The Sky Is Falling, The Sky Is Falling (again)!

         We are constantly bombarded with messages of doom and gloom. Right now a program is running on at least one if not multiple cable channels dealing with the demise of mankind at the hands of: super volcanoes, global warming, nuclear winter, asteroid or comet strikes, EMP blasts, any of a variety of pathogens from plague to flu (naturally occurring or man-made), the Earth’s magnetic field flipping, galactic alignment, etc and of course the Mack daddy of all doom and gloomers: Nostradamus.

       If you knew for certain that any of these calamities were about to happen, would it fundamentally change your way of living? If we answer yes, then we have missed the point of Living on the Spiritual Basis. To be clear: of course jobs and other secular pursuits would fall to irrelevance and our focus would naturally turn to the people and things that truly matter if the end of days were nigh, but what of our behavior, the way we live? Years ago a clean and sober friend commented in the most casual of ways that if something like this happened they would get a hold of the best booze and drugs they could lay their hands on and party like it was the end of the world, since it was. This attitude misses one of the central points of spiritual living, that everyone has an expiration date, one day we will all transcend this flesh and somersault into eternity, the only difference here knowing the time, nothing else fundamentally changed.

     So the question then is: do we walk the way we talk? If we would cast aside the path we are on if circumstances changed, then we are not truly Living on the Spiritual Basis. In fact living by secular thinking while paying lip service to spiritual based living. So the good news is that if we would change our behavior if we knew our expiration date, we now know there is work to do, so we get down to causes and conditions, with God’s help, and embrace Living on the Spiritual Basis in truth, stepping on to the road of happy destiny, leaving all other paths behind. Oh, and remember 12/21/2012 when the Mayans supposedly predicted the end of the world or the catastrophe foretold for midnight 12/31/1999? Y2K? So, the next time one of those "SKY IS FALLING" programs airs, turn the channel.

Flat Earth and Miracles

MIRACLE n. 1. An act or event that seems to transcend or contradict all known natural or scientific laws and is usually thought to be supernatural in origin. 2. Any wonderful or amazing thing, fact, or event; a wonder.

God does not break cosmic law. The laws of retribution, unintended consequence, reaping and sowing,  attraction, intention, gravity, like begets like and others are never broken or contradicted. Our limited (human) ability to comprehend may leave us with the impression that miracles seemingly break these laws, but this is false. What happens is that by raising ones consciousness a higher law is tapped, transcending the lower. In the secular sense think of it as appealing a judgment from a lower court to a higher, if a judgment is reversed, the reversal is based on some missed, overlooked or ignored precedent, not a rewriting of the code (at least that is how it is supposed to work). Secular appeals progress through a system, ultimately arriving at the court of final appeal, the Supreme Court. Supreme Court decisions, since it is populated by humans who can be and often are contradictory in their actions and thinking, can be arbitrary in interpreting secular law, God however is many things, but never arbitrary. Cosmic law is applied equally, for God does not, cannot play favorites, His Love abundant and equally weighed to all His children.

 Not long ago, the accepted orthodoxy was that the earth was flat, the center of the universe and anyone who disagreed branded a heretic, suffering greatly for voicing a dissenting view. Curious isn’t how we continue to believe that we have the answers, the laws of the universe understood, truly Man's hubris on parade. Years from now our future selves will look back on this time in much the same way we look back on those who once held the earth was flat, with the same incredulity.

Without miracles, our appeal to higher law, how could there be faith? By performing  miracles God demonstrates a level of love and law that here to fore had not been known. Miracles can, have and do happen, a higher law beyond our limited understanding accessed. What is required of us to raise our consciousness? Heartfelt prayer and patience. Don’t think so? How’s that whole flat earth thing working out?

THE SKY IS FALLING! (Again)

I began paying attention to American politics in 1968 and came of age politically during the election of 1972. In the ensuing years one truth has become abundantly clear: regardless of who wins the other side is always incredulous their candidate/issue lost, claiming all manner of reasons why, adding for effect the dire consequences to come from the electorates poor decision. Living on the Spiritual Basis secular issues and concerns are now in their proper perspective, politicians come and go, those in power today will not be forever, regardless how we may feel about them for there really is nothing new under the sun. To wit:

The Captain Is On The Bridge

“The world is not going to the dogs. The human race is not doomed. Civilization is not going to crash. The captain is on the bridge. Humanity is going through a difficult time, but humanity has gone through difficulties many times before in its long history, and has always come through, strengthened and purified.

Do not worry yourself about the universe collapsing. It is not going to collapse, and anyway that question is none of your business. The captain is on the bridge. If the survival of humanity depended upon you or me, it would be a poor lookout for the Great Enterprise, would it not?

The captain is on the bridge. God is still in business. All that you have to do is to realize the Presence of God where trouble seems to be, to do your nearest duty to the very best of your ability; and to keep an even mind until the storm is over.” 

Emmet Fox wrote the above during the great depression of the 1930's. Additionally war clouds were gathering over Europe and America was gripped in the greatest ecological disaster in this country’s history as dust storms displaced millions from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. God has always been and will always be; our job to keep an even mind and Spiritual perspective, understanding there will always be someone reminding us the sky is falling, again.

The Hideous Three Horsemen

The four biblical horsemen in Revelation are tied to the end times but I will leave those discussions to others. Yet on a personal level, there is much we can learn from these examples. Consider the first three horsemen from an individual spiritual perspective: The Pale Horse represents the physical body and its destruction through all forms of addiction, the negative as well as the seemingly positive. The Red Horse brings destruction by our emotions and feelings and The Black Horse destruction through intellect.

To ride the Pale Horse means we have succumbed to addiction. Drugs and/or alcohol are obvious, but what of the person who is addicted to exercise or work or sex? The gym, running/biking trails or the office can become an escape from the world just as powerful as liquor or any chemical and equally spiritually destructive. The difference being the alcoholic or the drug addict has a difficult time “fitting” into polite society while the workaholic is often praised for their accomplishments, even as the other areas of their life and living are sacrificed in the name of success or “providing” for the family. The same family they are never present for, the estranged children seeking acknowledgment, often by acting out, the neglected spouse who files for divorce. Resulting in the workaholic’s lament: don’t they see I am doing it all for them?

Physical activity and exercise in moderation is always a good idea, but when it crosses over into narcissism, it becomes as sure a block to growth as any drink or drug. Sex is part of our nature, so it cannot be bad, yet the stories of lives and families ruined from unchecked sexual desires are legion. The problems come when sex and obtaining sex becomes the singular focus, living only for sensual escape, having lost sight of the true purpose, that of two people sharing the most intimate of experiences, the touching of two souls in embrace, a shared act of love. To be clear: hard work, the occasional beer or glass of wine or enjoying sex with a partner are not the problem, we ride the Pale Horse when these things become dominate in our lives and we eschew honest relationships or facing personal truths, both secular and spiritual because they have taken over.

The Red Horse represents destruction through emotions and feelings. How many lives have been lost or ruined when an individual or nation acted on overheated emotions or inflamed feelings? How many fights, confrontations and wars could have been avoided if cooler heads had prevailed? To be clear: We are emotional beings. Without emotion, this world would be a very drab place, bereft of music or art, possibly even love. It is when we are controlled, dominated by our emotions and feelings that we ride the Red Horse, and havoc, tumult and pain are the result.

The Black Horse represents complete reliance on our human intelligence. Consider how many worship at the alter of intellect. They would never see it as worship, but is there really a whit of difference in commitment or passion between the minister preaching from the pulpit or the righteous professor/scientist/politician speaking from the dais? Consider the textbooks of  just 30 years ago, regardless of discipline, have had to be rewritten because of new discoveries or the proving of old theories wrong. History is very illustrative on this point, for every generation believes they have it right. A few hundred years ago, if you argued the Earth was not the center of the universe you could be put to death. A little over a hundred years ago, the scientific community believed man could never fly, and they had the data to prove it. Sixty years ago many of the most prominent scientific minds believed man would never survive a trip into space since crossing the Van Allen radiation belt would certainly be fatal. In the last forty years everything we thought we knew about dinosaurs has been turned on its head, while revelations in Quantum mechanics in the last twenty has shaken physics, the basic laws of everything, at its foundation. Is it not the height of hubris to think that “now” we have all the answers in any area of study or science?  We ride the Black Horse when we close our minds, stop questioning, and begin collecting and herding sacred cows, shutting ourselves off the fresh winds that drive our higher selves, dismissing any contrary thought or belief out of hand because just like Galileo‘s jailers, we have nothing left to learn.

Miracles And A Flat Earth

MIRACLE n. 1. An act or event that seems to transcend or contradict all known natural or scientific laws and is usually thought to be supernatural in origin. 2. Any wonderful or amazing thing, fact, or event; a wonder.

God does not break cosmic law. The laws of retribution, of unintended consequence, of reaping and sowing, of attraction, of intention, of gravity, and like begets like are never broken or contradicted. Our limited (human) ability to comprehend may leave us with the impression that miracles seemingly break these laws, but this is false. What happens is that by raising ones consciousness into His presence a higher law is tapped, transcending the lower. In the secular sense think of it as appealing a judgment from a lower court to a higher, if a judgment is reversed, the reversal is based on some missed, overlooked or ignored precedent, not a rewriting of the code (at least that is how it is supposed to work).  Secular appeals progress through the system, ultimately arriving at the court of final appeal, the Supreme Court. Supreme Court decisions, since it is populated with humans who can be and often are contradictory in their actions and thinking, can be arbitrary in interpreting secular law, God is not. Cosmic law is applied equally, for God does not, cannot play favorites, His Love abundant and equally weighed to all His children.

Not long ago the accepted orthodoxy was that the earth was flat and the center of the universe and anyone who disagreed branded a heretic, suffering greatly for voicing a dissenting view. Yet every age continues to believe they have the answers, the laws of the universe understood, humankind's hubris on display. Years from now our future selves will look back on this time in much the same way we look back on those "scientific laws" that held the earth was flat or man would never fly or stand on the moon, with the same incredulity.

Without miracles, our appeal to higher law, how could there be faith? The performing of miracles demonstrates a level of our Fathers love and law, that here to fore had not been known or can be scientifically quantified with our limited human mind. Miracles can, have and do happen, a higher law beyond our limited understanding accessed, the supernatural transcending the natural. Don’t think so? How’s that whole flat earth thing working out?

Sacred Cow Death

In the 1970’s I was a member of the Futurist Society. Futurists predict the future based on what is deemed the best verifiable evidence logically extrapolated. I accepted their pronouncements at face value, since they had studied and researched the issues (I believed) at depth. I looked forward to each issue of their magazine for one particular writer's articles, they were always well written and interesting. The new issue arrived and I attempted to read some of the other articles first, a small stab at delayed gratification, but soon turned to my favorite author and with a smile on my face began reading. When finished, I felt a bit unsettled. I couldn’t put my finger on it but it continued to trouble me. So after about a week I went to the library to do some research. Firing up the microfiche (remember microfiche and cabinets filled with microfilm) I located the statistics I was looking for and identified the problem. The author had reversed the statistics that supported his position! I felt relieved and a little proud. I reasoned that some underling had provided the statistics to the author incorrectly and a correction would be forth coming. However the next issue arrived and nothing was mentioned. I surmised that by the time he became aware it was too late for this issue but would certainly be in the next. Well he did address it in the next issue. The response was one of the most over the top, vitriolic pieces of junk I, to this day, have ever read. Not only did he defend his position and facts, anyone who disagreed with him was an idiot! I was left stunned and breathless. I rechecked the facts to see if I misread them. Nope. The sacred cow of blind trust died that day.

Sacred cows are everywhere. Many are inherited, some quietly strolled in and we have not bothered to do the work to turn them out, usually because if we do we are afraid of what we will find when they are gone, since sacred cows are notoriously poor house keepers. We must not be afraid to ask questions and seek the truth, since: the truth will set you free. Trust, but verify.

I didn’t renew my membership in the Futurists Society. Looking back, one of their predictions for 2000 (then 25+ years in the future) was, that if we didn’t act immediately, the world was about to be plunged into a new ice age,  beyond any doubt, no further discussion required, settled science. All the top climatologists said so.