For Your Consideration: Thoughts on Light

Found this "out there" today. It fits for me ... so I offer it for your consideration:

The Creator said, "let there be Light." That one sentence explains the power of creation. But it also explains our essence. God said let there be Light; but we, because we have to earn what we have, then said, "let there be darkness too," so that we can choose, so that we can become the creator of our own lives, the conductor of our own symphonies.

And when faced with Light or darkness, we all too often choose our anger, our fears, our failings.

Way back then, we said we need the darkness so we can achieve something. Somehow we've forgotten that the reason for being in the darkness is to choose Light.

If you don't go back to the source, that Light, you remain in the very darkness you chose to bear in this lifetime. Nothing is ever going to fill that darkness, nothing except for Light.

So this week's assignment is twofold: First, realize we asked for this darkness, the specific darkness we wrestle with. Remember it. When it seems to be engulfing us, know that even the darkness is part of the plan. Then, choose the Light. It's so simple. Many of you are probably thinking right now, it's too simple. But remember, the first part is to recognize that whatever darkness I'm steeped in right now, I chose it.

And if we can see the choice, perhaps even take responsibility for that choice, we can choose again. And this time, we must choose Light.

Losing the Fear ...

Fear ... it's an insidious thing ... creeping unawares into the crevices of our hearts, spreading into the folds of our brains, spreading like a cancer into every aspect of our lives.

It quite often likes to masquerade as "wisdom".

It prefers to hide behind thoughts like "should," "ought," "rules," "can't," "unsafe," "concerns," "warning."

Now, it's not that I'm against wisdom, prudence, discernment and choices ... it's just that I think more of us are motivated by fear, than are we trusting in love.

Notice that I said "us". I'm in the thick of this, too.

I recently shared about a healing/mind-renewal tool called EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) ... and this morning, I received a question from a person who is interested, but is concerned that it could be venturing into dangerous (my word, not theirs) "new age" territory. They seemed to basically be asking, "is this thing to which I am drawn *safe*? Is it ok for me to do this? Will God be mad?" How WELL I understand that feeling!

They asked me for my opinion ... and I ended up sharing quite a bit. :) (I know, hard to believe!) As I was writing, it occurred to me to share it here, as well ... so here goes:

My journey has been a long one, step by step ... of being led by God to question all things ... wanting to know what's of man, and what's of God. I would never advise anyone to follow me, but I would encourage others to question the roots of their own beliefs, to see if they truly line up with the Mind of Christ ...

For myself, I came to see that all truth is God's truth -- that there is only one Source of all life and all truth ... and that it's entirely too vast, too big, too wonderful for any of us humans to grasp it, much less define it and limit it, to our currently finite understandings. Jesus spoke against this, to the religious rulers of His day. He also said that He had "much more" to show His followers, but that they could not bear it. I see that many of us, who follow Him now, in the religion of our day, also cannot bear to think of more than what has been handed down to us. And yet, I see that Jesus says that the Spirit will lead us into all truth (not the traditions of man, not the scriptures -- but the living relationship with the Spirit).

I had to ask myself (which was hard to do! fearful even!), what traditions of man am I clinging to, out of "safety", out of fear, that are keeping me from following the Spirit into the "much more" that God has for me?

I think the answer to that inquiry will be different for each one, and the journey for each one will look quite unique, even as the Source and the Goal are one and the same ... for in God we live and move and have our being.

I have discovered, as you say you have, that truth is "outside the camp" of the religion we are each familiar with. He is the "savior of all, especially those who believe" ... and He told us that He has "many outside this fold." I believe that God has lavishly spread God's truth, of God, of our relationship to God ("you are all God's offspring"), far and wide, in various languages, cultures, and images ... all of us, I believe, hold a mixture of truth and error, for we are both Spirit and ego (carnal) ... and we tend to think that our perspective is the ONLY perspective ... rather than trusting that it is indeed only the Spirit who can lead each of us into all truth, and that each of us will indeed shed a great many things which we sincerely *thought* was the "truth of God", but which actually turns out to be merely the "assumptions of the ego." And I notice that fear is often the force that keeps us within the confines of those assumptions ...

So, on this journey, I choose to live in, and demonstrate, grace to all the other groping humans on the planet ... to all the "bumbling beloved" who may indeed know/see things that are more true than the things I think I know to be true. I can learn from all, trusting the Spirit within to show me what's what (& that may change, as I find I can bear more tomorrow than I can bear today --- for God meets me where I am - how gracious and loving!).

I choose to love God with all my being, and to love all other humans as myself ... much harm is done when we think we know good from evil, when we think we are called up on to judge from our limited perspective ... when we think in terms of "us vs. them" as if we are the exclusively-enlightened-ones ...

As for the term "new age" ... I find that it's often used in Christian circles as a means of dismissing a new and frightening thought ... that which challenges status quo ... as if God had said, "thou shalt be right" ... as if He told us to defend "all truth" (when we don't even grasp it yet, and can't). Many things that the Church has declared to be "absolute truth" have been reversed ... thinking of geocentricity (earth the center of the universe - it was once a doctrine punishable by death) ... thinking of the many who have been called "heretics", only to have it reversed years later ... and I notice that every now-accepted truth was once declared to be a "blasphemy" by those who held the control of status quo (including the teachings of Jesus Himself).

I find myself wondering ... isn't the notion of a "new age" the very point of all of scripture? Didn't all of the prophets of the old testament foretell a new age to come..? Didn't Jesus say that the old age was soon to end, and a new age was being ushered in (also called the new covenant, which the prophets said was one and the same with the new heavens and new earth).

What if we misconstrued what He was speaking of ...? What if we have largely continued living the old covenant, while merely speaking about the new covenant? What if our traditions continue to nullify the truth of God?

What if perfect love is really meant to cast out all fear, including (especially!) the fear of God? I see that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, but that we are not meant to live in fear ... we are meant to mature into responding in love. It seems to me that we don't trust love ... we think that fear is more "useful" for keeping folks in line ... but it really keeps us in enslavement.

Ahhh, I see that I have gone and sermonized on you! You merely asked a simple question ... but I find that the unpacking of this concept really can't be done with a simple "yes" or "no".

I guess, to sum it up, I have slowly lost my fear of the things that are unfamiliar to me, and are outside of the religious framework I'm comfortable with. But I no longer believe that God, or even Christ, are limited to Christianity. I see Christianity as largely manmade ... and that God can never be confined. My own sense is that the Spirit has led me to go forth and to truly trust that leading ... rather than being tethered to the dock in the shallows of safety. I find God in all things, mixed, of course, with the traditions of man. I don't fear those ... I find that love is more powerful than fear, and that I intuitively know what to swallow, and what to taste, and what to spit out.

I do not find that others worship "another god" ... for I find that there is no other God ... there is only one Source of all Life, though He may, and does, manifest in ways too innumerable to count -- including each of us. He is, after all, All in All. All things come from Him, through Him, and return to Him. Even if many journeys are circuitous ... as mine has been. I have found that even if I go "off the deep end", God is indeed out there...!

If you go with how you are being drawn, what you will find, if your experience is anything like mine, is that there will be a wide variety of people ... from different backgrounds ... but a welcoming attitude ... everyone respecting all others ... finding common ground, without anyone mandating what others "should" believe. This is about discovering how God has wired our bodies/minds/souls to work ... rather than being "victims" of circumstances, realizing that we really CAN "take every thought captive", and that we can participate fully in "renewing our minds" ... this is the explanation of one very practical tool, to enable us to do what we are instructed to do. Without blame, shame, and fault-finding ... just owning up to responsibility and recognizing the amazing choices we really do have in this adventure of life.

As for comfort ... I find that God isn't as interested in my comfort as I am, LOL! God is always and forever stretching me out of the limitations of my own comfort zone, into the wildness of all He has to show me (& even using the term "He" is a limitation - for how could All in All be only part of that All?).

It's always UNcomfortable at first, to entertain a new idea ... even frightening at times ... but I've decided that I no longer want the stagnancy of a comfortable life ... I want the full adventure of a life richly experienced ... the former is based on fear ... the latter is based on trust in the One who is ever-drawing me to All that God is ... asking me to let go of all I *think* I know, so that I can be shown, and I can experience, the wondrously mind-blowing "much more" that is meant to delight me to the core...!

Hope this helps, and hope it's neither too wordy, nor too intrusive ... I wrote from my heart, which contains both Spirit promptings, and egoic rantings, LOL! May God show you which is which (and God will)!

Shalom, Dena

"2012 - A Time of Extraordinary Change"

Y'know that burning feeling inside, that says, strongly, clearly, "you are meant to share this"...?

I get it every so often.

It's not the nice-but-less-intense, "gee, this would be a lovely thing to share" notion -- this is the "you won't be able to focus on anything else until you heed this prompting" sort of notion.

I've got it. Right now.

And it seems quite fitting to share it on the first day of a new year, at the dawning of a new decade.

But a wee bit of background first ...

I've long sensed that we are, humanly/globally-speaking, on the "verge" of something. Something BIG. Something perhaps of a necessarily-cataclysmic nature ... something inevitable. Something that may *appear* initially to be disastrous, and yet is required, in order to grow, in order to mature, in order to shift, for lack of a better verb (remember, until I share this thing, I'm unable to adequately focus, and so my vocabulary is temporarily stunted).

I've also noticed that we continue to face our collective challenges with the same energy that brought about the challenges in the first place ... sort of a propping up of something that should instead be taxidermied, and put into the History-of-Mankind's-Less-than-Brilliant-Ideas Museum. A place which should not only be built, but which should be on the required-field-trips list for all humanity. Y'know - the definition of insanity is doing the same thing, over and over, and expecting different results. We kinda/sorta/definitely keep doing that. We should stop that. It ain't too smart.

It seems to me that our "solutions" are just postponing the inevitable. We, as a race of human beings, as inhabitants on this planet, are in sore need of a massive overhaul. And we've been way-busy contenting ourselves with merely rearranging the deck chairs of the Titanic ... and ignoring that it's going down.

Lest you think me a pessimist (I am a Recovering Pessimist), let me assure you that I am *quite* optimistic and hopeful about the future for all humanity...! Emphasis on ALL. Double emphasis on HOPE. It's just that I think there's a necessary-and-inevitable shake-up a-coming. And I think it's right around the corner ... been feeling this for a while now, down deep. Can't define it, can't articulate it ... but I feel the tremors. Not an "end of the earth" scenario ... but a definite rebooting. One of my favorite quotes is, "We turn to God when our foundations are shaking, only to discover that it's God who is shaking them."

And as always, when God is involved (like He's ever NOT!), it's all good, and it's all out of Love.

'Course, depending on our perspective, we may call it other things at the time ...

Ok, now my preamble is getting all rambly. I can feel folks glazing over. Time to get to what I want (no, need!) to share ... and if it hits you like it hits me, take it viral ... share it, either with links to here, or to the article, or copy it - whatever. As you're led. I'm only responsible to respond to my own promptings ...

My dear friend, Frank Spencer, is a brilliant guy ... a futurist. Not the kind that thinks Jesus is coming in the future (because he doesn't), but the kind who uses his brainpower to study both history, and current trends, and to project the most likely outcomes into the future. Businesses hire the guy to figure out how to prepare for the future*. They trust him. And he knows folks.

He alerted me to this article, which is the point of this blog, which I am about to share, and I am convinced that everyone I know, and everyone they know, needs to read it. This article says what I've been thinking, feeling, believing, pondering ... for quite a while now. Maybe some of you have been having the same thoughts...?

It's provocatively entitled: "2012 - A Time of Extraordinary Change" - written by John Peterson, who articulately and accurately predicted the recent and ongoing economic crisis ... with uncanny precision and detail.

I'm going to do my part in "viralizing" it ... read it for yourself, and feel free to comment. Put your mouse *on* that link in the previous paragraph, click on it, and read the article. It's important.

Shalom, Dena


*My brilliant friend Frank Spencer has teamed up with my other brilliant friend, Mike Morrell, to form KedgeForward -- designed to enable businesses and groups plan for, survive through, and even thrive in the coming societal transformations. It is happening, it is inevitable, and we can be prepared to help ourselves and others during this necessary challenge.

"So, I Guess You Throw Out the Bible..?"

Y'know, I really don't believe in coincidences (though I've been known to think of such things as God-incidences). I find that God comes to me cleverly disguised as my life. So, this morning, while reading from a rather formidable-and-controversial book, called The Urantia Book (some see it as divine -- some see it wholly as science fiction -- but I see that truth can be gleaned anywhere -- I swallow what feeds me, and spit out what doesn't), I came across a passage that utterly struck me in the gut..!

This passage is a response to a question that's tossed my way on a regular basis. It goes a little bit like this, "So, I guess you've completely thrown out the Bible as your Authority, huh?" If the question is asked in person, it's usually accompanied by a sneer, wide eyes, a look of fear, and body language that indicates that the inquirer is about to dash out the door, making the sign of the cross, and/or spraying holy water over their shoulder.

My simple answer would be in the form of another question: "Who says that the Bible was ever meant to be our Authority...?" The answer to that, of course, is, "the traditions of man."

Now, this passage is admittedly written in a rather stilted fashion ... so try to overlook that, and don't concern yourself with the source (I mean, if God could talk through a donkey...!) ... just see if it speaks to you, in any way. As for me, it quite articulately expresses how I have come to view scripture (& FTR, I also read and find truth in scripture outside the Bible, even in other religions/cultures).

This resonates with me ... and I have no problem imagining that it's at least *possible* that Jesus did indeed speak this to his followers ... regardless, I'm inclined to take it as a word from him to me, for me, at least at this time (and if that ain't relativity, I don't know what is, LOL!). Here goes (I have emboldened the portions that stood out to me):

Nathaniel was much bothered by some of Jesus' pronouncements which seemed to detract from the authority of the recognized Hebrew scriptures. Accordingly, on this night, after the usual period of questions and answers, Nathaniel took Jesus away from the others and asked: "Master, could you trust me to know the truth about the Scriptures? I observe that you teach us only a portion of the sacred writings—the best as I view it—and I infer that you reject the teachings of the rabbis to the effect that the words of the law are the very words of God, having been with God in heaven even before the times of Abraham and Moses. What is the truth about the Scriptures?" When Jesus heard the question of his bewildered apostle, he answered:

159:4.2 "Nathaniel, you have rightly judged; I do not regard the Scriptures as do the rabbis. I will talk with you about this matter on condition that you do not relate these things to your brethren, who are not all prepared to receive this teaching. The words of the law of Moses and the teachings of the Scriptures were not in existence before Abraham. Only in recent times have the Scriptures been gathered together as we now have them. While they contain the best of the higher thoughts and longings of the Jewish people, they also contain much that is far from being representative of the character and teachings of the Father in heaven; wherefore must I choose from among the better teachings those truths which are to be gleaned for the gospel of the kingdom.

159:4.3 "These writings are the work of men, some of them holy men, others not so holy. The teachings of these books represent the views and extent of enlightenment of the times in which they had their origin. As a revelation of truth, the last are more dependable than the first. The Scriptures are faulty and altogether human in origin, but mistake not, they do constitute the best collection of religious wisdom and spiritual truth to be found in all the world at this time.

159:4.4 "Many of these books were not written by the persons whose names they bear, but that in no way detracts from the value of the truths which they contain. If the story of Jonah should not be a fact, even if Jonah had never lived, still would the profound truth of this narrative, the love of God for Nineveh and the so-called heathen, be none the less precious in the eyes of all those who love their fellow men. The Scriptures are sacred because they present the thoughts and acts of men who were searching for God, and who in these writings left on record their highest concepts of righteousness, truth, and holiness. The Scriptures contain much that is true, very much, but in the light of your present teaching, you know that these writings also contain much that is misrepresentative of the Father in heaven, the loving God I have come to reveal to all the worlds.

159:4.5 "Nathaniel, never permit yourself for one moment to believe the Scripture records which tell you that the God of love directed your forefathers to go forth in battle to slay all their enemies—men, women, and children. Such records are the words of men, not very holy men, and they are not the word of God. The Scriptures always have, and always will, reflect the intellectual, moral, and spiritual status of those who create them. Have you not noted that the concepts of Yahweh grow in beauty and glory as the prophets make their records from Samuel to Isaiah? And you should remember that the Scriptures are intended for religious instruction and spiritual guidance. They are not the works of either historians or philosophers.

159:4.6 "The thing most deplorable is not merely this erroneous idea of the absolute perfection of the Scripture record and the infallibility of its teachings, but rather the confusing misinterpretation of these sacred writings by the tradition-enslaved scribes and Pharisees at Jerusalem. And now will they employ both the doctrine of the inspiration of the Scriptures and their misinterpretations thereof in their determined effort to withstand these newer teachings of the gospel of the kingdom. Nathaniel, never forget, the Father does not limit the revelation of truth to any one generation or to any one people. Many earnest seekers after the truth have been, and will continue to be, confused and disheartened by these doctrines of the perfection of the Scriptures.

159:4.7 "The authority of truth is the very spirit that indwells its living manifestations, and not the dead words of the less illuminated and supposedly inspired men of another generation. And even if these holy men of old lived inspired and spirit-filled lives, that does not mean that their words were similarly spiritually inspired. Today we make no record of the teachings of this gospel of the kingdom lest, when I have gone, you speedily become divided up into sundry groups of truth contenders as a result of the diversity of your interpretation of my teachings. For this generation it is best that we live these truths while we shun the making of records.

159:4.8 "Mark you well my words, Nathaniel, nothing which human nature has touched can be regarded as infallible. Through the mind of man divine truth may indeed shine forth, but always of relative purity and partial divinity. The creature may crave infallibility, but only the Creator possesses it.

159:4.9 "But the greatest error of the teaching about the Scriptures is the doctrine of there being sealed books of mystery and wisdom which only the wise minds of the nation dare to interpret. The revelations of divine truth are not sealed except by human ignorance, bigotry, and narrow-minded intolerance. The light of the Scriptures is only dimmed by prejudice and darkened by superstition. A false fear of sacredness has prevented religion from being safeguarded by common sense. The fear of the authority of the sacred writings of the past effectively prevents the honest souls of today from accepting the new light of the gospel, the light which these very God-knowing men of another generation so intensely longed to see.

159:4.10 "But the saddest feature of all is the fact that some of the teachers of the sanctity of this traditionalism know this very truth. They more or less fully understand these limitations of Scripture, but they are moral cowards, intellectually dishonest. They know the truth regarding the sacred writings, but they prefer to withhold such disturbing facts from the people. And thus do they pervert and distort the Scriptures, making them the guide to slavish details of the daily life and an authority in things nonspiritual instead of appealing to the sacred writings as the repository of the moral wisdom, religious inspiration, and the spiritual teaching of the God-knowing men of other generations."

159:4.11 Nathaniel was enlightened, and shocked, by the Master's pronouncement. He long pondered this talk in the depths of his soul, but he told no man concerning this conference until after Jesus' ascension; and even then he feared to impart the full story of the Master's instruction.

Thar ya ar -- for whatever it's worth to you.

As for me, this nearly identically fits with what I read in Marcus Borg's(brilliant! recommended!) book, "Reading the Bible AGAIN, For the First Time: Taking the Bible Seriously, But Not Literally".

I very much appreciate, use, read, and study the Bible. I always have. But I now see it for what it is, what I believe it was intended to be: an inspired (and yet often-fallible) collection of the best thoughts of man at that time (or, at various times), intended to be useful to lead us to the knowledge of truth -- and NOT as a substitute for the living connection between the Creator, and the Beloved Creation -- discerned in the heart/mind/soul/conscience/being of each one. For I see and experience that only the Spirit-within is able to lead us into all truth ...

The Bible, taken seriously, but not literally, does indeed lead me to the knowledge of Him. But then, the Spirit leads me into all truth, using all things, including, but not limited to, the Bible.

Shalom, Dena


[Edited to fix my boo-boo -- I love the writings of both Karl Barth and Marcus Borg, and my brain tends to transpose the names ... dunno why. Let's blame peri-menopause! Anyway, I'm sure that the men belong to a mutual-admiration society, though Karl has gone through the veil, and I've just fixed the error -- read both of 'em!]

About the Battle: A Conversation

A dear friend of mine is in the midst of some personal and inter-personal turmoil. Whilst giving me an update, she asked me some questions, about the nature of the battle she sensed going on.

With her permission, and yet honoring her identity, I'd like to share a bit of the conversation with the rest of y'all ... on the off-chance that you might be able to relate ...

Friend: Pray for me... If God gives you a word again.. don't hesitate please to pass it on to me. These are very difficult times... Lots of lies and deceit coming from both medical and family... Family who thinks of medical professionals as a God. I'm walking in God's leading and in truth and there is tons of lies, accusations, and deceit being thrown about and at me. and I've been silent, that's the funny thing. It's really strange. Words being put into my mouth that I've not spoken..

I do feel like I'm right smack at the center of a spiritual type of battle. Now, I know that you and I have some similar thoughts about hell and even the devil. But, I do believe there is something ugly and wicked going on. I don't have it figured out.. I don't even have a clue.

But, you can bet I'm spending alot of quiet time, alone, and drawing close to Him. I have been especially doing so for the last several days now.

Thank you Dena for your sensitivity to His voice...

At this point, at the end of the first message, I felt a strong urge to write to her ... to share with her my thoughts of the source of evil being within us, from our own egos, rather than from without. But, before I could do so, I noticed that she'd sent a second message:

One more thing.. With all the players, both family and medical people, there seems to be alot of Ego involved. and the compilation of everyone's ego is horrific.. very damaging. Now is this what's really happening Dena? Individual ego's contributing to one big "ego" centered mess that looks like the wars we are fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq? Or is it a spiritual warfare of some sort between good and evil? It's just a nightmare....

And so, I responded:

Praying ... seeing you coming into clarity ... seeing Father as HE is ... seeing yourself as He does ... seeing you IN Christ, using the Mind of Christ, which you (we all) have (present tense). Seeing you making the shift from the thoughts of this world, to the Mind of Christ. Seeing this renewal of the mind happenING, ongoing, AS the journey, the Spirit leading you into all truth ... AS you can bear it. Seeing you comforted, and even at peace, even in the midst of the unsettling confusion of this transition, which very much *does* feel like a battle ... but the battle is in the mind ...

This is uncanny ... I read your first message, and put it aside, even as the response to it came to mind ... "tell her that the battle is not without, but within ... that the 'battle' is between the ego and the Spirit, the darkness within one's own thinking, and the collective-thought of mankind around us ... but remind her to notice that when the Light is turned on, the darkness is utterly absorbed by the Light -- it does not fight back. The only remaining darkness one sees, is when one turns one's back to the Light Source, and thus creates, and focuses upon, one's own shadow. One cannot follow one's own dark-shadow-self, i.e., ego, when one faces the Light, and the shadow is thus behind them, in it's proper place."

So, then I read your second message, and look, the Spirit is already showing you these same things ... yes, our individual egos put out thoughts, which are energy-forces, which combine with the energy-forces of others ... creating a large mass of negative energy ... this force, which is part of our own latent creative powers (for we are created in the image and likeness of Creator God - we are even a manifestation of Him), has often been misunderstood, particularly in the primitive mind of man, who imagined forces of both good and evil, competing, battling ... and invented the notion of "demons" ... including a chief demon ... which they then doctrinalized into the belief of satan ... a word which merely means "adversary". Now quoting from St. Pogo, "we have met the enemy, and he is us."

When Jesus was asked about the source of evil -- a fine time, btw, to instruct us about the "fallen angel" lucifer, who became satan -- he said that evil does not come from without, but from within our own hearts. The Hebraic notion of heart is our own soul ... our mind. That which imagines itself "fallen/separated" from God, and now depraved. That which thus thinks/believes/behaves in a fallen/separated way ... for as a man thinks in his own heart, so IS he. We become, in action, what we believe about ourselves. Christianity, an invention of man, the institutionalization of egoic/religious thought, requires this foundational belief in separation (and came up with the notion of "original sin" ... not found in the early followers of The Way, nor in scripture), and bases all of it's subsequent doctrines on this notion of separation from God.

And yet, we have the psalmist saying, "where can I go from Your presence? if I go to the abode of the dead [Sheol], there You are." How can we be separated from the One who is Omnipresent?

And we have Paul, much later, saying, "you were enemies of God in your minds" - and reminding us that we need to *renew* our minds. We need to come up higher ... to no longer think as the world thinks (i.e., separation, limitation, lack), but to think as God thinks ("in Him and of Him and through Him are all things" -- "nothing created shall separate us from the love of God" - "My ways are higher than your ways").

We are to die to our carnal/egoic thinking ... not to slaughter our egos (for they are a useful tool, once we start to recognize it), but to no longer live according to it.

The ego is our impostor ... posing as us, but not us. Paul articulates this well, "it is not I who sins, but the sin that lies within me." It is not me who thinks the egoic thoughts ... it's that which I *think* I am who is doing this ... much as how I am not what I dream, but I am the one observing the dream. So, too, can I learn to observe this egoic chatter, and realize that I don't have to buy into it. I can take every thought captive, I can question what I think ... I do not have to believe everything that flits through my mind. I can actively participate in renewing my mind ... I can trust the Spirit who is leading me out of captivity to lies, and into all truth. God comes to me disguised as my life ... it's all useful, all good, all fodder for learning. I can come to my senses, in the "far country" of my own egoic thinking, and return Home, to the Mind of Christ.

And when I discover that I have chosen the ego over the Spirit (which does indeed happen, for I am human, I am learning, I have not arrived), then I can choose *again*.


[Thank you, my friend, for allowing me to share this here...!]

Shalom, Dena

What Jesus Might Be Saying ... To You?

I do adore synchronicity! That delightful awareness of the leading of the Spirit, as His messages and promptings begin appearing in all manner of startling, wonderful and delightful ways ...!

I'm in the midst of an ongoing quest ... daring to ask "Who was Jesus, REALLY? And what is The Christ? How are they related? How are they distinct?" (& this may well become the gist of a talk I'll be giving at a conference in the Houston area in February ... more on that later).

Lately, I've been reading so much amazing stuff that I hardly know where to begin to share! But I'll just dive in, and show y'all what grabbed me by the heart this morning, in my early morning readings. A-MAZE-ing stuff! May it tickle your soul as it did mine!

Imagine, if you will, that Jesus is saying the following, to YOU:

You have come out from among those of your fellows who choose to remain satisfied with a religion of mind, who crave security and prefer conformity. You have elected to exchange your feelings of authoritative certainty for the assurances of the spirit of adventurous and progressive faith. You have dared to protest against the grueling bondage of institutional religion and to reject the authority of the traditions of record which are now regarded as the word of God. Our Father did indeed speak through Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Amos, and Hosea, but he did not cease to minister words of truth to the world when these prophets of old made an end of their utterances. My Father is no respecter of races or generations in that the word of truth is vouchsafed one age and withheld from another. Commit not the folly of calling that divine which is wholly human, and fail not to discern the words of truth which come not through the traditional oracles of supposed inspiration.

I have called upon you to be born again, to be born of the spirit. I have called you out of the darkness of authority and the lethargy of tradition into the transcendent light of the realization of the possibility of making for yourselves the greatest discovery possible for the human soul to make—the supernal experience of finding God for yourself, in yourself, and of yourself, and of doing all this as a fact in your own personal experience. And so may you pass from death to life, from the authority of tradition to the experience of knowing God; thus will you pass from darkness to light, from a racial faith inherited to a personal faith achieved by actual experience; and thereby will you progress from a theology of mind handed down by your ancestors to a true religion of spirit which shall be built up in your souls as an eternal endowment.

Your religion shall change from the mere intellectual belief in traditional authority to the actual experience of that living faith which is able to grasp the reality of God and all that relates to the divine spirit of the Father. The religion of the mind ties you hopelessly to the past; the religion of the spirit consists in progressive revelation and ever beckons you on toward higher and holier achievements in spiritual ideals and eternal realities.

While the religion of authority may impart a present feeling of settled security, you pay for such a transient satisfaction the price of the loss of your spiritual freedom and religious liberty. My Father does not require of you as the price of entering the kingdom of heaven that you should force yourself to subscribe to a belief in things which are spiritually repugnant, unholy, and untruthful. It is not required of you that your own sense of mercy, justice, and truth should be outraged by submission to an outworn system of religious forms and ceremonies. The religion of the spirit leaves you forever free to follow the truth wherever the leadings of the spirit may take you. And who can judge—perhaps this spirit may have something to impart to this generation which other generations have refused to hear?

Shame on those false religious teachers who would drag hungry souls back into the dim and distant past and there leave them! And so are these unfortunate persons doomed to become frightened by every new discovery, while they are discomfited by every new revelation of truth. The prophet who said, "He will be kept in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on God, " was not a mere intellectual believer in authoritative theology. This truth-knowing human had discovered God; he was not merely talking about God.

I admonish you to give up the practice of always quoting the prophets of old and praising the heroes of Israel, and instead aspire to become living prophets of the Most High and spiritual heroes of the coming kingdom. To honor the God-knowing leaders of the past may indeed be worth while, but why, in so doing, should you sacrifice the supreme experience of human existence: finding God for yourselves and knowing him in your own souls?

Every race of mankind has its own mental outlook upon human existence; therefore must the religion of the mind ever run true to these various racial viewpoints. Never can the religions of authority come to unification. Human unity and mortal brotherhood can be achieved only by and through the superendowment of the religion of the spirit. Racial minds may differ, but all mankind is indwelt by the same divine and eternal spirit. The hope of human brotherhood can only be realized when, and as, the divergent mind religions of authority become impregnated with, and overshadowed by, the unifying and ennobling religion of the spirit—the religion of personal spiritual experience.

The religions of authority can only divide men and set them in conscientious array against each other; the religion of the spirit will progressively draw men together and cause them to become understandingly sympathetic with one another. The religions of authority require of men uniformity in belief, but this is impossible of realization in the present state of the world. The religion of the spirit requires only unity of experience—uniformity of destiny—making full allowance for diversity of belief. The religion of the spirit requires only uniformity of insight, not uniformity of viewpoint and outlook. The religion of the spirit does not demand uniformity of intellectual views, only unity of spirit feeling. The religions of authority crystallize into lifeless creeds; the religion of the spirit grows into the increasing joy and liberty of ennobling deeds of loving service and merciful ministration.

Never forget there is only one adventure which is more satisfying and thrilling than the attempt to discover the will of the living God, and that is the supreme experience of honestly trying to do that divine will. And fail not to remember that the will of God can be done in any earthly occupation. Some callings are not holy and others secular. All things are sacred in the lives of those who are spirit led; that is, subordinated to truth, ennobled by love, dominated by mercy, and restrained by fairness—justice. The spirit which my Father and I shall send into the world is not only the Spirit of Truth but also the spirit of idealistic beauty.

You must cease to seek for the word of God only on the pages of the olden records of theologic authority. Those who are born of the spirit of God shall henceforth discern the word of God regardless of whence it appears to take origin. Divine truth must not be discounted because the channel of its bestowal is apparently human. Many of your brethren have minds which accept the theory of God while they spiritually fail to realize the presence of God. And that is just the reason why I have so often taught you that the kingdom of heaven can best be realized by acquiring the spiritual attitude of a sincere child. It is not the mental immaturity of the child that I commend to you but rather the spiritual simplicity of such an easy-believing and fully-trusting little one. It is not so important that you should know about the fact of God as that you should increasingly grow in the ability to feel the presence of God

When you once begin to find God in your soul, presently you will begin to discover him in other men's souls and eventually in all the creatures and creations of a mighty universe. But what chance does the Father have to appear as a God of supreme loyalties and divine ideals in the souls of men who give little or no time to the thoughtful contemplation of such eternal realities? While the mind is not the seat of the spiritual nature, it is indeed the gateway thereto.

Take whatever the Spirit may impress upon you, and release the rest ... He leads us into all Truth as we can bear it.

Shalom, Dena

On Being Duped ...

[Note: I sent this out, in email format, to several people ... but felt that it deserved wider exposure ... so here goes!]


We've been duped, folks.

Including me.

Five years ago, at the age of 43, following a "standard procedure" bone scan, I was diagnosed with "osteopenia" ... which I was told is the precursor for osteoporosis. With stern voices and intense expressions they told me that I was in serious danger of fractures, due to thinning bones (as I am white, petite, small boned, of northern-European descent, and had a long previous-history of bulimia).

I must, they said, begin taking high doses of calcium, and do weight-bearing exercises. Thing is, I'd been doing that for 30 years. So, they said, I had to begin taking Fosamax -- a prescription that would keep my bones from thinning further.

Like a good non-questioning patient, I got the prescription filled, and took it ... when it came time to refill it, I happened to be pregnant ... while pregnant or nursing, Fosamax is a no-go, so I suspended it. My intention had been to get another bone scan as soon as I was done nursing ... but, a funny thing happened; when I stopped nursing my last baby, I was just no longer feeling compelled to do the bone scan, or to return to the Fosamax regimen. I didn't understand that ... after all, I'd been told this was medically necessary - urgent even! I just had a funny feeling that wouldn't go away ... I couldn't shake it. Having no peace about taking Fosamax, I didn't follow through with the plan prescribed for me.

And now I know why ... it finally makes sense...

Last week, I happened to catch a story on national pubic radio, that featured the whole "osteopenia" story ... and then I *knew* why I'd been led to not take it again. Turns out, osteopenia is an entirely fabricated condition -- not a medical condition! It was created so that a drug company could make a significant profit (though doctors were led to believe that this would save many women from the dangers of broken hips). Further, Fosamax can even end up doing harm to bones, when taken long term -- it's particularly hazardous for women younger than 50 -- as I had been when prescribed.

Yes, we've been duped.

You deserve to know the TRUTH, so go here to this link, and give yourself the gift of listening to the broadcast ... and reading the story. It's important to know all the facts, before you make a decision that will affect YOUR health, and YOUR life.

(Ironically enough, I had my scan done in the very imaging center that's mentioned in this story -- in Fairfax, Virginia, where we used to live.)

We are being led, in many subtle and even misleading ways, to accept what we are told by the medical experts ... when some of them are far more motivated by profit -- whether directly/knowingly, or indirectly/ignorantly. I'd like to lean toward the latter, as I know many good-intentioned folks in the medical profession. The medical system, however, while created to assist us, has become yet another institutionalized-machine that demands our service, our allegiance, and all too often, our health. That doesn't mean it's "all bad" ... it means we need to use discernment. It means we need to be proactive with our own lives. It means we need to trust the Spirit of God within, more than the ego of man without.

Be informed. Question. Research. Be intentional about your life.

Shalom, Dena