A Problem Avoided is a Problem Resolved

The above aphorism is a good approach to living a stress reduced life. Good for your overall health, and good for society at large. Why do I say this? Today, we Americans live our lives as if we were in a perpetual competition with each other. In war, the army that gets there first and secures the high ground, will likely win the battle. Think Fredericksburg for the Confederates and Gettysburg for the Union. In NASCAR races, the winner has to literally blast his way around everybody else, and do so despite the desire of each other driver to prevent him from doing so. The best jobs, the best seats, the best salary, and the best life require that we make certain the competition is left in our rear view mirror. In short, our lives are spent on the NASCAR track, and each moment is critical to our success. But does this attitude, and it is an attitude more than anything else, work. I submit that it does not. Look at our economy as it exists today. It is a shadow of what it used to be in the years following World War II. It is no coincidence that our best days followed the five years where we all sacrificed for each other, and rewarded that sacrifice. Every veteran of the war received a free college education. I know because I was one of them. There were ten million or so of us that got that privilege. Jobs were plentiful, and nobody was on the dole except for those who failed to take advantage of all of the opportunities that lay before them. Everybody that is except for certain minorities that had to fight for their position in society in the 50's and 60's. Most of our civil rights legislation was passed during that period. Imagine trying to pass it now with our present attitude towards each other. Somewhere along the way we lost our focus. We sent our jobs overseas rather than pay a union wage. We closed factories rather than pay taxes that would keep us strong. We shipped our money to banks in the third world who were willing to hide it from the tax agent. All designed to give us some advantage over our neighbor that we thought would help us. Today we are rapidly downsizing to a third world country, while the third world is up sizing to become what we were. Does that make any sense? If it does, you need to rethink your attitude toward your fellow man. If we want to keep our position as a free and financially sound community, there is only one way to do it. We must help one another thrive. To do that is not difficult. All we have to do is go back to what got us here in the first place. If we all begin again to look at one another, not as competition, but rather as fellow Americans, and by this means agree to help one another along the way, we will once again be unstoppable. The only way in which we can be defeated, is to continue to act as we are acting now. Getting back to the aphorism. Instead of sticking it to your neighbor, and thumbing your nose at him, give him a lift. He will do the same, and when you need it, it will be there. Is this Pollyanna thinking? Probably, but are we currently on the right track? Tomorrow's problems can be avoided. Lets get busy and do it. It is never too late.

We are Alive Right Now and That's All that Matters

Recently, we were regaled by a religious organization announcing the end of the world on May 21, 2011. Like all such prophecies, it ended up with a large Thunk. We can learn from it. The end of days is not a proper concern. It is today that matters. Why? Because today is all that we have and all that we will ever have. Jesus told us that the Kingdom of Heaven lies within us. What does that mean? Are we not the species that killed 50 million people in World War II, including 6 million Jews, and the inhabitants of Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Yes, but we are more than that. Right now, as I write these words, thousands of volunteers are working in the tornado zone, repairing houses, and cleaning up streets. They are only being paid in the currency of love and affection from those afflicted by these storms. These actions, however meritorious, are not enough to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Before that can happen, we must surrender to God. Is that the same as being "born again." Sadly, the answer is no. The folks who tout the concept of "born again" are looking for an easy out. Jesus will come and save them from their folly. They fail to note that Jesus has never left. He has been here since he died on Golgotha, working with us to learn a simple truth. If we look to somebody outside of ourselves, we will fail. If we look inside ourselves and learn to find God within us, we will succeed. I haven't heard Jesus say this, you suggest. If so, you have not looked at the "Course in Miracles." Type those three words in Google, and you can change your life forever. The options are many, and those looking for them are few. We fill our churches with people looking for Jesus to do it for them. Let us fill up our homes with people studying the Course in Miracles, and we can transform the world. PRAISE GOD!

Learning to Surrender to God

This will be my first post on this subject. There will be more as time goes by. Why is the subject important? If you read the book by Whitley Strieber, "The Key," you will know its importance. The Gnostic has embarked on a search for God with the ultimate goal of joining with God in the hereafter after gnosis is fully realized. In the book, the idea of surrendering to God is emphasized. I recommend that you purchase the book and read it several times. The book will give you a new and fresh take on this process. Where do we start in learning how to surrender to God? I believe that the starting point is easy to identify. The first step is to learn to stop conning ourselves. The process is entirely up to us. Jesus is not coming on May 21, 2011 to rapture up the believers. He is not coming on any other date for that purpose. Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven lays within us. That is where we need to search. As a species we have done a poor job of controlling ourselves. Look and Libya and Syria and you will see how extreme our problems are. No nation, however, is without problems. In the U.S.A. we have plenty of people who do not see the need to deal with global warming. The extreme weather that we are now seeing is making no impression upon the thought processes of these folks. If God is going to kick us in the backside to wake us up, what better way to do so. Why is He not being heard? I suggest an exercise for anyone interesting in preparing himself or herself as suggested in "The Key." Start reading the newspapers while we still have them. Particularly the Sunday editions. Read the news magazines. Watch the shows on TV that go deeply into particular subjects about the earth. There are hundreds of them and many are repeated constantly. Start realizing that as the book says, science and religion are the same thing. If you want an example of what doomsday looks like, travel to Joplin, Missouri. Finally, read Whitley Strieber. He has many books out, and he has the guts to tackle subjects that are considered to be beyond the pale. We can all learn from this important voice. Once you have stopped conning yourself, you can begin to see things for what they really are. As the old Chinese proverb says, a trip of a thousand miles commences with a single step. Are you ready to take that step? If you are, there is hope for the human race.

Hands Off Another Person's Religion

Recently I watched a special on CNN in which some folks in Tennessee attempted to prevent the construction of a mosque in their community. I can understand that people who are used to their religion a certain way would be bothered by a strange religion flourishing in their midst. I can understand the feelings of the people who watched the twin towers being destroyed by terrorists who happened to be the same religion. Having said this, I believe that there is a greater issue here that is being ignored. The issue is a simple one. We live in a world with hundreds if not thousands of religions and there are many who have no religion at all. All of these people are Children of God. All roads lead to God. Those who believe that their religion is preferred by God are wrong. Nobody understands God so fully that he or she can claim to know God's mind. No religion has the final answer no matter what the adherents of that religion might say or think about the matter. We know far more about the universe today than did the folks who founded the various religions of the world. That doesn't make them wrong. As I said, all roads lead to God, and no matter which road you travel upon, you will eventually end up in the Kingdom of God. As Christ said, it is within each of us. We need only seek it out. If the number of religions in the world is not staggering, think upon the fact that there are billions of planets like ours just in this Galaxy alone. There are billions of Galaxies besides ours. It is likely that each planet has the potential of life, and if so, the possible religions in the universe would be numberless from our perspective. Is God going to ignore them all and just concentrate on the religion of a small part of America. The Golden Rule guides us. You want others to respect your religion. Following the Golden Rule you should respect theirs. It is not only sensible, it is what God expects of us. Getting back to the theme of this posting. Keep your hands off of another man's religion, and expect him to do the same. Only by this means can we walk into the Kingdom of God, hand in hand, together.

A GNOSTIC LOOKS AT LIBYA

Why on earth would a gnostic find Libya a suitable subject? The answer may surprise you. Because the gnostic seeks God in metaphor rather than literally, any subject is suitable for interpretation. I submit, that Libya is a key argument for the proposition that politics and religion are obverse sides of the same coin. So far as I know, most if not all Libyans are Muslim. Americans should not gloat over Muslims killing Muslims. In our Civil War, more than a half million Americans died. Religion has not stopped human beings from killing one another for exclusively political reasons. While we empathize with the desire of the majority of the Libyan people to have a democratic government, we understand why Qaddafi is killing them to retain power. That is what despots have done in all of recorded history. When Julius Caesar was murdered, his adopted son, Octavian, waged a war against the faction that killed his father. The result was that the killers of Caesar ultimately lost their lives and their political power. At this point, you might ask where does religion fit in all of this. I wish that Pope John Paul II was still alive. He would have much to say on this subject and it would be worth listening to. This is what I think he would say. I think that he would start by suggesting that the base message of Jesus was freedom for all men. This freedom would be both political and religious. You cannot abridge one without abridging the other. I think that he would follow up this thought, by suggesting that Jesus showed us how to achieve this goal. It comes from the simple recognition that we are all children of God, no matter whether we believe in god, call God by another name, follow another religion, or attend church on Sunday morning. With this comes the ultimate connection to gnostic thought. The gnostic believes that you achieve union with God by learning to understand what God wants from us, and living your life accordingly. Jesus said the the "Kingdom of God" is within us all, and he went on to say that we are ignorant of this fact. He gave us several parables to assist us in the search. The "Good Samaritan" teaches us to regard our brothers, whoever they might be, as we regard ourselves. When we look closely at the people we hate or do not understand, our ignorance and hatred disappear. In another way of speaking, we are a "family of man." Every human being is our brother or sister. The "Prodigal Son" teaches us to forgive, even the sins that affect us the most. Only in forgiveness can we come together as a people. The parable about the wages given the workers teaches us that it is the result, and not the method of achieving that result that matters. The last person through the Gates of Heaven is just as important as the first person who enters. Finally, the statement about how hard it is to enter the Kingdom while retaining all of your riches should alert us to the fact that it is our heart and not our wealth that defines us. Pope John Paul II reached out to all men and all religions. He understood what Jesus wanted from us. He lived that principle in his own life.

With this in mind, it is not wrong to say that the struggle of the Libyan people for freedom is more important that our struggle to make up for our lost wealth in the current recession. As the Libyan People go, so go We. As John Donne so aptly put, "ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee." When we reach the end of our lives, our wealth falls away and goes to other people. Our hearts go with us to the next stage of our lives, and help to define us in the eyes of God.

In searching for freedom, we are all Gnostics.

The Welded Universe

Welders are the unsung heroes of our society. Whenever metal starts to fatigue or tear apart, the welder can put it back together again. Welded joints allow ships to go to sea, planes to fly, and automobiles to take us around town on our errands. To be a welder is a dangerous job. Welders work with high heat and under severe restraints such as under water or in space. However, welders have other tasks as well. One of the most important of these tasks is to keep the universe together so we can go on living. An example: You cut your finger and it bleeds. You place a band aid on the wound and wait. The welders go to work and soon only a scar remains where the rip in your skin occurred. You do nothing to prompt this other than to cover and protect the wound. If the wound is severe enough, the doctor must sew it together. Why? So the welder can do its work. Ideas can be welded together and often are. Let us take just one example. People from two major religions claim one country. Palestine is one example. Kosovo is another. Kashmir is a third. How can we resolve these problems? Most people recognize that in any peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, there must be a weld between the to parties. Perhaps a one party state as the Palestinians want or a two party state as the Israelis want. If the Palestinians have just one state, they will be in the majority and hence able to run the state or have a major voice in how it is run. With two state, Israel will run its state, and the Palestinians will run theirs. To secure an agreement either way, both parties will have to compromise. A compromise means that the welder can do its job. In order for people to live together successfully, the welder must be free to do just that. Its job. The more successful the welder is, the better our society will be. Having said this, the reader can see that compromise is not a dirty word as some politcos would have it in today's toxic atmosphere. Indeed, it is arguably one of the most important concepts we possess to prevent war, genocide, and economic destruction. I suggest that we place a new department in every college in the United States. The Welding Department.

Who is Minding the Store?

Human beings desire to have security in their lives. We pay millions of dollars annually to install various kinds of security systems to keep us safe. Who is it that we are afraid of? Ourselves, actually. Other human beings who want to steal from us, or worse. This is an intolerable situation. There is no reason why any human being, rich or poor, smart or dumb, socially capable or incapable, should attempt to take advantage of another human being. There is enough of everything to go around. So why do we do it? Did the Devil make us do it? If you are a fundamentalist of some kind, you may very well blame the Devil. The fact is that the root of evil is located in all of us. On TV it is easy to find shows that showcase the murders committed by those of us who simply do not care whether our neighbor lives or dies. If it suits his or her purpose, they will commit murder. Husbands killing their wives rather than go through a divorce is all too common. We might ask if God cares. I think he does, but I can't prove it. Too many people commit murder and get away with it. However, we have yet to establish what happens when we die. If you commit murder and fail to pay for it during your lifetime, are you subject to a penalty upon death? I suspect that you are. Why? In the Hermetic Code, the Greek God Hermes, known as Thoth in the Egyptian pantheon, says that "AS ABOVE SO BELOW." In short, the rules are the same in the after life as they are here on earth. You can run but you can't hide. People who think they are above the law should, in my opinion, think again. If you pass over to the next world upon death, so to does your victim, and even more importantly, so to does the Sheriff, the prosecutor, and the Judge. So who is minding the store? I believe that the answer is that we all do. We are not only responsible for our own lives, but those of our neighbor as well. THE GOLDEN RULE IS NOT OPTIONAL.