The Grail

[Realspiritik]

GRAIL

The quest to be the best person you’re capable of being is the quest to understand your true soul personality.

 

Long ago, when you were born in the arms of God the Mother and God the Father as an eternal angel, there was a twinkle in their loving eyes because they could see the unique temperament they gave to you and only you. They smiled because they could see from the way you turned your angelic head what kind of music you like, what colours you respond to. They knew the language of your heart.

 

The language of your heart is yours forever. The real you is the essence of your consciousness. The real you is a permanent state of being. The real you has quantifiable bundles or threads of divine quantum energy that can be seen, measured, known by other quantum beings – that is, angels. You have a skin – an angelic skin. Other angels can see your skin. They know how “big” your skin is, what “colour” your skin is, how many angelic “eyes” you have. (Not all angels have only two.) These basic attributes don’t change. Angels grow in age, angels grow in knowledge, angels grow in experience, but a blond angel is a blond angel forever. A blond angel with eyes that perceive red more accurately than blue will always be a blond angel who’s slightly colour-blind. A blond, colour-blind angel who’s born with only one wing will always have only one wing. But having only one wing won’t stop that blond, colour-blind angel from loving mightily with a pure and utter devotion to all that is right. The size of an angel’s wings, or the size of an angel’s body, bear no relation to the size of an angel’s heart. God the Mother and God the Father give angels different size bodies and different size talents, but every angel gets the same size heart – HUGE. That’s the only kind of angel there’s ever been.

 

That’s the kind of angel you are.

 

Inside your confused, weary human brain lies an angelic heart the size of . . . well . . . the size of all angelic hearts, which is so big there really isn’t a way to put it, because the word “big” implies there’s also a “small,” except in the case of the quantum energy we call Divine Love there isn’t a scale for size. In the higher dimension called Divine Love, one size fits all. It’s like a super-inflated, perfectly round balloon that has a vacuum inside. Yes, I know the Newtonian world doesn’t allow for an inflated balloon that’s empty inside. But Divine Love isn’t Newtonian. It’s much more like the probability wave forms that govern the behaviour of electrons as they link one atomic nucleus to another.

 

Your angelic heart isn’t synonymous with the balloon. Your angelic heart is synonymous with one finite point on the surface of the balloon. The finite point to the left of yours (for argument’s sake) is the angelic heart of another soul, a different soul. The finite point to the left of his heart is the heart of yet another unique quantum individual. And so on.

 

Paradoxically, of course, at the same time as your angelic heart represents only one finite point on the surface of a vast balloon of higher dimensional energy, your angelic heart also is the balloon. The will power you bring to your choices as an angel is so perfect in devotion, trust, courage and gratitude – so complete in time and commitment – that your angelic will power spreads to all other hearts bonded together on the surface of the balloon. Your love is shared with all other angels in the universe. And you, in turn, rejoice in the divine love offered to you by all others.

 

This lends to every angel in the universe a blissful sense of companionship, friendship, communal purpose, and belonging. Family. Oneness of commitment. Oneness of service.

 

All angels are united in their devotion to specific values, core angelic values. Unity of values give them commonality, a sense of radical equality with each other. The shared values of angels as old as 4 billion years and as young as 4 days forge unbreakable heart bonds, bonds of respect and dignity and joy, bonds of angelic culture. The shared values are the sum total of all the shared energy whizzing around on the surface of the Divine Love balloon. In a sense, the total energy of all the finite points on the balloon “feels” a bit like Oneness, the Oneness described repeatedly over the centuries by those with mystical inclinations.

 

But the emotional Oneness so many human beings begin to sense on the spiritual journey is not the end goal. Finding emotional Oneness with all other beings in the universe is only the beginning. The Uncanny Canuck knows that if you try to exist as a living monument to a spiritual state of Oneness – by dissolving your unique self in favour of simply “being” – you’re not honouring all the gifts God the Mother and God the Father have given you. You’re only honouring the Oneness of commitment, the Oneness of angelic belonging. Oneness is only one aspect of the angelic culture into which you were born. In addition to the Oneness of Heart is the Differentness of Divine Mind, the Differentness of Divine Body, the Differentness of Divine Talent.

 

I capitalize Differentness to emphasize how sacred and necessary it is for us as human beings to fully appreciate what makes us different – not just as human beings, but as angels.

 

You have the same size heart as every other angel, a heart capable of the most remarkable feats of courageous love, but you don’t have the same size mind. Nor the same size body. Nor the same combination of talents.

 

The angelic heart within you, the angelic heart that’s physically hardwired into your biological circuitry, is only happy if you consciously honour the Divine Geometry of the soul: one part Oneness, three parts Differentness.

 

One part Oneness of Heart.

 

One part Differentness of Mind.

 

One part Differentness of Body.

 

One part Differentness of Talent.

 

 

A psychopath is a person who tries to break apart the sacred geometry of somebody else’s existence and replace it with one part sameness of mind, one part sameness of body, one part sameness of talent, and one part hierarchy of heart.

 

That’s the only way a psychopath can effectively control other people.

 

It’s pretty easy for us as Canadians to understand how emotionally damaging it is when children and adults are all forced to think the same way (sameness of mind), all forced to dress or act the same way (sameness of body), or are all forced to apply their talents in extremely limited spheres of endeavour (sameness of talent). Stalinism (the brainchild of psychopaths) and fascism (a particular favourite of psychopaths) both rely on this simple model of brain conditioning to eradicate the sense of individuality that’s so necessary to the properly functioning human brain. (Not that Stalinist or fascist leaders have properly functioning brains . . .)

 

What’s much harder for us to understand is the emotional damage caused by hierarchy-of-the-heart.

 

Hierarchy-of-the-heart is a set of values, a set of human cultural values, that violates the angelic culture of Oneness of Heart. There’s nothing your guardian angel finds more frustrating than your deeply ingrained hierarchy-of-the-heart. In all likelihood, it’s this part of your life that’s holding you back on your spiritual journey.

 

If I had to sum up in one sentence the reason so few human prayers seem to be directly answered, I’d say it’s because God and God’s guardian angels refuse to acknowledge or reinforce anybody’s hierarchy-of-the-heart.

 

Your guardian angel would rather see you curl up in agony on the floor of a burning building than give you one minute of positive reinforcement for your unconscionable sense of superiority.

 

(Oops – there it is again, the sound of this book being flung aside in outrage in many quarters. But that’s okay. I didn’t make the rules. And anybody who wonders why God would let the cultures of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan be utterly humiliated in WWII needs to gulp down his or her outrage, and try to think this thing through clearly.)

 

The Uncanny Canuck understands it’s absolutely vital to respect another person’s Differentness of Mind. It’s essential to honour another’s Differentness of Body. It’s exquisite and thoroughly uplifting – not to mention healing – to rejoice in another’s Differentness of Talent. But the Uncanny Canuck learns to be extremely wary around ideas permeated with hierarchy-of-the-heart. The Uncanny Canuck is not obliged to unconditionally love human cultural values that promote racial superiority. Or gender superiority. Or religious superiority. (Note the strong emphasis on the word superiority.)

 

The angelic values of the soul take precedence over the values of your forefathers and foremothers. You don’t get a say in this any more than you get a say in the inextricable connection between your conscious emotions and your unconscious network of neurotransmitters.

 

The truth is, your guardian angel probably does not like some of the cultural values you hold because those particular cultural values hurt the way your brain works. If they hurt your brain, they hurt your connection with your soul. If they hurt your brain, they hurt your ability to intuitively receive God’s divine guidance. For your guardian angel, this scientific reality takes precedence over your immediate prayers for help with a family crisis.

 

This is why I roll my eyes at the popular interest in royal bloodlines. The belief that one bloodline is “better” than another, even if that bloodline belongs to Jesus, is 100% dry rot. Dry rot makes excellent tinder for fires.

[Realspiritik]

Sameness of mind + sameness of body + sameness of talent + hierarchy of heart = Status Anxiety

 

Oneness of Heart + Differentness of Mind + Differentness of Body + Differentness of Talent = The Way

[Realspiritik]

Sameness of mind + sameness of body + sameness of talent + hierarchy of heart = Pauline Christianity

 

Oneness of Heart + Differentness of Mind + Differentness of Body + Differentness of Talent = Yeshuan Christianity

[davidk]

"...you were born in the arms of God the Mother and God the Father as an eternal angel..."; "100% dry rot".

 

(Oops – there it is again, the sound of ... being flung aside in outrage...,)

[AllInTheNameOfProgress]

David K, I disagree that the above post is dry rot at all. This is a person's personal response to the sacred. I don't remember the Bible speaking about specifics of how a person's physical body is ensouled, except in the case where God breathed into Adam. This would be particularly healing to someone who felt unwanted by their human parents.

 

I think Canajan,eh? and I :-) agree on some basic truths, even though I have never used this language to talk about faith before.

 

I believe God wants us to be the best person we are capable of being, and that we are all born with gifts and challenges that make us different.

 

Each of us has the capacity to love with our huge hearts, even if we sometimes don't.

 

We are not alone. We are unique yet we have communal purpose, belonging, and responsibility.

 

I'll have to think more about the hierarchy of heart. It's new for me. Do you think it is similar to my belief that Jesus wants us to humble ourselves, look out for the disadvantaged, love our enemies, and forgive, forgive, forgive!!

 

For me, prayer is more about offering everyday life with its blessings and disappointments up to God, with no expectations of divine intervention into it, except for asking for God's strength, power, and energy to survive and to love. It is interesting to get your perspective on why God might not intervene.

 

Which cultural values might I hold that would be hurting the way my brain works? I'm not sure what you mean.

[AllInTheNameOfProgress]

David K, I disagree that the above post is dry rot at all. This is a person's personal response to the sacred. I don't remember the Bible speaking about specifics of how a person's physical body is ensouled, except in the case where God breathed into Adam. This would be particularly healing to someone who felt unwanted by their human parents.

 

I think Canajan,eh? and I :-) agree on some basic truths, even though I have never used this language to talk about faith before.

 

I believe God wants us to be the best person we are capable of being, and that we are all born with gifts and challenges that make us different.

 

Each of us has the capacity to love with our huge hearts, even if we sometimes don't.

 

We are not alone. We are unique yet we have communal purpose, belonging, and responsibility.

 

I'll have to think more about the hierarchy of heart. It's new for me. Do you think it is similar to my belief that Jesus wants us to humble ourselves, look out for the disadvantaged, love our enemies, and forgive, forgive, forgive!!

 

For me, prayer is more about offering everyday life with its blessings and disappointments up to God, with no expectations of divine intervention into it, except for asking for God's strength, power, and energy to survive and to love. It is interesting to get your perspective on why God might not intervene.

 

Which cultural values might I hold that would be hurting the way my brain works? I'm not sure what you mean.

[davidk]

Hi All,

Canajan,eh? and I hardly see 'eye to eye' in our philosphy. I do not believe in God the Mother. I stole her 'dry rot' phrase out of context to make an editorial comment about what I consider to be blasphemy. I'm sure she disagrees. It was a not too subtle slap and I regret using it the way I did.

 

Although there are some isolated statements made by Canajan,eh? that I can agree with, they come from a very different perspective than mine. We have not been able to overcome them enough to be more than passing belligerents with each other. With that being said, she writes from a heart of generosity and love. She asks the right questions, but we have rarely, if at all, come up with answers both can agree upon. Her current posts would be no exception.

 

This, being her post, is something she will have to respond to:

Which cultural values might I hold that would be hurting the way my brain works? I'm not sure what you mean.

-

David K, I disagree that the above post is dry rot at all. This is a person's personal response to the sacred. I don't remember the Bible speaking about specifics of how a person's physical body is ensouled, except in the case where God breathed into Adam. This would be particularly healing to someone who felt unwanted by their human parents.

 

I think Canajan,eh? and I :-) agree on some basic truths, even though I have never used this language to talk about faith before.

 

I believe God wants us to be the best person we are capable of being, and that we are all born with gifts and challenges that make us different.

 

Each of us has the capacity to love with our huge hearts, even if we sometimes don't.

 

We are not alone. We are unique yet we have communal purpose, belonging, and responsibility.

 

I'll have to think more about the hierarchy of heart. It's new for me. Do you think it is similar to my belief that Jesus wants us to humble ourselves, look out for the disadvantaged, love our enemies, and forgive, forgive, forgive!!

 

For me, prayer is more about offering everyday life with its blessings and disappointments up to God, with no expectations of divine intervention into it, except for asking for God's strength, power, and energy to survive and to love. It is interesting to get your perspective on why God might not intervene.

 

My perspective is that we are all made in the image of God. As a result, we all have the capacity to be obedient to Him through Jesus Christ, creative, generous, and loving. To be the proper witness for that reality, it is incumbant upon us to love God and neighbor and practice doing and being what God intended. It is every individuals responsibility and joy.

 

Or not.

 

Many choose the 'not'. Why? That's man's dilemma.

-

If we seek humility, I don't think we'll ever find it. Not that that was what you intended to mean.

Prayer happens when we have given ourselves over to a relationship with God. I expect intervention. I depend upon His strength, because I am confident I can't do anything good without it.

[minsocal]

Hi All,

Canajan,eh? and I hardly see 'eye to eye' in our philosphy. I do not believe in God the Mother. I stole her 'dry rot' phrase out of context to make an editorial comment about what I consider to be blasphemy. I'm sure she disagrees. It was a not too subtle slap and I regret using it the way I did.

 

Although there are some isolated statements made by Canajan,eh? that I can agree with, they come from a very different perspective than mine. We have not been able to overcome them enough to be more than passing belligerents with each other. With that being said, she writes from a heart of generosity and love. She asks the right questions, but we have rarely, if at all, come up with answers both can agree upon. Her current posts would be no exception.

 

This, being her post, is something she will have to respond to:-

My perspective is that we are all made in the image of God. As a result, we all have the capacity to be obedient to Him through Jesus Christ, creative, generous, and loving. To be the proper witness for that reality, it is incumbant upon us to love God and neighbor and practice doing and being what God intended. It is every individuals responsibility and joy.

 

Or not.

 

Many choose the 'not'. Why? That's man's dilemma.

-

If we seek humility, I don't think we'll ever find it. Not that that was what you intended to mean.

Prayer happens when we have given ourselves over to a relationship with God. I expect intervention. I depend upon His strength, because I am confident I can't do anything good without it.

 

Perhaps next time you will pray before you respond.

[Realspiritik]

Thank you, AllintheName and Minsocal, for your responses. I appreciate the fact that even though you may not agree with what I wrote, you responded with courtesy.

 

Davidk, you have shown a pattern of lashing out in angry, nasty ways that you later claim to regret. I do not wish to engage with you. I am trying to share some insights that have been very helpful to me in finding my way closer to God. That is all. Davidk, if you think my posts are blasphemous, then by all means feel free to stop reading them.

 

Jen

[Realspiritik]

Each of us has the capacity to love with our huge hearts, even if we sometimes don't.

 

Which cultural values might I hold that would be hurting the way my brain works? I'm not sure what you mean.

 

Hi, AllInTheName. I really like your post. Thanks.

 

I'll try to answer the question you asked, although in a way you've already begun to answer it with your observation that "each of us has the capacity to love with our huge hearts, even if we sometimes don't." When I began my spiritual journey in earnest, I made the same observation, but I couldn't explain it. I just couldn't understand why human beings so often fail to choose love, when it's obvious we have the capacity to love and the responsibility to love. Like, huh? I lost a lot of sleep over this question. However, with the encouragement of my guardian angel, I began to look for answers to this question outside the confines of theology. I am a scientist. I have a Chemistry undergrad degree and a Chemistry-related graduate degree. With help from God the Mother and God the Father, I started to look at neurophysiology -- the functioning of the central nervous system. Research in the last 40 years or so has turned up hard scientific data about the brain that has tremendous theological implications. I can't, in good conscience as a Progressive Christian, ignore the scientific data that present a compelling case for the role of dysfunctional brain architecture in place of -- and abolishing the need for -- explanations for evil that rely on either original sin or the devil.

 

The difficult, but unavoidable, truth is that human beings can change the physical architecture and the practical functioning of their own biological brains just by what they think. (I'm simplifying here, and I don't mean to suggest that your thoughts are the only factor controlling your brain -- there are many other factors to consider, such as genetics, nutrition, exposure to toxins, head trauma, strokes, viral or bacterial illness.) It is cruel to tell somebody who is struggling with addiction disorders that simple will power (i.e. "strong thoughts") will fix the problem. On the other hand, it is cruel to tell people they can think nasty thoughts about other people all day without suffering any long term physiological side effects. The thoughts you choose to put in your head each day will eventually be translated by your biological brain into hard-wired neurons and connecting cells. It's just a fact of science. The implications for us at a practical everyday level are profound. The practical implications of the scientific findings tell us, as Christians, that some of our beliefs -- some of our cultural values -- have the potential to change the way our brains function. To put it another way, some cultural values are toxic to the brain, as well as to the body and the soul. I'll take as a modern example the cultural practice of "female circumcision" among some communities that originate in the Horn of Africa. Female circumcision is a euphemism for genital mutilation. It is a practice that scars women at all levels -- physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. The choice to practice this custom is purely cultural. It is part of a larger set of cultural values. The choice to pursue these harmful values is toxic to the brains of these community members. They may not realize they're harming their own biological brains, but the damage is an unavoidable consequence of their choices, in exactly the same way that a cultural choice to shun all foods containing Vitamin C would have physiological effects on their brains.

 

As Jesus wrote on the thread about the practice of forgiving, What You Put In Your Brain Matters.

 

Okay, I've talked for long enough. Thanks for listening.

 

Jen

[minsocal]

With help from God the Mother and God the Father, I started to look at neurophysiology -- the functioning of the central nervous system. Research in the last 40 years or so has turned up hard scientific data about the brain that has tremendous theological implications. I can't, in good conscience as a Progressive Christian, ignore the scientific data that present a compelling case for the role of dysfunctional brain architecture in place of -- and abolishing the need for -- explanations for evil that rely on either original sin or the devil.

 

Jen

 

Excellent observations.

 

I fully agree. Few people appreciate the fact that the human brain takes more that 18 years to develop. During that time, there are four major bursts of neuron growth and experience plays a major role in how the brain is "wired" during those peaks (neuron patterns are only partially "pre-programmed"). The basic principle here is that there needs to be a "goodness of fit" between the needs of the developing child and the proper stimulation provided by parents and culture. The "goodness of fit" principle extends into later life as we find our way in personal/ spiritual development.

 

Coincidentally, a colleague of mine recently wrote her doctoral dissertation of the negative psychological effects of female circumcision.

 

minsocal

[Quaker Way]

I understand Canajan's thought completely. How can we, as Children of God, fully realize our potential a spititual beings? By looking at ourselves, by reaching within, we come in contact with the Beyond, the Deep, which lies beneath all of this intellectualizing and speculating that we do in order to try to understand what we cannot and will never. We sense something More, reach out, long for...and even our words are inadequate. How can we describe that which must be experienced first hand in order to be understood? It is not our thoughts or words or the thoughts and words of others that opens up the Infinite within ourselves, but the direct, inward seeking and the direct, personal experience resulting from such seeking. There is no such thing as second-hand enlightenment. We cannot know God in a hand-me-down way. If we are to ever come to experience the Deep within, we must do it alone, by ourselves, with ourselves, and with an empty mind. All of our formulations, theories, theologies and constructions amount to nothing more than speculation and guesswork. God is Within...here...now.

[davidk]

Thank you, AllintheName and Minsocal, for your responses. I appreciate the fact that even though you may not agree with what I wrote, you responded with courtesy.

 

Davidk, you have shown a pattern of lashing out in angry, nasty ways that you later claim to regret. I do not wish to engage with you. I am trying to share some insights that have been very helpful to me in finding my way closer to God. That is all. Davidk, if you think my posts are blasphemous, then by all means feel free to stop reading them.

 

Jen

Jen

I had only used your quotes. It was intended to be satire. After I wrote it, I regreted it because few on this site appreciate a little satire. In any case, I fail to see it reaching the level of "lashing out in angry, nasty ways". Besides all of that, it was a comment on the content of your post, not you. I gave a personal comment in my follow-up, with an honest compliment and your innate ability to ask the right questions. My disagreements with your conclusions are obvious.

-

I encourage anyone's desire for God. But the 'path' you are expounding upon is vastly different from Christianity. If that is your path, that is undeniably up to you, but do not call it Christianity. The opening statement of your first post, "...you were born in the arms of God the Mother and God the Father ...", was a profane example.

-

"What You Put In Your Brain Matters." I'll ditto that!

--

minsocal,

"Perhaps next time you will pray before you respond."

You're right.

If you wish to mediate, fine. I only offer this one bit of advice: counsel both parties, impartially.

-

"Excellent observations." Are you buying into the doctrine that morality is a symptom of dysfunctional brain architecture and cultural conditioning?

--

Russ,

You seem like a bright guy. "... we must (experience God) alone, ... with an empty mind." I suggest a rethinking of this position if sense is to be made of it. This is not how God wants us to experience Him. One does not expect an empty mind to help in any relationship, just ask any woman.

You're proposing a 'leap of faith'. A condition usually applied by aetheists to fundamentalists.

-

[Realspiritik]

Few people appreciate the fact that the human brain takes more that 18 years to develop. During that time, there are four major bursts of neuron growth and experience plays a major role in how the brain is "wired" during those peaks (neuron patterns are only partially "pre-programmed"). The basic principle here is that there needs to be a "goodness of fit" between the needs of the developing child and the proper stimulation provided by parents and culture. The "goodness of fit" principle extends into later life as we find our way in personal/ spiritual development.

minsocal

 

Yes! Yes, yes, yes! Thank you for stating that so clearly. I have seen estimates of age 21-22 for the final stage in childhood/adolescent brain "wiring." Interestingly, age 21 was the age of majority for a long time in Canada. (When my friends and I turned 21, which was a while ago now, it was a big deal -- much more important than turning 18). More recently, I was caught off guard when my son passed the 21-year mark. Right after his 21st birthday, something in his approach to life changed in a positive way. It seemed that something had "clicked" or come together for him in a new way. It's a bit hard to describe. But I guess one could say he stepped fully into adulthood.

 

Interesting about your friend's doctoral work. I hope she and others are able to use it to push for change.

 

Jen

[October's Autumn]

Davidk, you have shown a pattern of lashing out in angry, nasty ways that you later claim to regret. I do not wish to engage with you.

 

When a teacher sent a child back to my classroom who had been misbehaving to the extreme she instructed him to apologize. He didn't but when she told me I basically told her that I would accept an apology in the form of changed behavior. The words mean nothing when the behavior is repeated over and over with no effort to change. davidk make come from a mindset of "I'm not perfect, just forgiven" which entitles him to behave ever how he pleases in the moment so long as he asks for forgiveness later.

 

I am trying to share some insights that have been very helpful to me in finding my way closer to God. That is all. Davidk, if you think my posts are blasphemous, then by all means feel free to stop reading them.

 

Jen

 

Perhaps someone should explain to davidk how to use the ignore feature then he won't have to be "bothered" by the "blasphemous" posts. Hmmm.... of course then he'd have to put us all on ignore

[minsocal]

Sameness of mind + sameness of body + sameness of talent + hierarchy of heart = Status Anxiety

 

Oneness of Heart + Differentness of Mind + Differentness of Body + Differentness of Talent = The Way

 

Now that I've become accustomed to your style of presentation, I think are quite right. Here in the U.S., research has tended to confirm rising levels of state (or status) anxiety during an extended period of somewhat regressive social practices. In other words, your second formula would counteract the first. That (the second formula) would be "progressive"? I hope I understand you correctly.

 

minsocal

[davidk]

Each of us sit here amazed at this animated piece of machinery we have come to call 'our brain'. For us to realize any of the capacities for reason and emotion that rest inside this piece of 'meat' is in itself miraculous. Science has revealed remarkable insight into how the synapses coordinate with thought and 'Thought' is still a wonder.

The maturation of the brain has been observed for aeons. Modern science has finally begun to 'see' it.

-

Scientists; Oppenheimer and Whitehead, neither Christian, openly declared modern science could not have been born outside the Christian milieu.

Whitehead points out , the fathers of modern science all believed that the universe was created by a reasonable God and therefore the universe could be found out by reason.

-

As noted, one of the problems of the brain of the developing child is the proper input from parents and culture. The proper input at this point would be purely subjective if the decision of what is proper comes only from a finite source, such as man. If we only look inward for a solution, it will forever be inadequate. Or as one put it: "toxic to the brain". How can "... human beings so often fail to choose love" even though we were born "an eternal angel."

While I don't agree that humans are angels, the human problem is real. If we're so good, why do we do bad things? The changeable dysfunctional brain architecture scenerio reinforces the observation of the problem by looking for a universal solution from an insufficient finite source.

I believe the answer was touched on, "What You Put In Your Brain Matters." This implies an outside source, which I believe is the proper perspective. When I say outside, I mean outside of man, to the only source superior to man, God Himself. The original source Universal.

-

Good to see your caustic little self back, OA. I've missed you. You must have missed me too, dedicating an entire post to me! Love, david

[minsocal]

When a teacher sent a child back to my classroom who had been misbehaving to the extreme she instructed him to apologize. He didn't but when she told me I basically told her that I would accept an apology in the form of changed behavior. The words mean nothing when the behavior is repeated over and over with no effort to change. davidk make come from a mindset of "I'm not perfect, just forgiven" which entitles him to behave ever how he pleases in the moment so long as he asks for forgiveness later.

Perhaps someone should explain to davidk how to use the ignore feature then he won't have to be "bothered" by the "blasphemous" posts. Hmmm.... of course then he'd have to put us all on ignore

 

Sometimes, the child refuses to become an adult.

 

[October's Autumn]

Sometimes, the child refuses to become an adult.

 

 

 

I see a lot of those both in real life and on the internet.

[AllInTheNameOfProgress]

Canajan,eh? Thanks for the answer to my question. I loved the data on brain function, and I know as a practical matter in my life that it goes better and I develop stronger relationships, AND I'm happier in the long run when I forgive, forgive, forgive. I have a book that quotes Rabbi Julius Gordon as saying "Love is not blind -- it sees more, not less. But, because it sees more, it is willing to see less."

[McKenna]

Some really interesting thoughts on this thread...it made a good read

 

David K, I disagree that the above post is dry rot at all. This is a person's personal response to the sacred. I don't remember the Bible speaking about specifics of how a person's physical body is ensouled, except in the case where God breathed into Adam. This would be particularly healing to someone who felt unwanted by their human parents.

 

I think Canajan,eh? and I :-) agree on some basic truths, even though I have never used this language to talk about faith before.

 

I believe God wants us to be the best person we are capable of being, and that we are all born with gifts and challenges that make us different.

 

Each of us has the capacity to love with our huge hearts, even if we sometimes don't.

 

We are not alone. We are unique yet we have communal purpose, belonging, and responsibility.

 

I'll have to think more about the hierarchy of heart. It's new for me. Do you think it is similar to my belief that Jesus wants us to humble ourselves, look out for the disadvantaged, love our enemies, and forgive, forgive, forgive!!

 

For me, prayer is more about offering everyday life with its blessings and disappointments up to God, with no expectations of divine intervention into it, except for asking for God's strength, power, and energy to survive and to love. It is interesting to get your perspective on why God might not intervene.

 

Which cultural values might I hold that would be hurting the way my brain works? I'm not sure what you mean.

 

I don't have much to add, I agree pretty much 100% with the above post

 

However, I was wondering if you could provide a definition for "Hierarchy of the Heart," Jen? Maybe you already did but I was a little confused as to what exactly you meant by the term...Thanks!

[davidk]

Sometimes, the child refuses to become an adult.

 

"Yes; have you never read, 'Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have prepared praise (established strength) for Yourself'?", "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You did hide these things from the wise and intelligent and did reveal them to babes."

-

[minsocal]

"Yes; have you never read, 'Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have prepared praise (established strength) for Yourself'?", "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You did hide these things from the wise and intelligent and did reveal them to babes."

-

 

1 Timothy 5:4

 

But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.

 

I you are quoting scripture, it would be proper to include the exact source.

[Realspiritik]

Now that I've become accustomed to your style of presentation, I think are quite right. Here in the U.S., research has tended to confirm rising levels of state (or status) anxiety during an extended period of somewhat regressive social practices. In other words, your second formula would counteract the first. That (the second formula) would be "progressive"? I hope I understand you correctly.

 

minsocal

 

Yes, that is correct. The first formula is a "cultural package" of beliefs and values that creates tremendous stress on all our relationships, including our relationship with God. If you're busy trying to copy all the latest trends -- i.e. if you're emulating the idea that there is only one "right" way to dress (oneness of body) and only one "right" way to think (oneness of mind) -- then you're not spending any time trying to understand what makes you unique from God's point of view, and you're not spending any time practising empathy for other people's way of dressing or other people's way of thinking.

 

The second formula, which is the Way of Jesus, is a complete inversion of the first formula. This idea of a societal and cultural inversion in the teachings of Jesus has been noted in the Synoptics by many New Testament scholars. The Beatitudes of Luke (Luke 6:20-26) and James 1:5-14 speak clearly to the two-formula paradigm I have presented here. It's important to recall that Jesus was teaching in a cultural milieu driven by the honour/shame value system. The ancient Mediterranean honour/shame value system is the label usually placed on the "cultural package" I have described as Status Anxiety. "Honour" -- i.e. status -- was usually achieved through bloodlines or wealth. In Jesus' Palestine, "honour" meant having status -- being rich or being from one of the aristocratic bloodlines. Yet the rich and the elite were the ones who owned human beings as slaves, who treated women as unworthy, who taxed Jewish farmers so heavily that many lost their traditional farms, who spent the tax money on lavish building projects (eg. Herod the Great's rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple; his building of Caesarea Maritima). The people who chose to pursue the cultural value of "honour" could only achieve it and retain it by treating other people like ######. They chose to take from others in order to build up their own status. They chose to be aggressive, competitive, and lacking in empathy towards others. Perhaps this sounds familiar . . .

 

Jesus, on the other hand, tells his followers not to seek this kind of "honour." It is a woe to be rich -- but not because money is inherently evil. Money can buy food for the poor as easily as it can buy marble for a temple column. The source of the woe is the internal choice people make to seek status for themselves instead of deep compassion for God's world. Status and deep compassion are mutually exclusive. One must choose. One can choose to try to diminish other people by eradicating what makes them unique (i.e. forcing them to accept YOUR idea of mind + YOUR idea of body + YOUR idea of talent as the only acceptable norm). Or one can choose to help create a society where compassion, inclusiveness, fairness, and mutual uplifting are the guiding principles.

 

A community based on the first formula will eventually reveal itself in its political governance. Totalitarianism, Stalinism, and Laissez-faire Capitalism are all excellent examples of societal structures built on Status Anxiety. It ain't pretty.

 

A community based on the second formula -- on Jesus' Way, on the values espoused by Progressive Christians (among many others) -- is a society where people contribute their unique talents to teams who are working to improve education, health care, access to services, and so on, regardless of class, regardless of income, regardless of race, regardless of gender, regardless of sexual orientation. This is the inversion spoken of by Jesus in the Beatitudes and in James.

 

It took us a while (a mere 2,000 years or so) to catch on to what Jesus was actually saying, but I think we're getting it now.

 

Jen

[Realspiritik]

Some really interesting thoughts on this thread...it made a good read

I don't have much to add, I agree pretty much 100% with the above post

 

However, I was wondering if you could provide a definition for "Hierarchy of the Heart," Jen? Maybe you already did but I was a little confused as to what exactly you meant by the term...Thanks!

 

Hi, McKenna. Thank you for asking for a definition of "hierarchy of the heart." I've been thinking about your question, and I think the best way for me to answer is to tell you what Jesus helped me understand about five years ago about "oneness of heart," which is the opposite of "hierarchy of the heart." It was an epiphany for me, an amazing breakthrough in my understanding of God, and I've never looked at the world in the same way since then. It wasn't a Saul-on-the-road-to-Damascus type epiphany. It wasn't words or visions coming at me (though as a channeller I hear words all the time -- every day, in fact!). It was an emotional insight, an emotional awareness of Truth at a very deep level, an emotional connection to my soul and to my Divine Parents. (At a scientific level, it probably would have shown up as a gamma brainwave burst in the temporal lobe, parietal lobe, and insula, if you're interested in the neurophysiology of the soul). On this particular day, I had what could be described as the opposite of a conversion experience. I had an "inversion experience." In a conversion experience, a person typically chooses in a powerful moment of decision-making to accept God and Christ as Lord and Master in the same way the apostle Paul did. After a conversion experience, individuals frequently describe themselves as "vessels" or "humble servants who receive God's grace because God chooses to bestow it, not because they actually deserve it." God is in charge, and they are meek and mild and grateful to be saved. There is much talk about the weakness and frailty of human beings, and the blessing of God's power and majesty. This is, in fact, the way theologians from Paul in the 1st century to Augustine of Hippo in the 4th century to Jurgen Moltmann in the 20th century have talked about our relationship with God. There is always -- always -- an underlying sense that human beings are lesser than God, that human beings don't really deserve to be loved, but gosh, aren't we lucky that God loves us anyway!

 

In an "inversion experience," the truth that Jesus taught -- as opposed to the "truth" that Paul taught -- suddenly becomes clear. The false, hierarchical understanding of God is swept away. Gone is the God who is "above." Instead, there is a God who is everywhere. Gone is the God who is "transcendent," unable to feel pain, and therefore unable to feel our pain. Instead, there is a God who weeps torrents of tears for our suffering. Gone is a God who thinks and acts in terms of power and majesty and might and judgment and obedience and salvation and namelessness. Instead, there is a God, an eternal Mother and an eternal Father, who cherish all their children equally, who do not place anyone, including themselves, on a throne. Heaven has no thrones. Our loving, eternal parents do not think they are "better" or "more important" than any of their children. They are humble. God is humble. They are shy and modest and quiet and kind and eternally vigilant on our behalf. They are a bajillion times bigger than we are in size (differentness of body). They are a gazillion times smarter and more experienced than we are (differentness of mind). They have talents with quantum energy that are completely beyond our comprehension (differentness of talent). Yet for all their size, and all their brilliance, and all their mind-boggling abilities to create, they don't think they're better than you, McKenna. If you were to invite them with an eager, open heart to your dinner table, to share a family holiday with you and your human family as two eager and excited -- if invisible -- guests, you would give them a more wondrous gift than your human mind can imagine (although your heart would be able to feel it).

 

The experience of cherishing God, of treating God with kindness instead of harsh rebuke, is part of what it feels like to live with Oneness of Heart. The opposite of this, "hierarchy of the heart," is the experience of loneliness, anger, grudge-holding, and self-victimization that comes with treating God (and, inevitably, your family, friends, and community) according to the honour/shame "principles" of Status Anxiety. Among Christians today, there is an extraordinary level of cruelty towards God. It is cruel and abusive to blame God for the choices we make that we are secretly ashamed of. Jesus knew that (James 1:13-14), and he clearly said so.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Jen