Sounds of Reason

Blending the Lines of Faith

2010-08-30T12:52:00.000-07:00

In a world forever fraught with religious division, St. Thomas Aquinas of the Catholic faith once said, ‘How can we live in harmony? First we need to know we are all madly in love with the same God.”

St. Thomas words during the Christian Crusades as they were fighting to ‘take back’ Jerusalem from the Muslims, is obviously a relevant one. These 700+ years later people protest about the building of an Islamic Mosque on Ground Zero, a place where 2000 people, several hundred of them Muslim, died by the hands of those with twisted religious ideas. We watch, either irate or in numbness, having seen one too many wars, one too many protests on behalf of one too many religions. How can we ever learn to blend the lines of faith in peace and remain ever faithful?

Thomas of Aquinas had the Answer but like so many spiritually inspired, could not make happen the means by which to help others see it. His message is lost on ears and eyes that define God in terms of a religion rather than a universal Truth.

Then as it is now, in a pluralistic nation such as the U.S., the urgency remains to find the means to accomplish peace between our religious faiths while keeping intact a common thread of Love for the same God.

For all of us, from the east, west, north, south and of all nationalities, black, white, brown, yellow….I believe we can and someday will transcend the boundaries of our separateness through forgiveness. Obviously, I don’t pretend to reveal a new idea. It’s been the message of every true prophet since recorded history. What we collectively seem to lack is the understanding of HOW to do it, myself included.

On my own journey of trying to expand my own consciousness, I have found the value of something we don’t often talk of in American culture; learning to live in the Present Moment. It is the means by which forgiveness can occur and conquer even our darkest fears and pain. We all possess the capacity to find the Present Moment; a place where we agree to let go of the past and join it to the present and where the Present is free to extend itself into the future.

From this place of the Present, I watch from the fleeting faulted thing I call a body and know that our God is found in an awareness of Love in the Present Moment, illuminating our true Spirit as we leave our judgments of the past and fears of the future by the wayside. By a willingness to view the world from the Present Moment, we are granted a kind of perception based on acceptance rather than defense. A Course in Miracles, which claims no one religion itself, speaks to this kind of universal perception:

“The bible tells you to become as little children. Little children recognize that they do not understand what they perceive, and so they ask what it means. Do not make the mistake of believing that you understand what you perceive, for its meaning is lost to you. Yet the Holy Spirit has saved its meaning for you and if you will let Him interpret it, He will restore to you what you have thrown away.”

What we have thrown away is the ability to ask, rather than direct; to simply listen rather than assume we know the validity of the threats posed by life’s many obstacles.

In my own experience in finding this common thread, I see that God lives in that deliciously full moment where creation is aware of Itself and I realize with painful acceptance that all flaws are but a filter I put upon perfection just to keep my fear of joining with God and others intact and forgiveness an impossibility.

From this view point I see that this ‘conflict’ of building the Mosque is but a buried, inner fear of joining made manifest in the world outside of us. It occurs to me that the whole world can be used to separate, to anger, to keep us from those glimpses of Love, until we see through the eyes Love, which alone is able to forgive. And then, a whole new world could be born. Perhaps this is the ‘New Age’ of which so many of spoken of; one that will take another 2000 years to unfold.

If we are to rise above the battleground of our differences, someone must begin the seemingly impossible task of expressing the true message of all religions and stating it clearly; Love cannot be found by judgments made on past mistakes. It cannot be found by fearing the future will be like the past. It is found and lived in the Present Moment and all else we do and think is but a defense against that moment where nothing is judged as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ because there is no past or future with which to judge against. The building of the Mosque can be seen as benign as easily as it can be seen as an attack. It is our determination of what we want that makes it what it is. And in a nation that agrees on all religions being able to be expressed with equal emphasis, our determined goal has already been stated in our Constitution, collectively.

We have all risen above the battleground of hate and seen life through the eyes of Love even if only for moments and only if even a few times in our life. It takes very little of this little moment of pure Love to assure us that it is all we need to have Peace on earth. We need to begin to have this conversation with each other, and show examples of it to the world.

It did not take me long in looking for an example of this kind of acceptance of the Present Moment of God’s Love in our recent history and the unity it can create. I was reminded of the incident in 2006 at an Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania; the little sisters, 7 and 13 who, when held at gunpoint in their schoolhouse, asked to be the first to be killed, if he would allow their schoolmates to go free. He agreed and killed the 13 year old first, then shot the rest anyway. The 7 year old sister survived to tell the tale of her sister’s ability to stay above the fear by showing only faith in Love.

Like the crucifixion of Jesus, it is not their martyrdom that evokes a sense of sobering joy in me, but their lack of fear and abundance of trust in what the Present Moment was bringing them. Despite the terror, both sisters looked out from within hearts of love and faith and saw only Love and faith outside of them, without need of judgment upon the head of their assailant. Only one who is living in the Present, without any claims to their future, judgment on their killer, or a clinging to their past could be so able to trust in God’s Love being their savior, right here, right now.

Imagine the trust. Imagine the lack of fear, the purity of thought, the Present Love. Now, in the same vein of thought, imagine no religious boundaries keeping us from loving and trusting in the same God with those of another faith and even those who wish to murder us.

And there is another part of this story from which we can learn as well. The schoolhouse was of course, a scene of horrific images and memories. Surprisingly, this Amish community decided to let the place where it occurred grow into a non descript but lovely pasture much like most of their Dutch Pennsylvanian landscape. They found another spot for their children’s school. No marking, no statue, no plaque on the field where it happened. Such non-action is a silent symbol of Forgiveness, knowing all land was sacred land when forgiveness has blessed it.

Never in my lifetime had I seen such a display of perfect love and forgiveness; such perfect understanding of the need for being Present with Love as our guide and forgiveness being the only solution to leaving it behind.

“If you feel the Love of God within you, you will look out on a world of mercy and of Love”….A Course in Miracles. No example in our lifetime expressed the meaning of Mercy more clearly than this did for me.

In contrast to the example of the Amish, both which demand of us the seemingly impossible task of forgiveness, it seems to me the fear and anger displayed at putting a Mosque on Ground Zero is just another mask on the fear of joining. It also veers away from the intention of our forefathers to create a country based on separation of church and state in an effort to protect both state and church, one from the other. It seems to me to be a case of wanting to see division where unity could blossom, if only it were not in the hands of mankind but instead in the hands of those young girls.

If we are all honest, few of us are safe from the need to find division and we do not look for Love in the Present Moment, especially in horrifying situations that return again and again in a mind clouded by pain.

Deepak Chopra says it well in his recent book, “The Third Jesus,

“This is why love provides the perfect litmus test. Each of us begins with an awareness that love has failed in many ways. We know we don’t love our enemies; at times we doubt that we love our nearest and dearest as much as we should. We look around and see little evidence that God loves us in the redemptive way that Jesus says he does.”

It is easy to turn our backs on the Present Moment, finding reason to believe in something less perfect like holding another to their past mistakes, or doubt their motives or wishing things were different instead of accepting our present circumstances. On a larger scale, it has larger consequences when we don’t rise above it all. It’s not only easy to take the wider path, it’s part of the challenge of being human. But at some point, as we are watching our world remain stagnant and even possibly culminating in catastrophe due to religious differences, we must all be held accountable for the difference we must make, and the change in our own awareness that must occur for the world to change.

Deepak goes on to say, “Jesus’s teachings are truly learned only when you become the teaching. There is already something deeply instinctive about love in all of us. Yet innate as love may seem, we didn’t become love. We pick and choose whom to give our love to, but when the switch is turned off, we can be completely unloving. The lesson about divine love that Jesus taught is that love is so full of Grace, it leads to transformation; it changes a person’s whole being.”

The devotion to learning of the unconditional Love that the Amish girls were brought up with, served to bring them to that kind of transformation. It shows that when we dedicate and devote ourselves to this kind of understanding, no matter what religion one practices, we ‘become’ the practice. Repeating and practicing at a young age the simple creed of the Jewish faith, “The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’”” is another example of this practice of inner devotion to our shared Creator. And if we are atheist or agnostic, the understanding of a human connection that can help us to heal all wounds is the same because it is the power of Love.

The Present Moment is like a Love that humbles us in its Knowing. It can only be shared because it falls upon us all Now. The Present sees all and judges nothing. It alone has nothing to judge from. By this it erases all lines of color, culture, religion and region for those who wish to find It waiting. Those Amish girls went on the faith that God’s Love in that moment of their death was all there is, and by this, accepted their fate. By this faith they feared nothing.

Who can be the judge of another when the Present removes need of judgment? Its fairness lies in the Knowing that what is, is the way Home. Knowing this, who could throw the first stone?

Why can’t we real-eyes, the symbols of his Love, such as a Church, the Mosque or a little white school house can never be anything but symbols and the Present, when realized as the gift it is, can never hold anything but His Love.

As far as creating a memorial to the dead at 911, and holding it as ‘sacred’ ground, perhaps we can learn from something Jesus said to a follower when he asked for a leave of absence from their travels to bury a family member, 'Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:59-62

And like Jesus would also do, offer alms to those of the Muslim community as the Amish did for the widow of the gunman.

Although we may be far from the little girl’s kind of fearless faith, and certainly far from Jesus, we are just as far from realizing that the war waged by Osama bin Laden is taking place in our country when we begin to quarrel about this Mosque ~ just as he planned.

Certainly, what Osama bin Laden does not want is religious diversity and tolerance, for such a thing takes the power away from those who wish to use religious division against those of other faiths. Our acceptance and support of the Mosque would put a real damper on his zeal for conflict. The bond we share with the Muslims of having several hundred of their own children, husbands, wives, sisters and brothers die at Ground Zero is a bond that is not broken by the fear mongering tactics of the media in an attempt to separate rather than join.

This Mosque is but a symbol of Muslim faith, just as the Ground Zero is a symbol of the victims of religious division. It is not a symbol of the lives and love of the deceased; it is a symbol of their death. Neither symbol needs protecting, because neither one has any ‘real’ meaning.

Again, we would all be the wiser to look at what Jesus felt about paying attention to the purpose and intention rather than the effect or the symbol: “You blind fools! Which is greater, the gold, or the sanctuary that has made the gold sacred?” Matthew 25:17-22

Instead, we argue which Truth is True, when there is nothing true on earth but our ability to join in Love.

Jesus said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.” Matthew 5:43-45

Can you love in the past? Can you accept in the past? Can you forgive in the future? Then how can we live in this world of time and not real-eyes time’s purpose is used to argue or join, to keep us blind; or set us free? It can be used to condemn us or release us. We can use time for healing or for hatred made manifest. There are only two choices we seem to have. Yet there is only one Answer.

Jesus also taught of our need to stay Present.
“Take no heed for what to wear or what to eat. Tomorrow will take care of itself.” Matthew 6:34.

He knew the pathway to enlightenment and peace required us as individuals to hold no one to their sins of the past. If we are to truly live the life he knew, we are to forgive, no matter what.

“Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.” Matthew 18: 21-22

I know it’s unlikely we can move up to the consciousness of Jesus by a prayer or by some random article. But we can all begin by making an effort to remain Present with our understanding and compassion on our brothers and sisters and thereby see changes in our consciousness.

Only by doing so can we see that we have built walls from our judgments made in and by time, but the Present wipes away time and the need for judgment.

The Present Moment abandons both time and space and sees only now, for it has no measure with which to judge anyone by.

It does not take from your awareness of Love; it can only give because it extends what it is.

Evidenced by St. Thomas’s words, even those faithful to a chosen religion can teach that our God is not a Christian God, nor a Muslim God, nor a Buddhist or a Jewish God but all of our God. And no savior saves but some of mankind.

While we must remain vigilant for Love as Jesus was, we must stand up to deception and fear in the name of religion as he did, and agree to find common ground, as he did. The media in our country is purposely staying vigilant for division, not for common ground. The more divided we become, the easier it is to control and manipulate the public. Do not be deceived by the world. Be as Jesus was, ‘In the world but not ‘of’ the world.”

The common ground between us is not ‘ground zero’ or any place or religion or political party, but as the two Amish girls demonstrated, the common ground is the inner realization and expression of the fact that our brother is loved by the same God; murderer or saint. And in that we are humbled and joined.

Do not let the seeds of hatred grow where love and forgiveness could just as easily be sewn. Be a gentle reminder to others to keep their faith growing in the fertile soil of our Unity. Let the discernment of the universal Spirit we call the ‘Holy’ Spirit be our only Guide.

The Forgiving Lesson at Virginia Tech

2007-04-18T11:00:00.000-07:00

The horrific events of this week at Virginia Tech have made us all pause. Those of us who study the path of Reason found in A Course in Miracles, see it as but another reason to seek out this philosophy based on relinquishment of the world; or what is also known as the path of forgiveness. To a much larger extent than I ever dreamed possible, I have been freed from the emotional agony or state of confusion that often follows such events. I feel more able to find relative peace in a very conflicted world.

If you are a Course student, you know that the Course does not advocate having a plan for solving the problems of the world. It teaches that the only plan we need is one to heal our mind, for that is where the world really is. The Course tells us that there is no world out there. The only problem in the world is the belief in investment in it. This is because the world, as we learn in the Course, is the ego’s attempt to project our buried guilt outward. It is a place where we have chosen to hide from God due our belief that we separated from Him.

So, turning the other cheek as Jesus advocates, is the best way to find peace, because it is witness to the fact that you have begun to ‘forgive’ the world of illusions. All easier said, than done, for sure! This is why the message of the Course needs constant clarification….it is very hard to come to grips with this idea.

To accept the Atonement for ourselves, which is what the Course says is our only responsibility, is to forgive ourselves and others, and all we have projected out from our mind, into a world that then seems to witness to death and destruction. That means we do not worry if anyone else forgives or not, or lives a life worthy of sainthood or a life of murder! This can be extended to say that we also needn’t worry if we ourselves or loved ones are threatened by this sort of terror.

We who study the Course, do find ourselves believing we are at various levels of our present state of ability to forgive, and this example helps us to see the fallacy of this. The goal of the Course is to find Peace and to do so, we must remain in non judgment of all the world, and all events, as equally, unreal. An event like this, opens our eyes to see where we as Course students might still have a belief that there are SOME things we consider unforgivable. But to think this is to believe that God can be beaten, and we, the ego, have triumphed over Him. Evil won over Goodness.

Indeed, the world seems a place in which we need to choose between good and evil, wrong and right. But as Jesus says in the Course, there really is no choice if God is all powerful; how could there be? We only believe there is a choice. And this has led to a world in which see reasons to judge one another.

Can judgment lead to anything but finding sin? Can judgment heal? If you look always to the purpose of each thought, you will find you get what you sought for. If we look at the gunman at the college from a place of judgment, we see a reason to believe in sin. If we look at the victims from a place of judgment, we see a need to acknowledge who was more worthy to live, the criminal or the victim? elevating the deceased to a higher level in our mind than the criminal. Again, finding levels of ‘goodness’ and of worth.

THE TEMPTATION OF JUDGMENT

It is not uncommon for those who study this path of forgiveness to want to hold on to the choice that demands acknowledgment of wrong doing, repentance and judgment, because, most likely we’ve been taught to do so by our Christian faith. The Course, though claiming Jesus as its Teacher, teaches the opposite. Judgment and the need to repent keeps us from freedom and realizing our will and God’s are united.

It is easy to fall into the temptation of condemnation. It is easy to follow the footsteps of those leading the way in anger and the desire to publicly denounce terrorizing behavior, which of course, is not behavior that works in society, and no one in their right mind would disagree with that. What the Course says however, is that nothing works in society because nothing that the ego believes can be agreed upon! What is able to join, must be part of a whole to begin with. The ego is by definition, pieces independent from the whole.

It is obvious that it is not the judgment of behavior that leads us Home. It is only in the forgiveness of it that we are able to see no need for condemning, no need for anger or hatred.

In ‘The Lighthouse’, a newsletter from the Foundation for Inner Peace dedicated to the teachings of the Course, Kenneth Wapnick says this in regards looking at both the victim and those we perceive as inflicting the suffering:

“If we are sincere about helping those who suffer, we must be sure we are not angry at those we believe have inflicted the suffering. If we are, we but ensure that in our dream everyone will suffer throughout eternity. Utopian visions, however noble, have not worked because the inner work of forgiveness has not been done. And so if we truly wish to end suffering, we must first end our belief in suffering, which begins in the mind. When this belief is undone, there will be no unkindness in us for guilt will be gone; without self-judgment there can be no judgment of others for we have made up the only important decision there is; the decision to listen to the teacher of gentleness and kindness. ”How, then, can we not be gentle and kind? We will know we chose Jesus and not the ego by our embrace of all people; the ones who suffer and the ones inflicting it. Having accepted the atonement we have become true teachers of the peace that heralds the end of all suffering.”

In summary, we can rest assured it is not the Voice of Spirit within we are listening to when we want to condemn the murderer or preach about right and wrong behavior of any kind. Jesus tells us plainly in the Course:

“The voice of the Holy Spirit does not command, because it incapable of arrogance. It does not demand, because It does not seek control. It does not overcome, because It does not attack. It merely reminds. It is compelling only because of what It reminds you of. It brings to your mind the other way, remaining quiet even in the midst of the turmoil you may make. The Voice for God is always quiet, because It speaks of peace. Peace is stronger than war because it heals. War is division, not increase. No one gains from strife. What profiteth it a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? If you listen to the wrong voice, you have lost sight of your soul. You cannot lose it, but you can not know it. It is therefore ‘lost’ to you until you choose right.” T.5.II.7

So, in regards to solving the problems of the world such as gunman killing our youth, or bombs killing the Iraqi’s, we need only to see that we don’t want to ‘gain the world’ by trying to fix it. We want to leave judgment of it behind us because by this our state of peace will spread to all of God’s Sons and there will only be kindness, as Ken’s quote tells us. In the present, we need only try to understand by asking Spirit to hold our hand, that both the criminal and the victim need no judgment but only our Love and forgiveness.

The temptation is to listen to the cries of judgment and see them as righteous and good, instead of stopping and asking Spirit what to feel and consequently, how to act. This Voice that lives within us all, will give us discernment, allowing us to live in relative peace in a conflicted world, until we are ready to leave it all behind.

It would be healing for us all to think upon the Virginia Tech incident and others like it and read these words from the Course to us, with Spirit’s hand in ours:

“When you have looked on what seemed terrifying, and seen it change to sights of loveliness and peace; when you have looked on scenes of violence and death, and watched them change to quiet views of gardens under open skies, with clear, life-giving water running happily beside them in dancing brooks that never waste away; who need persuade you to accept the gift of vision? And after vision, who is there who could refuse what must come after? Think but an instant just on this; you can behold the holiness God gave his Son. And never need you think that there is something else for you to see.”

And to those words, I say AMEN!

A War of Philosophy

2007-01-11T14:41:00.000-08:00

Get Out and Reach Out: The Iraq War

We are but a tiny spec of a generation. Yet, we are experiencing what could be a pivotal time in mankind’s history. We are at war with a mindset. Using guns, bombs, and occupying their villages, will not end this war. The kind of war we are in, is never won, but only stopped.

Only time, wisdom and communication will bridge a gap and create a meeting of the minds of two different philosophies that need never come head to head, but only mind to mind for us to live peacefully.

During the recent talks about sending 20,000 more young men to combat, I heard several people in the highest positions, including the President, remark that this time, we will stay until they stop attacking and killing innocent people. But each time we increase our presence and then begin to move away, they move right back in. That is because it is not their person that is a threat to us, but a mindset; a philosophy that they have given to their brothers and sisters and children. Ideas grow by giving them away, and killing those who have already given them away, doesn’t work.

Unfortunately, to make Peace our main focus will take as much or more time as it took for the radical Muslims to develop their animosity toward other religious and political ideologies and perhaps as long as it took us to go from being a nation ruled by the people, to one that is subject to their government.

Attempting to kill every last suicide bomber, or radical Muslim, is a futile attempt to control hatred and in the end, it only creates more hatred.

Like it or not, I think we live at time we most likely, will never see real peace on earth; not if our current policies continue. All we can do for now is get out, and then, reach out. Get out of their land, let them be, and protect our own. But never stop sending American’s who know how and are willing to speak to them about our ways, and are truly willing to understand theirs. Where are our Ghandi’s and our Mother Theresa’s in America? Where are our spiritual leaders that help others learn what it takes to have Peace on Earth? Send those who can teach others how to learn to live side by side their brother. If they reach one, single person, behind him are a thousand more.

Americans, not known for their patience, need to learn it. It could take literally hundreds of years, and many will die trying, but they will die trying to bring Peace WITH Peace.

We are a spec of a generation. Let’s leave our mark, by vowing to teach Peace by being Peace. Let’s leave God take care of the rest.

An Eye for an Eye?

2006-12-29T05:31:00.000-08:00

The Killing of Saddam

“Our respect for human rights requires us to execute him, and there will be no review or delay in carrying out the sentence," Al-Maliki said. Associated Press, December 29, 2006

Surely, the world must look at this very public case as a perfect example being held to the light to view the darkness of mankind.

Mercy is the hallmark of a civilized soul. Whether or not another is merciful cannot dictate our ability to be so and to believe it should dictate such, is to be uncivilized.

Vengeance is the mark of man’s weakness, as it attempts to break down Spirit within, not add to it. Man must look at it for what it is; vengeance, incorrectly called justice, is an attempt to destroy the foundation of man’s divinity within, which cannot be destroyed.

In this public instance we can view this as an opportunity to begin to actually follow what Christ and many others have suggested we do. Hope springs eternal, in many who see this as such.

We are not made better people for killing murderers. We are not made more holy by showing our dismay at the evils of man. We are not made more powerful by exerting power over others.

Let us show Mercy and forgiveness to every one, not just some. The message of all Spiritual paths including Christians, is not murder or vengeance; not punishment or public display of power.

We must not kill in the name of justice; it is never justice to kill, in any circumstance.

We cannot murder him in the name of ‘righteous’ vindication; it is never righteous to justify our power over life. And vindication is but a show of selfishness to the highest degree.

And last but not least….we cannot kill in response to the cries of anger from victims; we are all victims of hate if we choose to do the same as he did. We can only respond to their calls with love, and in so doing, we help heal them. Murdering Saddam is not healing anyone.

It’s so simple! Yet we listen instead to such complicated reasons for his execution, given in the name of the ‘laws of man’ or ‘human rights’ laws in which we claim one life is more valued than another. There is no more valuable a life, nor less valuable, and no one human being less deserving of Mercy.

Until we all agree upon this, our so-called civilized society will fall and we will all fall victim to our own hatred and judgment.

Diane L. Perretto

http://thesacredself.com

Upon the Ladder to Home

2006-11-10T11:55:00.000-08:00

Stuck on a Rung

For those of us on a conscious path toward Spiritual awareness, we often use the ladder as our favorite metaphor. Well, I don’t know about any of you out there, but I think I’m stuck on a rung. The number is not important, even if I knew, but seeming to be stuck is my point. Anyone want to lend a hand?

Actually, never mind. Your hand does not exist. And besides, if I tried to use it, I’d fall. And I would truly fall because the moment I believe you can help me, is the moment I have once again, ‘fallen’ for the idea that salvation is outside of me. Frankly, those of you standing here with me on this rung are the only ones I am talking to, because those above us, are most likely listening to others on their rung, since just as we go through a door with no handles and can’t back through it, as we move up a rung, the previous one disappears! So, to my friends on the same rung, I’ve got to tell you a quick story….. even though I know you are not actually ‘there.’ Indulge me, if you will.

I think I landed upon this rung when I believed that the choice for Spirit was a better one than the choice for ego, and I certainly don’t want to go back. The ego is a nasty invention, and although I know I am apt to think I still choose it, I’ve at least got it figured out that it brings only temporary states of happiness if it does anything at all. I was granted a few experiences that showed me glimpses of ‘more’ than what this world of ego rule offers, and so I decided once and for all, not to ask ego for any advice, and also to look at its shenanigans as often and as honestly as possible, in order to keep clearly on the right path: toward awareness of Spirit.

So, here I am, wanting now to go to the next one as you are most likely wanting as well. For quite some time on this rung, I’ve wondered what it was I needed to understand, in order to move on. I waited, and a few years have passed. But in the past few days I’ve had a nagging feeling and a few coincidences to enforce the feeling of an impending ‘leap.’

First I must tell you that all this time upon this rung, I’ve been sooo enthralled and grateful to be able to hear Spirit on occasion, that I’ve been inclined, often, to write many poems and stories I think were divinely inspired. I set up my own blog and I write about what I have learned, so others can enjoy. It seems I can’t stop writing, and have no other place to put them. So, sometimes, in need of an ear out there, I often send these writings to family members who have no idea about what I am speaking, and I try as well to get them published in magazines, but to no avail.. I want others to listen…. to hear what I hear; to be able to share my new found joy! And I suppose I want for others to acknowledge my chosen path, and gifts. This much I acknowledge, but cannot for the life of me, get due satisfaction.

So, today, I took a walk in nature, thinking on this, and as I did, I kept hearing ……’There is no one to impress.’

I answer.…’What?’ inside this mind of mine.

The Voice again says…’There is no one to impress.’

I don’t like the sound of that. NO, Spirit, I have things to say! I want others to feel my joy. I have a purpose, a role to play, and I will do it for the betterment of my life and others.

And He responds, “There is no one to impress.’

I sort of wish He’d at least change the wording or emphasize one word or another, for variety. No, I shake my head, and I finally admit, I wish he would not say that, at all.

But, willing as I am to move on, I asked Spirit, Whose VoiceI heard, that I understand this, once and for all. And then I came to a defining moment of thought.

You see, so far, I’ve believed that we, you and I, are both Spirit and Ego, and that I was choosing one or the other. When I wrote my poetry or stories, I chose Spirit, and the reward was in the writing. But viewing this outside of Spirit, there were no rewards.

That is because, we are not both Spirit and Ego. Because ego is nothing and so are its rewards. All of its projections on which to impress upon, and things it chooses to use as impressive acts to entice us….are nothing. The ego, who attaches himself to the writing is not a ‘thing’ at all; but the words in the writing is indeed of Spirit. The attachment to it, is ego.

But, ego is not in existence. Only my ego thinks it is and thus values the valueless; values what is not there; hoping for rewards in an empty treasure chest.

And as I learn this, do I also see that if there is no ‘me’ writing and teaching, but only Spirit, there really is no one else either. And so….there is no one to impress. There is no one to write to. There is no one to tell of my Joy. There is only One, and He is the joy and the lesson learned.

But let me back up and tell you how I came to understand this, or shall I say...how I have begun to understand this?

So, I say…’But, I have a need to tell of my joy. I have a need to write. Don’t I?” It seems a silence comes back to me. It speaks volumes. I want to throw a temper tantrum but part of me thinks ‘someone might see me.’ I laugh and think...‘How could they?’ They are my own projections on which my devilish ego would love to impress a temper tantrum upon, knowing, then, they will see how very angry and special I am. I will show them! I want to scream, even knowing upon deaf ears it would fall.

Then, I hear the same Voice in my beautiful mind that seems to know things I have forgotten. He says, sweetly, kindly..…’If the Buddha stood in your midst, would you try to impress him?”

Silly question! I snickered to myself. Then, I answered. “Of course not. Who could impress the Buddha?”

Then, another whisper …”If Jesus were to walk with you right now, would you try to impress him? Would you share your writing with him?”

Of course not, I said, as a tear trickled down my lonely cheek. ‘He already knows.’

And then, appearing in this beautiful mind, the Buddha with his big smile, and round belly, and Jesus with his open arms and hands outreached, each spoke. “Then why do you try, with the others, for those others are me.” said the Buddha.

Then...“As you do to your brother, so do you do to me” said our brother, Jesus.

I stopped walking and looked down at my feet and then, looked ahead at the long, rung-less dirt path in front of me. Then I thought, ‘I will try, one more time. I placed my foot in front of the other and I took a step; how easy it seemed.

As I walked, I thought of how I needed to tell You this story ~ my friends on the ladder, so I could thank you all, for being the Buddha, the One, the Christ, the Love in my Mind, reminding me to be still and just remember...

WHAT KIND OF FORGIVENESS DO THEY KNOW?

2006-10-17T09:40:00.000-07:00

Inspired by the Amish Way
When the very young daughters and grand daughters of the Amish people were shamelessly shot execution style by a stranger one day in their school, the community and families comforted one another then looked immediately to the family of the murderer, taking up a collection on their behalf. This was an offering of more than hope for them to resume a normal life, but an offering which told a tale of true forgiveness. We can use this tragedy of human suffering beyond our comprehension to help us all to see the practical and yet incredibly profound use that forgiveness plays in our lives.

But practicality is not a word one uses when thinking of spirituality. The question really is, how could any one man, any one religion, any anything that is of this world, ever come close to helping us to bridge the gap we imagine exists between our selves and our Maker and is made more obvious by such heinous acts? Yet, this is what forgiveness does, and obviously, why Jesus advocated it.

And not only Jesus. Forgiveness can be said to be the equivalent to non-attachment in the eastern religions. Buddha’s main concern was to end the suffering of man. It is done, according to the eastern philosophy, by learning to not attach oneself to the temporal world but to the Oneness of all Things eternal; with peace being the result. Forgiveness lends us this same effect of peace, but Jesus teaches us how to get there, by the practice of forgiving, which made him a very practical teacher.

Our anger and frustration at violent acts such as this recent one keeps the gap forever widening between us and the perfect benevolence of God’s peace. The answer to obliterating this gap, this righteous indignation that in the end only breeds hatred for others, is in the answer which Jesus suggests is the answer: Forgiveness. But it is not Jesus who can bridge the gap; nor Buddha, nor anyone in particular. Yet it is what Jesus tells us we need understand to allow forgiveness to happen where we need to focus.

Most of us have a vague understanding that forgiveness is divine. Even with that small amount of understanding, forgiveness has at one time or another brought us to an awareness of a state of peace we do not understand; usually realizing afterward, we could not have granted ourselves this state, of our own accord. No doubt, God’s Peace is upon our mind and heart strong and clear at times, yet only to wither when we hear such sad stories of mankind’s inhuman acts. Imagine then, as it was for the Amish; if it were your own child murdered! And so, we look with respect and awe at our Amish brothers and sisters, to understand what kind of forgiveness they have come to embrace. It certainly must offer an unchanging state of peace, even among such painful events as this.

WHAT SORT OF FORGIVENESS DO THEY KNOW?
So, we all ask, after something like this especially, what exactly IS forgiveness? After all, no one can, in their right mind, ‘forgive’ or ‘condone’ or ‘pardon’ murdering children. The forgiveness which the Amish live by, sounds very, very much like the understanding that I have learned from the spirituality found in A Course in Miracles. Both of them, based on the foundation of Christian thought.

In the Course we are taught that forgiving is not an act of pardon, but is more of an experience of empathy that extends beyond the physical world, pointing to the idea that it is indeed divine, and yet can be experienced by us as humans, to reach that ‘other world.’ That is why it is termed a course in ‘miracles’ for there is no greater miracle, than the one that changes anger, hatred and sadness to love of the deepest and most giving sort.

To be willing to have this ‘experience’ one needs to understand first and foremost in our mind, that our bodies are not our True Nature and therefore, we need to see past the body and the body’s acts, of our selves and others, to be able to even begin to entertain the idea of the sort of forgiveness that truly heals such inner turmoil as this.
You might say that ‘seeing past a body’ can not be called a practical piece of advice! But in the Course, it is not said we need to know how to see past another body’s acts, but only that we are willing to do so. The rest is divine.

And so, what does ‘being willing to see past the body’ really mean?

It begins by being willing to believe that our human perception of acts; even murder, and all of what we see and hear and think every day, is not necessarily…. true. Before I lose you and tangle myself in a metaphysical maze of thought, it is really not nearly as complicated or as ‘wild’ as it sounds to begin to believe this. What is important to grasp is that what we perceive is not to be held as true, or false, but as meaningless when it is a perception made from a mind that cannot know truth. BUT (and it is a big but,) there is another side to our ‘perception’ from which forgiveness is understood by man and obviously, which the Amish advocate and the Course teaches. That side is from a Holy perspective.

In other words, we can have perception come from a part of our mind that does know truth, but it is not the part we call our ‘self’ which most of us identify with, only because we have not yet met….another Self! It is the part we call the Holy Self, or Holy Spirit and it is entirely our choice when to begin to find this other Self. The Course promotes honest and constant self reflection to uncover an unconscious but ferocious fight against knowing this Higher Self. The ego’s buried need to remain our chosen state of awareness becomes fortified and stronger, the further buried it remains.

From what the Course terms, ‘true perception’ of Spirit, we see truth reflected in the world around us and thus begin to heal our many wounds of the ego’s world. It is not Truth Itself we see in the world, for the world is only symbols and can only reflect God’s Truth. God’s Truth could never be evil, or wrong, or anything which can be judged by man. And so, knowing this, such an event as the murder of these little girls, leaves us with one conclusion. What must have occurred did not reflect God’s Truth. And God’s Truth is how we live and all that we need, to know. And so, we leave the judging of what we do not know to Someone Who knows. And we trust, 100%, it is all good. It simply could not be any other way when we see it through the reflection of Spirit’s eyes.

Coming from ego’s perspective, we use judgment based on the ego’s world which would find it right and good to condemn and punish all such acts, being both judge and jury. And from the Holy Spirit within, from which I would presume the Amish are coming, the question then becomes, ‘How can one not forgive what we could not truly know, or understand?’ This is how forgiveness begins, and lends a new Light to life, but it is not how it ends.

However, I can’t tell you how it ends and I am sure the same goes for most in the Amish community. Like them, I have not totally forgiven everything or everyone, or every act I see, in which event, would I then be in Heaven’s embrace. According to the Course it can take but a second to do this, but it seems, many lifetimes occur before we are willing to let go of this ego’s perception we hold so dear, though buried. Many lifetimes of wondering why God would let such things happen, until we see, He wouldn’t.

And so, I am still in the process of joyously learning to choose Spirit as much as I can, and thereby learning not to label all I see as good or evil, wrong or right, and paying attention to when and why I have a need to do this. I am sure beyond a shadow of a doubt, when I am able to forgive entirely, as Jesus taught, I will have found ‘Heaven’ where a broken world no longer needs forgiven.

Painted Trains, and Other Thoughts

2006-07-12T12:46:00.000-07:00

Memories of America

Old men,
Folding chairs
Skinny ankles
White socks.

Young men,
Playing horseshoes
Picket fence
And hollyhocks.

Summer.

Muggy days
Alley echoes
Children run
Shady spots

Warm wind
Storms brew
Mother’s calling
Getting caught…..

Freedom

Suntan
Freckle face
Sweaty head
Dirty hands

Sleepy eyes
Cotton sheets
Painted trains
Dream land.

Innocence

Same men
Same boys
Bloody bullets
Shooting spar

Shoot first
Always win
Kill your brothers
Win the war.

Judgment

Empty chairs
Dying children
Crying widow
Mother’s pain

Gain nothing
Lose all,
No more,
Painted trains.

War

Crucifixion of a Message

2006-04-09T04:33:00.000-07:00

THE CRUCIFIXION OF THE TRUTH

Today, more and more you will hear about documents that speak of different ideas of who Jeshua ben Joseph, (Jesus) was. The church will dismiss it all or fight their authenticity. Some may not be authentic, but many are. And for those who have been seeking for the truth independent of the church, both within our heart and mind, and also in the newly found scrolls (some found in the 1950’s), we are very happy to have many ideas be questioned and many intuitive thoughts be given credence!

For myself, I would go so far as to say, that when we begin to truly hear our Savior, we realize the crucifixion was of his message, not his body.

Whether or not he died on a cross, willingly, unwillingly, or at all, is being questioned by the mass media today in newly found writings by various people. Some Christians fear new revelations, some scoff at it in arrogant defiance, dismissing it entirely. The truth of what occurred to Jeshua is important, only in its ability to make people understand his message to mankind. And if we strip away all the pomp and circumstance, the idolization of a man, the false pretenses on which the church has built a savior to build instead, itself, we see a man who found his own Savior within, and was reaching out his hands and heart to all of mankind, in an attempt to share this Truth about all of the ‘Sons of God.’

So, while we do what we do, whether it is listen to scripture at church, or simply in our actions and in our thoughts toward our brothers and sisters, remember Jesus’ most poignant statement regarding finding Peace and abundant Joy…..’The Kingdom of God, is within you.” There is no truth more relevant to living a loving life, than that one.

From understanding this, come all things good.
Diane
April 06

Victims of Fear

2006-01-04T06:16:00.000-08:00

Is it Freedom or Fear?

From an article entitled, ‘Bush Calls Domestic Spy Program 'Limited' by DEB RIECHMANN, of the Associated Press, President Bush says regarding his use of surveillance without a court order, "It's seems logical to me that if we know there's a phone number associated with al-Qaida or an al-Qaida affiliate and they're making phone calls, it makes sense to find out why," Bush said. "They attacked us before, they'll attack us again."

Yes, it does make sense to find out why. And we have set up a system of checks and balances in our government such as the secret court created by congress in 1978 for the purpose of granting warrants for the President or an appointed person in the administration to use surveillance on citizens or non citizens of our country. For our President to find out why, he only has to bring the request for surveillance to the court and have it agreed upon there if there is reason to look into the matter, domestic, or otherwise. The ‘agreeing’ part is key to the checks and balances of a democracy.

The issue is not whether or not it is ok to obtain inside information needed to protect us. The real issue is a two sided one, as I see it. One is the use of fear by the administration to convince us all that we don’t need these checks and balances. To suggest that there are times (in which we now find ourselves) that these checks and balances can be overruled for the benefit of society. These checks and balances are a huge part of what makes a democracy a democracy and in war or not, it is why we are free. The truth of the matter, it seems to me, is that fear is the enemy here; and we are its victims.

The secondary issue stemming from this fear of the ‘new enemy’ as the administration has named it, is the issue of the use of power and when and where our Government’s use of it becomes an infringement of our rights as free citizens rather than a useful tool to keep our country conflict free.

HE CAN TAP MY PHONE ANYTIME?
Fear can bring negative changes in our lives, and has brought down the working governments of countries such as it did in Nazi Germany. We all know how fear of anything restricts our life in the obvious ways. We begin to be afraid to do our normal activities, and question our safety with every step we take, losing our free spirit and to some extent, our actual physical freedom. But what it does on the level of a collective group is what we need to examine because this is what is occurring in our country.

I’ve heard a few people express concern about the President insisting it is ‘ok’ to wiretap United States citizens without court approval. At first, this too was my primary concern; after all, it seems to me, it should be easy enough to do, being the President! But now, my biggest concern has turned to what the fear of Terrorism has done to the average citizen of our free country, both young and old. I have heard too many people saying “I’ve nothing to worry about; they can tap my phone any day.”

We do have something to worry about. It is the belief that we can and we should, trade more personal freedom for what we are told can give us all more safety. This attitude will limit the only freedom we all truly have; the freedom to be a free thinking, free acting, contributor to our society. Be it an anti-war activist, or a practicing Muslim, or yes, even an extreme liberal in a very conservative country. This ‘lying down and rolling over’ and overlooking our government’s request to break the rules on account of our own fears can only lead to us thinking it is ‘ok’ to suspect a person just for reading a book about the fanatical Muslim movement if they judge you to “have more than a normal interest.” The question is, who decides that? How many books do you take out of the library on this subject before you are asked to explain yourself? How long before we begin to dictate that sort of behavior with some sort of law, and begin to suspect family members and our neighbor over such trivial things as book ownership or a passing conversation at the local coffee shop?

THE LEAP THAT FEAR CAN TAKE
That may sound far fetched, and indeed it is quite a big step from here to there, but to prevent that leap we cannot, no matter how fearful we are of Terrorists, allow our government to decide for itself how and when to invade our private world without using the court we set up for that very thing, to keep within the healthy boundaries that checks and balances provide.

Without these checks and balances such as that court, other laws we made to protect citizens such as the right to free speech could be overruled by the government as well in situations they deemed ‘necessary’ , and would affect even our ability to write to newspapers such as what you are reading. It could soon be considered as the suspect behavior of being a sympathizer to the enemy. Think not? Think again. In recent history, people such as the late John Lennon were being considered for deportation from our country, in essence, for suggesting we ‘Give peace a chance.” This is one small example of why we created the court for congress to use.

BEN FRANKLIN'S LEGACY
And since our country’s beginnings, people have been dealing with this attempt at suppression or unnecessary investigation by the governing forces. One such person was Ben Franklin who wrote several pieces for the New England Courant in 1720 as a young man of 17. Although his brother owned the paper, Benjamin had to use a pen name to protect himself from being thrown in jail by the English government. His writing strove to bring awareness to the American public, of the unneeded control the British government was trying to impose upon them. Too many were too willing to simply live with it, having gotten quite accustomed to it in England. This writing eventually landed his older brother in jail for one month, because he was unable to supply them with the author’s name. Benjamin Franklin went on to write many wise things about the politics of freedom under many pseudonyms, due to the ability of the government to suppress and imprison people for such writing. He was very much a part of our freedom as we know it today. He puts it all in a nutshell in this quote of his: “Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.”

Regarding what Franklin and others fought for in the 1700’s, including being able to distribute the important writings that influenced so many, I think a relevant question to ask is what if the American public had instead said to England, “Go ahead, let the King see my writing first, and decide what can be printed or not. I wouldn’t write anything unprintable.”

This idea of allowing our government to be above its own laws is really what we are doing by agreeing to allow private surveillance of our library card, or our phone calls without asking the administration to simply go through the legal channels we have all agreed were necessary. The willingness to disregard this legal process and even encouraging the need to bypass it with statements like “I’ve nothing to hide” sadly mirrors the mindset of a very fearful public.

THE NEW ENEMY IN HITLER'S WORLD
In the days of the Hitler regime, desperate and fearful German citizens were convinced of a ‘new enemy’ to their own economic ‘safety’, and this enemy was called the Jewish people. With this new enemy labeled and identified by the government, so many people of Germany evidently saw reason to look the other way, while millions of their Jewish brothers and sisters were murdered. People today say that could never happen again and I must agree, with a bit of optimistic hope, for the most part. However, the bowing down to fear that I have recently heard among some citizens of our country is disheartening. I think we would do well to pay more attention to the fact that so many people seem so willing to give into fear itself and perhaps this is more of a threat to our freedom and way of life than any act of terrorism.

Without harping too much on condemning our President, who has perhaps made a poor judgment, in very difficult times, maybe we can stand together now in agreeing that we must ask our government to follow the rules and to use this court that was created for good reason in 1978, to put reasonable limits on their ability to ‘protect’ our freedom. It may be very true that what the administration deemed as necessary, was necessary. But it was done in an unnecessary fashion. And that is the issue.

And sticking to this issue, we need to ask ourselves if the overriding of our own system of checks and balances, for the safety of the public, is truly protecting, or limiting our freedom in the end.
Diane L. Perretto

The Path of Reason leads Home

2005-12-31T08:19:00.000-08:00

The Path of Reason – is Divine

You cannot give what you do not have. You cannot have what you do not give. You cannot see what you do not believe, and you cannot believe what you are unwilling to see.

There is no truth that is not totally true, and there is no truth but truth. And truth is that we are what we are seeking and we are seeking for that which we already are.

We have what we need, but do not need what we think we have. What do we ‘think’ we have? What we think we ‘have’ is a world based on cause and effect…ie; things being given to the deserving, and taken from the undeserving. Or gifts bestowed by fervent prayer without the understanding they are there for the taking ~ for those who Awaken to who they Are.

What we truly have is beyond cause and effect and is not affected by its law whatsoever, but simply Is. What Is, is what we Are, and what we Are is the only thing that really Is. And the only thing that really Is, is Love. And so, we Are Love. All else is not true.

From Love the world is changed; not in form, or even necessarily in action but in the mind of the one who has truly learned Who they Are and from What they have been Caused by…not by biological reproduction, but the extension of Love, extending forever, giving forever, never dying, eternally grateful, Love.

And from the eyes of this new state of Mind, is Christ seen in all.

Diane

Random Truths....to me

2005-12-31T08:05:00.000-08:00

I don’t believe in God because of anything I see in this world, but because of the Voice I hear within and the changes It evokes in me.

Forgiveness is a single moment without judgment.

God lives within you. As He created you, He can never be apart from you. Finding Him is a ‘remembering’, since you did not lose Him.

We are Love. Love is what made us and therefore what sustains us. This is what was meant by “Man cannot live by bread alone.” Your body alone needs bread. You are not your body.

Let no one think they can change the Word of God. Remember it for them, if you need to, but gently, and with empathy and tolerance for the ways of this world.

We are never alone. Each person we see was sent as a Savior to us. A chance to understand unconditional love and forgiveness.

Accept God’s Love, and you have accepted forgiveness, tolerance, honesty, empathy, kindness, joy and peace as your state of mind. From that state alone is Love extended.

Fear not. There is more.

Treasure only love’s lessons. All of life is love’s lessons. Treasure life then, as a classroom but not its many temptations to daydream. Stay on course.

Be grateful. Nothing bad ever comes of it. A sense of false humility is born in the arrogance of the ungrateful. True humility gives one a constant state of joy, which is gratefulness, expressed.

What we call death is the passage of our soul from a body to our Home, in Spirit. Our body is not our home and it never will be. We have visited it often, but leave it just as often.

Founding Father's Religious Beliefs

2005-12-31T07:57:00.000-08:00

Religious Freedom and America’s Greatest Minds

If not for the great minds of our founding fathers in America, we might be best described as ‘Rebels without a cause!’ Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, to name a few, had a cause, and it was indeed a worthwhile one.

Leaving the puritan English evangelical ways of Calvinism* that Christians had devolved into, people like Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, beheld the convictions of the true Spirit of Christ, or at least a thirst for the truth, behind the unfortunate façade that had been growing for the past 1800 years in Christianity’s beliefs.

In his letters and articles, we find that Jefferson embraced no religion, and all religions, but his philosophy closely seemed to be affiliated with the Unitarian Church**, as did John Adams. (see footnotes for definition of the Unitarian belief system.)

In an article written about Jefferson’s political and religious philosophies, Thom Belote*** says “Jefferson found the Unitarian understanding of Jesus compatible with his own. In 1822 he predicted that "There is not a young man now living in the US who will not die a Unitarian." Jefferson requested that a Unitarian minister be dispatched to his area of Virginia.” Although his prediction has not quite yet been realized, I believe perhaps, and with great hope, he was right!

Today, we can thank people like Jefferson for declaring independence not only from England but from this sort of degeneration of thought in regards to Christian thought, to the man Jesus, and to his legacy. Here, our third President is quoted on this subject; “To the corruptions of Christianity, I am indeed opposed; but not to the genuine precepts of Jesus himself. I am a Christian, in the only sense in which he wished any one to be; sincerely attached to his doctrines, in preference to all others; ascribing to himself every human excellence, and believing he never claimed any other’, from Thomas Belote’s article on Jefferson.

In his many writings, some from himself to his friend, and sometimes foe, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson was a rebel and many church figures and Christian Evangelicals attempted to use his radical (at that time) beliefs against him politically, as author Thom Belote is quoted here in his research on Thomas Jefferson…. “Certain evangelicals, who were also his political opponents, tried very hard to make Jefferson's religion a factor in elections. They filled the press with scurrilous attacks on his "Deistical"**** beliefs. He made it his steadfast policy never to respond to any of these attacks or, indeed, to make any public statement at all concerning his faith.”

He also embraced in high moral regard, the importance of Reason in our search for finding God which is the Deist philosophy. “In a letter to his nephew Peter Carr in 1787, Jefferson advised, "Fix Reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a god." (capitalization of Reason is mine)

He did believe in God, and was more than a little passionate about finding the truth, despite what Christianity, in his eyes, had tried to obscure. Naturally, he wanted, like all of our forefathers to keep such Christianity OUT of government policy, but strong in the minds and hearts of its people. Perhaps this is most poignantly portrayed in his book “Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth” completed in 1820. It is important to note that the version Congress published is called “Life and Morals” and argues no theology. It is often also referred to as Jefferson’s Bible.

This book is really a compilation of pieces cut out of the New Testament that Jefferson ‘resonated’ with, and found what he considered to be the most important aspects of the truth about Jesus, the man.

According to Belote, “{This book}is simply his edited version of the Gospels. He literally cut out the virgin birth, miracle stories, claims to Jesus' divinity and the resurrection. Some scholars believe he first assembled his collage of Jesus' teachings for his own devotional use. A late reference to the "Indians" who could benefit from reading it, was likely directed at those public figures, often Christian ministers, who had viciously attacked his religious beliefs without in the least understanding them or—as Jefferson believed—Jesus.”

When studying Jefferson’s contribution to society, what stood out to me the most was this devotion to truth, and his love of the philosophy of Jesus, and the meaning behind his life. Today, as back in Jefferson’s day, and probably for all the centuries since Jesus’ birth, the very people claiming to be so Christian are the ones who want to use it to divide what Christ came to unite!

Today’s popular proclamation of a ‘War on Christmas’ during the Christmas season in our country, coupled with the Conservative Christian belief that the Church’s idea of Christianity should be acknowledged by our government and in our schools, are nothing less than outright divisive attempts of man against man…or man against the true Christ Spirit. Such a war, man cannot win because its foundation is false. And such a war would a Christian such as the likes of Jesus himself, would not bother to proclaim as real.

This validity of the idea that the secularists are trying to squelch Christ’s true message is actually reversed in truth! It can well be argued that Conservative Christian thought is the exact opposite of what our founding fathers’ wanted for our country, and yet, many Conservative Christians use the argument that our forefathers’ religious beliefs were an integral part of the making of our government and so it should be displayed or promoted as our nations’ religion. As Belote says here “Today religious conservatives portray Jefferson as a sympathetic figure, unaware of his religious beliefs, his understanding of religious freedom or his criticisms of evangelical religiosity.” In reality, we as a people, fled from the very idea of a particular creed being stated by our nation as our official religion, and instead, gave respect to all religious creeds, equally. And being free to choose, our founding father’s choose theirs. It is evident that their choice was one of no particular creed, and yet of faith in all free people to seek the highest in regards to behavior, regardless of their ‘creed.’

Benjamin Franklin, a loveable and very quotable man, not to mention, a genius, spoke openly of his admiration toward his father for his “Convictions as a religious dissenter, who in coming to America, sought freedom from persecution” according to Paul Lauter, Editor of “The Heath Anthology of American Literature.” And like Jefferson, he was accused by the traditional Christians of being a Deist.*** Today, the conservative Christian would accuse him of the same thing. In speaking of Franklin’s unfinished biography, Lauter says “The metaphor reflects Franklin’s position as a Deist, distancing himself from his Calvinist predecessors and their belief in a sovereign God, who elected whom he would.”

This religious freedom was obviously paramount to Jefferson, Adams and Benjamin Franklin just to name a few of the most famous minds of our time and of our country. Unitarians, Deists, rebels with a cause, all of them, but most importantly they believed that the man Jesus was no different than you or me in Spirit, but a man who knew the Truth about Spirit, and had much to say and do about spreading it. And not necessarily by means of a church’s dogma or a creed at all. And only the Truth, as Jesus said, does indeed ‘set us free.’ From ignorance.

And Jefferson, like many of our founding fathers, sought that very freedom. It is the freedom and the passion to seek God on our own. To obliterate falsity in religious creed by our own determination and devotion to finding this truth, in our own way, in our home, in our heart and in our Mind, in our church, and in our relationships as well as our personal observation of things beyond the ordinary, in our lives. All of these places and in all of our hearts, lies this Truth.

It is a founding reason for America’s democracy and one of the prime motivators uplifting the Minds of our rebellious and very dear Founding Fathers.

Diane L. Perretto

Footnotes:
*Calvinism, from the website called Wikipedia, defines it as such: “A belief which emphasizes that man is incapable of adding anything from himself to obtain salvation, and that God alone is the initiator at every stage of salvation, including the formation of faith and every decision to follow Christ.”

Also from this website, “It teaches that people are utterly unable to follow God or escape their condemnation before him and that only by drastic divine intervention in which God must overrule their unwilling hearts” and “This doctrine was definitively formulated and codified during the Synod of Dordrecht (1618-1619), which rejected the alternate system known as Arminianism.

**If you are curious about Unitarian beliefs as they have evolved today, below is a brief synopsis of what they affirm and promote. Check any search engine on the internet, and you will find an abundance of information.

Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life;

Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love;

Wisdom from the world's religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life;

Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God's love by loving our neighbors as ourselves;

Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of Reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the Mind and Spirit.

Spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.

Also, taken from a website tied to Universal Unitarian’s they are quoted as saying their beliefs:

“We believe that personal experience, conscience and reason should be the final authorities in religion, and that in the end religious authority lies not in a book or person or institution, but in ourselves. We are a "non-creedal" religion: we do not ask anyone to subscribe to a creed.”

(My note on Unitary affiliation) Anyone affiliated with Unitarian ideas as were our founding fathers, was one who respected equally all religions, and even promoting the learning of other’s religions as well, including Muslim, Buddhist, American Indian, and Hinduism to name a few. The key point however in our founding father’s writings, was a belief and passion for an individual’s ability to find the truth without religious denomination or creed stated. Church can bring unity and love into our lives, and surely does for many, but from reading this article, hopefully it is clearer that it is certainly not necessary for all of us, and perhaps even not good for some of us and it is wise to question this new Conservative movement in our country that runs counter to the founding father’s ideas of Christian thought.

***Thom Belote is the author of an article called “Thomas Jefferson” at www.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles website. This section of the website I quoted Belote from is found in the section titled, ‘Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography.’

****And if you are curious about Deist philosophy, from their website, I found this at http://www.deism.org/.

“Deism is a free-thought philosophy, much like Agnosticism, Atheism or Pantheism in that it rejects the dogmas and superstitions of religion in favor of individual reason and empirical observation of the universe. Deism differs from these other free-thought philosophies in that it sees an order and architecture to the universe that indicates a Creator. The word "God" is used to describe this creator, not to be confused with the "Biblegod." Deism notes that we as humans are endowed with the power of reason and an indomitable spirit. It follows that we are intended to exercise them. Therefore, skepticism and doubt are not "sins" but rather natural expressions of God's gift of reason.”

What War on Christmas?

2005-11-29T17:30:00.000-08:00

What War on Christmas

For the past few years I have noticed more and more talk about the idea that there is a war on Christmas taking place in our country. A recent book called ‘The War on Christmas’ by John Gibson, is being promoted by the right wing segment in the media lately (Bill O’Reilly to name one such.) Isn’t the name of the book enough to make you stop and question the intentions of people and the very idea of what they say is happening?

It seems to me such a view uses the very thing they are trying to protect to create the war they speak of. Isn’t the idea that the spirit of Christmas can be harmed at all, putting faith in the wrong aspect of Christmas? It seems only to promote anger among people who believe this and create division with others.

The whole idea indirectly suggests that our religion needs to be justified and supported by our government and our stores, and held up like some sort of flag to prove its validity. In fact, it is one of the most ‘anti’ Christ way to think of Christmas that I can imagine. It is why the Middle East has never found peace, ie: their need to have their religion recognized by their government has turned to fanaticism and racism, filled with hatred and intolerance for others of varying religions and customs. We don’t need Christmas or Christianity to be acknowledged by some store somewhere, and neither by any municipality or anyone else but ourselves to make it valid, or more dear to our hearts. We don’t need the public arena of commercialism to make Christmas, Christmas. Just as when Francis P. Church wrote to Virginia in 1897, he assured her…“Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” and made his point well; that Christmas and Santa Claus live in our heart and mind, and there they will remain, child and adult alike.

I think it very un-Christian and rather radical to call it a ‘war on Christmas’ when what is really being attacked is our faithfulness to the laws our country was founded on! Keeping religion out of the government’s hands and allowing us as individual’s to keep it in our hearts where it belongs, is an idea of our founding fathers. Keeping belief systems and their expression exempt from our government’s rules and regulations, such as Christmas… is a good thing, is it not?

Mangers and songs about Jesus will always be a part of Christmas in our homes where no one can dictate our enjoyment of them…at least not yet. The chances for that happening are greater if we allow the government ANY say in ANY religious activity, including Christmas. In my small town, we have an anuual event we call the Christmas Walk. It can be called a Christmas Walk, or a Holiday Walk, and it would mean the very same thing; a evening of people gathering for food, fun and the spirit of the holidays which is UNITY. If it matters what we call it, we have missed the point.

And if a Walmart employee says Happy Holidays, instead of Merry Christmas, I am not offended. She/he covers a few holidays in one greeting and everyone is happy. After all, saying ‘Merry Christmas’ is meaningful between two people who share the meaning of the words, and isn’t that all that matters? These sorts of personal liberties remain in our country last I heard.

Leave Christmas to each individual, and it has a much better chance of remaining in the hearts of all who know what Christmas really represents. And now, with the deaths of too many of our young soldiers, how about instead of saying “Merry Christmas” we say “Peace on Earth” as we greet each other? Which one would Jesus prefer?

Diane L. Perretto

Jesus' Real Message

2005-10-29T07:31:00.000-07:00

Uncovering the Truth of Jesus

In a new light, I hear the words of Jesus differently ~ as my spiritual journey unfolds daily, and I feel such gratitude for these understandings.

When he said, ‘If I have forgiven you, you ARE forgiven” he was not suggesting that he had different powers above us to forgive God’s children, although this is how it was interpreted by his superiors and ultimately what he was killed for. It is also what mainstream Christians believe, for the most part.

What is truly meant by that, in light of new understanding for me, is that when we forgive another, they are forgiven because our interpretation of them is what they are in our mind, and we, being mind, make what we see real to ourselves. In other words, if they are forgiven in our mind, they are truly forgiven! Our viewpoint is all there is, and in this ‘all’ is all of us.

Jesus knew that by his mind’s ability to see all the world as forgiven, they were forgiven because the son of God, is the perceiver, the dreamer of the dream….the Master of the earth. We, together, are that Son, and we are truly One.

Related directly to this is his view on giving and receiving. He said that ‘to give is to receive.’ We receive only what we give, by giving it. Because we are one with others in mind, there truly are no others separate from us, and so all we give, we give unto ourselves. But it must be received by us to have been given. As we give, we receive unto ourselves the thing given.

Forgiveness falls under the same rules. As we give it to others, we are forgiven by the giving of it. We ‘feel’ (receive) what we give to others; if we feel hatred toward another, we feel hatred of ourselves. If we give love to another, without any kind of judgment, we feel that unconditional love toward ourselves.

If you have not identified as yet the hatred of self as the ego’s goal, you have not looked within and seen the enemy. If you think your anger at another or hatred or judgment of another is about them, you are in denial, and have not sought to see the truth, but only to cover it up.

And without understanding one of Jesus’ most misunderstood phrases, ‘I and the Father are one’, we cannot understand any of what Jesus expressed about his life and his journey of enlightenment. ‘I and the Father are one’ tells us that we are not our body ~ but far, far more.
How? Because obviously, he was not one with God in body. How could any human being claim such a thing without the understanding that he was not TRULY his body, but knew he existed on a different level, which he called The Kingdom of Heaven. He said the Kingdom of Heaven was ‘at hand.’ This means that it is within us. He also came right out and clearly said ‘The kingdom of Heaven is within.’ Both are saying roughly, the same thing. To say ‘at hand’ would translate to ‘at arms length’ or ‘as close to yourself as your hand is close to you.’

To say that he and God were one was not meant to separate him from us. Quite the opposite! It was a proclamation of profound and new understanding that this man Jesus was having 2000 years ago. And he most likely proclaimed it in gratitude and joy on his knees, not in hopes of other’s worshipping him on their knees. He understood that we are one with each other, and therefore, we are ultimately one with God, being his children. This was his message, and his mission.

‘Seek and ye shall find’ was an unequivocal statement of truth from Jesus to us. And he was not talking about anything in particular. He was telling us that which we put first, will be what we will have! That which we seek, will be our inheritance. And so, by this general statement of finding what we seek, if we ‘seek first the kingdom of Heaven’ we will find that first, and all else will be joyous. Life, and death, will take on a new meaning entirely.

Whatever the son of God seeks, will be found because we are God’s son. And God’s son does God’s Will. Our awareness of His Will brings us to the completion of It. It is inevitable, and although it seems it is dependent upon 'time', it is outside of time in our awareness, not in our intellectual grasp of it. There is no way that God’s extension of Himself could not be fulfilled and be the Whole of what He thought. We are His Thought....and all we need for salvation is to be aware of being His Thought and not our own.

I rejoice in real gratitude, which is joy. Jesus has come again, unto us, within us, in our clear and bright understanding, of his eternal light.

Diane L. Perretto

Ask the Purpose of All Things

2005-09-17T07:12:00.000-07:00

There is no meaning in anything we do lest we ask the purpose of our action.

And, all action comes from thought, so we need only ask the purpose of our thought.

Purpose then, gives meaning to all we do.

And so, for every relationship we have, we need to ask ourselves what purpose the relationship holds in our mind of thought.

From defining this purpose, the trials within the relationship are understood. Because the trials and tribulations are a direct result of the purpose we see for the relationship. For example, if we see the relationship’s purpose as one of finding and keeping love, we will see the absence of acts of love as a ‘trial.’ Otherwise, the actions of the person would not matter, if the purpose was not defined in our mind.

But in truth there are only really two purposes on earth for anything, which is the same as saying there are only two purposes in our mind, since this is where all thought begins, and eventually takes form on earth.

There is either the purpose of finding God (through the Holy Spirit ) or the purpose of serving the smaller self, the ego (which ‘we’ gave us.)

In all things, in all relationships, in every thought projected outward, we choose between these two. There is nothing that does not require a choice between these two. And you can never choose both at one time. It is the same as light and dark, they cannot co exist.

There is only one purpose for the Holy Spirit. His purpose is to teach us the right way and most efficient way Home to God.

And, there is only one purpose for the ego. To obscure our view of God and our ability to find Him, keeping us as separate entities, apart from God.

Both states of mind’s purpose is a choice we make each moment in our lives. And so each relationship has its expectations based on its purpose, and will serve one or the other purpose…to help us find God, or to obscure Him from our awareness.

The 'way' of Spirit makes us joyful in all circumstances, regardless of what they are, viewing all from a state of perfect Oneness, lacking nothing, and giving all.

The way of ego is a roller coaster ride of varying states, never fully joyful or peaceful, always vulnerable to ‘attack’ and ready to ‘defend.’

The fact that we have two choices means every time a brother ‘wrongs’ you in your mind, you will either see it as an opportunity for forgiveness and truly seeing it as nothing but an error that does not affect Spirit, neither in you, nor in him.

Or seeing it as reason and justification for your condemnation and anger, creating a gap between yourself and a brother that is but an illusion that you have placed there. Because if God made us all with the Holy Spirit, there is no gap between us, but what the ego wishes there were.

If we don’t see our Oneness, we cannot see Him.

With the Holy Spirit, Jesus taught that forgiveness is the tool to awareness of God’s Love within ourselves. There is nothing else that will remove the blocks the ego has made to obscure this state of mind.

And so, we have these trials in our lives, in our relationships, but now we have a purpose for the relationship (going Home, or staying in ego) and realize the effects of whichTeacher we choose, ego or Spirit, will determine whether they are trials, or lovely stepping stones to Heaven!

DLP 9-17-05

Perception is not Truth

2005-09-05T18:39:00.001-07:00

TRUTH

As unique as is the color yellow,
does man, perception hold as true.
from this view can yellow,
be both hues of red or blue.

For man does think to change the truth,
as though some way, he might
But truth is nothing if not true
nor skewed by change in hue.

In the mind does truth lay quiet
A kingdom is but known.
Perceived, it cannot ever be
for Truth revealed is owned.

Diane L. Perretto

Groundhog Day on the Screen of Life

2005-08-30T10:58:00.000-07:00

FROM CHRISTIAN TO COURSE-TIAN!

I recently heard a wonderful analogy that helps to explain one of the major changes in perspective that occurs in a person from a traditionally Christian background, as they began to entertain the ideas embraced non dualistic thought, such as A Course in Miracles. The analogy itself was borrowed by Kenneth Wapnick, Ph.D, a renowned scholar of the Course, from Plato’s writings over 2500 years ago, using slightly different symbols.

When at the movie theatre, the images on the screen begin to bounce up and down. So, do we go up to the screen and try and fix the images? No, we wouldn’t but we would, instead, go to the projection screen booth and tell them of the problem. We don’t ask them to fix the images on the actual screen, do we? Instead, we leave it up to them, to know how to fix the problem where the problem is.

In believing that it can be fixed at the effect (the screen), we are, in essence asking Him to solve the problem of the bouncing screen, at the screen instead of fixing it truly, and eternally, which can only be done at the source of the problem. And in addition to petitioning this from the wrong place, we are petitioning Him to do just what we think needs to be done! This includes and cannot help but to include our little crinkles in the screen of life, as well as the big rips!

FIXING THE SCREEN AT THE SCREEN

The little things on the screen of life which we pray for change are that our uncle Joe stop being a jerk , instead of joining on the side of Jesus, who would only want Joe to figure out why he is behaving as such a jerk, and thus change his behavior to everyone, due to genuine healing and love. And by the big rips in the projection screen, I mean praying that someone we love who is sick, doesn’t die of cancer, or does not suffer if he does die of cancer.

This means we think we can direct Jesus’ benevolent love and care onto who we choose as being worthy of this.

Wouldn’t God want everyone healed and certainly not need our request for it to be done? After all, would the Father actually think of one of his kids as more worthy than another?

The problem in the movie theatre is not on the screen and neither is the problem we see in our life, ‘in the world’ or in a particular group of people, or any one person! Just as in the case of the person with cancer; the cancer is the effect of the problem and means nothing, but that we have placed the blame upon it, as a ‘problem.’

ASK HIM TO TRULY 'SEE' WHAT THE PROBLEM IS!

Ask only that we see what the problem is and not that He come down here right now and fix it!
In non dualistic thought, the problem can never leave the source, and our problems must then be part of Who we are ~ or a choice we are making. Thus does the Course explain to us, that all problems are in the mind that is viewing the world. In other words, it is in the projection booth!
In non dualistic thinking, which is what A Course In Miracles is, this means that the Holy Spirit, represented by the Christian world as Jesus as well as in the Course, is living in the mind of God’s Son, Who is YOU, and ME and all of us! He is within, not anywhere else, and yet everywhere else.

GROUNDHOG DAY, ALL OVER AGAIN!
This scenario we find ourselves in is not unlike Bill Murray who in Ground hog Day, kept trying to fix the screen, instead of the problem! Until about half way through the movie, when he figured out the problem was in his mind. Then, his ‘deeds’ changed because they were motivated by an awareness of genuine love within. Once he chose love, the ‘projection’ on the movie screen changed.

He found out that love and happiness come from the mind of the one choosing it and the effects …which is the world we see, are the effects of either Spirit, or ego, in our mind. It is in only in the mind that is aware of the choice between what is real and not real, Spirit or ego, that real change occurs, in the mind.

So, like Bill Murray’s character, every day, we need try once more to get to the source of problem, and stop seeing the problem as out there on the screen. Change the channel on the projector from ego to Spirit and feel the peace that ego never knew existed. Then share the love that is who you are.

Diane L. Perretto

Kenneth Wapnick, Ph.D is responsible for the analogy, borrowed from Plato’s original one, of the screen and the projection room. Ken has been a scholar of the Course since its delivery to the world, and has spent 30 years helping others understand what it is saying.

HYPOCRISY MOCKS DEMOCRACY

2005-08-24T10:03:00.000-07:00

HYPOCRISY MOCKS DEMOCRACY

This outrageous declaration of a rather predominant right wing Christian spokesperson and televangelist, Pat Robertson, to assassinate Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez is a flawless example of hypocrisy. And I for one am not surprised at all that conservative so-called Christian group leaders have not responded. They most likely, silently agree.
And if it is even considered to have any sort of intelligence behind it, it is just one more nail in the coffin of democracy in our country....with the blatant Neo Nazi attitude of justifying murder, for any reason. Although we claim to be a Christian-founded democracy, it is statements like this from people who claim to be Christian that shows the problem of allowing someone in power, or a spokesperson for our nations’ religious right, to use Christianity as a sword, and calling it ‘righteous’!

Perhaps someone else would, but Jesus, the Prince of Peace would not conquer the American Indians, nor slay the non Christians as we did during the Crusades. He would not hang African Americans from trees till they died as the Christian KKK has done, and he certainly would not assassinate anyone. When will we begin to wake up and see that today's 'Christianity' is not what it Christ intended, at all? And we as a country who claim it as our 'ethical' foundation, are basing ethics on hypocrisy, especially if Christianity continues to think war is righteous, Priests can molest and continue to be a Priest, and we can justify any sort of attack on any other country, as Christian. It is not.

Pastor Robertson’s thoughtless words must sound obviously hypocritical to everyone.... one would think! They have nothing to do with Jesus’ true message which was far removed from violence, not to mention that it strongly advocated forgiveness as a ‘way’ to obtain eternal life in Spirit, and peace, being the result.

Jesus said; “Seek and you shall find,” not “Seek and destroy.” And he stood firmly in his beliefs when he spoke of our brothers, whether we see them as an enemy or not when he implored us to learn to “Turn the other cheek’ not “Turn the missiles to his other cheek.”

If we are so threatened by the 'evil' of everyone else but us (sarcasm), let's be honest. We can protect ourselves without going outside of our country and purposely killing other human beings or threatening revenge and retaliation for similar threats to our own nation’s officials. Ask any survivor of a Nazi camp; the only true freedom is within ourselves, and can’t be given nor can it be taken away. One can find this out by finding a peace within despite terrorist acts without oneself.

But the purity of Christ’s true message, far more outlasting than any government or person on earth does need to be corrected when it is defaced by hypocrites such as Robertson.
So, please, Mr. Robertson, you silly man, either stop calling yourself a Christian, or stop speaking at all!
Diane L. Perretto

Walk a day in your brother's shoes?

2005-08-17T12:24:00.000-07:00

It’s been said we can join with a brother when we walk a day in his shoes.

But truth be known, two men cannot walk in the same shoes. So, it must be that things of the body, things of this world that make us separate, we must shed, for joining can only be of the mind.

To join in mind, there is no skin to have a color. There is no face to show an age. There is no body to define the sex, and there are no hands with which he labors, no eyes to see wrongly, no ears to judge words harshly.

As prophets of old have long foretold, joining with our brother requires a releasing of oneself from attachment to the body and its limitations, its judgments and its pain.

We cannot join if two cannot walk in the same shoes. Either the shoes must be kicked off, or we must remain in separate worlds.

Dlp 8-17-05

Who are you?

2005-08-15T08:37:00.000-07:00

The truth about us is known in moments too fleeting to grasp, and yet too real to forget.

When you look upon your brother with compassion for deeds too horrid to ‘forgive’, you have felt the light of Who you are and remembered It clearly.

When you have seen the murderer, and his eyes begged of you to give him light, and you responded with light, you have seen Who you are.

When you have looked upon the terror that is running rampant in the world, and realized that it is the effect, and not the cause of fear, you have seen Who you are a part of!

When you have heard of the ‘innocent’ tortured, and felt not sadness, but remembered Jesus words….“Forgive them Father, they know not what they do’, you have believed in a life eternal, and realized the Truth about your own Identity.

When you have laughed at your own seeming sins in joy at the folly of them, and seen the same innocence in every brother you meet, you are free indeed!

And life becomes a treasure of immeasurable love and forgiveness for all.

This alone is salvation. This alone is Who you Are.

Remember?

Profiling is NOT OK

2005-08-02T19:03:00.000-07:00

PROFILING IS NOT OK........THIS IS NOT NAZI GERMANY

For the citizens of any country, for all of mankind, we cannot justify the practice of profiling to help stop terrorism. This could only add to hate crimes, and further dissent among citizens, and change the face of America forever.

Let’s be realistic with what the truth of the matter is. Most white, right wing Christians, who live in the south are not in the KKK. However, most KKK members are white, very conservative, right wing Christians and live in the southern U.S. If we were to profile these particular sorts of people, the average white, conservative Christian, we’d be harassing an inordinate amount of people in this country since many of us are white, and Christian, but not killers.

My point is that I would venture to guess that the amount of people in our country or who count themselves citizens of their native country, who have dark skin and wear Muslim clothing that are actual terrorists, are equally as small in number relative to the suggested ‘profile’, as the amount of white conservative Christians that are Klu Klux Klan members.

What I have been really amazed at lately is the suggestion that since most terrorists fit a profile, we should let those who are ‘obvious’ non profile fitting types, go without checking their belongings, as though we insult the ‘good’ citizens of our country. Actually, isn't it possible that profiling allows the terrorists to find ways to beat the system ~ where non-profiling, check everyone, lets nothing get by?

TERRORISTS AND SHOPLIFTERS!

Profiling is done in security positions all over the world, there is no doubt. But, there a logic in this whole concept that really doesn't work in this situation.

Recently, on talk shows and at the water cooler, I have heard avid support from the average person for not checking the baggage of little old ladies and young children, or the average housewife type because they don’t usually blow up subways. But, there is no average terrorist; they can take the form and shape and place and economic status of any person, because they are here; they are citizens, and behind the scenes, before the bomb is blown up, there are many faces of terror.

So, in the case of an international or internal terrorist, unlike simple robbery or car thief cases, there is no geographical or economical common denominator to judge the typical criminal. For instance, in retail theft, it is true that people who steal are usually low income people. As stats show, the cities are places that invite low income people to get a start on life, economically, due to job availability, and the fact that they don't usually own their own car, and can take public transportation. The reasons are many. And many times black or hispanic immigrants fit in this catagory, trying to get ahead with little or no education. So, when security employees monitor their cameras, they look for hispanics and blacks, not because of their skin color which might mean something entirely different in a different area, but because they happen to fit the profile for poor people, who are more apt to commit a crime in a city area. If the same security office were looking for a thief in a Walmart in the hills of Tennessee somewhere, they’d be looking for 12-17 year old female, white girls.

THE FACE OF A TYPICAL TERRORIST

The sort of mind that believes that fear is the way to win over people's bodies/minds/hearts, does not pick and choose who to win over; they will try anyone, anywhere, willing. And those that fall into this sort of mindset themselves, don't have a particular face. Terrorists train all kinds and now that they think we think they don’t train little old ladies, they will certainly seek some out!

The media has been rather silly enough to suggest that we only check the bags of what they have decided is a typical terrorist, and so you can be sure there will be plenty of crazy people of all races, all genders and all ages with nothing better to do than find a ‘purpose’ for their lives, such as being the bringer of terror to people they hate. And like anywhere, there are enough angry, hateful people who are white, black or purple, to do the job....no doubt.

My point is...profiling doesn’t always work and if we choose to single out only the ‘obvious’ skin colors, or clothing, or religious background, we are foolish because most Muslims and dark skinned people have nothing to do with radical terrorist activities just as most right wing conservative Christians have nothing to do with the KKK.

THE 'RIGHTEOUS' JUDGEMENT OF THE CHRISTIAN CRUSADERS, THE INTOLERANCE OF THE KKK AND THE SLAUGHTER OF NATIVE AMERICANS IS NO DIFFERENT AND PERHAPS EVEN MORE DEVASTING TO OUR AMERICAN FOUNDATION OF FREEDOM AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS THAN ANY TERROR ACT YET
Hate crimes have killed or terrified more people than radical Muslim’s EVER did before 911 in our country. The hate was already here; it was just internal and often ignored as such. The Christian Crusades, the KKK, the colonists who killed the Native American people, the Popes who condoned killing in the name of Jesus, have done more to put terror on the map than any Muslim has in our country. We do not need to hate another group; they are all equal in their hate, and in their crime. One is not to be tolerated more than another. One should not be profiled and singled out more than another as well. An most importantly, rather than hate the group who hates, lets try to bridge the gap we have that creates the hate. If we have not been able to do it in our own history, with the aforementioned groups, how will begin with this new hateful group of radicals? To this mindset, they are but another reason to hate; to kill, no different than them, no different than the 'righteous' beliefs of the Christian Crusaders.

ORGANIZED RELIGION DIVIDES US

So, in the end, our new security problems and our own fear of public places is what the need to evangelize religion (and killing those who don’t agree) has done, in the name of ‘love’ and ‘Christ.’ The radical Muslims are no different than the Christian right wing fanatics who blow up abortion clinics, the KKK group members, and the Christian Crusaders who killed thousands, as well as the Nazi’s who killed the Jews. They are coming from the same hateful mindset.

And so, we have no choice now that we allowed our need for separate religious beliefs to cause hate as did all the above mentioned groups, to be imprisoned by fear. In truth, there is no freedom in religion since by its nature, it divides.

One God, one People, will never happen when we decide that some look more capable of terror than another. If one person has to have their bags checked at the airport, ALL people need have their bags checked. If we allow our government to tell us that certain people, don’t appear threatening, but dark skinned Muslim’s do.......Nazi Germany is not far from our new reality.

How many right wing Christian white people do you know blew up an abortion clinic, or killed another person because they were black? And how many dark skinned people who wear Muslim garb do you know that placed a bomb under your seat on the bus? Both are equally unlikely, or likely. Either way, we cannot profile one and not the other.

Diane L. Perretto

The Terrorist Within

2005-07-24T08:58:00.000-07:00

TERRORISM....

The only way to stop terror is by not being terrified.

The only way to not be terrified is to not think death is terrifying.

The only way to not think death is terrifying is to realize we are more than our body.

If we are more than our body, our body's demise is not terrifying.

Sound incredibly simple, and yet completely out of reach, right?

Maybe it is. But perhaps it is time for all people to begin to awaken to the idea, and believe that this just might be true.

By denying the possibility that it is true, refusing to even entertain this high spiritual understanding, we lose our ability to rise above this world, and find true and lasting peace, within....and eventually, without.

The kind of peace that body knows nothing of.

Let's entertain the thought that our body is but our own belief... a mistaken identity! It is the belief who we are is but a body that takes up space on earth. This mistaken identity is a sure way to assure we can never 'win.' Because if this is true, someone else is capable of taking our peace from us, by killing our body. And then, we could never have peace, could we?

With the belief that terrorists can truly 'kill' us, we are indeed in Hell.

THE REAL MESSAGE OF CHRIST ENDS ALL TERROR

After all, what could be worse than being but a body, vulnerable to destruction at every turn in the road? Within this mindset, life is spent just putting off our own demise, in various ways, all the while conscious the inevitability of it's end, and of the ability of anyone else to simply 'take' our very life, in a violent way; and our fears fanning hatred all around.

In such a place, we are not listening to Christ's message nor any prophet of God. Instead, we are like a ship lost at sea. We scream and kick and demand that we 'find a way!' to be safe from the violent terror, away from winds of hate, all the while a futile attempt to remain afloat on a turbulent, powerful sea.

While in the violent sea, I believe Jesus would tell us, to do what ever we will, but do it from the state of mind and understanding that the body is not where our true freedom lies, and we come from a power much greater than the earth's power. And what is true and eternal cannot be taken from us. And what is true and eternal is the only thing of value.

THE CALMING OF A VIOLENT SEA

It might do us all well, to remember one of the most famous stories about Jesus' ministry while on our Earth. It was about the time when the Apostles yelled to Jesus as he slept during a terrrible storm at sea, afraid for the lives of their bodies. He got up, and told them not to worry, because 'the Son of Man has the power to calm the sea!' He also reminded them that they were men of little faith. It was not faith in him they lacked, but in the Higher Power, within THEM.

Then, he calmed the sea with the power of his faith in Who he was. The power of the mind to NOT choose terror, NOT choose the illusion of time closing in on their lives, but instead choose the belief that we are connected to a far greater Power, our Father, God, Who is NOT a body, knows not of time, nor death, nor fear.

That 'Son of Man' is you. And me. The sea is the world where terror seems to strike us dead. It is our fear, it is our need to protect what is not eternal and thereby deny our True Identity as Sons of God, that keeps us prisoner to fear, and to terrorists acts.

PRACTICAL FAITH of WINNING A WAR

While believing we are but a body, subject to the laws of death and the illusion of time, we will believe we need to protect our country, our children, to defend, keep out, and alert others, this is true. And so we should, but from a different, more evolved state of mind, for we are not ready quite yet to rise above the fear. And so, as it has been said, 'When in Rome, do as the Roman's do.'

But, henceforth, we will be wiser, more compassionate, calm and less and less afraid of losing that which is temporary. Faith such as what Jesus spoke of, comes through internal understandings and experiences that cannot happen without a willing heart.... a heart willing to trust in the message of the one Son, who figured it all out.

A task we as ego's cannot do, but we CAN ask a Higher Power that we begin to undersand this concept, truly. And begin to live it.

Obviously, like the Apostles, we cannot always remain in the state of mind Jesus would have us be. Like the Apostles, we may fall asleep in the Garden of Gethsemany, but we can join in an effort not to!

The results 2000 years ago, of falling asleep, were the death and destruction of our very Breath of Life, but we can try, and try ...until we all remain awake, and sure that we are more than our body; without fear, without anger, without a need to 'fight back' an enemy this is fear itself.

We cannot win a war in which the 'enemy' has already won. Once one feels fear, they have been defeated. Fear not, for someone overcame the world for us, and overcame all fear and hate, and in his life and teachings we can all do the same.

DLP
7-24-05

All it is....is this

2005-07-06T19:21:00.000-07:00

I was sitting one day when I had a ‘light bulb moment’ as I have come to call them. After one such moment, I am changed in some small way, forever. Like the darkness changes to light; no in between is possible.

I heard within, regarding the state of unhappiness….“All it is, is this: We blame others for our existence.”

And so I thought, why would we blame another for what we think is good? Existence must then not be ‘good’ in some way I do not yet understand.

And so my Self then thought to my self…. Existence is this; a huge defense against our Perfection.

Our bodies, our sickness, our world, is a world made up of many, to prove we are unique individuals. We are not. We are one. And 'One' is the definition of unique because it alone is truly One! So, that which we seek...to be unique, we already are.

Oh my!
Diane L. Perretto

Empathy can change the world, by changing you!

2005-07-01T19:18:00.000-07:00

THE REASONING OF TRUE FORGIVNESS

Empathy and forgiveness the same thing to me. To have empathy is to be able to feel and think from another’s perspective. To forgive is not to pardon a mistake. If that were true, it would involve unfair judgment, dependent upon one’s own view, one’s unique perspective, or even mood for that day. No, forgiveness is truly divine because it does not and cannot involve a judgment as to whether or not something is worthy to be overlooked. It is to understand the behavior as the acting out of that person’s fear and pain. Jesus did not condone a ‘sinners’ behavior, telling them what they did or did not do was ‘ok’ and go right ahead and continue. I would imagine Jesus telling the person in error that doing what they were doing was not beneficial to their own, or anyone’s life, but all that needed to be changed in this situation was their mind. A mind without fear, produces actions that are loving. For to have judgment produces fear and guilt. Hold no grievance, made no judgment and you have no fear. Jesus was simply able to empathize with all of mankind. Simply? Did I say that? It is not so simple as we all know.

COME TOGETHER
This morning on my bike ride the song ‘Come Together’ came to me, by the Beatles. I am not a Beatles fan. I don’t even care for that song. And, I really have no idea what it is actually about. But, the thought occurred to me after that song played out in my head, that the saving of all mankind is when we put the puzzle back to together again, realizing we are all pieces of the same mind. So, the drug addict, the prostitute, the saint, the mother, the child, even all the murderers, and the rapists, the scientists, the teachers, the whole world of personalities…..are split off pieces of ourselves. You are not a separate you. You are part of me, and I am part of you, but we are acting out like little individual egos; some of us thinking we are ‘better’ or more healthy than others. Some of us nicer, kinder, more evil. But we aren’t . The healing of one mind will take the coming together of all minds. There is no room for judgment when it is yourself you are attempting to put back together in one piece.

There is nothing new under the sun. This phrase has new meaning for me, because there is nothing, no emotion, not a thought in your mind or mine that has not been felt collectively by all of mankind. So let’s get off our high horses, and ‘come together’ once and for all. Healing is a joint effort which occurs one way; forgiveness. There is no other way.

Diane L. Perretto

Public Display of Religious Doctrines

2005-06-27T11:04:00.000-07:00

PUBLIC DISPLAY OF RELIGIOUS DOCTRINES

The specific issue in the news today is regarding whether or not to display the 10 commandments in our governmental buildings or any religious doctrine in a public place. One has to be honest about what one wants it to accomplish to determine whether or not it is helpful and also necessary.

Here is a simple example. The love we have in our minds and hearts for our children cannot be shown or displayed to anyone else. A picture of them is but a suggestion to others that we love them. Yet, a child molester could just as easily plaster pictures of their ‘beloved’ one all over their office. My point is obvious. The display itself is really meaningless; it is in the reason behind the public display and the meaning that we as observers give to it, that is really the issue here. Beauty is not the only thing that is in the eye of the beholder! All meaning is in it.

As far as the intention behind the display; do those who are adamant about having the 10 Commandments very visible and other such things need to ‘see to believe’? Or maybe they feel the need to show others that they believe? If a person is truly spiritual, they realize that the love of God is written on the hearts of each person; whether or not it is written on some wall somewhere else just doesn’t matter. Those who fight to have religious pictures or sayings in public places need to think about the purpose they are hoping to have it serve.

On the other hand, if the purpose is honestly to remind us of our historical religious background as a nation and it is thus perceived by onlookers as such, then let it be in that spirit that it is displayed, along with other historical documents with or without religious connotations. If they were part of what helped to form the U.S. Constitution, they should be equally displayed.

And those against doing this should honestly examine what it is that offends them about it. Is it offensive to them to represent and display what formed our founding father’s ideas on what an ideal society should be? Keeping in mind, the 10 commandments were an integral part of our founding father’s ideologies but also that our spiritual/religious views are changing and growing, as we as a nation, change and grow with more spiritual understanding and new insights from other paths, which may also some day be up for discussion as to whether or not to publicly display them.

AN ANALOGY
Maybe it would help to look at the government as the company for which you are employed. Your employer might display the original owner’s family picture on the wall who happen to be Christian, Muslim, or Buddhist (you name it) and are wearing some token of one of those beliefs in the photograph or painting. Do we get upset and think “But those are not my kids, nor my beliefs! This means this company is against my kids, and me. I can’t work here, or they have to take those down.”

All those photographs mean is that those people founded the company you work for and that is their photograph. Nothing more and nothing less. It means they are honoring the founding father’s of your employer who is giving you the ability to make a living on a daily basis. One could hardly be angry or object to their right and their desire to place a picture, or maybe even a pledge by them, to you, as an employee or a pledge to uphold the moral standards of their personal belief system in all endeavors.

The point being, there is no wrong or right in regards to the public display of things of a personal or spiritual nature. There is only the balanced or imbalanced interpretation that we give these displays that make the problem. In these interpretations, we see our fears and prejudices. Fear that someone can take away what is forever etched within our hearts. Fear that if it is not displayed for all to see, it doesn’t exist and doesn’t hold true for us. If we are Buddhist in this country, do we feel offended by pictures of Jesus? If we are Christian, should we feel offended by one who wishes to honor Buddha? Both are rightly part of our society and one cannot threaten nor demean the other.

Personally, the whole argument helped me to see that I do hope there is a day when we welcome the representation of all religions in public places, keeping in mind that to honor a religion is not the same as enforcing it. But rather as a show of gratitude for how they helped to build our society in various ways and perhaps at differing stages of our evolution. Although Christianity was our founding father’s religion, it is not the same Christianity that today is unfolding. Today we are learning that all the great religions say the same thing and so to honor one above the other is meaningless. I hope for a day when we don’t feel threatened or in any way bothered by the presence nor the absence of the display of our society’s spiritual paths, knowing that it is in our hearts and minds that we represent them, not in the things we choose to represent them anyway!

So, the only real thing we need to be bothered about in this on going American issue, is our own intentions in the need for display, not the display. We give meaning to what we are viewing. It cannot be the other way around.
Diane L. Perretto

The Silly Moral War

2005-06-25T18:04:00.000-07:00

Read at your own risk. If you have high blood pressure, or are a staunch conservative or passionate liberal, push delete immediately. If you are tough, open minded, and love a good debate from both sides, and of course, care about the subject of our country's divided mind set...read on.

“Rove, the architect behind President Bush's election victories, on Wednesday night told a gathering of the New York Conservative Party that "Liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers." Conservatives, he said, "saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war." Yahoo News

THE COMMENT
And Democrats are supposed to be offended by this comment? Is it not a good thing that a group actually wanted to think first, before declaring war? I think it is a bit of an exaggeration and a generalization to say that any group thought one thing, and one thing only. Republican or Democrat. To say Democrats wanted only to understand our attackers is just silly. After all, none of them are Jesus yet and if they could only feel that way, they'd all be Jesus! Would that be a bad thing? Is war the thing he would think first and foremost? If your answer is 'I don't necessarily want to follow his lead'....I guess the point is lost on you, but perhaps there are other good reasons to not think that way? Ghandi, for example?

THE MORALITY WAR
But more to the point of my point....this ridiculous morality fight between Democratics and the Republicans is a war in itself that will divide and destroy this country if we are not careful. We need to see past the labels once and for all. Both sides are equally 'righteous' in their attacks on each other. Our country loses in the end due to the discord it causes in the House and Senate and in our own world.

To pit one group against another in an attempt to make one seem more moral is unbelievably childish; it’s first grade stuff. We are all guilty of doing it sometimes, but these people are running our country; they represent us to the world. I am beginning to be concerned. Ok, I've been concerned for a while! Dean does it, Rove does it....they are all beginning to sound like kids in a sandbox and it seems to be escalating lately. I would comment on Dean's comments about Republicans, but I lost the fervor of the moment since it was a while back. Maybe he'll be quiet for a while now....we all hope.

Back to Rove. He said the Republicans reacted to savagery with preparation for war, as though that were the 'moral, right thing to do' ...that is funny to me, in a sick way.
Our reactions to savagery do not define our morality. Our reactions to savagery define a reaction to our human condition; vulnerability to emotional and physical attack by others.
In truth, we all felt vulnerable, and we all felt scared. But there was a myraid of feelings that day and since that day for all of us. Some of us, Republican and Democrat, did want to understand the minds of those who blindly, randomly kill, and realized perhaps rather abruptly that day in September, that we must begin to meet half way in some areas with different cultures and figure out a way to live together on the same planet, harmoniously, with varying beliefs and ways. And I don't think Democrats hold the ticket to peace and open mindedness...or the Republicans. To think one does is just plain silly. I like the word silly I guess.

And please don't yell back with your hands on your hips "But they don't try to understand us, so why should we?! They hit us first!!"

FIGHTING THE BULLY
Punching the bully on the playground may make sure he doesn't bother you again (til he forgets about it, with his short attention span (did I say that?) but it does not fix his mindset, and it surely doesn't mean he won't bother someone else as soon as you look the other way. And 'someone else' DOES matter, in a global economy and world. So, we protect ourselves from his punch, and be clever and kind in our dealings with him to help him to change and grow with the relationship you both are now defining. And we can afford to define it in our way when we are protecting ourselves from harm while doing it. In other words... you can't bully a bully! It's just silly. (that word again!) Both sides win when neither has a motive to fight. Don't give him a chance, or motive.

To do this, is not to condone bad behavior as Rove suggests. It is to understand it. Be able to work with it so no one feels they have lost. We can better defend, and better make peace with a real understanding of other's beliefs, their passion and even specifics about their religion while protecting ourselves from infiltration of terrorists.

EDUCATING OUR KIDS
In the U.S. the Muslim religion, or really any other religion is never talked about or taught to our young children so most of them have absolutely no idea what a Muslim is. This means they are unable or most likely unwilling to understand that to say 'all Muslims believe in violence' is as silly as saying all Christians blow up Abortion clinics and all Italians are Murdering Mobsters. This is a big mistake on the U.S. educational system's behalf.
To teach is not to condone or agree with what you are learning. It is to educate and broaden minds about all facets of life. And it might just give a child the knowledge, patience, kindness, tolerance, and intelligence to see beyond one's religious beliefs and see a human being.
But tolerance, understanding and using the power of knowledge does not mean we don’t also want to feel protected while we are moving in the direction of those pursuits, knowing it may take hundreds of years of effort, but must be begun at one time or another.

WAR OR NOT
Protection, yes…in the form of defense. Offensive war, maybe. But not the knee jerk reaction of ‘war for sure' that Rove suggests the Republicans felt. Maybe I am not in touch with the average Conservative thoughts today, but I doubt most wanted war immediately and might have also had thoughts wanting to understand the basis for their attack, while at the same time, feeling a need to protect our soil. Protect, not offensively attack immediately, or perhaps, ever.

THE BIGGEST MYSTERY
What I have trouble really understanding, almost as much as how or why people kill and go to war …is how on earth people like Rove, or Howard Dean, with ignorant and childish comments, ever got into the positions they hold!
Diane L. Perretto