In Turin, Italy, an anonymous citizen wrote the tax office enclosing 10,000 Lira in the envelope and explained he had cheated on his income tax. He said it caused him to lose his appetite. Then he added, “If my appetite doesn’t improve I’ll send the rest.”

It sounds like an easy weight loss program, but I don’t think it could work for me. Guilt doesn’t keep me from eating. It has kept me awake more than once, however.

William Wirt Winchester’s widow Sarah built a bizarre mansion in San Jose, California, to assuage her feelings of remorse. It is a house built over a 38-year period at a cost of over five million dollars. The 160 room house has stairways that lead to blank walls, corridors that lead to un-openable doors, 13 bathrooms, 13 stair steps, 13 lights to a chandelier, 13 windows to a room, strange.

Her husband was the son of Oliver Fisher Winchester, manufacturer of the famous Winchester repeating rifle. The house is referred to as the “guilt house,” and was conceived as a never-ending building project to provide a home for spirits of those killed by Winchester rifles. Instead of addressing her grief and remorse in more therapeutic ways, Sarah’s project occupied the rest of her life.

The late Erma Bombeck called guilt “the gift that keeps on giving.” (She also said she came from a family of pioneers – said her mother invented guilt in 1936.) And it CAN be a gift that keeps on giving when it isn’t laid to rest. It can keep on giving problems to everyone it touches – emotional, physical and spiritual. It seems that if we don’t find a way to deal with it, guilt may deal with us in some frightening ways.

Do you have unresolved guilt? I’m not talking about “good” guilt, the feelings of shame or remorse that keep us from doing something incredibly stupid or hurtful. I mean unnecessary guilt. Over-anxiety and self-loathing about that which can no longer be changed.

If so, it may help to remember that:

+ In one day you can recognize where your feelings of guilt come from.

+ In one day you can decide to make necessary amends to those you may have hurt.

+ In one day you can decide to ask for forgiveness from others.

+ In one day you can exercise your spiritual power and choose to be

at one with God and the universe.

+ In one day you can decide to be gentler with yourself and allow yourself to experience the healing balm of acceptance.

+ In one day you can resolve to learn from the past and not repeat your behavior.

+ In one day you can choose to do something constructive with that guilt, and then continue every day until it is only a memory.

And best of all, that one day can be today.

__________

[1]Steve Goodier Publisher@LifeSupportSystem.com is a professional speaker, consultant and author of numerous books. Visit his site for more information, or to sign up for his FREE newsletter of Life, Love and Laughter at http://LifeSupportSystem.com

Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.

Home ownership is the cornerstone of the American dream,  but as a part of that dream society paints the picture that your home reveals who you are, and who you think you want to be.  The bigger the home, the more important and prosperous person you must be, has been the conventional wisdom that many people have held for years.  Passersby see a large mansion and think wealth and importance lives there, but when they see a small run down cottage they see the abode of poverty and degradation.

Our homes are places where we surround  ourselves with decorative accessories that range from magnificent collectibles to something as simple as a wall covered with family photographs.  We customize our homes to reflect our inner selves or whatever we think that happens to be or we want it to appear to be.  Everyday we see advertising that is so compelling we can hardly resist, Decorate your home! Equip your home! Maintain your home! Enjoy your home! Worry about your home! Your home reveals who you are, and who you want to be.

But the bottom line is that it makes no difference if your home is one of those places that contemporary culture refers to as a McMansion, supersized beyond need or commonsense; it makes no difference if it is 3 bedroom ranch in a suburban community, it makes no difference if our home is  in a large city or a small rural community, a house, an apartment, a manufactured home, or even a cardboard box in a forgotten back alley of some city, it just makes no difference, our homes are our homes.

When  Christ spoke in John 14 verse 23 we find that he is saying that those who truly love him, and follow his teachings and instruction, he promises to us in his words “my Father and I will love them.”  Our Lord doesn’t specifically state which of his instructions such as the 10 commandments or as he told the lawyer in Matthew 22:37 to 39 “ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment.   And the second commandment is similar, Thou shall love your neighbor as you love would yourself.  But rather he is saying that if we love him we will abide by all of his sayings and wisdoms.  Then he goes on to say “we will come to them and make our home with them.”

Now the question arises, what would we do if we found out that God and our Lord Jesus Christ were going to move into our home with us?

Knowing what Jesus said to the wealthy young man in Matthew 19:21  “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.” Would we sell our Mc Mansions buy a simpler home and give the rest to the poor?  Would we get rid of everything in our homes that God and Jesus might find objectionable?  Would we dispose of anything that might incriminate us as living a lifestyle contrary to Christian traditions?  Would we clean, paint, fix up or otherwise make our homes more acceptable to God and Our lord to live in?  Most of us probably would.

But in today’s lesson Jesus is not indicating that he and his Father are going to move into our physical earthly homes, but rather that inner home.  The home that exists in our hearts and minds.  But then again even considering this concept, what would we do to make that inner home more acceptable to God and Christ?

If we would sell off our physical Mc Mansions were the Lord to come to live in our physical home, would we dispose of our attitudes that equate success with accumulation of the material, for remember he said Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Would we clean our homes from top to bottom riding them of anything objectionable to God for Christ said Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God.  If we learned that God was going to move in would we fill our homes with everything necessary to develop a strong and continuous desire of progress in religious and moral perfection, “tools” necessary to find spiritual justice, for he said Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill?

If we give in to the advertising that seeks to compel us to Decorate our homes, Equip our homes, and Maintain our homes, why do we as a society in which 80% identify themselves as Christians, fail to decorate, equip, and maintain our inner homes so as to be acceptable to God?

Let us resolve to each do a “spiritual” house cleaning, making our inner homes acceptable to our Lord.  Let us not seek to hide behind a façade of brick and mortar when we are lacking in spiritual prosperity nor feel less than perfect if we live in what society sees as squalor. Always remember that while society might see our outward physical home as a sign of our success and place in society, God knows the condition of our real inner home.  God does not see a sign of prosperity in a mansion nor an indication of poverty in a cardboard box, he knows who is his.

So it makes no difference if we live in a cardboard box in a back alley or in a Mc Mansion in an exclusive gated community, if we truly love God and Christ and we follow his teachings — all of them — he is there in our home with us.

• The Shepherd is always willing to leave the 99 and go in search of the one, lovingly guiding the lost sheep back to the flock.
  (Matthew 18:12)
• The shepherd always listens to God for the wisdom to guide the flock to ever greener pastures.
  (Psalm 23:2)
• The shepherd makes sure the flock partakes of good clear water.
  (Mark 9:41)
• The shepherd never makes the flock beasts of burden.
  (Matthew 23:4)
• The shepherd never lassoes the sheep; hog ties ‘em and fleeces ‘em.

There’s a story of a poor man who had a very rich friend. The rich man-wanted, to help his friend, so one day he placed a fabulously expensive diamond in the poor man’s pocket as he lay sleeping. The rich-man-slipped away unnoticed. When the poor man woke up he went on living as he had always done, from hand to mouth with barely enough provisions for himself and his family. Eventually the rich man came to visit his poor friend after many years of traveling and was shocked to see him still as poor as, ever. “What did you do with-the diamond I left with you?” “What diamond?” replied the poor man. “Why the one I left in your pocket!” At that the poor man reached into his pocket and found the diamond. Spiritually we are like that poor man. [1]

Many of us are exactly like that poor man, oblivious of the diamond in his possession.  We go through life unaware of the spiritual wealth that we have in our possession, but do not recognize.

This leads us to the point of leaving our Christian path or our traditional churches, in many cases, due to the reasons outlined in A and B below.  We become unaware of the value of that which is in our possession when outside influences blinds us to that spiritual wealth.

(A) Some of us who have grown up in the Christian tradition, turn from that pathway of faith, due to our inability to distinguish the core teachings of Christ from the actions of other “professed” Christians who seemingly exemplify a way of life contrary to these same teachings and life style of Jesus.  We see the society in which we live stereotyping all Christians as mean spirited, hate mongering, hypocrites; and rightfully so when the vocal minority of Christians manifest in their actions and words these attributes which stand in stark contradiction to the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.  Influenced by these negative stereotypes, many of us stray from the church (protestant and catholic denominations alike) and seek elsewhere for spiritual paths and answers.

(B) Others who have left the traditional church have done so due to a feeling of emptiness, in the spiritual sense.  We are simply not finding in our traditional Christian churches that ingredient of worship which we need to satisfy that spiritual thirst or hunger that exists within us.

Those who fit into the two categories outlined here as well as society in general, fail to recognize the good works or deeds of the majority of Christians as well as the value of spiritual traditions that exist within the Christian movement.  Through this failure, we go about life, in spiritual rags, ignorant of a great spiritual treasure that is offered us through Christ’s teachings and ministry.  Some become fascinated with Eastern or other pathways of spiritual growth.  But if we add to the ignorance of our own treasures through totally abandoning our Christian traditions and adopting another, the possibility for genuine spiritual growth in either, is greatly diminished.

We postulate or consider it as self evident that there is a thirst or hunger that is leading to a great awakening of the oft ignored wealth of Christian spiritual traditions.  As more and more Christians remove the blinders of ignorance and seek out through study and subsequent rediscovery of ancient Christian Traditions, we become aware of that great wealth, that hidden diamond, that we have always had in our possession.

I once was lost, But now am found, Was blind but now I see………

These words from the old favorite hymn, Amazing Grace should become the mantra for those that have left the church due to reasons A and B above or other causes.  We should open our eyes and seek out those treasures of our faith and rediscover the diamond that Christianity was meant to be.

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Matthew 7:7-8

[1] From “living in the spirit”, by Rachel Hosmer and Alan Jones © 1979 Seabury Press Inc

Pages 161 -163

⁸Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ⁹Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.¹⁰And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

COMMENTARY:

From time to time each and everyone of us falls victim to oppression from evil.  Sometimes this oppression manifests itself in the form of anger caused by fear of the unknown future in these unsteady times, sometimes the oppression comes from a society that has grown increasingly oriented to secular pursuits such as consumptionism and materialism.  In the case of the latter, the jealously and greed of others oft times places us in situations that are out of our control, but how we respond or interact with these situations is at our discretion – we can choose to or choose not to allow these forms of oppression influence our thinking and personal actions or reactions.

Remember these words of the apostle Peter; Be self-controlled and alert. ….. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings (that you are)

In the process of self-denial, many traditions require one to “give up something” — to abstain at least during the Lenten season from taking part of or using that particular vice. I was thinking today how wonderful it would be if everyone resolved to give up hate, animosity, and the desire to control the lives of others.

“But Wait,” you say, “the Lenten custom of ‘giving up’ or abstaining is traditionally seen as doing without something you like, and not the negative attitudes and lifestyles such as the need to control others!”

To those of you that would suggest that fact to this balding, portly, Priest, —- I reply to you with a heavy sigh and troubled heart, and humbly point out that there are many in this world that thrive on hate, animosity, and the mind control of others, those that savor these negative attitudes just as you and I might savor a thick juicy steak, a glass of a fine aperitif, or even a mug of one’s favorite brew.

Sadly, our diverse media, on a daily basis reports headlines detailing the suffering and in some cases death that innocents have experienced at the hands of these troubled souls. Consider the number of accounts we have heard of children that have been enslaved, in some cases for years by adults for the purpose of satisfaction of the desires of the flesh. Consider the cases wherein people have recounted the suffering they have experienced at the hands of false prophets that were so controlling that the lay person had to go to the minister to receive his/her permission for such simple things as the choice of cell phone vendors.

And many of us have heard of or know matriarchs and patriarchs that thrive on maintaining hate and animosity within their own family groups — dividing the family and in effect conquering so as to control the family, people who do not seem happy unless turmoil is constantly boiling in their lives and the lives of their spouses, children or siblings. To all of these that thrive on hate, animosity and control, would it not be nice if they discovered self denial – at least during Lent – by giving up these habits? Would not it be wonderful if they abstained from their desires that hurt and deny others, by denying themselves of these negative vices?

“…..Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3

Usually, little children are not full of hate and animosity, until they have learned these undesirable attributes from adults or older children. Wouldn’t the world be a better place if we all followed the golden rule, treating others as we would want to be treated, and I ask how many actually want to be the receivers of hate and animosity or to be controlled by others? Why can we not be as little children in the symbolic sense and cast off hate, greed, etc.

And one of the lawyers answering saith unto him, Teacher, in saying this thou reproachest us also. And Jesus said, Woe unto you lawyers also! for ye load men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers. Woe unto you lawyers! for ye took away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.

Luke 11:45,46,52

We might ask how often people place the burdens of hate, animosity, control, greed, and even false guilt and never lift a finger to help their victims bear these loads? How many would not enter into the light of God’s grace and strive to prevent others from doing so?

As we go through Lenten season reflect upon these thoughts that are offered for contemplation, and perhaps even pray that we as the followers of Christ can through our good example lead those we refer to in this editorial away from the darkness that prevails over their hearts and souls, so that someday innocents will no longer suffer at the hands of troubled individuals or cults.

Police officers were dispatched to the area with instructions to go door to door and ask residents to leave for the sake of safety, but the old man choose to ignore their pleas telling the officers when they came to his door that the Lord would provide for his safety.

The floodwaters continued to rise, getting deeper and deeper.

The old man started praying to the Lord asking that God would spare him from the impending flood and shortly after he started praying he was distracted from his prayers by a noise outside of his house, he looked out the door and noticed that the water flooding down his street was at least knee deep and the noise that had distracted him was coming from a military truck, the National Guard having been called out to aid in the disaster. The soldiers pleaded with the old man to accompany them to higher ground and safety, but as before with the Police, he rejected their assistance telling them that the Lord would provide.

The floodwaters continued to rise, getting deeper and deeper and now the first floor of the old man’s house was completely inundated by the waters and he was forced to seek safety on the upper level of his home. Continuing to pray, asking the Lord to save him from the flood, he was again disturbed during his prayers by a noise. It was the local fire department emergency workers in a boat just outside his window who also pleaded with the old man to let them take him to safety but as before he told them to go away that the Lord would provide.

Well the waters continued to rise and he was forced to climb out the second floor window onto the roof of the house and perched there he continued to pray when out of the blue  a Coast Guard helicopter whose crew once again tries to reason with the old man and rescue him from the flood, but once again refused citing his faith in the Lord.

So as the waters continued to rise eventually covering the house, the old man was swept away and he perished in the flood.

The next thing he knew he was in heaven before almighty God, and he fell down on his knees and cried out “Oh God, why did you forsake me and let me drown in that flood?”

God replied, “My dear child, I didn’t forsake you, I sent the Police to warn you of the danger, I sent the military to evacuate you, I sent a boat load of firemen to take you to safety, and I even sent a helicopter to rescue you off of that roof, what more did you expect?”

Although fictional and somewhat of an example sophomoric humor, this story is one that I have often used as illustrative metaphor, a parable of sorts, so as to teach that at times, God works through mysterious ways to help us.  Sometimes God send others into our lives to teach, to listen, or as in the case of the old man, rescue us from impending disaster.

Sometimes instead of sending others into our lives, God speaks to us through the voice of the Holy Spirit.  That small inner voice of sound reason and counsel.  But some of us are so misled by worldly concerns that we at times confuse that voice of the spirit with other voices, a state of lack of personal communion with the Spirit.

While the story of the old man and the flood was fictional, please allow me to share a tale that I know to be true, as I was there when it happened.

Today, even in most parts of rural America, when you call an ambulance a team of highly trained professionals will arrive at your location with all sorts of advanced medical and communications equipment.  The philosophy of treatment is that of to stabilize the victim before transport through the use of radio communications with a doctor at a trauma center, the doctor using the medical technicians or paramedics as his eyes and hands so as to administer the appropriate care to the patient.  However in years past, rural Americans did not have this life saving luxury.

Years ago, state laws allowed for ambulance attendants to be licensed with only training in advanced first aid, often this training was received through a few hours of classes at the Red Cross.  Being a volunteer with a fire and rescue unit, I took the Red Cross course, mailed a copy of the certificate of completion to the state, and within a few days I received this small wallet card stating I was licensed by the state as an ambulance attendant, a procedure that in no way begins to compare to the rigorous training and examination by state boards that is required of emergency medical technicians today.

The monitoring and communications equipment used by modern day paramedics was available but due to the costs involved was seldom used by the ambulance services that often were privately owned businesses.  In those days the philosophy of emergency treatment was to quite literally scrape up the victim, load him or her into the ambulance and run like the wind to the nearest emergency room.  Being young and adventurous, I often would work nights as a volunteer at an ambulance service owned by a “friend of a friend,” usually as a dispatcher answering the phone and operating the radio, but sometimes getting to ride along as an attendant.  It was on one of these nights, that I experienced the following.

In those days, with the exception of the interstate, most of the highways leading into or out of town were narrow two lane affairs, choked with commuter traffic as well as eighteen wheeled semi trucks hauling freight from here to there.  On this one particular night we received the call from the Highway Patrol that a semi truck had run over a pedestrian that had been walking along a highway north of town.  Upon arrival at the accident scene we learned that the pedestrian had for no apparent reason, stepped in front of the truck so suddenly that the driver was helpless and not able to respond in time so as to avoid striking the victim.

Like I said earlier, the conventional wisdom of the time was to get the victim into the ambulance and transport as quickly as possible to the hospital, so we loaded this guy into the back of the ambulance and headed toward the local ER.  During transport we started to do everything possible to control the bleeding and stabilize the patients legs which had suffered multiple compound fractures from just below the hips to the ankles.  We noted that although the patient had suffered such extreme injuries, he was remarkably aware and communicative, as if he felt no pain.  Due to extraneous circumstances and the patient’s reactions it was easy to conclude that he was “high” on some sort of illicit drug, this “high” contributing to his state of not feeling pain.

We arrived at the ER and gave our report to the Doctor who after examination agreed with our speculation that the patient was probably strung out on some drug.  The doctor and staff having stabilized the patient and ordered immediate surgery, stepped out of the room while a nurse was getting this guy ready for further treatment.  I was at a sink washing the poor man’s blood off of my hands when I heard the nurse ask him, “Why did you walk out in front of that 18 wheeler?”  The man lying on the hospital bed, still fully responsive replied, “Why the LORD, told me to walk out in front of that big truck!”  This lady, one of those proverbial saints in a nurse’s uniform, with sadness in her voice corrected the man by saying “No, no, I don’t think it was the Lord that told you to step in front of the truck, I think it was those drugs you are on.”

Now keep in mind, I was just a punk kid, 18 or 19 years old, washing my hands and watching this conversation transpire.  After the nurse had gave him her opinion that the voice that instructed him was not of divine origin, the man raised his head off of the pillow and with a look of startled disbelief on his face, questioned the nurse, “WHAT, you mean I did all of this for nothing?”

The scene of that night some thirty years ago still haunts my memories, just as the scenes of the many alcohol related accidents wherein we extricated both young and old, sober and drunk, alive and dead victims from cars mangled beyond recognition.  It never ceases to amaze me and to bring me great sorrow when I contemplate on the consequences we bring upon ourselves when we abuse the God given gift of freedom of choice and turn to drugs and alcohol for answers to our problems.  The physical carnage I have personally witnessed, as well as the domestic problems arising from substance abuse are indeed nightmares of our society, somewhat reminiscent of the horror movies produced in Hollywood studios.  While some falsely blame God for these events, I humbly submit that it is not God that tells us to do these things, it is not the voice of the Holy spirit, but rather our lack of connection with the voice of God or failure to establish communion with the Spirit.

Flip Wilson, that great comedian, made popular the phrase, “The Devil Made Me Do It,” however I agree with most secular and sectarian authorities that the Devil doesn’t make us do anything.  There is no little cartoon creature with horns, a long pointed tail and a pitchfork setting on our shoulders whispering into our ears.  But rather we through the freedom of choice, succumb to all sorts of temptation when we fail to heed the voice of reason, the voice of God, and freely choose to listen to that inner voice that rises out of the lower ego, the lower self, that voice that is victim or susceptible to spiritual oppression, a state of being out of communion with the spirit.

While many of us are not under the influence of drugs and alcohol when we make a bad choice or decision in life, we can be failing to accept the grace of God and unintentionally placing ourselves in a position of being susceptible to spiritual oppression.  When we are full of self-doubt, self-depreciation, depression from extraneous outward influences and in the same respect, in other cases, full of false pride, self-aggrandization, we might be under spiritual oppression.  When we succumb to lusts, materialism, greed, hate, anger and even sometimes fear, we might be under spiritual oppression.

As we mentioned earlier, it is a mistake to believe that God causes misfortune in our lives, for at times some of us are like the Old Man and the flood in the story we first looked at.  Let us consider the lessons in the book of Luke describing the temptation of Christ;

And he (Satan) took him (Christ) to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, “He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you, and On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.” And Jesus answered him, “It is said, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”
Luke 4:9-12

Satan had taken Christ out of the desert and placed him on the pinnacle or highest point of the temple in the city.  He tempted Christ by telling him to jump off of the top of the building and told him (Christ) that it was written that God had ordered certain angels to always look over Christ so as to make sure that he didn’t even trip over or bruise his foot on a stone, Christ being the son of God and worthy of such a high respect.  But Jesus told Satan, that we should never test or try God to see if he will answer our wishes, whims, or desires.

When we in turn put God to the test, are we not like Satan, testing our Father?  Can we then say that when we do this we are under a state of spiritual oppression?  Is this not a condition of being out of communion with the spirit?  Graceful prayers of gratitude, full of humility are one thing but tests of our Father are another all together.  Jesus refused to test his Father as he knew he was in total communion with his Father and had no need to reaffirm or test God’s care and love for him.

We spoke earlier about self-doubt, self-fears, self-depreciation, and can we not ask if these are signs of a lack of faith?  Consider the story in Matthew 17 when the man brought his tormented son to Jesus to be healed and told our Lord that his disciples had tried to cast the demon from the boy but had been unable to accomplish the task:

Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:19&20

We can learn from this scripture that lack of faith or self doubt can be a form of spiritual oppression.  We must always keep in mind that unless we try, we will never know if we can.  Consider this verse;

And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Luke 11:9&10

I can attest to this concept on a personal basis, you see before I accepted the calling into the ministry, my wife suggested that I would make a good minister, but being full of self doubt, lack of self worth, I rejected her suggestion, for a time.  After accepting the calling and looking at the numerous messages and personal reports I have received from men and women all over the nation, telling me of the difference my work has made in their lives, I now know that God intended for me to serve his people.  My previous self doubt causing a lack of faith or a lack of communion with the spirit.

We are called upon in our own generation to develop the disciplines required for loving and open communion with God, the world, others, and ourselves.  We need to recover the art of communion and so recover the universe as God’s, and rediscover our roots in God, in the world, in one another, and in our inner selves.  [1]

This process of rediscovery allows us the knowledge to ascertain the difference between the voice of the spirit and the voice of spiritual oppression.  It reconnects us to God  and gives us the ability to resist temptation as well as the tools necessary to avoid depression from self doubt and lack of faith in self as well as of lack of faith in God.

Just as in the story of the Old man and the flood we learn to look for miracles in the form of others that God sends into our lives and we learn from the story of the man that I helped to scrape up from the highway all those many years ago, to resist the temptation to look to drugs, alcohol, and other dark places for the answers instead of turning to God.

[1]from Living In The Spirit by Rachel Hosmer and Alan Jones a part of the teaching series of the Episcopal Church. copyright 1979 by the Seabury Press

• For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other………. Galatians 5:17

Obviously the words of the Apostle Paul bespeak of the necessity to refrain from the sinful nature and turn to the sprit.  While other religious paths may mix carnal intimacy and liturgy, Christianity simply does not, and while most ministers and lay people realize this and question the reason or necessity to make such a distinction, there are those that seize any doctrine or precept as a means to justify their carnal desires, sinful nature, and spiritual immaturity.

To state that we should embrace love regardless of the manner in which love manifests itself is absolutely a noble contention, however we must be aware of those that are so spiritually immature as to seize upon this noble virtue to justify their own sinful nature, that nature of lust and fornication, even adultery when they are in fact bound by the sacrament of holy matrimony.  Those of us that wear the collar denoting our calling as shepherds of God’s people, must set exemplary standards for ourselves, remaining faithful to God and our partner if married, ever monogamous in our relationship.

Adultery and polygamous affairs must never be a part of the minister’s lifestyle, else wise we betray the confidence our flocks have in us, not to see their wives, husbands, sons or daughters as objects of our carnal lusts.  We must never advocate or use the noble concepts of unconditional love or embracing love regardless of how love manifests itself as a tool to surreptitiously lure innocents into our flocks for the purpose of soliciting or establishing polyamourous affairs or relationships.

Some in my community have taken exception at my outspokenness against polygamy, reminding me that scripture “appears” to justify multiple wives.  Those who contend that the Bible never negatively treats polygamy are wrong. Consider the warning given to prospective and actual kings of Israel:

• “But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way. Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold” (Deut. 16&17).

Notice the three “shall nots,” multiply horses, multiply wives, multiply silver and gold. Solomon is often sited as proof for the practice of polygamy being right, but Solomon was wrong in all three areas. Solomon had a vast number of horses; he had riches unparalleled; and seven hundred wives (I Kgs. 4: 26; Eccl. 1-10; I Kgs. 11: 3). Hence, to use the example of Solomon and his seven hundred wives to argue for polygamy is an example of how simplistically a subject can be approached and dialectically presented. [1]

Some say that polygamy is a victimless crime, spouses that participate in so called open marriages doing so with their partner’s implied consent.  But studies indicate that in most such cases, resentment and pain, broken hearts, and divorce eventually occur when one spouse realizes that his or her partner is using them, his or her partner taking advantage of them so as to satisfy illicit carnal desires.  With most plural marriages being that of one man and multiple women, the male demanding fidelity from the females but the male never considering how his infidelity hurts the women, the women wind up being the victims of mind controlling spousal abuse.

In these troubled times I am fairly confident the reader has perused newspaper or, television reports of ministers or even entire churches that have abused the confidence reposed in them.  In this region, an hour or so away, an atrocity gained national media coverage last year when it came to light that parents in a so called church were trading or swapping their own children to other adults in the church for the purpose of pedophilia.  I humbly ask is this a form of love that we as Christians should embrace?  Is this what Christ meant when he said to love thy neighbor as you love yourself?  I think not.  I ask should not we advocate the concept of embracing Love regardless of how it manifests itself, but within certain limits?

Some ask, “Preacher!  Where is your Christian compassion for those clerics that misuse their office?”  To them I humbly ask, where is your compassion for the victims of these infractions of social morality and core Christian doctrine?  Why do people cry out for compassion for the fallen cleric while being oblivious to the pain of the wives, husbands, and children caught up in these sordid affairs?  Where is the outcry for compassion for the congregations destroyed when they discover their shepherd has allowed his or her carnal lusts to betray the confidence of the flock?

• A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach;  1 Timothy 3:2

In this day and age, it is hard enough for those of us who wear the collar, to be without any sin, but if we are bound by the sacrament of holy Matrimony, the least we can do is to remain monogamous.  If we are spiritually mature we can at least avoid the lure of lust and avoid the sin outlined in the seventh commandment “You shall not commit adultery.”

In conclusion, let us extend unconditional brotherly love to those who are so spiritually immature, so psychologically immature that they confuse carnal love with spiritual love. But let us also be advocates for the victims of their infractions.  Let us extend unconditional brotherly love to our fallen clerics but in the same respect recognize secular as well as sectarian laws that call for just recompense in these cases.  Let us be spiritually mature enough to see through the facades — that these who use God’s name in vain — who hide behind facades and lies so as to perpetuate their insatiable lusts and out of control libidos.  Let us be as Christ admonished his disciples, “Be ye wise as serpents and innocent as doves” in our associations with these fallen prophets, innocent as doves in our ministrations, intentions and dealings but wise as the serpents who have the uncanny ability to protect themselves from attack,  for surely those clerics that remain unrepentant are not just spiritually immature, but spiritually possessed by demonic forces and apt to try to take as many innocents with them as possible as they journey to the darkness of Satan’s dominions, let us not allow ourselves to accompany them to the darkness so far removed from the light of God’s grace.

[1]http://www.bibletruths.net/Archives/BTAR324.htm

Without a doubt sometime this holiday season we have once again viewed the story of the birth of Christ, child born in a manger of a virgin Mother, and attended by Magi, shepherds and hosts on high.  But let us take a moment to reflect and be cognizant of the meaning of this story, which while veiled in allegory is a lesson that admonishes hope, joy, and peace among all mankind.  A lesson that becomes so poignant as we near the end of the year and the end of the first decade of the 21st century.

Here in the US, to my knowledge we have never known a decade when we as a people were so divided by anger and hate, when even the church itself has become divided along lines — not Catholic versus Protestant – but liberal versus conservative, inclusive versus exclusive, traditional versus progressive.

Let us celebrate the birth of Christ with faith and works in an attempt to make the new year and new decade far more improved than the one we are bidding farewell too, let us resolve to make the new year/decade one dedicated to the word, the words of Christ.  Let us resolve to bridge the gaps and overcome the fear that has prevailed among our own people, the fear that leads to anger and hate.  Let us look at the story that a small child offered so much hope that he changed the world.  And let us metaphorically give birth once again to that child and the joy and hope that his birth brought into the world.

With that thought in mind, we wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and New Year.  May the God of peace and love continue to delight to dwell with and bless each and everyone one of you.

The above paragraph opens the book “A New Reformation” by Father Mathew Fox, and more or less sums up his belief that a “New Reformation” is currently or has been afoot over the last several years. But unlike the revolution that became known as the Protestant Reformation, the current revolution in the Christian faith is more subliminal, less noticeable, possibly due to the lack of media attention that has been given to the movement. Which, in my opinion raises two questions (1) Why does the media fail to notice this modern day great historical event, that might deemed as a silent revolution and (2) what are the combined forces that have resulted in this modern day Reformation?

In his book “Stealing Jesus: How Fundamentalism Betrays Christianity,” Bruce Bawer notes how that at the dawn of the 20th century, major news papers at time gave front page space to the sermons delivered by various members of the clergy, but as secularism became more and more prominent in the United States these reports were relegated to back pages and eventually dropped altogether. Bawer explains that while a century ago, most reporters and editors were spiritual people. But a century later, their post modern counterparts are more likely to be more secular minded and even isolated by culture from the vast majority of the faithful that live beyond the cities in the heart land. Attacks by Christian fundamentalists or legalists against a perceived liberal media being so frequent, these contemporary writers and editors, quite possibly, are reluctant to pen anything that might incite vocal elements of the Christian right, including critical evaluations of moderate, Interfaith or Christian Universalism movements that are silently growing exponentially.

Proponents of the so called Church Growth Movement, along with the accompanying but inadvertent commercialization of the church have caused the post modern church to focus on that which provides a more comfortable environment, one unfortunately devoid of the traditional mysticism and spiritualism. Traditional liturgical forms, such as crosses and other icons of faith have been replaced by big screen TV monitors and the church experience in many cases reduced to a media event, a hour of entertainment every Sunday morning. With the traditional elements removed and the establishment of rhetoric equating salvation with earthly financial prosperity, all the while promoting legalistic institutions that inculcate fear, guilt, hate and intolerance, the faith has become simply “religion”, a strict set of rules that might be compared to the rules necessary to belong to some social or country club. A consumer product that can be sold each week to willing customers. But in some of the faithful, this leaves a great void where the love of God and the universal teachings of Christ are noticeably absent. A void that they crave to fill and therefore seek substance that relates to spiritual mysticism.

What Americans are doing today is separating spirituality from religion, with many people disavowing organized practice altogether while privately maintaining some form of worship. The old terms—“atheist” and “agnostic”—are no longer catch-alls for everyone outside traditional belief. In fact, 24% of respondents put themselves into a whole new category: “spiritual but not religious.” That phrase means different things to different people. Some may be members of traditional religions but want to signal that they aren’t legalistic or rigid. At the other end of the spectrum, “spiritual but not religious” can apply to someone who has combined diverse beliefs and practices into a personal faith that fits no standard definition. [2]

The New Reformation will not be naively of the powers and principalities of this world. Instead, it may take these on directly at times, for it knows that the powers and principalities that gather around a punitive Father ideology – fundamentalism and fascism – are always with us. This new church, while looking to many spiritual traditions of the past, will trust the spirit to lead us in new ways for the third millennium. [1]

“Spiritual but not religious” has come to represent the concept of seeking God and the hidden allegory in the timeless words and teachings of Christ. And at times seeking similar teachings in other paths or elements of faith outside of Christianity. For those that discover the plausibility of Interfaith or Universalism, this becomes a divinely inspired epiphany. A sudden awakening or mystical experience that has profound implications for the participant. One that might be compared to the experience that become cliché in the old vegetable drink commercials in which the actor slaps himself on the head and exclaims, “Wow I could have had a V-8!” This sudden realization is extremely prominent in those who have spent a life time in legalistic and fundamentalism Christianity, never before realizing that God’s love, grace and salvation is inclusive and not exclusive.

Nearly half of the public (49%) says they have had a religious or mystical experience, defined as a “moment of sudden religious insight or awakening.” This is similar to a survey conducted in 2006 but much higher than in surveys conducted in 1976 and 1994 and more than twice as high as a 1962 Gallup survey (22%). In fact, this year’s survey finds that religious and mystical experiences are more common today among those who are unaffiliated with any particular religion (30%) than they were in the 1960s among the public as whole (22%). [3]

A majority of all American Christians (52%) think that at least some non-Christian faiths can lead to eternal life. Indeed, among Christians who believe many religions can lead to eternal life, 80% name at least one non-Christian faith that can do so. These are among the key findings of a national survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life from July 31-Aug. 10, 2008, among 2,905 adults. [4]

Of the Five solas or five Latin phrases that emerged during the Protestant Reformation and summarize the Reformers’ basic theological beliefs, Sola scriptura (Latin ablative, “by scripture alone”) is the doctrine that the Bible is the only infallible or inerrant authority for Christian faith, and that it contains all knowledge necessary for salvation and holiness. Consequently, Sola Scriptura demands that only those doctrines are to be admitted or confessed that are found directly within or indirectly by using valid logical deduction or valid deductive reasoning from Scripture. However, Sola Scriptura is not a denial of other authorities governing Christian life and devotion. Rather, it simply demands that all other authorities are subordinate to, and are to be corrected by, the written word of God.[5] Ironically this doctrine has been subjugated and scripture meaning, has taken a back seat to doctrines authored by man due to lack of critical thought, study, and valid logical deduction and reasoning.

Father Matthew Fox writes; “Just as five hundred years ago new scholarship was unleashed to buttress a deeper understanding of scripture and early church history, so today significant scholarship has gifted us with new and substantive information about the words, the people, and the teachings of Jesus, Paul, and individuals in the early Christian community. Mixing these findings with our awareness of the origins of Christianity is part of this study.” [1]

Sola scriptura fails when lack of critical thought, deductive reasoning, and ignorance of the significant scholarship that has been published since the time of Martin Luther through today, becomes pandemic in a laity and at times clergy that refuses to consider that exclusive Christianity is an anti thesis to the teachings of Christ which are undeniably universal. But those that find themselves awakened to alternatives to legalistic as well as original sin/fall redemption theology, often themselves becomeing a part of the great commission and in turn give witness to the virtues of this new revolution or Reformation first referenced above. They share with others the great joy they themselves experienced upon the realization that Christianity is not exclusive but inclusive. Therefore we might conclude that the combined forces of the phenomena of some realizing that there is more to region than (a) legalistic entertainment, (b)perpetuation of the belief that all outside of fundamentalistic Christianity are somehow less than human and unworthy of the considerations of “true believers” (c ) a renewed interest in critical thought and scholarship (d) renewed interest in Christian mysticism, liturgical expression, (e) a general turning away from doctrines that espouse consumerism, materialism, fear, hate, and isolationism, all these things and others that will be the catalyst that ushers in an age of true interfaith relations.

[1]A new Reformation; Creation Spirituality And The Transformation of Christianity, by The Reverend Matthew Fox, 2006 Inner Traditions ISBN 1-59477-123-5

[2]Surprising results from an exclusive PARADE (magazine) poll: How Spiritual Are We? by Christine Wicker, published: 10/04/2009

[3]The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

Many Americans Mix Multiple Faiths: Eastern, New Age Beliefs Widespread, Dec. 9, 2009

http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=490

[4]The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

Many Americans Say Other Faiths Can Lead to Eternal Life: Most Christians Say Non-Christian Faiths Can Lead to Salvation,Dec. 18, 2008

http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=380

[5] From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sola_scriptura