The Holy Spirit Came When?

This morning I'm reading Origen, known as the first genius of Christian theology (185-253 C.E). One of the things he proposed was that the Holy Spirit came only to rare individuals, such as the prophets, before Jesus' ascent. After the ascent, the Holy Spirit was available to at least all of the followers of Jesus.

While I like a great deal of what Origen said, I disagree with this idea.

First of all, I think it ludicrous to think God, and the voice of Wisdom and Guidance that we now call The Holy Spirit, only became interested in us humans after Jesus left the planet. That God didn't guide people from the very first, but only very much later, is hubris of the first order. Only to "my" group makes no sense.

I heard this week that it is estimated that 99% of all written material from antiquity is lost to us, at least at this point. Civilizations rose and fell. Libraries were burned. Victors wiped out the cultures of the vanquished. History marched on. Some things got incorporated into the culture of the victors, but who knows what and why and how. It melded together or was discarded.

Also, there were very very very few literate people at any given time until quite recently, historically speaking. In the Roman Empire, it is thought that less than 5% of the people were literate. In the Middle Ages literacy was below 20% and did not increase until the Enlightenment and industrialization. 

Even so, we have some examples strewn across history of inspired people other than the Hebrew prophets. There were the well-known, such as Buddha, Lao Tse, Confucious, Plato, Aristotle and others, before Jesus' ascension. We can imagine other people sitting around a campfire, speculating about the big things, such as the meaning of life. And sometimes one or more at each campfire across thousands and thousands of years and all across this planet, had an epiphany, an aha moment that hit them and led them to know more. They couldn't write it down, or even if they could, it disintegrated between then and now or is buried under layers and layers of civilizations built upon other civilizations.

Just in my life, in conversations, people speak of inspired events in their lives, of moments of spiritual understanding and insight. Very few write them down to share with others in the future centuries.

In many of the ancient writings that we do have, Wisdom is spoken of with reverence. It was thought to come to at least some from something More. The Holy Spirit is our Counselor, our Guide, Wisdom expanded beyond our finite understandings. And I fervently believe that It is and was available to all open and seeking souls. May we be so open.

Restoration

Yesterday my only first cousin and I met and hugged and talked for the first time in decades. We had lost touch, and because of Ancestry, we found each other again. He was the closest thing I had to a brother growing up. He's the only person left from my early life. It was wonderful. We will stay in touch.

Now I hope and pray the rest of my life will be restored. I am hoping this was the beginning, and the rest of my family will be restored and my assets returned. Perhaps this was a turning point.

That leads me to more restoration thoughts. Can we restore the original and brilliant teaching of Jesus, stripping away the questionable theologies heaped upon him over the centuries?

Can we restore the dream of so many of us, likely the vast majority of us, for peace. Can the crazed dictators and warmongers be stopped? Can sanity, compassion, dignity, kindness, forgiveness and essential goodness take the lead?

Can we restore logic, science, actual free speech and common sense? Can we stop the Marxist attempt to stop and demean  religion, destroy our values, redefine words, rewrite history, mock biology, and take down all free nations?

I think almost all of us want this restoration. Will we allow the tiny majority to stop us? In a real sense, the future awaits us to decide what it will be.

A Window to More

This morning a thought came to me that I want to share with you.

Jesus, among other things, was a window through which we can see our potential once we align with the Divine. So many hints - Greater things than this shall you do. Let you light shine. Our Father... 

He modeled what a life is like that is devoted to the Divine by his words and his deeds. He called to us to follow him - not to worship him.

I have a little challenge -re-read the Gospels from the point of view that Jesus is asking you to do greater things, to let your light shine, to remember we have one and the same Father, our Father, to see through the window he opened for us.

As we look through the window of Jesus, what do you see? What calls you to be more? How can you be the person he is presenting as your possible you?

What Is Your Species?

I came across a twofold thought from Rudolf Steiner this week that tweaked my mind. 

First of all, he said that all humankind is one species. I have long thought that. We have minor variations in size, color of skin and eyes, etc. - surface stuff. But we are all human, of the same species. Or, I might say all children of the Divine and therefore siblings.

It's the second part that gave me a new thought. He went on to say that each individual soul is a species unto itself. No two are alike. We each have a different bio. We each have different memories. We each have our own prism through which we view and evaluate life. We each have known different people. We each have traveled in different times and to different places. We may have lived other lives, none alike. Who we show up to be is a mixture of all of this. 

That makes a lot of sense to me. And yet, I have a caveat - It is amazing how different and yet the same we are. Across history, we see so much that is alike. Humans want to love and be loved. Humans form families and care for one another.  Humans struggle with issues such as greed, lust, fear, hope, generosity, etc. Wars are fought and people die, often for seemingly trivial issues that could be talked out and hugged out.

People have spiritual urges and deep questions. People go on voyages and adventures in search of something. People can be heroic or cowardly, open or closed-minded, faith-filled or fear-filled, and on and on.

And yet, we actually are one species, within which we have unique lives. Perhaps if we looked at one another with this understanding, we could be more charitable in our interactions. 

If we saw that each person is a work of great art, created by God with details sculpted by life, we could love and appreciate one another more.

Meditation Insight re: 23rd Psalm

This morning in my meditation I had a different view of this Psalm come to me, and I want to share it with you.

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd, [Even though I sometimes resist or even forget]

I shall not want; [But I might want other stuff than what is good for me]

He makes me lie down in green pastures. [Whether or not I want to at that moment]

 
He leads me beside still waters; [Do I have to give up chaos?]

He restores my soul. [Sometimes my weary soul resists being restored for some strange reason]

He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. [But sometimes I don't follow]

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, [Sometimes I want to sit down and have a pity party and stay in the valley awhile]

I fear no evil; for thou art with me; [I get scared anyway because I forget God is actually present]

Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. [If I let You, You ward off attacks with your shepherd's staff]

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies; [Even if people are against me, You are with me, showing those enemies they have no power]

Thou anointest my head with oil, [You seal me to You whether or not I deserve it]

My cup overflows. [Sometimes with what I don't want but apparently need]

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; [All things work together for good, even though they might not seem so at the moment]

And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. [No matter where I am in this life or the next, I dwell in the Presence of God]

Amen!

Is Peace Possible?

As we possibly stand on the edge of WWIII, it seems to me that we who see clearly, we who love God and God's Expression that we call Creation, have some sort of spiritual obligation to stop the destruction and violence that seems to be accelerating.

I have often said that we need to be peaceful ourselves, following the great spiritual maxims to love one another. If we cannot be peaceful in our personal hearts and lives, how can we ask our collective nations to live in peace? We must demonstrate the possibility of peace with our own lives, our words, our actions. Then we must listen to be guided to participate in the world in such a way as to be part of an outbreak of peace on earth.

I am told in prayer that this is no longer just a good idea, it is on the verge of being urgent. We are on the edge of the most terrible war in the history of this planet, war with weapons so destructive that it is unlikely many, if any, will survive. You see it - guns and knives, attacks on each other, a proxy war between the West and Russia in Ukraine, China vowing to take over the world and now talking of supplying Russia with weapons, dictators of the world rattling nukes and voicing threats, leaders in the West talking of the great re-set of global government - and on and on. There is actual danger to us all.

We see all this. What can we do? Do we believe, have faith, that there is a solution, that we, just ordinary people, can do something to turn it all around? 

I don't know the answer. I do believe there is an answer. Let us pray that we will be inspired by The Divine Presence, known by many names, so that we do know what to do, and that we are given the courage to do it.

Oh Divine Presence, Holy One, Creator of all that is, we remember it is in You we live and move and have our being. We remember Your nature is Love. We remember the countless times in history You inspired people to do great deeds, to make meaningful differences, to stand for the right thing. We need You now so very much to bestow Your Wisdom upon us. We need Your Leading, for we alone do not know how to bring Your Peace to this precious earth You have given us. Dear Lord, speak to us, show us the way, Your Way. Rise up at least a few great leaders to inspire the people of this planet to love and save one another, to even embrace one another as children of You, as siblings, as one human race. We raise our voices together as one voice. Hear our prayer. Grant us Wisdom and Courage. May it be so! We seal our prayer with all that is Holy, and with the ancient seal of faith, with the fervor of our very heart of hearts,  Amen, Amen and Amen

Jesus as THE Door

 Origen said a simple statement that intrigues me:

But it would require both much time and labour to collect together all the titles of the Son of God, such, e.g., as the true light, or the door, or the righteousness, or the sanctification, or the redemption, and countless others.

I don't recall reading this passage before when I first read "The Works of Origen." That is often the way with most any meaningful writing, at different times different things stand out and speak to us.

The idea of the teachings of Jesus being a door to God, to spiritual awakening, to at least partial resolution of my quest is striking me as most profound. I have come to think of his teachings as brilliant, as roadmaps as to how to live my life, to pointers to rise out of ego and into true spiritual steps, to incredibly inspired. To think of the teachings as a door means walking The Way leads me out of my limited consciousness into the infinite possibilities of The More. The teachings are not ends in themselves, but a doorway through which I can enter That to which He is pointing. 

That leads me into Paul's universal understanding of en Christo - the energy that animated Jesus animating us. The Cosmic Christ, the Universal Christ, the Energy of God flowing freely, Guiding, Urging Onward, Loving, the dark glass cleaned, the scales falling from eyes, the veil lifted. Being made new.

The Door!!! Simple yet life-changing.