tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24843915660101601542024-03-13T20:05:00.560-07:00My Year of Living Religiously /SpirituallyA year of serious directional play in the fields of greater awakening.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351458071273205055noreply@blogger.comBlogger151125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2484391566010160154.post-47170578958792725972012-05-04T06:36:00.002-07:002012-05-04T06:36:41.317-07:00Day 87<br />
SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY<br />
<br />
When someone is full of Love and Compassion,<br />
he cannot draw a line between<br />
two countries, two faiths, or two religions.<br />
Amma<br />
<br />
<br />
INTERFAITH PRAYER OF THE DAY<br />
<br />
Pray to put an end to hope and fear:<br />
<br />
If it's better for me to be ill,<br />
I pray for the blessing of illness.<br />
If it's better for me to recover,<br />
I pray for the blessing of recovery.<br />
If it's better for me to die,<br />
I pray for the blessing of death.<br />
<br />
The Great Path of Awakening - Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche<br />
<br />
<br />
A COURSE IN MIRACLES<br />
LESSON 87<br />
Our review today will cover these ideas:<br />
<br />
(73) I will there be light.<br />
<br />
<i>This cannot hide the light I will to see. </i><br />
<i>You stand with me in light, [name]. </i><br />
<i>In the light this will look different.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
(74) There is no will but God's.<br />
<br />
<i>Let me perceive this in accordance with the Will of God.</i><br />
<i>It is God's Will you are His Son, [name], and mine as well. </i><br />
<i>This is part of God's Will for me, however I may se</i>e it.<br />
<br />
EDGAR CAYCE DAILY READING<br />
<br />
<br />
Think on This...<br />
<br />
Be glad you have the opportunity to be alive at this time, and to be a part of that preparation for the coming influences of a spiritual nature that must rule the world. These are indicated, and these are part of thy experience. Be happy of it, and give thanks daily for it.<br />
Reading 2376-3<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351458071273205055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2484391566010160154.post-82649057055889543212012-05-03T06:44:00.001-07:002012-05-03T06:44:36.734-07:00Day 86<br />
SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY<br />
<br />
Go placidly amid the noise and haste,<br />
and remember what peace there may be in silence.<br />
As far as possible without surrender<br />
be on good terms with all persons.<br />
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;<br />
and listen to others,<br />
even the dull and the ignorant;<br />
they too have their story.<br />
<br />
Avoid loud and aggressive persons,<br />
they are vexations to the spirit.<br />
If you compare yourself with others,<br />
you may become vain and bitter;<br />
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.<br />
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.<br />
<br />
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;<br />
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.<br />
Exercise caution in your business affairs;<br />
for the world is full of trickery.<br />
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;<br />
many persons strive for high ideals;<br />
and everywhere life is full of heroism.<br />
<br />
Be yourself.<br />
Especially, do not feign affection.<br />
Neither be cynical about love;<br />
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment<br />
it is as perennial as the grass.<br />
<br />
Take kindly the counsel of the years,<br />
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.<br />
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.<br />
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.<br />
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.<br />
Beyond a wholesome discipline,<br />
be gentle with yourself.<br />
<br />
You are a child of the universe,<br />
no less than the trees and the stars;<br />
you have a right to be here.<br />
And whether or not it is clear to you,<br />
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.<br />
<br />
Therefore be at peace with God,<br />
whatever you conceive Him to be,<br />
and whatever your labors and aspirations,<br />
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.<br />
<br />
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,<br />
it is still a beautiful world.<br />
Be cheerful.<br />
Strive to be happy.<br />
<br />
Desiderata - Max Ehrmann - 1927<br />
<br />
<br />
INTERFAITH PRAYER OF THE DAY<br />
<br />
Naughty or good, I am Thy child.<br />
Paramahansa Yogananda<br />
<br />
<br />
A COURSE IN MIRACLES<br />
LESSON 86<br />
These ideas are for review today:<br />
<br />
(71) Only God's plan for salvation will work.<br />
<br />
<i>God's plan for salvation will save me from my perception of this.</i><br />
<i>This is no exception in God's plan for my salvation. </i><br />
<i>Let me perceive this only in the light of God's plan for salvation.</i><br />
<br />
(72) Holding grievances is an attack on God's plan for salvation.<br />
<br />
<i>I am choosing between misperception and salvation as I look on this.</i><br />
<i>If I see grounds for grievances in this, I will not see the grounds for my salvation. </i><br />
<i>This calls for salvation, not attack.</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
EDGAR CAYCE DAILY READING<br />
Think on This...<br />
<br />
It is not that the daughter has taken judgement against you. You have taken judgement against that which she worships, which she adores. The trouble lieth within self, as it does concerning thy husband. It is within self that ye must find thy answer.<br />
Reading 3457-1<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
SAINT OF THE DAY</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EaZvMl6jnP4/T6KJN2C0eAI/AAAAAAAABEY/a4KqcwWVRAc/s1600/images+(21).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EaZvMl6jnP4/T6KJN2C0eAI/AAAAAAAABEY/a4KqcwWVRAc/s1600/images+(21).jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Ehrmann">Max Ehrmann</a> & <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desiderata">Desiderata </a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS<br />
Promise yourself to memorize then actually work at memorizing the Desiderata or a favorite scripture, poem, etc that can and will encourage you to become a better person and give you support, peace, strength, etc through each day.<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351458071273205055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2484391566010160154.post-3159630135057864332012-05-02T07:13:00.005-07:002012-05-03T07:00:23.321-07:00Day 85SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY<br />
<span style="font-family: Palatino, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: medium;">I think over again my small adventures, my fears,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Palatino, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: medium;">These small ones that seemed so big.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Palatino, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: medium;">For all the vital things I had to get and to reach.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Palatino, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: medium;">And yet there is only one great thing,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Palatino, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: medium;">The only thing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Palatino, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: medium;">To live to see the great day that dawns</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Palatino, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: medium;">And the light that fills the world.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Palatino, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Palatino, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: medium;">Inuit song</span><br />
<br />
INTERFAITH PRAYER OF THE DAY<br />
Om sarvetra sukhinah santu sarve santu niramayah.<br />
Sarve bhadrani pasyantu ma kascid duhkhamapnuyat<br />
Om shantih shantih shantih<br />
<br />
Oh Almighty! May everybody be happy!<br />
May all be free from ailments!<br />
May we see what is auspicious!<br />
May no one be subject to miseries!<br />
Oh Almighty! May there be a Peace! Peace! Peace! Everywhere.<br />
<br />
Rigveda 4:11:51 - India - 3700 b.c.e.<br />
<br />
A COURSE IN MIRACLES<br />
LESSON 85<br />
(69) My grievances hide the light of the world in me.<br />
<br />
<i>Let me not use this as a block to sight.</i><br />
<i>The light of the world will shine all this away. </i><br />
<i>I have no need for this. I want to see.</i><br />
<br />
(70) My salvation comes from me.<br />
<br />
<i>Let me not use this as a block to sight.</i><br />
<i>The light of the world will shine all this away. </i><br />
<i>I have no need for this. I want to see.</i><br />
<br />
EDGAR CAYCE DAILY READING<br />
Think on This...<br />
He came, the Master, in flesh and blood, even as thou didst come in flesh and blood. Yet as He then proclaimed to thee, there is a cleansing of the body, of the flesh, of the blood, in such measures that it may become illumined with power from on high; that is within thine own body to will! "Thy will, O God; not mine, but Thine, be done in me, through me."<br />
Reading 1152-1<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351458071273205055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2484391566010160154.post-50069942531194678752012-05-01T06:53:00.001-07:002012-05-03T06:57:22.440-07:00Day 84<span id="internal-source-marker_0.1171177919022739"></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I think over again my small adventures, my fears,
These small ones that seemed so big.
For all the vital things I had to get and to reach.
And yet there is only one great thing,
The only thing.
To live to see the great day that dawns
And the light that fills the world.
Inuit song</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">INTERFAITH PRAYER OF THE DAY</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">He Gurudeva ! hama saba ko sadbudhi dem
Satkartavya karne ki pravritty dem
Saca bolane ka abhyasa dem
Satswarupa ka gyana dem
May he bestow prudence on all of us!
May he inspire us towards the righteous cause!
May he guide us to speak the truth!
May he make us conscious about spirituality!
Grama Geeta - India</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A COURSE IN MIRACLES</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; white-space: pre-wrap;">LESSON 84</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span id="internal-source-marker_0.1171177919022739" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">(67) Love created me like itself.</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Let me not see an illusion of myself in this.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">As I look on this, let me remember my Creator. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">My Creator did not create this as I see it.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>(68) Love holds no grievances.</b></span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is no justification for denying my Self.</i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>I will not use this to attack love. </i></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<i><div style="text-align: left;">
<i>Let this not tempt me to attack myself.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</i></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; white-space: pre-wrap;">EDGAR CAYCE DAILY READING</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Think on This...</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>For, while selflessness is the law, to belittle self is a form of selfishness and not selfless.
Reading 2803-2</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">RELIGIOUS KOAN / MANTRA OF THE DAY</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">"All things being equal, nothing is special, therefore everything is special."</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's ALL Good / God</span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351458071273205055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2484391566010160154.post-10466016036953757212012-04-30T09:44:00.001-07:002012-04-30T09:44:27.953-07:00TODAY'S RELIGIOUS iCON<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Cr-cDNZmwfg/T57BUEFUTKI/AAAAAAAABEM/M9M62tS1lq4/s1600/images+(7).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Cr-cDNZmwfg/T57BUEFUTKI/AAAAAAAABEM/M9M62tS1lq4/s1600/images+(7).jpg" /></a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351458071273205055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2484391566010160154.post-79438341182515170502012-04-30T03:56:00.000-07:002012-05-03T06:58:29.761-07:00Day 83<br />
SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY<br />
<br />
Blessed are the poor in spirit:<br />
<span class="GRcorrect" grphrase="c06cbd374a9c8a824841355dcbe13b25f8999f59" grtype="null" id="GRmark_c06cbd374a9c8a824841355dcbe13b25f8999f59_for:0">for</span> theirs is the kingdom of heaven.<br />
<br />
Blessed are they that mourn:<br />
<span class="GRcorrect" grphrase="1b9207cc52137eff1ff1b93d2e98564962a17baa" grtype="null" id="GRmark_1b9207cc52137eff1ff1b93d2e98564962a17baa_for:0">for</span> they shall be comforted.<br />
<br />
Blessed are the meek:<br />
<span class="GRcorrect" grphrase="316fcf0bf3b3170db44216e3a05f6f2077c35c24" grtype="null" id="GRmark_316fcf0bf3b3170db44216e3a05f6f2077c35c24_for:0">for</span> they shall inherit the earth.<br />
<br />
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness:<br />
<span class="GRcorrect" grphrase="43b9776a534934a18a6c8727923a6c2ef6bfbb70" grtype="null" id="GRmark_43b9776a534934a18a6c8727923a6c2ef6bfbb70_for:0">for</span> they shall be filled.<br />
<br />
Blessed are the merciful:<br />
<span class="GRcorrect" grphrase="4f6afe6ee838fdf0f5b3c435adab27779366801d" grtype="null" id="GRmark_4f6afe6ee838fdf0f5b3c435adab27779366801d_for:0">for</span> they shall obtain mercy.<br />
<br />
Blessed are the pure in heart:<br />
<span class="GRcorrect" grphrase="37fdbf7652587cfff7cc951a4a737e0943e8ec1e" grtype="null" id="GRmark_37fdbf7652587cfff7cc951a4a737e0943e8ec1e_for:0">for</span> they shall see God.<br />
<br />
Blessed are the peacemakers:<br />
<span class="GRcorrect" grphrase="0cb3bafecfe46a6d3d047ec99abeb44d54cf989d" grtype="null" id="GRmark_0cb3bafecfe46a6d3d047ec99abeb44d54cf989d_for:0">for</span> they shall be called the children of God.<br />
<br />
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake:<br />
<span class="GRcorrect" grphrase="c06cbd374a9c8a824841355dcbe13b25f8999f59" grtype="null" id="GRmark_c06cbd374a9c8a824841355dcbe13b25f8999f59_for:0">for</span> theirs is the kingdom of heaven.<br />
<br />
Matthew 5:3-10 - Jesus<br />
<br />
<br />
INTERFAITH PRAYER OF THE DAY<br />
<br />
"<span class="GRcorrect" grphrase="3c23b8955a36b294a6bbfda58cb18092b734c21f" grtype="null" id="GRmark_3c23b8955a36b294a6bbfda58cb18092b734c21f_All-y:0">All-y</span> <span class="GRcorrect" grphrase="3c23b8955a36b294a6bbfda58cb18092b734c21f" grtype="null" id="GRmark_3c23b8955a36b294a6bbfda58cb18092b734c21f_all-y:1">all-y</span> in come free"<br />
<br />
<br />
A COURSE IN MIRACLES<br />
LESSON 83<br />
<br />
Today let us review these ideas:<br />
(65) My only function is the one God gave me.<br />
<br />
<i>My perception of this does not change my function.</i><br />
<i>This does not give me a function other than the one God gave me. </i><br />
<i>Let me not use this to justify a function God did not give me.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
(66) My happiness and my function are one.<br />
<br />
<i>This cannot separate my happiness from my function.</i><br />
<i>The oneness of my happiness and my function remains wholly unaffected by this. </i><br />
<i>Nothing, including this, can justify the illusion of happiness apart from my function.</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
EDGAR CAYCE DAILY READING<br />
Think on This...<br />
<br />
Thus no wonder confusion comes, unless there is held to the one mighty purpose--Love Divine that so overshadows all else as to be that alone that makes an experience in the earth worth while . . .<br />
Reading 1402-1<br />
<br />
<br />
RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS<br />
Forgive yourself and others their setbacks and stumbles.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351458071273205055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2484391566010160154.post-84271876949192883902012-04-27T19:10:00.000-07:002012-04-27T19:10:07.094-07:00TODAY'S RELIGIOUS iCON<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kk3porVhNB4/T5tRVyLaA-I/AAAAAAAABEA/t6WJ32HYCtw/s1600/Last+Deadly+Supper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="159" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kk3porVhNB4/T5tRVyLaA-I/AAAAAAAABEA/t6WJ32HYCtw/s320/Last+Deadly+Supper.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351458071273205055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2484391566010160154.post-52560789645954224512012-04-27T16:12:00.000-07:002012-04-27T16:12:08.527-07:00Blah, Blah, BlahWell, as you can see, I've fallen off the wagon, when it comes to this blog and my religious/spiritual practice, since Lent. Maybe, I went too fast and hard up and now must return fast and hard to the earth. I surely feel rather blah - hate my job, hate the fact that I have little or no money (live paycheck to paycheck) and feel I have very little if no other options to do otherwise.<br />Whooo Hoooo!!!!<br />
On top of all this, I am completely losing faith in the religion that I have been culturally and historically rooted in. Easter did me in this year. The whole issue of Crucifixion/Sacrifice = Atonement seems like a Barbaric and Simple answer to The Problem of Evil and Suffering in the world. In point of fact, The Crucifixion takes an evil act full of suffering and tries to make "IT" The World's Answer to Evil and Suffering; how ironic. I've scoured the internet and read some (Xtian, both progressive and regressive) books on this and yet they all seem to dance around the subject. Any takers??? I'm ALL ears???<br />
I have always been an open book and brutally honest, so forgive me for being such a downer but this is just where I am at right now.<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351458071273205055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2484391566010160154.post-81181214609799900682012-04-10T18:59:00.000-07:002012-05-03T03:52:07.259-07:00Easter Musings<br />
<br />
So I’m perusing the net and find this article: <a href="http://www.religiondispatches.org/books/atheologies/5856/rejecting_blood_sacrifice_theology,_again_%7c_(a)theologies_%7c_/">Rejecting Blood Sacrifice Theology, Again</a> and begin, again, to think and feel deeply ill-at-ease about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. So much of evangelical fundamentalist penal substitutionary theology seems so very tribal and primal. If you really take a hard and honest look at early Judaism it seems to be no different than many of the other tribal fertility cults that existed in the same area at that time in history. Blood had to be spilled in order for the crops to grow and/or to dispel evil, etc. Rita Nakashima Brock and Rebecca Ann Parker in their books <a href="http://savingparadise.net/">Saving Paradise</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Proverbs-Ashes-Violence-Redemptive-Suffering/dp/0807067970/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334106039&sr=8-1">Proverbs of Ashes</a> question the common understanding that Jesus merely “suffered” on the cross rather than his being a “victim” of very horrific “institutional violence.” I grapple with how a God who is supposedly “all loving,” “all knowing,” and “all powerful” could take part in such base relations and primal justice?<br />
<br />
This kind of pervasive violence seems to be prevalent even in today’s postmodern democratically just society. In North Tulsa and the Turley area where my church just arrived home from service work two men went on a shooting spree over the weekend and killed and/or hospitalized several people: <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=150337515">2 Suspects <span class="GRcorrect" grphrase="53099d2a09aa749dd33b6ca54671a2b5238d98c3" grtype="null" id="GRmark_53099d2a09aa749dd33b6ca54671a2b5238d98c3_Confessed:0">Confessed</span> In Tulsa Shootings.</a> A policeman here in Austin was shot in the line of duty: <a href="http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/state&id=8610653">Officer <span class="GRcorrect" grphrase="53099d2a09aa749dd33b6ca54671a2b5238d98c3" grtype="null" id="GRmark_53099d2a09aa749dd33b6ca54671a2b5238d98c3_in:1">in</span> Austin fatally shot inside Walmart.</a> Then there’s this in today’s paper: <a href="http://www.statesman.com/news/local/trial-of-woman-accused-in-childs-2010-death-2293205.html">Trial of woman accused in child's 2010 death opens with tearful testimony. </a>Then there’s: <a href="http://nicholasstixuncensored.blogspot.com/2012/04/trayvon-redux-austin-cop-shoots-and.html">Trayvon Redux: Austin Cop Shoots and Kills Negro Male Who <span class="GRcorrect" grphrase="f1b1d70e432504b678f43cb1020a4caf32f127fe" grtype="null" id="GRmark_f1b1d70e432504b678f43cb1020a4caf32f127fe_was Trying:0">was Trying</span> to Kill Him; Community Outraged at Cop</a>. And, we all know <span class="GRcorrect" grphrase="2d1c5df301630e2a6c0c264779b5903ae5d49884" grtype="null" id="GRmark_2d1c5df301630e2a6c0c264779b5903ae5d49884_of:0">of</span> the Trayvon Martin / George Zimmerman case.<br />
<br />
My brother took his life a week after Easter nearly twenty years ago, and my mother just reported that the son of an old friend just took his life. He was nineteen and planned on going to A&M next year. He wrote music and played guitar. I read somewhere that more people kill themselves in the spring more than any other time of the year. Why is that? You would think it would be just the opposite. It’s weird and ironic that in the spring when so much new life is budding and bubbling forth, when we celebrate resurrection, bunnies, eggs, <span class="GRcorrect" grphrase="c520b1ad316ad93aefc4f146906aac71b5635cee" grtype="null" id="GRmark_c520b1ad316ad93aefc4f146906aac71b5635cee_etc:0">etc</span> that people choose this time to take their own or others lives in such horrific and violent ways. <br />
<br />
DEATH, PLEASE, BE NOT PROUD...<br />
<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351458071273205055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2484391566010160154.post-49156910448256083462012-04-04T14:26:00.002-07:002012-04-04T14:27:04.432-07:00Day 82<br />
SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY<br />
<br />
Wealth without work,<br />
Pleasure without conscience,<br />
Knowledge without character,<br />
Commerce without morality,<br />
Science without humanity,<br />
Worship without sacrifice, and<br />
Politics without principle.<br />
<br />
the seven deadly sins - Mahatma Gandhi<br />
<br />
<br />
INTERFAITH PRAYER OF THE DAY<br />
<br />
Prayer<br />
Spirit of life and love--<br />
Soul of souls<br />
And sole of soles--<br />
Thank you<br />
For the ground of being<br />
Upon which I am blessed<br />
To place my feet<br />
Each day.<br />
Thank you for the light<br />
Shining upon<br />
Each path<br />
That presents itself<br />
Before me.<br />
Thank you, spirit of life and love<br />
Soul of souls<br />
For the journey<br />
You place before me--<br />
The stroll<br />
The saunter<br />
The wondering.<br />
The pilgrimage<br />
The hajj<br />
El camino.<br />
Thank you for the forks<br />
In the road<br />
Which cause me to pause<br />
To question<br />
To discern.<br />
Thank you for the labyrinthine way<br />
No forks<br />
No dead ends<br />
Just going in<br />
To find out.<br />
Thank you, spirit of life and love<br />
For the moonlight<br />
For the walks along the highway<br />
Among the willows<br />
Searching for you<br />
And finding you<br />
In every step.<br />
Every root<br />
Every rut.<br />
Every vista<br />
Of the undulating riverbed<br />
Of the floodwaters.<br />
Thank you, spirit of life and love<br />
For stability<br />
For resilience<br />
For strength<br />
Involved in every step<br />
Literally every step<br />
I take.<br />
And with every step I take<br />
I give thanks<br />
For all the kindred travelers<br />
I encounter--<br />
The birds<br />
The couples<br />
The dogs leading the way<br />
The entourages<br />
The single birder with his binoculars<br />
Babies in slings<br />
Old women with walking sticks<br />
Speakers of foreign tongues<br />
Squirrels<br />
Turtles<br />
Fish<br />
And the two young women<br />
In pilot shades<br />
And porkpie hats<br />
Both paused in a spot of shade<br />
Looking seriously<br />
At their smart phones<br />
Immune<br />
To the beauty<br />
Around them.<br />
May they some day<br />
Tuck away<br />
Gadgety things<br />
Raise their eyes<br />
And<br />
Like Saul<br />
On the road to Damascus<br />
Be struck<br />
By a call<br />
To live life<br />
Fully awake<br />
Right here<br />
Right now<br />
On the path<br />
They have found themselves on.<br />
Spirit of life and love--<br />
So may the same<br />
Be for me.<br />
May the walk<br />
I walk<br />
Find me<br />
Lost<br />
In humility<br />
In awe<br />
In beauty<br />
And ultimately<br />
In discovery<br />
I have been found<br />
By grace<br />
Walking its way<br />
To me.<br />
believed to written by Eliza Galaher<br />
<br />
<br />
A COURSE IN MIRACLES<br />
LESSON 82<br />
We will review these ideas today:<br />
<br />
(63) The light of the world brings peace to every mind through my forgiveness.<br />
<br />
<i>Let peace extend from my mind to yours, [name].</i><br />
<i>I share the light of the world with you, [name]. </i><br />
<i>Through my forgiveness I can see this as it is.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
(64) Let me not forget my function.<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>Let me not use this to hide my function from me.</i><br />
<i>I would use this as an opportunity to fulfill my function. </i><br />
<i>This may threaten my ego, but cannot change my function in any way.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<br />
EDGAR CAYCE DAILY READING<br />
Think on This...<br />
<br />
Then, we would give that not only must the body-mind turn to the spiritual promises that are a part of its mental and spiritual self, but the environment must be changed; so that the spiritual promises may be put to active service and work to replace the habits with the habits of doing good, doing right, doing justice, being merciful.<br />
<br />
Reading 1427-1<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351458071273205055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2484391566010160154.post-65260704469151548222012-04-02T09:45:00.001-07:002012-04-02T18:17:38.728-07:00When and How Can Serving Others Become Simply Building Up My Spiritual Ego?<div style="text-align: center;">
In other words, "How Might I Live Simply (Sustainably) So That Others Might Simply Live?"</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Friars">New Friars Movement</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.servantpartners.org/">Servant Partners</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.wordmadeflesh.org/">Word Made Flesh</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Monasticism">New Monasticism </a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.elephantjournal.com/2011/10/bernie-glassman-1-not-knowing-bearing-witness-loving-action/">Bernie Glassman 1: Not Knowing, Bearing Witness, Loving Action </a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://dangerousharvests.blogspot.com/2011/10/are-bearing-witness-retreats-sugar-for.html?spref=bl">Dangerous Harvests: Are Bearing Witness Retreats Sugar for the Privile...</a>: Over at one of her blogs, Buddhist blogger Nella Lou writes: There’s a lot of these witnessing retreats going on where the bourgeoisie p...<br />
<br />
<br />
It's incredibly oxymoronic to think that I and/or we can fully "Bear Witness" to what those who died at Auschwitz experienced during WWII at a "retreat," and yet is it not worth my or your while to strive to experience their suffering in some small sense, whether it's reading an auto-biography of a survivor or going to the site and sitting amongst the ashes so to speak?<br />
I DON'T KNOW YOU TELL ME? I really am interested in ALL of your thoughts and feelings on this so feel free to comment whenever and however. No Condemnation nor Criticism. ALL Comments are Welcome...??? All I ask is that you read the above articles and/or posts and think about them before commenting.<br />
<br />
Peace and Love,<br />
DanielAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351458071273205055noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2484391566010160154.post-8093216669636541222012-04-02T08:41:00.004-07:002012-04-02T08:41:35.532-07:00THE HOLY FOOL, CRAZY WISDOM, and THE LORD OF THE DANCE<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy_wisdom" style="text-align: center;">Wikipedia article on Crazy Wisdom</a>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80jGSadccmY">Crazy Wisdom: The Life & Times of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche -Trailer -Shambhala </a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foolishness_for_Christ">Foolishness for Christ</a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Great article: <a href="http://www.ts.mu.edu/content/62/62.4/62.4.3.pdf">THE WISDOM OF HOLY FOOLS IN POSTMODERNITY </a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://journeytothesea.com/shiva-lord-of-the-dance/">Shiva, Lord of the Dance</a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
LORD OF THE DANCE</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
by </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Robert Lentz</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YI6OLHgN_pI/T3nHomrErMI/AAAAAAAABBc/45y47wRksKA/s1600/Lord-of-the-Dance.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YI6OLHgN_pI/T3nHomrErMI/AAAAAAAABBc/45y47wRksKA/s320/Lord-of-the-Dance.JPG" width="253" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
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Note: The following is from the website of Trinity Stores, which used to sell the icon:<br />
<br />
"One of the most ancient masculine images of God in Europe is a benign antlered figure. This image predates Celtic civilization, but was embraced by the Celts for its beauty and truth. The Horned God was a protector of all animal life. He was especially linked with the masculine sexuality and spirituality. He was considered Lord of the Otherworld and guided souls to their destination after death. In Celtic art he is usually shown sitting cross-legged and wearing a torque -- the Celtic symbol of authority.<br />
<br />
"Christian missionaries tried to stamp out the image of the horned god when they came to northern lands. Monastic scribes re-told ancient legends with an increasingly sinister twist. In time, the Horned God was pictured in the popular imagination as a demonic figure who rode through the night skies in search of damned souls. There are still places in England, however, where Christian men don stag antlers and dance for ancient feasts.<br />
<br />
"In Celtic mythology, individuals like Merlin sometimes assume the personality of the Horned God. In this icon, the Horned God is connected with Christ. Christ sits before us in the posture of the Horned God, totally naked, but without shame. His confident nakedness emphasizes that what God has made is good. Behind him are ancient European petroglyphs of the Horned God. He bears the wounds of his crucifixion to signify that he has risen and has taken a more cosmic character than he had during his life in Palestine. He is beating a drum and inviting us to dance; reminiscent of a medieval English carol that describes him as the 'Lord of the Dance.' "<br />
<br />
For more details on the Lord of the Dance and the Horned God, click here:<br />
<a href="https://www.trinitystores.com/?&detail=610&artist=1&more=1">Trinity: Religious Artwork and Icons</a><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
THE LORD OF THE DANCE<br />
I danced in the morning when the world was begun,<br />
And I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun,<br />
And I came down from heaven and I danced on the earth,<br />
At Bethlehem I had my birth.<br />
Refrain<br />
<br />
Dance, then, wherever you may be;<br />
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he.<br />
And I’ll lead you all wherever you may be,<br />
And I’ll lead you all in the dance, said he.<br />
<br />
I danced for the scribe and the Pharisee,<br />
But they would not dance and they would not follow me;<br />
I danced for the fishermen, for James and John;<br />
They came to me and the dance went on.<br />
<br />
Refrain<br />
<br />
I danced on the sabbath when I cured the lame,<br />
The holy people said it was a shame;<br />
They whipped and they stripped and they hung me high;<br />
And they left me there on a cross to die.<br />
<br />
Refrain<br />
<br />
I danced on a Friday and the sky turned black;<br />
It’s hard to dance with the devil on your back;<br />
They buried my body and they thought I’d gone,<br />
But I am the dance and I still go on.<br />
<br />
Refrain<br />
<br />
They cut me down and I leapt up high,<br />
I am the life that’ll never, never die;<br />
I’ll live in you if you’ll live in me;<br />
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he.<br />
<br />
Refrain<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351458071273205055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2484391566010160154.post-234463890144606802012-04-01T19:18:00.000-07:002012-04-01T19:34:31.980-07:00Catch Up and Check InMy Lenten Fast is over and I have learned that, for me personally, it is easier to give up an habitual behavior than it is to take on a new behavior. Melissa (my spouse), claims I was easier to live with while I was not drinking alcohol and my son (Griffin), who believes just about anything he reads at present, asked if I have ever partook of spirits, meaning alcohol, and I said, "yes." He promptly freaked out, showing me a school library book entitled, Spontaneous Combustion, telling me there was was a story in it about a woman who consumed so many spirits that she exploded on a hot day (it's Aprils Fools Day today but this is a true story based on true events).<br />
<br />
As for religious holidays that I have missed celebrating and/or mentioning on this blog:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>HOLI</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Hindu holiday</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
celebrated on March 9th</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: left;">from Wikipedia</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Holi (Hindi: होली), is a religious spring festival celebrated by Hindus. Holi is also known as Festival of Colours. It is primarily observed in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, and countries with large Indic diaspora populations following Hinduism, such as Suriname, Malaysia, Guyana, South Africa, Trinidad, United Kingdom, United States, Mauritius, and Fiji. It is also known as Doḷajāta (Oriya: ଦୋଳଯାତ) in Orissa and Dol Jatra (Bengali: দোলযাত্রা) or Basantotsav ("spring festival") (Bengali: বসন্তোৎসব) in West Bengal. The most celebrated Holi is in the Braj region, in locations connected to the Lord Krishna: Mathura, Vrindavan, Nandagaon, and Barsana. These places have become tourist destinations during the festive season of Holi.Large parts of South India, however, do not celebrate Holi with the same fervour as in other parts of the country.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The main day, Holi, also known as Dhuli in Sanskrit, also Dhulheti, Dhulandi or Dhulendi, is celebrated by people throwing scented powder and perfume at each other. Bonfires are lit on the eve of the festival, also known as Holika Dahan (burning of Holika) or Chhoti Holi (little Holi). After doing holika dahan prayers are said and praise is offered. The bonfires are lit in memory of the miraculous escape that young Prahlad accomplished when Demoness Holika, sister of Hiranyakashipu, carried him into the fire. Holika was burnt but Prahlad, a staunch devotee of god Vishnu, escaped without any injuries due to his unshakable devotion. Holika Dahan is referred to as Kama Dahanam in South India.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
Holi is celebrated at the end of the winter season on the last full moon day of the lunar month Phalguna (February/March), (Phalgun Purnima), which usually falls in the later part of February or March. In 2009, Holi (Dhulandi) was on March 11 and Holika Dahan was on March 10. In 2010, Holi was on March 1 and Holika Dahan was on February 28. In 2011, Holi was on March 20 and Holika Dahan was on March 19.<br />
In most areas, Holi lasts about two days. One of Holi’s biggest customs is the loosening strictness of social structures, which normally include age, gender, status, and caste. Holi closes the wide gaps between social classes and brings Hindus together. Together, the rich and poor, women and men, enjoy each other’s presence on this joyous day. Additionally, Holi lowers (but does not remove completely) the strictness of social norms. No one expects polite behavior; as a result, the atmosphere is filled with excitement, fun and joy.<br />
Every year, thousands of Hindus participate in the festival Holi. The festival has many purposes. First and foremost, it celebrates the beginning of the new season, spring. It also has a religious purpose, commemorating many events that are present in Hindu mythology. Although it is the least religious holiday, it is probably one of the most exhilarating ones in existence. During this event, participants hold a bonfire, throw colored powder at each other, and celebrate wildly.<br />
Originally, it was a festival that commemorated good harvests and the fertile land. In addition to celebrating the coming of spring, Holi has even greater purposes. Hindus believe it is a time of enjoying spring's abundant colors and saying farewell to winter. Furthermore, Holi celebrates many religious myths and legends.<br />
Rangapanchami occurs a few days later on a Panchami (fifth day of the full moon), marking the end of festivities involving colours.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Vaisakhi </b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Sikh holiday<br />
celebrated on March 13th</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
from Wikipedia</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
For people of Punjab, especially the Sikhs, Visakhi is a mega event. It's a religious as well as harvest festival and New Year Day also. For the Sikh community, it has a very special meaning. Sikhs celebrate Visakhi as the day of the formation of the Khalsa (the pure one). On the day, in 1699, Guru Gobind Singh (the tenth Sikh Guru) established the Khalsa and eliminated the differences of high and low and established that all human beings are equal.Sikhism, in its present form, owes its existence to that Visakhi day. After the Visakhi day of 1699, the tradition of Gurus was put to an end by the Sikhs and later the Guru Granth Sahib was declared as their eternal guide and Holy Book by the tenth Guru.<br />
<br />
The history tells another story that in 1567, Guru Ram Das committed Visakhi as one of the special days, when all the Sikhs would assemble to seek the blessings from Guru at Goindwal. Many Sikhs believe that on the day of Baisakhi, martyred by the barbaric acts of the Muslim rulers. According to the legend, he was dumped into boiling oil, by the Muslim rulers.<br />
<br />
<b>Creation of the Khalsa</b><br />
It was the Visakhi day of 1699. The tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, standing outside a tent, called for a Sikh to sacrifice himself, on hearing this one Sikh volunteer presented himself before the Guru for sacrifice. Then the Guru took him to a tent a and came out with a blood stained sword that frightened the gathering. He then called for another volunteer four more times, and one-by-one, four others stepped forward for the calling of their guru. The same happened with the four. Later, the Guru used his Divine powers to bring the 5 back to life. The "5 Beloved Ones" were given a new life, they were reborn and were given a unique appearance and were called the Singh's. Then the Guru made Amrit (sacred water) with clear water and Patashas (Punjabi sweeteners) in an iron bowl while reading the holy Gurbani and baptized the five volunteers with the Amrit, added Singh to their names and called them Panj Piare (the beloved five). Then the Guru took the Amrit from them and became Gobind Singh from Gobind Rai.<br />
<br />
(There is another story that says that he sacrificed goats instead of people and that this story was actually a test of devotion to the cause. It is the one that is more popularly believed by Sikhs.)<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>St. Patricks Day</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Christian holiday<br />
celebrated on March 17th</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
from Wikipedia</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
Saint Patrick's Day or the Feast of Saint Patrick (Irish: Lá Fhéile Pádraig, "the Day of the Festival of Patrick") is a cultural and religious holiday celebrated on 17 March. It commemorates Saint Patrick (c. AD 387–461), the most commonly recognised of the patron saints of Ireland, and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland.<br />
It is observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion (especially the Church of Ireland), the Eastern Orthodox Church and Lutheran Church. Saint Patrick's Day was made an official feast day in the early seventeenth century, and has gradually become a celebration of Irish culture in general.<br />
The day is generally characterised by the attendance of church services, wearing of green attire, public parades and processions, and the lifting of Lenten restrictions on eating, and drinking alcohol, which is often proscribed during the rest of the season.<br />
Saint Patrick's Day is a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland,Newfoundland and Labrador and Montserrat. It is also widely celebrated by the Irish diaspora, especially in places such as Great Britain, Canada, the United States, Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand, among others. Today, St. Patrick's Day is probably the most widely celebrated saint's day in the world.<br />
<br />
<br />
Little is known of Patrick's early life, though it is known that he was born in Roman Britain in the fourth century, into a wealthy Romano-British family. His father was a deacon and his grandfather was a priest in the Christian church. At the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken captive to Ireland as a slave. It is believed he was held somewhere on the west coast of Ireland, possibly Mayo, but the exact location is unknown. According to his Confession, he was told by God in a dream to flee from captivity to the coast, where he would board a ship and return to Britain. Upon returning, he quickly joined the Church in Auxerre in Gaul and studied to be a priest.[citation needed]<br />
In 432, he again said that he was called back to Ireland, though as a bishop, to Christianise the Irish from their native polytheism. Irish folklore tells that one of his teaching methods included using the shamrock to explain the Christian doctrine of the Trinity to the Irish people. After nearly thirty years of evangelism, he died on 17 March 461, and according to tradition, was buried at Downpatrick. Although there were other more successful missions to Ireland from Rome, Patrick endured as the principal champion of Irish Christianity and is held in esteem in the Irish church.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Spring/Vernal Equinox</b></div>
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Wiccan/Pagan holiday<br />
celebrated on March 20th (and/or September 23rd in the Southern hemisphere)</div>
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from Wikipedia</div>
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The vernal equinox, often called Ostara, is celebrated in the Northern hemisphere around March 21 and in the Southern hemisphere around September 23, depending upon the specific timing of the equinox. Among the Wiccan sabbats, it is preceded by Imbolc and followed by Beltane.<br />
The name Ostara may be related to the word for "east". It has been connected to the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre by Jacob Grimm in his Deutsche Mythologie.<br />
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In terms of Wiccan ditheism, this festival is characterized by the rejoining of the Mother Goddess and her lover-consort-son, who spent the winter months in death. Other variations include the young God regaining strength in his youth after being born at Yule, and the Goddess returning to her Maiden aspect.<br />
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<b>Naw-Ruz</b></div>
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Baha i and Persian New Year<br />
celebrated on March 2121</div>
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from Wikipedia</div>
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Nowrūz (Persian: نوروز, IPA: [nouˈɾuːz], meaning "[The] New Day") is the name of the Iranian New Year in Iranian calendars and the corresponding traditional celebrations. Nowruz is also widely referred to as the "Persian New Year".<br />
Nowruz is celebrated and observed by Iranian peoples and the related cultural continent and has spread in many other parts of the world, including parts of Central Asia, Caucasus, South Asia, Northwestern China, the Crimea and some groups in the Balkans.<br />
Nowruz marks the first day of spring and the beginning of the year in Iranian calendar. It is celebrated on the day of the astronomical vernal equinox, which usually occurs on March 21 or the previous/following day depending on where it is observed. As well as being a Zoroastrian holiday and having significance amongst the Zoroastrian ancestors of modern Iranians, the same time is celebrated in parts of the South Asian sub-continent as the new year. The moment the Sun crosses the celestial equator and equalizes night and day is calculated exactly every year and Iranian families gather together to observe the rituals.<br />
Originally being a Zoroastrian festival, and the holiest of them all, Nowruz is believed to have been invented by Zoroaster himself, although there is no clear date of origin. Since the Achaemenid era the official year has begun with the New Day when the Sun leaves the zodiac of Pisces and enters the zodiacal sign of Aries, signifying the Spring Equinox.<br />
The Jewish festival of Purim is probably adopted from the Persian New Year. It is also a holy day for Sufis, Ismailis, Alawites, Alevis, and adherents of the Bahá'í Faith.<br />
The term Nowruz in writing, first appeared in Persian records in the 2nd century AD, but it was also an important day during the time of the Achaemenids c. 548–330 BC), where kings from different nations under the Persian empire used to bring gifts to the Emperor, also called King of Kings (Shahanshah), of Persia on Nowruz. The significance of Nowruz in the Achaemenid empire was such that the great Persian king Cambyses II's appointment as the king of Babylon was legitimized only after his participation in the New Year festival (Nowruz).<br />
The UN's General Assembly in 2010 recognized the International Day of Nowruz, describing it a spring festival of Persian origin which has been celebrated for over 3,000 years.During the meeting of The Inter-governmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Heritage of the United Nations, held between 28 September – 2 October 2009 in Abu Dhabi, Nowrūz was officially registered on the UNESCO List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.<br />
<b>Naw-Rúz in the Bahá'í Faith</b><br />
Naw-Rúz in the Bahá'í Faith is one of nine holy days for adherents of the Bahá'í Faith worldwide and the first day of the Bahá'í calendar occurring on the vernal equinox, around March 21. The Bahá'í calendar is composed of 19 months, each of 19 days, and each of the months is named after an attribute of God; similarly each of the nineteen days in the month also are named after an attribute of God. The first day and the first month were given the attribute of Bahá, an Arabic word meaning splendour or glory, and thus the first day of the year was the day of Bahá in the month of Bahá. Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, explained that Naw-Rúz was associated with the Most Great Name of God, and was instituted as a festival for those who observed the Nineteen day fast.<br />
The day is also used to symbolize the renewal of time in each religious dispensation. `Abdu'l-Bahá, Bahá'u'lláh's son and successor, explained that significance of Naw-Rúz in terms of spring and the new life it brings. He explained that the equinox is a symbol of the messengers of God and the message that they proclaim is like a spiritual springtime, and that Naw-Rúz is used to commemorate it.<br />
As with all Bahá'í holy days, there are few fixed rules for observing Naw-Rúz, and Bahá'ís all over the world celebrate it as a festive day, according to local custom. Persian Bahá'ís still observe many of the Iranian customs associated with Nowruz such as the Haft Sîn, but American Bahá'í communities, for example, may have a potluck dinner, along with prayers and readings from Bahá'í scripture.<br />
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351458071273205055noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2484391566010160154.post-15306173069225641962012-04-01T18:34:00.002-07:002012-04-01T19:27:12.129-07:00Day 81SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY<br />
Silence, they say, is the voice of complicity.<br />
But silence is impossible.<br />
Silence screams.<br />
Silence is a message,<br />
just as doing nothing is an act.<br />
<br />
Let who you are ring out and resonate<br />
in every word and every deed.<br />
Yes, become who you are.<br />
There's no sidestepping your own being<br />
or your own responsibility.<br />
<br />
What you do is who you are.<br />
You are your own comeuppance.<br />
You become your own message.<br />
<br />
You are the message.<br />
<br />
prison writings - My Life is My Sun Dance - Leonard Peltier<br />
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INTERFAITH PRAYER OF THE DAY<br />
O Krishna, it is right that the world delights<br />
and rejoices in your praise,<br />
that all the saints and sages bow down to you<br />
and all evil flees before you to the far corners of the universe.<br />
<br />
How could they not worship you, O Lord?<br />
You are the eternal spirit,<br />
who existed before Brahma the creator<br />
and who will never cease to be,<br />
the Lord of the gods,<br />
you are the abode of the universe.<br />
Changeless, you are what is and what is not,<br />
and beyond the duality of existence and nonexistence.<br />
<br />
You are the first among gods,<br />
the timeless spirit, the resting place of all beings.<br />
You are the knower and the thing which is known.<br />
You are the final home;<br />
within your infinite form you pervade the cosmos.<br />
<br />
You are Vayu, god of wind;<br />
Yama, god of death;<br />
Agni, god of fire;<br />
Varuna, god of water.<br />
You are the moon and the creator Prajapati,<br />
and the great-grandfather of all creatures.<br />
I bow before you and salute you again and again.<br />
<br />
You are behind me and in front of me;<br />
I bow to you on every side.<br />
Your power is immeasurable.<br />
You pervade everything;<br />
you are everything.<br />
<br />
The Bhagavad Gita - 11:36-40 - Arjuna<br />
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NAM RAVAMI<br />
from Wikipedia<br />
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Ram Navami (Devanāgarī: राम नवमी) also known as Sri Rama Navami (IAST SriRām-navamī) is a Hindu festival, celebrating the birth of Lord Rama to King Dasharatha and Queen Kausalya of Ayodhya. Ram is the 7th incarnation of the Dashavatara of Vishnu. Years later Lord Rama was married to Sita on the Vivaha Panchami. The sacred marriage of Devi Sita with Lord Rama was held on Margashirsha Shukla Panchami as per Valmiki Ramayana (This occasion is known as Seetha kalyanam). The SreeRama Navami festival falls in the Shukla Paksha on the Navami, the ninth day of the month of Chaitra in the Hindu calendar. Thus it is also known as Chaitra Masa Suklapaksha Navami, and marks the end of the nine-day Chaitra-Navratri celebrations.<br />
At some places the festival lasts the whole nine days of the Navratras, thus the period is called 'Sri Rama Navratra'. It is marked by continuous recitals, Akhand Paath, mostly of the Ramacharitamanas, organized several days in advance to culminate on this day, with elaborate bhajan, kirtan and distribution of prasad after the puja and aarti. Images of infant form of Sri Rama are placed on cradles and rocked by devotees. Since Rama is the 7th incarnation of Vishnu having born at noon, temples and family shrines are elaborately decorated and traditional prayers are chanted together by the family in the morning. Also, at temples special havans are organized, along with Vedic chanting of Vedic mantras and offerings of fruits and flowers. Many followers mark this day by Vrata (fasting) through the day followed by feasting in the evening, or at the culmination of celebrations.In South India,in Bhadrachalam the day is also celebrated as the wedding anniversary of Sri Rama and his consort Sita. Sitarama Kalyanam, the ceremonial wedding ceremony of the celestial couple is held at temples throughout the south region, with great fanfare and accompanied by group chanting of name of Rama, (Rama nama smaranam). Whereas the marriage is celebrated in Mithila and Ayodhya during another day on Vivaha Panchami as per Valmiki Ramayana.<br />
The important celebrations on this day take place at Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh), Bhadrachalam (Andhra Pradesh) and Rameswaram (Tamil Nadu), thronged by thousands of devotees. Rathayatras, the chariot processions, also known as Shobha yatras of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana and Hanuman, are taken out at several places, including Ayodhya where thousands of people take a dip in the sacred river Sarayu.<br />
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A COURSE IN MIRACLES<br />
LESSON 81<br />
Our ideas for review today are:<br />
<br />
(61) I am the light of the world.<br />
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<i>Let me not obscure the light of the world in me. </i><br />
<i>Let the light of the world shine through this appearance. </i><br />
<i>This shadow will vanish before the light.</i><br />
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(62) Forgiveness is my function as the light of the world.<br />
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<i>Let this help me learn what forgiveness means.</i><br />
<i>Let me not separate my function from my will. </i><br />
<i>I will not use this for an alien purpose.</i><br />
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EDGAR CAYCE DAILY READING<br />
Think on This...<br />
Look within. For thy body is indeed the temple of the living God. Thy purpose in life, in the experience in the earth, is to magnify that glory which may be thine when ye have attained to same.<br />
Reading 3457-1<br />
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TODAY'S RELIGIOUS iCON</div>
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April Fools Palm Sunday</div>
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RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS</div>
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Have fun with the jokes but be nice.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351458071273205055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2484391566010160154.post-78956905485518174682012-03-30T03:52:00.001-07:002012-03-30T03:52:58.559-07:00Day 80<br />
SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY<br />
All of Zen, all of Buddhism, is about the same thing: your life- your own suffering and how to go beyond this suffering, “to go beyond means to embody it and yet be unattached to it".<br />
From 24/7 Dharma (published 2001) by Genpo Roshi, (updated March 29, 2012<br />
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INTERFAITH PRAYER OF THE DAY<br />
May I go beyond my own pain today.<br />
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A COURSE IN MIRACLES<br />
LESSON 80<br />
Let me recognize my problems have been solved.<br />
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EDGAR CAYCE DAILY READING<br />
Think on This...<br />
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Be ye mindful that He of whom ye speak, when ye preach, giveth power to the words, only as ye practice it in thine own life. Ye may not expect to succeed in convincing thy brother that he should be patient or kind, or even hear thee unless ye are patient and kind thyself. Don't preach one thing and practice another. For this is inconsistent, and inconsistency is sin, and be sure thy sins will find thee out... Don't keep telling people what they ought to do, nor keep telling them what a great personage thou art, but so live that thy life is consistent with what the word speaketh. For as ye may know, and should know by this period, "Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God, with all thy heart and mind and body and thy neighbor as thyself," is the whole gospel and as ye live it ye can preach it... For whatsoever a man soweth that he also must reap.<br />
Reading 5275-1<br />
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TODAY'S RELIGIOUS iCON</div>
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RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS<br />
Take it easy on yourself todayAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351458071273205055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2484391566010160154.post-77565871901911719032012-03-28T06:37:00.002-07:002012-03-28T07:01:31.783-07:00Day 79<br />
SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY<br />
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All human beings are limbs of each other,<br />
having been created of one essence.<br />
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When time affects a limb with pain,<br />
The other limbs cannot at rest remain.<br />
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If thou feel not other's misery,<br />
A human being is no name for thee.<br />
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great Iranian poet - Sa'adi - c. 1210-1290<br />
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INTERFAITH PRAYER OF THE DAY<br />
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Disturb us, Lord, when<br />
We are too well pleased with ourselves,<br />
When our dreams have come true<br />
Because we have dreamed too little,<br />
When we arrived safely<br />
Because we sailed too close to the shore.<br />
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Disturb us, Lord, when<br />
With the abundance of things we possess<br />
We have lost our thirst<br />
For the waters of life;<br />
Having fallen in love with life,<br />
We have ceased to dream of eternity<br />
And in our efforts to build a new earth,<br />
We have allowed our vision<br />
Of the new Heaven to dim.<br />
<br />
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,<br />
To venture on wider seas<br />
Where storms will show your mastery;<br />
Where losing sight of land,<br />
We shall find the stars.<br />
<br />
We ask You to push back<br />
The horizons of our hopes;<br />
And to push into the future<br />
In strength, courage, hope, and love.<br />
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attributed - Sir Francis Drake -1577<br />
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A COURSE IN MIRACLES<br />
LESSON 79<br />
Let me recognize the problem so it can be solved.<br />
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EDGAR CAYCE DAILY READING<br />
Think on This...<br />
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Follow in that way that leads to the perfect understanding in Him, the giver of all good and perfect gifts, living as the ensample of manifested conditions exemplified in the body before a material world. Be not faint hearted, nor over-anxious, in the development, for the will of Him, the giver, must be made the will of the man.<br />
Reading 137-7<br />
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TODAY'S RELIGIOUS iCON</div>
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XTIAN KOAN OF THE DAY<br />
Does God have Buddha nature?<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351458071273205055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2484391566010160154.post-59004051954005450542012-03-27T05:31:00.001-07:002012-03-27T05:31:09.629-07:00Day 78<br />
SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY<br />
Sorrow springs from craving<br />
Fear springs from craving.<br />
Who ever is free from craving<br />
knows neither sorrow nor fear.<br />
Dhammapada 16:8<br />
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INTERFAITH PRAYER OF THE DAY<br />
He said,<br />
If I Pray<br />
Pray<br />
If I Pray<br />
Pray<br />
<br />
Our Father<br />
Which art in heaven,<br />
Hallowed be<br />
Your holy name.<br />
Thy Kingdom come,<br />
Just let your will be done<br />
On earth,<br />
As it is in heaven.<br />
Give us this day<br />
Our daily bread.<br />
Forgive us our debts,<br />
As we forgive our debtors.<br />
And lead us not<br />
Into all temptation,<br />
But deliver us<br />
From all sin and evil:<br />
For Thine is the kingdom,<br />
Thine is the power,<br />
Thine is the glory,<br />
Forever. Amen.<br />
<br />
He said,<br />
I am Safe<br />
Safe<br />
I am Safe<br />
Safe<br />
<br />
Safe<br />
Safe<br />
Safe<br />
Safe<br />
Hallelujah<br />
Hallelujah<br />
Hallelujah<br />
Hallelujah<br />
I'm<br />
<br />
Safe<br />
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gospel song - I'm Safe - Walter Boone - 1985<br />
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A COURSE IN MIRACLES<br />
LESSON 78<br />
Let miracles replace all grievances.<br />
<br />
<i>Let me behold my savior in this one You have appointed as </i><br />
<i>the one for me to ask to lead me to the holy light in which he </i><br />
<i>stands, that I may join with him.</i><br />
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EDGAR CAYCE DAILY READING<br />
Think on This...<br />
Use thy abilities - in every way - to heal those conditions, those disturbances in those relations with groups or individuals; whether in body or in purse, in mind or in spirit. For thy way is set. Keep thou the faith - for this alone brings the joyous cry, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant - enter into the joys of thy Lord."<br />
Reading 1662-2<br />
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TODAY'S RELIGIOUS iCON<br />
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HAIKU OF THE DAY</div>
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Inverted commas,<br />
Cackle grackle, pause, cackle<br />
sit upon the line<br />
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RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS<br />
Send out and think, "Buen Camino, Good Travels, Go in Safety" today.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351458071273205055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2484391566010160154.post-11425303342392937182012-03-26T07:15:00.002-07:002012-03-26T07:15:46.918-07:00Day 77<br />
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TODAY'S RELIGIOUS iCON</div>
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SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY<br />
<i>Song of Myself</i><br />
I celebrate myself, and sing myself,<br />
And what I assume you shall assume,<br />
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.<br />
<i>Walt Whitman</i><br />
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INTERFAITH PRAYER OF THE DAY</div>
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God, help me remember that the higher human within me is in constant development.</div>
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Help me achieve the state of calm and serenity required for an orderly development of my higher being.</div>
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Let me enter lovingly into the merits, those things worthy of praise, of each person I meet.</div>
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Let what calls me to action be motives of admiration, delighted approval,</div>
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and reverential regard everywhere in my environment.</div>
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Give me the confidence to remember that such devotion gives me power to attain higher knowledge.</div>
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When I discover in my consciousness adverse, disparaging, and critical judgment</div>
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of people, the world, and of life, help me find the strength</div>
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to cultivate thoughts of devotion -- centering my personal attention,</div>
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activities, and prayers toward truth, knowledge, and love.</div>
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God, help me to remember that my labor and suffering are given and endured</div>
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for the sake of a great, spiritual, cosmic whole -- that the most insignificant action that I have to accomplish,</div>
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the most insignificant experience which offers itself to me</div>
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stands in connection with holy beings and holy events.</div>
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God, help me identify my being distinctly in the cultural,</div>
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political, economic, and group realms, establishing balance in these domains:</div>
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In culture, may I promote</div>
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Liberty</div>
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In politics, may I promote</div>
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Equality</div>
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In economics, may I promote</div>
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Service to Others</div>
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In family and community, may I promote</div>
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Inclusivity and Love</div>
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Amen.</div>
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An Everyday Prayer - Kaitlyn Teague Lundrigan - 2/15/2004</div>
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A COURSE IN MIRACLES<br />
LESSON 77<br />
I am entitled to miracles.<br />
<br />
<i>I will not trade miracles for grievances. I want only what </i><br />
<i>belongs to me. God has established miracles as my right.</i><br />
<br />
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EDGAR CAYCE DAILY READING<br />
Think on This...<br />
<br />
Do not let anxieties become stumblingblocks in thy dealings with others. Do not let the physical conditions become an excuse as to thy feelings and thy relationships to others. Rather let them be met as one.<br />
Reading 1317-1<br />
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TODAY'S EPIPHANY<br />
Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door of grace in one's life.<br />
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RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS<br />
Practice forgiveness with self and others throughout the day today.<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351458071273205055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2484391566010160154.post-58512351263462827912012-03-24T09:32:00.000-07:002012-03-24T16:53:32.493-07:00The Easter Bunny and The Creation of Life on Earth<div style="text-align: left;">
Friend of mine sent me a post from this guy's blog: <a href="http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2012/03/tennessee-senate-passes-bill-allowing.html?m=0">TENNESSEE: Senate Passes Bill Allowing The Teaching Of Creationism</a>. If you choose to read it, also read the comments, then my comment below will make sense.</div>
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The Easter Bunny is an important myth and ritual for many children AND adults in our culture. For children The Bunny is not so much a myth as a dogmatic truth - (For instance- Griff [my 9yr old son] has been saying of late, that he wants to be a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptozoology">cryptozoologist</a> when he grows up. He's totally into the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series at present and is entertaining whether or not the Greek Gods and Monsters, as well as many other Monsters, such as the Loche Ness, are true or fiction. Then there's my mother-in-law, who argues with her mother [who has dementia], saying, "NO, WE'RE NOT IN GEORGIA NOW, MOTHER!!!" when their clearly in Arkansas. I say, why bother? Let them have their fun). <br />
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Of course, the problem comes along when certain adults who could and should "Grow Up" and realize the difference between a Myth/Story (that can and should be ritualized for cultural tradition and religious reasons, if your into that) and Empirical Truth. These Adult/Children then try and cram the idea that the Easter Bunny is a real bunny, who lays eggs, down everybody else's throats and/or they bomb a bus load of individuals for not believing in the Big Eared One who hops into our lives and homes once a year distributing shit that rots your teeth.<br />
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Just Say'n,<br />
But That's Just Me,<br />
Peace and Love,<br />
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The Buddhists say that, "if you meet the Buddha on the road you should kill him." Might I be so bold as to present a Xtian Koan for you all, "if you meet J.C. on the road to Damascus, should you go ahead an crucify Him then and there and be done with it or???"<br />
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BTW, for what it's worth, I believe if you do decide to crucify Him on your road to Damascus, He will just be resurrected in some new and different cultural format/matrix somewhere along the line, so why bother?<br />
Why Bother? Maybe He needs to be resurrected in some new and different cultural format/matrix. Who Knows???<br />
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If your interested you should check out: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Death-Mythic-God-Evolutionary-Spirituality/dp/1571744061">The Death of the Mythic God</a><br />
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Fancy this... Archetypes transcend time ad space therefore they are "more" real than things of an empirical nature, which are "much more" transitory in nature. Just a thought.<br />
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A good friend with whom I'm carrying on this same conversation via email asked the great question , "How can something mythic die?"<br />
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I responded with: According to the Law of Conservation, nothing ever really dies, it just gets recycled. Of course, by that same token, no-thing ever really exists in and of itself apart from everything else. If you or I were to try and pin down a separate self we couldn't do it. Am I my name Daniel Butler? Am I my body? Am I my emotions, thoughts, feelings, desires, needs? All these aspects are just pieces (that are constantly changing and moving around) of a greater whole, which is part of a greater whole, which is a part of a greater whole....<br />
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So, just who and what the hell am I, really? I AM the Ever Present Witness - Conscious Awareness, always at the cutting edge of potential Evolutionary Growth and Development. As Energy, Mass and Conscious Creativity, I Am consistently being Recycled, Reconstituted, Reincarnated, Remade, etc I am Everything and Nothing. I and the Father/Mother are ONE. I AM no less than God incarnate, The Christ, The Buddha, Krishna!!! Hey, but guess what? So are You!!! So are We!!! So are Us!!!! - ALL !!!!<br />
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All For One and One For All<br />
We are all just Punk Ass Chumpiness<br />
on the Great Conveyor Belt/Roller Coaster of Life,<br />
Yipeee!!!!!!<br />
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Peace and Love,<br />
Daniel<br />
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351458071273205055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2484391566010160154.post-51132889538167829392012-03-23T12:47:00.002-07:002012-04-02T19:40:37.660-07:00Personal Entelechy<span id="internal-source-marker_0.986750683747232"><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">en·tel·e·chy </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">n. pl. en·tel·e·chies</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">1. In the philosophy of Aristotle, the condition of a thing whose essence is fully realized; actuality.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">2. In some philosophical systems, a vital force that directs an organism toward self-fulfillment.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.edgarcayce.org/ps2/mysticism_light_of_an_idea.html" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Edgar Cayce on the ultimate importance of setting and living an Ideal </span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and </span><br />
<a href="http://www.edgarcayceaustralia.com/soul02.html" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ideals </span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mick Quinn in his book </span><a href="http://www.mickquinn.com/" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Uncommon Path </span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">speaks of the importance of setting one’s ultimate values by narrowing them down to the top five and making number one of the utmost importance. </span><br />
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.986750683747232"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What does Daniel Butler’s entelechy entail? </span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><b>The big picture, map, WHAT is:</b></i></span></span></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.986750683747232"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Daniel Butler’s entelechy includes nothing less than his highest potential as a </span></b></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.986750683747232"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fully Realized Being in all Four Quadrants of his </span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://nextstepintegral.org/">Integral Life</a></span></b></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.986750683747232"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">with emphasis on what is Good, True, and Beautiful</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b></div>
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<span id="internal-source-marker_0.986750683747232"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in the </span></span><br />
<span id="internal-source-marker_0.986750683747232"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(in order of importance)</span></span></div>
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<span id="internal-source-marker_0.986750683747232"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Work/Finance/Economic, </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kinesthetic/Physical, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Empathetic/Compassion, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cognitive, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Emotional,</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Interpersonal,</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Moral/Values/Ethical</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I put Work/Finance/Economic, then Kinesthetic/Physical lines first because these are areas where I need work, areas where I am lacking and/or weak. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><b>The to the point creative HEART of the matter and/or the WHY is:</b></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to allow<b> Compassion</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Grace</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">for </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Self, Others and the Environment</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">to flow easily through me.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>The nuts and bolts, How is:</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><br /></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">to consistently practice <b>Forgiveness</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">for self and others</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">on a daily basis</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">(in part)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">by repeating the mantra:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>"We/They/You/He/She/I know not what we/they/he/she/I do."</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">to consistently practice <b>Compassion</b> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">for self and others</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">on a daily basis</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(in part)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by repeating the mantra:</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>"Love is greater than fear, I choose Love."</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Always greet others with a <b>silent blessing,</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>"I bless and honor the God in you with and by the God in me."</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><br /></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">by practicing<b> prayer</b> and <b>meditation</b> daily </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">throughout the day.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">by <b>exercising (running, jumping lifting, climbing)</b> and <b>stretching</b> daily</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">throughout the day.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">by being<b> polite</b> and <b>courteous </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">towards others</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> throughout the day everyday</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">by spending some <b>time outside</b> communing <b>with nature</b> everyday</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">(gardening, hiking, climbing trees, swimming).</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">and by </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Living Simply (Sustainably) so that Others May Simply Live.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Working </b>and <b>Striving</b> to<b> Reduce </b>my<b> Carbon Footprint </b>in<b> Communion </b>with and for <b>Others. </b></span></span><br />
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</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351458071273205055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2484391566010160154.post-44312643515012088222012-03-22T20:14:00.001-07:002012-03-26T08:51:40.271-07:00DANIEL’S NOT-SO-NEW-AGE DECONSTRUCTION AND REINTERPRETATION OF THE NICENE CREED<span id="internal-source-marker_0.64039302081801"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">I fully understand that my Evangelical friends from college most probably think I have truly been deluded by Satan and his minions and my more rational atheist and/or agnostic friends think I’m just plain ole’ delusional but because of being heavily informed and influenced by the Edgar Cayce Readings, A Course in Miracles, Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory, a study of the World’s Religions and to lesser extent Eckhart Tolle, Neale Donald Walsch and his Conversations with God and having a rather profound Past Life Regression and Near Death Experience, I have come to accept and believe the refutations of Orthodox Belief cited below.
What I find interesting and odd, is that juxtaposed against the fact, that all those years ago, when I accepted Jesus Christ as my Personal Lord and Savior and made a vocal and public exclamation of faith in a Literal Interpretation of the Bible and the Orthodox Church’s Fundamentals of Faith, professing an understanding and acceptance of the rationale behind the “Roman Road to Salvation” and/or “Vicarious Propitionary Atonement,” then participating in baptism as a further proclamation of my faith in this One and Only Way to Salvation, I now find it very lacking and incomplete.
So what gives? Can one un-know “The Truth?” At the time, I believe, I fully understood what I was being told and feel I had a genuine Spiritual/Religious Experience. Either Truth is Progressive in nature, Conservatively Concrete, or Relative therefore Irrelative. I betcha you can tell what kind of “truth” I’m presently a believer in.
As for Scientific Materialism, Quantum Mechanics along with specific common threads found in the Profound Religious and Spiritual Experiences of many sages, yogis, gurus, and saints of various cultures and religions throughout history, cast a long and dark shadow across any strictly Empirical Truth claim.
In tandem with what I’m stating here, there is a great blog entry by Nancy B. Detweiler, M.Ed., M.Div. at Pathway to Ascension titled: <a href="http://pathwaytoascension.wordpress.com/2012/02/19/an-analysis-of-the-nicene-creed-in-comparison-with-jesus-teachings/">An Analysis of the Nicene Creed in Comparison with Jesus’ Teaching</a>. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">
One last thing before getting into the meat of the subject at hand. Although these personal statements of belief and faith are really nothing “New,” I would like to state that I don’t see myself as a Gnostic Christian; Neo or Trans Gnostic, possibly so but not Gnostic in the traditional sense.
<b>We believe in one God,</b> </span></span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">I believe in a Panentheistic Monotheism,<b> </b></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">For an argument on and for a biblical basis for Panentheism see: </span><a href="http://www.frimmin.com/faith/godinall.php#" style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.frimmin.com/faith/godinall.php#</a><span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and/or </span><a href="http://frimmin.com/" style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Wild Things of God</a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">
</span><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">the Father, the Almighty,</b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">
<i>Father/Mother, Ground of Being, Gaia/Kosmos, that is Awe-some,</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><br /></i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">For an argument on a biblical basis for the feminine face of God see:</span><i style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.franciscan-anglican.com/Sophia.htm" style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Developing a Biblical Sophia Christology </a><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Reverend Rebecca</span><i style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><br /></i></span></span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">maker of heaven and earth, </b><span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>
whose Spirit shines through all creation</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">See above link on Panentheism for a Biblical basis for this statement </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">of all that is, seen and unseen.</b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">
<i>where form is formlessness and formlessness is form.</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">This is a Buddhist statement of Truth found in the <a href="http://www.lapislazulitexts.com/T08_0251.html">Heart Sutra</a>.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
</span><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,</b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">
I believe in the Christ Consciousness that resides within each and every individual,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">For a Biblical basis for Christ Consciousness see: <a href="http://www.yhwh.com/Thoughts/thought_51.htm">A Bible Study in God Consciousness </a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">and/or: </span></span><br />
<ul style="background-color: white; list-style-image: url(data:image/png; list-style-type: square; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 1.6em; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.3em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<li><span style="background-color: white;">John 10:34 Jesus answered them, "Has it not been written in your Law, 'I SAID, YOU ARE GODS'?</span></li>
<li>Psalm 82:6 I have said, You are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.</li>
<li>2 Peter 1:4 says that God enables Christians to be "partakers of the divine nature."</li>
<li>John 17:21 records Jesus' prayer for his followers during the last supper: "You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; [I pray] that they also may be one in Us."</li>
<li>In Galatians 2:20, Paul says "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me."</li>
<li>In Ephesians 4:6, Paul writes "[There is] one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in all.</li>
<li>1 John 4:16: "He who abides in love abides in God, and God in him."</li>
<li>1 Corinthians 6:19: "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?"</li>
<li>2 Timothy 1:14: "Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us."</li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">the only Son of God,</b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">
<i>for we are ALL Sons and Daughters of God.</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Biblical basis for this statement: </span></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Psalm 82:6 I have said, You are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Romans 8:16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Romans 9:26 And, "Then, at the place where they were told, 'You are not my people,' there they will be called 'children of the living God.'"</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">2 Corinthians 6:18 "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Revelation 21:7 All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial;">All will (eventually) be "Victorious!" </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">For two excellent blog posts that provide a Biblical basis for Universalism and against a belief in a literal hell (as in the diametric opposite of heaven) please see:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">the above mentioned blog post - </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://pathwaytoascension.wordpress.com/2012/02/19/an-analysis-of-the-nicene-creed-in-comparison-with-jesus-teachings/">AN ANALYSIS OF THE NICENE CREED IN COMPARISON WITH JESUS’ TEACHINGS </a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">and/or </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.tentmaker.org/articles/jesusteachingonhell.html">Jesus' Teaching on Hell </a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">eternally begotten of the Father,</b><span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>
All are eternally begotten of the Mother/Father, </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">See above for Biblical basis for this statement</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">God from God, Light from Light, </b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">
<i>Divine Intelligent Light,</i></span></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">Psalm 139:12 And the darkness will not darken from you, and the night will shine like the day.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">1 Timothy 6:16 </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no mortal has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen. (Notice, this verse does not say that a mortal/seen cannot merge with The Immortal/Unseen to become the ALL Seeing Eye of God/That Which Sees All).</span></li>
</ul>
<b style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">true God from true God,</b><span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">
<i style="white-space: pre-wrap;">that which is Good, True and Beautiful </i></span><br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.swami-krishnananda.org/com/com_plat.html" style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">blog post on Plato's G.T.B. by Swami Krishnananda</a></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">begotten, not made,</b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">
<i>Eternal Spirit,</i>
</span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul>
<li>Psalm 90:2 <span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Before the Earth would have been brought forth or ever the world would have been acquired, from eternity unto eternity you are God.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Isaiah 40:28 </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">Don't you know? Haven't you heard? The eternal God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn't grow tired or become weary. His understanding is beyond reach.</span></li>
</ul>
<b style="font-family: Arial; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;">of one Being with the Father;</b><span style="font-family: Arial; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;">
<i style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Being of one essence with the Divine Father/Mother;</i></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">John 10:30 “I and my Father, We are One.”</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">John 17:23 I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.</span></li>
</ul>
<b style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">through him all things were made.</b><span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">
<i style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Co-creators with the Mind of the Mother/Father.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></i></span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">"For ye are a corpuscle in the body of God; thus a co-creator with Him, in what ye think, in what ye do." Edgar Cayce Reading 2794-3</span></i></div>
<div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">- - - - - - - - - - - - - </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">For us and for our salvation </b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">
<i>For Jesus, a son of man, was and is the Wayshower, the Elder Brother,</i>
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">
</span><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">he came down from heaven,</b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">
<i>who fully transcended his ego consciousness allowing his Christ Consciousness to shine through his whole being - Body, Soul/Mind, and Spirit.</i>
</span><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary </b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">
<i>He most probably, was physically born from the womb of a young girl named Mary, </i>
</span><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">and became truly human.</b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">
<i>born truly human (just like ALL the rest of us).</i>
</span><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; </b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">
<i>In order to show us the power of Mind and Spirit over suffering and death he was crucified under the reign of Pontius Pilate, Herod, and Caiphus. </i>
</span><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">he suffered death and was buried.</b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">
<i>(Most probably), Jesus the man, died on a cross and was buried. </i>
</span><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">On the third day he rose again</b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">
<i>According to Biblical accounts, he rose from the dead after three days, although</i>
</span><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">in accordance with the Scriptures;</b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">
<i>according to rational thought and scientific method this is highly improbable if not impossible.</i>
</span><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">he ascended into heaven</b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">
<i>Having escaped the karmic wheel of Samsara and completing his mission as a Bodhisattva,</i>
</span><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">and is seated at the right hand of the Father. </b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">
<i>needing never again to reincarnate, his ego consciousness fully merged with Spirit.
(Yes, I fully realize this also does not jibe with traditional rational thought or scientific method).</i>
</span><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, </b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">
<i>We each (our Higher Self), as Sons and Daughters of the Divine, are our own Judge and Jury after each incarnation,</i>
</span><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">and his kingdom will have no end.</b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">
<i>until the time in which we Fully Awaken to our Eternal Christed Nature.</i>
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
</span><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, </b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">
<i>I believe in the Spirit (who is typically understood to exhibit feminine qualities in the manifest realm), from whom, the emptiness of her womb, the entirety of the Kosmos is forever born.</i>
</span><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">who proceeds from the Father and the Son,</b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">
<i>Therefore, the Physical/Kosmos/Children proceed(s) from Spirit the Life and Mind the Maker.</i>
</span><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, </b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">
<i>I believe these three to be a Divine Mystery,</i>
</span><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">who has spoken through the prophets.</b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">
<i>whom impress upon sages throughout the ages to encourage acts of Compassion, Empathy and Justice.</i>
</span><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.</b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">
<i>I believe and take refuge in Jesus Christ, the Community of Saints, and the Truth.</i>
</span><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.</b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">
<i>I believe in the strength and viability of Divine Forgiveness, Grace and Patience as tools for Reconciliation and Integration</i>
</span><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">We look for the resurrection of the dead, </b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">
<i>played out over eons of karmic reincarnation</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.near-death.com/experiences/origen03.html">Reincarnation and the Bible</a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">
</span><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">and the life of the world to come. Amen</b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">
<i>until we awaken to our True Nature in the Godhead.. Amen</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">In closing, I must say, that I find it irrelevant whether or not Jesus actually historically existed in the way the Bible claims he existed. In my estimation, the Myth and Story are grounded in a Spiritual Truth that transcends Historical Truth. </span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351458071273205055noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2484391566010160154.post-75436384164670138252012-03-22T07:19:00.000-07:002012-03-22T07:19:29.924-07:00Day 76<br />
SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY<br />
<br />
Something new is upon us,<br />
and yet nothing is ever new.<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
We are alive in a fearsome time,<br />
and we have been given new things to fear.<br />
<br />
We've been delivered huge blows but also<br />
huge opportunities to reinforce or reinvent our will,<br />
depending on where we look for honor and how we name our enemies.<br />
<br />
The easiest thing is to think of returning the blows.<br />
But there are other things we must think about as well, other dangers we face.<br />
<br />
A careless way of sauntering across the earth and breaking open its treasures,<br />
a terrible dependency on sucking out the world's best juices<br />
for ourselves—these may also be our enemies.<br />
<br />
The changes we dread most may contain our salvation.<br />
<br />
Small Wonder - Barbara Kingsolver - 2002<br />
<br />
<br />
INTERFAITH PRAYER OF THE DAY<br />
<br />
I beg Forgiveness of Allah, my Lord<br />
From all the sins which I have committed,<br />
Consciously and unconsciously,<br />
Hidden and evident.<br />
<br />
I repent and ask forgiveness for all my sins<br />
Of which I am aware or not aware.<br />
<br />
O Allah!<br />
You are the Knower of all things unknown<br />
And the Veiler of disgrace,<br />
The Forgiver of sins.<br />
<br />
There is no power or strength besides<br />
Allah, the Exalted, The Supreme.<br />
<br />
seeking forgiveness - Dr. Lila Fahlman<br />
<br />
<br />
A COURSE IN MIRACLES<br />
LESSON 76<br />
I am under no laws but God's.<br />
<br />
EDGAR CAYCE DAILY READING<br />
Think on This...<br />
<br />
Then remember, Thanksgiving is thy OPPORTUNITY to show thy appreciation to thy friend, thy home, thy mother, thy children - yea, most of all to thy God!<br />
Reading 3976-21<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
TODAY'S RELIGIOUS iCON</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_umhvconit4/T2sz_Ipc6uI/AAAAAAAAA_o/WsHwTqGenhM/s1600/buddy_christ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_umhvconit4/T2sz_Ipc6uI/AAAAAAAAA_o/WsHwTqGenhM/s320/buddy_christ.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
TODAY'S HAIKU<br />
Four old men, six pair of legs<br />
chatter, trip, chatter, trap, chatter<br />
walk over the new bridgeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351458071273205055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2484391566010160154.post-61094843958186680502012-03-21T07:06:00.000-07:002012-03-21T07:06:10.109-07:00Day 75<span id="internal-source-marker_0.5226073337253183"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY</span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Soham Soham Soham Soham</b></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Om Om Om Om Om Om Om Om Om Om
I am neither mind nor body, immortal Self I am
I am witness of three states,
I am knowledge absolute
I am fragrance in jasmine, beauty in flowers
I am coolness in the ice, flavour in the coffee
I am greenness in the leaf, hue in the rainbow
I am taste bud in the tongue, essence in the orange
I am mind of all minds, Prana of all Pranas
I am Soul of all souls, Self of all selves
I am Atman in all beings, apple of all eyes
I am Sun of all suns, Light of all lights.
I am that I am, I am that I am,
I am that I am, I am that I am.
Song of Vibhuti Yoga - Sri Swami Sivananda</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">INTERFAITH PRAYER OF THE DAY</span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Om bramharpanam bramhahavira</b></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>bramhagnau bramhna hutam,
bramhaiva tena gantavyam bramha
karmasamadhina
Om shantih shantih shantih
Oh Almighty! Life is oblation!
We offer all fruits of duty to you.
Kindly concede!
We surrender everything to you!
Oh Almighty! May there be a Peace! Peace! Peace! Everywhere.
The Bhagavad Gita 4:24 - India</b></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A COURSE IN MIRACLES</span></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.5226073337253183"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">The light has come.</span></b></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><i><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The light has come. I have forgiven the world.</span></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EDGAR CAYCE DAILY READING</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Think on This...</span></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.5226073337253183"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">If ye would find self, look within. Know what is thine own ideal - spiritual, mental, material... For judge not if ye be not judged - this is the law. When ye judge, the same judgement ye are passing to thyself.</span></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">RELIGIOUS iCON OF THE DAY</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351458071273205055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2484391566010160154.post-61752499013781706252012-03-20T07:33:00.001-07:002012-03-20T07:33:36.123-07:00Day 74SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY<br />
Empty the boat and it will sail smoothly for you. Throw overboard all desire and hate, and you will reach Nirvana.<br />
Dhammapada 369<br />
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INTERFAITH PRAYER OF THE DAY<br />
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The sons of men are one<br />
and I am one with them.<br />
I seek to love not hate.<br />
I seek to serve and not exact due service.<br />
I seek to heal not hurt.<br />
Let pain bring due reward of light and love.<br />
Let the soul control the outer form<br />
and life and all events,<br />
and bring to light the love which underlies<br />
the happenings of the time.<br />
Let vision come and insight;<br />
let the future stand revealed.<br />
Let inner union demonstrate<br />
and outer cleavages be gone.<br />
Let love prevail.<br />
Let all men love.<br />
Mantram of Unification - Maitreya<br />
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A COURSE IN MIRACLES<br />
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LESSON 74<br />
There is no will but God's.<br />
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<i>There is no will but God's. I cannot be in conflict.</i><br />
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<i>I am at peace.</i><br />
<i>Nothing can disturb me. My will is God's. </i><br />
<i>My will and God's are one. </i><br />
<i>God wills peace for His Son.</i><br />
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<i>There is no will but God's. These conflict </i><br />
<i>thoughts are meaningless.</i><br />
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<i>There is no will but God's. I share it with Him. </i><br />
<i>My conflicts about _____ cannot be real.</i><br />
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<i>There is no will but God's. I seek His peace today.</i><br />
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EDGAR CAYCE DAILY READING<br />
Think on This...<br />
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. . . don't get mad and don't cuss a body out mentally or in voice. This brings more poisons than may be created by even taking foods that aren't good.<br />
Reading 470-37<br />
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TODAY'S RELIGIOUS iCON</div>
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RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS<br />
Pay close attention to what you think and say today. SMILE, and send out Happy, Loving thoughts. Give others compliments.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351458071273205055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2484391566010160154.post-69808774291879645652012-03-19T19:24:00.001-07:002012-03-19T19:29:53.827-07:00Day 73SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY<br />
Look at this window: It is nothing but a hole in the wall, but because of it the whole room is full of light. So when the faculties are empty, the heart is full of light. Being full of light it becomes an influence by which others are secretly transformed.<br />
Chang Tzu 4<br />
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INTERFAITH PRAYER OF THE DAY<br />
Oh Almighty!<br />
We meditate upon the adorable radiant, the divine sun!<br />
May he unfold and give direction to our intellects<br />
to go on the right path!<br />
Rigveda 3:62:10 - 4000 b.c.e. ±<br />
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<span style="font-family: Palatino, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.3em; text-align: left;">A COURSE IN MIRACLES</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Palatino, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.3em; text-align: left;">I will there be light.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Palatino, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><i>I will there be light. Let me behold the light that reflects </i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Palatino, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; text-align: left;"><i><span style="line-height: 20px;">God's Will and mine.</span></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Palatino, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><i>I will there be light. Darkness is not my will.</i></span></span><br />
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EDGAR CAYCE DAILY READING<br />
Think on This...<br />
Blessed, then, are they that make their wills one in accord with Him, as they seek to know, "Lord, what would thou have me do!"<br />
Reading 254-68<br />
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SPIRITUAL READING OF THE DAY<br />
In humility is the greatest freedom.<br />
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As long as you have to defend the imaginary self<br />
that you think is important, you lose your peace of heart.<br />
As soon as you compare that shadow<br />
with the shadows of other people, you lose all joy,<br />
because you have begun to trade in unrealities<br />
and there is no joy in things that do not exist.<br />
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Thomas Merton - 1961<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351458071273205055noreply@blogger.com0