Lord’s Prayer A Meditation – Petal Four

I know you are asking, “When are we going to get to what I need in my life and what I want to accomplish?” You need wait no further:

Give This Day Our Daily Bread

Once you submit to God in your daily life and surrender to your promise to God and your mission on earth, you need your sustenance to continue on the journey you began when you were born of this earth. It is here you discuss with God what you need in your life and in which direction you would like it to go, while asking for nourishment. It is here we thank God for all the abundance we have received.

God, your Father wants you to have your needs and wants in this body. He wants you to have great joy and abundance in this life. He is not saying that you will have instant gratification. Abundance is cumulative in nature.

How do you get this abundance?

First, you have to be grateful. Sometime I will superimpose the word Graceful (meaning Full of Grace). You are full of Grace when you love yourself in the Lord. How can you love others when you don’t love yourself? I can attest to that on a very personal level. If you look at yesterday’s blog you will see part of my story. As a young person in school, I had problems memorizing; and fifty-eight years after graduating high school, I still do. My long term memory is great; it has always been the short term. I succeeded in college; because I learned to study diligently during the semester. When it came to finals week, I would not cram for the exams. You could find me playing pool in the Brenton Student Center at Simpson College in Iowa, playing bridge with friends, playing baseball, or some other distraction. I would enter the exams refreshed and when the questions came, my long term memory kicked in. My mother was a very successful high school teacher and well loved by her students. When I came home with lousy grades, instead of helping me or getting me help she would constantly tell me that I would be a failure, or that I would not amount to a hill of beans. In addition, there was never a demonstration of love from either parent; never a hug and never a verbal expression of love. All my relationships, until I graduated from college were selfish relationships; because I had no base of reference on what love was.  Until I left college and was out on my own, every time I opened my soul to receive love I was brutally wounded. It has taken nearly a lifetime for me to love myself.  Please, fill yourself with the Grace of our Lord; so you don’t have to go the pain and suffering I experienced.

Second, you need to be precisely clear what your desire is before placing your request in the hands of God your Father. In example, “Lord, I desire an abundance of money.” How much is abundance? If you have spare change in your pocket right now, you are wealthier than 90% of the world’s population. I live in a rural community where our major industry is farming. I remember a sermon given to us by Pastor Sam Hernes. He addressed the farmers in the congregation, “Be careful of praying for rain. If you are not specific in your petition to God, He will give you rain. It might be enough to settle the dust or you may get forty days and forty nights of rain. You need to be specific.” If you don’t have in mind exactly what it is you desire, then you only have a dream – Oh, it would be nice, someday. Remember, what you seed, you will get back tenfold.

Third, you must be committed to the goal of reaching/obtaining your desire. This is simple, if you are not committed to doing what is necessary to reach your desire, why should God? Once you are thoroughly committed to your goal with your heart, mind and soul, then God will place all the resources in your hands. I like to say that God has a sense of humor. Let’s say your goal is to build your family a house and God gives you a sledge hammer, a pick-axe, and a shovel. You’re automatically thinking, “How can I build something with these items of destruction?” What you forgot was that you may have level the ground and break up the boulders on the plot where you want the house before you start constructing the house. Be aware, that God will provide you what you need to achieve your goals; but they may not appear at the time as such.

Fourth, you must unreservedly trust in the Lord, your God. He may lead you in one direction or give you something that appears to be the exact opposite of what you need at the time. You are driving down the road that leads you to your desire. Suddenly, God has put a detour in your way. We have all encountered those detours that take you sometimes fifty miles in the wrong direction, getting you the driver totally frustrated and sometimes angry. What you didn’t see was that bridge crossing troubled waters had collapsed. When you place your total trust in the Lord, He will help you to avoid those troubled waters that we don’t see.

Fifth, show your gratitude to the Lord, your God. This is key to loving one’s self. Let’s take a look at something that happens daily. We all like to help others; whether it an elderly person with carrying a heavy load, a neighbor removing snow when your neighbor is hurt or sick, a co-worker who is stuck on a project and you have what is needed to put it back on track. How would you feel if that person you helped never gave you a simple “Thank You” for your effort? Wouldn’t you give it a second thought the next time that person wanted or needed help? I know that I would. Why should our treatment of God be any different? God does not expect nor does he want an extravagant demonstration of that gratitude. Simply take a moment and tell Him, “Thank you Lord. I couldn’t have made it without your help.” It is that simple. With my children and grandchildren, all grandma and I want is a simple “Thank You” and a hug. I especially like those hugs; because I never got them as a child.

God doesn’t always give us what we want; but he will always, always give us what we need. For those with eyes that see and have ears that hear!

Lord’s Prayer A Meditation – Petal Three

So far we have stepped through Petals One and Two. The journey only becomes better from here forward.

On Earth As It Is In Heaven

(As Above, So Below)

We are, after all, a temple to God. We are the flesh of their Holy Blood. They made us in their image. We made a promise and agreed to come to earth on a Holy Mission. When not on earth, do we not live in their Holy Temple? What is preventing us from making our Earthly Temple like the one that is in Heaven?

Let’s take a look at the obstacles. As a side note, I have always liked it when our older brother, Jesus our Savior answered questions with questions. He wants us to think on our own. So, let me ask you: Has everything gone perfectly smooth in your life? Have you ever stumbled and fell flat on your face? Has every decision you made been the absolute perfect course of action? Have you always spoken with words of hope and praise or have you on occasion cursed? Have you ever, even for the briefest of moments, felt that God has abandoned you? Okay that was more than one question.

I was raised in a Godless house. I was raised with a daily dose of emotional trauma. Through my time in schools, I was unable to make any emotional relationships and often stuck my foot in my mouth. I dated; however there was never any emotional commitment. I was always on the taking end; because I did not know how to give without pain being associated with it. I had friends. In spite of that, I found myself emotionally empty. I did not know God. I did not know Jesus, my oldest brother. I have no brothers on earth. My only masculine role model was my dad; who was also emotionally detached.

I reached out to many “religious” groups. Not one of them shared or showed me that I could have a personal relationship with God. I tried the YMCA. I tried Young Life, both in high school. I reached out to my college chaplain and I had a roommate who was in the pre-theological program. Not one person helped, not one program led.

I found that I was happiest when I volunteered my time to something that was greater than me, something with a purpose. The ones that meant the most were the ones who helped those who either could not help themselves or who were down on their luck. At the time I did not realize that I was experiencing God in my life. All I knew was that for the first time in my life, I felt a personal satisfaction and a certain self-worth.

It was not until much later in my life that I found that I was making Heaven on earth. What a concept. When you think about this for a while, doesn’t it make sense? Isn’t God always helping us when we are asleep in this body? What brought about this epiphany in my life? As I have mentioned previously, at age ten I began my quest for the Holy Grail. Over a two year period in college, I did an independent study on King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table – the search for the Holy Grail – The Once and the Future King – officially called Medieval Cyclical Romances. By the time I was finished, I had written a two-hundred-eighty page under-graduate thesis. I was able to link King Arthur to our oldest brother, our Lord and Savior Jesus of Nazareth, at least on the spiritual level. I, in the heart of my heart, knew that the connection went a lot further; but I could not make that connection at the time.

After college, I continued to search. I search for the next forty years. Along this journey, I have found some certain truths (even though they seem like clichés):

Let Go and Let God

We are a temple to God

God Makes No Mistakes

God is Good, God is Great

We Are At Our Greatest When We Are In Service For God

When we are in service to God, we are at our greatest; a truly earth shattering concept. Jesus presses us that we will find him when we service the least among us. At the time Jesus walked the earth that was a revolutionary notion. Today, it still is.  He further educates us that we will find Him among the dregs of society and that we will not recognize him.

You are by now asking, what this has to do with “On Earth as it is in Heaven”. I say it has everything to do with it. When we serve others with no reward and no desire of recognition, we are making Heaven on Earth. When we reach out to help those who cannot help themselves, we are creating Heaven on Earth. When Jesus walked the earth, He spent a lot of his time with the sick, the poor, those who were dying and railing against the injustices of the world he faced. In the end did not make the ultimate sacrifice to waken the world? Did he not tell us that it is easier for a poor man to enter heaven than a rich man? Remember, if you have spare change in your pocket, you are rich in comparison to the majority of the world’s people.

Let’s look at what is happening on earth at this time. Then ask yourself, “What am I doing about these evil happenings”. There are those evil creatons who feel they have the right to go out and kill as many human beings as they can. We have rampant human trafficking. We have those who believe that women are either second class humans or nothing but chattel. We have narcissistic megalomaniacs ruling countries like the Hermit Empire with no thought given to the value of human life other than their own. On some corner of the world there is a war being fought, started or continued. We have some “Super Elites” who exert evil power over countries and societies across the planet. Sadly, there are still places where parents sell their daughters into sex slavery so they can buy food and necessities.

God knows that we cannot change it all by ourselves. If enough of us do make that effort one person at time, think of the army God our Father has helping him. I recommend that you pick up a copy of Kathleen McGowan’s “The Source of Miracles”. On page 88, she reminded me of a lasting principle that got buried in my cluttered mind:

Every good deed neutralizes a bad one.

Every act of service eliminates an act of oppression.

&

Every prayer for peace eradicates an impulse of war.

These are good principles to carry with you. These are how we create Heaven on Earth. This is the promise you bring to Petal number three. Ask your Lord to etch these principles on your heart and ask your Lord for help in completing this promise.

With those with eyes that see — take note and those with ears that hear – listen. Blessed be our Lord, our Savior, our Oldest Brother, Jesus. Love the Lord our God with all your heart, all your mind and all your soul and you will find Heaven on Earth.

Lord’s Prayer A Meditation – Petal Two

Lord’s Prayer A Meditation – Petal Two

Yesterday, we started our lessons on meditating upon the Lord’s Prayer. We praised our Father and Mother in Heaven and blessed our older brother, Jesus as our Savior. Today, we concentrate on Petal Two: May your kingdom come, may your will be done.

When you think about it, that is a very powerful statement. When we utter those words, what are we saying? Better yet, what are we asking for?

This is our first promise we made before our coming to earth. We must fulfill this before we do anything else. Without this everything else we try to do will not be successful. First, we promised to create Heaven on earth.

Each and every one of us is a heavenly temple. How do we create the environment that it becomes a Temple of God?

We surrender to the will of God, the grand creator. We need to shelf our ego-driven desires to follow the destiny of God. He is the one who knows what the temple will be before we place the corner stone. We are but spiritual adolescents.

The first and most difficult step is to surrender to the divine will. Once you have accepted that before your birth you made a promise to fulfill, a unique purpose in God’s plan. You must surrender to that purpose and surrender completely. Think back to when you were a teenager. Did we not rebel against the will of our parents; only to find out later they knew something that we did not? And later on, did we not think to ourselves how smart our parents were?

Surrender and obedience, as harsh as those words sound, become the most liberating words that we will ever speak. It is the very act of surrendering that gives us the inner peace we all seek. When we work at our selected careers, are we not surrendering to the greater good of the organization or company, regardless if you are the employee or employer? If we do not then the company will fail and we will be out of work. Remember, God is the architect of our lives, and Jesus is the Foreman.

Your will, not mine, will be done; say these words often. Scream them to the world. Say them out loud often. You need to hear these word as well as to visualize them; for those with eyes that see and those with ears that hear.

Here’s a concept to contemplate: Your dreams are not accidental. What you dream of doing is your soul’s way of reminding you of what you are here on earth to fulfill – your promise to God. Comprehending and accepting this truth with all your heart and soul will make you feel better. In addition, it will open your heart and soul to God to greater opportunity and erase any lingering disappointments you cling to.

 I lay open my pain, hardships, challenges to accept the knowledge there is a lesson for me in them; which will advance my spiritual journey. I surrender to Your will; for you are the ultimate wisdom. I pray you will help me to see the point of this lesson sooner rather than later; so I may go forth with my life in service to You.

I make these affirmations to God through my older brother, Jesus on a daily basis. They never fail when I make them sincerely and honestly. I find that when I do this with open voice and surrender to His will, I am also surrendering my pain, my hardships and my challenges to Him. Here is the surprising result of that surrender. Throughout my life, when I lay my challenges at His feet an answer will come; but not always on my schedule. Remember, there is our time and then there is God’s time.

Sometimes God answers our surrender with, “I have something better planned for you.”

Wow, that sounds like what my parents use to do to me when I was but a child. This is the toughest and most challenging of what we have to do on a daily basis, surrender to the Will of our parents in Heaven. It is hard let go of the controls in our lives. Try repeating this:

Jesus, I give this day to you. Let me do Your will and not mine. Please, guide me along this path and to stay within the proper lane. I will be in service to You and will do so with love and joy in my heart.

I pray that you will find this to be healthy and great preventive medicine. When I affirm this on a daily basis, I find little need feel like I am “Free Falling” through my day. I am reminded of the great song by Tom Petty. When I surrender to God on a daily basis, I have little need to “leave the world for a little while”. When we surrender to God on a daily basis, He will give the keys to a glorious future. We are also reminded of the greatest gift Jesus gave us; through Him all things are possible.

Lord’s Prayer A Meditation – Petal One

Meditation in a Modern Christian environment: strange bed-fellows. I have been involved with and disappointed in several Christian settings in my 68 years on the face of this planet we call Earth. I have been involved in Bible Studies, where you discuss the meaning of passages. In none of these “Organized” churches have I ever been asked to meditate on a daily basis. I was told to pray; but not one pastor or reverend ever told me to set aside thirty minutes to contemplate my life in Christ. In my book, this time of meditation is my prayer; and has made all the difference in my life.

Let’s meditate on The Lord’s Prayer! Over the next six sessions we are going to concentrate on one section of the prayer at a time. Today we meditate on: Our Father in Heaven, may your name be hallowed.

Faith is the corner stone of every transformational practice; and like every temple the starting point, in this case prayer. We are defining our relationship Our Father in Heaven, by transference so to our Mother in Heaven. We are also establishing of who and what God is. Are we not made in their image?

Why do we specify Our Father in Heaven? Fathers, historically have been the hunters, the providers, the family protectors. He is our benevolent parent, the divine parent who loves us unconditionally. There is no compromise in His being. Jesus is sharing with us a simple concept. God is not a tyrant to be feared; but He is a loving and protective being. In every parental relationship there are defined roles in each. In my home, since I am retired my role has changed; I am the cook, the one who maintains our house both inside and out. I am also a writer, photographer and worker of wood. My Bride, may the blessings of God be with her maintains our finances, works full-time, and nurtures our children and grandchildren. Last night she cried when one of our family members was emotionally bruised.

As children of God we go to God our Father with different requests than we do God our Mother. That is normal. It is a funny thing about mothers, they sense when someone in the family needs a hug, a mutual cry fest or that encouraging word. I see it in my life on a daily basis. Lynda, bless her heart knows what is happening in her family and shows up either in person or by phone or by Skype when it is needed. Fathers get asked to help out: I need a hand with this, I need some coin for that, I need a ride here or take my child there. It is no different for Our Father In Heaven.

In this petal of the Rose ask yourself:

1. How does looking at God as your benevolent parent change your perspective or otherwise impact your faith? Does it differ from the faith you were raised with? How does it differ for you?
2. How does your understanding of this relationship with God change your earthly relationships with others?
3. How does it feel to accept Jesus as your brother? How does it feel having Him a loving and totally accessible force in your life? Is this different than your previous experiences? How?
4. What are your personal biases and prejudices? How accepting of other races, creeds, religions, genders, classes, or other characteristics that would be a challenge for you to look at all men and women as your Brothers and Sisters? You need to be completely open and honest with yourself. Can you overcome the biases and prejudices through this new understanding that we are ONE human family.

Repeat the following and then fully contemplate the meaning and how transformative these words are: We are one human family. All men and women are my brothers and sisters.

May your name be hallowed. Hallowed, that is a strange word in modern English. How many of us use that word, if ever? Do you even know what it means? I know you know of Halloween. We all recognize it as a Fall Celebration with children and adults dressing up as ghouls, goblins, fantasy characters, anything or anyone but ourselves. Let’s break down the word: Hallow means holy – een is suffix meaning eve. So, what we have here is Holy Eve. What is it the eve of, you may ask? The day after Halloween is All Saints Day on the Christian Calendars.

A saint is one of our brothers or sisters who came before us, who fulfilled their promise to God before ascending into Heaven. I can see the wheels turning, “What promise?” This is not a new concept. Let’s look at Matthew 5:33 “Keep the oaths that you have made to the Lord.”

The path of the first petal asks you to examine all the complexities that come with the word “faith”: faith in God, faith in one’s self, faith in each other as God’s children. This is the one element most pilgrims of the Labyrinth struggle with. We accept a spiritual concept that is essential to your faith in order to proceed: You mad a promise to God to carry out a specific set of duties and to accomplish a predetermined mission during your life on earth. How and if you do  that is up to your own free will; but your understanding and fulfillment of that promise and mission is the key factor to determining your happiness, fulfillment and abundance.

It is within this petal we waken ourselves to God. Have we not been told that we need to “waken in this body” for us to become whole? Once we waken, we are ready to proceed to the next five petals. If we do not waken here, the rest of the prayer is but a set of meaningless words. If we are not awake, how can we set out upon our mission? If we are not awake, how can we understand what God is telling us? If we are not awake, how can we become fulfilled with God’s Grace? If we are not awake, how can we achieve happiness and peace within ourselves? If you are not awake, How can you discover (remember) what your Promise to God and Mission on earth is?

May the blessings of God, our parents in Heaven be with you – for those with eyes that see and those with ears that hear!

The Labyrinth and The Six Petal Rose

Why is there a Six Petal Rose in the center of the Eleven Circuit Labyrinth in Chartres Cathedral in France? What is the importance of the Rose? The Rose helps to give us direction on speaking with our Lord. Remember, we have God the Father, the provider; and God the Mother, the nurturer. Together, they are One, one with one another, one in the eye of their children and one in the eye of all others. Think of the One this way: When I was a teenager wanting to do something with my friends, I would ask my mother if I could. Her answer would inevitably, “It’s okay with me if it’s okay with your father. My father’s response would mirror that of my mom’s, “It’s okay with me if it’s okay with your mom.” As you can see they acted as One; we (my sisters and I) could never drive a wedge between the two of them.

So, with which of the two do we speak? We speak with the one who provides. Why do we do that, you may ask? When we seek out our Lord, we are asking for something whether it be advise, protection, resources, patience, etc. God our Mother is more subtle in her approach. If we need nurturing in our lives, she sends someone into our lives who can comfort and nurture us.

So how do we approach Our Father? First, we have to acknowledge that he is supreme above us and has the ability to provide what we need. Second, we confirm that the promises we made previously will be honored and that we will continue to strive to live up to His standards. Third, we request the fuel needed to process and succeed in accomplishing our promises. Fourth, we seek his forgiveness of our transgressions; and as he does so for us, we shall do the same for those who transgress or harms us. Fifth, since God Our Father knows what is in our hearts, what we are about to ask, we ask His help in keeping us on the path of Righteousness. Sixth, if we were actually listening for his answer in petals four and five, we thank Him, that He knows what the best answer is; even if we do not recognize it at the time.

Here is diagram for us to use:

Let Us Talk

Good morning to all. May the blessings of God be with you. I know many of you were upset with my scathing rebuke of St. Paul. I have to admit that I was really, deep down frustrated with all the hate and violence I see in the news every day. I happened to be studying the Nag Hammadi in conjunction with the Letters from St. Paul. I would love to hear back from you after you have read this piece.

When I got to looking deeply, and not just reading the Letters, I was struck by the rules. And, they were rules that Jesus never made. I was remembering the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus never required that a child be separated from both parents or husband from wife to hear the word of God. So when I saw all the Rules St. Paul set forth, needless to say I was flabbergasted and all the anger I pent up came spewing forth. If that offended you, I am truly sorry. I forgot to ask God to remove that anger from my heart.

The whole idea of this blog is to get a discussion going. I don’t care if you are Catholic, Lutheran, Latter Day Saint, Methodist, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist or Shinto; there are way to many to name individually. What Easa has taught us is to be tolerant of one another. Who am I to judge? I am but a Human Being who wants to follow this wishes of God; and to do everything I can to make Heaven on Earth – “As above, so below”?

Let us talk with one another instead of keeping our frustrations bottled up. Are we all not supposed to be sharing the White Light of God? Are we not to be putting that candle on the Hill and not hiding it under a bale of hay?  Are we not compelled by our love of God to spread the Light? That is what is really frustrating me, is the lack of discussion in today’s era. We are nobody’s slave. What we do is because of love and love breaks the bonds of slavery.

We are in an era of instant gratification, instant news, instant analysis, get all the facts gathered in the next 120 seconds, yesterday’s profound life changing news is forgotten, and let’s not forget about crisis jumping. Now we have “Audible.com” reading our books to us. Schools not teaching students penmanship or how to write with pen and paper. We are going to end up with a world where people will not know how to read (on their own) or write the words we speak; a failure in communicating the Word of God. That is a crying shame because word inflection can make a world of difference; the meaning of a word can be changed by the speaker.

Where does God fit into all of this? Obviously, they are being left out of the equation. So, let us talk. Let’s open a dialogue. What a profound new Earth shattering idea. I especially want to encourage everyone to open a dialogue with God. How can we awaken in this body if we do not talk with God? My wife and I quit going to bricks and mortar churches; because everything we heard about God, Jesus and Heaven was nothing more than lip service. There was no thought, no meaning behind the words given on Sunday. We were no longer a community of believers. We were American Lutheran. Didn’t Easa teach us the way we talk with God is through the Lord’s Prayer. In the service of most bricks and mortar Christian Churches, we recite the Lord’s Prayer in less than sixty seconds and in many cases less than thirty. I questioned our pastor, “How can we spend so little time on the Lord’s Prayer in the Service if Jesus said that is all we really need to talk with God? And, how can we accept the New Testament on Blind Faith when Jesus himself did not accept the teaching of the Synagogue through the Priests on Blind Faith?” I never got a satisfactory answer.

Instead, I continued my search for the Holy Grail, which I had started at age ten. That led me to the Nag Hammadi; which led me authors such as Kathleen McGowan, Jehanne De Quillan, Jean Markale, Jon Graham, and Otto Rahn and to read everything I could about the women of the New Testament. My friends, for far too long we have been denying the divine feminine with a total focus on the divine masculine. You cannot have one without the other. I now question everything and do not accept everything on Blind Faith. I accept God’s word as he preached through Jesus and Mary of Magdala and I meditate on the Lord’s Prayer.

Let me end with this: Genesis 1:26-27; The God said, “Let us make a man – someone like ourselves, to be the master of all life upon the earth and in the skies and in the seas. So God made man like his maker. Like God did God make man; man and maid did they make them.”

In the very first chapter of the Holy Bible we are told there is a Divine Masculine and a Divine Feminine. In the New Testament are we not told husband go to wife and wife cling to your husband and become One. Then does it not make sense that God as One is the union of the Divine Masculine and the Divine Feminine?

In my next seven posts, I am going share how I talk with God without jumping through a myriad of hoops. Always remember, that we talk with God and not to God; and God talks with us and not to us. This is all done through our older brother, Jesus;  who made it possible.

The False Prophet of the New Testament

Saul the accuser became Paul the Apostle. He said that he had an epiphany along the road as he traveled when he Jesus appeared to him (I doubt it). I have real problems with Paul and his approach to Christianity. Before and even after his “Epiphany”, Paul was a misogynist and a proponent of “Fear of God” and the harsh administration of “Old Testament Law”.

Let’s look at Romans:

1:1

“Dear friends in Rome: This letter is from Paul, Jesus Christ’s slave, chosen to be a missionary, and sent out to preach God’s Good News.”

Jesus never owned slaves! Jesus doesn’t require us to be his slaves. We honor him by our own free will. I preach his will because I believe in his divinity and “The Word”. Paul was one of Christ’s chief accusers before he was crucified. And, then he says that he is Jesus’ slave?  Well that destroys any belief in an Epiphany!

As I research what Jesus said while he was on earth preaching, it was all about love and “The Lord’s Prayer”. We are to love one another, just as we are to love ourselves. We are to forgive those who sin against us. What does it mean to “sin against us”? It means someone has assaulted us, talked against us, given false witness against us, slandered us, denied us because of our faith, etc. Remember that God gave everyone “Free Will” to choose their own path; but that does not negate our responsibility to forgive. We all need to remember Jesus’ parable of the “Prodigal Son” to know that sons/daughters will turn from their parents only to return and the parents forgive them for being lost. So I ask you, “What does Paul mean when he writes in Romans: 1:18–20

“But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, evil men who push away the truth from them. For the truth about God is known to them instinctively; God has put this knowledge in their hearts. Since earliest times men have seen the earth and sky and all God made, and have known of his existence and great external power. So they will have no excuse when they stand before God at Judgement Day.”

The God that Jesus shares with me in my dreams, in my waking visions and in His Word is not a vengeful God. God our parents are loving, nurturing, and protective parents. They want what is best for us. Like parents I know on earth, they love us unconditionally. As part of that unconditional love, they give us “Free Choice”.  I remember rebelling against my parents and I remember my children rebelling against my wife and I. That is the normal course of parenting and being a child. I also learned through my parents and the teaching of Jesus that mothers and fathers are equal parts of “The One”. The One is what we become when we marry; remember that even “The Holy Bible” tells us that God is “One”. It is an equal partnership with none being better than the other. Each has equal responsibility in the family. That is why I am really bothered by the following passage in Ephesians 5:21–24:

“Honor Christ by submitting to each other. You wives must submit to your husbands’ leadership in the same way you submit to the Lord. For a husband in charge of his wife in the same way Christ is in charge of body the church. He gave his very life to take care of it and be it Savior! So you wives must willingly obey your husbands in everything, just as the church obeys Christ.”

What is this blasphemy against the very teaching of Christ? Christ was all inclusive in his ministry. Did not his mother Mary participate? Was she not one of his key advisors? A key advisor is not a slave or blatant obeyer of the one being advised.

Before I get too far along, I would like to advise all of you to get a copy of “The Nag Hammadi Scriptures”. It contains codices and scriptures purposefully left out of “The Holy Bible”. It is an important tome for you to have and to study.

Let’s look at the Gospel of Philip, one of the “Lost Gospels” included in the “Nag Hammadi”. There were three Mary’s in Jesus’ life; his sister Mary, his mother Mary and his companion Mary. Companion is an interesting way to describe a relationship. In modern English, the synonyms for the word companion are: friend, buddy, mate, chum, cohort, acquaintance, confidant, confidante, colleague, etc. In the Middle East during the time of Jesus, companion literally meant spouse. And there is more, under the heading “Wisdom and Mary of Magdala (63, 30–64, 9):

“Wisdom, who is called barren the Mother of the Angels

The companion of the Savior is Mary of Magdala. The Savior loved her more than all the disciples, and he kissed her often on her mouth.’

‘The other disciples…said to him, “Why do you love her more than all of us?”

‘The Savior answered and said to them, “Why don’t I love you like her? If a blind person and one who can see are both in darkness, they are the same. When the light comes, one who can see will see the light, and the blind person will stay in darkness.”

Stop the Presses! The Answer Easa (my favorite nickname for Jesus given to him by his beloved Mary Magdalene) gave is powerful and full of insight. I am going to bring in the Grail Allegories (all those Princess Stories we learned as a child and immortalized by Walt Disney) to help illustrate the meaning of that wonderful answer.

Remember, all the Princesses were asleep due to spell placed on them by an evil witch or step-mother and to break the spell it took the kiss of their “True Love”. Here Easa is telling us that he knows Mary Magdalene in the most intimate of ways and that she is awaken by his kiss (sharing of the Good News). She is fully awake to the ministry of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior; for He has shared his most intimate of thoughts. The logical conclusion is that she is a full participant in the ministry, equal to Easa, himself. To extrapolate upon that is that Easa and Mary became “One” in the Biblical sense and that they shared in everything as equal partners. In addition, it shows us that the Apostles were still struggling with the full understanding of “The Way” (the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ among us). Ask yourself, who is it that I open my soul and most private thoughts to first? In my house after Easa and Mary, it is to my wife. I hope it so in your house, also.

Remember the title to this piece “The False Prophet of the New Testament”. Saul (Paul to the Pentecostals and the “Fire and Brimstone” Sects of Christianity) is a harsh and unforgiving task master; who would rather God, our Father and Mother in Heaven condemn those lost souls to Hell for all eternity than accept them like we were told about in the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

I tell you do not destroy the “Letters of Paul”; study them. It is better to know thine enemy and the ammunition they will use against us, than it is to be ignorant. We have the “White Light of Truth” on our side. I now suggest that you first read “The Nag Hammadi Scriptures” and second that you re-read the “Letters of Paul” with this new understanding of their harsh dictates that go contrary to the True teaching of Easa and Mary, as One, both divine, both our brother and sister in Heaven. Keep in mind that God wants us to “Waken” in the current body and do everything we can to make Heaven on Earth.

As Above so shall it be below. For those with eyes to see – Observe and For those with ears to hear – Listen. Again from Philip: The Master said, “Blessed is one who is before coming into being. For whoever is, was and will be.”

And to this, I say, So may it be (Amen).

We Must Awaken In This Life, This Body

Listen to the words of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ:

The Lord challenged Solomon to build a tabernacle, a place where access to God’s will might be attained by the faithful. In his wisdom and obedience to his Lord, Solomon constructed a Temple, and it is holy above all.

And within the sanctity of the bridal chamber, Solomon and Sheba created the labyrinth with its eleven paths in and out as a new tabernacle, where fully realized men and women may find there is no separation between themselves and God. It is a place where the Aeon, which is to say the Temple Space, can be simulated and experienced for those who cannot reach the Temple otherwise.

In the center of the labyrinth, the children of God will open their eyes. For most souls live in this world in a state of slumber. They must awaken in this life, in these bodies where everything they are on earth exists. Their bodies are their own sacred temple spaces and yet they do not see this. They believe that the kingdom awaits them only in the afterlife, and so they miss the most important teaching: that we are to live on earth as it is in heaven, and create heaven where it does not exist on earth. The kingdom of God is for us, here and now, on earth and in our earthly bodies of flesh if we will only claim it. This is done through love and love alone.

In the labyrinth, one reaches the Temple Space, where one speaks directly to God. It is a gift to the children that they may become Anthropos, fully realized humans, and fully awake. That they may find their authentic selves, their unique being, and simply become who they are meant to be on earth.

Pray in the manner I have shown you, at the center of the labyrinth and at the center of your life. Use the prayer as a rose and marvel at the beauty of its six petals, for it contains all you need to find the kingdom of heaven on earth. The central circle is love perfected.

The children of the world must open their eyes to see God all around them. Then they can live as love expressed. It is in doing this that they fulfill their destinies, and likewise their promises to and from eternity. They must awaken. And they must awaken now.

Love conquers All.

For those with ears to hear, let them hear it.

New Endeavor

First let me apologize for being a way for way too long. I am sorry for missing that time.

The clock beside my bed read 4:00 AM, then 4:09 AM, then 4:20 AM, and then I decided to not fight any longer. I have a deep and abiding Christian Faith. The only problem most people will have with it, I am not in sync with Rome or Wittenberg. I am more in line with those that Pope Innocent III and King Philip II of France tried to wipe from the planet.

As I have mentioned previously, I believe that God is the marriage of El and Asha-rah; God our Father, the provider and God our Mother, the nurturer. In addition, I believe that Jesus (Easa) of Nazareth and Mary Magdalene were married and had children. I believe in the divinity of both. I also believe that if you consciously listen and attune your hearing (it’s not always with our ears), you will hear them to this day giving us sermons about loving one another unconditionally and of peace. Doesn’t the Bible even tell us that he told us he would always be with us?

I am writing a new murder mystery with a working title of Three Angels. It is of a family in South Dakota of strong Scottish roots. The lead character also has a deep abiding Christian Faith that is askew of Rome. The journey of the novel is that the lead Character Alex Gunn learns that Easa has sent three guardian Angels of his murdered niece to help him find the person who was possessed with one of the Devils most evil and fowl demons.  Here’s the kicker. I know the beginning and I know the end; but I have no clue what is going on between until Easa and Mary tell me what to write.

This morning at 4:00 AM, Mary started to whisper in my ear, “It’s time to get up, you old lazy bag of bones. You have a novel to write.” I kept ignoring the whispers until Easa came into focus and told me, “Remember your promise that you made to our Parents in Heaven, Hallowed be their names. Don’t you think that Mary has patient enough with my druthers instead of theirs?”

Who do I think I am? I am but a vessel, and earthly vessel. I was granted my stay on Earth for the glory of God and to be of service to my fellow “man”. I finally rolled out of my comfortable bed, showered and then sat down to write this; even before my first Cup-O-Joe. We need to remember who is really in charge; and they know better than we what is good for us. So, this day is dedicated to writing down what Mary tells me.

• Our Father who lives in Heaven,
• Hallowed be your name.
• Your kingdom come,
• Your will be done
• On Earth as it is in Heaven.
• Give us this day our daily bread,
• Forgive us of our sins,
• And forgive those who sin against us.
• Don’t let us fall for the temptations of life,
• Protect us from those who are evil:
• For yours is Kingdom, The Power,
• And the Glory, for ever and ever;
• Amen!

 

 

Christians, Let’s Learn to Pray Part 2

We are speaking of our Heavenly Father when we pray. As with our earthly father, he is the provider. We established the provider portion last time. Now let’s look at the next line: Hallowed be your name.

I think most people have not really thought about this word. Here below is the dictionary definition of the root word hallow:

hallow

Syllabification: hal·low

Pronunciation: /ˈhalō

/

verb

[with object]

1– Honor as holy: the Ganges is hallowed as a sacred, cleansing river (as adjective hallowed) hallowed ground

1.1 — Make holy; consecrate.

1.2 — (as adjective hallowed) Greatly revered or respected: in keeping with a hallowed family tradition

noun

archaic

A saint or holy person.

Origin

Old English hālgian (verb), hālga (noun), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch and German heiligen, also to holy.

According to the Ten Commandments, we are to honor our father and our mother. They say nothing about making them holy or sacred. Mothers and Fathers have experience that we have not had the opportunity to have, yet.

So, you may ask why do we honor as holy our Father and our Mother in heaven. Simple, they have more experience with spiritual problems than we have. We are not perfect, by a long shot. In fact, those who thought they knew God better than anyone else hung the only perfect person from a tree. We have not encountered every spiritual problem there is, yet. Our parents in heaven hear about all the spiritual problems on a daily basis. Who better to ask for help than someone with the necessary knowledge or experience?

Of course our parents in heaven are holy and should be revered. They are the ones who determined why I was put on this earth and to the earthly parents I have (had). When we left heaven for this earthly experience (as I have said before), we made certain promises to God. Only you and your heavenly parents know what that promise is. That promise is not to earn the most money possible. That promise is not to be the most popular person there ever was. That promise was not to wield complete power over others. Our promises have something to do about improving the human condition. That is the reason your parents in heaven are hallowed and worthy to be honored above all others and all else.

We need to have daily supplications to our Father in Heaven in order for us to remove the log from our eye so we can see the splinter in the other person’s eye. If you do not honor him in the appropriate manner, you will find out nothing of importance. If you are a parent, are you going to really listen to that one child who insists on heaping disrespect upon you? That will not really happen. You need to have reverence toward the one from whom you are asking help.

My Father in heaven, I thank you for being such that I revere your very existence. Your are the one who makes this life on earth a heaven and a haven. Even though your enemies put obstacles in the way, you help me to find the right path to making someone else’s life worthwhile, even if it in only a minor way. My Mother in heaven, I thank you for constantly nurturing me and pushing me in the right and write direction. You have sent your holy son and holy daughter to me at times to remind me of my mission and my promise.