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Of the Word of Christ or the Cross Hewn of Man? Are we following the true original uplifting quickening spiritual guidance of a Savior of faith, following the universal Commandments to "love God", and our fellow man? (Luke 10:27) or has religion succumbed to the tricks and traps of commercial oriented entertainment, creeds, dogma and charismatic showmanship? |
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Do we heed the Christ; "(Matthew 5: 20) "For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven “..."And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others." "Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me," (John 14:9) |
Or do we follow the sign of the Cross, bidding, "Onward Christian soldiers marching off to war, with the Cross of Jesus marching on before. Do we allow enticing accoutrements, creeds, rituals, or let fancy parochial sectarian preaching or business concerns, override the essential private prayerful worship of God given as so essential in the Gospels, Qur'an, Bhagavad-Gita, Zend-Avesta, Baha'i and other Scriptures of Faith? “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." ( Matthew 6: 24) |
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Do we recognize the validity and close similarities in other faiths? In many faiths, the common theme is; only to worship God and God alone, not to follow or worship anything along with Him. That would include ancestral habitual forms creeds and the like such as found in churches, synagogues and temples. |
What gives Christianity the right to claim exclusive right to God's grace and salvation; then to historically do their utmost to destroy "heathen" temples, objects, writings, rituals and practices, considered unholy, in the name of God? Why then this negative oriented church emphasis on original sin? Why keep beating the drum" you need to be saved?" Are church authorities using favorite habitual (self endorsed traditionalized ritualized) ancient Sumerian/ Hebrew ideologies with which to address and persuade, instead of focusing on what Jesus taught himself? |
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A little introduction: |
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It is through much thought and ever-evolving meditation that I write. This has evolved into a new search for faith. Seeking God through independent investigation. Finding God through means not associated with any particular creed sect, custom or religion. It is a search based on objective reasoning. Traditional subjective parochial sectarian "only one way" thinking has been carefully set aside. Instead, the focus has been on seeking evidence of Divine Reality through aspects of modern scientific reasoning and thought, along with perusing knowledge of the Ancients through various writings revered as "Holy". The Bible, Qur'an, Zen-Avesta, Bhagavad-Gita, Baha'i Writings and more were looked at with an eye of discovering universal truths to be found in all. My personal "Finding Faith" journey goal is really a need to rediscover. Recently, when I was asked if a close dear just deceased friend," had excepted Jesus as her personal Savior," then stated," If not, she was going to Hell," something in me broke. It was almost as if a last vestige of even occasionally feeling the urge to attend a church service was severed. This reinforced my long standing view of institutionalized religion being such a divisive force and ,historically, a major source of terrorism and warfare the world over. But, at the same time, the pure act of "knowing and worshipping God" has been a vital impulse for much of humanity's expressive art, literature, education, moral and spiritual enlightenment. It is the decadence, hate, sectarian dogma rituals, literalist exclusivist blinded thinking that constitutes such a serious malady for us all. |
"There can be no doubt whatever that the peoples of the world, of whatever race or religion, derive their inspiration from one heavenly Source, and are the subjects of one God. The difference between the ordinances under which they abide should be attributed to the varying requirements and exigencies of the age in which they were revealed." (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 217) A balance is needed to be forged between reason and faith, the sacred and secular. Religion, without science, can slip into organized habitual superstition and vain imaginings. Witness the horror of Holy Inquisitions, the stifling of objective research and open unbiased understanding. Religion can cause the intellect to wither and die within the confines of oppressive orthodoxy, creed and dogma! Much ungodliness is done in the name of God! Science, without religion, can become a vehicle for monstrous destruction. Witness modern instruments of war and inhumane actions performed in the name of "science". Witness also what we are doing to the Earth in the name of technology, progress and profit! |
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Presented are two videos representing spiritual based tradition, thinking and enlightenment among Native American people. Both videos were made in Northern Minnesota among the Anishinabe Indians.
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1. is titled "Earth Drum: an Eternal Cosmic Rhythmn." The title meaning becomes clear as you watch the video. |
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