Joseph Campbell--The Mythic Symbology of Release

You want to be my disciple, pick up your cross and follow me.
- Jesus

I die daily.
- Paul

I believe Joseph Campbell illuminates these words, which are central to being a disciple of Jesus.

In my world, Joseph Campbell, gets even more wise, the farther I go in my own walk.
Here is a great 4 minutes from him: Joseph Campbell--The Mythic Symbology of Release
And I typed about half of it out, because it is awesome, and I didn't see it anywhere on the net:

You don't have to be quit of your bondage in order to expereince the release, the two go together.
In an individual's life, oh this is really a great mystical expereince.
That he no longer identifies himself with the history of his carnal body, but with the consciousness that informs that body.
And when you are identified with the consciousness rather than with the vehicle, the bondage of the vehicle has nothing to do with the bondage of the consciousness.
You see what I mean?
You are free in bondage.
Mythologically, the shackles fall without leaving your wrists.

...in the world, in the field of bondage, the eternal power plays.
And so you have this... joyful participation in the sorrows of the world.
You can't eliminate the sorrows of the world, time involves sorrow.
And if you are in the field of time, that is the expereince of your carnal body.
But that which is participating in this has another dimension, the eternal dimension, and it can joyfully affirm this.

...Eternity participates voluntarily in the processes of time - which are sorrow and death.
So he (Jesus) comes to the cross  - which is the cross of life and time, voluntarily.
And, when you get that affirmative aspect, you've got a sense of the Christianity which is heroic.

... Christ triumphant, with his eyes open, voluntarily, on the cross.
And that is where we all are.
And, when you can identify yourself with that myth, you are released...
When the ego is capable of that participation in the crucifixion, then you are in ... the imitation of Christ.
And I would say, you have achieved the goal of the Christian message.

The Miracles of Surprise Sithole: Belief and DESIRE!

Hello!
This blog is regarding the text and video of an inspiring blog post:
The Miracles of Surprise Sithole

I suggest reading and watching and having your own expereince, before reading mine
(but, I am not in charge, you are ; )

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After I read the text, this is literally, what I had to say:
(but please don't get stopped here, because the Magic happened when I watched the video ; )

1)
Sithole has a beautiful testimony.
(I am not saying that this testimony is true, because IDK, but I do know it could be true. And hopefully is ; )

2)
The whole time I was reading the Sithole article, I was basically thinking, what he beautifully says near the end:

belief in miracles is not optional for a Christian:
“If you are a true believer, you have to believe in miracles.” 

In his book he discusses “why so many miracles occur in Africa while
they seem to be so rare in America and Europe”. 

His answer is that
Africans have “simple faith”, while Western people “question everything..."

3)
Systematic Theology about Miracles is like Dancing about Architecture 

(this occurs as nuts to me, with all respect ; )

Intellectualizing/ Rationalizing/ Pigeonholing is Most of the Reason we don't expereince the small miracles around us, every minute;

 and why we block big miracles from happening, at all. IMHO.

We block the power and glory and light and love and truth of God.

.

BUT THEN, I watched the video with Sithole!

And then I wrote:

WOW what a Huge Blessing to expereince his energy.

NOW I can say, from my perspective, this guy is for Real ; )

I expected to find him with a lot of Certainty/Faith - and I did - the energy of his Belief is strong.

But, I found a wonderful Surprise
- even stronger than his Belief is something else, very dominant in his BEing.

He is Hungry, very hungry.
And where he is in the world, there is a lot of food for his hunger.

This is what I see:

As he eats, he grows larger and can eat more, and grows larger.

At first this picture was, as if he was a snake doing this.

Then the picture changed to a whale - back and forth, back and forth in a rich feeding-ground.

Finally, I realized what I was seeing was:
this hunger was desire, 

and fulfillment of desire, 

and then growing desire. 

But, it wasn't in the unhealthy way that one can see often in our general culture...

The healthy gift of Desire.

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And here is the Gift - I am not aware that I have seen such beautiful, pure, holy Desire.

• Usually I see Desire for crap - for money, for stuff, for security, for power, for prestige, for attention, for validation, for lovers - on and on.

• Mostly I see Desire for the things of this world - which pass away, and which do not really Satisfy us,  and which can easily distract us from our Delicious BEIng IN God, our Glorious Path IN God.

I had to look and look, what is it that Sithole Desires?
It wasn't a common thing that I ever really saw before, like this, in anyone.

What I finally found was, he desires Hope and Light.

He Desires for Hope and Light to Grow,
and he goes around where there is a lot of Hopelessness and Despair and Darkness
- so much that it is a good feeding ground -

And he eats it up, and leaves trails of Hope and Light
- like paths through the jungle, like trails to water in the desert.

And this feeds him, he grows, and he keeps on eating more.
He doesn't stop.

That is what I notice, YMMV

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My teacher would say, we create...
(most Christians would more comfortably say, we co-create with God - for me: same, same)

We create through Belief and Desire.

That IS what this guy is doing, 

it is an inspiration to learn from him energetically/spiritually. 

I have had issue with Desire, becasue I don't much-Desire the things of this world
(I do Some, I AM human ; )

But, relatively, I don't Desire very much the things of this world.
This has been challenging for me, becasue it has affected my ability to create.

.

It helps me A LOT to see someone Desiring in a holy way 

- in a way I can relate to.

Learning from him energetically, I can access more of what *I* am passionate about:
loving and serving God, loving and serving people,
INviting Healing, Light, Love, Truth, Life, Hope, Way INTO the WORLD, in REAL ways.

I just don't care Enough about money and things, 

I don't care Enough about prestige and success in the world's terms;
I have been unable to utilize these desires as a big enough lever to really matter.

But I do Desire to Heal up from the crap,
to Grow Fully into who I AM,
and to come to Fruition
- and to share, to shine God's Gifts in the world, in my unique way.
 

THIS IS a big enough lever!

.

Right this minute, I am integrating more about Desire than I ever have.
I saw Desire as a bad thing, for most of my life.
Then I learned that, without attachment, it as a very useful thing,
but I never felt like I had enough.

.
But I DO have enough Desire, it is just different than expected!

I felt a little broken in this area of Desire.
But really, how I am is just right - this is a Huge, Blessing for me.

- it is a GIFT to Desire God and Life in God, and Being Blessing in the world.

The Seed of Desire for BEing these Blessings in the world
is much more awakened by Sithole's spiritual modeling, 

I can feel it growing.

I can feel the holy hunger drawing me forward more than I ever had before, 

as I saw him being drawn.

I am grateful, I will continue to energetically learn from him.
in life! Wendy

Want some protection from Religious Fascists, especially the ones that live inside your own head?

A question from K:

Though it's Jesus words themselves that terrify me the most.
His parable of the sheep and the goats is a case in point
because there will be always someone we miss or don't want to help or can't help...
I'd love your take on that, as a Pastor...

My answer:

Hi K, I appreciate your sharing.

I would tend to say that Jesus helped/helps us experience that God is real, and accessible to us.

I think it is important to note WHO Jesus is speaking to, when reading scripture:

• is he speaking to regular folks, seeking God - then he is often encouraging,
  think Woman caught in Adultery ->  Go forth now, and stay on track ; )
• or is he speaking to Religious Fascists - any folks who block those seeking God or turn our attention to anything else besides God and who/how God is calling us (which is idolatry)
  think of Jesus is kicking *ss, like the Money Changers ->how dare you treat my Father's house like a den of robbers!

Very different energy between these two.

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So when i read the Parable of the sheep/goats, the end of Matthew 25.
I am getting the distinct impression that Jesus is speaking toward the Religious Fascists, those who think they are SET:

• follow the Law, and you win.
• believe the right things, and you win.

He is saying, NO
- BE love with your neighbor, that is the important thing
- treat everyone you meet as if they are ME.

This is a Very Different way of being a follower of Jesus in the world,
and it is a completely relevant today, as it was then, IMO.

.
And IMO/E it isn't about doing it PERFECTLY,
it is about attitude of heart.

Jesus argued for many laws that were IMPOSSIBLE to keep.
(These are the first conversations he had,
in the first book of the New Testament
- oh, you want to keep the law, well, then, here we go... See second 1/2 of Matthew 5 )
 
The LAW is Not the WAY.

The Way, rather, is Righteousness
- listening to, believing, and following God
- BEING in Right relationship with God
- in alignment with and filled with, and following our Source.

The LAW is not the way,
and it never was.
As Paul said, laws are for children.
The Law is for the flesh, it is physical.
There is a spiritual way, the narrow way:

We are called to mature spiritually,
following the Living God in every step.
This is the way, walk ye in it.

.
Do we fall down? Of course!
We just have to keep getting up, and going on.
Children learn to walk by falling down - A LOT!
SO DO WE.

Jesus said
we MUST become like Children
if we are to expereince what he said was most important:
spiritual reality: the Reign/Kingdom of God.

WE MUST FALL DOWN, a lot!
Jesus is for, not against that...

Those are some thoughts.
I hope something here is helpful.

.
Jesus did not come to bring fear,
but rather freedom IN God.
I hope you are enjoying your freedom more and more each day.

.
.
BTW - I am not a Pastor (thank God!!!! thank God!!!! thank God!!!!)
I have a ministry, supporting people to mature spiritually;
continually opening ears to hear and eyes to see the reality of spirit,
and follow God's unique spiritual leading for each of us, in our world.

.
.
Lastly,
Jesus is now reminding me to talk about this scripture,
because in it Jesus is talking TO a sweet person who wants God,
about the bratty people who block the way to God

(this is the best kick the religious facist's *ss chapter ; )
There is so much to learn here
about what following Jesus Absolutely does not look-like
- note the first paragraph of Matthew 23.

This is my perspective, YMMV,
Best to you, Wendy

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Rock Your World with Master Jesus!

A few weeks ago, I got a call to a new focus in my ministry.
And then soon after, I had an opportunity to share this focus on a 1/2 hour radio show;
on a network that is spiritual, not Christian:

Rock Your World with Master Jesus!
Jesus Rocked his world, 2,000 years ago;
he ushered in a whole new vibration and a new paradigm of Divine Connection.

Jesus WAS Light, Way, Truth, Life in his world,
and he calls US to Do the Same…in our own way.

Let's tune into Jesus spiritually: receive his wisdom and insights for us, and most importantly his spiritual frequency -
So we can ROCK our life, and our world, today!  LISTEN

My calling is to speak with ALL about Jesus, not just Christians, and to do it BOLDLY from my own perspective and expereince.  May we all do the same!

Blessed Thanksgiving!
Wendy

PS - If you are in alignment with this message, I have a new online series coming up - please join my e-newsletter to receive details.  First session is:

Align with your Source, with Master Jesus: Let the Light IN (Online Meditation Workshop)

In early January starts:

Ears to Hear, Eyes to See:  Soul Tools with Master Jesus (Online Meditation Class).

The Lie of Success (physical) vs. the Truth of a Life Fulfilled (spiritual)

From a physical perspective:
We can never be rich enough, powerful enough, beautiful enough
to make us feel happy and safe, to believe we are good enough...

The way we are programmed around success in this culture is a Lie.

If we 'buy' all the information around what success IS
and how we should go about it,
we are unlikely to end up happy, fulfilled.

If we actually get anywhere near the goals this world set for us,
we find out we have squandered our lives for fool's gold. 

The way to be happy,
to be truly successful,
to make a real difference in our world...

Is not to try to:

• follow the herd, 
• play small 
• ACT big.

Certainly not to try to operate under all the lies we are told about:

• who we are, 
• what we should do and have, 
• and how we should look, act and be.

The world doesn't need anymore widgets,
any more cookie-cutter people.
The world needs YOU.

This is why you are here!
If you don't do what you are here to do,
NO ONE CAN.

The secret to living fulfilled lives is to actually:

• BE unique ourselves.
• DO our unique calling/path/expression of us.
• Shine our unique Light.

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Sure fine, But HOW?

One of many ways to answer this:
Jesus outlined a relatively straightforward process...
If we want to be successful adults: well-fed, well-dresses, well-taken-care-of... then we:

seek ye first the reign of God and His righteousness, and all these shall be added to you.
- Matthew 6:33

Seek first the Kingdom (Reign) of Heaven =

• Seek spiritual reality and operate from soul information.
• Not from physical focus, pulls of the body/flesh and worldly rules, programming, expectations, limits...

and God's Righteousness =

• Listening-to and Believing the Voice, the Leading of Spirit in our lives (Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness).
• BEING in right relationship with our God, our Source, in alignment with Spirit, Light, Love, Truth, our spiritual information and our Way/Path...

And all the necessities of life come to us =

• we are fulfilled, 
• our needs are met, 
• we are free from striving and worry, 
• to go love and to serve the world!

This means:

• BEING who we Really Are = a child in the royal family, a spark of the Divine in this world.
• Reestablishing our free-will so we can Align with God and our Path.
• DOING what we are actually called to DO by the Living God, who did not get laryngitis 2,000 years ago!

This means:

• Going to our Source. Finding out who we are
• Filling UP with Glory. Being healed and led on our Path.
• And then going out to DO what ONLY WE CAN Uniquely DO in the world.

This is success beyond imagining, it is wealth beyond the dreams of avarice.
It is a Fulfilled Life, truly available to each and every one of us... Now.
Let's GO!

From this place, we can engage our Unique Process of Soul Maturity, Teleios 

Realizing who we are in God, into our body, life, world...

Blessings on Your Unique Journey, Wendy

Choosing to Grow-Up... Spiritually

I am really jazzed about opening to our spiritual senses, and allowing God to give us the spiritual faith and power to follow where God leads us with these senses.

This makes a world of difference for us - we can actually walk with God experientially in this world.

And, when we can directly hear/see/know God's will,
and are free to act in the world as we are led,
it shifts the world in profound ways, we (God with us) make a world of difference for others.

As Angels are God's messengers, the spiritual hands and feet of God;
so we also can be, on the physical, in small (and increasing) measure, God's messengers, the spiritual hands and feet of God in this world.

We help realize - make real - God's will on earth, as it is in heaven (spiritually, in the reign/kingdom of God).

None of this is done through listening to church leaders, or to each other.
It is not done by reading the bible or devotionals.  
It is not done by singing songs or going to meetings.
It is certainly not done by being 'good'.

All of these things above are lovely, when God leads us in them,
but the best these things can do is lead us to God.

God heals us and fills us with glory.
God transforms us here on earth, even as we are seated in heavenly places, spiritually.
God walks with us and leads us.

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which goes out through God's mouth

For the word of God [is] living and operative, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and penetrating to [the] division of soul and spirit, both of joints and marrow, and a discerner of the thoughts and intents of [the] heart.

Meanwhile, we are here to heal, change, grow, learn, transform, mature-into the full-grown daughters and sons of God, operating in this world as the divine heirs that we are. 
We are Not here to sit-around in kindergarten waiting for the heaven-train, as many Christians seem to be.

It is not just us, or even the body of Christ, that profits from us growing-up - but all of creation is waiting impatiently for us to come into our freedom and glory as children of the King, grown to full-stature.

It is our job to grow-up, to do this, we must:

• choose to open to our spiritual senses;
• choose to own our free-will back: from others, from our religious & social programming, from our own and others emotions, thoughts, habits, limits, lies... so we can be free to follow God;
• choose to align with our Source: our God, our Light, our Way, our Truth, our Life.

From this place, we can engage our Unique Process of Soul Maturity, Teleios 

Realizing who we are in God, into our body, life, world...

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I don't think we can do any of this on our own - we do it with God,
but we have to be willing - we have to choose.

Like the man who said to Jesus:
"I believe; help thou my unbelief"

May we say/be:
I am opening, help thou my opening!
I am owning, help thou my owning!
I am aligning, help thou my aligning!
I am growing up, help thou my growing-up!

If we are having trouble, are stuck, need help with any of this;
It is our job to Ask and we shall Receive; Seek, and we shall Find; Knock, and the door shall be Opened. 
It is our job to expectantly watch for the response spiritually and physically.
God sometimes acts directly spiritually, and/or sometimes God sends a canoe!

Then, we do not just sit, we act - we lead or follow (or get out of the way ; ) - as God leads us to do:

• We read books and/or write books.
• We heal from others ministrations and/or we act as healers.
• We learn from mentoring/teaching and/or we mentor/teach.
• We watch and learn new tricks spiritually by monkey-see-monkey-do, and/or we are watched others and make a huge difference for them just by who we BE in the world, and how we DO what we see God doing and are led to do.

Anything else is missing the mark, in our own unique journey in God.

How did I come to know the Lord

I was raised Catholic. I had some mystical experiences, but when i was confirmed at ~13, it seemed all smoke and mirrors - there was no spiritual presence or power in the (vestigial) arm-waving of the Bishop. 
I loved science and became quite a rationalist - family, friends and priest didn't like it, but they said or did nothing that convinced me else-wise. I wasn't a jerk about it - I just believed and still do experience: it Really Matters if Spirit is real or not; and it is a sad thing to just go along with the pack, because spiritual-reality or the lack-thereof, changes everything!

So anyway, I spent the middle of my teens an agnostic - and actually I remain an intellectual agnostic, because I don't think there is any compelling rational reason to believe in God, or not to believe in God.  Fortunately I now understand that God is Spirit and must be met spiritually, not with physical body/mind. So, I am blessed to be a mystic agnostic : )

How did this happen?
When I was 17, I was fortunate to connect with a bunch of friends through Girl Scouting, who had a house church, they loved each other and they loved God.  God was real to them and they were each in their own unique relationship with God.  I saw and experienced the reality of spirit and love of God palpably, so I opened to my own direct relationship with God - and life has never been the same. 
It was then I was baptized in the Spirit, and the only way I saw to do this was to to give my rational brain to God.  We enjoyed a glorious honeymoon, but then after a year or two, God gave my brain back - and I went back to a more challenging reality: I had to learn to disambiguate as well as honor and integrate body/mind and spirit... and many other things ; )

That was over 30 years ago. God and I have been in many mountains and valleys, many iterations and understandings: Deepening, Healing, Transforming, Enlightening.  Much of this has been challenging - because I have a tendency to add a lot of unnecessary friction to the system ; )
- but the fruit is incomparable.

Unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.

‘Verily, verily, I say to thee, If any one may not be born from above, he is not able to see the reign of God;’ - John 3

One thing i like about these verses,
Jesus really disambiguates body/flesh/earth from spirit/above/heaven - which IMO is key to understanding most of the New Testament, and certainly Jesus' primary message.

It is spiritual reality: the reign/kingdom of God/heaven that matters to Jesus.
It is the gospel - good news - that expereince of God and spiritual reality is within us, amoung us, near us, received as a child, experienced by those in alignment with God, a treasure worth more than all the physical wealth of this world...

We can not see it or enter it by Any physical means - not by thinking or feeling, not by physical senses or action, not by following the law...

Rather we must see it and enter it spiritually - this makes no sense to the flesh, but is rather an experience one must be opened to, born to spiritually - and then one is God-consciousness - one can spiritually experience/see the reign of God/Heaven.

This must be experienced spiritually!  Words do the conversation about spirit no justice, this is why Jesus used metaphors and similes, there is no direct correlation.  Words are a finger pointing to the moon.

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I AM - the way, and the truth, and the life

(this post below, is building on this past post)


Jesus fully lived the Way and Life - he was/is the Way and Life.
He fully embodied the Truth and Light - he was/is the Truth and Light.

I AM... 
when we grok Way, Truth, Life, Light, we experience I AM as our own reality.
And he showed us how to do/be the same (in our own unique way of being, and doing, of course ; )


I am tempted to repeat the 'chorus' above 3 times, since it is SO meaning-full and power-full.
I won't, but I ask you to read it at least one more time!

For me, this conversation brings more understanding to a verse that many folks I know trip over:

'I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one doth come unto the Father, if not through me;

Remember:  never start reading or stop reading at just one verse.
this line above is not even the whole sentence!
here is the whole sentence:

Jesus saith to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one doth come unto the Father, if not through me;
if ye had known me, my Father also ye would have known, and from this time ye have known Him, and have seen Him.’

He goes on to say:

Believest thou not that I [am] in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words which I speak to you I do not speak from myself; but the Father who abides in me, he does the works. Believe *me* that I [am] in the Father and the Father in me; but if not, believe me for the works' sake themselves. Verily, verily, I say to you, He that believes on me, the works which I do shall he do also, and he shall do greater than these, because I go to the Father.

For you convenience, here is the whole literal chapter
if you want, the chapter in more plain english ; )

Jesus was/is the Way, Truth, Life, Light
and his practice of I AM
showed us how to do/be the same.

His experiencing of spiritual reality, living in the Reign/Kingdom of God/Heaven, being in alignment with Source as he did and showed us to do
*IS* the only way to the Father/God.
REGARDLESS of what we think, feel, do, believe or don't believe!

It doesn't matter if we profess Jesus as Lord or not.
What matters is that we are in alignment with our Source - our God, our Light, our Life, our Truth, our Way.
This sounds crazy in modern Christianity - but this is what Jesus said, not me:

By their fruits then surely ye shall know them.

Not every one who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of the heavens,
but he that does the will of my Father who is in the heavens.

Jesus fully lived the Way and Life - he was/is the Way and Life.
He fully embodied the Truth and Light - he was/is the Truth and Light.

I AM... 
when we spiritually grok Way, Truth, Life, Light, we experience I AM as our own reality.
And he showed us how to do/be the same (in our own unique way of being, and doing, of course ; )


I am saying the same thing over and over, in the hopes that we can all start to hear and live Jesus core message:
The centrality and focus on the Reign/Kingdom of God/Heaven...
the spiritual reality which is within us, amoung us, near us, not physical, received as a child, experienced by those in alignment with God, a treasure worth more than all the physical wealth of this world...
Spiritual alignment with the LIGHT.
Being, filled, healed and transformed by our Source - our God, our Life, our Truth, our Way, our Light.

Want to read more?  Here is a related blog
; ) W

Lions and Tigers and Atheists, oh my!

Why so much Christian attention on Atheists? (And vice-verse?)

Can they hurt us?  (And vice-verse?)
Are 'we' supposed to 'convert them'?  (And vice-verse?)
Why are some Atheists so bratty towards Christians, sometimes? (And vice-verse?)

...Here are a few of my ideas on this sticky subject:

From my perspective, what we Think is secondary to who we ARE and the Action of God in our lives.

Some people think there is prolly a God, some don't. Some people think there has to be a God, some think there can't be a God. Some don't think God matters one way or another.

But how we think about God is our MIND talking to itself.
When thinking takes over, it is our BODY trying to be in charge and act in the world; trying to survive, trying to what we need through non-spiritual means, trying to win. 
If we are not soul conscious, if we are not in charge spiritually, who can blame our body for trying to get the job done, best it can!

It is we as spirit who experience God, not the flesh.

Many, many people experience spiritual reality, regardless of our beliefs about God.
We are all the same, after-all: children of God, spirit in flesh.

I believe
focusing on what people think about God is a distraction,
and this often causes more harm than good.

What matters is allowing ourselves to Stop Letting the FLESH RULE.
For almost all of us - Christian or not, WHATEVER we consciously believe - a crazy fecundity rules us.  Physical focus and operation rules us!
How about we Stop Believing, Acting, Identifying-with the flow of our own thoughts, feelings, survival instincts, sexual urges, stories, habits, compulsions, ego drives, control issues...
(I could go on and on ; )

How about instead, 
we learn more and more, deeper and deeper to

Listen to that still, small voice.
Ask God to give us Ears to Hear, Eyes to See.

And then follow the Living God,
as we hear the voice behind us saying: this is the Way, walk ye in it.

IF we actually DO This,
regardless of what we think about God,
God leads us
- and where we go is in God's hands. 
No Matter What We Think About God.

We do not have to force anything down our own or anyone else's throat. 
What they think is really none of our business, what we think is usually a distraction - none of this really matters very much!

Ok, but - What can we do?
We can be with God and BE filled with Love, Life, Light... and shine,
and we say yummm, and they say hmmmm??
That is what drew ME into fellowship - the Experience of Spirit - not a bunch of stupid ideas about God!
That is what spiritual things sound like to our flesh - stupid.

 

Did we not hear Jesus say to not throw pearls before swine?

Did we not hear Paul say only AFTER we present our bodies to God, we stop conforming to the world; THEN we are transformed, then our mind is renewed, then we can Know and BE the proof in the pudding:
Then we can BE in God's will - our beautiful opportunity, only when we are aligned with God.

If this is so - the cart must come after the horse, so:
WHY would we try to convince the flesh of anything?

WHY would we try to operate rationally with materialists?

WHY would we try to force others or ourselves into some mold, of our own fleshly design?

WHY would we expect anyone - including ourselves - to ever show the fruit of alignment with our Source
BEFORE aligning with our Source?

Because we have our head up our derriere.

It is vanity, a chasing after wind to fight rationally about spiritual things with an atheist (with anyone! with ourselves!)
When we do it, we are off track; often because we are taking their unique journey, personally.
We are making their thoughts about US, not about them and God.

And when we do this, we annoy people, at best.
At worst, we make enemies.

Let me be clear, when we let our own thoughts try to control others:

We hurt people.

We invalidate their expereince.
We try to take away the free-will God GAVE them.
WE Make Enemies.

 

It is very understandable that many who identify as Atheist feel resentful and put-upon by Christians. It is understandable that Atheists sometimes lash-out, push-back, become bratty.

They are operating through their brain, as almost all of us do, as our society has taught us to do.
And their brain tells them this God stuff is hooey - very understandably, BTW.

And then religious people try to argue with them rationally.
And honestly, to my ears, it is the religious people who sound crazy, because we pretend our points are rational - WHEN THEY ARE NOT RATIONAL.

God is Spirit, we must know God spiritually.
There IS NO OTHER WAY.

All right, so is there anything that we can we do?
How about we encourage ALL of us, every day, to taste and see the Lord is Good - yum.

How do we do this?
Well, we are monkey-see-monkey-do creatures.
How about we look to God and bask in the delicious delight of our Creator - the giver of all good gifts...

This puts the cart before the horse, for us.
Then maybe they can notice how we do it, and figure out their own horse!

How about we ask God to bring us into alignment with God, with God's Light and Love, with God's unique Way for us.
How about we ask God to hold us in embrace, as we behold and reflect the Glory of God.
How about we ask God to help us to stop looking at Them, and start looking to God.

IF atheists bug us, that is all about US!
Are they lighting up the doubt in our own space?
Is something they say making sense (which it often does, BTW) and that feels scary.

How about we let God be God.
Let God take care of God's PR.
Let God hold each and every Divine Child.
And we keep our eyes on our own page.

If something is bugging us, undermining Our experience of God, seeming to pull us away from God; lets's go to our own Source to work this out in us.
God is big enough to work it out with us.
God is big enough to work it out with them.

AMEN, Wendy

Gendering God?

From my perspective:
God is Spirit, we can only know God as spirit, through our spiritual senses.
God, and the Reign (Kingdom) of God (Heaven) that Jesus incessantly spoke-of is all *spiritual* reality.

God - and all spiritual realty - is One.
All is One, containing all things created and not-created. 
All is Love, All is Joy, All is Peace - etc, all the fruit of the spirit, and Way more.

God is whole & complete and we as spirit live in this reality with God.
We spiritually live now and through all eternity in heavenly places, time & space are creations of this reality.

Meanwhile, we have the blessing as humans to play in bodies on this earth, our consciously shared reality. And we play the earth game, the game of opposites - primarily spirit & flesh;  from there comes black & while, good & bad, rich & poor... the 10,000 dichotomies, including the exciting game: male & female.
In this physical reality, from our flesh-perspective, ALL is not ONE, but 2 or many.

In bodies, we dance in and out of our spiritual consciousness of God, the Reign/Kingdom of God, and alignment with God and our Way in God - in and out.
We remember and forget who we are, children of Light, flesh containing the breath of God.
We open and do not open to our spiritual senses, where we communicate with God, and God communicates with us.
Many of us have almost pure physical perspective, shutting down or drowning out much of our soul experience.

SO, I don't believe God IS gendered.
God IS Spirit.
Gender, and all dichotomies in this earth game, our in-fleshed expereince are of the body.

God as spirit comes to live IN flesh, dwells among us, but God is not gendered.

We are living in a world of opposites and ensconced in gendered thought and experience.
We call God by both genders, and without gender in our language, as well as our metaphors/parables, to help make sense to our flesh/brains our spiritual expereince.

But metaphors are fingers pointing to the moon, they are not the moon.
Gendering God literally, makes no sense in the spiritual reality in which God IS.

to Life!
Wendy

Keys to the Kingdom: BEing & DOing AS Christ in the world

This post rests on the previous post: On this Rock: Direct Revelation from God
and these two major assertions:

1. from my perspective, what is important to Jesus and his disciples, is living in spiritual reality, in God-consciousness, in the reign (kingdom) of God, while we live our lives here on earth.  NOT just Heaven when we die -> Here, Now.  This is Most of what Jesus talks about in his ministry, his Good News: the Reign (Kingdom of Heaven) God.
2. from my perspective, The ROCK on which Jesus is building his assembly/congregation is Direct Revelation from God. - Jesus says Peter is Blessed BECAUSE Peter tells Jesus what his "Father who is in the heavens" revealed directly to Peter, spiritually, in his soul. So, Jesus tells Peter, on this rock (Direct Revelation from God) Jesus will build his assembly/congregation

Ok, regarding the Keys to the Kingdom, as spoken of in Matthew 16:13-23:
from my perspective, we can look to other scriptures to help understand what Jesus is saying about the KEYS.

2 chapters after the famous Peter and Keys to the Kingdom scripture, Matthew addresses Jesus talking to his disciples - so the keys are Clearly not All about Peter

Matthew 18:18-22

“I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will bee loosed in heaven.
“Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.
For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”

This really needs to be read in context, the whole chapter is here
Here are the verses with the most recent context, before and after (Mat 18:15-22):

'And if thy brother may sin against thee, go and show him his fault between thee and him alone, if he may hear thee, thou didst gain thy brother; and if he may not hear, take with thee yet one or two, that by the mouth of two witnesses or three every word may stand. And if he may not hear them, say it to the assembly, and if also the assembly he may not hear, let him be to thee as the heathen man and the tax-gatherer.  'Verily I say to you, Whatever things ye may bind upon the earth shall be having been bound in the heavens, and whatever things ye may loose on the earth shall be having been loosed in the heavens.

'Again, I say to you, that, if two of you may agree on the earth concerning anything, whatever they may ask -- it shall be done to them from my Father who is in the heavens, for where there are two or three gathered together -- to my name, there am I in the midst of them.'

Then Peter having come near to him, said, 'Sir, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him -- till seven times?'  Jesus saith to him, 'I do not say to thee till seven times, but till seventy times seven

Then let's look earlier in this gospel - Matthew: 9:

2And they brought him a paralytic as he lay in the pallet, and Yeshua saw their faith, and he said to the paralytic, "Take heart my son, your sins are forgiven you." 3But some of the Scribes said among themselves, "This man blasphemes." 4But Yeshua knew their thinking, and he said to them, "Why do you think evil things in your heart?" 5"For which is easier, to say, "Your sins are forgiven you", or to say, "Arise and walk?" 6But that you may know that The Son of Man has authority in the earth to forgive sins, I say to this paralytic, "Stand up, take your pallet and go to your house." 7And he stood up and he went to his house. 8But when those crowds saw, they were awestruck, and they glorified God who gave authority like this to the children of men.

Jesus Healed and Loosed people from sin (being out of alignment with God)
- for Jesus, healing and being let-loose from sin was the Same Thing.

.
When one sees the context of these Matthew quotes, it makes much more sense how John's Resurrection info is related:
John 20:23:

Jesus came and stood in the midst, and saith to them, ‘Peace to you;’ and this having said, he shewed them his hands and side; the disciples, therefore, rejoiced, having seen the Lord.  Jesus, therefore, said to them again, ‘Peace to you; according as the Father hath sent me, I also send you;’ and this having said, he breathed on [them], and saith to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit; if of any ye may loose the sins, they are loosed to them; if of any ye may retain, they have been retained.’

Jesus is revealing himself to his disciples for the first time after his resurrection: 

immediately he calls his disciples to the same work he has done, 

he gives his disciples the Holy Spirit, along with the authority.  

He sends us to do this reparative work, as his Father sent him.

.
So let's put it all together:

• Those who are IN spiritual focus, God Consciousness, the Reign of Heaven - standing on the Rock = Direct Revelation from God.
• Those who are on the Rock, are given, therefore, the KEYS to do God's will in this world - to move/open heaven and earth (spiritual and physical reality) according to the Direct Revelation received from God

Jesus gives his disciples spiritual Power and Authority 

to act in this world, as Christ's hands and feet, 

carrying on Jesus' ministry to the lost, to the broken, 

to those who need God's hope, mercy, grace… in this world.

Jesus sent his disciples to act in the power of the Holy Spirit:

• to say, to choose, to heal, to assist folks back to alignment with God, to lose or to bind, to open or to close
• to SPIRITUALLY ACT,
• to REPAIR/RECONNECT to God and Wholeness,
• to BE and DO, AS Christ in the world, and to continue to do the work he was called to do.

With these KEYS
Jesus Equips us to do as we are called by God;
and there is much to be done.

Let us continue,
wendy