The way, the truth, the life

Looking back, behind me, I could see the Cross, glowing golden in the setting sun, radiant from this side of it.  On the other side, I could still see the others who knelt and wept at the foot of that enormous, rough-hewn, dark wooden bloodstained Roman cross, used for capital punishment. 

He was so much more than any of us thought.  He was a good man in every meaning of the word good. He was a rare man of courage and heart, possessed by a passion for the truth, and he would not be silenced.  The price he paid for his courage and passion was his life.  Yet, he knew and might even have smiled at the thought that the sting to the Romans would be that their plan to silence him would backfire, and backfire badly. Not even death would silence him, and that incredible courage has stood the test of time. 

I wondered why they were still there.  I thought they would see the path he left, lighted by his Truth that opened the door to eternity for us. Didn't they see it? Didn't they understand? And, why is it they are not also on that path, following his light, into an infinite rainbow of truth spiraling around, above and beneath us? 

"What trapped them there?" I wondered.  I wanted to run back and tell them, gather them together and lead them beyond the cross that stood darkly in front of them.

Slowly, I turned around.  I had to go back and tell them.  I couldn't let them just stay there, kneeling and weeping forever. I saw dark clouds of an approaching storm on the eastern horizon. "Quickly," I thought as I hurried back down the path. He had said it all.  I wondered why they didn't understand.  

As I emerged from behind the cross, some of them looked up at me with surprise through their tears.  Who did they expect to see?  He wasn't there and he wasn't going to return the way they thought.  He was operating on an entirely new dimension of ultimate reality. My compassion for them was all I had and I hoped that would be enough. I understood so well what brought them here and what they needed to understand to move on.

Some of the children ran to me, as their mothers chased after them. I sat down on the dry, hard ground.  The children asked me where I'd been and why I was there.

I asked them to get their parents because there was something they needed to hear.

The women and men slowly, one by one, came near and sat down.

I asked them, "What is your greatest fear?"

One man shouted "death," another shouted "rejection." On and on they all started calling out their fears.  They lived in so much fear that those fears had become familiar to them. No therapist was needed to help them get in touch with their feelings.

"So, what is rejection?"  I asked back.

"It says you're not good enough, you're not wanted, you're cast away.  It means ultimately that you are wrong, bad and should be left to die," the old man said.

"So, there are two thoughts here, and one of them is a lie," I said, adding, "and that lie makes the other a lie, also."

"Here's the truth. You are all worthy. You are all loved - so much more than you yourselves can love.  Your feelings of rejection are real feelings, but falsely based. You all feel rejected by your countrymen, your government, and all those who hold the purse strings to your livelihood," I said.

"But, it’s a lie that you are rejected, or deserve to be rejected," I continued. "It's a terrible, terrible, evil lie that you need to stop believing right now."

"This good man who died here a couple days ago was rejected simply because he spoke a truth that no one wanted to hear.  They were all in denial about the truth and wanted to kill anyone who challenged the illusion they lived under.  You have followed his truth and because of that are also being rejected and you feel that rejection bitterly - right down to your swollen and bruised knees you've been on for three days."

"But, here's the whole point and you will languish here until you get this. There is no rejection and there is no death. Our father who considers us all his sons and daughters, as was that man who died here, loves you completely without any pre-existing conditions and never will ever reject you. 

"Those who use rejection to abuse and control are the ones who are powerless really, and in their lack are preying on you.  It's called projection and it's an unconscious behavior. They belittle you to control you so they will feel powerful. They are projecting their weakness onto you - only, again they don't know it. They wouldn't need to do that if they already felt powerful.  Real power looks a lot like humility.

They were arrogant and unaware of their weak, empty, fearful hearts and circumstances, which is why they killed him. They thought his teaching would usurp what little power they really had. They were unconscious of their own motives and need, which is why he forgave them.

"When that understanding sinks deeply into your soul, it will change your life completely. Then, you will rise with him into the light that leads you on the path to the ultimate truth which is eternal life and joy."

"What do you mean there's no rejection," a young mother asked.

"It means that it's an irrational emotion you have been taught, forced into your subconscious like brainwashing which has oppressed you so you would be malleable by those who seek to control you and take your power, your money, and your life.  It is what burdens you day and night, takes your life from you, and leaves you impoverished - financially, spiritually, and physically. It's what 'they' use to control you,"  I said, watching her as she looked away and down.

"I get that," she said, slowly smiling, looking down at her little dark curly head son in her lap.

"That's it, exactly."

"So, his message is that God doesn't judge, condemn, or ever reject, that God's love is beyond anything we can understand and is the ultimate power. This cross on this side is a symbol of that fear, rejection, and death. But, when you see it for what it represents, which is a warped manipulation by the controlling power brokers, it can't control you anymore," I said.

"What you're saying is we have become slaves to them out of the fear of rejection which is a fear of death really?" the woman asked.

"Yes, exactly, but now that you know this you will be aware and it can't control you anymore. You may still have to work for them, but in your mind, you will be free. And, that's the beginning of a beautiful new life. There's such a huge difference in this. You can laugh at their efforts to control you through rejection now that you understand their tactics - their game. Then, you will become more aware and empowered," I said, 

"And that's just the beginning. Once you take back your mind, reclaim your power, you will grow into the powerful, free, enlightened children of our Father. That's what he taught and wanted for us and died teaching."

"So, now - all of you - do you see this?  Do you understand that this cross on which He died, is a symbol forever of the dark powers' attempt to subject, control, and reject you?"  I added. 

"Now you can choose to be aware of their game and stay in ownership of your own sense of value, and can just step over their rejection, and live in freedom and in power, controlling your own minds and destiny?"

"And, once you realize this, you need to move on beyond this tired old cross into the light of the freedom this understanding and awareness brings you. Then, an exciting and life-giving new empowerment will envelop you; free you, eliciting so much joy. It will open the path to enlightenment, wisdom, and eternal life. And, when you are on that path, that way, you will see him again.  That is for sure.

"It's simple really. Do you see this? "

"Yes, I get that,” a wise old man said, standing up, and glancing around at the others who were nodding thoughtfully.

"We all need to move into that new awareness, that bright new consciousness, which is a kind of enlightened, truth-imbued space, and live where there is no death and no rejection," I added. 

"I see what you mean," the old man added, rubbing his eyes from the dust of the day."If there is no death and if we are all loved with an unfathomable love, and never rejected or judged, then those who judge and marginalize us are afraid of our power, then they are liars, thieves - the criminals? I can see how both rejection and death are fallacies. They are the tools used by those master criminals to whom we've been chained with fear, kept weak, limited, under control - all in the dark." 

"Yes. Exactly! It's simple to understand. Now, the work is unlatching your thoughts, minds and emotions from the habit of being controlled and marginalized by them," I said, standing up and brushing the dirt off my jeans. 

"Just remember it is those who abuse, reject and try to kill you who are weak. Why else would they bother?  What is it from you that they want? They think you have something they need and so they sneak up on you and attempt to steal it. So, ask yourselves, what do you have they want? You have love and spirit, joy and freedom. Do they?"

A rich pause followed my words. I waited hoping they would receive his message, which I had once struggled to understand. They slowly began talking to each other. Soon, an energy began to pulse through the large group. 

A young boy started to play the flute, sending its sweet sound drifting through the increasingly more animated group.  I heard singing as I slipped unnoticed back behind the cross. 

Didn't He say He played the flute for us and we didn't dance? Today, we dance.

The path ahead seemed brighter than before. Thankfully, I listened to my heart. I knew I wouldn't be alone on this path much longer. Soon, everyone would be on the way, also.

I smiled into the radiant amber sunset. What a glorious, awesome thing this all is - this life - this real life.  

Awakening to your dream

Daydream your life into being. Do what you love.  While today you might only be a cub, who knows who you could be tomorrow.  

There is a beautiful statement, almost surprising, in the Gospel of Thomas in which Jesus states, "Don't do what you hate."

I was surprised when I first read that. I wondered, is everyone doing what they love or what they don't love, or worse, what they hate?  How much do you love what you're doing?  If you are thinking, talking about and doing what you don't love, obviously, you're not thinking about, talking about or doing what you love.  And, if you're not doing what you love, why not? Why aren't you at least thinking about it? 

As you analyze that question, the answer may be buried in your distant past.  Something in your early life may have stopped you in your tracks.  When we're children we need a lot of support, encouragement and empowering from the adults in our life. If the significant adult in your life lets you down, even if you didn't realize it at the time, your dream goes down the drain because you weren't able to see it through. 

Sometimes we need our parents to take us by the hand and help us walk through the finish line on an idea. Unfortunately, sometimes parents don't do that and when we don't ever see the other side of the finish line, something in us teaches us that we won't ever see success. So, right then, in our childhood disappointment, we accept the sad lesson that we won't see success, and naturally as children we think it's our fault.  We feel guilty, vaguely unaware of why.

But, today, in the bright sunlight of awareness we need to find, recover and finish our dream. We may need to go back and find that moment where we hung up on ourselves and our dreams, and we have to give ourselves the support and encouragement, even empowerment, we never received.

Back then, in our unacknowledged disappointment, we typically felt - and were - victims.  We had two choices back then.  Either we accept our role as victims, even honor it, make it a noble quality, and resolve to become professional martyrs, OR, we choose to stand and fight, figure out what we need and go for it.  Which choice were we taught to make? Which choice were we able to make?

There is a whole subculture in our culture of those who have embraced martyrdom, claiming it is more noble if we slave away at a job we don't love.  Have we become puppets without questioning it? Do we somehow think we don't deserve to be doing what we love?  Or, even worse, could it be deep down we don't think we have the skills or ability to do what we love, or even deeper down at rock bottom, is it possible we don't know what we love.

I think the clue is in that early childhood experience in which we were disempowered or let down by a significant adult in our life who failed us, and taught us to fail ourselves. That, in my humble opinion, was the path to codependence, which is professionally going nowhere. Codependents are rather selflessly supporting those who are. 

There are so many well-meaning, good, kind, loving and generous-to-a-fault people, who have somehow along the way come to believe that the "more blessed to give than receive" idea means they should not give to themselves and that in giving their time and talent in service to another, they are more Christ-like.  

So, it is to those folks, I invite to read again, "Don't do what you hate. Go back in time, find that moment in time when you were derailed and get back up on the horse."

Or, to frame it more positively.  Do what you love. It seems it's a holy mandate.

Think about what you love, even if you have to begin a breadcrumb trail to it.  Day dream, pipe dream, follow every rainbow, and wonder what this or that would be like, follow every thought, every single creative thought to some kind of expression, and spend a moment there, at least thinking about it, wondering about it.  

Then, ask yourself why can't you do it more often?  What would it take to do it?  How might your life be different? Do you like that difference?  Does it resonate with something you once dreamed of as a child?  You know.  Doodle a bit on a blank piece of paper the next time you're on a long hold with Comcast, or while you're in a line at the bank.  Get in the habit of day dreaming, thinking outside the box. Invite the Divine to whisper your heart's desire into your heart. 

Then, just do it, because someone out there will discover a way to heal our global climate situation, find a realistic energy alternative, a cure for cancer, a new political/economic paradigm, clean water and food for the children everywhere, but especially in Africa, a way to save the animals threatened by extinction due to  global warming, and the many great issues and concerns of our times.  

Recently, a friend said if she were younger she'd go back to school and study interior design. She said she loved it. Instead she continues to work in a going nowhere office job. I suggested she throw away the idea that she was too old and reach out for her dream to do interior design because it gave her joy.  She just shook her head and said she was too old. Rather than change her course, she opted to wait out her life doing what she didn't love.  She tossed in her chips. 

What's too old?  Is 80, 90, 100 too old?  One of the runners in the Oregon marathon was over 80 years old. My friend is only in her 50s. Sometimes it takes a life time to peal off the heavy layers of responsibilities we load ourselves down with to honestly own up to what we love. 

I think what we love is what keeps us up all night creating, doing the things that seem like a minute has passed but it was hours. Wouldn't the world be filled with passion, more empowered, solution-based, optimistic, joy?  Wouldn't everything be different?  

And, I can't help asking, "if everyone did what they loved, then, who would want to waste their time making war, when they could be doing what makes them feel alive and empowered?"

Believe

While every word is powerful, true and inspiring, this gorgeous song can be heard also with new ears.  We can and must share the teachings of Jesus Christ with the world. We must extend His message to the farthest reaches of the planet without the baggage of old religion. We can extract the power and beauty of the faith and leave the old wine skin behind.  Now is the time for the spirit not the tabernacle. 

I believe, He did not come to start a religion or enforce an ancient law or even launch a war against evil. He came to bring us enlightenment based on an awareness of truth and the way to real life, the way to joy and even eternal life.  He came to make us rich in LIFE.

Since he did not come to start a new religion, or any religion, then why do those who believe in what he taught us insist on organizing as a religion, posing before the world as one?  That very idea sets up a sense of exclusivity, which is so very contrary to what he taught.  He called for us to enter into a spirit of  harmony and Oneness, immersed in the love of the One who is the all in all.

He came to set us free from the bondage of fear, the vicious condemning judgment of those who endorse the status quo, controlling, oppressing and preying on the innocent.

He came to align us with the powerful force of life itself, that permeates all of life, extending throughout the universe - and beyond, if there is a beyond.

It seems to me that one could be a believer in what he taught us and not be religious.  I challenge anyone who claims to believe in "god," who might be known by any number of names, to listen carefully to the teachings of this brightest light. He never said he was the exclusive son of god, who is Our Father, but rather that we are all - everyone of us regardless of anything - children of the living creator, the Father of all that is. 

Now, take that to the mosque, the temple, the church and out into the streets and live without fear. Sing, dance and rejoice because you are loved beyond your wildest imaginings and are free to be who you were created to be, the most precious, cherished child of the Father.

Conscious living

"Wake up in the morning and know it's going to be the best day of your life . . .  have no fear . . .  know that anything is possible. Remember that anything you put into your mind materializes, exhale every negative thought." 

 - Tao Porchon -Lynch

Absolutely inspiring!!  A gift from Thaddeus.

Believe You Can

Precious ones, all you who have been hurt, broken, even crushed by life itself, there is hope. Be encouraged.

All you who feel drawn by an invisible longing for a more joyous life, and who want out of the mental cages, where you have been entrapped by the many forces and systems of our world, there is a new way. Be encouraged.  

All you who want a radiant, vibrantly alive life, full of that all pervading knowing that all really is well, all you who hope for something more than what you currently are enduring, it is time to awaken to a new hope. 

What you seek is within reach - no matter how oppressed, beaten down, worn out, exhausted, spent, depressed, discouraged, and down right done with it all you are.  The pain is the crack which will allow the light out. 

There is hope, a very real, tangible, true way. You don't have to make or be strong enough or smart enough or educated enough to make it happen.  In short, you don't have to outsmart the oppressor because there is a presence so powerful, so brilliant that will do it, if you will allow it to flow through you. The solution comes out of your being rather than your doing. I can imagine that's a new thought for some.

God, who is Universal Consciousness / Ultimate Being, is fully aware of your circumstances. He knows your name, knows your history - even better than you know your history. He knows how you got to where you are, and he wants you to experience absolute joy - and the power and freedom which brings it. Your fulfillment and joy is right there, waiting for you to reach for it.  

Believe wholeheartedly that you are worthy, and that means unconditionally worthy, and loved, and that too is unconditional.  

Good people have all come up against this. False interpretations of the great sacred writings have boiled it down a master/slave mentality which reduces you further by martyr complexes, all of which are anti-life, and obviously not empowering.  They falsely taught that God was punitive, judgmental, wanting something from us and that - bottom line - we aren't worthy. They sent you down a dead end street. Even the precious and beautiful teachings of our St. Francis of Assisi,meant for the spiritually enlightened, wouldn't have empowered those broken in spirit and heart.  

The path is easy, light and very do-able.   

The universe is full of creative power and that creative power does not discriminate.  It is there for everyone. It is there for you, despite how much you think you're unworthy or powerless or it's not been in your experience.  It is there for you.  

That all pervading creative power of the universe wants to empower you, to get you back on your feet and then up to full speed to succeeding in your life's goals, dreams and paths.  It wants to light up your life.

The I Ching uses the metaphor of a river.  It says that life itself is like a river, flowing to the ocean.  The ocean might be another word for Ultimate Consciousness, which, again, is the power of creation which fills the universe.  It has an innate flow, and tugs at you to get into the flow.  It wants to fill your body and your soul with it's creative power. That's its mission.  

Its driving force is to create, and creation is positive energy directed and moved by the awesome genius of the intention. You, the dreamer, send out a positively-charged (by your wanting it) intention.That creative energy has been tugging at your consciousness all your life, wanting you to open the door to it. You can allow it in.  Do not be afraid. 

Meanwhile, try to accept everything you've been fighting against. Forgive what hurts you, and surrender to the lesson you're supposed to learn from the experience. Often it's a huge learning experience that leads you on a quantum spiritual leap.

If it's your job, your relationships, your kids, you in-laws, your environment, whatever it is, stop running from it, stop fighting it.  Let it be.  Accept it, and allow yourself to focus more on self - honoring, first in attitude, then in action. This takes you back to the first step which is accepting that you are worthy.

Follow inspiration regardless of what seems practical at the moment.  Soon you will see the genius in the trust it takes to reach beyond your comfort zone.  This also requires trust that your intuition is true and again that comes with the awareness that you are even worthy enough to receive inspiration and that your inspiration is true and trustworthy.

Reach for what you want, even if it's just allowing yourself to explore mentally and entertain in your imagination what you want. 

Start small, maybe, and build on it.  The universal consciousness - our Father - doesn't care what it is, really. So, it's ok to reach for what you want.  It's the reaching - first in intention, then in action - that's so important. Realize that it's ok, believe you're worthy, and reach.

Then, relax, drop everything and celebrate. Sing, dance, lift up your arms and shout praises to God - even if you don't like the religious part of it, allow your spirit to be filled with joy and - for me, anyway - praise does that.  

Continue to acknowledge that you are worthy because you are part of creation and creation itself is worthy. And, that sense of worthiness alone is worthy of gratitude and praise. There are no degrees to worthiness. It just depends on how deep you let that sink in and what you have to let go of to let it sink in deeply.  It will displace a lot of stuff, for sure.

Despite what the oppressing forces have done to your mind, accept your worthiness and allow yourself to open your mind and heart to the joy of self-honoring.  That joy is power and that power is the force of the universal creative flow, which will change your life.

And, then, once you are free and on the path, take someone's hand and set them free too.   

Our Father

Our Father who art in heaven

hallowed be thy name

thy kingdom come, thy will be done

on Earth as it is in Heaven

Give us this day our daily bread

Forgive us our trespasses 

as we forgive those who trespass against us

Lead us not into temptation, but

Deliver us from evil

For thine is the kingdom and 

the power and the glory forever, and ever. 

Amen

Oh Divine Creator, lover of all, whose very presence suffuses all dimensions of the universe, whose name is our name, whose self is our self, who is love and ultimate being and have made us like yourself, we honor you with all our heart, mind and soul,

Your realm is truth and your will is love, and our will is to live in tune with your will, your truth and your love all the days of our lives.  

Today, fill us with your divine being, your presence, so fully that as we live and move in our world, here on Earth, your realm of beauty and love is brought here among us.

Help us to remember to let go of all that blocks us from your unconditional love of us and our unconditional love of others. 
Help us to see only You in others and pray they only see You in us.

Strengthen and empower us with your presence, your Divine immunity to the dark forces, and surround and protect us with your love.

You are all that is true and lasting. You are authentic power and light, for you are greater than we can ever understand and are everywhere and in everything for all time and will be as you always have been, forever

Amen

Love is nature's song