Thank you to Kevin Collins posting this picture and article online October 21, 2021
“I didn’t arrive at my understanding of the fundamental laws of the universe through my rational mind.”
“Concerning matter, we have been all wrong. What we have called matter is energy, whose vibration has been so lowered as to be perceptible to the senses. Matter is spirit reduced to point of visibility. There is no matter.”
“Time and space are not conditions in which we live, but modes by which we think.
Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind, and are not, however it may seem, determined by the external world.”
“Time does not exist – we invented it. Time is what the clock says. The distinction between the past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.”
“I think 99 times and find nothing. I stop thinking, swim in silence, and the truth comes to me.”
“The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, the solution comes to you and you don’t know how or why.”
“A human being experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
“Our separation from each other is an optical illusion.”
“When something vibrates, the electrons of the entire universe resonate with it. Everything is connected. The greatest tragedy of human existence is the illusion of separateness.”
“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”
“We are souls dressed up in sacred biochemical garments and our bodies are the instruments through which our souls play their music.”
“When you examine the lives of the most influential people who have ever walked among us, you discover one thread that winds through them all. They have been aligned first with their spiritual nature and only then with their physical selves.”
“The true value of a human being can be found in the degree to which he has attained liberation from the self.”
“The ancients knew something, which we seem to have forgotten.”
“The more I learn of physics, the more I am drawn to metaphysics.”
“One thing I have learned in a long life: that all our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike. We still do not know one thousandth of one percent of what nature has revealed to us. It is entirely possible that behind the perception of our senses, worlds are hidden of which we are unaware.”
“I’m not an atheist. The problem involved is too vast for our limited minds. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many languages. The child knows someone must have written those books.”
“The common idea that I am an atheist is based on a big mistake. Anyone who interprets my scientific theories this way, did not understand them.”
“Everything is determined, every beginning and ending, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect, as well as for the star. Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper.”
“The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It will transcend a personal God and avoid dogma and theology.”
“Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be changed from one form to another.”
“Everything is energy and that is all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you can not help but get that reality. It can be no other way. This is not philosophy. This is physics.”
“I am happy because I want nothing from anyone. I do not care about money. Decorations, titles or distinctions mean nothing to me. I do not crave praise. I claim credit for nothing. A happy man is too satisfied with the present to dwell too much on the future.”
Human experience teaches us that there is truth to be found in all of these dissections of Universal Life Energy. Not only one interpretation of comprehension understands them all. Obviously, not all of the hundreds of religions are represented in the limited beliefs pictured above. Fear is often used as a manipulation technique to keep believers in line. Do not fall for this manipulation gimmick. Never give your free will to any person, place, or thing – not even to a religion, nor political party that usurps your free will thinking. You have a right to your own mind. No club nor affiliation has the right to rob you of your free will. Your eternal Soul is part of your spiritual DNA. The Light WITHIN you is the Universal Light of Life, which does not belong to any one religion or guru. Jesus told us this in Luke 17:20-21. Being forced to hand over your personal power and what you believe to any religious, political, or any other person or group is a dead give-away belonging to cults, all of which say they are not a cult.
When was the last time you assessed your faith, what you believe in?
Who tells you what to believe?
Were you indoctrinated into your present belief system?
Are you being told that there is a life and death penalty for not believing what others tell you to believe?
Are you aware that others telling you what you may not read is mind control?
Are you aware that being told what you are to believe is mind manipulation?
Is your physical body being threatened by fear of eternal punishment?
Is your eternal soul being threatened by some other mortal human being?
Do you always think others know more about matters of faith than you?
Have you dared to step out of the role of popular brands of religion?
Have other communities of faith ostracized you for not believing what they decree?
Have any of your family members shunned you for not going along with their limited religious viewpoints?
Are you free to read books for deeper understanding in matters of faith?
Are you banned from reading books other than approved reading lists mandated by others?
How are you supposed to learn if you are not allowed to explore with your own research?
How old are you?
Are you aware that Jesus spoke many more words that are found in what others term apocryphal, or censored books?
Have you read all of the words of Jesus included in the Nag Hammadi Scriptures?
You may be aware of the 12 early years of Jesus and his last 3 years, for a total of 15 years recorded in most Bibles, but are you aware of the other 18 years of the life of Jesus?
Are you aware that there are 63 written accounts of Jesus in the monasteries in India and Tibet which are reported to be in the Vatican Library, that tell of the missing 18 years of the life of Jesus?
Have you read any of The Nag Hammadi Scriptures? They include:
The Prayer of the Apostle Paul
The Secret Book of James
The Gospel of Truth
The Treatise on Resurrection
Tripartite Tractate
The Secret Book of John
The Gospel of Thomas with The Greek Gospel of Thomas
The Gospel of Philip
The Nature of the Rulers
On The Origin of the World
Exegesis of the Soul
The Book of Thomas
The Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit
Eugnostos The Blessed
The Wisdom of Jesus Christ
The Dialogue of the Savior
The Revelation of Paul
The First Revelation of James
The Second Revelation of James
The Revelation of Adam
The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles
Thunder
Authoritative Discourse
The Concept of Our Great Power
Excerpt From Plato’s Republic
The Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth
The Prayer of Thanksgiving
Excerpt From The Perfect Discourse
The Paraphrase of Shem
The Second Great Discourse of Great Seth
The Revelation of Peter
The teachings of Silvanus
The Three Steles of Seth
Zostrianos
The Letter of Peter to Philip
Melchizedek
The Thought of Norea
The Testimony of Truth
Marsanes
The Interpretation of Knowledge
Valentinian Exposition with Valentinian Liturgical Readings
Allogenes The Stranger
Hypsiphrone
The Sentences of Sextus
Three Forms of First Thought
The Gospel of Mary with The Greek Gospel of Mary
The Act of Peter
The Gospel of Judas
The Book of Allogenes
Epilogue: Schools of Thought in the Nag Hammadi Scriptures
Thomas Christianity
The Sethian School of Gnostic Thought
The Valentinian School of Gnostic Thought
Hermetic Religion
Are you aware that all of the above books were considered Sacred Scripture prior to 364 AD?
Are you aware that all Protestant Bibles are STILL under the banner of Rome, because the above-mentioned books were decided by the Catholic Bishops of Rome, AND THE EMPEROR?
Are you aware that women priests were banned by a new law that stated that women could not shower with men prior to holding the sacred services and that they could not approach the alter, 364 years after Jesus said that they could?
Are you aware that human men altered the words of the Bible to say what they wanted it to say, adding that “God” made them do it?
If you haven’t read these thought-provoking books, why have you not read them yet?
Are you aware that Jesus referred to the Books of Enoch over 100 times in the New Testament?
If Jesus referred to the Books of Enoch, don’t you think you should read them also?
Have you read the Books of Enoch? They include:
The Books of Enoch ~ The Angels, The Watchers an The Nephilim (With Extensive Commentary on the Three Books of Enoch, the Fallen Angels, the Calendar of Enoch, and Daniel’s Prophecy) including:
The First Book of Enoch (The Ethiopic Book of Enoch)
The Second Book of Enoch (The Slavonic Secrets of Enoch)
The Third Book of Enoch (The Hebrew Book of Enoch)
The Book of Fallen Angels, The Watchers, and the Origins of Evil: With Expanded Commentary on Enoch, Angels, Prophecies and Calendars in the Sacred Texts
Are you aware that the Books of Enoch explain why evil is on the Earth?
While some people are aware of the Archangels, Guardian Angels, and other good angels influencing humanity for the greater good, are you aware of the root cause of evil in the world, in your life experience, and influencing you to think, do, and say other than good?
These are food-for-thought questions for your meditation and/or contemplation. Also consider the following 14 markers of cults.
People’s Magazine sponsored a television show in 2019 on the cult, Word of Faith Fellowship, (under the disguise of religion) which oddly enough is attracting modern day men, women and children into its criminally abusive practices, in my opinion, since I believe whacking any man, woman or child for 14 hours straight with an 18-inch wooden mallet without reprieve while simultaneously screaming at them, and/or withholding food from the apparent victim is criminal. This cult is one of many popping up these days. While this show revealed the aspects of cults to watch out for, the guidelines to follow in order to get out of any cult are the same for political cult followers as it is for religious cult followers. Both are unhealthy.
People’s Magazine sponsored a television show in 2019 on the cult, Word of Faith Fellowship, (under the disguise of religion) which oddly enough is attracting modern day men, women and children into its criminally abusive practices, in my opinion, since I believe whacking any man, woman or child for 14 hours straight with an 18-inch wooden mallet without reprieve while simultaneously screaming at them, and/or withholding food from the apparent victim is criminal. This cult is one of many popping up these days. While this show revealed the aspects of cults to watch out for, the guidelines to follow in order to get out of any cult are the same for political cult followers as it is for religious cult followers. Both are unhealthy.
Whether you have been involved with this or any other cult-like religious or political group, reclaim your mental, physical and spiritual self as soon as possible. Fear of being abused in any or all of these forms is not the path to the loving God, nor a democratic government. Fear of being abused is a faulty human-manipulation-tactic used as political-social-structural, social-psychological, inter-behavior patterns to get you to submit your will to the misguided will of the cult group, in this case, the political cult group.
Fear is the ultimate weapon cults use.
You were never intended to become a slave to someone else’s idea of how to know and/or follow a political leader. A political cult leader, nor any religious cult minister, is not more worthy of being human than you. They do not know more than you about the noble qualities you want instilled in your political leaders despite what their forceful words erroneously imply. One day in the presence of political or religious cult leaders of any title they use to inflate their own self-worth, is enough to shine a light on the soon to erupt volcano of emotional, physical and spiritual harm they eventually unleash.
Physical abuses can be seen. But the seemingly invisible mental abuses political and religious cult leaders inflict on their unsuspecting subjects is not God-inspired nor politically productive for a democratic nation, nor any healthy congregation of believers. Political and religious cult leaders cling to an un-holy god of deception, by the use of manipulation, fear, obligation and guilt, otherwise known as FOG.
Listen to that inner voice inside yourself, your conscience, and realize you are right to escape the cult. Political and religious cults are evil personified, no matter what they say to the opposite. Cults are heavy into guilt motivation, but that does not make them right. You already know this.
What political and religious cult leaders do know is how to exert concerted effort to influence, bully, control, manipulate, exploit, and in the worst cases to abuse your body, mind and spirit in their unholy aim. This is abuse. This is mental abuse. This is physical abuse. This is spiritual abuse.
ESCAPE FROM THESE ABUSERS AS SOON AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE.
Abuse in all these forms is criminal and must not be tolerated by any human being on earth.
14 MARKERS OF CULTS:
The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader, and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.
Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.
Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, or debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).
The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (e.g., members must get permission to date, change jobs, or marry or leaders prescribe what to wear, where to live, whether to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).
The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s), and its members (e.g., the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).
The group has a polarized, us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society.
The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders, or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).
The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (e.g., lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).
The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt in order to influence and control members. Often this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.
Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.
The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.
The group is preoccupied with making money.
Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.
Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.” Taken from the online article Characteristics of Cults,” by Janna Lalich and Michael Pantone.
“The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave — or even consider leaving — the group,” say Janja Lalich and Michael Langone in their online article Characteristics of Cults.
Excerpts are from the book, Take Back Your Life: Recovering From Cults and Abusive Relationships by Janja Lalich and Madeline Tobias at Bay Tree Publishing.
Stand up for your God-given gift of free will. Use your free will to get out. Use your free will to vote. No one owns the rights to your mind, your voice or your life. Your life, body, mind and soul belong to you.
God loves you. God forgives you. You are a child of God here on earth. Only you can live your life. Only you can vote your conscience. If you have given over the rights to your mind, body or spirit to other religious or political groups, or any other group claiming rights over you, use your free will to walk away. Those are not your friends. Neither your political affiliation nor your friends can usurp your God-given rights.
CultAntidote: Never hand over your personal power or relinquish your free will to any person, place or thing at any time for any reason, ever.
The biggest crisis on the planet presently is a lack of empathy in the winds of injustice. The
Not Again!
title of this post is worth repeating in the body of this post. It is true wherever selfishness, greed and power are eroneously considered to be the “bottom line” of any kind of “success.” Lack of empathy also rears its ugly head during political times of suppression of the voices and actions of the people under fascist* mentalities and powers. It taps into the “us” and “them” mentality. *Keep in mind that fascist means the extreme right agendas politically, not the far left as some are mistakenly pontificating. Fascism is a form of far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalism, characterized by dictatorial power and forcible oppression of opposition.
Any time we as a human race classify people by our differences, we show our ignorance and our prejudices against one another.
The common denominator of all human beings, regardless of race, color, creed, gender, age, ability and/or disability, is the fact that we all have an eternal Soul. This is not a matter of religous belief. If an agnostic or athiest does not believe this, it will not matter if she or he did not believe this when her or his soul goes back to the Source of All Life, because she or he will be truly physically dead. It is merely a fact of life.
The good news is that God, the Immortal, Intelligent Source of All Life, believes in you and me. This Intelligent Source wishes to experience all of life in and through you, me, and in animate and inanimate creation through the Big Bang, as some minds like to express our origin. God’s (Energy’s, Sources’s) Spark of Life. It is in all living things, including the earth, universe, galaxy and cosmos as part of the infinitely larger expansion of this creation.
The Source of All Life is experiencing in and through you and me. Bishop George Rueger used to tell me that our hands are the only physical hands God has to work with on this earth. This is a true statement. It is the Living-God Essence of our Souls that animates our hands, through the faculty of our hearts and minds. We have free will. We do not have to do anything that is inspired by our minds or hearts. We have the ability to go against the inspiration for empathy and compassion for others. We can choose for ourselves today, for example, to only think about, do and say things that will only benefit us, and no one else.
It is up to each one of us what you and I decide to do with this precious gift of Divine Animation, which is our Soul, the life-force animating our body. Our lives are not scripted. Each of us has unique challenges and situations particular to us to navigate through. Some of us see the bigger picture, which includes more than making decisions that affect only ourselves. But for others of us, they can only see themselves. For this last group, they can only make decisions based solely on how if affects them personally (selfishly), financially (greedily), and in how much power they can gain.
Entire groups of people within families and neighborhoods, as well as individual countries also make decisions based on the foundation of a sand castle of selfishness, greed and power. Selfishness, greed and addiction to power is never sustainable in the long run, which history proves. It is a tough learning curve when it all falls apart. Some of us only learn through experience. Some of us have to personally go through things as opposed to listening to the experience of others.
Thoughts are living entities. The more we energize thoughts with feelings, the more they become reality. We can see certain thought patterns begin and grow until them become a fire upon the earth, fanned by the flames of ignorance, selfishness, greed and power. Whatever we focus on GROWS.
We do not all have to go along with the crowd, as we tell our children not to do. But as adults, we do not always take our own medicine. We forget, or were never taught to stand up in our own personal power. We can forget our voice when we do not agree, even forgetting that silence is agreement. Following the corruption of the selfish, greedy, power hungry leaders has happened in every country on earth since the beginning of time. There are prices to be paid for not going along with the crowd.
For some of us, the learning curve is to observe and grow out of the self-serving mentality that makes some people rich while simultaneously impoverishing those around them. We learn by our experiences. When we are willfully blind because of some self-serving gain, do we really believe we are fooling ourselves? That would only prove to show how very selfish we truly are.
The price to be paid for standing up for justice against inequality can be high because once selfishness, greed and power have taken root, it will stop at nothing until the ultimate sacrifice of others, and of their own malformed goals is achieved, or a change in the winds of inequity and injustice change. There are things you and I can do to construct positive change in these winds of the world. Things never remain the same for long.
The thing to remember is that this is not just a physical world with only physical considerations to ponder. Even those at the top of the fear-based selfish, greed and power game of reality have Souls. So do you and I. You and I have the dynamic force of prayer, meditation, uniting our individual Souls with the Source of all Souls, which is the Holy Spirit, God-Source of of All is. God, or Source (just a matter of semantics), cannot be disected. The ultimate power of God, is greater than any other humanly contrived power born out of selfishness, greed and earthly power.
The root of all selfishness and greed is fear, fear of lack, fear of others, fear of failure, fear, fear, fear. The hoarding of money, material goods, food, power, and anything else we can contrive to hoard in all its earthly forms, are all rooted in fear.
You and I can move mountains. Jesus said we will do ever greater things than he did. He knew the Surce of his Soul. The winds of injustice only continue to blow until we decide to use our free will to change the winds to bend towards justice, honor, integrity, and honesty.
If we have been shown empathy and compassion in our lives, it would seem we would be more apt to be empathetic and compassionate with others. If we have come from a place of lack in our lives, one would think we would be quick to show empathy and compassion to others. Often this is the case, but many times, depending on the advancement or stilted growth of our Souls, or the deep-rooted fear clinged to, it is not.
We have a decision to make at this point in our history, at this point in our country, at this point in our neighborhoods, at this point in our families, and at this point within ourselves. Let us choose to act on the impetus of our God-Shared Souls to decide to act in the Loving inclinations of our Souls, to welcome the homeless, feed the poor, and treat each other by the tenets of the Golden Rule. Jesus taught us to treat each other as we wish to be treated. That is a great place to start.
If we decide to live by the Golden Rule and consider other people and not just ourselves, we can do a better job at not getting other people sick by wearing masks during the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, by just laws that benefit all its citizens, not just the top wealth earners, and by a host of other positive realities we have yet to manifest by our thoughts and intentions.
How balanced is your life? Are you balanced between home, work, school, relationships and everything else? What are the signs to watch out for that you are out of balance? How do we get back into balance in our minds, bodies and spirits?
Picture a seesaw with one side up, the other side down and the fulcrum, that balance point between the two in the
Lever with globe of Earth and small ball. simple machines by Archimedes. lever is a machine consisting of a beam or rigid rod pivoted at a fixed hinge or fulcrum.
middle. Jesus Christ is the fulcrum of all of our lives. We choose whether to live with Him in our lives, or without Him; or with or without God His Father in our lives. The same goes for the Holy Spirit, the love of the Father and Son. We choose each day whether or not to include this Love on our lives. Without God in our lives, we are out of balance. We can remedy this situation.
We go out of balance each and every time God the Father, Jesus His Son, and Love of the Holy Spirit is not at the center of our lives. If we say we do not believe in God, or think there is no God, or God did not send Jesus to be our Lord and Savior, or think of Jesus as just another ascended master, we are ignorant of the reality that God in fact did just that.
Jesus Christ, Son of God Almighty, is the balance point in all of our lives, our true fulcrum. Each of us decides when enough is enough in our day-to-day living by the use of our God-given free will. The determining factor of who we are, what we believe, and what we will allow into our lives is all up to us in this life. But there is an unnecessary problem we create for ourselves when we exclude Jesus Christ, who came to earth to show us how to live in this world, presently ruined and ruled by Satan.
Think of this for a moment. After His baptism, Jesus was led out into the desert wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tempted there by Satan. For forty days and nights Jesus fasted. Then Satan tempted Him to get food by changing stones into loaves of bread.
Jesus answers, “No! For the Scriptures tell us that bread won’t feed men’s souls; obedience to the word of God is what we need.”
Then Satan took Jesus to Jerusalem to the roof of the Temple, and said, “Jump off and prove you are the Son of God …”
Jesus responds, “It also says not to put God to a foolish test.”
Lastly, Satan took Jesus to the peak of a very high mountain, and showed Him all the nations of the world and all their glory, and said to Him, “I’ll give it all to you, if you will only kneel and worship me.”
How could this last test of Jesus been a real temptation if Satan were not the real ruler of this world?
Would the temptation of Jesus in the desert after His baptism really have been a temptation if Satan were not the present ruler of this world? (Remember Satan and one-third of the angels in heaven were cast out of heaven and sent to earth. These are the fallen angels of old still with us today.) Jesus goes into the desert where Satan tempts Him that if Jesus would bow down before him, Satan would give him all the kingdoms of the earth.
Ironically, God the Father gifted Jesus His Son , to be king of the kingdom to come, after the demise and judgment of this world. The Father promises us a new heaven and a new earth in the Book of Revelation, with Jesus Christ as judge and king. Jesus is already sitting at the right hand of God. Every day we can choose to be included in this new kingdom to come by how we live each day of our lives right now. Presently we still have time to use our God-given free will to choose virtue over sin, or good over bad.
Jesus Christ, Son of God, remained faithful amid great temptations. How hungry are you and I after only missing a meal or a day or two of no food? Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights. He was most certainly at the point of starving, and still chose to do God’s will, not his own.
We get that same choice to make each and every day. Who’s will do we follow?
Sometimes we act as though we are not in charge of ourselves, or our government or situations like global warming or world peace. But everything we think, do and say show us if we are in, or out of balance, and what principles are important to us.
All of us in every country in the world, are at a tipping point of more people choosing bad over good, evil over good, or sin over virtue, not only in our own lives, but in the world at large. We can change this if we want to, but nothing will change unless we consciously decide to choose more good over bad, good over evil, or virtue over sin.
If money is the bottom line, as most people say these days as to what they determine to be the most important reason for decisions made, then humanity is doomed to fail, cities and states are doomed to fail, and the ecological health of the world will fail. In all cases, we can have all the money in the world and die of a disease; Flint, Michigan can have the biggest bank account to save money but unless money is spent to fix drinkable water there, the drinking water will remain toxic; and the world’s economy matters little when global warming is completed and the earth is no more.
There are many factors that affect our decisions, like greed, envy, sloth (laziness), lust, wrath (anger), gluttony and pride. We know these seven pitfalls as the seven deadly sins because they hurt us individually as well as collectively. Each of these negative, bad traits, which are sin, has a positive or good remedy, which is virtue.
Rather than be motivated by greed, we can think, speak and act generously. Perhaps money is not the bottom line after all.
Instead of envy we can practice genuine love.
To improve on sloth (laziness) we can take vitamins and invigorate our dreams, renew our goals, and begin yet again.
To combat the addiction to lust we can welcome purity and modesty in our thoughts, words and actions.
Addressing wrath and uncontrolled anger, a bad habit and often an addiction, requires taking a few deep breaths and allowing understanding, listening to others, improving communication and peaceful solutions to be possible. We may feel justified in our wrathful, renegade emotions, but unless we deal with them with integrity we may have regrets as time goes by.
The solution to gluttony is moderation in food and drink, or any other addiction we are over-indulging in.
Finally, the answer for pride is humility. Being proud of our accomplishments at a job well done is not a bad thing. The problem with pride arises when we go overboard, becoming vain, arrogant and haughty. We do not even like ourselves when we don this puffed up attitude, if we are being perfectly honest.
As strong as the negative traits, more accurately known as sins are, the positive virtues can become just as strong or stronger. It is simply a matter of focusing on good over bad, choosing good over evil, which means choosing virtue over sin. Practicing these seven virtues is one way we can make good shine in our lives.
Modern day thinkers would like us all to believe that there is no sin any more, that negative traits are merely mental, emotional and/or psychological shortcomings when in fact they are sins; calling sins “negative traits’ keeps us from addressing sins head on, complete with admission of fault, followed by forgiveness and mental, emotional and psychological relief.
What is wrong with the world starts with you and me, and the priorities we live by. You and I are each responsible for the conditions in our lives, our neighborhoods, cities and states, and in all countries in the world. Each day you and I get to decide for good, or for bad; for virtue or for sin. We each decide on this very day whether we will choose good over evil, evil over good or virtue over sin, or sin over virtue. We can build ourselves up or we can tear ourselves down. Likewise, we can tear our neighbors down or build them up; like tearing down or building up policies and actions that benefit the entire world.
Why does this matter?
It matters to you as an individual person to mature in integrity and honesty. It matters in order to create the neighborhoods we want to live in. It matters to stand up for the scientific facts that tell of how to fix broken systems in the world. Integrity and truth matter. It is not necessary to kill each other to make this happen. God the Father is Creator of it all.
Thinking of our failings only as bad habits or negative traits keeps us is a downward cycle of “that is just how I am.” But acknowledging our failures as sins, something we can repent and be forgiven for, gives us hope. We can make amends and repair the broken bridges we have broken in our relationships. Try as we might, we will sin before the night is through in our thoughts, words and actions today. We are not perfect. But we keep trying. God the Father will always forgive us, through the Love of Jesus our Savior, and the Love of the Holy Spirit. These are the gifts promised to us by Jesus. Each day we have this hope. There is always hope.
Isn’t it our own business how we live our lives?
Yes, it matters. Yes, it is our own business. The point is that we look at the world, then point fingers at what is wrong with it, when you and I are the snowball that started it all. There are things we can do to fix the problems of personal and global greed, envy, sloth (laziness), lust, wrath (anger), gluttony and pride, as mentioned above. We must start with ourselves if we want our countries to be better, for the sake of the world.
We have to start with the beginning of the problem, not just the middle or end of the problem.
Things never stay the same. Change is the only constant in life. Choosing good over bad, good over evil, or virtue over sin, however you look at it, will create a healthier, kinder, more humane world in which we all can live and thrive. This also creates a new beginning in our relationship with God, which might need our attention at this very moment.
Start right where you are.
Are you in government? Then make the most honest, best decisions you can for the life of all the people under your jurisdiction, and for the life of the planet, not just self interest. Otherwise, you can be the fulcrum that tips towards destruction not only of you personally, but the entire earth. We are very near tipping towards the point of no return. Presently this is possible to fix. Try to be part of the solution, not exacerbating the problem. Things never stay the same. You can be the instrument to save the world as opposed to demolishing it. Ask for God’s help, through the intercession of Jesus Christ, with all the Love the Holy Spirit has to give.
The same goes for the financial crisis erupting in all countries across the globe, and all other matters of importance. Remember this when things get so complicated we cannot see the forest for the trees, think PEOPLE BEFORE THINGS. To have balance, prioritize people by helping where and when you can over taking care of things. Financial matters are things. Things matter, but people matter more. Money is not always the answer for problems people have. Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.
Yes, it all matters. You matter.
Do not forget to include God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son and the Love of the Holy Spirit in all your decisions for the best results possible.
All people matter, not only the rich, the top one percent of the wealthiest among us; not only the milky white people, but all people represented by the 203 countries including territories and protectorates of the United States of America, most of which are not milky white. God the Father, Creator of heaven and earth, created Jesus His Son as His first Creation before any and everything else, in which Jesus helped to Create every other Creation known to us. We were all Created in Love, and with free will.
We live in a global society. Our friends and families live all over the world. The planes we fly land in most all countries in this one world we share.
We are one race, the human race, here on this planet.
Education matters. Are you in education? Encourage your students/children with critical thinking skills in order that they include compassion and common sense as a problem solving process they can work with, including not mindlessly following the mistakes of some of the prejudiced generations before them. Show them by example how we all can be better people. Pray again. Pray through Jesus Christ, in the Love of the Holy Spirit, to the Father of All Creation, for the minds of all of humanity to continue to grow and learn as we were intended to grow and learn.
Educators, how do you handle bullying, hungry students, students at risk, students compromised in a wide variety of situations, and students standing up for themselves? Education is a priority in every person, family, neighborhood, state and country for the success of the world. Teachers are the shining light, the good that can help so many students in need of empathy, compassion, and understanding to be better citizens of the world. Never stop praying, through the intercession of Jesus Christ, who Himself endured numerous injustices and bullying in this world.
However we think of it, and whatever we think about, we bring about. Let’s make the world a beautiful place to live, within ourselves, with our families and friends, neighborhoods, states, countries and the entire world. Let us include God our heavenly Father, Jesus Christ His Son and our brother, and the Love of the Holy Spirit in our greater families since that is truly what we are, one global family.
UNIVERSAL WISDOM ENLIGHTENMENT™ LLC 