Holy Spirit, Holy Bible

The Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the triune God.

35 biblical verses are specifically about the Holy Spirit

In the gospels the following is recorded.

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever.”

John 14:16

“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have said to you.”

“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father - the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father - he will testify about me.”

John 15:26

“And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, “The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.”

John 1:33

In the separate Gospel (Good News):

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always , to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 28:19-2-

“But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said. “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”

Matthew 1:20 

“Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”

Matthew 12:32

In another Gospel (Good News):

“If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Luke 11:13

“When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven. “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

Luke 3.21-22

In yet another Gospel:

“Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say what is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.”

Mark 13:11

The Holy Spirit is spoken of in the Old Testament as well, the New Testament of the Bible being what which came after Jesus since he said he was bringing a new accord. The Old Testament was the record of the relationship of the God Yahveh with the Jewish people.  By comparison Jesus spoke more to God as a personal saviour. The Covenant of the Old Testament, part of which is the Torah, was the communication between God and the Jewish People. Yet here too there is reference to the Holy Spirit.  

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”

Genesis 1:1-2

The Prophet Ezekiel, speaking of God,  is recorded as saying 

“And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”

Ezekiel 36:27

The great prophet Isaiah would would foretell the coming of the Lord Jesus said:

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim the good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.”

Isaiah 61:1

The Holy Spirit is even spoken of in the Psalm or ‘songs’ of the Old Testament, which Jesus himself quoted:

“Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”

Psalm 143:10

“Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go to the heavens, you are there;

If I make my bed in the depths, you are there.”

Psalm 139:7-8

The Acts are the first book in the New Testament after the Gospel and thought to be written by the apostles regarding the early church. 

There the Holy Spirit is spoken of as well:

“They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”

Acts 2:3-4

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Jude’s and Samaria, and to the ends of the world.”

Acts 1:8

“Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Any you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 2:38

“And they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God goody.”

Acts: 4:31

“Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptised with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.”

Acts 10:47

“We are witnesses of these things, and so i the Hoy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

Acts 5:32

“While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting , the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

Acts 13:2

“On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.”

Acts 19:5-6

 In the New Testament, after the death and resurrection of Jesus, Son of God, there are letters were written to the new Churches, here too the Holy Spirit is spoken of:

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

2Corinthians 3:17

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”

Romans 15:13

“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s spirit feels in your midst?”

1 Corinthians 3:16

“But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.”

Jude 1:20-21

All the Christian churches. Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant teach of the Holy Spirit. The Pentecostal denomination of Protestant Christians has made the study and experience of the Holy Spirit most central in their faith. Having attended many church I find each has it’s emphasis and appeal. I love the history and ritual of the Catholic Church, the mysticism of the Orthodox Church, the focus on civil liberties of the Baptist Church, the clear thought of the Reformed church, the peacefulness of the Quakers and Mennonites, the emphasis on the Holy Spirit of the Pentecostal.  The Church is community. It is a village in a city.  It’s a neighbourly place where people who might otherwise be strangers gather together to study and grow deeper with guidance of the wisdom of the ages.  The Holy Spirit guides and nurtures.  Some say it’s an inside job. The Holy Spirit works within us and through us.  

Holy Spirit Come.  Come Holy Spirit Come.  

Seen and Unseen God

I believe in a seen and unseen God.

God is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipotential

God is love.

God is all.  

I am in God.

God is imminent.

God is transcendent

God is alpha and omega.

God is the Higher Power.

There is but one god, God of Gods.

I know this to be true not because my senses tell me

But because I intuit it to be true.

The evidence for God and God’s existence is overwhelming to me.

I believe that there is a conscious connection between myself and God.

I believe that while I call my self ‘the self’, God is the over self, Self of Selfs.

I believe God is wanting to communicate with me more fully.

I believe that the Holy Bible is the text of God but not the only text.

I believe Jesus Christ was the son of God

He was born, he died and he rose again.

I believe in God the father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

I believe the Holy Spirit is the feminine aspect of God, God the mother

I believe that this Family of God is the relational world, trinity and triangle.

I believe that God is seeking closer contact with me as I with him.

I believe there is a sacred hide and seek and that finding God is joy itself.

I believe that I can see God in creation if I have eyes to see, ears to hear.

I believe that God is Grace and that I must have Faith to know God.

If I close my mind to God I shall miss the very finest of life

I believe there are higher and lower qualities and that I can meet God where I am

I believe that God is lifting me up and bringing me home as a mother holds a baby.

I believe I am Born again in innocence while my cleverness is growing to wisdom.

I believe that prayer brings me closer to God as does meditation.

I believe that doing the right thing brings me closer to God as well

I find it difficult to do the right thing because I have the power of choice

I can choose God or simply speaking the GOOD or I can choose something less than or other.

I struggle to know the God because God is awesome and I may simply fear the novelty of God

I don’t want to choose the safety of the known and be a spiritual coward

To know God more fully I must go beyond my present comfort zone and live freely

I find it hard to trust. I am often afraid. Please God. Hear my prayer. Help me know you.

Help me grow in love and wisdom.

Thank you God.

Thank you for Gilbert and George, for my family, and friends, for my home, for this city and country. 

Thank you for this world. Thank you for the air and soil. Thank you for the sky and rain. Thank you for the sun.

Thank you for the Moon. Thank you for this body and these senses. Thank you for this adventure, thriller, romance of Life.

Thank you for the stories. Thank you for the mystery. Thank you for the treasure hunts and thank you for the naughty bits.

Thank you for Love in all it’s myriad forms.  Thank you lace and panties. Thank you for roses and thorns. 

Thank you for old people and young people and especially thank you for the babies and the women who bear them.

Thank you for the children.  Thank you for the laughter. Thank you for the giggles.

Thank you for this day. Help me use it most fully and help me to know you more deeply.

Thank you Lord for creation and hopefully one day I will know what it means, the why and the wherefore.

For now help me to know you more, to sense you in all I do. Help me to live in the sacred. Help me to live in the divine.

Hallelujah!

Advent is near

My Lord cometh.  In the deepest darkest nights of the winter year a remembrance of a baby’s birth is celebrated at Christmas. Not a God from a far. Not a machine like presence. No cog in a wheel. But a God become human in the womb.  A visitting God reviewing his creation and the co creators he made.  Obviously not all were good.  Among his own he couldn’t gather even 10 Good men. As one was too fond of money as those who are addicted to money are. The power seekers and the crows who like the shiny.  One day he would say you must give up your wealth to follow me to one who was addicted to gold and pomp but wanted too the love that was this God.
Do not be afraid, he said.  Love God. Love your father as yourselves.  I am the son of God. I am the son of Man.  From his teachings the trinitarian God was born. For when he left this one with the father son of God said he’d send the Holy Spirit to comfort us.
When I think of Jesus Christ, a name which means ‘god within’ and ‘god will come again’, I remember I’m not alone and that my life is playing hide and seek with God. When I forget the spiritual I am sucked into the morass of the material.  I lose sight of the incredible lightness of being in the gravity of the earth dwellers.
God is love.  God is omniscient and omnipotent, transcendent and imminent.  When I am still I know God. Be still and know that I am God. I run this refrain through my mind as a reminder. I can be one with God in such a moment
In advent I celebrate the coming of Christ. The coming of Christ is the coming of light.  In winter we fear the sun will not return. The superstitious childish ancient fear that this is the last of summer and the last of days comes over me in the darkness of the rain. Driving home at night I am troubled.  In the morning I can celebrate the dawn but by the time I leave my work the dusk is gone and it’s as if the sun has been stolen. I feel already like I’m back in the arctic with hardly a few hours of daylight.
Constantine worshipped the sun before he became a follower of Christ.  Love is light.
“Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for Thou aren’t with me.”
I had that sense once of being alone. I’ve been so often alone without people but for a moment I thought that I was outside the sphere of God. I’d become so hardened and scarred and had like Satan turned my back on God. I was fascinated by my own shadow. How big it seemed. But then I turned around and again began walking towards the light and didn’t feel alone again.
Amazing Grace. “I was lost but now I’m found”
I love the idea of Grace. That I the seeker of God am being sought. I’m chased by the hound of heaven. Even today the Birth of Christ is coming at me as I am slouching as a beast towards Bethlehem.  I don’t feel particularly good. I value truth and live in a world of increasing lies and those who don’t even know their lies.  Worse there are those entrusted with the protection of truth who have fled from their service, bought for so few pieces of silver.  But then who am I to judge? So often I have denied God even before the cock had but crowed.
I am a ‘sinner’. To sin is to miss the mark.  I do that which I don’t want to do and I don’t do that which I want to do. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. The ‘outcome analysis’ of my endeavours shows the deviations that are still me.  I am flawed though seek perfection , impatient when I would be patient, unkind when I would be kind, quick to rage when I would be more forgiving, speaking when I would be silent. The list is endless.
I pray today that I might be the man my dog thinks I am. I pray today that I might be more loving and kind. I pray to day that I would expand my personal kingdom in service of you. I pray that I could be a better follower and be better in my work and service.
Christ above me. Christ below me. Christ behind me. Christ beside me. Christ in front of me. Christ around me. Protect me Lord.
I pray that I do the best and be the best in my person and my work that I can be this day.  Thank you Lord for all your blessings. Thank you for my parents and family, my teachers and my friends. Thank you for this life Lord, this sacred and wondrous adventure.  Thank you Lord Jesus. Thank you God. Holy Spirit Come!

Islam, Judaism, Christianity - God, Books, and Peace

A Muslim is a person who follows the religion of Islam. The book of Islam is the QURAN.(Koran).  It was said to be written by the prophet Muhammad but it's more likely that he dictated it as there is question of whether he himself could write.  It is nonetheless considered the Word of God 'revealed' to Muhammed.

To be a Muslim one must publicly pronounce the Shahadah (declaration of faith):

"There is no god but the God and Muhammed is the last messenger of the God."

Muhammed was born c 570 and died 632 CE in Mecca, Hejaz, Arabia.  He is the founder of the religion of Islam and known as it's Prophet. He was considered the Last Prophet of the line beginning with Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets.  The Hadith are secondary teachings and writings which coupled with the Koran form the basis of the Islamic religion The collected 'laws' of Islam are called the Sharia.

Judaism also began with Adam (and Eve).  Abraham  was born 1948 BCE in Sumer and went to Canaan and made the first covenant with God. This was the basis of the "Chosen People".   Abraham is considered the Patriarch of Judaism. The Lord spoke to Abraham.  Abraham and Sarah gave birth to Moses.  Moses met Yahweh ("I am that is who I am").   In Deuteronomy,  to Moses was given the Shema:

"Hear. O Israel! The Lord is our God, the lord is one." 

The "Book" of Judaism is the TORAH. Secondary writings of Judaism are the Mishnaw, most of which are subsequent interpretations and discussions of the Torah by later scholars.  The most famous 'laws' of Judaism are the "Ten Commandments' but there are various 'laws' which are found in the Judaism and these have been the basis of western laws.

Islam and Judaism are monotheistic religions who share the patriarch Abraham.

Christianity began with the birth of Jesus Christ, God incarnate, son of God and Son of the Trinity, (Father, Son and Holy Spirit).  Muslims and Jews consider the Trinitarian God of Christianity, "three gods in one" as  polytheism. Christians believe in the one God Yahweh with three 'persons in relationship". 

The Book of Christianity is the GOSPELS (4 separate stories of the birth, teaching and death  of Jesus, as told by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John).  Subsequent writings of the Apostles and Paul's letters make up what is called the "New Testament" of the Holy Bible.  The Old Testament is essentially the Judaic Bible.  The Judiac Book is the Old Covenant with God whereas the Christian Book is the New Covenant with God. 

Jesus said, "I and the Father are One", "I am the way, the truth , and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
Jesus taught, ""Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and all your strength and with all your mind" and "Love your neighbor as yourself."

The Muslims and the Jews consider Jesus a prophet.

They are wrong.

Both the Quran and the Torah are historic "tribal" texts.  Tribalism is the organization and advocacy for a particular tribe. 

To be a Jew is to have a Jewish mother despite the option of conversion. Circumcision is central to the conversion.  To be a Muslem however is an act of public conversion.  Because God told Muhammed to follow the religion of "ibrahim' (Abraham), circumcision is also central to Islam.

Both Judaism and Islam practice 'genital mutilation'.

Thanks to the Apostle Paul, who was lead by God to make Christianity 'inclusive' or conversion 'easy' as some might say,  Circumcision and hence Genital Mutilation are not necessary to the religion of Christianity. 

The book "Evolution of God" by Robert Wright discusses brilliantly the development of our present concept today of one god and the Trinitarian God.  The idea that the 'nature' and 'meaning' and 'relationshnip' to God is dynamic not static is exciting.  Such a consideration must be made for Islamic God which no doubt has been subject to evolution and the effects of history.  Here is the issue of 'historic' and 'exclusivity/inclusivity'. 

The other central consideration of religion and indeed culture is who is considered a 'person'.  Who is the readership. Who is the writing for. And finally what is the language. Obviously, neither the Quran, Torah or Gospels were written in English yet I am writing in English. Recent study of Hebrew taught me amazingly late in life that "interpretations" or religious texts are fundamentally flawed and much affected by scholarship and language as the dyanamic or static nature of language.

While the Quran and Torah are tribal texts with much history of war with others, the Christian text is not a war history but one of spreading ideas.

However in 300 ad , at Nicea,  Emperor Constantine made Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire, making it the Holy Roman Empire, the basis of Catholicism.  Thereafter Christianity is very much associated with war. 

I believe that spirituality is the basis of all true religion. Spirituality and Mysticism are sometimes used alternatively because both refer to individual direct experience of God.  Religion by contrast is the groups experience with God.  Religion is the combination of 'politics and spirituality'. 

When people say Islam is the Religion of Peace they are wrong.  Muhammed was a merchant who became a great warrior.

Judaism is neither a Religion of Peace. Abraham and Moses were both great warrior leaders.

Jesus is the Prince of Peace. He was a carpenter and never killed a soul. He was a healer. 

Muslims, Jews and Christians have all been great killers. Muslims have killed Muslims.  Jews have killed Jews. Christians have killed Christians. Muslims and Jews have killed each other and still do. Christians and Muslims have killed each other still do.   Christians and Jews have killed each other but frown on this today. In this political trinity, Christians and Jews have allied against Muslims. Muslims and Christians have allied against Muslims.  Muslims and Jews have Allied against Muslims. Christians and Jews aren't killing each other now. 

(Not apart of this discussion, but worthy of mention is that  eastern religions including Buddhists and Hindus have all been great killers. The greatest killers of all, though,  have been Aetheists.  Pagans were killing with gusto long before Christians. The various aboriginal pagan religions especially those of the Aztec and some Polynesian tribes have been killing well too.   Humans individually and collectively have always been great killers.)

Each religion has it's spiritual or mystical sects.  The Suffis are the most spiritual and mystical of Islam. I was priviledged and honored to meet with them in Cappadocea, Turkey.   The Jews have their Kabbalistic sects and Hasidic sects. I was honoured to meet and share Sabat with deeply mystical spiritual Jews in Safed, Israel.

Catholics have their mystical monastic orders, the Carmelites with St. Theresa and St. John of the Cross being their most famous.

Absolute non violence is not a requirement of Judaism.

The Ahmadiyya sect of Islam is a most outspoken about the message of peace and Islam but violence is not rejected. Indeed the message of Jihad is far more deeply entrenched in Islam than that of non violence.

Franciscan monasteries might well be the most pacific of Catholic Christians. However, the catholic monastic tradition has generally been non violent.

The most peaceful of all religious sects are the Christian Quakers and the Mennonites. They were as pacific as the Tibetan Buddhists who the Aetheist Chinese killed en mass.  Quakers are wholly non violent and the Mennonites are alike in their unwillingness to kill.

Roughly, the number of Muslims in the world is about 1.6 billion or 23%. The number of Christians is 2.2 billion or 32%, with only 14 million or .2% Jews.  (PEW Research).

There are definitely radical groups within each of the religions. 

Jihadists are best described as Radical Muslims.  The You Tube Video "By the Numbers' hosted by Raz, is a conversation about Radical Islam. It states that there are 3 spheres of Radicalization, the Violent Jihadists, the Violent Muslims and the Fundamentalists.  The world number of Violent Jihadists is anywhere from 500,000 to a million.  This are ISIS and other muslim terrorist groups.   
Islamists are radical muslim who want to change the other systems of government around the world working within those systems.  Examples are Hammas and Moslem Brotherhood and CAIR.  ( In the cold war the communists called their 'invaders' of this ilk, the fourth column)  The final sphere is the Fundamentalists. Fundamentalists believe other countries  should have Sharia Law.  Sharia Law includes killing of women who have premarital or extramarital sex, suicide bombing is justified, chopping off the hands of thieves etc.   Radical Muslims therefore may make up roughly a half billion muslims.  Not all believe in all the radical tenets of radical Islam but hundreds of millions do.  (www.ClarionProject.org/Numbers)

Of the 13 million Jews in the world 10 % might be ultra orthodox and/or Zionists. That means there's maybe a million 'radical' Jews.  The highest figure I could find scanning the internet was 3 million.  This is roughly one hundredth the number of radical muslims and despite Jewish penchant for genital mutilation of men, Jewish laws are overall modern and the Zionist position is solely in defence of Israel.  By that token , I might well be considered a radical Canadian as I would, despite being a healer physician, take up arms in defence of my own country. If the displaced Aboriginals attacked me like the displaced Palestinians attack individual Jews I'd use lethal force in defence of my person and family too.  In contrast to the Offensive Jihadists with a doctrine of violence Jews, and certainly Canadians aren't likely to invade and colonize other lands. 

Christians have their radicals.  Evangelical Christians account for 25% of Christians. Christians account for  2.2 billions so like radical Muslim there are millions of radical Christians.  They're not particularly violent, not nearly as offensive as the aetheists but nonetheless they condone violence. It was the Crusaders indeed who blocked the Offensive Muslim explansion that had Muslims invading Spain and Italy and only being stopped at Vienna.  A similar invasion of India with hundreds of thousands of Sikh's killed was only barely stopped.  Christians collectively don't have what in Canada have been called 'barbaric cultural' practices and the Modern World is really an evolution of the Christian European World with the laws we generally know today deriving from this religion. We did burn witches at the stake 5 hundred years ago but Jews and Muslims were doing worse things to women back then. These days even burning Feminists at the stake  would be seriously frowned upon and likely lead to the man being killed by the state if such provision was allowed in that Christian land. 

I will continue. 

The Way

Acts 9  NIV Study Bible

Reading Acts 9 I see that the Jews called the early Christian movement, the WAY. This tells of Saul who was the representative of the Synagogue who was persecuting the Christians before he himself was converted.  He had been a leader of the Synagogue and was sent to  Damascus to root out any disciples. 

 "A light from heaven flashed around him . He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him 'Saul, Saul why do you persecute me?'

'Who are you, Lord?'  Saul asked.

I am Jesus who you are persecuting,'Now get up and into the city and you will be told what you must do ."

"For three days he was blind and did not eat or drink anything."

The Lord said to Ananias "Go this man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name. 

I like the term the Way. It's a journey this spirituality.  I like the metaphor of travel and progress even now as I feel stagnating. Even now as I struggle to forgive and once again face another Christmas grieving the loss of my parents and aunts and all those I've known who are missing around the table at Christmas.  I think about my own mortality and sickness and death.  

I know eruditely that blindness for 3 days is a message .  It's not literal. It's like Jonah and the whale.  I know the power of three.  I love the trinity as I do DNA.

Then I think of how I so often have been irritated by Paul's explanations and interpretations but here the Bible says he is chose and he will suffer.  Because we all suffer being Christians. Not onnly are we persecuted but in our turn, like Saul, we persecute Jesus and his disciples.  We do not love each other as he loved and we do not forgive as God forgives.  

I will begin a new days and hope I can do better. I hope I can be more loving more open to learning more present, more grateful.  Thank you Jesus.

Easter Thoughts 2012

Easter is the time that Christ died on the cross and was resurrected into heaven after appearing to his friends and disciples on earth. He is said to have rejoined God.  He said he was the son of God.

According to reincarnation thoughts an individual can aspire in time to return to God but Jesus apparently didn't do this journey of his own desire but rather was sent by God.  Some say as a sacrifice. That's certainly the way St. Paul saw it.  It was a basic tenet of the Christian faith too. That Jesus died for our sins. That the death of Jesus corrected the sin of Adam.

I say God came to check out his creation and the authorities whacked him .  His death though didn't stop him.  The idea of him was like good radiation. It spread through creation at all levels.  The authorities brand was 'fear' and the Jesus brand was 'love' and 'hope'.

E=MC2 tells me that matter is slow energy.  I am made in the image or imagination of God.  I'm a spiritual being in a spiritual existence.  I am more than Darwinian Evolution. I am more miraculous than anything I can imagine. I am a sacred being in a wondrous sacred dream.

And I have a friend. I have talked to Jesus as a friend since I was a child. My mother introduced me to Jesus kneeling beside my bed as a child.  My mother said that there was an unseen friend in the darkness.

Sailing solo through storms in the north Pacific I loved listening in the long lonely nights to the Christian rock band Third Day's song ,'there's a light at the end of the tunnel.'  Dr. Moody, the psychiatrist who studied people who had near death experiences, said they described meeting a being of shining light at the end of a long tunnel.

Prior to Jesus Gods had been like the warriors who mastered the world and ruled the world.  In contrast Jesus was a 'servant king'. He washed the feet of his disciples.  He preceded the Magna Carta by about 1200 years.  To hear the politicians talk they're always original.  Jesus made democracy possible though.  Some might say the world is unfolding as it should and Jesus' death on the cross was what set in motion the emacipation of the individual.

When I have been locked up I have prayed to Jesus.  I have been comforted by the thought that there is good and that God is good and that God with his infinite power can have a direct connection to every aspect of creation even me when I have been most down.  Indeed at such times Christ has come to me and I have been lifted 'as on Eagle's wings'.

The authorities from my perspective often get things wrong. Like killing God.  This was done by the leader of  Roman Empire, the priests and scribes.  When the people were given a choice they chose Barnabbus over Jesus. I've often made mistakes like that in my life. This is the inexact sinful muddling nature of existence.

So Easter I cry.  There's a song that says 'were you there when they crucifided my lord.'  When I was younger I thought of myself in Christs shoes, getting beat up by the Judges, Lawyers, Authorities, Administrators, Principals, Police, Priests, parents and anyone who was a bully or had the power to be.  Then decades back I realized that I was the one killing Jesus with my worry. Everytime I was afraid and worried I was disobeying Jesus' command "Do Not Be Afraid".  In not trusting in Jesus or the Lord I thought I knew better. I second guessed Jesus and daily was in a way rejecting him and his teachings, turning my back on him as Petter did till the cock crowed.

Christianity is a trinitarian religion with three gods in one and the mystery of how this is.  God the creator, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirt are one, each an aspect of the whole. Jesus is my advocate, my personal savior, the great physician.

I have been a healer like Jesus. I have followed in his life and wondered all along at my failing to raise the dead yet refused to believe the dead were raised as miracles when they were.

I am at my best when I remember I have only this day and that I must live in the present. Practicing the presence of the lord.  I am at my best too when I think this is just a chapter in a book of life in which I don't know the ending but it goes on long after death.
I am at my best when I'm reading the Bible and studying scripture.  I am at my best when I'm studying the teachings of holy men and women and great physicians and healers.  I am at my best when I am listening for the wee small voice for guidance. I don't do enough of this.  It takes Easter to wake me up to the basics of existence. Too often I'm caught up in the business of life and not focussing my attention on what is utterly important, my relationship with God, my relationships with his son Jesus.

I think about Jesus more in the days of Easter week reading the Bible more, meditating more and praying that this time this year I'll get it right and be right with the Lord.  I want to be serving my Lord Jesus.  I want to be walking in a righteous path rather than scurrying to catch up or lagging behind. There's a special place where I'm right with the Lord and I've been there often and want to be there always.

I've actually tried to give up God but it was like giving up breathing.  I lived without reading my Bible much and life wasn't as good. I spent time with people who were utterly materialistic and life became minimalist like talking kitchen English or speaking to demented people.  There was just so much more one couldn't talk to because it's too disturbing to them.  I don't talk about Jesus as much as  I want to becuase some people don't like to hear about my thoughts on that.  Also I don't have to talk about Jesus when I'm asking someone to pass the butter. There's a time and place for everything.

Most people just want to get something from me. I like my generosity. But they don't know that that's St. Francis. He asked that he be made a channel and I feel all power comes from God so knowledge, money, energy, strength and healing all come from God and I am just a conduit for that so God wants me to give as the sun gives daily and freely.  I take naturally. I find that I am replenished however by God and when I remember that I'm like C.S. Lewis says, talking to the architect rather than talking to the wall.

Jesus gave his life for mankind. It's no big deal for me to give some money at church. Just for the pageant that's a weekly event with the theatre and the song and the Ted's Talks and the participation ritual for an hour or an hour and a half I"d pay $50 to a few hundred dollars if it was just 'theatre'.  If we use the 'entertainment' analogy, Christianity is great entertainment and so I don't mind paying.  What I like is that I've been welcomed into the church when I had no money too.  So the money isn't about what makes the whole thing go round. Yet it's important for people to understand that money is spiritual energy and charity is something the church does. My church does a lot of charity. I give money to my church knowing that my church gives to the poor what the poor need most in turns of material and spiritual gifts. I'm surprised to learn that some people who have been to some obscure likely to be forgot play or concert have never been in a church at easter. These same people will fly to other countries to watch bull runs or religious parades or ethnic celebrations but have never taken the time to participate in the Christian Easter Pageant.  Then on the other hand I regret this if I don't get to church early because there are so many tourists or Christmas and Easter Christians out at Easter and it's sometimes hard to get a seat.  My evangelica nature is often at loggerheads with my self centredness. I Martha and Mary daily.

The secular are forever taking credit for everything. To hear aetheists speak they are God but mostly our civilization as I know it was developed by theists and God loving people.  I believe that God loving people are more human than those who don't know God.  I call my "higher power" Jesus but accept that others use different names. Ultimately  Jesus Christ means 'god within, god will come again.'  It's an exclusive brand though everyone is welcome.

Easter is the time God died on the cross in utter despair. This is the way I feel when I am sick or am being cursed by the authorities and judged by the scribes. I am rarely 'blameless' like Jesus but I share the feelings. When I'm persecuted I relate to Jesus.  I cry out "MY God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me.'  That's what Jesus said too.

It's like night coming down. The world went black from noon till three in the afternoon during the crucifixion when Jesus then cried out and died on the cross. It was a cosmic event.

The resurrection is like morning after the darkness. Jesus is resurrectied, and ascends into heaven.  A marvellous metaphor.  In the 24 our cycle of life where I realize that yesterday is but a memory and tomorrow still a dream I am faced with life as Jesus did. And Jesus prayed and talked with his father and obeyed his father.

I am thinking about Easter. I am looking forward to being part of the celebration of life that occurs in church. I am thankful to have been a participant in Palm Sunday.  I look forward to Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

Thank you Jesus for another Easter week.  Watch over my loved ones,  my minister, his family, the clergy,  and the church this time this year.