Our desire for world peace and harmony are being thwarted not only by our five fallacies about God, listed in Part One, but also by our fallacies about Life. In the book, The New Revelations A Conversation with God, God tells the author, Neale Donald Walsch, that there are five fallacies about Life. They are:
1) Human beings are separate from each other.
2) There is not enough of what human beings need to be happy.
3) To get the stuff of which there is not enough, human beings must compete with each other.
4) Some human beings are better than other human beings.
5) It is appropriate for human beings to resolve severe differences created by the other fallacies by killing each other.
Most of us see ourselves as unique living beings. Our world is all about our own happiness and our survival. We see ourselves as separate from other human beings. We observe that our very skin separates us from the world around us. I suggest that a good many of us are driven by what we see as good for us as this unique individual. Yes, we form bonds and friendships and we cooperate to get things done. We even share common beliefs and values, but in our heart of hearts we still view the world in terms of what is in it for ME. What does it all mean for ME? We have real trouble with the concept that each of us is intimately interconnected to each other, where the loss of even one of us diminishes the whole.
Many of us see the world in terms of things that make us happy or will make us happy. We are in the pursuit of getting as many of those THINGS as possible before we die. The problem is that we have this idea that there are not enough of these “goodies” out there for everyone. We need to grab and hoard as many things for ourselves, our family and friends and our nation as we can. Our world becomes all about competition where there are “have’s” and “have not’s.” We carry this idea of scarcity deep inside us. I’ve got mine! You go scramble for yours! If I worked hard for my well deserved “goodies” then why should I share them with others who did not work as hard as I did? There is not enough to go around.
In addition to this idea of scarcity, human beings have this need to feel better than or superior to other human beings. Even if you see yourself as a good person, a fair minded person, how many of us upon seeing homeless, street people look away and think how lucky we are not to be…them. We form groups with common beliefs, purpose and values. My group is better than, more worthy than that other group over there. Our beliefs, our values are better than other groups. We have more THINGS and those things give us more resources and more…POWER. We are better! I am better than…others. We judge and we act on this concept of superiority and scarcity.
Students of human history can surely see many examples of how the other fallacies of Life have led our species to the last of the fallacies of Life. Hitler felt that the Aryan Race was superior to others, especially the Jews. This belief led to World War II and the mass extermination of millions of men, women and children. A belief that some human beings are better than other human beings has brought about all kinds of atrocities, pain and death. A belief in superiority can lead to a belief that some human beings are less than human and can be disposed of or enslaved in lives of misery and poverty. At the very least, it allows us to deny some their civil rights and due process under the law. It allows us to discriminate.
Still, we scratch our heads and wonder why mankind has not been able to achieve peace and harmony on this planet. We see the edge of the Abyss and wonder how much time we have left to get it right. In New Revelations, God tells Walsch that there are five steps we can take right now to achieve the peace we seek. They are:
The Five Steps to Peace
1) You can choose to acknowledge that some of your old beliefs about God and about Life are no longer working.
2) You can choose to acknowledge that there is something you do not understand about God and about Life, the understanding of which will change everything.
3) You can choose to be willing for a new understanding of God and Life to now be brought forth, an understanding that could produce a new way of life on your planet.
4) You can choose to be courageous enough to explore and examine this new understanding, and, if it aligns with your inner truth and knowing, to enlarge your belief system to include it.
5) You can choose to live your lives as demonstrations of your highest and grandest beliefs, rather than as denials of them.
We act on what we BELIEVE, but if what we believe is flawed and does not work, if it no longer serves us, then we must be willing to examine our belief systems. Do they work or not? If they do not, are we willing to explore new thoughts and to change our beliefs? If we see ourselves as separate, unique and superior (or inferior) to each other then how can we ever hope to evolve to our greatest human potential? Will we continue to see ourselves as a single living cell in a giant void, or will we realize that we are part of a whole living body that works and functions as one being without end or limit?
In Part Three, I want to explore God’s NEW Revelations for us. Remember…this is a dangerous book!
Food for THOUGHT...
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
New Revelations - Part One
I just finished reading the book The New Revelations: A Conversation with God by Neale Donald Walsch. Some may be familiar with his earlier books, Conversations with God (Books 1 – 3), which brought the author to the attention of the reading public. The premise of these books and the many that followed is that Walsch invites God to have a conversation with him. He writes his questions down and God gives him answers and explanations which Walsch also writes down. This back and forth between God and the author has created enough material for some 22 or more books at present.
While Walsch’s questions seem to me to be inane and contrived at times, I found God’s replies certainly thought provoking and spiritually enlightening. But this is a dangerous book! It is dangerous because it will challenge deeply held beliefs about God, traditional religion and Life. I think I can safely say that there are Christians, Jews and Muslims that should not read this book. It will frighten them to the point that they will cry heresy, an abomination and will likely demand that the book be banned… if not burned. This is not the book for them… or is it?
Last year I wrote a THOUGHTS column about my “Vision Quest” and my search for spiritual meaning. I have read or listened to the work of Eckhart Tolle, Dr. Wayne Dyer, James Redfield, Deepak Chopra and many others in my quest for vision and Spiritual Truth. It required me to open my mind, to expand my long held beliefs about God, traditional religion and my place in the Universe. My religious training, culture and traditional beliefs about God, Heaven and Hell were ingrained in me, but they left me with serious questions. Religious dogma only convinced me that man did not understand something, something so fundamental, so important to our spiritual growth. The religious practices of excommunication, stoning and beheading for offenses against God never made sense to me. Who was this vengeful demanding… God?
In Walsch’s book, God lists “5 Fallacies About God.” They are:
1) You believe that God needs something.
2) You believe that God can fail to get what He needs.
3) You believe that God has separated you from Him because you have not given Him what He needs.
4) You believe that God still needs what He needs so badly that God now requires you, from your separated position, to give it to Him.
5) You believe that God will destroy you if you do not meet His requirements.
Despite my religious teaching, training, indoctrination and the well meaning assurances of friends and even family … MY God was not the vengeful, demanding, judgmental deity of the old Testament in the Bible, quick to damn you to the fires of Hell for your transgressions. No, MY God was Abba, Daddy, Father…Mother who lifted me up when I fell. MY God held me when I was hurt or afraid. I talked to MY god as I walked in the woods and listened to His Presence in the wind. MY God did not require me to blow myself up in a crowded market place to get to be with Him in Paradise. MY God was a God of Love and forgiving beyond all understanding.
God tells Neal Donald Walsch that it is our fallacies about God that have led us to this point in time where world peace seems so elusive and our destruction so certain. Human beings are at a crossroads in our evolution as a species. We must come to a NEW understanding about God, Life and who we really are. We are ready to know that our old beliefs no longer serve us. Our old view of the world and our place in it no longer works.
In Part 2, I wish to explore these THOUGHTS further. For now consider this …
Food for THOUGHT…
While Walsch’s questions seem to me to be inane and contrived at times, I found God’s replies certainly thought provoking and spiritually enlightening. But this is a dangerous book! It is dangerous because it will challenge deeply held beliefs about God, traditional religion and Life. I think I can safely say that there are Christians, Jews and Muslims that should not read this book. It will frighten them to the point that they will cry heresy, an abomination and will likely demand that the book be banned… if not burned. This is not the book for them… or is it?
Last year I wrote a THOUGHTS column about my “Vision Quest” and my search for spiritual meaning. I have read or listened to the work of Eckhart Tolle, Dr. Wayne Dyer, James Redfield, Deepak Chopra and many others in my quest for vision and Spiritual Truth. It required me to open my mind, to expand my long held beliefs about God, traditional religion and my place in the Universe. My religious training, culture and traditional beliefs about God, Heaven and Hell were ingrained in me, but they left me with serious questions. Religious dogma only convinced me that man did not understand something, something so fundamental, so important to our spiritual growth. The religious practices of excommunication, stoning and beheading for offenses against God never made sense to me. Who was this vengeful demanding… God?
In Walsch’s book, God lists “5 Fallacies About God.” They are:
1) You believe that God needs something.
2) You believe that God can fail to get what He needs.
3) You believe that God has separated you from Him because you have not given Him what He needs.
4) You believe that God still needs what He needs so badly that God now requires you, from your separated position, to give it to Him.
5) You believe that God will destroy you if you do not meet His requirements.
Despite my religious teaching, training, indoctrination and the well meaning assurances of friends and even family … MY God was not the vengeful, demanding, judgmental deity of the old Testament in the Bible, quick to damn you to the fires of Hell for your transgressions. No, MY God was Abba, Daddy, Father…Mother who lifted me up when I fell. MY God held me when I was hurt or afraid. I talked to MY god as I walked in the woods and listened to His Presence in the wind. MY God did not require me to blow myself up in a crowded market place to get to be with Him in Paradise. MY God was a God of Love and forgiving beyond all understanding.
God tells Neal Donald Walsch that it is our fallacies about God that have led us to this point in time where world peace seems so elusive and our destruction so certain. Human beings are at a crossroads in our evolution as a species. We must come to a NEW understanding about God, Life and who we really are. We are ready to know that our old beliefs no longer serve us. Our old view of the world and our place in it no longer works.
In Part 2, I wish to explore these THOUGHTS further. For now consider this …
Food for THOUGHT…
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Life on the Edge
Sometimes I feel like I’m living life on the edge. Life is full of so many twists and turns and yet we negotiate our paths on a tightrope. If we lean too far one way or the other, we fall off into the Abyss. One misstep could lead to our doom, yet stopping and standing still is not an option. Life calls us forward whether we want to go or not.
Recently, I had a checkup and my EKG caused my doctor some concern. He sent me to a cardiologist who sent me for some very expensive tests that could determine if I had serious heart problems. The outcome of this series of tests would determine if my life could go on as it had or would change dramatically, irreversibly for the worse. The outcome of these tests became a knife edge of reality, MY reality. Not knowing was no longer an option. It was a door I could not go around. It loomed large before me. I had to open it and walk through it.
In the weeks prior to the tests, my fears took hold of me like sudden gusts of wind. I struggled with my “balance pole” to keep my feet steady and thereby avoid the fall into the void. If the tests went one way, I might have to quit my job and undergo expensive hospitalization, surgery and a lifetime of medication to stay alive. Without a job I would have no insurance to pay for all the modern medicine that could sustain me. Even if I could find insurance… could I afford it? My fears whispered that we would lose our house and our life savings. Lisa might have to give up her artist lifestyle and go back to the corporate world in order to sustain my life at the ruination of hers. Could our marriage survive the stress? Would I be left sick, debt ridden and alone? My fears were definitely working overtime on my brain.
Since Lisa and I made our move to San Antonio, over 4 years ago, we have rebuilt our lives. Each of us has realized many or our hopes and dreams for our future together. We love our lives as they have unfolded down here. Watching Lisa grow and develop as an artist in her own right has been amazing. I have enjoyed my work at the Alamo, which allowed one of my dreams to come true. I published a beautiful book about the Alamo. Our wonderful house and yard have provided me with endless projects to satisfy the “gardener” and “handyman” in me. The thought of losing it all was overwhelming me.
Lisa refused to let my dark thoughts be expressed. She would not hear them because she worried that if they were expressed, I would attract that outcome. (We create our own reality.) We worked on positive affirmations and thoughts to crowd out the negative fears that were always there…waiting to pounce. I began keeping my fears to myself which left me quiet and withdrawn at times. Part of me kept saying that if the results were not good, I still had to have a plan of attack. How would I deal with the news? No matter how I struggled, it kept coming back that it was REAL and it was happening to… ME. I was walking on the edge of knowing. It was my tightrope.
The day before the tests, I wrote down all of my fears on a piece of paper and folded it. I then wrote down all of my positive affirmations on another piece of paper. In our home, Lisa and I have this ceramic elephant. We put our hopes, dreams and visions into the elephant jar to send them out to the Universe. In a small ceremony, I put my positive affirmations into the elephant and we burned the fears in a bowl to release them…to let them go.
The day after the tests, the clinic called and notified me that my results were normal. Life goes on.
Food for THOUGHT…
Recently, I had a checkup and my EKG caused my doctor some concern. He sent me to a cardiologist who sent me for some very expensive tests that could determine if I had serious heart problems. The outcome of this series of tests would determine if my life could go on as it had or would change dramatically, irreversibly for the worse. The outcome of these tests became a knife edge of reality, MY reality. Not knowing was no longer an option. It was a door I could not go around. It loomed large before me. I had to open it and walk through it.
In the weeks prior to the tests, my fears took hold of me like sudden gusts of wind. I struggled with my “balance pole” to keep my feet steady and thereby avoid the fall into the void. If the tests went one way, I might have to quit my job and undergo expensive hospitalization, surgery and a lifetime of medication to stay alive. Without a job I would have no insurance to pay for all the modern medicine that could sustain me. Even if I could find insurance… could I afford it? My fears whispered that we would lose our house and our life savings. Lisa might have to give up her artist lifestyle and go back to the corporate world in order to sustain my life at the ruination of hers. Could our marriage survive the stress? Would I be left sick, debt ridden and alone? My fears were definitely working overtime on my brain.
Since Lisa and I made our move to San Antonio, over 4 years ago, we have rebuilt our lives. Each of us has realized many or our hopes and dreams for our future together. We love our lives as they have unfolded down here. Watching Lisa grow and develop as an artist in her own right has been amazing. I have enjoyed my work at the Alamo, which allowed one of my dreams to come true. I published a beautiful book about the Alamo. Our wonderful house and yard have provided me with endless projects to satisfy the “gardener” and “handyman” in me. The thought of losing it all was overwhelming me.
Lisa refused to let my dark thoughts be expressed. She would not hear them because she worried that if they were expressed, I would attract that outcome. (We create our own reality.) We worked on positive affirmations and thoughts to crowd out the negative fears that were always there…waiting to pounce. I began keeping my fears to myself which left me quiet and withdrawn at times. Part of me kept saying that if the results were not good, I still had to have a plan of attack. How would I deal with the news? No matter how I struggled, it kept coming back that it was REAL and it was happening to… ME. I was walking on the edge of knowing. It was my tightrope.
The day before the tests, I wrote down all of my fears on a piece of paper and folded it. I then wrote down all of my positive affirmations on another piece of paper. In our home, Lisa and I have this ceramic elephant. We put our hopes, dreams and visions into the elephant jar to send them out to the Universe. In a small ceremony, I put my positive affirmations into the elephant and we burned the fears in a bowl to release them…to let them go.
The day after the tests, the clinic called and notified me that my results were normal. Life goes on.
Food for THOUGHT…
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Good-bye Mary!
When Lisa and I bought our house on a corner lot almost 4 years ago, our only next door neighbor was a tiny, elderly woman by the name of Mary. We shared a fence in our back yard. Lisa and I quickly became the “good neighbors,” as she called us, because the neighbor on the other side of her yard was a troublemaker since he was a kid. He went to prison. We took the time to talk to her over the fence.
When Mary would call us over for a chat by the fence, we knew it would be a while before we could go back to whatever we were doing. Mary loved to talk about her long dead husband, Teddy, and her son Buddy, who was an engineer that used to work over in Nigeria. That’s Africa, you know! She never failed to let us know that Teddy worked for the Credit Union. We would listen to her talk about her husband, her many homes and her children again and again. And of course there were her beloved NBA Champions, the San Antonio Spurs. If they were playing and winning…we heard about it!
Mary was close to 90 years old when we moved to our new house in 2005. She lived alone and most amazing, she still drove her car to the grocery store and the beauty shop. Her son Buddy and his girlfriend would drive up from Rockport, Texas about every other weekend to mow her yard and help around the house. Over time, we were introduced to her other grown children and their spouses. On warm summer afternoons we could hear the laughter and good natured arguing from Mary’s patio which was visible from our Kitchen window. Her son and two daughters were in their sixties, I guess, but they looked after their “momma” and enjoyed their visits with her.
Mary had to stop driving about a year and a half ago. Buddy began making more frequent trips to help his mother. Her daughter would come over in the afternoons and they would sit outside on the patio. Many times they would call me over to the fence for a chat. Did I know that Teddy used to work for the Credit Union? She would repeat her now familiar stories I could tell she still missed her husband after all these years.
This spring, Lisa and I noticed Mary was unsteady on her feet and she was looking pale and tired. Did we know she was almost 94? Teddy used to work for the Credit Union, don’t you know. We wondered how long she would be able to live on her own. About a month ago, her family came together for her 94th birthday. Lisa was home that day and said that Mary looked better and happier than she had seen her in a long while. A week later, she called her daughter about “a parade that was coming through her backyard.” Then she fell. Lisa saw Mary as the paramedics carried her from her house and placed her into the ambulance.
Buddy would keep us updated on Mary when he was at the house and working in the yard. She had a urinary infection, but she was being treated for it. The big problem was that she was not eating. Buddy would tell us she wanted to know how the “good neighbors” were doing. We made plans to go see her in the hospital, but they were getting ready to move her to a nursing home near her daughter, so we waited.
Today, Buddy came with the sad news that his mother had passed away. Mary had finally given up to go be with her beloved, Teddy. Mary, who had welcomed us to the neighborhood almost 4 years ago, was gone. She would not be coming back, not even for one last look around. At some point, we will have new neighbors and we wonder…will they be, like Mary, our “good neighbor?”
Food for THOUGHT…
When Mary would call us over for a chat by the fence, we knew it would be a while before we could go back to whatever we were doing. Mary loved to talk about her long dead husband, Teddy, and her son Buddy, who was an engineer that used to work over in Nigeria. That’s Africa, you know! She never failed to let us know that Teddy worked for the Credit Union. We would listen to her talk about her husband, her many homes and her children again and again. And of course there were her beloved NBA Champions, the San Antonio Spurs. If they were playing and winning…we heard about it!
Mary was close to 90 years old when we moved to our new house in 2005. She lived alone and most amazing, she still drove her car to the grocery store and the beauty shop. Her son Buddy and his girlfriend would drive up from Rockport, Texas about every other weekend to mow her yard and help around the house. Over time, we were introduced to her other grown children and their spouses. On warm summer afternoons we could hear the laughter and good natured arguing from Mary’s patio which was visible from our Kitchen window. Her son and two daughters were in their sixties, I guess, but they looked after their “momma” and enjoyed their visits with her.
Mary had to stop driving about a year and a half ago. Buddy began making more frequent trips to help his mother. Her daughter would come over in the afternoons and they would sit outside on the patio. Many times they would call me over to the fence for a chat. Did I know that Teddy used to work for the Credit Union? She would repeat her now familiar stories I could tell she still missed her husband after all these years.
This spring, Lisa and I noticed Mary was unsteady on her feet and she was looking pale and tired. Did we know she was almost 94? Teddy used to work for the Credit Union, don’t you know. We wondered how long she would be able to live on her own. About a month ago, her family came together for her 94th birthday. Lisa was home that day and said that Mary looked better and happier than she had seen her in a long while. A week later, she called her daughter about “a parade that was coming through her backyard.” Then she fell. Lisa saw Mary as the paramedics carried her from her house and placed her into the ambulance.
Buddy would keep us updated on Mary when he was at the house and working in the yard. She had a urinary infection, but she was being treated for it. The big problem was that she was not eating. Buddy would tell us she wanted to know how the “good neighbors” were doing. We made plans to go see her in the hospital, but they were getting ready to move her to a nursing home near her daughter, so we waited.
Today, Buddy came with the sad news that his mother had passed away. Mary had finally given up to go be with her beloved, Teddy. Mary, who had welcomed us to the neighborhood almost 4 years ago, was gone. She would not be coming back, not even for one last look around. At some point, we will have new neighbors and we wonder…will they be, like Mary, our “good neighbor?”
Food for THOUGHT…
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