Our Father by Cliff Hazelbaker
For the greatest part of my adult life I have repeated the famous prayer of Jesus Christ that he taught to his disciples. It is the first part of that prayer that I want to discuss here.
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
Why is the Father Jesus spoke about OUR FATHER? Is he our Father because we believe in Him? Is he our Father because we have confessed our sins and followed a religious formula for salvation? Is He our Father because we go to church?
We must all ask ourselves this important question: IS HE OUR FATHER BECAUSE OF ANYTHING WE HAVE DONE OR BELIEVED?
When Jesus taught this prayer he was indicating that God being our Father is a fact not a belief. Now the FACT that He is our Father means it can never change. He is our Father when we believe and he is our Father when we don’t. And being OUR FATHER was a way for Jesus to give the greatest testimony to our hearts as to where God stands in our lives.
I am a father and some would say a very good father. As a father of four beautiful children I can not fathom there ever being a time or condition where I would reject my children. If I found out that one of my children committed the worst crime imaginable I would still stand by there side. Even if my children rejected me for some reason I would never reject them. I would gladly lay down my life for any of my children and each of them know I would do this.
My point in all of this is very simple and I believe Jesus was making the same point. He knew what the word Father met to those he was teaching and he was trying to tell them that God can be counted on, not just to be God, but also to be OUR FATHER.
Is is conceivable to think that I would be a better Father then God. And yet by the church’s teaching I am exactly that. The church teaches God is our Father but at some point if we don’t get ourselves straight our Father will send us to a place of utter torment. Does that sound like that kind of Father is better then me as a father?
Isn’t this simple? If you are a father or a mother you know in your heart what I am saying is true. God is OUR FATHER and He is a Father we can ALL count on to stand by our side. He is a Father who would not only give up his life for us but in fact HE DID.
Some say I am bitter toward the church and I say they are WRONG. I am angry at the message of slander toward OUR FATHER. The Gospel message is good news and there is no bad news in the good news. The good news is that OUR FATHER loves us, always has, and always will. WHEN WILL THE CHURCH TELL THEIR PEOPLE THE TRUTH?
Instead, I am the one who often gets attacked by church members because I proclaim that God is OUR FATHER, not just the Father of the faithful, but the Father of us ALL.
Eph 4:4-6 4 There is one body and one Spirit— just as you were called to one hope when you were called— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Yes, the good news is that He is OVER ALL, THROUGH ALL, AND IN ALL. How much plainer can it be made?
Now you have to read this and decide what kind of a Father he is. If you choose the Father described by the church then it is obvious we are in disagreement, but if you choose He is the Father who will stand by his children no matter what then all I can say is "WELCOME HOME, THE FATHER IS HERE!
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I am so proud to comment on this Mindy, because truth has been weighing on my mind as a matter of life and how we perceive it. It is uncanny that you would post this.
Truth is not a commodity that we seek, because most of us feel that we already have it. So once we feel we own the truth our mind is conditioned to protect it even if its a lie. What most dont understand , that your father did, is that truth cant be taught, you cant find truth in a doctrine, or a theory. You wont find it in a bible or a philosophy, you can trust it from an opinion or accept it based on a law or a creed.
Truth can never be taught no more then love can, but truth can be leaned, not by words cause they will fail you and lead you astray, BUT BY LOOKING DEEP INSIDE YOU , AS YOUR FATHER DID.
There is no truth that is not within us to know, but what Cliff was asking us to do is look beyond our encrusted believes, and search our soul for the truth, deeper inside then ever before , for the truth that is within all of us to know.
TRUTH, THAT WILL NERVER COME TO YOU WITH A SHOUT, but with whisper.
TRUTH THAT WILL NEVER WAKE YOU LIKE A THUNDERSTORM, but as a tender breeze on you cheek.
TRUTH THAT YOU WILL NEVER SMELL LIKE A HAND OF FRESH ROSEMARY, but the fragrance of the flower you walked by.
He was not trying to tell us to believe what he believed, but to look with in the only place TRUTH can be, your HEART.
Love always
This post has my mind swirling, like the blending of pure milk with the sweetness of chocolate. A thought that that is sweeter then the moment of it origin.
It is always were we began, that we will end, it is the seed that we plant that we will grow to.
My brother planted a seed of beauty, a seed that was within him. There was nothing to stop him from growing. There was no hate , no words, no lies, that could stop him from realizing the perfect beauty of Christ.
He danced his dance, with fear, confusion, exclusion, distrust, hate, abandonment, and walked with his arms spread wide open above it to the to the purity, the perfectness, of a God of love, and he did it without fear.
Because his beginning, as with his end, was with a GOD OF LOVE.
His eye was on the sparrow, my angels,
Love always
I CANT DO THIS MUCH MORE. I been typing with eyes blurred with tears, and a heart broken by the beauty i missed of a sweet soul. A body of a man that i layed next to, heart to heart, a brother i didn’t feel, a moment ill miss for a lifetime, a beauty as precious as the flower you walk by, a sweetness pure as honey from the bumblebee, and a love that any pure heart should see. A beauty he saw in me…..
My last thought and maybe my last comment tonight,or forever, is to tell you that this garden of life is yours. If you have planted ivy of poison , bushes of thorns, or weeds that make you itch, its OK, because its your garden. The moment that you chose to plant the beautiful flower that is within you, it will grow with the a wondering beauty you have never felt. There will be no weeds , poison or thorns in your garden, because your beginning will be your end.
I love you bro
Goodbye all, and love always
Doug,
You have me sitting here in tears. I can’t begin to tell you how incredible you are. I wish my Father could have seen you write all of this amazing stuff while he was alive. I guess I know in my heart that he is reading it now. He would be so proud of you. Man you make me miss my Dad. You are so much like him or he is so much like you.
OH GEEZ…can’t quit crying. An old friend of mine passed away last night of colon cancer. I am soo tired of this cancer crap. I am just tired of it. Sometimes I wonder why the truth hurts so bad. The truth is that we love so deeply and then we have to let it go and give it back to God knowing that it was never ours to begin with….Doug, he sure did see the beauty in everyone, didn’t he?
OH, just so tired…just so tired
RIP Dad
RIP Caitlin
RIP Tony
Thanks Dad for creating all of us in your image…..PERFECT!!
And thanks Mindy for posting this and once again reminding us what a great talent your father had for revealing simple but powerful truths.
Doug, you sound more and more like Cliff.
“The truth is that we love so deeply and then we have to let it go and give it back to God knowing that it was never ours to begin with”
I am thinking this morning about my children and especially about my sister. I can remember laying in bed with her as a kid and we would be afraid so we would cross our ankles so that if anything were to “get” one of us the other would know.
Knowing that I could lose someone that I love so deeply and so completely at any given moment would never cause me to give up the chance to have loved in the first place.
I love you all. My heart feels so heavy today but not with sadness, even though my eyes are filled with tears, my heart is full of love.
A friend once said to me that some people can’t stand those who are real and they will try to change who you are or they will hate you because they can’t change you.
God made me exactly the way I am. Same goes for you…why would I want to change that…we are beauty wrapped up in perfection, but some will not be able to accept what comes from the individuals own heart. They will tell you that your wrong. Just remember you are right!
My thoughts yesterday were in direct response to how your words made me feel and not meant to be shallow or judgemental. I could never tell you how you are supposed to feel, especially about something I have really never confronted in my life. The pain that you are feeling is how you are responding to what is happening in your life. I can only express how I feel in expression to that! Your pain makes me want to hang on tighter to what I have here, right now, because I know that with life and love comes death. That is what we have to work with. When I say that I wouldn’t trade in my love for someone just so that I wouldn’t have to feel the pain of their death, why can’t that be from my heart? Why is that a conditioned response? I am trying to open my mind to the idea that this world is an illusion and that we are all connected to a greater source than those connections that we feel here on Earth. If you look at this space as an illusion and all the feelings that we have as illusions, then couldn’t the pain that we feel, or the anger, or the sadness, love, hate, etc. all be considered “conditioned” by our society?
I apologize Ang, I should clarify my comment. It was meant as a comment towards the topic and not a response to you. LOL…wow, when I look at what I wrote it sounds as if it was directed towards you. NO WAY WAS IT DIRECTED TOWARDS YOU!! MY BAD
I LOVE YOU
When I said same goes for you I meant the rest of the world reading this. I am SOOOO SORRY about that.
I love you too. Never stopped. Never would. Figured you were having a bad day.
There is never no wrong in words written from the heart. There is no sorry in words shared from love.
In words of Garth Brooks, ” I could have miss the pain, but id had to miss the dance”, sing it girls till the sun drys your eyes.
I love you both!
Uncle Doug
Blame it on the whole no nocotine thing. It has been 5 days. I decided that I can’t support anything that feeds cancer and smoking feeds cancer so I quit…yeah whatever Anyway, my thought process is struggling without the nicotine. Example: Got up in the morning to get ready for work. Typically I go straight to the bathroom, but for some reason I went into the computer room started to pull my pants down as if I was going to pee in the chair.
LOL, MAYBE THERE IS WRONG IN WORDS WRITTEN FROM THE HEART!, THATS JUST WRONG!, LOL
I know Doug, I know!!
I would like to offer a different spin on a few of the words you made in a previous comment Mindy. You said,”will try to change who you are or they will hate you because they can’t change you”. It has been my observation that there are people, some that will claim to love you the most, or will tell you that you are there best friend, that will try to and change who you are and then hate you WHEN you DO.
Please understand that my thoughts here have nothing to do with any of the previous comments, but sparked a thought i felt worth sharing.
If you are an alcoholic for example, there will be those that will stand beside you claiming to love you more then all other, but at the same time demean you, shame you, point there finger at you, saying look at you see how wrong you are, and how righteous i am, but you can be sure they will never abandon you, because as long as they can cast a shadow of darkness on you they will feel that there light shines brighter to all others. As long as they can stand you up as wrong they can stand on there pedestal of right for all to see, and the moment they cant do this the moment your light begins to shine the will feel there’s has dimmed and they will leave you. It is because there motives, there feelings are from the mind, not the heart.
It is my belief that this life cannot be lived by, for, because, or through others. To truly feel the beauty, the bliss, and the peace of it, you must live it from within your own beautiful spirit.
Love always
I love that Doug and totally agree with you.
We change sometimes for those that we love the most when deep down inside what we changed into isn’t the real self so we begin to despise ourselves and evolve more and more into something we are not, but once we recognize the truth and decide to go back to the realness then people start to abandon you. This is why I want quality in my relationships so that I can trust they will love me just as I am no matter how long it takes me to find the real me.
Wow, this sounds so much like the conversation I had with Bill last night. He says I have changed so much, when actually I am once again like the girl he married. I changed 13 years ago for religion and became someone I wasn’t, he just can’t see that and I think he’s afraid or something, i’m not sure. I have a hard time explaining this to him. I think sometimes that we are making steps forward and then we take even more steps back!
MANDY~
You are always taking steps forward when you honestly communicate with each other, but stay committed to your own truth and your own hearts desires no matter how hard it is. Don’t change for anyone else but yourself.
I hope this comment will be received with the love intended. Mandy, we believe that our lives have a beginning and and end, a start and a finish. I was a person that began on Sept 11, 1949. i was a human at 13, 33, 53, the same human with all the confusion, questions, fears, expectations , desires and beliefs that we can have. I believed in myself as a man of compassion, my mind said i was good and worthy. My core belief is that if I am not good enough , then who is? I danced that dance to the moment of my brothers death. It was only then that i allowed my heart to feel more then my mind could recognize, it felt anger, hate, destine for all the God Shit this world could offer me.
Then a sweet angel (Audrey) offed words that confused me, words that I would normally discount, but I didn’t. I listened. I read, and reread, and I realized that this clay shell, is the holly grail of the beauty of christ. Given to me by a father that offers me Love without condition, a father that only wants me to feel the beauty and the peace that is within all of us to know. My beginning was at that moment, not at 3, 13, 43, or 53, and yours began the moment you knew that to.
I wont began to speak to your relationship between you and your husband, because i believe that you are married to a man that possess all the moral ethical and spiritual characteristic’s of any father, husband, son, can have as we walk this earth with our humanly minds.
I can tell you, that if my wife of 40 years ask me to hold my breath till i died, i would do it without question, and stare into her eyes seeing the most beautiful woman that ever walked this earth, till my heart stoped beating, but if she ask me to walk into a church and worship a God that only loved me with conditions, then i would tell her that her that it would be better for me to feel my last heartbeat then to do that.
Your desire Mandy is for a synchronized love of god, with yourself and someone else, but Gods love is within you alone.
I believe he will know what you know, but if he dosnt its ok, you cant ever go back and undew the beauty that you know now.
Love always
As i walk through the thoughts of the last months , I think of the years that i have been a listener. I remember the posts that my brother shared
that i viewed as the emotions of man, and silently condemned them for not relateing them to the scripture of a document that is the purpose and the ruler of most of our lives. It was only when he spoke from his heart, without an association to the bible, that i felt that way. I myself cant qoute a single scripture, but i felt that his job was to make us understand a book written by man.
What i feel now, with the sadness of Latin wisdom, is that he spoke at those times with a purity of frankincense, the white smoke of wisdom. He offered beauty and peace that cant be felt in a book or a doctrine.
I believe the bibles of all, are an augmented deception, of the beauty of Christ. I believe that God only wants us to know that we are his precious children, forever blessed with his grace, and that all we need to do to feel his pure love as we walk this earth is to look within ourselves, and we will find him there. The frankincense of pure TRUTH.
THANK YOU AUDREY
Love aways
This last last message, is for all that is like me. As you listen to all that you dont understand. Words that tell you your perfect, people that say you are loved, without condition. The message we all want to hear. Words others have shared with you. WORDS you have learned to distrust.
Words that have HAVE LIED TO YOU, remember these words, YOU ARE PERFECT IN GODS EYES, YOU NEED TO DO NOTHING.
LOVE ALWAYS
My last thought tonight is of love. I know AUDREY u hate it when i go to a human emotion, but i need to share this. Love is the part of our lives we want to share and feel. We will dance any dance to know it, we will crawl any distance to feel it, we will fight any fight to own it. We will live any lie to believe it. We will cry a fountain of tears if we lose it.
The beauty of true love, my angels, is that, you will never dance for it, it will dance for you. You will never crawl for it, it will crawl to you. You wont fight for it, it will be a worrier for your every heartbeat. There will be no lies just the purity of truth, and there will be no tears just the eternity of your love.
LOVE YOU ALWAYS
BABY GIRLS
You are so beautiful Uncle Doug.
I told you that I was going to have fun on my journey into this mystical and magical world of spiritual enlightenment, and boy i really have. Recently i have been reading about Sufism. A Sufi is a spiritual scholar or teacher that realizes the heart is the shine of God he desires only to remove the false self, and discover the God within. He teaches happiness, he seeks illumination and he sees harmony, but he also gives love to all that is created.
Wow right! I bet your thinkin i wanta be one of the Sufi guys. Well let me tell you it wont be easy. A student of the Sufi (teacher) will spend many many years doing the most mundane tasks that you can do with your hands for as much as 10 or 20 years. Never being allowed to ask the master one question. Only when the master believes his students mind is empty of human thought will he offer his first question in an attempt to speak to the students heart, if the students answer is not felt to come from his heart and speak to the Sufis heart then he will again be assigned tasks such as caring for dogs for a 1001 days or the afflicted for years.
So as you travel this world, craving to feel your inner spirit, release it is not something you can find in a book at walmart. whether any of us will feel the divine purity of a Sufi, i doubt, but i do feel we can have moments of it if we choose to feel with our heart and not think with our mind.
Oh by the way, what the student finds if he becomes a Sufi is God.
Love always
OMG! That is beautiful Doug, just beautiful!
Thank you Nan, and beautiful is my last thought of the night. The perception of beauty is so extreme. There are some that see beauty in long eyelashes or a perfect nose, whatever that is. There are some that feel they have viewed the beauty of the earth (that God so loved) from mountain tops, or beaches of white sand. There are many that believe they have witnessed beauty in a sunset or a rainbow. There are some that feel beauty is only found in the sparkle of a diamond, the shine of gold, or from the hand of an artist on a canvas.
All of that is beautiful, but doesn’t compare to the warm glow of a mothers cheeks as she feeds her baby, the sparkle in a child’s eyes with every piece of love they are offered, or the moment in your life that you feel the illumination of a GOD that loves you with your short eyelashes, your funny nose, or your bony legs.
Love always
Ok im gonna bust out in song!!!!!!!!!!!!
they called them crazy when they started out
said 17 to young to know what loves about
they’ve been together 58 years now
thats crazy
he brought home 67 bucks a week
bought a little two bedroom house on maple street
where she blessed him with 6 more mouths to feed
thats crazy
just ask him how he did it
he’ll say pull up a seat it’ll only take a minute to tell you everything
(chorus)
be your best friend
tell the truth
and over use i love you
go to work
do your best
dont out smart your common sense
never let your prayin knees get lazy
and love like crazy
they called him crazy when he quit his job
sellin home computers boy they’ll never take off
well he sold his one man shop to microsoft
and they paid like crazy
just ask him how he made it
he’ll tell you faith and sweat
and the heart of a faithful woman who never let him forget
(chorus)
be your best friend
tell the truth
and over use i love you
go to work
do your best
dont out smart your common sense
never let your prayin knees get lazy
and love like crazy
always treat your woman like a lady
never get to old to call her baby
never let your prayin knees get lazy
and love like crazy
they called them when they started out
they’ve been together 58 years now
aint that crazy
BABY DONT SIT IN A CORNER, AND MY LOVE WONT EITHER.
Dance till your heart stops beating…
love always
This may be the craziest comments i ever make on this site, but i feel its time to share this.
I have lived a life of privacy, a silent observer, a man that always saw the beauty of life, and choose to lean against the oak tree and observe it.
I was never willing to let anyone but my family touch my heart, but i would always be willing to do the right thing for all that i touched.
Its hard for me to type words beyond the ones i have just shared , because my mind says stop. I dont really know why i have shared my thoughts with you as much as i have. I allowed my mother, my father, my brothers to know me a little, and only my wife to know me completely.
i suppose that my acknowledgement that my beginning will have an end has exposed to me a truth i never recognized before. It has allowed me the ability to share things i would have felt to be a weakness, an exposure to the soft part of my belly, the places that i could be hurt.
You have heard things from my lips, that came from my heart. You have been able to feel things that i didn’t think i could share.
There is not alot more to my thought tonight, other then the purity, the beauty of the willingness to show the soft part of your belly. Don’t fear the beauty that is within you, dance with it till its legs give way.
Love always
My very last thought tonight, i promise.
I hope my perfect star can feel what paw pa feels, before he is 60 years old.
LOVE YOU ANDY
Doug,
I hope you never stop sharing. Your feelings and thoughts are incredible.
Doug, I just love your enthusiasm. Mindy too. I am so thrilled for you both and through your writing I can sense the freedom of the spirit bubbling up inside you. You are becoming aware of your true identity, which is spirit. This SPIRIT REALITY, the real you, was there when the Word was spoken at creation. We know this because of what Paul said in the words Cliff used above – He is over through and in us all. Our Father had one Son, and in Him we have our being, or our identity. He and the Father are O_N_E, This therefore is WHO WE ARE. Then our Father prepared for us a body, by his own loving hands in our mother’s womb and we were born into this natural world. As we become more aware of our spiritual ‘reality’ we begin to see the spiritual in others, even though they may not at that moment be aware themselves. But, as you speak out that creative word, in your own words, from the heavens (your heart), the love you feel will open the blind eyes and they will see their real identity too.
.
There is a spiritual principle – first the natural, then the spiritual. There are many pictures of this in the bible – first Cain, the natural, then Abel, the spiritual, first Esau, then Jacob.The prophet Isaiah helps our understanding by saying ‘Unto us a child is born, unto us a SON is given.’ Firstly we see in the natural, so we believe our identity is the one we were born with that we see in the mirror, but then when we become spiritually aware we see we are the Son (over, through, in). The Son is not ‘born’, for He was created, the only begotten. When you ’see’ this ‘lifted up’, then go and look up what follows in Isaiah 9. You will see some more of what this spiritual Kingdom is and the righteousness of its government, having no beginning and no end, never passing away.
I love listening to you Audrey, your words are always inspiring. They offer such excitement, and challenge our desires to feel that true spirit within.
lOVE ALWAYS
PS I am a self ordaind Sufi, my only student right now is my cat MC (meow cat) and he aint likein a bit of it…
My perfect star was out tonight to visit mama and papaw. We had bought him a gift a few days ago. A squirt gun. I know class 101 of grand parents says in the first line of the first chapter,NO squirt guns!
This squirt gun was special, it could squirt 36 feet. I mean come on how could i refuse him that?
I’m not completely stupid we only put a little water in it, but sure enough it was enough to soak mom , grandma floors walls and curtains, before we could move him outside.
when his new toy finally ran out of water, he would return to grandma over and over , so she could pump it up to get in his words “just ah ita bit more”, and i thought at the time there is no difference between his innocent desires to feel happiness, “just ah ita bit more” and ours.
So tomorrow and every day of my life I’m going to try and understand what makes me happy, and do it “JUST A ITA BIT MORE”.
love always
My last thought tonight is about how disgusting men are. I mean come on! There is no noise we can make from our body we dont find funny, right! There is no orifice we wont pick, probably smell, and maybe show you what we found. I know your saying, TMI, Doug.
I really think i have a better chance of being a Sufi that my cat truly respects, or feeling the pure truth of a selfless enlightenment, then i do of ever understanding the love of a woman.
I am married to a woman part Indian , part Irish, but she has energy of a spider monkey and the fearless heart of a loin. She has stood with me like a pillar of marble, laughing at the funny noises i can make with my body, enduring the discussing things men can do as we think we are impressing you.
I hope before i die, someone will tell me why. Because for the life of me,I dont think i will ever understand the love of a woman.
Love you CINDY
My last thought tonight. Will be about two very special people. Don and Mabel Goodwin. Don was a man that only was allowed to achieve a 3rd grade education before he was forced to work in the coal mines of illinois, Mabel was a woman that could only express love, there was never a moment of any pain that she felt that you would feel. Don was a provider and a protector, Mabel was a nurturer and a teacher of love.
The beauty of these two precious souls have offered comfort to so many that walk in there foot prints.
Don became an elected official, renowned and respected in his community, Mabel became the revered example of pure love, offering the generation that follow her the clarity, and ability to know it. Mabel raised seven children, to each giving her undying love, Don provided food clothing a roof over there sweet heads.
Don and Mabel are my grandpa and grandma, my family.
The beauty that is within the hearts of all of Don and Mabel’s descendants is easily felt because of the sweet teacher of love, Mabel.
Love always
Tonight as I sit and read your amazing thoughts I think Wow, this is the best book ever Doug. I could read your thoughts all night!!
It is a little past midnight. The evening has settled and I am reflecting on one of the most wonderful days I have had in a long time with my Charlie and my Abby. We went Kayaking at Ceasars Creek (its a lake, Ha ha) and it was amazing. We rowed out to the middle of the lake where this cool island was. Me and Abby got out of our boats and walked along the shore looking for really cool rocks. We found this one that we thought was just awesome so we are going to give it to our Friend Kat. Anyway, as we are walking along checking out our cool rocks we found I noticed my Charlie still out in his boat STILL trying to catch a fish. LOL, I thought to myself, “I hope to God we will still be kayaking when we are 70 years old.” I love watching him do what he loves to do best.
ok last thought , for sure , i promise you an count on it.
As i speak of family, which is so precious to me. I know that i live in a world that there are so many that dont know what that means. There are so many that are abandoned left alone, orphaned and forgotten. There are so many perfect and wonderful little being that are alone.
The result of war, or ethinic cleansing for some ungodly religious or social reasoning. As i sit here wondering how i can feel closer to God, feel the heaven within me. I ask myself how selfish am I? How can i want to feel the beauty Christ, when others would believe there in heaven to feel the beauty of a gramas hug , a platter of sugar cookies and a glass of milk.
I know that I am just on of billions that walk this earth, but if i am one that touches the heart of one other, that touches the heart of one other… then just maybe the babies the children of this earth ( that God so loves) can know the peace and the love they deserve.
Be the one more…
Love always
There is something really right about being a 60 year old child of the 60s!
DONT PEE ON YOUR COMPUTER SEAT, only an abington Sufi would share those words of wisdom.
Goodnite I promise
Love always
oK , I REALLY POMISE THIS TIME , cross my heart kinda promise, ill cut a toe off if i post any more comments.
Mindy, you will be there at 70, you will have your peaks and your valleys, but your love will never allow u to give up. At 70 you will still be looking at his little silly ass amazed by his dedication to his passion. He will still be looking at you with a magical love for beauty you let him feel.
Dance till the sunset holds your hand.
Love you sweety
I am sitting here with a severed toe, and a student that has no respect for his sufi master. My thoughts are of those that live to control, and of those that live controlled.
If you are a controller of others, then you will live absent of love. If you are controlled by others, then you will never feel love. You see the controller never loves the ones they control, cause there is no respect, and the controlled dont know what love is.
The controller always knows who he is, but the controlled rarely do. The ego of a controller will rarely allow them to change but the beauty within the controlled is there like a sleeping child waiting to be awakened.
Wake up and love always
This is a question more then a comment, but I’m a bit confused about this whole virgin birth Am i to understand God had a plan ‘A’= To give to Ahaz ( king of the house of David ) a virgin that would have a virgin birth and therefor the son of God would be a direct descendant of David, But only when ahaz said no thanks did god go to plan ‘B’ In which he then choose mary?
Just askin
Its been a cold, rainy and kind of lonely day for me today. My wife was diligently working her 12 hour shift, my kids were involved with all the things required of the young and exuberant lives they live.
I watched a movie called, “The legend of the falls” cried through most of it, then read a big part of the book of Isaiah, sparking the question I left in my last comment. A question that left me wondering why God would need a backup plan for anything.
Its the kind of question that i could have ask my brother, without the fear of sounding ignorant, The kind of question he would of answered with the clarity and truth that even i would understand. The kind of question he would have responded to with the vigor of a hummingbird seeking nectar, or honeybee collecting pollen if he didn’t know the answer. There is no distance he wouldn’t have traveled, no time he wouldn’t have spent to find the answer. Not for me but for himself.
Its the kind of question, that leaves me wanting him. Its the kind of question that leaves me lonely, but mostly its the kind of question, that i can never ask him.
Love always
OH, did the Bears win?
just askin
I sure the heck can’t answer the 1st question but I GOOGLED the Bears final score for you and they won 17-14! hope Dougie’s happy! I LOVE YOU DAD!
My last thought tonight will be of anger…
It is an emotion that am very familiar with. An emotion that discussed me, but wells up in me from time to time. Its an emotion i feel when i cant understand all that is wrong in this world.
I believe that every emotion i have, so did Jesus, prince of peace, son of God.
My anger, as with all anger, comes from my ignorance to understand , all that is right.
I dont understand why a God would give us grace, but not wisdom. Why would he leave us so confused that in his name, Muslims Christians and Jews would kill each other because there interpretation of Gods wishes makes them more righteous then the ones they slaughter.
Why would a GOD that can grant us eternal life, leave us to suffer the physical mental and emotional affliction that so many do in this life.
Why would god not even leave this earth(that he so loved) and ALL the people on it knowing that his son was more then just a man.
My anger tonight, is because of my ignorance to understand, how many more thousand years will we kill each other, before God shows us his back up plan…..
Trust is a word that is loosely used to offer confidence from one to another. It is a word that is easy to use but hard to live up to.
Many years ago there was a big ole fluffy orange Tom cat that resided in the basemen of a very large old house. It had access throw a hole under the porch, and it lived in its kingdom with the authority of a lion. It was only after the house was left with no human inhabitants and its food source of mice had moved on was it able to be captured. Its instincts to survive was compromised by its desire for food, so it entered its prison. Mister cat was soon set free at my country home in the early spring and found shelter in the barns and hog sheds near by.
As spring broke a i began to meander out on to my deck I would see him warming him self on my rock wall in the sun. He would skedaddle upon the moment of my presents but return each day. After weeks of this he began to hesitate, just long enough for me to speak to him in the only language I knew in cat, and i would say ” Meow”. Many days of this passed and finally he did not run, he laid there with a Minuit amount of trust and finally responded with a , “meow”.
Days and weeks again passed with the two of us periodically offering our banter of meows to each other. He became accustomed to me on the deck and I would offer him nightly a morsel of what ever i cooked, but he would never accept it in my presents, never coming even a foot closer to me then the rock wall.
I would check each morning to see if what I offered was gonna, and it would be, but i never knew if meow cat had got it or Charlie dog, my golden retriever, had wondered upon it.
Finally he took my offering and little by little day by day we got closer and closer till i was able to touch him. I have now become his trusted friend. He really doesnt know how to play very well, and he has really big claws, but he trust me now to the point I can touch the soft part of his belly.
One of my sweet cousins Lisa said this a few posts back:
“not really sure why I shared that here. Probably because its the one place right now I feel comfortable doing so.”
It was because of TRUST. A site that offers TRUST with surety and confidence that you will not be judged. Only offering wisdom and truth, to the best of our ability.
A word the founders of this site never use loosely , and know the true meaning of it.
Love alway
My last thought tonight will be of the energy within us. The enormous power we use in our brain every waking moment of our lives. Just the heat alone that evaporates from our mind is enough to warm all the children that are cold tonight.
How much energy will you use tomorrow to know if you are going to get a promotion or if you have found a great sale, or to no if you can pay your bills, or if the love of your husband or boyfriend, girlfriend or wife is true.
How much of this massive enormous energy will you give to the children of the children, of the children?
Will you give one half, of one half, of one half of one percent of your energy?
FIND THE PEACE FOR THE BABIES THAT YOU DONT KNOW, BUT YOU CAN FEEL.
peace and LOVE ALWAYS
MC, says he would like to leave the final thought tonight. His thoughts are about the feelings of INDIFFERANCE. Its not easy for me to interpret his thoughts because i only know one word in his languages, but ill try.
He says as we walk this world trying to understand all that is right or wrong, all that is good and evil, we should curl up into a ball of warm love and be indifferent to all of it but the love.
Dam crazy cat…
lOVE ALWAYS
I’m not going to let MC have the final word tonight. Mine will be of Love Lost.
Most of us have romantic feelings of love. We express love in poems and art. We see love in the Sky’s, the mountains, and the sunsets of our lives. It is the only emotion that we will embrace blindlessly. Love is a desire we crave from the moment of birth. It is so precious to us that we will die for it, we will kill for it. There is nothing in our live we want more.
God knew that…
He offered his son. So that we would know that there is no, Love lost, that he didn’t know, but he also left us with the wisdom to know that his love is never lost.
IT IS WITHIN US
Love always
A few weeks ago i ask something that left me feeling so hypocritical. I ask you to offer PRAYER, or at least a moment of your precious energy for someone I love. I ask you to something that i have rearly done.
Pray to me offered the same expectation as throwing a rock at the moon and expecting to hit it. I never believed that God would intervene no matter how just the request was, or how righteous the requester was.
Over the last few weeks of feeling hypocritical I have ask myself “What is prayer”?
The conclusion that i reached, that i am still not all that sure of, but its the one that makes sense to me. Is that PRAYER, is a place we can go to feel Gods love, PRAYER is a place that we can throw a rock at the moon and sail beyond it, PRAYER is a place that offers the silent beauty of peace, but mostly PRAYER IS A PLACE TO FEEL ONE WITH GOD.
I still dont think God will intervene in our lives with miraculous powers, but i do feel he hears our prayers, and is always there to feel our happiness , and share our pain.
So prayer will no long be a word that to me that has meant churchie, religious and meaningless. I will be a word that will mean “To be with God”.
Oh, by the way, my Uncle Tom was given a fighting chance, and he is recovering well!
Love always
Kingdom of God….Kingdom of heaven, is there a difference? What if God was our King on earth? How much different would earth be?
I believe that the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of Heaven are the same. I believe they are both in our hearts to know, and that God will be the king of this earth he so loves , one heart at a time.
Love always
I’m thrilled about your Uncle Tom Doug, your wish came about ‘cos you spoke it out from your heart, (JC said, ask according to my nature and it will be done) and that’s all a prayer is – just as you’ve said above. Keep going there for your answers Doug – it’s that same spirit, our teacher who is over us through us and in us all, and yes that is the kingdom. So simple, but so glorious. Like you’ve said, one heart at a time to make the ONE I AM visible to the whole world, so the world will be perfect just as it was created. Exciting times, eh?
the glistening of snow covered truth
a cool darkness that sparkles
and a love that cries
with the hearts of a thousand angels
shadows of memories
touched by the white smoke
dancing in circles
with the hearts of a thousand angles
tears drifting to earth
washing the feet of the unworthy
fueling the spirit of love
with the hearts of a thousand angels
Love always
I am having fun in my journey Audrey, and it is without fear. It at times almost feels as warm as your last memory of being cradled in the arms of your mother.
Love you
My last thought tonight is on all the secret silence of secrets held precious by humans. This is probably one of the most important comments i will ever speak to.
Our darkest secrets and the vaults we hold them in, like treasures never to be seen or felt, is like placing your heart in a cold wet cave, to protect it.
The things we believe to be unsharable. The things we believe to make us unworthy. The things that hold us guilt ridden. The things that God knows about you and still loves you. These things cannot be held in a cold wet, cave, they will only fester like a wound covered by the filth of silence.
Realize that you are perfect, know that you need to do nothing, to feel the love of God.
Take you silent secrets out of that cold place, and spread them under the radiant light, and walk with a peace in your heart that you deserve.
Love always
I know my circle of angles are saying “what the hell is going on with Uncle Doug”?
Its like the mother that had a child then wouldn’t speak till he was 10 years old, then he wouldn’t shut up, because before that he didn’t have anything to say.
Ill shut up soon baby girls… maybe.
Maybe you need to tell Cliff to STFU.
lOVE ALWAYS
My last thought will be if our heart carries on. After we shed this clay shell dose our spirit last so that those left behind can touch it? Can we feel the ghosts of the souls gone before us?
My mind says NO, but my heart says YES.
I dont feel that those that go before us can intervene any more then i feel that God will, but i feel that the purity of the love in the ghosts of our past will be felt with the same soft beauty as the love of God.
GOODNITE BRO, love always
Hey Doug-I know what is going on with you and I don’t want you to shut up. Is Uncle Cliff whispering in your ear late at night? I think it is all you-straight from your heart. There is no turning back now. Love you
I agree Uncle Doug, I love reading your thoughts. I picture you sitting at your desk with your glasses sliding down your nose and only a small lamp in the room or maybe only the light from your computer and the thoughts that come from your heart pouring out like beer from a bottle
I love to picture this in my mind.
I think your circle of angels need to fly together again!
Love you
Crazed minds of unspoken beauty
crawling in the muck of tomorrow
lavished with hateful truth
embellishing all with amusement
tender spirits whispering sadness
sharing unclear love
dancing in a circle
embarrassed by pure truth
angels of the muck
angels of the muck
warming in the son
confused with unclear destine
hearts of love swirling in clouds
clawing for the white smoke
eyes blurred with the murk
angels of the muck
love undieing
for the moment of the pain
unshared hearts of sweet tears
felt by the entertained
held by white smoke
in the angels of the muck
Don’t be an an amusement, or an entertainment, but be an influence.
Love
Hey Doug-Please don’t spill the beer.
“The emerging form of Christianity – which is sometimes also called “progressive Christianity” – emphasizes:
the Bible is the product of our spiritual ancestors;
the Bible is often to be understood metaphorically, not literally;
transformation in this life rather than emphasis on an afterlife (it does not deny an afterlife, but says the afterlife is not the purpose of Christianity)
relationship with God rather than believing in God;
worship and prayer as ways of deepening our relationship with God rather than as duties”;
Marcus Borg
I realize the first thing about this that my brother would take issue with is the label and all the ramifications of being labeled, but i felt a truth in his words that went beyond a name.
Once you realize that God is within all that he created , then it is simple to understand that he is within you, and with that knowledge it is easy to feel the connection to the universe, because if God is part of all and we are part of God then we truly are one with the universe.
It is a very difficult transition to go from a natural mind to a spiritual heart. To go from praying to God with words you feel are being beamed up to him in some unknown place in the sky, and feeling him within you
Whatever that name is whatever that label, feel free to call me that!
Please Uncle Doug…DO NOT SHUT UP!!!! I love to read your thoughts. It makes me feel good and motivated.
My life is in a really cool place right now. I have quit smoking (for good reasons) and it has made me want to live a little more…I have been Kayaking twice now and I am head over heels for it. I can’t wait to go more and more and if anyone knows me they know that this is a huge accomplishment considering I am afraid of the water. I want to go camping, hiking, travel…I just want to be outdoors. I don’t care about the laundry or the dishes anymore. That shit is for the birds. I just want to take my baby girl to the skate park to practice skateboarding or go play tennis together and laugh at each other trying to hit the ball. I am doing things now that I have always wanted to do… I just feel free. I don’t know what is happening to me, but I like it. It feels like a piece of me has come out. This is the journey I am on and wherever it takes me I am ready to go there.
The beauty in life can be no sweeter, then when seen through youthful eyes. You are so right Mindy, them dishes can wait, and it ain’t so bad to wear the same tee shirt two days in a row, but a moment of happiness lost is a moment you will regret when your old.
So much of the time youth doesn’t realize what they have till its passed. I meet a new friend at the nursing home the other night. Her name is Lila, she is pretty girl with striking red hair. When i commented on how beautiful her hair was, her eyes sparkled a bit, then she began to tell me about her mother and how they would sit on the porch as she brushed her hair which flowed to the porch boards. She talked of her daddy and how he would always cut her meat up for her. She told me that she was 99 years old, but in her heart she thought she felt maybe forty.
Her life is one of confinement now, she still seeks her moment of happiness, but you can be sure that many of the her moments of her happiness are the memories of her youth, and her regrets will be of the ones she let pass by.
Enjoy Mindy, and try and change your underwear at least every three days!
Love always
I receive a touching e-mail today from one of my circle of angels. She wanted to share a song she was recording so that as she was doing her motherly duties she could listen to. She said this one particular song made her feel her Daddy.
The song was beautiful, but it was the fact that she felt the importance of sharing her moment that touched my heart. She is a little country mother of four precious babies. They require 120% of her time. There is no doubt in my mind, that she would cut a toe off for 20 peaceful minutes of perfect silence.
A precious memory I as well as her share now……
love always
I dont want to harp on the youth of this world, even though in the words of Archie bunker you are mostly “meat heads”, but your also cute and perky, with so much to offer to this earth (that God so loves).
There is an amazing transition beginning. The world is becoming one. The ability for the controllers of the freedom of thought has been conquired, and the ONE I AM has begun.
Cliff,Audrey, Geo, Mindy, Bruce, Steve, saw it coming. There will be no denying God his kingdom. The completion of this beautiful happening wont be in my life time or probably yours, but the truth of Gods love can not be hidden in a basket from his radiant light any longer. It will spread like the rising of the sun warming hearts around the world.
The wondrous minds of man unknowingly developed tools to share truth in the most remote places of Gods perfect universe. Truth once felt can never be denied. The tyrant’s of oppression and control will be exposed like cockroach’s to light, and a world of perfect love, that each of you can feel, will be felt by all.
Theses are not words of a dream-seeker, but words spoken with the sweet wisdom of heart touched by God.
Spread the word my angels, the prince of peace is in the heart of all that hear you.
Love always
Last thought of the night, and MC, wants to have it. … Hes not a very good Sufi student!
He wants to know why God didn’t make mice to taste like chicken?
meow
You are incredible…absolutely incredible
You know i cant let , MC, have the last thought of the night. He is such a lousy student. He thinks cause he has all five claws , hes special. Yeah see, I’m missing a joint out of two of my fingers on both hands.
As we travel though this life, there is a natural part of us that wants to feel superior to all other. We never admit it, but we know it. We show it any way we can, houses, cars, bling. It doesnt seem to matter what rung you stand on, you know the one above you as well as the one below you.
Its a secret calculation, almost an unconscious one. Its a natural consciousness of superiority, or in some cases a a diminish belief in worthiness, but in all cases , its a wasted energy.
It is more important to touch the heart of a 99 year old beautiful woman for a moment, then to lay in the bed of a king for a day. It is more important to feel one hand of a hand that needs it, then to feel the clap of a thousand hand from those that dont.
Your last breath wont feel the beauty of your bling, somebody else will be wearing it, your last breath wont feel the comfort of your cars or home someone else will own them, but your last breath will feel the beauty of the love you shared.
Share the love
Love always
Awh geezz, MC, is clawin at my knee wanting the last word again! So im gonna give it to him.
MC says, any day your not the meal, you should be cookin.
Meow
You know i wont let that stupid cat have the last word, hes laying their in a ball of love like he really shared a life changing thought with you.
My last thought is of the universal beauty of music. This is a song i have always love but has so much more meaning to me now.
I gotta take a little time
A little time to think things over
I better read between the lines
In case I need it when I’m older
Now this mountain I must climb
Feels like a world upon my shoulders
I through the clouds I see love shine
It keeps me warm as life grows colder
In my life theres been heartache and pain
I dont know if I can face it again
Cant stop now, Ive traveled so far
To change this lonely life
I wanna know what love is
I want you to show me
I wanna feel what love is
I know you can show me
Im gonna take a little time
A little time to look around me
Ive got nowhere left to hide
It looks like love has finally found me
In my life theres been heartache and pain
I dont know if I can face it again
I cant stop now, Ive traveled so far
To change this lonely life
I wanna know what love is
I want you to show me
I wanna feel what love is
I know you can show me
I wanna know what love is
I want you to show me
And I wanna feel, I want to feel what love is
And I know, I know you can show me
Lets talk about love
I wanna know what love is, the love that you feel inside
I want you to show me, and Im feeling so much love
I wanna feel what love is, no, you just cannot hide
I know you can show me, yeah
I wanna know what love is, lets talk about love
I want you to show me, I wanna feel it too
I wanna feel what love is, I want to feel it too
And I know and I know, I know you can show me
Show me love is real, yeah
I wanna know what love is…
LOVE IT