My one word resolution for 2018

Every year about this time I choose a theme for a New Year's resolution that I can put a one word label on and just concentrate on that one thing for a whole year until it becomes an ingrained habit. I am pleased to report that this system has worked for me very well. Here is a partial list from years past:

2011 "Ideate" ("to form an idea of", "think of", "imagine", "conceive of","envision", "visualize")

2012 "Update" ("improve", "correct", "renew", "revise", "upgrade", "amend", "overhaul", "modernize", "contemporize")

2013 "Motivate" ("prompt", "drive", "move", "inspire", "stimulate", "influence", "activate", "impel", "push", "propel"

2014 "Ataraxia" ("Tranquility", a state of freedom from emotional disturbance and anxiety)

2015 "Contemplate" (Know Thyself, "examine", "inspect", "observe", "survey", "study", "scrutinize")

2016 "Intentionality" ("Intentionality" is the connection between our conscious mind and the object we are thinking about. It is the quality of our thoughts and beliefs that consists in their being directed toward some object or state of affairs. In other words a clear and conscious focus.)

2017 "Altruism"  (The practice of selfless concern for the well being of others. It is the charitable and humble giving of oneself to other people in many different ways. 

My theme for 2018 is "Meditate" (To focus and quiet the mind to reach a higher level of awareness and inner calm.)

Meditation is part of Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions but it is in the Christian, Judaic, and Islamic religions that meditation is intimately bound up with a true religion. By "true religion" I mean one that is based upon ethical monotheism, a form of monotheism in which one Almighty God, the Creator of the Universe is the source for one standard of morality, and who guides humanity towards unity with Him through ethical principles. 

I was introduced to meditation when I sought out some information on "self hypnosis" which helped me greatly in breaking some bad habits. After following some scripted self hypnosis techniques I found that I could fall into a deep meditative state without the scripting. The secret to meditation is clearing the mind of all the garbage thoughts that are constantly flowing through it and clamoring for attention. These garbage thoughts are like a plaque that builds up on our psyche from the time we are born and these thoughts compete with each other in a form of cognitive dissonance. They take up so much room that we can hardly think rational thoughts because we get caught up in their little tug-of-war games. There are various techniques for shutting out this "noise." The serious use of the Catholic Rosary when performed in a carefully meditative manner can be very helpful. Also There are very well developed methods like the one called "The Examen" by Saint Ignatious Loyola and used by every Jesuit. I use a form of that for my nightly prayers. For my morning prayers I follow the method of Saint Francis de Sales called "A Guide for the Devout Life". However, not being  as "saintly" as are these two wonderful gentlemen (by a long shot) I don't use their material verbatim but I found them to be an excellent guide in preparing my own format.

The main thing about prayer through meditation is that you learn to speak to God "face to face" like Moses, with whom the Lord used to speak face to face, as a Man speaks with his friend (Exodus 33:11).

When we believe in God and keep His commandments we cease to be mere creatures of God but become children of God and thus we may call Him "Abba", father, as did Jesus Christ Himself: "And He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” In Romans 8:15 St. Paul tells us to do the same: "You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!"

Now, the question that people usually ask..."Does God ever really talk to you?" And the answer is that of course He does, in several ways. First of all, if you are sincere and speak to Him like a child to a father, He may answer you in the words of your prayer to Him and you will immediately realize this. He speaks to us through our conscience and our intuition. I guarantee that you will know when He has answered you. Do you always get what you want? Yes, but in His time not in mine. There is another important factor. If you pray fuzzy prayers you may get a vague answer. Be sincere, and be precise and talk to Him about how, or how many ways you think that your prayer might be answered. Another hint. Don't use somebody else's prayer. Use your own. If the words don't come easily, take your time. Keep trying until you get an answer. Along the way you will learn to meditate, and your life will never be the same. May God bless everyone who reads this, with an answer to their prayers.

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Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

I am not a mere lump of clay nor a stone.
I am a poet disguised as a philosopher,
The allegorical star in a stone boat.
I stand on a sandbar in the river of time,
Straining the eyes of my soul in its
Quest for goodness, truth, and justice.
I am not a defender of the status quo.
Doubts may flit about me and cloud my mind,
But the light of the world lives within me,
And the Holy Spirit will never fail me.
Forgetting what lies behind me,
And pressing forward to what lies ahead,
I strive toward the goal for my reward.
I don't take seriously the opinions of others
And I am not easily swayed by appearances.
Thought after thought, thinking things through,
Can be a burden. Who knows what to do?
In the long journey out of the self
There are many detours from the path.
Things that I do that I should be doing
Require nothing more to do but shoulder on.
Things that I do that I shouldn't do,
Must be confessed, repented, and put aside.
I follow my Redeemer wherever He leads;
Where the iron is struck when it's hot,
Where the steel rivet is hammered home,
Where the rubber meets the road,
And where the sidewalk ends.
Glory to God in the highest,
And on Earth, peace, and
Good will toward everyone.
To our Father in Heaven
Be honor and glory forever, and may
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
Be with your spirit. Amen!

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Libera nos, Domine.

With all of the nuclear "sabre rattling" going on between the leaders of the U.S., Korea, and Iran perhaps the "Litany of the Saints" (Litaniae Sanctorum) according to Beatus Leibowitz should be revived and recited daily.

"From the spirit of fornication,
O Lord, deliver us.
From the lightning and the tempest,
O Lord, deliver us.
From the scourge of the earthquake,
O Lord, deliver us.
From plague, famine, and war,
O Lord, deliver us.

From the place of ground zero,
O Lord, deliver us.
From the rain of the cobalt,
O Lord, deliver us.
From the rain of the strontium,
O Lord, deliver us.
From the fall of the cesium,
O Lord, deliver us.

From the curse of the Fallout,
O Lord, deliver us.
From the begetting of monsters,
O Lord, deliver us.
From the curse of the Misborn,
O Lord, deliver us.
From everlasting death,
O Lord, deliver us.

We sinners beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou wouldst spare us,
We sinners beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou wouldst pardon us,
We beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou wouldst bring us truly to penance,
We beseech Thee, hear us..."

(From: "A Canticle For Leibowitz" by Walter M.Miller Jr.)

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Hello or Goodbye?

Time, where man lives not.
What is it but eternity?
We live on Earth a moment or two,
Smack dab in the middle of forever.
Waste not your days in idleness
As time depends upon fulfillment.
The years go by like running water.
Forget what lies behind you.
Strain forward to what lies ahead,
Get acquainted with your eternal soul
And prepare yourself for lift-off.
The dead aren't permitted to speak,
They can't give away the ending.
It is supposed to be a surprise.
Some will be delighted and some not.
The secret to eternal joy is harmony,
With the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The dead speak again in the Resurrection,
They will either say "Hello," or
"Goodbye forever!"

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The Death of Morality

Saint Augustine of Hippo in his excellent book, "City of God", quoting the Roman politician and lawyer, Cicero in his book "De Republica:"

"But our age, receiving the republic as a chef-d'œuvre [masterpiece] of another age which has already begun to grow old, has not merely neglected to restore the colors of the original, but has not even been at the pains to preserve so much as the general outline and most outstanding features. For what survives of that primitive morality which the poet called Rome's safeguard? It is so obsolete and forgotten, that, far from practising it, one does not even know it. And of the citizens what shall I say? Morality has perished through poverty of great men; a poverty for which we must not only assign a reason, but for the guilt of which we must answer as criminals charged with a capital crime. For it is through our vices, and not by any mishap, that we retain only the name of a republic, and have long since lost the reality."

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St. Ambrose, where art thou?

As Archie Bunker might say, "Mister we could use a man like Saint Ambrose again!"

In AD 380 the Roman Emperor Theodosius made belief in Christianity mandatory by decree. Theodosius took for granted the close relationship between his own will and God's. The emperor was thought of as a "demigod" who represented God on earth.

St Ambrose wrote to Emperor Theodosius in the year AD 390: “I cannot deny that you have a zeal for the faith, and that you fear God, but you have a naturally passionate spirit which becomes un-governable when you are excited. I call on you to repent. You can only atone for your sin by tears, by penitence, by humbling your soul before God. You are a man, and as you have sinned as a man so you must repent. No angel, no archangel can forgive you. God alone can forgive you, and He forgives only those who repent.

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Deplorables

The Complaint of Peace (Querela Pacis)
Desiderius Erasmus 1521

"We can be angry with the wicked but we can only pity the irrational. I do but weep over them and I weep over them more bitterly because they weep not for themselves. No part of their misfortune is more 'deplorable' than their insensitivity to it. It is one great step to return to health to know the extent and stubbornness of the disease. I overlook their ignorance because the powers of mind necessary to perceive any reasoning has been denied to them."

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Watch out for that tail!

My mother Armella was born in 1913 and when she was a little girl there were still more horses than motorcars. When she was about ten or eleven a song appeared called "Horsey Pick Your Tailup,"
and the words went something like this:

"Horsey pick your tail up,
Pick your tail up,
Pick your tail up.
Horsey pick your tail up,
Keep the sun out of my eyes."

The gist of the song was that about the only time a horse raises its tail is when it's about to do something disgusting. And if the sun were high in the sky, you'd have to be standing awfully close to the horse to be shaded by its tail...way too close for comfort. Whenever someone started bragging about their accomplishments my mother would start laughing and sing this song to the tune of "Ach du lieber Augustine" or "The More We Get Together". Wenenever I hear our current president start bragging I can hear my mother laughing and singing that song.

United or Untied?

The Tweet, the whole Tweet, and nothing but the Tweet!
Which came first, the people or the money?
Clowns to the left of me and jokers to the right.
Batten down the hatches, we're in for a fight!
Fishes feed on other fish according to their need,
But humans feed on others according to their greed.
Call your congressman, call your priest,
Call your anchorwoman at the very least.
Don't be timid speak your piece,
The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
Tell them that you want the truth!
Tell them you want justice!
When do we want it? We want it now.
We can't keep picking at the scab until it bleeds.
Let's throw all the liars out,
And make America united again!

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Charity of the Spirit

Charity of the Spirit - the solution to the RED / BLUE divide, especially for Christians.

St. Paul to the Galatians 5:13-15
For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through charity of the spirit serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

St. Paul to the Galatians 6:10
So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

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Pray for Peace

On life's journey from the womb to the tomb,

A place of deep shadow without a glimmer

Of the light of awareness and reason,

A man should hope and pray for peace, even

To the last clod of earth thrown upon his grave.

God exacts from us less than guilt deserves

When you stretch out your hand to Him in life,

You will be forgiven and will not know fear.

You will have contempt for worldly misfortune,

Feeling secure in the knowledge that there is hope

And life beyond the grave will be brighter than noonday,

And the shadows will be like the morning sunrise.

Those who don't believe in God will remain unblessed.

They will grope around in darkness without the light

Their remedy against misfortune...to breathe their last.

Don't drain the swamp. Clean out the barn.

In the Gospel of Mark (Mark 5:1-20), Jesus goes across the lake to the "country of the Gerasenes", that is to say, the territory of the city-state of Gerasa. There, a man "possessed by a demon" comes from the caves to meet him. People had tried to tie him down but he was too strong to be tied, even with chains for he would always break out of them. Day and night among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. Jesus approached him and called the demon to come out of the man, who replied "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you in the name of God never to torment me!" Jesus asked the demon for his name and is told "My name is Legion, for we are many." The demons begged Jesus not to send them away, but instead they asked Him to send them into the pigs on a nearby hillside, which he did. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. The possessed man was restored to sanity.

Now, the men tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and and the people went out to see what had happened. No doubt these people were not Jews because Jews under the Mosaic law do not eat pork and so these pigs were being raised for other people, perhaps for sale to the Roman soldiers or for export to other places. In any case, When the Savior released the young man from the evil spirits and permitted them to enter into the pigs and the pigs all died by drowning, the local people ordered Our Lord to go away. He was bad for business. The spirit of capitalism made them feel that rescuing a poor soul from the demons, was not worth the loss of their precious pigs.

Why is it that pigs and capitalism are so related? We talk about "bringing home the bacon" as if it were money. Mothers tell their children, "Don't be greedy like a pig." On Wall Street they say "pigs get fat but hogs get slaughtered." In George Orwell's novel "Animal Farm" the pigs were the smartest animals and they ended up representing all of the other farm animals against the farmers. When the animals peeked into the window of the farmhouse where the negotiations were proceeding, they looked around the table and had difficulty discerning which were the men and which were the pigs.

Our television screen is our modern equivalent of the window to the negotiating table and we still have trouble differentiating the men from the pigs. I think instead of draining the swamp we need to clean out the barn.

Where does one find rest?

In the fuzzy orange glow of a new dawn fear strikes the land.

The damp air is heavy and smells of fear and uncertainty.

The sound of shouting and quarreling is heard on all sides.

In whom can the people trust if they no longer trust in God?

Do they trust in Science? But how does one pray to Science?

Where are the altars of Science and Technology located?

Is the Devil nothing more than a malicious Russian hacker?

Don't Science and Technology die when you Control-Alt-Delete?

God is not dead. He is the Resurrection and Life Eternal.

I shall go with God. I invite you to come along with me.

This is what the Lord says: “Stand by the roads, and look, 

And ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; 

Walk in it, and find rest for your souls. (Jeremiah 6:16)

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Mastering Oneself

It is by patient endurance that you will gain possession of your souls. (Luke 21:19).

The possession of a soul means the undisturbed mastery of oneself, which is the secret of inner peace as distinguished from a thousand agitations that make it fearful, unhappy, and disappointed. Only when the soul is completely possessed can anything else be fully enjoyed. The body can be injured without the consent of the soul, but the soul cannot be injured without its own consent.

Truth is as native to the mind as light is to the eye, but when truth illuminates people's sins they hate the truth and prefer to lie. Truth stirs the conscience of all men, especially evildoers, and they don't like it. Hence they try to cover up the truth. No one can turn off the light of truth but they can pull down the blinds of their own soul and shut it out. (Fulton J. Sheen)

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Groping from dark to light!

"On the dark path that man has to walk here, he is granted just as much light as he needs for the next steps that he has to take. More light would only dazzle him, and light from the side would only confuse him. Every man needs to be constantly reminded that he won’t end when this life does; that he has ahead of him an endless future for which his life here below is a preparation, just as throughout all creation every present moment is a preparation for the future."
(Moses Mendelssohn 1783)

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It's Getting Late

There is a journey before me but,
The destination is not at all clear.
The best part of me may already be there,
And what is left is mostly my memories.
I will leave with nothing in my pockets.
I cannot tell the reason for my journey.
My heart has yet to reveal it to my mouth.
Why does my body feel light and airy?
I am floating away like a child's baloon,
Tethered to Earth by a single thread.
A fortune in bribes can't stay my departure.
When it's time to go you really must go,
And something tells me it's getting late.

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What I would say

If I could give a short admonition to congress and the current administration, this is what I would say:

In 1864 Herbert Spencer coined the phrase "survival of the fittest" as a way of describing the mechanism of natural selection in Darwin's evolutionary theory. If the term "survival of the fittest" truly implies a war of man against every other man, then it follows that the first rule of nature regarding civilization must be "to seek peace." The followers of this rule are said to be "sociable" and those who are always contrary for superfluous reasons are guilty of tension and strife because of their disregard for this fundamental natural law. The second rule is that all men and women should do unto others as they would be done unto, or, in other words, the golden rule. Following close behind this are the societal rules that covenants must be kept, that people should have no reason to repent of their good will, and that every person strive to accommodate themselves to the rest.

With the object of these natural laws of civilized people in mind I am asking our elected government representatives of all parties to extend their hands in fellowship with one another and resolve to avoid petty grievances. I remind them also that lies are akin to murder because lies are intended to murder truth. I ask that they seek truth and harmony to the greatest extent possible in the interest of peace and to invoke God's blessing upon us and our posterity. Amen!

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For the Greater Glory

Abraham Lincoln once recited a line from the Gospel that has been quoted often over the years and especially recently. Lincoln delivered that line in a speech that he gave on June 16, 1858 as he accepted the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat from Illinois that was held by Stephen A. Douglas. This speech is most remembered for Lincoln's quotation of the biblical phrase, "A house divided against itself cannot stand." (Mark 3:25, Matthew 12:25)

The Republican Party was being newly formed at the time by an odd coalition of folks whose only unity consisted in their abhorrence of slavery. The new Republican Party contained former members of the Whig Party who opposed slavery, members of the Free Soil Party, Democrats who opposed the Kansas Nebraska Act, former members of the "Know Nothings Party who viewed slavery as a threat to political freedom, and abolitionists who sought a political outlet for their hatred of slavery. It was Lincoln's task to pull these different groups together in order to build a consensus strong enough to hold the Union together. We are now at another point is history when our Union is becoming divided against itself, but what is the solution to save us from so much civil strife?

I believe that the solution can also be found in scripture.  Jesus says in Mark 12:31 and Matthew 22:39, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Yes, of course, that is easy for us to say, especially when we speak from a high horse or a high pulpit. As a practical matter, however, what might be the mechanism for the change in thinking that could result in such a change of heart? I found an answer in something written long ago by St. Augustine. Who wrote: “Love men, slay error; without pride be bold in the truth, without cruelty fight for the truth.” (Diligite homines, interficite errores; sine superbia de veritate præsumite, sine sævitia pro veritate certate.)

We must remember that we all make mistakes and that we will be judged by God as to whether the mistakes that we make are just errors without malice or if they are sins of omission or commission. In the meantime whatever mistakes that we perceive about others by using our five senses are either violations of societal laws or common errors, both of which may or may not be subject to temporal punishment depending upon the power and authority of the court that does the judging including the court of public opinion.

Time and again we see people who worship the same God yet hate each other. We also see patriots from various political parties who profess to love their country but do not love people who are not just like them and so there are people of different races and denominations who hate each other. The solution therefore is to hate error but love people. How? Through empathy, education, and charity toward all. By understanding that most hatreds are rooted in humiliation, envy, and fear brought on by ignorance. If the United States is truly “One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all” then it should carry the seal of God which is Truth. Our task is not to tear down but to build up, to build a consensus based upon unity in spirit, “Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam” - “For the Greater Glory of God” (the motto of St. Ignatius, The Jesuit Order, and Pope Francis).

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Of Parousia and the Divine Milieu

“Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.” (Jesuit priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin)

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin SJ was a French idealist philosopher and Jesuit priest who trained as a paleontologist and geologist and took part in the discovery of Peking Man.
Born: May 1, 1881, Orcines, France
Died: April 10, 1955, New York City

Teilhard de Chardin wrote a book called the Divine Milieu in which he addressed evolution in both scientific and spiritual terms. He is endorsed by both Pope Benedict and Pope Francis. The following are some of my notes from "Teilhard De Chardin - The Divine Milieu Explained: A Spirituality for the 21st Century" by Louis M. Savary.

Evolution is happening continually on every level of being and has a direction.

The Law of Attraction, Connection, Complexity, and Consciousness

As elemental things are attracted they combine to form connections. They join together. Their connection or union is always a bit more complex than the separate parts. Since things never stop connecting because of attraction, the complexity of unions that are being created keeps growing. In this way complexity leads creation into consciousness.

At the physical level, the law of attraction is continuously expressed in four forces:

1.) Gravity
2.) Electromagnetism
3.) The strong and the weak nuclear forces
4.) Dark Energy

At the chemical level it is revealed in those attractive forces that bind atoms and nuclei together.

At the biological level, attraction is manifested in forces that keep bringing insects to plants to pollinate them, and bring animals in heat together to keep their species reproducing.

At its highest manifestation at the spiritual level attraction is expressed as love that brings humans together in friendship, marriage, and family.

Attraction, connection, and complexity eventually gave birth to movement, sensation, perception, awareness, and finally consciousness.

Evolution's trajectory is urging humans toward higher and higher levels of consciousness. We are at the apex of evolution's pyramid.

"Spirit is the indestructible secret at the heart of the world. Evolution is based on spirit and not on matter".

"The success of humanity's evolution will not be determined by 'Survival of the Fittest' but by our own capacity to converge and unify".

One of the most important characteristics distinguishing man from all other forms of nature is his knowledge of transitoriness, of beginning and end, and therefore of the gift of time. In man, transitory life attains its peak of animation, of soul power, so to speak. This does not mean man alone would have a soul. Soul quality pervades all beings. But man’s soul is most awake in his knowledge of the inter-changeability of the terms “existence” and “transitoriness." To man, time is given like a piece of land, as it were, entrusted to him for faithful tilling; a space in which to strive incessantly, achieve self-realization, move onward and upward. Yes, with the aid of time, man becomes capable of wresting the immortal from the mortal.

All of Creation from the beginning of time forms a single whole - a single immense system.

Merge yourself with the Divine Milieu in everything that you do until it becomes a habit.

Three Spheres of Creation:
Inner Sphere - Non-living Geosphere
Middle Sphere - Mass of Organic Matter - Biosphere
Outer Sphere -  Noosphere - Sphere of spirit and mind

 "The guidance provided by the clergy to the flock is being confined to a little artificial world of ritualism, of religious practices and pious extravaganzas that is completely cut off from the true current of reality."

"The true struggle that we are witnessing is not between believers and non-believers but between to types of believers. Two conceptions of the Divine are confronting one another. A secular religion of the Earth is fighting against a spiritual religion of Heaven."

We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.

In order to have free will it would be impossible to have a universe based upon evolutionary processes without conflict, confusion, competition, struggle, violence, failure, loss, sadness, grief, death, and all the rest of the diminishments because the world is populated with billions of people, each of whom are struggling to achieve different and often conflictiong personal desires.

Diminishments are inevitable like the diminishment you receive from a female mosquito that sucks your blood for her own nourishment. Figuratively speaking, this world is full of "bloodsuckers" of one type or another.

You must acknowledge that the fact earth itself and everything on it is still incomplete and still in a state of process.

God is capable of making good out of evil. The higher good will be accomplished in good time. It isn't necessary an instant transformation.

God transfigures our diminishments, our partial deaths, and even our final death by integrating them into a better plan, providing that we lovingly trust Him.

Evolution's direction in the Divine Milieu is always meant to move in an upward trajectory, from separateness to union, from complexity to higher complexity, from consciousness to higher consciousness, from matter to spirit.

All of the diverse elements of creation are living in the divine milieu and are driven by the law of "attraction/connection/complexity/consciousness". Every fragment of creation feels the impulse and the longing at some incomprehensibly basic level of consciousness, to become greater. Grains of sand that had been lying on the seashore for centuries have become "greater" as scientists have used them as key components in a computer's silicon memory chip. Through the human impulse to evolve, sand has become more than mere matter. It has tasted spirit.

Implanted in us is the law of attraction, connection, complexity, consciousness, that is the impulse to climb upward toward the light. We are, in effect, suspended between the pull of gravity downward and the bottomless pit below us and the sunlit peak of the resurrection of the body and eternal life. Every step of the climb is a continual crucial moment of decision for the hiker. There is always a temptation to rest.

Realize that the frontier between the material and the spiritual is essentially relative and shifting. What is good today can be bad tomorrow or good for one person and bad for another. Everyone must find their specific path in regard to dealing with the material.

It is not our business to withdraw from the world before our time, before we reach our spiritual destination.

From the material perspective matter seems to devolve us toward maximum pleasure and minimum effort and from the spiritual perspective in its evolutionary potential matter emerges as the principle of minimum pleasure and maximum effort. Instead of being subject to entropy matter becomes subject to synergy.

Synergy is part of the complexity in the law of attraction, connection, complexity, consciousness.

The Law of Attraction, Connection, Complexity, and Consciousness is constantly urging humans to raise what is inert matter into a more spiritual form from that which is started.

When all matter has been reclaimed by spirit, then our world will be ready for "Parousia" - the summary and fulfillment of the world, or in other words, the Resurrection.

Divine Mileu is a concrete transcendence which is a paradox because all life is united as one being but we still retain our own individuality.

Growth in spirituality and growth in deeper awareness of God run a proportional path.

God reveals himself everywhere as a universal milieu, only because he is the ultimate point upon which all realities converge.

The Divine Milieu is like the radio, television, and cell phone signals - omnipresent, always acting, always operating. However, the omnipresence of God is never out of range unlike electronic waves.

The next great advance in evolutionary transformation will be the gradualization of mankind. Humanity will converge towards a single society. It will occur by means of progress in technology, urbanization, multinational corporations, and globalization, and through ever expanding improvements in health, education, communication, transportation. Politics, economics, culture, tradition, language, symbols, and habits of thought will converge in one body of humanity in an upward spiral of progression.

At the present time "evil" is a suitable label for the present disorder that will eventually be resolved by synthesis into order. We talk of the need "to put our lives in order." This is a collective progression that is constantly evolving from disorder to order albeit with some fluctuations along the way.

The Story of Day Seven

It is said by the ancient Jewish Rabbis that quite alone was the Sabbath among the measures of time. Every other day had been paired with its fellow, but not so the Sabbath. When the Sabbath complained to God that of all days, it alone stood solitary, God wedded it to His people; and this holy union God hath bidden His people to remember.

Background note: The days of creation were paired as follows:

Day one, light and dark are separated.
Day four, The heavenly bodies are created.

Day two, The firmament is established and the sky and the waters are created.
Day five, the birds of the air and the fish are created.

Day three, the land and the sea are separated and vegetation is created.
Day six, the land animals and the humans were created.

Day seven, God created the Sabbath and He rested.

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Absolom and the Art of the Deal

Politics wasn't much different 3000 years ago during the reign of King David of Israel when he and his son Absolom were quarreling and Absalom needed a political base from which to practice the "Art of the Deal."

Here is a excerpt from what is called "Absolom's Conspiracy, the first six verses of 2 Samuel Chapter 15 that might seem vaguely familiar:

1 "In the course of time, Absalom provided himself with a chariot and horses and with fifty men to run ahead of him.
2 He would get up early and stand by the side of the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone came with a complaint to be placed before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out to him, “What town are you from?” He would answer, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel.”
3 Then Absalom would say to him, “Look, your claims are valid and proper, but there is no representative of the king to hear you.”
4 And Absalom would add, “If only I were appointed judge in the land! Then everyone who has a complaint or case could come to me and I would see that they receive justice.”
5 Also, whenever anyone approached him to bow down before him, Absalom would reach out his hand, take hold of him and kiss him.
6 Absalom behaved in this way toward all the Israelites who came to the king asking for justice, and so he stole the hearts of the people of Israel."

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Your Perspective, Mountain or Molehill?

It is said by the ancient Jewish Rabbis that in the age to come (Athid Labho) God would bring out the "Evil Impulse" (Yetser Hara), and slaughter it before the righteous and the wicked. To the righteous, the Evil One would appear like a great mountain, but to the wicked, the Evil One would look like a small hill. Both would weep. The righteous would weep for joy, that they had been able to subdue so great a mountain and enter Paradise and the wicked would weep for sorrow, that they had not even been able to conquer such a small hill and must enter Hades.

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Eirenicon

What we need right now is a political "Eirenicon".

Eirenicon - form of the Greek word, "eirēnikós" (from the root "eirḗnē" meaning “peace”).

An Eirenicon is a proposal to resolve disputes and reconcile differences in order to advance peace, strengthen or establish unity, or foster solidarity, usually in a modus vivendi, "a way of living," especially a working arrangement to allow for peaceful coexistence between two parties in spite of differences or unresolved disputes.

This is a great word. Now that I found it, how can I bring it into common usage? Perhaps I could suggest it to congress or form the Eirene Party
(Pronounced ay-REE-nee).

In Greek mythology Eirene is the personification of peace. She was depicted in art as a beautiful young woman carrying a cornucopia, sceptre, and a torch. Her Roman equivalent is Pax.

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A Sermon for the News

What would Jesus say if He turned on the news today? Probably He would repeat what He has already said to those who have ears to hear at the "Sermon on the Mount". The subject matter of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7, Luke 6) is neither righteousness under the law, or under a new covenant. It is about people belonging to the Kingdom of God and united with their Creator in Spirit. It is about people being children of God in addition to being mere creatures of God. It contains no detailed systematic doctrine, nor any teaching of rituals or forms of outward observances. Christ came to found a Heavenly Kingdom, not a school of thought or a political party. He came to institute a fellowship of love and camaraderie and not to propound a system of government. By grace we are saved through faith and not by our level of education, skin color, gender, ancestry, point of origin, or point of view. Through faith and the inclusion of all human beings we learn humility, tolerance, and the sacrifice of charity that is "brotherly love". Through our faith we receive God's forgiveness and mercy and we become forgiving and merciful. Jesus Christ stands between our present and our future and He opens the Kingdom of Heaven to all sincere believers in God who can be identified not only by what they say but what they do. The Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount are the New Testament counterpart to the Ten Commandments. They represent not the laws written on stone tablets but the realization of the laws as they are written by the Holy Spirit on the human heart. This is the basis of morality and the altruism which is at the heart of all religions.

A Tidbit for the Political Pot

"Ya gotta be for the people.
If you aren't for the people,
you can't buy the people!"
(Big Boy Caprice - "Dick Tracy", the movie)

"And Virtue, who from Politics
Has learned a thousand cunning tricks,
Was by their happy influence,
Made friends with Vice,
And ever since, the worst of all the multitude
Did something for the common good."
(The Fable of the Bees - Bernard Mandeville)

When an ostrich buries its head in the sand as danger approaches, it very likely takes the happiest course. It hides the danger, and then calmly says there is no danger; and, if it feels perfectly sure there is none, why should it raise its head to see? (Charles S. Pierce)

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