A friend of mine took this video of a school they are building somewhere in Africa:

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More interesting phenomenon to think about. One thought that came to me today was Living Scriptures. Our very lives our very beings are living scriptures. What does this mean?

Well, take for example the Acts of the Apostles in the Bible. There is this one scene where this guy Paul runs around killin folks under the guidance of the Law of Moses (see Old Testament). As I write this I suddenly realize why why when I prayed for the right church so many years ago – Mormons showed up on my door step the next morning bright and early. The Mormons had mentioned the “Levitical” priesthood. I was 20 years old at the time and had not a clue what they were talking about. I now realize that was actually a question that got planted in my head to begin the search. What the heck is the Levitical priesthood and why am I just now hearing about this? Back to Paul. So Paul seems to represent something that I have observed in “new” Christians who have decided they are “saved”. They can sometimes run around with the hammer of rebuke, rebuking anything in sight not conforming to their vision of Christianity. Rebuke. Rebuke. They must save folks from hell. Rebuke. Rebuke. Rabblerousing.  That could be one example of a Living Scripture. I’m not suggesting complaceny either.

Some time ago I had gotten in trouble with the authorities for a small bit. It was serious business. I don’t want to go into the details, but suffice it to say I was a bit worried. It wasn’t the first time in my life. I recall daring one of my teachers in high-school to send me to the principal. Sort of reminds me of this good intentioned rabblerouser:

I recall putting up a prayer and vowing against not doing something in particular anymore if God, the Lord, or whatever, would just get me out of this particular pickle. The pickle evaporated like it was magic. I still have no idea how. I’ve been trying to understand and recreate the results ever since on a more consistent basis – to get into the “flow”. The scripture of my life when written would become… and then Shohn was slated for enslavement at the hands of the authorities; however, the Lord delivered him from a prison of his own making. We all make prisons of our own that we need to escape from.

I am learning that there seem to be certain rules that govern how this place works. I’ve tested some of these and others I have just read about. It is as though we are the characters in some giant video game or dream even. On some levels it seems that we have free will, yet on other levels we are carried by the river that is life. Perhaps we were placed into a river and are likely to arrive at a destination or two; however, we can paddle to and fro or even hit a few rocks along the way and crack our head open and drown if we don’t pay attention.

One area I have tested this is in “manifestation” exercises. I’ll lose something or ask for parking place or whatever. So I’ll send up a little prayer and then “release” it. Like a sidewinder missile, I fire and forget. As I do this, I’ve had some crazy things delivered just as I had asked for them. Other things seem to take longer. For example, with my wife I’ve asked for baby step miracles and they seem to occur, but asking for the big miracle no longer seems to happen (going on 17 months now). Other times, there have been instances where I was merely thinking about something – not actively praying for it for a number of reasons and then then it happened anyway. Some of these things weirded me out they were so real. It was as though my thoughts were on many levels leading up to what was occurring in “reality” next. It was scary on some levels.

We do the same when we forget a name…it seems that the harder we try to remember it .the farther we push it away. Sooner or later we give up on it and then it flashes across our mind. It’s amazing how fast you can remember a name when you don’t spend time trying to remember. I recall this happening to me on a password I had forgotten. I forgot a password for about 9 months once and it came to me out of the clear blue sky one day.

I’ve included the illustration below as an example from college that registered with my memory. It is a problem where you have a brine solution entering into a mixing tank with a given amount of salt already in the water. As the brine enters the amount of salt in the mixture changes. At the same time, there is an outlet allowing water to flow out. The problem involves using calculus to determine when the salt solution will be at a given percentage. I suspect that our thoughts and prayers are much the same in that there are constant inputs and outputs and the system may even have a feedback loop.

As I am thinking about the marriage restoration I have noted that there are times that bring about change quickly in almost every case. It the case of guys, it is often when they have “accepted” that they are getting a divorce. I suspect that this acceptance limits the number of opposing thoughts that are put out into the universe that can then limit that aspect of “reality” selection. Either that or somehow women can feel when us men are no longer feeling lonely and needy and then that is when they come around. All the marriage restoration and relationship restore books say the same thing. Getting to that point though…. that is another story.

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I’ve been listening to some recordings by a guy named Anthony De Mello.

Quoting the online article (34 hits):

Anthony de Mello, a Jesuit priest from India, influenced the world through his powerful understanding of the human condition. Through the use of parables and teaching stories, de Mello pointed the way to authentic living. The influence of spiritual traditions outside mainstream Christianity is clear in his work. The depth and spiritual insight in his teachings, stories and articles made him well known throughout the world. He is well appreciated by many inside and outside the Roman Catholic Church.

His teachings were temporarily banned within the Roman Catholic Church by then future pope Ratsinger, but the ban has been lifted. Catholics are still advised to avoid his writings though. It is good to be reminded occasionally that the Roman Catholic Church still has a blacklist, where mystics can get their work listed.

I love this guys quotes. They both shock and remind of … how silly I really am. He has some really good things to think about with regard to the breakup of a relationship.

Here is one of my favorites:

Most people tell you they want to get out of kindergarten, but don’t believe them. Don’t believe them! All they want you to do is to mend their broken toys. “Give me back my wife. Give me back my job. Give me back my money. Give me back my reputation, my success.” This is what they want; they want their toys replaced. That’s all. Even the best psychologist will tell you that, that people don’t really want to be cured. What they want is relief; a cure is painful.

There are some good videos here: http://tonydemello.wordpress.com/ (34 hits)

The scriptures are always hinting of that, but you’ll never understand a word of what the scriptures are saying until you wake up. Sleeping people read the scriptures and crucify the Messiah on the basis of them. You’ve got to wake up to make sense out of the scriptures. When you do wake up, they make sense. So does reality. But you’ll never be able to put it into words. You’d rather do something? But even there we’ve got to make sure that you’re not swinging into action simply to get rid of your negative feelings. Many people swing into action only to make things worse. They’re not coming from love, they’re coming from negative feelings. They’re coming from guilt, anger, hate; from a sense of injustice or whatever. You’ve got to make sure of your “being” before you swing into action. You have to make sure of who you are before you act. Unfortunately, when sleeping people swing into action, they simply substitute one cruelty for another, one injustice for another. And so it goes. Meister Eckhart says, “It is not by your actions that you will be saved” (or awakened; call it by any word you want), “but by your being. It is not by what you do, but by what you are that you will be judged.” What good is it to you to feed the hungry, give the thirsty to drink, or visit prisoners in jail?

Remember that sentence from Paul: “If I give my body to be burned and all my goods to feed the poor and have not love . . .” It’s not your actions, it’s your being that counts. Then you might swing into action. You might or might not. You can’t decide that until you’re awake. Unfortunately, all the emphasis is concentrated on changing the world and very little emphasis is given to waking up. When you wake up, you will know what to do or what not to do. Some mystics are very strange, you know. Like Jesus, who said something like “I wasn’t sent to those people; I limit myself to what I am supposed to do right now. Later, maybe.” Some mystics go silent. Mysteriously, some of them sing songs. Some of them are into service. We’re never sure. They’re a law unto themselves; they know exactly what is to be done. “Plunge into the heat of battle and keep your heart at the lotus feet of the Lord,” as I said to you earlier.

Imagine that you’re unwell and in a foul mood, and they’re taking you through some lovely countryside. The landscape is beautiful but you’re not in the mood to see anything. A few days later you pass the same place and you say, “Good heavens, where was I that I didn’t notice all of this?” Everything becomes beautiful when you change. Or you look at the trees and the mountains through windows that are wet with rain from a storm, and everything looks blurred and shapeless. You want to go right out there and change those trees, change those mountains. Wait a minute, let’s examine your window. When the storm ceases and the rain stops, and you look out the window, you say, “Well, how different everything looks.” We see people and things not as they are, but as we are. That is why when two people look at something or someone, you get two different reactions. We see things and people not as they are, but as we are.

Remember that sentence from scripture about everything turning into good for those who love God? When you finally awake, you don’t try to make good things happen; they just happen. You understand suddenly that everything that happens to you is good. Think of some people you’re living with whom you want to change. You find them moody, inconsiderate, unreliable, treacherous, or whatever. But when you are different, they’ll be different. That’s an infallible and miraculous cure. The day you are different, they will become different. And you will see them differently, too. Someone who seemed terrifying will now seem frightened. Someone who seemed rude will seem frightened. All of a sudden, no one has the power to hurt you anymore. No one has the power to put pressure on you. It’s something like this: You leave a book on the table and I pick it up and say, “You’re pressing this book on me. I have to pick it up or not pick it up.” People are so busy accusing everyone else, blaming everyone else, blaming life, blaming society, blaming their neighbor. You’ll never change that way; you’ll continue in your nightmare, you’ll never wake up.

Put this program into action, a thousand times: (a) identify the negative feelings in you; (b) understand that they are in you, not in the world, not in external reality; (c) do not see them as an essential part of “I”; these things come and go; (d) understand that when you change, everything changes

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Citing the article at http://christianpost.com/Society/Family_issues/2009/04/virginia-gov-approves-law-requiring-schools-to-teach-benefits-of-marriage-02/index.html
:

The Virginian governor has signed legislation requiring local schools to teach the benefits and value of marriage as part of the state Board of Education’s Family Life Education program.

Gov. Tim Kaine on Tuesday signed into law SB 827 and HB 1746, which broadens the range of topics covered by the family life education curriculum in grades K through 12 to include instruction on “the benefits, challenges, responsibilities, and value of marriage for men, women, children, and communities.”

The legislation was introduced by Senator Ralph Smith (R-22, Botetourt) and Delegate Brenda Pogge (R-96, Yorktown) based on the recommendation of The Family Foundation’s 2007-2008 Marriage Commission. The commission found that current requirements for the FLE program asked students to describe difficult family situations including financial problems, separation or divorce, injury or death, the loss of job and the birth of a baby.

The Commission recommended that the FLE guidelines be amended to require the teaching of the positive effects of marriage.

The legislation would help to reverse declining marriage and climbing divorce rates in the state, according to The Family Foundation president Victoria Cobb, who called it the group’s highest priority legislation supporting marriage.

On Wednesday, she sent an e-mail asking supporters to thank the governor for backing the law.

According to Brad Wilcox, professor of sociology at the University of Virginia and a member of The Family Foundation’s marriage commission, “Research shows that children who grow up in an intact, married family are about 50 percent less likely to experience serious psychological, academic, or social problems as children or young adults, compared to children who grow up in single or step-families.”

Kaine has also signed legislation that requires local school boards to better notify parents regarding what is being taught in Family Life Education so that parents can make a more informed decision about whether their kids should participate in that class.

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Well, today is a very special day for me for a number of reasons. One of them is that it is Passover. It is a time of passing over into life and a celebration of my life today.

About this time last year, I celebrated it in a very special way with two homeless individuals and a pastor friend of mine.  A year later, one homeless dude is working and has an apartment. The other is working, but not quite self-sufficient just yet. My my how much can change in a year. Some things have changed with me as well.

This year I lead up to Passover by cleansing.

I fasted for a few days leading up to Passover to do a really really good detox. I had a major headache on the 2nd day even after doing the required enemas and such to empty the bowels of toxin. It took until the 4th day before my body was done flushing toxins this time around. I’d say I need to avoid processed cheese a bit better, I guess my body is still pretty dirty from years of cigarette smoke, processed foods, and McDonalds. It was a wonder I could even remember my dreams. I also went through and did a review of the Exodus story and connected it to the Last Supper as told in the New Testament. It is amazing how different it is each time I read it with more experience and age under my belt. Different things I didn’t notice before.

Another thing I did was to clean out closet, my house a bit, and to clean the back yard. Man it felt good to do that. I wonder why? Have you ever wondered why?

The feeling that we get when we clean is there by design i think. The cleaning activities are put into the scriptures for a reason, but all too often those basic simple things are ignored and replaced with mounds of tradition, easter eggs, and whatever else until the point is lost. I’ve since learned that there are a variety of other traditions that use house cleaning as a way of cleaning out the mind. Edgar Cayce recommended that one’s prayer area be cleaned before meditating and praying. The physical being an illusion, or actually an allusion to something greater, in that the part of us that we see in the physical is not unlike the part of the iceberg seen on the surface of the ocean.

I also worked on cleansing out some artifacts in my mind. Some resentments here and there.

The cleaning has allowed some of my perceptions of things to change as well I think. A year ago, I figured celebrate Passover, but I really wasn’t quite sure why other than the Bible says to from what I can tell. There are different perspectives on Passover, indeed, my own has grown and evolved. Around the world, gajillions of Christians are getting ready to celebrate Easter and it has barely crossed my mind. I remember it being so “taboo” to even say the word Passover last year. It freaks some Christians out for some reason,  particularly my wife. The perception of it though is what is interesting.

For many, Passover = Jewish. They can not get around it. It triggers an association in their mind that has been placed in there by a couple thousand years of tradition. It triggers a certain aversion. For others, it is welcomed. I have no idea why (actually i do, but am not going there just yet), but I had to be careful last year due to the taboo nature of the mental association. It would be sort of like naming one’s child Beezelebub or something equivalent. The kid could be the nicest kid on the planet, but would still go through hell for having a name like that.

I’ve also learned that the measure that we judge others will be brought right back on us. Fortunately, as I have grown spiritually, that part seems to come faster. I do something I shouldn’t. Whammo… get delivered a judgment.

Think of it like this. Once you become aware of Karma, or the law that says that as a man sows, so shall he reap, there is no longer any need to hide that spiritual law. It needs to remain hidden while you are yet asleep, otherwise your doing of right may not be “honest” but rather, for fear of retribution from the law.  If we are all but children on this planet, and God is trying to raise us up – he would probably want us to do things for the right reason – not because of fear of receiving the sometimes negative fruits of our own judgements.  I would want the same out of my children, so perhaps this applies to higher things as well. Thus the law of karma would have to remain hidden until we were ready to become aware of it. Basically, whenever you judge someone or are fail to act appropriately, those things come back on you so that you get to experience what it was like.

As part of karmic retribution, I was pretty silly about celebration of certain holidays about 2 years ago. Pardon the seemingly inflammatory expression, but I was “jewing” them up (did that trigger anything within you?), that is, becoming a bit too draconian and losing the forest through the trees. A year later I have learned that like Judas was to Jesus, we must kill our inner Jew – that part of us that wants to attach rules and regulations without bound to everything and without understanding why. There is a time for such things; however, as we grow we must come to understand why things are, how they work, etc. In as much as there are moral and other lessons provided by the Bible, it also provides a map of our minds, a map of the laws of how this places works, and how to have a good marriage, both with the Son of God, and your earthly wife. These things are under the surface and can not be seen by most at first is what I have learned.

Let’s try a small example though, the Beast discussed in Revelation is just as much a part of our own mind, but people prefer to focus on some external “prophetic” event or other such things rather than work on what is inside. I know, because I was one of them. Like Paul, walking around pointing fingers as described in the book of Acts, it seems that the first part of the journey is doing exactly that. At some point, the seeker’s eyes become opened to another source of light and they may begin to turn inward.

So while learning Karmic stuff, about two years ago I was getting judgemental on some of the holidays even Passover, but part of my heart felt like there was no reason to be judgemental about it, but celebrate it anyway and not get all snooty. I did as best I could with that. Since then,  I’ve learned is to celebrate other holidays with people because there is a higher law at work – that is – it would be better to be with your family, than to make a stink about Easter being pagan or whatever. The fact is, it IS Pagan – this is indisuputable. This is FACT, but a fact that many are not ready for due to the perceptions and mental filters they have grown up with, refusal to question things, to seek things out, etc. That includes me at points in my life.

Passover – the first full moon after the spring equinox! It is a halfway point between summer and winter and as such provide great opportunity and potential to become “reborn”. I don’t mean the silly self-declared emotional reborn like I myself did not even two years ago, but the level to which one becomes imbued, becomes like a virgin as pure as the driven snow – allowing for the Son of God to be born of you. I’ve found that the half-way point between day and night is an optimum point for mediation as it blends the female and male energies within us. In a similar level, so is Passover but it is like a big cosmic boost.

What does the word Passover trigger in you? Does it invoke fear? To me, it trigger Joy – a celebratory time for passing over into LIFE!

So celebrate your Easter eggs and your lent just like they did for ol’ Tammuz and the various sun gods across the planet. More power to you and those that you love, but why not celebrate Passover while you are at it and maybe one day, instead!

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This below was posted in the forum as “Thankful for this site”. It is always interesting how things and prayers get answered in the external world. I was about a day or two from pulling the plug on this site. I figured no one was here anymore, and it wasn’t helping anyone so what’s the point other than me tooting my own horn. Well as usual, something came in right at perfect timing not only for me in my marriage quest, but for this site to continue operations. I need to do a LOT of clean up. I’ve meandered all over the road as I have sought out TRUTH. I think I have gathered enough data to start pulling together everything I have learned into some more robust concepts. Something told me to “write it down” as I began this journey. I don’t know where it is headed still, but as long as it is helping I’m keepin on keeping on.

Here is the post – and thank you – Wurdman, for granting permission to place here:

It has been two years since our marriage of 10 years, fell apart, and I am happy to say that through much hard work, counseling, reading helpful books, talking with friends and family and websites such as this one, we have pulled our relationship and our family (two children), back together. Two separate times we were looking for apartments for her to move out. I was adamant that I was not leaving, that I was staying with the children, and if she was unhappy, she could leave to find whatever it was she needed. We did not fight much or loudly when we did, but I will tell you that at the worst of it, I could never imagine that I would be intimate with my wife again, or that she would ever reach for me, caress me and tell me she loved me as she had before. Last night she did!

At the center of the whole thing, was her finding a sense of self, of having a voice that was of an equal in our relationship, of living a life with a man whom she no longer respected. I had to demand an end to her philandering and lying behavior, (she never cheated physically), I had to take stock of myself, look at myself honestly and see myself the way she was seeing me, and seek to change some things about myself and focus on areas that could lead to a better me, one for whom she would again feel love and respect. We went to counseling, individual and couples. We held together and worked it through and are still working it through, but the sinking feeling of gut wrenching sadness is gone and we are working together to build a future for ourselves and our boys. I think the most important aspect, though, was my not giving up and throwing in the towel and just letting her go. Had we not had kids I might not have done the same thing. At one critical moment, as we were considering a separation, I went to hug her in the kitchen, then one of the boys came in and joined us, and then the other, and we had a group hug right there. At that very moment it dawned on me that I didn’t have to do anything, no matter what all the experts and friends and books suggested, that I didn’t have to make a decision until I was ready. I told her just that, that we don’t have to do anything. I think that showed her that I was in this to stay, that I was not giving up on her, on me, or our family. From that moment we took a huge step towards each other.

This is a very short recap of a two year journey that when it began, felt like treading in quicksand. In the future I’d be happy to go into more detail and give some specific examples of things that took place, they all are definitely not necessarily positive! I hope this can help someone out there that is dealing with a troubled relationship, give you hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel I know this site and it’s information were vital to my coping with the situation.

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This morning I had a dream about the wife and I and a girl I had a crush on in high-school before my wife came along.

We were at some dance hall in the town where I live and a number of my friends were there. My wife didn’t want to dance, so I had thought about asking some other girls to dance. I then asked the girl who I had a crush on in high-school against the advice of one of my spiritual mentors. She commented – well I want to dance, but aren’t you all into conspiracy theories about the pope or something?

I told her Nah, but I am into spiritual things that very few in this world would understand so I don’t talk about it much. She felt comfortable with that. I escorted her out of the building and she went home to see her folks. Then as I was leaving I went to go talk with my wife. She still wasn’t interested in dancing so I figured I would head home from the dance.

I got in my car and was driving home, in my present town. Then the dream took a rapid twist. All of a sudden – out of nowhere, I was driving my car (the one I really drive in reality) as though I had just awoken from a bad dream.

Allow me to repeat this in a manner where it is Crystal Clear. People sometimes talk about having really vivid dreams, indeed I have before in some of my past posts; however, this thing was so REAL that I thought I was really driving my car and had fallen asleep at the wheel. There was all the sensations one would have in life. Touch – the grip of the steering wheel, I could feel the brakes of my car vibrate as I applied the brake, I could feel the vibration of the road and the smell of the grass and my car.

It was as though I had fallen asleep at the wheel and had this whole dancing dream.

My right wheels were bumping against those little notched on highways designed to wake you up when you fall asleep and one wheel was in the grass. I knew that if I turned suddenly the car would likely flip. Same thing for the brakes due to the incline of the ditch. I saw an oncoming car and a car situated on the notches and was headed for both fast. I gently applied the brake, but it wasn’t going to be enough. The car winds up crashing sideways – rather gently – into a barbed wire fence. I’m alive.

Then I wake up into the reality that I am writing from now.

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