Not An Atheist

 Yesterday I watched a video of an atheist explaining why God is impossible, life continuing is impossible, for you cannot see God and cannot see beyond this life.

This morning I was thinking about color. I cannot see all of the spectrum of color, for my eyes only see a small band of color, not all of the range. Because my eyes can't see it all, does that mean it's not there? I cannot see atoms and the vast empty space of material things that physics tells me about.  Does that make physics wrong? Of course not, unless you want to deny science. I don't see love, or gravity, or hope, or fear, etc. I know them to be real.

Then I thought of moments I've seen through the veil, to see great light filled beings, to see loved ones passing, to hear words reaching me from elsewhere, maybe from another dimension. Or maybe beyond where our usual senses can sense, an extended spectrum. I thought of life after life experiences. I thought of reincarnation research. I thought of inspirations that have flooded me, so that I suddenly knew what I had never known before. 

I could go on and on. I know, KNOW, there is More than meets the physical eye. There are moments of windows opening. There are glimpses of breathtaking vistas. There are holy moments. God lives.

Simplify

 Don't try to find God. Simplify your scattered life, and become one in yourself. Then God will find you. The rest will follow. --- Meister Eckhart

If there is one thing the seeming deprivation of the last few years has taught me, it's that I  can thrive with a lot less than I'd ever thought possible,and its my soul that needs tending.  More stuff won't do it. More busyness won't do it.

I discovered that an over- abundance is distracting from the truly important things. I discovered how many hours had been wasted.

I like Eckhart's line about being one with yourself. In this day and age, it is easy to bury ones self under a pile of clutter, hoarding what we don't need, racing here and there, seeking  attention and approval from the outside, and thereby losing the  core of who we are.

If we are not at home in ourselves, how is God to find us?  Nobody is at home when God comes knocking.

Soul Gymnasium

This morning, laying half awake in bed, I was asking God about the incredible number of lessons packed into this lifetime. I saw flash before my eyes the ancient Greek gymnasium with muscular men wrestling. Then I heard, "there is also another gymnasium, the gymnasium of the soul."

"You were chosen to come to earth to develop your soul as rigorously as some develop their bodies and strive to be champions. Your striving is to develop your soul."

I recalled tellling others lately that this is not the vacation planet, that we are to develop our spiritual muscle. This insight, or revelation, this morning puts another layer on that thought.

I saw a fantastic sight of millions of eternal souls struggling to lift mental and emotional weights. I saw some clueless as to what was going on, while others were at least somewhat aware and so strived all the more. I saw some resisting, and some doing their best. I saw a whole range of reactions to the soul gymnasium.

Then I saw the last two questions as we leave this place - Did you learn how to love unconditionally? Did you complete your purpose? The final exam.

Emerson Still Speaks

 Ralph Waldo Emerson, a sampling from his essay on Providence:

Life wastes itself whilst we are preparing to live...

The world is filled with the proverbs and acts and winkings of a base prudence, which is a devotion to matter, as if we possessed no other faculties than the palate, the nose, the touch, the eye and ear...

Call a spade a spade...

 Do what we can, summer will have its flies. If we walk in the woods we must feed mosquitoes. If we go a-fishing we must expect a wet coat...

 He that despiseth small things will perish by little and little...

Let him learn a prudence of a higher strain. Let him learn that everything in nature, even motes and feathers, go by law and not by luck, and that what he sows he reaps...  

Thus truth, frankness, courage, love, humility, and all the virtues range themselves on the side of prudence, or the art of securing a present well-being.

This amazing man of  the 1800's, has so much from which we can learn. He touches us with his writing, with his ability to reach us at a deep level with timeless wisdom. This is not my favorite of his essays, yet it speaks to me as if he sits in front of me speaking his wisdom.

Take the first quote above. As we mull it over in our minds, it reveals many facets. I think of the wasted moments of my life, moments waiting, putting off rather than living with gusto. I think of silly hesitations. I have learned to have less of these wasted moments, as I came to realize the finite nature of this trip to earth.

I urge you to explore these quotes, and open to his wisdom. Then I do hope you read his essays, maybe especially "Self Reliance" and "Oversoul" - and then on to the rest.

God bless you and keep you and cause His Face to shine upon you and give you peace.

Link to my talk January 12, 2-025

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRkC6xkCBr0&t=119s 

I invite you to view my talk on Turninng to Christ that I gave yesterday at the Temecula United Methodist Church. It is filled with some of my understandings as of now. If you enjoy my writing, I think you will find my talk inspiring.

Ralph Waldo Emerson's Genius

I n rereading Emerson's essays, I am once again struck by his genius, his clarity, and his unique vision. This morning I read his essay on Shakespeare. Here is a small excerpt.

 Shakspeare, Homer, Dante, Chaucer, saw the splendor of meaning that plays over the visible world; knew that a tree had another use than for apples, and corn another than for meal, and the ball of the earth, than for tillage and roads: that these things bore a second and finer harvest to the mind, being emblems of its thoughts, and conveying in all their natural history a certain mute commentary on human life. Shakspeare employed them as colors to compose his picture.

 This leads my mind many places. I go to Jesus' statement to not judge by appearances, but judge righteous judgement. It reminds me of Meister Eckhart saying that if we sufficiently studied a caterpillar, one would have sermons for a lifetime. It takes me to the many mystics who tell us God is everywhere, in everything. It takes me to physics that say all is energy, most, maybe all,  is empty space and just vastly speeding patterns of energy, quarks and beyond. It takes me the knowing that the most important things are invisible, from gravity to love. It takes me to the incredible distance we travel each day and the speed of our collective travels, from the rotation of our planet, to its orbit around our sun/star, to the orbit of our solar system in the Milky Way, and on and on.

Clearly not all Truth is obvious, and for the most part, most of us are rarely or never aware of what is really going on. I invite you to stretch your mind today, and think on these things with me.

How Do We Define Ourselves?

 It seems to me that often people define themselves by temporary, fleeting outer things.

Is who I am my poverty or my wealth? My infirmity or my health? My sex, my height, my job? My whatever, name what you will. Is my worth tied up by the status of my associates? Is agreeing with the current trends guaranteeing my acceptance? Does keeping busy show how important I am? Am I trying to impress others? Do I need and seek approval from others? If so, the you that is you is buried under a pike of meaninglessness.

Actually there is another way to define oneself. it requires different questions.

Am I true to myself? Do I know that I am part of a universe that is Divinely inspired? Do I know that everyone and everything is part of that? Do I treat all as sacred? Do I listen to my inner guidance? Am I at home in my own soul?

If we can say yes to the second set of questions, we are immune to control from the outside. Who we are is between God and us. We are free.