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the Hunt for Truth

Tag Archives: Christianity

Christ & Christianity { Alan Watts }

01 Sunday Oct 2017

Posted by Hunt 4 Truth in Consciousness, Faith, Heaven, Inner peace, Inspiration, Lecture, Lessons, Mindful, Philosophy, Religion, Spirituality

≈ 1 Comment

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Alan Watts, Christianity, Jesus Christ

“I am a son of God, well there’s the whole thing in a nutshell.”

 

Some years ago I had just given a talk on television in Canada when one of the announcers came up to me and said “You know, if one can believe that this universe is in charge of an intelligent and beneficent God, don’t you think he would naturally have provided us with an infallible guide to behavior and to the truth about the universe?” And of course I knew he meant the Bible. I said “No, I think nothing of the kind. Because I think a loving God would not do something to His children that would rot their brains.”

Because if we had an infallible guide we would never think for ourselves, and therefore our minds would become atrophied. It is as if my grandfather left me a million dollars: I’m glad he didn’t.” And we have therefore to begin any discussion of the meaning of the life and teaching of Jesus with a look at this thorny question of “authority.” And especially the authority of Holy Scripture. Because in this country in particular [the USA] there are an enormous number of people who seem to believe that the Bible descended from Heaven with an angel in the year sixteen-hundred and eleven, which was when the so-called King James – or more correctly Authorized – version of the Bible was translated into English.

I had a crazy uncle who believed that every word of the Bible was literally true including the marginal notes. And so whatever date it said in the marginal notes, that the world was created in 4004, B.C., and he believed it as the Word of God. Until one day he was reading – I think – a passage in the book of Proverbs and found a naughty word in the Bible. And from that time on he was through with it. You know, how Protestant can you get?

Now, the question of “authority” needs to be understood, because I am not going to claim any authority in what I say to you, except the authority – such as it is – of history. And that’s a pretty uncertain authority. But from my point of view the four Gospels are I think to be regarded on the whole as historical documents. I’ll even grant the miracles. Because, speaking as one heavily influenced by Buddhism, we’re not very impressed with miracles! The traditions of Asia – Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist and so forth – are full of miraculous stories. And we take them in our stride. We don’t think that they’re any sign of anything in particular except psychic power. And we in the West have by scientific technology accomplished things of a very startling nature. We could blow up the whole planet, and Tibetan magicians have never promised to do anything like that.

And I’m really a little scared of the growing interest in psychic power because that’s what I call “psycho-technics.” And we’ve made such a mess of things with ordinary technics that Heaven only knows what we might do if we got hold of psycho-technics and started raising people from the dead, and prolonging life insufferably, and doing everything we wished.

The whole answer to the story of miracles is simply imagine that you’re God and that you can have anything you want. Well you’d have it for quite a long time. And then after awhile you’d say “This is getting pretty dull because I know in advance everything that’s going to happen.” And so you would wish for a surprise. And you would find yourself this evening in this church as a Human being.

So, I mean, that is the miracle thing. I think miracles are probably possible. That doesn’t bother me. And as a matter of fact when you read the writings of the early fathers of the church – the great theologians like Saint Clement, Gregory of Nissa, Saint John of Damascus, even Thomas Aquinas – they’re not interested in the historicity of the Bible. They take that sort of for granted but forget it. They’re interested in its deeper meaning. And therefore they always interpret all the tales like Jonah and the whale. They don’t bother even to doubt whether Jonah was or wasn’t swallowed by a whale or other big fish. But they see in the story of Jonah and the whale as a prefiguration of the resurrection of Christ. And even when it comes to the Resurrection of Christ they’re not worrying about the chemistry or the physics of a risen body. What they’re interested in is that the idea of the resurrection of the body has something to say about the meaning of the physical body in the eyes of God. That the physical body – in other words – is not something worthless and unspiritual, but something which is an object of the Divine Love.

Now, as a matter of fact, in the text of the Gospel of Saint John the local color, his knowledge of the topography of Jerusalem, and his knowledge of the Jewish calendar is more accurate than that of the other three writers, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And it seems to me perfectly simple to assume that John recorded the inner teaching which He gave to His disciples and that Matthew, Mark, and Luke record the more exoteric teaching which He gave to people-at-large.

Now, what about them, the authority of these scriptures? We could take this problem in two steps. A lot of people don’t know how we got the Bible at all. We Westerners got the Bible thanks to the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church and members of the church wrote the books of the New Testament. And they took over the books of the Old Testament which even by the time of Christ had not been finally decided upon by the Jews. The Jews did not close the canon of the Old Testament until the year 100 A.D. – or thereabouts – at the Synod of Jamnia. And then they finally decided which were the canonical books of the Hebrew Scriptures and embodied them in the Masoretic Text, the earliest copy of which dates from the tenth century – early in the tenth century A.D.. The books to be included in the New Testament were not finally decided upon until the year three hundred and eighty-two – A.D. again – at the Synod of Rome under Pope Damasus. So it was the church – the Catholic Church – that promulgated the Bible and said “we are giving you these scriptures on our authority and the authority of the informal tradition that has existed among us from the beginning, inspired by the Holy Spirit.”

So you receive historically the Bible on the church’s say-so. And the Catholic Church insists, therefore, that the church collectively, speaking under the presumed guidance of the Holy Spirit, has the authority to interpret the Bible. And you can take that or leave it. Because obviously the authority of the Bible is not first of all based on the Bible itself. I can write a bible and state within that book that it is indeed the Word of God which I have received. And you’re at liberty to believe me or not. Hindus believe that the Vedas are divinely revealed and inspired with just as much fervor as any Christian or any Jew. Muslims believe that the Koran is divinely inspired. And some Buddhists believe that their Sutras are of divine – or rather Buddhic – origin. The Japanese believe that the ancient texts of Shinto are likewise of divine origin. And who is to be judge?

“If we are going to argue about this – as to which version of the Truth is the correct one – we will always end up in an argument in which the judge and the advocate are the same person. And you wouldn’t want that if you were brought into a court of law, would you? Because if I say that, “Well, thinking it all over I find that Jesus Christ is the greatest being who ever came onto this Earth,” by what standards do I judge? Why obviously, I judge by the sort of moral standards that have been given to me as somebody brought up in a Christian culture. There is nobody impartial who can decide between all the religions because more or less everybody has been in one way or another influenced by one of them.

So if the church says the Bible is true it finally comes down to you. Are you going to believe the church or aren’t you? If nobody believes the church it will be perfectly plain, won’t it, that the church has no authority. Because the people is always the source of authority. That’s why de Tocqueville said that the people gets what government it deserves. And so you may say “Well, God Himself is the authority!” Well, how are we to show that? That’s your opinion. Well you say “Well, you wait and see. The Day of Judgment is coming, and then you’ll find out who is the authority!” Yes, but at the moment there is no evidence for the Day of Judgment, and it remains until there is evidence simply your opinion that the Day of Judgment is coming. And there is nothing else to go on except the opinion of other people who hold the same view and whose opinions you bought.

So really, I won’t deny anybody’s right to hold these opinions. You may indeed believe that the Bible is literally true and that it was actually dictated by God to Moses and the Prophets and the Apostles. That may be your opinion and you are at liberty to hold it. I don’t agree with you.

I do believe, on the other hand, that there is a sense in which the Bible is divinely inspired. But I mean by “inspiration” something utterly different from dictation, receiving a dictated message from an omniscient authority. I think inspiration comes very seldom in words. In fact almost all the words written down by automatic writing from psychic input that I’ve ever read strike me as a bit thin. When a psychic tries to write of deep mysteries instead of telling you what your sickness is or who your grandmother was, he begins to get superficial. And psychically communicated philosophy is never as interesting as philosophy carefully thought out.

But divine inspiration isn’t that kind of communication. Divine inspiration is, for example, to feel – for reasons that you can’t really understand – that you love people. Divine inspiration is a wisdom which it’s very difficult to put into words. Like mystical experience. That’s divine inspiration. And a person who writes out of that experience could be said to be divinely inspired. Or it might come through dreams. Through archetypal messages from the collective unconscious, through which the Holy Spirit could be said to work. But since inspiration always comes through a Human vehicle it is liable to be distorted by that vehicle. In other words, I’m talking to you through a sound system. And it’s the only one now available. Now if there’s something wrong with this sound system whatever truths I might utter to you will be distorted. My voice will be distorted. And you might mistake the meaning of what I said.

Now so therefore everybody who receives divine inspiration – and I’m using that in a very loose way – you could mean anything you like by “divine” – that’s your option – but anybody who receives it will express it within the limits of what language he knows. And by language here I don’t only mean English, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, or Sanskrit. I mean language in the sense of what sort of terms are available to you; what kind of religion were you brought up with.

Now you see, if you were brought up in the Bible Belt – you came out of Arkansas somewhere – and that’s all the religion you knew, and you had a mystical experience of the type where you suddenly discover that you are one with God, then you’re liable to get up and say “I’m Jesus Christ!” And lots of people do. Well the culture that we live in just can’t allow that. There is only one Jesus Christ. And so if you don’t look like you’re Jesus Christ coming back again – because it said in the scriptures that when He comes back there’ll be no doubt about it: He’ll appear in the Heavens with legions of angels, and you’re not doing that; you’re just old Joe Dokes we knew years ago. Well now you say you’re Jesus Christ. Well, he says that when Jesus Christ said he was God nobody believed him and you don’t believe again. You know you can’t answer that argument. (laughter)

But you see, he says it that way because he is trying to express what happened to him in terms of the religious language which is circumscribed by the Holy Bible. He’s never read the Upanishads. He’s never read the Diamond Sutra. He’s never read The Tibetan Book of the Dead or the I-Ching or the Lao-Tsu, and therefore there is no other way in which he can say this.

But if he had read the Upanishads he would have had no difficulty, and nor would the culture – the society in which he was talking – have any difficulty. Because it says in the Upanishads we are all incarnations of God. Only they don’t mean by the word “God” – in fact they don’t use that word; they use “Brahman” – they don’t mean the same thing that a Hebrew meant by “God.” Because the Brahman is not personal. Brahman is – we would say – supra-personal. Not impersonal, because that is a negation. But I would say supra-personal.

Brahman is not he or she, has no sex. Brahman is not the creator of the world – as something underneath and subject to Brahman – but the actor of the world, the player of all the parts, so that everyone is a mask (which is the meaning of the word “person”) in which the Brahman plays a role. And like an absorbed actor the divine spirit gets so absorbed in playing the role as to become it, and to be bewitched. And this is all part of the game, hereto believing that I am that role. When you were babies you knew who you were. Psychoanalysts refer to that as the oceanic feeling. They don’t really like it, but they admit that it exists. Where the baby cannot distinguish between the world and the way it acts upon the world. It’s all one process. Which is of course the way things are.

But we learn very quickly because we are taught very quickly what is you and what is not-you, what is voluntary, what is involuntary, because you can be punished for the voluntary but not for the involuntary. And so we unlearn what we knew in the beginning. And in the course of life if we are fortunate we discover again what we really are, that each one of us is what would be called in Arabic or Hebrew “a son of God.” And the word “son of” means “of the nature of” as when you call someone a “son of a bitch,” or in Arabic you say “Ibn-kalb” which means “son of a dog,” “Ibn al-Himar”: “son of a donkey.” So, “a son of Belial” means “an evil person.” “Son of God” means “a divine person,” a Human being who has realized union with God.

Now my assumption – and my opinion – is that Jesus of Nazareth was a Human being like Buddha, like Sri Rama Krishna, like Ramana Maharshi, etc., who early in life had a colossal experience of what we call “cosmic consciousness.” Now you don’t have to be any particular kind of religion to get this experience. It can hit anyone anytime, like falling in love. There are obviously a number of you in this building who’ve had it in greater or lesser degree. But it’s found all over the world. And when it hits you, you know it. Sometimes it comes after long practice of meditations and spiritual discipline.

Sometimes it comes for no reason that anybody can determine. We say it’s the “Grace of God,” that there comes this overwhelming conviction that you have mistaken your identity, that what you thought, what I thought was just old Alan Watts – who I know very well is just a big act and a show – but what I thought was, you know, “me!” – was only completely superficial, that I am an expression of an eternal something-or-other: “X,” a name that can’t be named, as the name of God was taboo among the Hebrews; “I am.”; and that I suddenly understand why – exactly why – everything is the way it is. It’s perfectly clear.

Furthermore I no longer feel any boundary between what I do and what happens to me. I feel that everything that’s going on is my doing, just as my breathing is. Is your breathing voluntary or involuntary? Do you do it or does it happen to you? So you can feel it both ways. But you feel everything like breathing. And it isn’t as if you had become a puppet. There is no longer any separate “you.” There is just this great Happening going on. And if you have The Name in your background you will say “This happening is God,” or “the Will of God,” or “the Doing of God.” Or if you don’t have that word in your background you will say with the Chinese “it is the flowing of the Tao.” Or if you’re a Hindu you will say “it is the Maya of Brahman.” “The Maya” means “the magical power,” “the creative illusion,” “the play.”

So you can very well understand how people to whom this happens feel genuinely inspired. Because very often there goes along with it an extremely warm feeling. Because you see the Divine in everybody else’s eyes. When Kabir, a great Hindu Muslim mystic, was a very old man he used to look around at people and say “To whom shall I preach?” Because he saw the Beloved in all eyes, and could see – sometimes I look into people’s eyes, and I can look right down, and I can see that Beloved in the depths of those pools, and yet the expression on the face is saying “What, me?!” Ha ha ha ha, it’s the funniest thing! But there is everybody, in his own peculiar way, playing out an essential part in this colossal cosmic drama. And it’s so strange, but one can even feel it in people you thoroughly dislike.

So, let’s suppose then that Jesus had such an experience. But you see, Jesus has a limitation that he doesn’t know of any religion other than those of the immediate Near-East. He might know something about Egyptian religion, a little bit maybe about Greek religion, but mostly about Hebrew. There is no evidence whatsoever that he knew anything about India or China. And we – people who think that, you know, Jesus was God assume that he must have known because he would have been omniscient. No! Saint Paul makes it perfectly clear in the Epistle to the Phillipians that Jesus renounced his divine powers so as to be Man. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God thought not equality with God a thing to be hung onto, but humbled himself and made himself of no reputation and was found in fashion as a man and became obedient to death.” Theologians call that “kenosis,” which means “self-emptying.”

So obviously an omnipotent and omniscient man would not really be a man. So even if you take the very orthodox Catholic doctrine of the nature of Christ, that he was both true God and true Man, you must say that for true God to be united with true Man, true God has to make a voluntary renunciation – for the time-being – of omniscience and omnipotence… and omnipresence for that matter. Now therefore if Jesus were to come right out and say “I am the son of God” that’s like saying “I’m the boss’s son,” or “I AM the boss,” and everybody immediately says that is blasphemy. That is subversion. That is trying to introduce Democracy into the Kingdom of Heaven. That is –– you are a usurper of the throne. No man has seen God.

Now, Jesus in his exoteric teaching – as recorded in the Synoptic Gospels – was pretty cagey about this. He didn’t come right out there and say “I and the Father are one.” Instead he identified himself with the Messiah described in the second part of the prophet Isaiah, “the suffering servant who was despised and rejected by men.” And this man is the non-political Messiah, in other words. It was convenient to make that identification even though it would get him into trouble.

But to his elect disciples as recorded in Saint John, he came right out “Before Abraham was, I am.” “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” “I am the resurrection and the life.” “I am the living bread that comes down from Heaven.” “I and the Father are one, and he who has seen me has seen the Father.” And there can be no mistaking that language.

So the Jews found out and they put him to death – or had him put to death – for blasphemy. This is no cause for any special antagonism toward the Jews. We would do exactly the same thing. It’s always done. It happened to one of the great Sufi mystics in Persia who had the same experience. Now, what happened? The Apostles didn’t quite get the point. They were awed by the miracles of Jesus. They worshipped him as people do worship gurus, and as you know to what lengths that can go if you’ve been around guru-land. And so the Christians said “Okay, okay: Jesus of Nazareth was the son of God but let it stop right there! Nobody else.” So what happened was that Jesus was pedestalized. He was put in a position that was safely upstairs so that his troublesome experience of cosmic consciousness would not come and cause other people to be a nuisance. And those who have had this experience and expressed it during those times when the church had political power were almost invariably persecuted. Giordano Bruno was burnt at the stake. John Scotus Eriugena was excommunicated. Meister Eckhardt’s theses were condemned. And so on, and so on. A few mystics got away with it because they used cautious language.

But you see what happens. If you pedestalize Jesus you strangle the Gospel at birth. And it has been the tradition in both the Catholic Church and in Protestantism to pass off what I will call an emasculated Gospel. Gospel means “good news,” and I cannot for the life of me think what is the good news about the Gospel as ordinarily handed down. Because, look here – here is the revelation of God in Christ, in Jesus, and we are supposed to follow his life and example without having the unique advantage of being the boss’s son. Now, the tradition – both Catholic and Protestant Fundamentalist – represents Jesus to us as a freak! Born of a virgin, knowing he is the son of God, having the power of miracles, knowing that basically it’s impossible to kill him, that he’s going to rise again in the end. And we are asked to take up our cross and follow him when we don’t know that about ourselves at all! So what happens is this: we are delivered, therefore, a Gospel which is in fact an impossible religion. It’s impossible to follow the Way of Christ. Alright. Many a Christian has admitted it. “I am a miserable sinner. I fall far short of the example of Christ.” But do you realize the more you say that the better you are? Because what happened was that Christianity institutionalized guilt as a virtue. (enthusiastic applause) You see, you can never come up to it. Never.

And therefore you will always be aware of your shortcomings, and so the more shortcomings you feel the more – in other words – you are aware of the vast abyss between Christ and yourself.

[Audience member]
“You are just setting up straw men and knocking them down!”
You will have your opportunity to speak during the question period, madam. So, you go to confession…. (laughter and applause) … and if you’ve got a nice dear understanding confessor he won’t get angry with-at you. He’ll say, “My child, you know you’ve sinned very grievously but you must realize that the love of God and of Our Lord is infinite and that naturally you are forgiven. As a token of thanks-giving say three ‘Hail Mary’s.” And you know, you’ve committed a murder and robbed a bank and fornicated around and so on, but the priest is perfectly patient and quiet. Well you feel awful! “I have done that to the love of God? I have wounded Jesus, grieved the Holy Spirit,” and so on. But you know in the back of your mind that you’re going to do it all over again. You won’t be able to help yourself. You’ll try. But there’s always a greater and greater sense of guilt.

Now, the lady objected that I was putting up a straw man and knocking it down. This is the Christianity of most people. Now there is a much more subtle Christianity of the theologians, the mystics, and the philosophers. But it’s not what gets preached from the pulpit, grant you. But the message of Billy Graham is approximately what I’ve given you, and of all – what I will call – fundamentalist forms of Catholicism and Protestantism.

What would the real Gospel be? The real Good News is not simply that Jesus of Nazareth was THE son of God, but that he was a powerful son of God who came to open everybody’s eyes to the fact that you are too. Now this is perfectly plain. If you will go to the tenth chapter of Saint John, verse 30, there is the passage where Jesus says “I and the Father are one.” And this is – there are some people who aren’t intimate disciples around, and they are horrified! And they immediately pick up stones to stone him. He says “Many good works I have shown you from the Father, and for which of these do you stone me?” And they said, “For a good work we stone you not, but for blasphemy, because you being a man make yourself God.” And he replied “Isn’t it written in your law ‘I have said you are gods’?” (He’s quoting the 82nd Psalm.) “Isn’t it written in your law ‘I have said you are gods’? If God called them those to whom he gave his word ‘gods’ – and you can’t deny the scriptures – how can you say I blaspheme because I said I am a son of God?” Well there’s the whole thing in a nutshell.

Of course if you read the King James Bible that descended with the angel you will see in italics in front of these words “son of God,” “The son of God” – “…because I said I am The son of God.” And most people think the italics are for emphasis. They’re not. The italics indicate words interpolated by the translators. You will not find that in the Greek. The Greek says “a son of God.” So it seems to me here perfectly plain that Jesus has got it in the back of his mind that this isn’t something peculiar to himself.

So when he says “I am the way. No man comes to the Father but by ME,” this “I am,” this “me” is the divine in us which in Hebrew would be called the “Ruach Adonai.” This – a great deal is made of this by the esoteric Jews, Kabbalists and the Hasidim. The Ruach is the breath that God breathed into the nostrils of Adam. It is differing from the soul. The individual soul in Hebrew is called “Nephesh.” And so we translate the “Ruach” into the Greek “pneuma” into “psyche” [see´kay] or “psyche” [sy´kee]. The spirit – and you ask the theologian what’s the difference between the soul and the spirit and he won’t be able to tell you – but it’s very clear in Saint Paul’s writings.

So the point is that the Ruach is the divine in the creature by virtue of which we are sons of, or of the nature of God: manifestations of the divine. This discovery is the Gospel. That is, the Good News. But this has been perpetually repressed throughout the history of Western religion because all Western religions have taken the form of celestial monarchies, and therefore have discouraged Democracy in the Kingdom of Heaven. Until, as a consequence of the teachings of the German and Flemish mystics in the Fifteenth Century there began to be such movements as the Anabaptists, the Brothers of the Free Spirit, and the Levelers, and the Quakers. A spiritual movement which came to this country and founded a republic and not a monarchy.

And how could you say that a republic is the best form of government if you think that the Universe is a monarchy? Obviously, if God is top on a monarchy, monarchy is the best form of government. But you see, ever so many citizens of this republic think they ought to believe that the Universe is a monarchy, and therefore they are always at odds with the republic.

It is from, principally, white racist Christians that we have the threat of Fascism in this country. Because you see, they have a religion which is militant, which is not the religion of Jesus – which was the realization of divine son-ship – but the religion ABOUT Jesus which pedestalizes him and which says “Only this man – of all the sons of woman – is divine, and you had better recognize it.” And so it speaks of itself as The Church Militant, the onward Christian soldiers marching as to war. Utterly exclusive. Convinced, in advance of examining the doctrines of any other religion that it is the top religion. And so it becomes a freak religion, just as it has made a freak of Jesus, an unnatural man. It claims uniqueness, not realizing that what it does teach would be far more credible if it were truly “Catholic” – that is to say: restated again, the truths which have been known from time immemorial, which have appeared in all the great cultures of the world.

But even very liberal Protestants still want to say, somehow – so as, I suppose to keep the mission effort going or to pay off the mortgage – “Yes, these other religions are very good. God has no doubt revealed himself through Buddha and Lao-Tsu. But…!”

Now, obviously, it is a matter of temperament. You could be loyal to Jesus just as you’re loyal to your own country, but you are not serving your country if you think that it’s necessarily the best of all possible countries. That is doing a disservice to your country. It is refusing to be critical where criticism is proper. So of religion. Every religion should be self-critical. Otherwise it soon degenerates into a self-righteous hypocrisy. If then we can see this, that Jesus speaks not from the situation of a historical deus-ex-machina [god from the machine] – a kind of a weird, extraordinary event – but he is a voice which joins with other voices that have said in every place and time “Wake up, Man. Wake up and realize who you are.”

Now I don’t think, you see, until churches get with that that they’re going to have very much relevance. You see, popular Protestantism and popular Catholicism will tell you nothing about mystical religion. The message of the preacher, fifty-two Sundays a year, is “Dear people, be good.” We’ve heard it ad-nausea-um! Or: “Believe in this.” He may occasionally give us a sermon on what happens after death or the nature of God, but basically the sermon is “Be good.” But how? As Saint Paul said, “To will is present with me, but how to do that which is good I find not; for the good that I would I do not, and the evil that I would not, that I do.” How are we going to be changed?

Obviously, there cannot be a vitality of religion without vital religious experience. And that’s something much more than emoting over singing “Onward Christian Soldiers.”
But you see what happens in our ecclesiastical goings-on is that we run a talking shop. We pray. We tell God what to do, or give advice as if He didn’t know. We read the scriptures, and remember: talking of the Bible Jesus said “You search the scriptures daily, for in them you think you have life.” Saint Paul made some rather funny references about the spirit which giveth life and the letter which kills. I think the Bible should be ceremoniously and reverently burned every Easter. We need it no more because the Spirit is with us. It’s a dangerous book. And to worship it is of course a far more dangerous idolatry than bowing down to images of wood and stone. Because you can –– nobody’s senses can confuse a wooden image with God, but you can very easily confuse a set of ideas with God, because concepts are more rarefied and abstract.

So with this endless talking in church we can preach, but by-and-large preaching does nothing but excite a sense of anxiety and guilt. And you can’t love out of that. No scolding, no rational demonstration of the right way to behave is going to inspire people with love. Something else must happen. But we will say “What are you going to do about it?” Do about it? You have no faith? Be quiet. Even Quakers aren’t quiet.

They sit in meeting and think. At least some of them do. But supposing we get really quiet; we don’t think; be absolutely silent through-and-through? We say “Well, you’ll just fall into a blank.” Oh? Ever tried?

I feel then, you see, that it’s enormously important that churches stop being talking shops, they become centers of contemplation. What is contemplation? “Con-temp-lum” – It’s what you do in the temple. You don’t come to the temple to chatter, but to be still and know that “I am God.” And this is why, if the Christian religion – if the Gospel of Christ – is to mean anything at all instead of just being one of the forgotten religions along with Osiris and Mithra we must see Christ as the Great Mystic. In the proper sense of the word “mystic,” not someone who has all sorts of magical powers and understands spirits and so on. A mystic – strictly speaking – is one who realizes union with God, by whatever name. This seems to me the crux and message of the Gospel, summed up in the prayer of Jesus which Saint John records as he speaks over his disciples praying that “they may be one even as you, Father, and I are one.” That they may be all one. All realize this divine son-ship, all oneness, basic identity with the eternal energy of the universe and the love that moves the Sun and other stars.

I’m On Facebook (every day)
( >  Inner Cosmos Public Group  < )
Is there a science of consciousness?

Thanks for visiting with me.

  Eric

See also:

  • Empath Support
  • morning Meditation
  • Happiness: Self-acceptance
  • Looking at yourself honestly – Respect
  • Looking at yourself honestly – Gratitude
  • The World As Emptiness, and Being Let Go
  • Mindfulness – it is improving us
  • we exchange energy – always
  • listen with compassion
  • your eMotion matters

.

 

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Thanksgiving – Why?

25 Tuesday Nov 2014

Posted by Hunt 4 Truth in Entertainment, Happiness, Lessons, Peace, Spirituality

≈ 4 Comments

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B4Peace, Christianity, Churches of God, God, Grateful, Gratitude, happiness, holiday, Jesus, joy, Lord, Religion and Spirituality, thankful heart, Thanksgiving

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How did Thanksgiving come about?
Here’s a politically correct version:

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Why is Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday of November?

The first Thanksgiving Day celebration was a three-day feast held during the fall in 1621. It happened between September 21 and November 11. As you may know Pilgrims were joined by the local Wampanoag tribe, including their leader, Chief Massasoit.

Various communities celebrated a day of thanksgiving afterwards as they deemed fit. However, in October of 1777 all 13 colonies celebrated a day of Thanksgiving.

The first national day of Thanksgiving was in 1789. praying-boyPresident George Washington proclaimed Thursday, November 26, 1789 to be “a day of public thanksgiving and prayer.” 

In wasn’t until October 3, 1863, that President Abraham Lincoln called for and issued a Thanksgiving Proclamation. It declared the last Thursday in November was to be a national day of “thanksgiving and praise.” 

Afterwards, presidents honored the tradition and annually issued their own Thanksgiving Proclamation until in 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt did not.

Since the day would fall on November 30th that month, retailers strongly complained to President Roosevelt that 24 shopping days before Christmas would be too short for profits that they counted upon.

[see: What is Black Friday?]

Since most people did Christmas shopping after Thanksgiving, the extra week of shopping seemed essential for the economy.

So the Thanksgiving Proclamation of August 31, 1939 declared the date of Thanksgiving to be Thursday, November 23, the second-to-last Thursday of the month.

The change caused unforeseen confusion — dates had previously been established for school schedules, football games, special events, entertainment, and family vacations.

During the following year, many governors could not agree with the decision to change the date and refused to follow it. The country became split on which Thanksgiving to observe. The nation went into a bit of a panic and there was great debate.

In 1940, 32 states and the District of Columbia observed the Thanksgiving on November 21. 16 states chose November 28th. The conflict finally came to the Congress.  On December 26, 1941, Congress passed into law that Thanksgiving would be henceforth the fourth Thursday of November.

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Thanks for visiting.

New post Eric

Related articles
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Aside

Living in Humility

30 Saturday Aug 2014

Posted by Hunt 4 Truth in Inspiration, Prayer, Religion, Spirituality, Universe

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Christianity, Devotional, Encouragment, God, humble, humility, Humulity, Inspirational, Jesus, Joshua, Karina – Living by faith, Korah

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, (Philippians 2:3)

Karina's Thought

Living in Humility -Karina's thought-Paul Militaru

Some time ago when I was walking around in the shopping mall accidentally I met an old friend when was in college. I am so excited met her because been many years I have not hear news about her. Afterwards we were deep in exciting conversation. We were talk about many things. But after a while, I felt there was something different from her. I heard sound of arrogance in every of her words.  There was her sayings that really show her arrogance when we talked about business, “If you have a problem in business, you can come to me for help. Now with the position and authority that I have, I can do anything. I can change everything from impossible become possible!”

Honestly I  really sad to saw her changed drastically. I knew her very well before.  A meek young college girl even there was an impression of inferiority…

View original post 1,444 more words

Give Our Lord the benefit of believing…

17 Saturday May 2014

Posted by Hunt 4 Truth in Consciousness, Faith, Happiness, Inner peace, Lecture, Lessons, Meditation, Mindful, Philosophy, Poetry, Self-assessments, Spirituality

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Christianity, God, If you correct your mind, Pierre Teilhard, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Religion & Spirituality, Wayne Dyer

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When you allow Him to correct your mind,
the rest of your life will fall into place.

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DNA senses.

People I know really need this message. I’ll invest time as Dr. Dyer’s suggesting to practice staying obscure. I see the wisdom of letting God direct this universe without me pushing my nose up front as though it has mostly to do with me. Do you see the wisdom of letting God direct the universe? Hmm… would it be possibly as beautiful a universe if we followed my or your directions? Humility… letting what we know is coming come to us.

The sea stays low, and because the sea
stays low, all of the rivers and all of the
streams empty into it.

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I want to share with you this inspiring poem. As you may reflect and resolve for yourself improvement for your life, I hope that this will be a help. I pray that you may be filled with joy, peace, and love.

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The Slow work of God…

Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient
in everything to reach the end
without delay.

We should like to skip the intermediate stages.

We are impatient of being on the
way to something unknown,
something new.

And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through
some stages of instability — and
that it may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you;
your ideas mature gradually
— let them grow,
— let them shape themselves,
without undue haste.

Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today
what time (that is to say,
grace and circumstances
acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.

Only God could say what this
new spirit gradually forming
within you will be.

Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of
feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.

— Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

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Come back often — there is more to be discovered.

Thanks for learning with me.

 Eric

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Pondering…
Do I live a life of faith that shows that I know that God has a plan for us?

Related articles
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Where You go… I go

27 Sunday Apr 2014

Posted by Hunt 4 Truth in B4Peace, Consciousness, Culture, Faith, Happiness, Inner peace, Religion, Spirituality, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

B4Peace, Christian, Christianity, consciousness, God, happiness, Jesus, Jesus Culture, Kim Walker, Kim Walker-Smith, prayer, Religion and Spirituality

.praying-boy

Jesus — we will not forget
who you are
and what you’ve done for us.

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“Where You Go I Go”

Where You go I go
What You say I say
What You pray
I pray
What You pray
I pray
 

[repeat]
 

Jesus only did what He saw You do

He would only say what he heard You speak
He would only move when He felt You lead
Following Your heart, following Your spirit
How could I expect to walk without You
When every move that Jesus made was in surrender
I will not begin to live without You
For You alone are worthy,
You are always good
You are always good
Where You go I go
What You say I say
God What You pray I pray
What You pray I pray
Though the world sees and soon forgets
We will not forget who you are
And what you’ve done for us, what you’ve done for us
 
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Bloggers For PeaceThanks for visiting.

New post ERIC

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Other WordPress Peace bloggers:
http://wordpress.com/tag/b4peace/
Please join us!
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C. S. Lewis and Evolution

16 Wednesday Apr 2014

Posted by Hunt 4 Truth in Consciousness, Culture, Faith, Happiness, Health, Inner peace, Lessons, Philosophy, Spirituality

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

apologist, C. S. Lewis, Christian, Christian apologetics, Christianity, Clive Staples Lewis, CS Lewis, Evolution, God, Holy Spirit, John G. West, Lewis, Mere Christianity, Religion and Spirituality, scientism, scientocracy, The Discovery Institute, The Magician's Twin, Theism to Christianity

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“C.S. Lewis and Evolution” is the second of three short documentaries inspired by the book The Magician’s Twin: C.S. Lewis on Science, Scientism, and Society. It examines the evolution of Lewis’s views on orthodox Darwinian theory from his time as a college undergraduate to his death in 1963.

Lewis’s first exception to human evolution was his insistence on an actual Fall of Man from an original state of innocence. The creation story (or cosmogonical myths) is similar in ancient cultures. In these, it is suggested that there was a finished creation from which we were fallen into sin, and therefore, we needed a divine presence to restore us to what God had originally created us to be. Lewis emphasized that man prior to the Fall had unimpeded fellowship with God.Lewis and Aslan 

At his time, archaeological discoveries could not tell us whether prehistoric peoples were kind, or courageous, or noble, or just. Nor do they tell us about their capacity for poetry or song. We know today that there was a great deal of evidence of advances that are impossible to explain if evolution of mankind were to have originated from lower animals. I may delve more into the ancient evidence; probably not though since it is a huge mystery.

Lewis foresaw that science could be twisted by greed and self-aggrandizement in order to attack religion, undermine ethics, and limit human freedom. The description of Transhumanism (the human enhancement movement) is written in Lewis’s predictions in The Abolition of Man and is seemingly frighteningly accurate as today, technology advances rapidly while moral knowledge declines.

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C.S. Lewis and Evolution examines Lewis’s growing doubts about parts of Darwinian evolution, beginning with his views while still an atheist. NOTE: Lewis believed in the common descent of all human beings from one non-human ancestor, although he was skeptical of unguided natural selection.

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More than a half century ago, famed writer C.S. Lewis warned about how science (a good thing) could be twisted in order to attack religion, undermine ethics, and limit human freedom. Throughout his life, C.S. Lewis struggled with what he called the “argument from undesign,” the reality that nature exhibits cruelty and imperfection as well as purpose and beauty. In this documentary “The Magician’s Twin: C.S. Lewis and the Case Against Scientism,” leading scholars explore Lewis’s prophetic warnings about the abuse of science and how Lewis’s concerns are increasingly relevant for us today.

The Discovery Institute released the book The Magician’s Twin, edited by John G. West in 2012. West was a senior Fellow of the Institute and one of the editors of the highly C. S. Lewis Readers’ Encyclopedia. The Magician’s Twin is actually a collection of essays written by contemporary writers about Lewis’s warnings of how dehumanizing scientism would take us in ethics, politics, education, faith, reason, and even in science itself.

The book explores Lewis’s views on bioethics, eugenics, evolution, intelligent design, and what he called “scientocracy.” The book is divided into four sections: Science and Scientism, Origins, Reason, and Society. I previously posted about the first section here.

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C. S. Lewis and Intelligent Design explores Lewis’s personal struggle to find evidence of intelligent design in a world filled with cruelty, imperfection, and injustice.

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In That Hideous Strength, Lewis observes, “The physical sciences, good and innocent in themselves, had already… begun to be warped, had been subtly maneuvered in a certain direction. Despair of objective truth had been increasingly insinuated into the scientists; indifference to it, and a concentration upon mere power, had been the result… The very experiences of the dissecting room and the pathological laboratory were breeding a conviction that the stifling of all deep-set repugnances was the first essential for progress.”

 

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For more information visit http://www.cslewisweb.com. 
There is a main page for “The Magician’s Twin” video series.

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I hope you’ll come back often — there is more to be discovered.

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Need help or want to collaborate with me?
Just e-mail me at thehunt4truth@yahoo.com

Thanks for learning with me.

 Eric

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RELATED:

C. S. Lewis – why he still matters so much today
C. S. Lewis: The Magician’s Twin
Let there be light
perfect wisdom nestled in every cell
healthy spirituality and its biology
theory of mind… evolving spirituality

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She’s back: Kim Walker (Smith) has 10,000 Reasons

30 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by Hunt 4 Truth in B4Peace, Culture, Entertainment, Happiness, Inner peace, Mindful, Music, Peace, Prayer, Religion, Spirituality

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

2 Timothy. Paul, Almighty, Arts and Entertainment, Bible, Bless The Lord, Christian, Christianity, God, Holy, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus Culture, Kim Walker, Kim Walker-Smith, praise, Religion and Spirituality, song, worship

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Stay with me here…
I’ve got a point today along with the inspiring Sunday music.

I read (March 29 actually):

“Researchers used brain scans to analyze the thought process of people with ‘high justice sensitivity’. By using a functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) brain scanning device, they studied the brain activity as the subjects watched videos showing behavior that was morally good or bad like seeing a person put money in the beggar’s cup or kick the beggar’s cup away. They were asked how much they would blame or praise the person in the video and to complete  questionnaires that assessed cognitive and emotional empathy and their justice sensitivity.

Those who scored high on the justice sensitivity assigned significantly more blame when asked to evaluate scenes of harm and also praised more the act of an helping person. But it was the brain scans that surprised the scientists.

During the behavior-evaluation exercise, people with high justice sensitivity showed more activity in the parts of brain associated with higher order cognition as compared to an average subject whereas the areas of brain concerned with emotional processing were not affected at all. Thus proving that individuals sensitive to justice are cognitively driven, not emotionally as everyone thinks.

So the search of justice does not primarily come from the sentimental motivations like portrayed rather it comes from reason and mental sophisticated analysis.

When evaluating good actions, a high  activity in the regions of brain involved on decision making, motivation and reward was shown, answering why some people react more strongly to justice related situations and why they value justice more than others. The findings also suggest that individuals make judgement about behavior based on how they process the reward value of good actions as compared to bad actions.”

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How do you suppose people are coming to higher-consciousness about social justice?

If you have been following my blog, you may guess that I believe it isn’t by accident — I’m pretty darn sure its because this is what we are doing while we are getting more spiritually fit and mindfully attuned and prayerfully loving. We are changing our brains and our genetics. We are evolving. We are learning and teaching that it is good to love being loving and compassionate. We are learning that we may even have compassion for people that are awful (and of course still have legal justice)… its work; yes it is… its God’s work.

My mission is to promote loving; not religion. You may also though enjoy the remainder of my post today. I hope so.

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Wikipedia short biographyKim Walker Smith

Kim Walker-Smith is an American singer, songwriter, worship leader, and recording artist. She produced her first solo album, titled ‘Here Is My Song‘, which was released in February 2008 through the Jesus Culture record label.

 

Kim Walker-Smith
Sermon: Impatience and fear 

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Program Description
Women’s Conference – Session 2 – August 18, 2011 – Under the theme “What If…”

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 “My hunger for God
far outweighs the hunger
to understand or to have all the answers.”

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Bless Your Holy Name; Jesus!

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Thanks for visiting.

 Eric

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As I face myself in the mirror…
I’m looking for holiness within my human face… 
that will come along.

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Only one Word was on my mind

My soul longs for You

2 Timothy

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.Bloggers For Peace

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Other WordPress Peace bloggers:
http://wordpress.com/tag/b4peace/
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we live in Him and He in us

23 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by Hunt 4 Truth in Consciousness, Faith, Happiness, Inspiration, Mindful, Philosophy, Religion

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

awareness, Bible, Christianity, God, happiness, Heaven, Jesus, life is beautiful, Religion and Spirituality

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Enjoy your Sunday!

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1 John 4:13-16

13 We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

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This is simple:
If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.   In other words, repent and believe that Jesus is the Son of God and you are then grated the promise of eternal life.

Concentration – be acknowledging

1. accept or admit the existence or truth of [Jesus] as divine
2. recognize the importance or quality of the indwelling of Holy Spirit

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How to acknowledge Christ

Luke 12:8-12 “I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”

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Science too demonstrates spirituality

Hunt4TruthStairway2Heaven

Andrew Newberg

The front part of the brain, which is usually involved in focusing attention and concentration, is more active during meditation.  This makes sense since meditation requires a high degree of concentration. We also found that the more activity increased in the frontal lobe, the more activity decreased in the parietal lobe.

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As a result of sin, we imagine God’s anger and judgment. Thus, we fear wrath — the only just punishment for sins committed against an infinite and eternal God is an infinite punishment/death (Romans 6:23 and Revelation 20:11-15).

That is why we need our Savior. Jesus was born on Earth and then died in our place. He descended to Hell. His death was payment for all sins (2 Corinthians 5:21 and Romans 5:8). Upon resurrection we have the proof that His death was sufficient to pay the penalty for all sins.

Suddenly, a new clarity is available in these revelations.

Jesus is Savior (John 14:6; Acts 4:12).

God isn’t about punishment.

God is forgiveness and God is by His grace bringing us to think about and to want forgiveness. God is love and God wants us to know only about His divine love. We will forget all that is unreal. We will not recall that we’d thought that God would punish us for hate. Hate isn’t real; never was.

In a moment once, when I looked into my mirror, I saw that hate is an illusion. I saw that upon receiving forgiveness, hate is like a pencil mark that is erased as though it never were because indeed it never really was there. It was fear. 

I looked past what I thought was fear and that too faded away into nothingness. Fear too was unreal.

Everything that is eternal flowed through me at that moment. I liked that moment. I practice that moment; because it is real.

I know, there IS a universal moment when there is only eternal joyfulness; that is real; and there, in that moment is every moment that ever will be; eternally real. That moment holds us in space-time until there is no other moment in the the awareness of all that is and ever was to be spiritual.

I pray we will all see this reality that I enjoy sharing about. I pray that God will dwell in us all; every one of us. We will rejoin Him in His reality. All that is illusion will be no more; it never was. This is my strength. This I know. There is all knowledge here in that one eternal moment that is all about us and every-how creating the real us.

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Thanks for visiting.

 Eric

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  • our Father
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C. S. Lewis: The Magician’s Twin

15 Saturday Feb 2014

Posted by Hunt 4 Truth in Consciousness, Culture, Faith, Happiness, Lessons, Philosophy, Religion, Science, Spirituality, Universe

≈ 24 Comments

Tags

apologist, C. S. Lewis, Christian, Christian apologetics, Christianity, Clive Staples Lewis, CS Lewis, God, Holy Spirit, John G. West, Lewis, Mere Christianity, Religion and Spirituality, scientism, scientocracy, The Discovery Institute, The Magician's Twin, Theism to Christianity

recall: I love science!
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The Magician’s Twin:
C. S. Lewis on Science, Scientism, and Society

The Discovery Institute released the book The Magician’s Twin, edited by John G. West in 2012. West was a senior Fellow of the Institute and one of the editors of the highly C. S. Lewis Readers’ Encyclopedia. The Magician’s Twin is actually a collection of essays written by contemporary writers about Lewis’s warnings of how dehumanizing scientism would take us in ethics, politics, education, faith, reason, and even in science itself.

The book explores Lewis’s views on bioethics, eugenics, evolution, intelligent design, and what he called “scientocracy.” The book is divided into four sections: Science & Scientism, Origins, Reason, and Society.

The Magician’s Twin addresses and challenges the claim that the works of C. S. Lewis are a friend to Darwinian evolution. The book does not address the question of the age of the earth. It’s chapters profess dangerous implications of the Darwinian theories of evolution. Three chapters by John West address how ‘neo-Darwinism’ and ‘scientific materialism’ shape American public policy and culture since the nineteenth century to the present. Writes West, Lewis was “appalled by the growing dogmatism and intolerance he saw among evolutionists.”

C.S. Lewis foresaw that science could be twisted by greed and self-aggrandizement in order to attack religion, undermine ethics, and limit human freedom. The description of Transhumanism (the human enhancement movement) is written in Lewis’s predictions in “The Abolition of Man” and is seemingly frighteningly accurate as today, technology advances rapidly while moral knowledge declines.

In the video documentary “The Magician’s Twin: C.S. Lewis and the Case Against Scientism,” leading scholars explore Lewis’s prophetic warnings about the abuse of science and how Lewis’s concerns are increasingly relevant for us today.

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.NOTE: Lewis believed in the common descent of all human beings from one non-human ancestor, although he was skeptical of unguided natural selection.

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CLICK HERE to explore black holes with the Universe Expansion Cosmic Distance Ladder

Click the Universe Expansion Cosmic Distance Ladder to explore black holes at the Hubblesite Special Feature pages.

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I love the show and C. S. Lewis. I don’t care about evolution. Some of it occurs — so what. I have a simple approach:

    • The complexity of our universe is a created universe sustained by a protection of energy that supports and sustains life.
    • Every cell of our bodies is new in a year and each new cell is a product of thoughts that we think.
    • The universe came about from cause. It plays like a fine instrument. The universe operates by perfect uniform laws of nature.
    • God constantly reveals more simply the complexities of His universe.
    • DNA assures that we will act just as God’s plan calls for from each of us at just the right moments doing in those moments just the exact thing that we as unique aspects of an entire community of humanity must do at an exact time so that we will keep our subconscious agreements with each other. Those moments are unavoidable. Our circumstances will compel us to be exactly in the right place at the right time and we will do and or say exactly the right thing then; no matter what we may mess up most of the rest of our days. We are usually unconscious about it or chalk it off to coincidence. There are no coincidences.
    • Most of us are unconscious about our individual purpose until the time is exactly right and even then it rarely dawns upon most any of us that we have a purpose.
    • We are eternal spiritual beings. Most of us are fearful much of the time and thus we are separated from knowing fully God’s loving presence. Some of us are even oblivious about God.
    • We all need to be aware that our upsets belong to we as individuals and take responsibility for these without finding fault with anyone else.
    • We must be loving and compassionate, empathetic and we must find our self-actualized purpose before looking to outside for satisfying relationships.
    • The Holy Spirit is the protecting and sustaining energy of this universe. We ought look inward and be still to allow the Spirit to fill our bodies and fully enliven our hearts and then the Spirit will direct us as we’d never known possible.

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More C. S. Lewis
    • C. S. Lewis – why he still matters so much today
    • Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis (Youtube read aloud by Jeffrey Howard)
    • Mere Christianity (MP3 read aloud by Jeffrey Howard)
    • Mere Christianity Text and PDF (online – download)

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I hope you’ll come back often — there is more to be discovered.

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Need help or want to collaborate with me?
Just e-mail me at thehunt4truth@yahoo.com

Thanks for learning with me.

 Eric

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See also:

    • Sacred Technology?
    • Scientist debunks Hawking’s ‘no God needed’ theory
      How the Universe Works (in 25 minutes)
      Hawking: ‘Heaven is a place for people afraid to die’
    • Is the brain spirituality wired?

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C. S. Lewis – why he still matters so much today

13 Thursday Feb 2014

Posted by Hunt 4 Truth in Consciousness, Culture, Faith, Happiness, Inner peace, Philosophy, Religion, Spirituality

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

apologist, C. S. Lewis, Christian, Christian apologetics, Christianity, Clive Staples Lewis, CS Lewis, Eric Metaxas, G. K. Chesterton, God, Holy Spirit, immortal, James Como, Lewis, Mere Christianity, Theism to Christianity

1898 – 1963

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I am posting this today because I believe that God made us to be immortal. Further, I believe that anyone that decides to seek God is blessed in such a manner as that they will know this. I am Christian, however, I personally believe that God’s Holy Spirit embraces every soul, plant, animal and even inorganic matter. Science can “see” this as quantum energy. Science cannot explain this. It requires faith to understand the mysteries of God’s Divine Love.

Aside from a handful of apostles and saints that I cannot locate on YouTube, there is in my experience, no greater explainer for Christianity that was C. S. Lewis.

Our hearts must be on fire for the things of God; and so must our reason.

 ~ C. S. Lewis

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Lewis was not always devoutly Christian. In fact, as a young man, Lewis was deeply bothered by evil and suffering in the world that didn’t fit with whom he imagined God to be. In his early adult years he was actually an outspoken atheist.

In his words: “My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. Just how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? … Thus in the very act of trying to prove that God did not exist—in other words, that the whole of reality was senseless—I found I was forced to assume that one part of reality—namely my idea of justice—was full of sense. Consequently atheism turns out to be too simple.  If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning.”
(Mere Christianity, 45-46)

Being disciplined and diligent about the truth of his beliefs, Lewis came in some time to dramatically reverse his decision.

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Lewis and AslanA former atheist he once exclaimed “Had God designed the world, it would not be A world so frail and faulty as we see.”

There is an old saying, “When the pupil is ready, the master will appear.”

C. S. Lewis has been a teacher and a mentor whose books and writings appeared at just the right time in countless lives.

The documentary seeks to answer the question of why C. S. Lewis — an Oxford scholar who specialized in Renaissance literature — still matters today. Lewis’s importance is heard through a renowned group of Christian pastors, artists, producers, writers and scholars.

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Who was this man, C. S. Lewis?

Clive Staples Lewis, commonly called C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as “Jack”, was a novelist, poet, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian, and Christian apologist.

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C. S. Lewis from Theism to Christianity:

C. S. Lewis 1:25: [Reading from G. K. Chesterton]
“A great man knows he is not God and the greater he is, the better he knows it. The gospels declare that this mysterious maker of the world has visited his world in person. The most that any religious prophet has said was that he was the true servant of such a being. But if the creator was present in the daily life of the Roman empire, that is something unlike anything else in nature. It is the one great startling statement that man has made since he spoke his first articulate word. It makes dust and nonsense of comparative religion.”

James Como 6:16:
I think it would be a mistake to think that argument converted C.S. Lewis. Because he thinks that we have to be oblique. We can’t look at things directly. They escape us. This is what his attempt at introspection taught him. When you’re thinking and now you start to think about your thinking — you’re not thinking about the original object anymore, you know. I’m thinking about baseball, now I’m thinking about how I’m thinking about baseball, so now I’m not thinking about baseball, you see. Very elusive. So Lewis understood that we had to have an oblique approach, as he put it, you have to sneak past the watchful dragons of self-consciousness.

C. S. Lewis 6:52:
I know very well when but hardly how the final step was taken. I went with my brother to have a picnic at Whipsnade Zoo. We started in fog, but by the end of our journey the sun was shining. When we set out I did not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and when we reached the zoo I did. I had not exactly spent the journey in thought. Nor in great emotion. It was more like when a man, after a long sleep, becomes aware that he is now awake.

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More C. S. Lewis
  • Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis (Youtube read aloud by Jeffrey Howard)
  • Mere Christianity (MP3 read aloud by Jeffrey Howard)
  • Text and PDF (online – download)
  • C. S. Lewis: The Magician’s Twin

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I hope you’ll come back often — there is more to be discovered.

Need help or want to collaborate with me? Just e-mail me at thehunt4truth@yahoo.com

Thanks for learning with me.

 Eric

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Related articles (hunt4truth.wordpress.com)
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    Hawking: ‘Heaven is a place for people afraid to die’
    How the Universe Works (in 25 minutes)
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    Looking at yourself honestly – Gratitude
  • mindfulness and prayerful healing
  • is the brain spirituality wired?
    change from within
  • stillness – your essential nature
    Rippling
  • Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
    Only one Word was on my mind

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Writer considers how people experience God through the story of Jesus

30 Monday Dec 2013

Posted by Hunt 4 Truth in Culture, Religion

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Christianity, JAY PARINI, JEFFREY BROWN, Jesus

An Amazon Best Book of the Month, December 2013
Skeptics–religious and otherwise–will surely ask what more could possibly be said about Jesus, who has been mythologized, de-mythologized, re-mythologized and then some over twenty centuries. While novelist and professor Jay Parini hardly breaks new ground with this erudite yet accessible Jesus: The Human Face of God–the first in a series of short biographies known as the ICONS series–he manages, in less than 200 pages, to raise and examine the most important questions about the founder of Christianity. For those already steeped in religion, myth and literature, Parini’s offering is mostly a guidebook. But to those seeking to understand both who Jesus was and how he came to dominate the minds and hearts of millions over thousands of years, this is the perfect primer–arriving,  of course, at the perfect time of year.
~ Sara Nelson

Jesus The Human Face of God by Jay Parini

PBS
JEFFREY BROWN:
Who was Jesus? How have his words and deeds resonated from his time to ours? A new book examines such questions not from the perspective off a religious scholar but of a writer, poet and teacher of literature. “Jesus: The Human Face of God” is the first in a new series titled “Icons” of short biographies on figures who changed history.

Author Jay Parini is professor of English and creative writing at Middlebury College. Among his previous works are the novel “The Last Station” and a biography of Robert Frost.

And welcome to you.

JAY PARINI, “Jesus: The Human Face of God”: Good to be here.

JEFFREY BROWN: I want to use that starting point, that you are not a religious scholar.

JAY PARINI: Right.

JEFFREY BROWN: You’re approaching this as a writer. So, what did you think that you wanted to or could bring this life of Jesus?

JAY PARINI: Well, I was hoping, as a poet and novelist, I could bring some energy to the narrative.

This is a great story. And I use the word all through the work mythos, the Greek word for myth. And I say that a myth is a story which has particular energy, mythic resonance. I always say that a myth is a tear in the fabric of reality, through which all of this spiritual energy pours.

And I’m trying in this book to trace the outline of that tear and say, OK, Jesus, who was this guy?

JEFFREY BROWN: When you say myth, you mean not in the common message — the common parlance right?

JAY PARINI: People usually say, oh, you think Jesus is a myth.

Not true. But, actually, a myth is a story that is not just not true, but it’s a story that is especially true. And I think the myth of Jesus is especially true.

JEFFREY BROWN: Now, you tell us out the outset that Jesus was a — quote — “a religious genius.” That’s what you say.

JAY PARINI: Yes.

JEFFREY BROWN: What does that mean?

(CROSSTALK)

JAY PARINI: Well, what I mean by — and I’m glad you brought that up.

I say Jesus was a religious genius. But here is a Mediterranean peasant, obviously, I think, an incredible mind. He is born in a very interesting place, right on the Silk Road, which goes from Hellenistic Greece, tracks along to Persia, China, and India.

And so Jesus is able to — it’s a very lively time, too, 1st century A.D. So, Jesus is able to pull in ideas of the body and the soul from Plato, ideas of karma from Buddhism and the East. And he’s able to synthesize all of this and create a world religion, even though I do say in the book he wasn’t trying to start a religion. That wasn’t his purpose.

JEFFREY BROWN: When you say synthesize — so, give me an example of the synthesis that you — would have come from West and East.

JAY PARINI: Well, for instance, I just think the idea of body and soul as being how we’re put together is very much a Hellenistic idea, Plato.

But the idea of karma — and it’s a complicated idea, but the main thing is that blessed — say, blessed are the merciful, for God will show them mercy. And I think in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew’s 5, 6 and 7, Jesus is really laying forward a beautiful, a perfect system of ethics.

And, you know, blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy. And then those six antitheses, things like, in the old days they said, if you hurt somebody, hurt them back, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. But Jesus says, no, wait a minute. I say, if somebody slaps you, turn the other cheek.

Then he says, I will even go further. If somebody — I want you to love your enemies. Do good to those that — them that hate you. He says, if somebody asks for your shirt, wants your tie, say, I want your tie, Jeff, you have to say, Jay, have my whole jacket.

(LAUGHTER)

JAY PARINI: That’s Christianity. And it’s a — Christianity is not a set of — it’s not a set of boxes that you intellectually give assent to, I believe X, Y and Z. No. That’s not it. It’s a way of being in the world.

JEFFREY BROWN: You — you said earlier that you — you didn’t see Jesus as someone who imagined or wanted — set out to start a new religion.

You also don’t see him — and I mention this because of the book this year that got a lot of attention, “Zealot” by Reza Aslan, that portrayed him more as a political firebrand.

You don’t see that Jesus?

JAY PARINI: That Jesus doesn’t exist.

Jesus said, those who live by the sword die by the sword. He was teaching peacefulness. Jesus wasn’t founding a religion or a political movement. He believed in — I keep using the phrase and kind of was happy when I stumbled on it, the gradually realizing kingdom of God. And when one of the…

JEFFREY BROWN: Which means what?

JAY PARINI: Well, someone says to him, where is this kingdom? Is it here? Is it there? And Jesus says, the kingdom of God is within you.

And I think that one of the words I stress in this book is that word that Jesus, the character of Jesus in the Gospel uses 22 times, the Greek word metanoia, meta as in metaphysics, to go beyond physics, noia — you’re a Greek scholar — the mind.

And so what Jesus is saying here, metanoia, if you allow yourself to go beyond this physical mind and enter into the larger spirit of God, you will experience salvation, or the word salvation in Greek, soteria, it’s such a beautiful word, but it really means enlightenment, peace, reconciliation.

And this is the kingdom of God. It’s the gradually realizing kingdom of eternity. And eternity is here and now and always.

JEFFREY BROWN: This idea that you said about the myth, bringing the myth. You — in fact, you say that you’re writing in opposition to many tendencies in contrary scholarship and practice, you — to de-mythologize Jesus. You want re-mythologize Jesus.

JAY PARINI: Yes, as — this is a biography, yes, but it’s not historical, in the sense we don’t — we’re not really working with the kind of usual data we would have for writing a life of, say, George Washington or a life of JFK.

This is a mythical story. And what we’re going on is the experience of God that people have through Jesus Christ. And so I’m — it’s, you know, a book about this marvelous experience of this teaching and experience of how, through understanding this story, we have a way that we can follow.

JEFFREY BROWN: But I was — I mean, I was curious how that also — what that means for our reading and understanding of the miracles of the supernatural aspect as well, because it, in a sense…

JAY PARINI: Yes.

JEFFREY BROWN: … happened.

JAY PARINI: Well, yes.

I mean, I believe in the supernatural here. And someone asked me, well, how do you deal with the resurrection? You’re an intelligent man. You’re a professor at Middlebury College. You’re a rational person. And I talk about the resurrection by saying, look, this is not the great resuscitation. This is a transformation that goes way beyond anything that the human mind can understand.

And it strikes me as important that, when Jesus comes back in the stories from the dead, nobody recognizes him. He is walking — Mary Magdalene is in the — with — goes into the tomb to — she is so sad because her best friend, Jesus, has been crucified.

Someone talks to her. She thinks it’s the gardener. And he says, Mary? She looks and she says rabboni in — in his native Aramaic. Even when Jesus goes to visits Nathaniel and the others, and Andrew and John, who are — have taken to fishing again after the crucifixion, they’re out there casting for fish, not getting any. Jesus says, try the other side of the boat.

And they do. And they catch all these fish. They come to shore. They still don’t recognize him. It’s Peter who goes, wait a minute, you’re Jesus, aren’t you?

So, I think the point here is made over and over again that the resurrection is way beyond human understanding, that life and death are very complicated matters. I think the membrane — I say that the membrane between life and death is perilously thin. And I do think the story of Jesus, this great mythical story, can have transforming value in our lives.

JEFFREY BROWN: All right, we will continue this discussion online.

But, for now, “Jesus: The Human Face of God” — Jay Parini, thanks so much.

JAY PARINI: Thank you, Jeff.

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Biography

Jay Parini is Axinn Professor of English at Middlebury College, Vermont. His six novels also include Benjamins Crossing and The Apprentice Lover. His volumes of poetry include The Art of Subtraction: New and Selected Poems. In addition to biographies of John Steinbeck, Robert Frost and William Faulkner, he has written a volume of essays on literature and politics, as well as The Art of Teaching. He edited the Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature and writes regularly for the Guardian and other publications.

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In January 2014, I’ll begin posting on how we can improve the world. I hope you’ll come back often — there is more to be discovered.

Thanks for learning with me.

 Eric

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Cover the Children

13 Friday Dec 2013

Posted by Hunt 4 Truth in Consciousness, Culture, Happiness, Prayer, Religion, Spirituality

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Christianity, God, Jesus, Lord, prayer, Prayer Request Pages, Religion and Spirituality

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Save the Children - Official Site

A Child’s Prayer for Morning:

Now, before I run to play,
Let me not forget to pray
To God who kept me through the night
And waked me with the morning light.

Help me, Lord, to love thee more
Than I ever loved before,
In my work and in my play
Be thou with me through the day.
Amen.

— Author Unknown

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journeybits

??????????????????????????

We really need to cover our children in prayer and send them out with a blessing.

I was out with my daughter at a basketball game. I witnessed so much worldliness. Our children exposed to a lot and they try to fit in. Not only that but they have teachers and administrators over them that aren’t saved. They have so many spirits up against them it’s important they be covered.

We must teach our kids how to pray for themselves when they are surrounded by the enemy. They need to know that they too have power. They can cover themselves and pray for those around them. We may not be able to be with our children everywhere they go but we have faith that the Lord is with them. Our God promises to never leave us nor forsake us. That’s a promise we can stand on.

If you are someone…

View original post 72 more words

Aside

The Wounded Healer

04 Wednesday Dec 2013

Posted by Hunt 4 Truth in Consciousness, Entertainment, Music

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Carl Jung, Christianity, God, Religion and Spirituality, Wounded healer

I love science and God. This is a perfect gift my friend. Thank you. ~ Eric

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youtube.com watch?v=orxEawi9qro

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Aside

A Gentle Reminder: the Low Points are Teachers, too

29 Friday Nov 2013

Posted by Hunt 4 Truth in Consciousness, Health, Lessons, Meditation, Self-assessments, Spirituality

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Christianity, God, Holy Spirit, Religion and Spirituality, Spiritualism, Yoga

“Feel Better in Yourself” is good thinking. If we are to be directed by Spirit, we must learn to do what will quiet the ego. Its necessary to be free of the day to be with Spirit. This is time spent wisely. ~ Eric

Gingho

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Happy Thanksgiving

28 Thursday Nov 2013

Posted by Hunt 4 Truth in Consciousness, Culture, Entertainment, Faith, Happiness, Inner peace, Lessons, Philosophy, Prayer, Spirituality

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Christianity, Churches of God, God, Grateful, Gratitude, happiness, holiday, Jesus, joy, Lord, Religion and Spirituality, Thankful, thankful heart, Thanksgiving, Turkey

Today is a perfect day to cherish learning to be with the Lord in His gift of loving inner peacefulness — and — being fully aware of our very most thankful appreciative hearts.

stairway2heavenlyOpen hearts sing and thank Him today — right now — you too may begin — join in — you know you are not alone — later greet friends and guests today with all of His loving warmth radiating from your heart.

We only must ask. God blesses us all and He will bask our homes, travels, airways, rails, roads, and vehicles with His love. Know this. Feel His warm love. Feel God’s loving energy breathing warmth into you and into your heart from its inside out.

Watch this video too. You’ll love that it demonstrates an age old lesson on the gloriousness of thanksgiving. I know you’ll love it!

Here are some suggestions for allowing the Lord to manage our hearts:

  • Announce gratitude and be specific — in a group is nice too — plan this with guests beforehand — everyone can pray and speak about gratitude — this will raise happiness and your grateful hearts will warm the home too
  • Say to loved ones and friends that you appreciate them and be specific
  • Joyfully commit to seek God’s will and see God in everyplace that you look
  • Behave in a humble grateful manner and praise God in thankfulness for living and for blessings and be specific

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Program Description
A Day of Thanksgiving, 1951. This film relates the experiences of a middle-class American family when they are stimulated to review the things for which they are thankful.

Bill Johnson, a garage mechanic, comes home from work on the day before Thanksgiving to find his children completely disheartened by their mother’s announcement that the family cannot afford a turkey for the holiday. Shocked at his son Dick’s statement that there won’t be much to be thankful for, Bill gently reminds him and the other children that while turkey on Thanksgiving is a great American tradition, its presence sometimes obscures the real meaning of Thanksgiving.

When Dick concedes that modern Americans are a lot better off than the Pilgrims, the others suggest that they all make a list of the things for which they are thankful. Their father cautions them to give serious thought to their list, which should include only the things they feel deeply. He then watches them mulling over their thoughts as they play during the evening.

At the Thanksgiving dinner table, each member of the family offers part of the thanks.

Tommy is thankful for plenty of food and free library books to read. Susan mentions clothing, Sunday school, and her family. Dick gives thanks for a chance to get an education and a chance to play. Bill thinks as he looks at Baby Janet that she must be thankful in her own way for fun in the bathtub, playtime, and security.

Mrs. Johnson is thankful that her children can grow up healthy and strong, that she can guide them, that her family can have many of the modern conveniences, that she can have freedom of speech, and that Mr. Johnson’s job brings peace of mind. Bill Johnson then finishes the list with the things for which he is thankful: a home with privacy, freedom from fear of political reprisal, the right to pick a vocation in which he is happy, freedom of opinion as represented by his newspaper, the right to vote, and the belief that family unity can become world-wide unity.

A Day of Thanksgiving This 1951 education film portrays a family that cannot afford to purchase a Thanksgiving turkey and instead reflects upon the things for which they are thankful. It was produced by Centron Corporation of Lawrence, Kansas with non-professional actors, and is part of the Prelinger Archives.

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I’ll pray that we may all today share in grateful giving and let this become a habit that will grow in our hearts every day. Bless us God every one. Whatever our needs may be, I pray that He will be foremost in our minds and hearts as we share His divine warmth and glorious praise. Amen.

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Thanks for visiting.

New post Eric

Bloggers For Peace

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come into the light

27 Wednesday Nov 2013

Posted by Hunt 4 Truth in Consciousness, Faith, Happiness, Inspiration, Lessons, Mindful, Philosophy, Religion, Spirituality

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

Christ, Christianity, contrite heart, God, Jesus, Lord, Religion and Spirituality

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The story is a lesson.

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When Jesus challenges the crowd, he says, “He who is without sin among you, let him first cast the stone at her.” The crowd disperses. No one there was able to stand forth and cast a stone. Jesus knew this. 

He asks the woman, “Where are those, thine accusers? Has no man condemned thee?“

There is a pause; we see that no one is standing in condemnation. The woman also sees this.

Jesus then says, “Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more.“

Jesus makes clear that condemnation is not the message that is taught that day.

Be of a contrite heart
My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise. Psalm 51:17

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stairway-to-heaven-3

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The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit (Psalm 34:18)

In Scripture, the heart is the seat of all feeling, whether joy or sorrow. A contrite heart is one in which the natural pride and self-sufficiency have been completely humbled by the consciousness of guilt. Humility is strength then; great strength within the seat of all feeling.

We are to bring our guilt into the light. I was brought up that this occurs during a sacrament; the Sacrament of Confession. In any case, the basic requirement is to bring a contrite heart to God.

Thanks for visiting,

New post Eric

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11-27-13.

a place called Heaven

19 Tuesday Nov 2013

Posted by Hunt 4 Truth in Afterlife, Consciousness, Culture, Faith, Happiness, Heaven, Inner peace, Inspiration, Memory, Religion, Spirituality

≈ 15 Comments

Tags

awareness, Bible, Christianity, God, happiness, Heaven, Jesus, life is beautiful, Religion and Spirituality

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John 14:1-4 (Jesus is speaking)
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. stairs2heavenTrust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” 

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Thanks for visiting.

 Eric

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Sunday with His Son

10 Sunday Nov 2013

Posted by Hunt 4 Truth in Entertainment, Faith, Happiness, Inner peace, Music, Religion, Spirituality

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

awareness, Christianity, consciousness, First Epistle of John, God, happiness, Jesus, Love of God, Religion and Spirituality

Enjoy your Sunday!

MercyME – Beautiful

1 John 4:9-11

This is how God showed his Love among us: He joined His one Son to us in the world that we might live through him. This is Love: that He loves us, Giving All to all; His Son among us, an atoning evidence for salvation. Dear friends, since God so Loves us, we also learn to love one another.  

Thanks for visiting.

New post Eric

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A new Hallelujah

09 Saturday Nov 2013

Posted by Hunt 4 Truth in Entertainment, Faith, Inner peace, Inspiration, Mindful, Music, Philosophy, Religion, Spirituality

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Christianity, God, Hallelujah, Jesus, Michael W. Smith, Praise & Worship, Religion & Spirituality

GinghoMichael W. Smith takes to the stage and releases yet another awe inspiring Praise and Worship Album. This full length video features some of today’s most beloved songs of the church, including Open The Eyes of my Heart, Draw Me Close, Awesome God and Agnus. Enjoy please, Michael W. Smith and the African Children’s Choir.

Thanks for visiting,

 Eric

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Aside

When You Need A Miracle By Debbie Milam

05 Tuesday Nov 2013

Posted by Hunt 4 Truth in Consciousness, Faith, Happiness, Self-assessments, Spirituality

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Christianity, God, Religion and Spirituality

NICE! Thanks — this is so cool. I love it… let’s look for God in every moment — of course He’s always everywhere! Thanks. ~ Eric

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Gingho

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Inner Peace

Inner Peace Award - I would have a no-awards blog but this award changed me. Thanks Suz. I'm glad I changed.

November 2013

Top Posts (LIkes)

  • Looking at yourself honestly - Mental Strength
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Recent Posts

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Hunt 4 Truth

For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." https://hunt4truth.wordpress.com/ Absolute Truth is whole, complete and perfect. Absolute Truth is just beyond words, mental concepts, and form; Non-being, yet in everything and yet beyond thought forms. Prayer and meditation fashion in our hearts further honesty, openness, and willingness and thus, we may glimpse guidance and truth to rightly think and act. Any glimpse of truth is not Absolute Truth. It may be sufficient until we renew our commitment to serve God. Life is thus best navigated during mindfulness of prayer and meditation by an inner peace. "For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse." Romans 1:20

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