture. Will we rise up to preserve our freedoms, our Christian beliefs that are based on what we know about the teachings of Jesus (rather than manmade theologies often at odds with the man from Galilee), our culture our art, our music, our very way of life?</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Or will we watch as it crumbles, as so many have done in the past - from Rome's fall to Hitler, the signs were ignored until it was too late?</span></p>Rev. Dr. Marlene Oakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916205843521844167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4483877166279179072.post-8357111227768642002023-12-14T08:00:00.000-08:002023-12-14T08:03:56.702-08:00Ways To Read The Bible<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">This morning in my prayer time, an idea presented itself, and urged me to write it here. Part of it I had realized before, but this morning it was enlarged.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The basic original idea is that there are many ways to read the Bible - the surface level only, trying to make it fit a preconceived bias, as myths with meaning, as literal, as symbolic of deep spiritual truths, as a study for scholars, trying to unpack deeper meaning and what obvious metaphors meant to the people of the time, etc. And one way I've also taught is that it is every person's story. That is, the characters and stories represent the human journey with it's pitfalls and triumphs, it's turning toward and away from God, life and death, etc.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">This morning I was shown that it also has a thread of listening and following Divine Guidance/Holy Spirit - or not listening, or hearing but not following - and what happens in each case.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">So Adam and Eve heard, but did not follow Guidance, and ended up making a mess of things. Jonah heard, refused, got himself in a lot of trouble and finally relented. Moses heard, resisted, did most of it but not all, and didn't get to go to the promised land. You can look at examples yourself regarding your favorite stories, look for the thread.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Now, let's look at our own lives. I can say with assurance, that regarding my mistakes, as I look back at them, I have usually said " I knew I shouldn't have done that." I didn't heed the Guidance.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Taking the Bible as a cautionary tale of what happens when we don't listen or don't follow, and conversely what happens when we do, it is time to pay attention. It has always been time. As I matured, I have tried more and more consistently to listen and follow. I suggest to us all, it would save us a lot of pain and anguish, if we strive to listen and follow Guidance. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">You can discern Guidance from ego. Ego wants attention and applause. Guidance wants us to be humble. Ego wants to win, to be the center. Guidance wants us to serve quietly. Ego is all about self. Guidance is about others. Ego doesn't ask how this or that feels or affects others. Guidance is about respect, lifting, caring about others. Ego is about greed. Guidance is about generosity at all levels. Ego is about creating a personal kingdom. Guidance is about participating in creating the Kingdom of God on earth.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I can hear Jesus saying, "Decide today, whom shall you serve?"</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>Rev. Dr. Marlene Oakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916205843521844167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4483877166279179072.post-15892844510235003382023-12-02T18:58:00.000-08:002023-12-02T19:15:11.773-08:00Another Wrinkle on the Collective Unconscious<p>One of my mentors, a long time ago, spoke of the band of psychic energy around earth that was made up of all thoughts and words and emotions of humanity. It was a jumble of good and evil, of brilliance and ignorance, of hope and fear. He didn't see the clusters of light that I saw, just a bubbling mass of human thought and emotional energy.</p><p>He said that the job of those of us who seek enlightenment is to break through that layer to the Cosmic Consciousness beyond it. We need to be careful to not be distracted by the psychic level (collective unconscious possibly, although he did not use those particular words), but to persevere with contemplative practices that teach our minds to be focused and one pointed.</p><p>If we succeed, we touch The Presence. Some say Christ Consciousness. Some say Buddha Consciousness. Some say Brahmam or Absolute Consciousness. </p><p>According to the Power Thesaurus, there are a whopping 384 words in English that are synonyms for Cosmic Consciousness!</p><p>Whatever name you call it, there have been, and are, those who succeeded in not getting sidetracked in the band of jumbled energy and spent/spend a significant portion of time in touch with Higher Consciousness.</p><p>It is a worthwhile endeavor to seek what Jesus called "the kingdom of heaven." Since many have attested to their own experience of it, we can know it is touchable. From the great Avatars, to the known mystics of every religion, to little known citizens of earth, there are written records of their experiences.</p><p>Reading their words is exquisitely inspiring. Seek out Jesus of course, but also Meister Eckhart, Mechtild of Magdeburg, Jacob Boehm, Hildegard of Bingen, Brother Lawrence, Teresa of Avila, Julian of Norwich and others in the Christian tradition for example. Let them reach across centuries to quicken your deepest knowing. Something exceptional awaits you.</p><p>God bless you on your quest🙏💖🙏</p>Rev. Dr. Marlene Oakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916205843521844167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4483877166279179072.post-89416200970588510822023-12-01T15:56:00.000-08:002023-12-01T15:57:27.747-08:00Who Am I on the Spiritual Spectrum?<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This morning I was wondering how I could explain my spiritual perspective.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The thought came to me that I am a metaphysical Christian who has deep respect for all religions, for all ways people have come to seek and know God across all history, and also a person who thinks science not only does not conflict with God, but instead points to an even more incredible Divinity than the mystics have known. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I believe in goodness and oneness, in love and kindness. I believe we are here to learn and grow in our relationship with God and one another. I believe we are accountable for how we live our lives. I believe life was, is, and shall be after we leave this earth. I believe because God is Love, we don't need to be afraid of God.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I know all the names of God are about the same Divine Presence. I believe arguing with one another over man-made theologies is counterproductive and actually dumb. It is our egos arguing, not our souls. We approach spirituality from different vantage points, from different cultures, from where we are on the unfolding path. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I believe in individual responsibility. I believe there are spiritual principles that we can and need to learn and with which we need to get in harmony. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I believe the Presence of God can be experienced in all natural things - the first look into your baby's eyes, a magnificent sunset, a redwood forest, a beautiful flower or even a weed. I believe there is no spot devoid of God.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I wish and pray for we the people of earth to wake up to such ideas and save ourselves and our planet from the hideous forces working in the opposite direction - before we destroy this incredible place. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Shall we save the future?</span></p>Rev. Dr. Marlene Oakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916205843521844167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4483877166279179072.post-5978441146852239302023-11-29T11:36:00.000-08:002023-12-02T19:06:12.798-08:00Visions This Morning - Maybe a Gamechanger<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">During my prayer/contemplation time this morning, I had several visions. I want to discuss one of them with you today.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">You probably recall Carl Jung's writing on the collective unconscious. Briefly, very briefly, the idea is that thought is energy. Energy cannot be destroyed, only changed. The energy of our thoughts and words and emotions go into an energy field called the collective unconscious. We can tap into this energy field - for good or ill, depending on which energies - inspired ones or the boogeymen of our fears.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj-yrE7tqpd3bb5e35MpdKcYGRAl7hLeq4l1_H8fETPk45rPg4a7IwD7eBBwxpoVmMqBhww5tkf_PsTpJF4OQh7Zl80m9t-2Vyn9ej3nSljSdXpKDFf239fHjDVkUirvC8Iot6v6GgN-WIG15Q1BnwebHDLyW-LfzbiO7LzpXmD8U-b-opTcfcvM0FuSboO" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="154" data-original-width="327" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj-yrE7tqpd3bb5e35MpdKcYGRAl7hLeq4l1_H8fETPk45rPg4a7IwD7eBBwxpoVmMqBhww5tkf_PsTpJF4OQh7Zl80m9t-2Vyn9ej3nSljSdXpKDFf239fHjDVkUirvC8Iot6v6GgN-WIG15Q1BnwebHDLyW-LfzbiO7LzpXmD8U-b-opTcfcvM0FuSboO" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So my vision was of earth with this collective unconscious band of energy surrounding it. In the field, I saw balls of various sizes, each containing the energies directed toward various spiritual figures across history. I saw energy coming to the various balls of light, and I saw energy coming out of them.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The first smaller ball I saw in detail was St. Joseph, who somehow developed the reputation of being able to help a person find lost items. It started long ago with some kernel, and it grew and grew. Now some people add to it by believing, and some draw from it by asking for help. When the lost item is found, the belief and thanks go to the ball of energy of St. Joseph.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Then my attention was drawn to a huge ball of light. It was the Jesus ball of energy. It started with the actual Jesus of 2,000 years ago, so it began as a largish ball. Every thought, every hope, every request increased the shining ball of Jesus energy field. Across the past 2,000 years unimaginable amounts of energy went to and from the Jesus energy field ball of light in the collective unconscious. And it grew and grew.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is not to say there are not other, higher spiritual things going on. This is to look at the mental energy from humans on this particular planet.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In my studies, I came to notice that Jesus, as reported in the Gospels, never asked us to pray to him. He never took credit for the healings. He deflected to God - <i>It's the Father within doing the work. </i>He told us to pray to God - <i>Our Father. </i>He called us equals - <i>brothers and sisters, greater things than this shall you do. </i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So, my evangelical friends and family who pray to Jesus and praise Jesus, etc. were somewhat problematic for me. They say they are Christian, but not doing what Jesus asked and taught in this regard. As much as I love and admire and try to model my life in Jesus' Way, I have been uncomfortable with praying to Jesus, with needing him as a pathway to God. I think living what he taught is a pathway to God, and so in that way Jesus leads me to God. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Then this morning, my vision seemed to explain it all to me. Over time, so much energy has been poured into the Jesus energy field in the collective</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> unconscious, that praying to Jesus taps into that ball and opens all kinds of spiritual help. It is likely particular to this planet, but it is nevertheless real. On other planets in the vastness of the billions of galaxies, there are likely other spiritual stories and other make-ups of each collective unconscious energy field.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It seems that the desire to seek the spiritual is hardwired into sentient beings. Across all history there is strong archeological and historical evidence for the universality of the spiritual quest and belief system. So I am pretty sure this is true across the vast expanses of time and space.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The important thing is to attune oneself to the highest understanding and live our life as best we can. </span></p>Rev. Dr. Marlene Oakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916205843521844167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4483877166279179072.post-74143504807797263982023-11-28T13:20:00.000-08:002023-11-28T13:20:24.811-08:00Miracles Are Afoot<p>It's a miracle! The repair bill on the car was forgiven!! They realized my husband had left a message not to replace the water pump, but they did it anyway. A lot of prayer, and a call from a friend, and my husband's conversation with them, all added up to getting our car back, and all we had to pay was for the smog test! Praise God!</p><p>Now I only <u>urgently</u> need money for a root canal and other critical dental work. I call for another miracle🙏☝</p><p>I know it is not currently thought to be cool to believe in miracles, but I do. I've seen countless miracles in my life. I know there is more than meets the eye that is happening here. Whatever name you want to use - God, Higher Power, Jesus, Allah, The More, Divine Presence - there is a Spiritual Presence in which we live.</p><p>I know that our "solid" physical world is mostly empty space with whirling atoms going at amazing speeds. I know what we "see" are signals that our brains interpret, and that they arrive upside down, but our brains turn them around. I know that we are traveling at tremendous speeds when you add up our spinning globe, our huge orbit around the sun each year, the travel of our solar system through the Milky Way, the Milky Way's movement, and on and on. But it seems to us that we are standing still.</p><p>I know that the cereal, blueberries, and milk I had for breakfast are right now being transformed into my body.</p><p>I could go on and on, but I won't. I just invite you to think on these things and other examples that come to you.</p><p>Jesus said not to judge by appearances. We do anyway. It might be interesting if we opened ourselves to what is beyond appearances.</p>Rev. Dr. Marlene Oakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916205843521844167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4483877166279179072.post-84733243785773397292023-11-11T10:20:00.002-08:002023-11-11T10:20:29.845-08:00Thoughts on What to Do<p> <span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I've been contemplating the seemingly dangerous times in which we live. This morning, during my prayer time, some thoughts wafted into my mind. I want to share the tender beginnings of these ideas, knowing they will take more form in the coming days.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Teilhard de Chardin's idea came to me - <i>We are spiritual beings having a human experience. </i>Then the common statement of life after life experiences came to me -<i> I met a being of light who asked me two questions: did you learn how to love (unconditional love), and did you complete your purpose for coming to earth? And then my life flashed before my eyes, the good and the bad, all of it.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Then I thought about how all of us come from a spiritual realm and inhabit a tiny human body that grows miraculously from two half cells to be trillions of cells that form our adult bodies. And, then, at some point, we give our physical bodies back to earth, and our spiritual being, our soul, goes back to the spiritual realm.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I thought about our great spiritual teachers that have given us much wisdom about how to be spiritual and human while here. I thought about how we humans have divided ourselves, pitted ourselves against one another based on various interpretations of what the great teachers have been reported to have said.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">So now we have thousands of variations/denominations of all of the great religions, each promoting the idea that they have the "right" understanding, often then attacking verbally or physically those who have the "wrong" understanding. For the zealots of each fraction, they seem to think that gives them the permission to do all manner of unspiritual things to the "wrong" thinking groups.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Often what is considered the "right" understanding was decided upon long, long ago by pre-modern men who were ignorant or misguided by their own biases. Without critical thinking, looking closely at history and archeology and geology, etc. the ignorant "right" ideas lead people far astray from unconditional love and from the purpose for which they came to earth.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">So, the questions I now ponder - How can we lead people to understand the simple truth of who they are and stop fighting over ideas that came from some dusty and distant past that only lead us to destroy one another and our wonderful earth? How can we be led to at least tolerate other understandings? How can we lay down violence and cruelty? How can we get the cloudy veils on our eyes and hearts to drop away so that we can see with clear spiritual understanding? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Can we at last have a great spiritual awakening on earth?</span></p>Rev. Dr. Marlene Oakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916205843521844167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4483877166279179072.post-7537089637661462362023-11-09T10:22:00.000-08:002023-11-09T10:22:03.303-08:00Overcoming<p> At my Tuesday night Bible Study at the homeless shelter, a man talked about us all having to carry a cross as Jesus did. </p><p>But.... Jesus overcame the cross. It seems to me that we are to overcome the crosses/challenges/trials in our lives too. He gave us clues -- <i>Greater things than this shall you do; It's not I, but the Father within doing the work.</i></p><p>By listening and following the Way as taught by Jesus, let's overcome whatever obstacles come to us. I think together, as good people, we can overcome the evil showing up as wars, violence, hatred, prejudice and all we see and read in the "news." Let's make some good news. Let's overcome together.</p><p>Let your light shine brightly. <span style="font-size: x-large;">💖</span></p>Rev. Dr. Marlene Oakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916205843521844167noreply@blogger.com0