Glad Tidings of Joy

Greetings and Happy Holidays to all who take the time to read this post. I hope whatever your religious beliefs that this is a wonderful holiday season for you and your family. After all, it really is all about family. Those of us who are Christians insist that Christmas is our celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, and for many of us it is still an important element. But anyone truly paying attention would have a hard time denying the fact that this holiday has become most representative of an all out explosion of consumerism, so intense that it even contains elements of violence as evidenced on black Friday. It is clear that too many have no true sense of what the spirit of Christmas is. One of the saddest displays of how acceptable this attitude has become, in my opinion, is the television commercials the Best Buy retail chain ran this Christmas in which the very notion that Santa Claus was the benevolent symbol of Christmas cheer was challenged in favor of the idea that Best Buy would empower the consumer to out do Santa. I found it crass and tasteless, yet I heard no one else express the disgust I felt. On the other hand, there were many examples of those trying to remind us all what Christmas is really about. Many expressions of love and benevolence worldwide. Among my favorite was the many "secret Santa's" around the country who went to places where struggling families had layaway's and paid the costs for those who seemed to most be in need. If I could have had my wish come true, it would have been to have my family; mother, brothers and the rest all together again one more time as it was when we were growing up. Knowing that this can never happen again helps to bring perspective to what Christmas is really all about. I suggest that if Jesus were among us today, he would say that while he appreciates the outpouring of love and affection for him that we say we have; and the honor of having his birth remembered, he would feel most honored if we would show love and compassion for each other, and remember that we must cherish every moment we have with each other, because just as we are all born in simplicity, so shall we return. And what matters most in our lives cannot be found in any retail outlet. Peace on earth.

2012 is the Rebirth, Jubilee

Do you feel the world has gone wrong? That you now live in a world in which the average person has no chance to ever rise above their current circumstances? That there are forces determined to keep you down? If you feel this way, you are absolutely right. We live in a world today in which the very idea of integrity, principle and fair play have been put aside in the name of amassing ever increasing power and wealth. This is not the first time in history that this has happened, in fact the worlds history is full of the rise and fall of civilizations and cultures often as the result of having reached this same point. But never have the people of the world been so able to witness what is really happening and to see the wide ranging effect such efforts have around the world. And never before in the worlds history have so few had the tools to subjugate so many, while misleading and misinforming them about their intentions as they do it. Television, film, newspapers, magazines all are engineered to convince you that rampant consumerism is good, and that its a dog eat dog world. Its all designed to trick you into acting against your own best interests to feed the greed of those who know no bounds, the people have clearly lost their way. Whether you believe in God or not, you know this is not right. It does not matter if you believe in God because contrary to popular belief, God is not an ego maniac who spends his time sitting on a throne waiting for you to declare how great he is. This is an invention of those who would subjugate and rule over you. God will bless you if you keeps his law whether you believe in him or not. God can be thought of in any number of ways. Certainly we are his reflection, but God is reflected by every living thing and is present in all that exists. His love is what binds us together, he is absolute and unconditional. 2000 years ago Jesus Christ was born and he provided the clearest look into who God was and what God required of us. Jesus said the thing you must do to be in accordance with Gods law is Love the lord thy God with all your heart and soul, and love each other as you love yourself.  God is within each of us. When we love each other, we demonstrate our love of God. God is love and by caring for each other we worship him. Clearly if we practiced what Jesus Christ taught, the lack of principle, integrity and fair play that plagues our society could not exist. There is no conflict between your love of each other and your desire to prosper. At no time would I suggest it is evil to be rich. But to be obsessed with anything is destructive. Everyone has a different level of need to be happy. It is not wrong that some may have more than others. If you work hard to achieve all that you can and you are fair, honest and do your business with honor and integrity, you deserve all that you are blessed with. But this means that the people who contribute to your success flourish and are blessed too.  One big misconception is that the concept of capitalism is the all out gathering of wealth without regard to others. Capitalism has inherent within its structure the idea that in order for it to flourish, everyone who participates must prosper. If my business is strong and my employees well paid, it will insure that I will always have customers who can afford my products. If I cheat, steal the resources of and subjugate my employees by refusing to allow their labor to provide a quality life for them, I may get rich, but this is not sustainable. The plan here clearly is to amass all one can before the scheme loses steam and then use the wealth to launch the next scheme. The fact that this concept has become acceptable to so many as honest business is at the root of the worlds problem. This is not the way of God. We are told that the condition the world is in economically is the result of the "Free Markets". But you can't seriously believe markets are free. If markets are free, how can America be the biggest consumer market on earth, dwarfing all other markets, be required to import so many of the goods and services from places so far away? Common sense tells you, even if you have no understanding of economics that his can only happen when markets are rigged. The scariest thing is that so much of the wealth held by the wealthiest few is not even the result of anything manufactured at all, but instead is the result of schemes that steal from you, cheat you and profit from the resources that God gave to us all. In fact much of the worlds wealth is made by creating schemes out of thin air in which we pay unfair amounts of money for whatever they can be attached to. It is truly ironic to me that so many of the people who claim to believe in God make so much of their money from interest and fees on everything, something the Old Testament clearly forbid. How can it be fair for the interest on something you buy wind up making that item cost several times its original value, and if this attempt to subjugate you fails and you cannot make the payments, the item can be taken from you, sold to a crony at a price well below its market value and you still be sued to pay for the item you no longer even have? Sounds like quite a set up doesn't it? This is not the way of God, in reality its not even good business. The good things is that this will not continue. The plundering of the worlds natural resources which is then sold back to us that fewer and fewer can afford cannot continue. The looting of the people through unfair fees and exorbitant interest schemes will not continue. The world must and will return to a system of commerce in which every person has the opportunity to flourish and live a quality life. The world must and will return to a system in which every person can rise as high in society as they desire if they do so in accordance with Gods law and the principles that must bind all humankind. And the best part is we can make that change starting right now. It does not require the government, or a big corporation to go along. By enough of us deciding that this is how it must be, everything must and will change. The power has always been within your hands.This is the way of God. 2012 will become the beginning of Jubilee, a biblical concept in which every so often the world must be set right by taking the wealth that has been amassed through unfair and unethical means and redistributing it among the people. Jubilee is also the time to agree together that the world will not sustain itself if we cannot agree that the all out amassing of wealth without regard to principle and fair play must stop. The end is near, 2012 is the beginning of the rebirth of the world' Much has been made of the astrological predictions made by the Mayan people so many years ago that the year 2012 would be the end of time.  It is ironic  that so many cultures around the world have suggested similar ideas based on studies of the stars and the unusual occurance that is going to take place in December, 2012. But keep in mind, humankind has always depended on the movement of the stars in the sky to guide our lives. Time itself would have no meaning were it not for the ability to understand the movement of heavenly bodies. We know when to plant crops, when to harvest them and so many important things because we have come to understand the movement of the stars. Why then is it unreasonable to believe that the stars foretell a great change coming? The stars announced the birth of the baby Jesus. Where else would you look to see the proof of the realization of prophecy? The anti-Christ is greed and the time for it to reap its reward draws near. We know in our hearts that the world cannot survive if it continues on the path it is on. The self destruction warned of by great teachings from philosophies like The Tao Te Ching, and religious teachings such as Islam, Judaism and Christianity draws ever near unless a dramatic change takes place. I am here to tell you that 2012 is the beginning of that rebirth. We see the evidence around the world as people stand up to demand freedom from oppression in many forms manifest in many differing ways. From America's Occupy Movement to the people refusing to be cowed by violence against them in Syria, Egypt, Russia and elsewhere we are witness to the beginning of Jubilee, when the world demands in a strong voice that things must be set right. Prophecy has promised us that Gods will must be done. Rejoice and celebrate, for 2012 will be recorded in history as the year we began the journey to the time when Gods love will upon the earth. If you are encouraged by this message, and want to support my efforts to spread this message around the world, and to mobilize the people to work together to facilitate this great change, please send your donations using

The Great Deception

What if Jesus Christ was actually a human being, not a deity, who went forth and did all of the amazing things he did armed only with his faith? Would that make his story less important, or would it make what he accomplished even more important, and more relevant to our lives? As we approach the holiest days of our year as practiced by western Christians, I feel compelled to ask this question. The more I read The Sermon on the Mount, the more convinced I become that Jesus Christ was a truly revolutionary figure. A man so armed with his faith and thereby supported by the will of God that he changed the course of the world.

I believe that Jesus rebelled against the teachings of the established religion of his time. I believe that the most important element of his teachings was that no one required anyone else to facilitate their relationship with God. The more I read those parts of what Jesus said that was allowed to filter through by the Romans who ultimately took control of and reshaped his message,the more I see a man teaching that God is not the entity represented in the Old Testament. There is truth present in the teachings of the Old Testament, but it is also intertwined with the desire of religion to promote, preserve and institutionalize itself. "I bring a new covenant" Jesus declared. The Romans who took control of and reshaped his message would have you believe that he declared himself a deity when he said "only by me can you enter the kingdom of heaven." I submit that what he actually conveyed was that only by understanding and embracing the vision of God I am teaching can you know the kingdom of heaven."

One thing that seems so clear is Jesus message that there is only one thing that any of us must do to be in Gods favor, love the lord thy God with all your heart and soul, and love each other as you love yourself. He went on to say that only God can judge us, clearly rejecting those who attempt to convince that they have some sort of divine permission to make judgments on Gods behalf, and merely by seeking God we open up the opportunity for us to be blessed.

Clearly God loved for humankind to come together and fellowship. Clearly in this was the desire that we would use these opportunities to share the love and respect that is so important to the survival and health of humankind.

Clearly Jesus Christ warned of the fact that religion was the problem. That no matter how well intentioned the message at its beginning, religion can become so obsessed with wealth and power that is begins to see itself as God rather than serving God. That within the effort to preserve itself, the abuses begin and grow, becoming an obsession.

When one looks closely at the gathering brought together by Emperor Constantine to take control of something that they had tried so hard to stamp out for four hundred years, it is easy to see that their effort in forming the Roman Church was to shape a message that would serve them. Making Christ a deity served this purpose. In their minds what could be worse than an average human being believing that he could have such amazing faith that God would invest such anointment upon him. Compare what Jesus said about the role of women in serving God, look carefully at the example Jesus set regarding how we treat the least fortunate among us, think carefully about his admonition to his own followers to not become "self righteous".

Then think about his own warning that those there would be those who would attempt to take control of his message and use it to deceive us. It is common among people today to believe this is a warning of some calamity to come, but consider that what Jesus was really warning us about was something that began 400 years after his death, by those who put him to death and continues unabated today.

Now consider how this deception has inundated and perverted every level of modern life. Fear rules and gets represented as common sense, greed rules and gets represented as just deserts. Humankind has so lost its way, and those who see the way are ridiculed and treated as simple minded and paranoid. Around the world we see politics so contentious that the people are not represented and only the best interests of the rich and powerful are served. How can this not be a byproduct of the Great Deception?

But simplicity is Gods way. We are born in simplicity and so we shall depart our earthly bodies. Our greatest challenge is to resist the corruption that is a natural part of survival. Cast off fear. Have faith. Jesus Christ taught over and over, using as many different examples as he could to point out to us that within our natural lives is everything we need to flourish when we have faith and grow without fear. Embracing truth. Truth is always simple.

And we must forgive them for they are only doing that which humans will do. All evil is a byproduct of goodness. A perversion. Every evil is based on fear. Greed is the fear of being without. Violence is the fear of lacking control. Jealousy is the fear of not being worthy.

Love the lord thy God with all your heart and soul, and love each other as you love yourself. Fear not, for God is always with us. Love is simple. Goodness is simple. It is naturally within us all.

The power of peace

Find peace within yourself and you will be in the presence of God. When you are in balance, you are in tune with Gods will. This is a simple truth, yet among the most difficult of all things to achieve for most of us. The problem is our need to seek perfection. We all do it even when we don't realize it. Hopes, dreams desires are all a part of our need to seek perfection. But we are hampered by our inability to agree on what is perfection and even more so by our need to have others approve of and / or admire the perfection we need. God is the only perfection and being in balance brings us as close to perfection as we can ever be.

Have you ever considered that the reason there is so much diversity in the world is because it takes all of us and our collective attributes to make a whole? Only when the whole is in balance can perfection exist. This is proven by the knowledge God has provided, sometimes called science, which shows us that a lack of diversity within a gene pool leads to a less capable individual. When this wisdom is applied to the world collectively it becomes obvious that diversity is Gods greatest gift and when this gift is in balance, it is capable of all things. Then it is closest to God, and closest to being perfect.

Within each of us exists a great deal of diversity; of thought, desires and beliefs, often confusing to us and at odds with each other. We struggle daily to understand why we feel the way we do about things and why so often those feelings can contradict each other depending on circumstance. Sometimes we find that what we can tolerate from one person is intolerable from someone else. Every nuance of beauty is effected and complicated by contributing factors, and often we cannot explain even to ourselves why what we feel seems to contradict what we believe we should feel. Every day we struggle in our battle with good and evil, because the nuance of what is good and what is evil constantly changes according to our own self interest. For example, how is it possible to be pro-life but support the death penalty? This can only be explained when invoking the issue of self interest.

These conflicts complicate and for some destroys life. Gaining control of these conflicts starts with an understanding that these conflicts are the result of our lack of control of the diversity within us, and that diversity is our greatest strength.

Take time to reflect on the diversity that exists within you. Recognize that there is no good or bad, only truth. When all is in balance you draw close to God. When you are in balance you will find peace.

Then apply this wisdom to the world around you, understanding that all diversity has its place. When you are in balance with the world around you it is your contribution to the whole. When the whole is in balance, our world is closer to God and we will be at peace.