BoldGrace

We are all so clouded in our spiritual vision. What causes this? Maybe the better question is "What will help us see more clearly?

I would love to think religion could help us out but my experience tells me that is not so.  In fact, every time I get around an ultra religious person I sense darkness that wants to overshadow any ability to see clearly.

I can’t answer for others but for me "SEEING MORE CLEARLY" has been a result of a lot less talking and a lot more listening.

I think we block real listening when we are consumed with talking so much.  I have come to believe that this earthly experience we are all in has built within it very clear messages that are clear and constant for all who will LISTEN.

I guess the next logical question is "What makes us all talk so much?"

I can’t speak for others but for me it was the need to be right, and to be right I had to make sure everyone agreed with me, and to get everyone to agree with me I had to convince them and to convince them I had to talk a lot.

I found that once I gave up the need to be right I no longer felt the need to talk so much and then I found my self listening a lot more.

Now I listen to the sound of life all around me.  The birds sing sweeter.  I cry much easier over the silliest of things.  I even wonder if my dogs are really angels that can talk but won’t break their cover knowing they will blow my mind.  Oh, the things I find myself imagining now that I’ve quit talking so much.

It feels so good to trust in this experience we are all a part of.  It feels so peaceful to know that my contribution is not nearly as important as my observation.  I am becoming an observer.  A  observer doesn’t judge or try to make life follow their pattern of belief.  A  observer observes and learns.

What I have found from being a better observer is that I love deeper, I feel with more intensity, and I trust what is coming next with a greater sense of excitement.

Rom 5:6-8 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Christ came to take us out of the law of sin and death and deliver us over into His kingdom of light and love. He came to show us how to love and unfortunately mankind has made a complete mess of His example.  Study his life and you will see how people of all walks of life flocked to Him because they felt this unconditional love.  Paul tells us it is the only thing we owe to each other.

Rom 13:8  Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 

1 Cor 13:4-8  4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails.

In the last post I took a look at possibilities.  Is life really as we see it or are there special beings that walk among us that we all desperately need so that we can move forward as the spiritual beings that we are?

As I have mentioned in the past I work in an Emergency Room as an Environmental Services person.  Basically I make sure the entire area stays clean.  In my position I have the opportunity to see things that most people never imagine.  I see life and death situations on a daily basis.  I see fellow humans who give of themselves in ways that money can’t buy. 

Today I want to talk about one particular group of fellow humans that never cease to amaze me—–we call them "NURSES".  Some are women and some are men.  Most of them are not aware that I am constantly watching them work.  I see their dedication.  I see their willingness to treat sick people with kindness even when some of these sick people are quite rude.  I see them work long hours under sometimes very difficult circumstances and yet they try their best to keep a smile and a positive outlook because they know their patients are depending on that.

One particular male nurse goes around whistling old songs and every time he passes me by he asks me how I’m doing.  Every single nurse I’ve met seems to really care.  Oh, I know sometimes they have bad days and don’t feel good but even on those days I watch them as they enter a patients room and they put on a smile even though they don’t feel like it.

I fully realize that some people go into this profession because of the money but I really don’t think that is the reason for most who do this work.  I have looked in their eyes and seen the compassion.  They show this compassion to every person who walks through the ER doors even if they are the most disgusting of our race.  They don’t pick and choose.  They show their love to the just and the unjust alike. 

Yes, we can learn a lot from some of the special beings that walk among us if we will just open our eyes and be willing.

My wife and I were having a conversation about the last post on personal faith and I expressed how walking in that faith made it much easier for me to see the opportunities in each day to learn knowing that God’s will is always to fill me with unlimited light.  Then she said something that was full of inspiration for me.  She said: "Maybe everyone is not here to learn, maybe some are here only to teach." 

As some of you know I have been studying the idea of reincarnation mainly because I so strongly believe our purpose on earth is to learn and I find it difficult to believe we learn all we need to in just one lifetime.  When she said that some may only be here to teach it made me realize that none of us really know who we may be walking with on any given day or why they are here on earth.  Even the bible talks about being careful because you might be entertaining Angels.  The word Angel simply means "messenger of God".  That’s really what a teacher is all about, to bring a message to someone to help them learn.  I still believe that most of us are here in this journey to learn whatever we need to learn for whatever is next but something in my heart leaped when she made that statement about teachers.  If it is possible that some are only here to teach then it’s also possible that others might be on this journey for other reasons that we are really not aware of. 

Anyway, I just thought her statement was quite interesting and it has made me rethink just who really is among us on this journey we call life?

The key word in the title above is "PERSONAL".  All of us have faith of some sort that we have come to over our years of living in this clay body.  As I look back over the last 57 years of my life in this clay body I can see the evolution of my personal faith and I think if I am here in 10 years it will continue to evolve more and more as the experiences of life changes me.  All I can do in this day is describe what my personal faith looks like in the NOW of this moment.

Before I describe my personal faith let me say that I feel very strongly that where I am now in faith has very little to do with knowledge and a lot to do with experience and feeling.  That’s really kind of funny when I think about how in my young years I was taught that feelings could not be trusted and if I really wanted a strong faith I must study to show myself approved unto God.  Well, I did study and study and study and although I hold no degrees I also hold no fear of going toe to toe with any bible toting, bible quoting person, and yet I have absolutely NO DESIRE to do that. 

Well, I’m not here today to talk about the evolution of my faith but rather to describe what my faith is NOW.  So, here goes:

I believe in a perfect God who has one will and it is to SHOW US HIS UNLIMITED LIGHT.  I believe that God has made NO mistakes when it comes to the journey He has set us upon.  Even when we reject Him and turn away from Him I believe this is His will and remember I believe His will is to show us His unlimited LIGHT.

Paul talks about how "When the Perfect comes the partial shall be done away".    The word PERFECT there means "COMPLETE".  I believe Paul was talking about the time in our personal life in this clay body where we are awakened to the the PERFECT FATHER.  A Father who is complete and lacks NOTHING.  A Father that instills a trust within our hearts that allows us to walk in each new day with confidence regardless of what the circumstances may be because we realize that our PERFECT FATHER is the only authority and His will is ALWAYS TO FILL US WITH UNLIMITED LIGHT.

We often talk about at BG how we believe it is the FAITH of Jesus that has redeemed all of mankind.  Ask yourself, "WHAT WAS HIS PERSONAL FAITH?"  Was it not a FAITH in the Father’s WILL?  And what is that Will?  To show us His unlimited LIGHT. 

John the apostle said that "Perfect Loves casts out ALL fear."  God is PERFECT LOVE and as we let that perfection come alive in this clay body we will find ourselves being less and less afraid.  Isn’t that what FAITH should do?

All I can do for any of you is to testify what my personal faith is doing for me.  I can say that in the last two years I have faced more heartache and pain then in the previous 55 years combined and yet I have never been more at peace.  We can all live in great pain and still have peace and the peace we have will be a direct result of our FAITH.  I have come from a complicated system of beliefs to the simplicity of ONE THOUGHT—GOD IS PERFECT AND HIS PERFECT WILL IS TO AWAKEN US TO HIS UNLIMITED LIGHT.

This is what I repeat to myself over and over from morning to night.  The wonder thing about this FAITH is that is is true whether I believe it or not.  And it is also true for EVERY OTHER fellow traveler on this earth.  I’m sure future experiences will sharpen this faith more and more but I really can’t see myself believing anything else at the core.

I would end with "GOD BLESS", but I don’t have to because He already has.

The Creator is to be trusted and what I trust is that my Creator ALWAYS  desires to fill me with unlimited light.  The Creator has set in motion a perfect creation of which I am currently engaged in.  As I take part in this perfect creation I encounter many stages of learning that moves me from one body to another constantly changing me, molding me, and transforming me with the constant goal of filling me with unlimited light. 

It is written that “there is none else beside Him,” meaning that there is no other power in the world with the ability to do anything against Him. And what man sees, namely, that there are things in the world, which deny the household of above, is because He wills it so.

 In this perfect creation I have seen much that seems to deny the perfect creator but that is my own ego speaking, telling me the Creator can not be trusted, but this too is only one of my stages of learning that is moving me to the next body.  How long I choose to stay in the body of distrust is up to me but sooner or later I will move on because it is the will of my Creator. 

And so today I choose to accept all that the Creator wants to bestow upon me trusting in perfection that is often unseen by my current body.

I watched this video and thought there were some very interesting thoughts in it about reincarnation.

For those interested in some of the history surrounding  reincarnation please follow the link below.  I would love to hear from others who have a christian background and have researched this topic with an open mind. 

Early Church and Reincarnation

 I am convinced that we are here on this earthly journey to learn something.  The question is: 

Does it really matter what we learn or is this life designed to teach us what we need to know regardless of what choices we make?

I speak purely out of opinion rather then fact but my answer to the above question is both yes and no.

32 The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.

33 Jesus said, "I am with you for only a short time, and then I go to the one who sent me. 34 You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come." 

35 The Jews said to one another, "Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? 36 What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me, but you will not find me,’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?" 

 WHAT DOES HE MEAN: YOU WILL LOOK FOR ME BUT WILL NOT FIND ME.

• THE “YOU” IN ALL OF THIS IS THE KEY…
•      PERFORMANCE BASED PEOPLE.
•  TRYING TO ACHIEVE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
•     KEEPERS OF THE LAW.

2 Cor 3:12-18

12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. 14 But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

John 1:16-17

 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

I think most of us believe that we are on some kind of journey that is taking us to a destiny.  Just what that destiny is may be beyond our reach here on earth but I think we can begin to see the signs of arriving.  I would like to pose another question to our readers:

What are some signs in your life that make you think you are moving closer to your destiny?

I will begin.  For me I have noticed a major shift in how I feel about people who differ with me.  I have always felt it important to accept people who differ but in the last several years I have witnessed an almost apathy toward any need to be right or to prove positions of my personal belief.  I don’t mean to say my beliefs are not important to me because they are but they are mine and they don’t stand or fall because of what someone else might think.  I also think it’s God who shows us these signs when we are ready to see them and I can’t wait for the next sign to show itself. 

WHAT SAY YOU?