draft 84

i know where my faith lies yet my fallenness is persistent.

you may have doubts about your faith but He is certain of it.

condemning is at its best counterproductive and at its worst evil.

the condemnation of another is in most cases a self-serving act disguised as a benevolent one.

the activities of one's mind are not necessarily a reflection of the stirrings of one's heart.

the mind is not the abode of free will, the soul is.

the justice of humankind is not the justice of God. be mindful of this whenever you plead for justice from Him.

justice is flawed without visibility into the soul.


uncertainty can lead you to certainty if you befriend it.


one cannot arrive at love through reason; love is its own reason.


~~~~~

draft 83

it is not so much what the intellect can reason as what the soul can convey to the mind.

language is woefully inadequate in conveying the sacredness of life to an intellect that reasons otherwise.

one's intellect can be the bane of one's existence. one's intellect can be the bane of another's existence.

reason might bring you comfort but it is love that brings you peace.

draft 82

"enlightenment" away from God is but a plunge into deeper darkness.

draft 81

when you find yourself amidst the dark, where fear likes to prey, hold firm to your faith that the Light has led you there to be a channel of His peace.

draft 80

that which one denies, one will inescapably come face to face with.

draft 79

eternity sprouts from the momentary.

denial cannot nullify eternity.

whales

whales are very much attuned to the (human) soul; more so even than the (human) mind is.

draft 78

shallow water evaporates easily.

draft 77

it may not be always be apparent (or in a form that is in accordance with our expectations) but justice always comes. you can be certain of it.

draft 76

time rectifies any delusions from infatuation.

enjoy your infatuations to the max by not taking these too seriously. :)

draft 75

a heart shrouded in fear is a heart love will never find.

draft 74

anxiety, depression, addiction - symptoms of spiritual poverty.

one remedies one's spiritual poverty when one remedies the poverty of others.

see poverty; seek remedy.

i won't be picky;
i won't be lofty.
i'll seek to remedy
whatever poverty i see.

a prose on second chances

there is reason for caution,
there is reason for apprehension.
there is a sense of uncertainty,
there is a lack of clarity.

yet the possibility
for that which brings
meaning to all,
makes it so worth the bear
of any risk of fall.

so open your mind
to what your heart is open to,
and give your earnest best
as you see it through.

fear

i see you at the distance;
i initially hesitate.
yet onward i push on,
relying on recollection,
that you are but an illusion,
that clouds my perception.

draft 73

the ability of one to laugh at one’s own frailty affords such one peace with it.

ideas are the bane of status quo.

the path to...

the way is unfamiliar;
the way is obscure.
yet past the obscurity,
seems to lie finality,
whispering from within.

and so i go,
that i might see,
that which whispers
beguiling calls to me.

draft 71

the magic of memory is the perpetual capture of sentiments.

one is not defined by what one has but rather by what one does with it.

what one has is not nearly as relevant as what one does with what one has.

there is the worth that the world assigns to you and there is the worth of your essence. the former is temporal; the latter is eternal.

it's a new day. hmmm, let see, what fears can i overcome today? :)

fear is a dam that holds the living water that is love. break fear by allowing love to swell up to overflowing levels.

when we overcome fear, love flows. when love flows, the spirit grows.

fear is my archnemesis. i wage battle with it every minute, every hour, every day.

fear is abundant, dominant and pervasive in the fallen condition.

one who truly loves, does not peddle fear.

despite the heartbreaks that love brings, love until your heart can break no more.

life's greatest tragedy is to not have loved.

peace can at times be so elusive that capturing even a moment of it is golden.

as our perspective of our fellow human beings changes, our little world changes right along with it (up to the microsecond even).

our own little world evolves in accordance with our perspective of the world at large.

go inward to find the answers to who you really are; past all the blinders we put up along the way.

make the most of your moment, one moment at a time.

always remind yourself that fear blocks the flow of love...always.

it's all about your soul reuniting back with God...it really is.

take care of overcoming your fears because when you succeed in doing so, the love that is the essence of your soul will flow and manifest.

i fear not evil; i fear succumbing to it. for when i succumb to evil, my soul experiences death.

every day is a day full of fears to overcome. and when night falls, my joy springs forth from what fears i managed to overcome.

i am so fallen that overcoming my major fallen traits leaves me with practically no spare energies to dwell of the fallen traits of others.

whenever one judges the fallenness of another, it distracts such one away from overcoming his/her own fallenness.

with anything that comes easy, it's gonna be easy come, easy go.

God spares me (thankfully) from the perils of (legitimately acquired) easy money...He simply does not give me access to it. LOL. :)

the only being who knows every aspect of our fallenness yet loves us unconditionally is the One who redeemed us from it.

initial fears i may have of evil acts that evil people may do stems from my own self-restraint in inflicting evil acts on them preemptively.

it is the soul in persons who do evil acts that makes them loved by the God i love. therein lies my initial sense of vulnerability to them.

there is a phase as one transitions from evil to love where fear reigns. once one gets to love, fear of any evil is no longer.

everyday is a striving day. every hour is a striving hour. it's one hour at a time for me.

talent can take you only so far. it is heart that puts you over the top.

oversized talent + oversized ego = little heart.

success is sweet indeed when tempered with one's struggles.

love for God is manifested in the striving; not in the outcome.

but by the grace of God i will never cease to strive.

it is not easy to be a channel of the peace of Jesus.

it is not easy for me to not seek to be loved so much as to love with all my soul.

it is not easy to not seek to be understood so much as to understand.

it is not easy to bring the love of Jesus to where there is hatred.

it is so easy to get lost in one's self-serving response to the self-serving acts and attitudes of others.

passion conquers adversity...always.

my thoughts are my prayers.

with simplicity, comes enlightenment.

with compassion, comes fulfillment.

with humility, you have clarity.

love, our perception of it, evolves. from the simple to the complex and finally back to the simple.

you cannot expect your neighbor to talk peace with you unless you accept them as your neighbor. love someone first; then talk peace.

marriage built on the foundation of spiritual compatibility rests on living stone.

marriage built on the foundation of sexual compatibility rests on jello.

when i hear classical music, i feel the glory of God in heaven.

merciless with fear; compassionate with love.

deceived by fear; enlightened by love.

self-serving in fear; selfless in love.

doubtful in fear; faithful in love.

troubled by fear; comforted by love.

held back by fear; advanced by love.

imprisoned by fear; liberated by love.

in everything and anything you do, do always with excellence. follow this principle and success and fulfillment will always follow you.

draft 70

with humility, you have clarity.
with compassion, comes fulfillment.
with simplicity, comes enlightenment.

draft 69

sheep can only marry sheep.

sheep who marry each other ought to belong to the same shepherd lest they be separated when their shepherds go different ways.

draft 68

the way of Jesus was certainly difficult even for Jesus.

Jesus did not cheat; He fully immersed Himself into the fallen condition of humankind.

so where does the grace of God fit into all of this? the grace of God is certainly a must-have if one is to persist in following the way.

draft 67

the sheep belong to a shepherd;
they know their shepherd,
and they follow him.

i am sheep;
i belong to a shepherd.
i know my shepherd;
my shepherd is Jesus,
and i follow Him.

and what about the sheep
who don't follow Jesus?
they are but lost;
the shepherd will not
rest until He finds them.

draft 66

spare your future spouse future grief. don't marry if "great" sex is a relationship must-have for you.

from fear to love

imprisoned by fear; liberated by love.
held back by fear; advanced by love.
troubled by fear; comforted by love.
doubtful in fear; faithful in love.
self-serving in fear; selfless in love.
deceived by fear; enlightened by love.
merciless with fear; compassionate with love.
turmoil in fear; peace in love.

draft 65

it is difficult for lucifer to deceive those who use selfless love as the basis for establishing the truth of any spiritual or religious teaching.

draft 64

don't allow the voice of lucifer to lead you away from God.

where fear lurks, lucifer is not far behind.

draft 63

suffering is a perception fed by the fallen condition. the day suffering is no longer suffering to you is the day you would have attained what saint thérèse of lisieux attained when she expressed " "i have reached the point of not being able to suffer any more, because all suffering is sweet to me."

when that day comes, everlasting peace (and the everlasting joy that derives from it) is yours.

draft 62

our inherent inclination toward irritation stands in the way of our desire to render kindness and compassion to the trigger of this our natural disposition. full speed ahead and run it over. :)

draft 61

the concept of "jihad" has been so utterly corrupted by the architects of evil to exploit impressionable minds and inspire and incite these towards righteous acts of evil.

holy war is a concept that originates from lucifer.

woe to all who engage in holy war. in all holy wars. both sides in a holy war are so convinced that their acts are holy. how absolutely diabolical!

"put your sword back in its place. for all who draw the sword will die by the sword." - Jesus.

"if anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. if anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed. this calls for patient ENDURANCE and FAITHFULNESS on the part of the saints." (Revelations 13:10 NIV).

draft 60

"And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?" - Jesus (Mark 8:36-37 NLT).

‎"justice" is not worth losing your soul for.

draft 59

once the delirious euphoria spurred by the killing of osama quiets down, those who harken to the voice and teachings of Jesus can perhaps pause to reflect a bit on this highly sought after thing we call "justice" and the "closure" that it is supposed to deliver.

in truth, as much as we are inherently inclined to believe, the inflicted suffering and death of one who has brought psychological trauma and/or death to a loved one, in and of itself, never brings the healing and peace that we seek from it.... for as any affected parent, child or spouse would acknowledge, the death of another does not bring back the life of the deceased loved one. rather, the true deliverer of peace and healing is forgiveness (of the offender dead or alive).

this is because the act of forgiveness is an act that tries to look beyond the visible surface and deeper into the spiritual spaces of a person where the soul resides in apparent obscurity and neglect.

forgiveness is the only source of everlasting healing and peace because to forgive is to see the face of Jesus in the person we forgive (even if the face that is readily apparent to us is that of lucifer).

one CRUCIAL area of understanding that we followers of Jesus have failed to grasp is this - the redemption of humankind from the exercise (in the state of perfection) of free will to break from God ushered all of us into a new relationship with God that NEGATES and OBLITERATES all previously held norms of justice (for example, the justice of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth").

"You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also." - Jesus (Matthew 5:38-39 NLT).

"You have heard the law that says, 'Love your neighbor' and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!" - Jesus (Matthew 5:43-44 NLT).

"In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike." - Jesus (Matthew 4:45 NLT).

"do NOT resist an EVIL person!" - wow, my inherent programming makes this almost impossible to do. only with the grace of Jesus can i overcome my inherent nature.

wouldn't it be something if i can actually manage to lay down my life for my enemy?!?!with love even?!? boy, that will really be the day the Lord has made.

forgiveness is the new NORM OF JUSTICE that the blood of the Lamb has redeemed us into. you can validate the truth of this with the Holy Spirit yourself. :)

draft 58

i see the sea,
the sea see me.
me in the sea,
see me sea.
me see sea,
me sea me.

draft 57

you see, when you see with charity, you see.

when you see with charity, you will see charity.

children's story 1

once upon a time in a land far away, there live a people who possessed the ability to see what lies in the heart of each and every neighbor. as a result, every member had peace because each could see past unloving acts that masked the love visible in the heart. one day, they all lost this manner of sight. yet peace remained amongst each one because in its place sprung forth the ability to see with charity. the end.

draft 56

the selfless is light for the world.

those who care are those who dare.

poem segments

each night is a sight
into a day gone blight or bright.

make it right;
keep love in sight.
despite the might
of those who spite.

each day i fear,
i may not hear
the voice of love,
from Holy Dove.

and so i strive to stay alert
to keep from causing another hurt.

for in our bliss,
we sense it true
love is our being,
through and through.

and in our misery,
when much we doubt.
lay rest to woe-is-me,
when love breaks out.

happiness thread

happiness is lighting a wish with the flame of love.

draft 55

the more mind-soul connections we form, the less of our actions we are able to cloak with the fabric of reason.

our need for friendship is nothing more than a manifestation of our spiritual longing to reconnect with God. this statement is so regardless of the mind's actual awareness of God and the soul.

it is love to want to BE a friend as opposed to needing one. the more mind-soul connections we form, the closer we get to this state of mind.

we carry the mind-soul connections we form in one incarnation over to the next one. sweet!

ever wonder how it is that a five year old (for example) can love God so intensely at hello (the first mention of Him to the child)? contrast this to a fifty year old (for example) who cannot seem to grasp the spiritual no matter how exposed they are to the concept of God and the soul.

if you cannot sense the existence of God no matter how hard you try, ASK Him (even if you THINK you are pleading to nothing) to help form more mind-soul connections in you. keep on asking until you do. :)

it is the mind-soul connections that allow the mind to sense the spiritual.

these connections were broken when adam exercised his UNFALLEN spiritual free will to break from God.  this brokenness is what Jesus came into this existence (merged His spirit with a physical form and become a human being) to mend.

you're gonna need some neurological connections to realize you need some mind-soul connections as well. THINK!!!

when simon peter declared that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God, he must have experienced a massive formation of mind-soul connections. :)

the cry

i hear the cry of the unborn,
awaiting its slaughter.
it beckons me to listen.

what world is this i seek
to be born into, it ponders;
that sees me as nothing but a tissue,
it breathes with sigh.

yet live must i continue to strive,
it declares with determination,
despite the rejection i face
from the unwelcoming mind.

i hear your call.
i can't stand a moment more
doing nothing knowing full well
my voice i can lend to you.

draft 54

here is a better articulation of my sentiments concerning our role in pushing for the legislation of religious and/or spiritual values in a secular and democratic society.

do i feel a stab in my heart when i hear of a fetus selectively aborted? certainly. do i feel revulsion against the mother who made such an election? certainly not.

is it my role to force (through legislation) my spiritual values and truths on someone who does not share those same values? certainly not. is it my role to try to persuade her to consider the truths that i believe? certainly.

legislation in a democratic and secular society is about the rule of the majority and the imposing of controls on undesirable or desirable events affecting the citizens of society.

take for example legislation against murder. this is a non-brainer since no one would like the risk event of getting killed by another.

in other words, we are legislating against a risk event that could affect the PHYSICAL (not spiritual) or ECONOMIC wellbeing of each and every member of society.

legislation should not be about taking away PERSONAL choices (spiritual or otherwise) but rather to prevent harmful choices made by OTHERS upon us and our interests (such as murder).

the imposiiton of spiritual values and beliefs should NEVER be the primary driver (impetus) of laws in a secular society.

draft 53

nobody should MAKE anybody live their life according to the teachings and values of any deity through laws.

there is not a single written recollection of Jesus invoking His followers to push for the legislation of His teachings and values

goodness, i wouldn't want legislation to take any credit for my loving God with my life.

i am sure that how you love God with your life is not in any way, shape or form governed by the laws of the society which you belong to.

draft 52

where is the source of my certainty concerning the desire of the unborn to live? their soul connecting and communicating with mine.

will i be willing to lend my vote to their concern? most certainly. :)

this choice to lend my vote is not about promulgating spiritual values. rather, it is very much about preserving human life.

notwithstanding my establishing this human life via spiritual means. :)

when it comes to human life, i prefer to err on the conservative side.

draft 51

what is essentially missing in the sentiments of a mother who is contemplating the ending of her unborn child's life is an emotional connection between mother and child.

for certain, the spiritual connection between the soul of the mother with the soul of the unborn child nestled within her womb is there. the mind of the mother is unable to sense this exisiting connection because it (the mother's mind) is detached from its own soul.

draft 50

scripture is NOT intended by God to give (spoon-feed) us the spiritual truths but rather to lead our mind to it.

notwithstanding our faith that God inspired the spiritual truths upon the authors of scripture, i do not believe it was ever God's intention that scripture be absorbed at face value alone.

as God-inspired scripture might very well be, it is still subject to the imperfections of language and the fallen mind.

the bible (a collection of spiritual writings carefully selected by a committee of men) is not the sole repository of all God-inspired points of spiritual reflection.

one cannot use scripture to validate its infallibility.

draft 49

the value of learning algebra is to accelerate the formation of neurological connections in your brain. at least i think so. :)

analytical, rational and logical thinking stimulates the forming of neurological connections in the mind. the greater the number of neurological connections our mind forms, the better our ability to grasp and understand concepts get.

witness for example the child who is taught a certain thing and can only grasp a part of the concept being taught no matter how many times the child is taught it. eventually, as the mind of the child grows and matures, more neurological connections form which finally produces a "lightbulb moment" in the child's mind.

this same principle is true for the connections between the fallen mind and the soul. though the soul is a repository of spiritual truths, the mind is unable to tap into this repository due to the missing mind-soul connections.

as the number of mind-soul connections form, the mind is eventually able to see and gain knowledge of spiritual truths locked in the soul and available through the Holy Spirit (who resides next to our soul).

what stimulates the formation of mind-soul connections? thinking, pondering and reflecting on spiritual concepts do.

this is where the value of reading and reflecting on scripture comes into play. got it? :)

this is what i mean when i wrote in the preceeding thread that scripture is meant to lead us to the truth and not spoon-feed it to us.

then and only then will you attain absolute faith in the truth that you believe.

draft 48

with regards to my postings on the issue of abortion, i want to assure all my sister friends who have aborted or are about to that i do NOT in any way, shape or form judge or condemn you or your choice to abort.

i do not and cannot see what is in your heart associated with such a decision. only God can. it is not my business to decipher what is in your heart. it is my business to decipher what is in mine and act accordingly.

every spiritual point i write here is based on one assumption - that there exists a spiritual realm and in that realm is God, other spiritual entities and the soul of a human being. if this assumption is false, then every spiritual point here goes to trash.

therefore, a person who does not believe in the existence of the spiritual realm has the right to choose (using reason) to discard a piece of unborn tissue that such person deems to have no real value.

 for a person who believes in the soul and all things spiritual, such person ought to recognize that the life of the unborn is NOT subject to a personal choice, process of reason or negotiation.

may peace be always with you regardless of where your beliefs and sentiments lie concerning this issue.

draft 47

if there is a God and if Jesus is God, then there is no reckoning until the day of reckoning. there is one and only one such day. that day comes when Jesus returns.

on that day, ALL souls end their journeys regardless of what stage in their journeys they are in at that moment in time.

here is the point of reckoning - does the journey of a soul reflect a PROGRESSIVE (increasing or advancing) manifestation of love for God through acts of selfless love by the mind and body?

so fret not dear brothers and sisters if you fall repeatedly along the path that your soul takes but fret indeed if you do not get up on every fall and strive to remain upright.

draft 46

i am not voting to deprive you of your right to chose. i am voting to support the unborn's desire to live.

i would love to support both interests. unfortunately, supporting one nullifies the other and thus i have to chose one.

in this particular legislative issue, i vote in a manner that is true to what i hold to be spiritually true.

draft 45

einstein spent 30 years of his life unsuccessfully trying to conceptualize a "single set of rules that explains all the forces in the universe" (also known as the unifying theory). all the "greatest" physicists have been frustrated by this vexing challenge. this already exists - it is none other than SPIRITUAL LAW.

the "holy grail" of physics is a unifying theory. it is indeed unifying because it brings together the physical and spiritual realms.

the thinking of physicists are artificially boxed in within the boundaries of the physical realm. therein lies their problem as they try to figure out fruitlessly a unified field theory.

the physical realm derived from the spiritual realm. the spritual realm derived from God. God did not derive.

draft 44

did you know that if you were to travel INWARD into space (in other words get infinitely smaller), you will eventually find yourself arriving at your point of origin from OUTER space?

poem 1

who goes there
thee in my memories?
and whence does
thou do come from?

the memory of love
so real remains.
yet far and elusive
from vision thou so art.

from incarnations past
thou seems to be.
yet in near future cast,
hopefully art thee.

~~~~~

draft 43

spring into spring in the seasons of the mind.

draft 42

suffering is good, indeed very good, for a mind that is detached from its soul.

the aversion to suffering is the trait of the fallen mind that preserves its fallenness.

Jesus dived headstrong into suffering to secure our spiritual salvation.

think twice whenever we are making a choice spurred by our aversion to suffering.

our aversion to suffering can cloud a message coming from our soul.

draft 41

the present is so very much touched by the past.

all loving sentiments are perfect even in the midst of imperfection.

hang on to the precious few perfections you are blessed to have in your life.

draft 40

the spiritual sacrifice of Jesus' life + your acts of selfless love = eternal union with God.

this equation is true even if you have never heard of Jesus in your life. this equation is true even if you could not bring yourself to believe in Jesus despite your earnest efforts to do so.

all acts of selfless love stem from a soul's love for God regardless of whether the mind is conscious of God or not. the love for God in the mind is merely a reflection of the love for God in the soul. the latter can be without the former. therefore the true determinant of salvation lies solely on the latter (the area that God and God alone can see). thus, no human being is in any position to determine who goes to God and who doesn't.

a mind that is devoid of love for God does not necessarily equate to a soul that is devoid of love for Him. it may be indicative of a mind that has not caught up with the soul yet in that regard. for most (if not all), it takes several incarnations for the mind to get caught up with the soul. here then is one value of being a christian - striving to live the christian way of life accelerates the process by which the mind catches up with the soul (thereby reducing the number of incarnations in the journey of a soul).

ultimately, the end of the journey of a soul that loves God is eternal union with Him. the length of this journey is inextricably linked to the degree of dominance of the fallen mind in one's existence. the more dominant the fallen mind is in the existence of a person, the more prolonged the journey of that person's soul becomes. the more dominant the soul is in the existence of a person, the shorter the journey of that soul gets.

can you now somehow grasp the spiritual dynamics between the fallen mind and the soul?

long story short - don't judge; just love. forgive and love. love and forgive.

The Way to Pray

Pray with love.
Love listens to love.
Love responds to love.

draft 39

the past is never a conclusive indicator of the future.

draft 38

prevailing sentiments are fully digested sentiments (from among multiple simultaneously occurring ones) that reflect our hierarchy of values.

The Everlasting Thrill

The only thrill that never fades is the spiritual thrill.

~~~~~

draft 37

when we have had our fill of the sensual experiences that the physical and material world has to offer and we beg the question "is that it? is that all there is to life?", perhaps then, we can begin to truly open our mind to the deep, wonderful and fulfilling world of our spiritual side.

draft 36

if we cause a human being to be killed, that is a matter (in the highest order) between ourself and God.

any legal consequences would pale in comparison with the spiritual consequences.

draft 35

laws are reflective of the majority. change the thinking and sentiments of the majority and the laws will change accordingly.

that said, an electorate that is non-participatory surrenders rule of the majority to rule of the minority (or worse, the select and privileged few).

don't get all bent out of shape if laws go one way or another. if the laws of society go against your belief and you can't stand it anymore, move to another society that is more aligned with your morality.

if you can't move to another society (or don't want to), then heed the advice of mahatma gandhi - "be the change you want to see in the world."

draft 34

not once did Jesus ever get concerned or talk about the legislation and penalization of His commandments and teachings.

although legislation can be and is inspired by religious or spiritual teachings, such enactments are not done so for religious or spiritual motivations per se. rather, laws are enacted by society to create order that is aligned with the moral beliefs of the majority (in a democratic society that is).

that said, we enact laws that prohibit and/or discourage the killing of the born but we are not as moved to pass laws to prohibit and/or discourage the killing of prisoners, the unborn or enemies of the state (among others). what drives us to be selective in that fashion?

draft 34

the introduction and integration of a soul into a living physical entity is what turns that entity into a human being. thus, even a single living cell that is combined with a soul becomes a human being at the moment of integration.

in light of this, a key question that we are faced with is this - at what point precisely is a soul introduced and integrated with a fetus?

this is obviously a spiritual question. spiritual questions can only be answered by the spiritual. our soul knows what the answer is. search your soul for the answer. better yet, ask the Holy Spirit to open your mind to the answer.

my soul has revealed the answer to my inquring mind. for an extra measure of certainty, i asked the Holy Spirit to share the answer to this question as well. the overwhelming answer - at the very moment of conception.

draft 33

it is one thing to possess and use an instrument of death and quite another thing to have the power to inflict death. likewise, it is one thing to possess and use an instrument of life and quite another thing to have the power to instill life.

there are powers that belong to God and God alone which the fallen mind of mankind wishes and strives to possess and (in delusion) believes it has and takes full credit for; and from such delusion (deluded thinking) spring forth deluded choices and decisions.

draft 32

when one stops to reflect and consider that the essence of our spiritual salvation were the physical and emotional pain, suffering and death (at the hands of mankind's fallen nature) that Jesus voluntarily surrendered His being to with selfless love, one may perhaps get a clue as to the very real and powerful spiritual ramifications that these very physical aspects and conditions of our reality possesess.

death in particular has profound spiritual ramifications.

i may not be privy to the exact spiritual consequences of suicide but i do sense that the spiritual consequences of that act are negative. just don't ask me to describe the character of that negative consequence. perhaps you can ask the Holy Spirit. :)

on the more positive side of death is what Jesus taught us and exemplified with His own death - "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13 NIV).

it is therefore any wonder that one of the ten commandments is to not kill?  it comes in at #5 just after "honor thy father and thy mother." my mom always liked to remind me of the #4 rank of that commandment. LOL

draft 31

when human beings do it, it is always spiritual.

draft 30

in the narratives of His time with us, Jesus is portrayed as a person who was deeply affected and moved to action by the pain and suffering of people. in his teachings about love, he always invoked those who love Him to translate their love into actions that relieve the sufferings and pain of others.

one can perhaps surmise that pain (though physical in nature) might have profound spiritual properties that have a direct or indirect effect on our soul.

such a supposition would be aligned with the concept of the human being as one where a physical form (inlcusive of the mind) is integrated with a soul (a spiritual entity).

what precisely are the spiritual dynamics of pain? in other words, what are the ramifications of pain upon the spiritual realm (keeping in mind the concept that the human being is the linkage between the physical realm with the spiritual realm)?

in counterpoint, what precisely are the spiritual ramifications (if any) of pleasure (the enjoyable pleasing of the physical senses)?

what (if any) are the spiritual ramifications of sex?

draft 29

the more times one successfully leverages one's pain and suffering into something positive in one's life, the less averse one would be toward future episodes of it.

as we become less and less averse to pain and suffering, we will attract (or notice) less and less of it in our life.

a very important element in the application on this principle in my own experience - an unsurrendering faith that all is happening under the loving watch of God in whose infinite wisdom i defer to and entrust my life in.

draft 28

pain (in all its many forms) is a powerful agent of change for the mind.

depending on how it is used (selflessly or unselflessly), it can lock the mind into a state of mind or unlock it from a existing one.

when pain is deployed for selfish purposes, the end point is a mind that is LOCKED into a desired state.

when pain is deployed for selfless purposes, the end point is a mind that in UNLOCKED from a controlled and/or programmed state; in particular, the fallen state of mankind's mind.

leverage (in a selfless and postive manner) our pain and suffering to unlock our mind's bondage from fear and the fallen existence.

draft 27

it is sad enough when perception robs us of our friends. it is downright cruel when it takes away our peace. don't let perception get away with it.

in reality, there are no true or false perceptions; these are all relative. and thus, we ought to focus more on the effects of perception and not its nature.

draft 26

when in God's time you let matters be, the answer you seek will unfold with certainty.

draft 25

the joy that comes from helping relieve the suffering of another is everlasting.

draft 24

do not believe all that you perceive.

draft 23

unbridled consumption consumes us. it suffocates our soul.

Strangers

The only strangers in the journey of souls are our minds.

~~~~~

draft 22

revenge is a parasite that eats away at your soul.

fb marker - 1/23/2011

draft 21

it's all fine when in God's time. :)

draft 20

it is in our fallenness that we are all equal.

it is our common starting point that we all strive to arise from and help each other along the way.

there is nothing more hypocritical than a fallen unabashedly judging and/or showing disgust for the fallenness of another.

but then again, being hypocritical is an aspect of the fallen state

draft 19

why do i go to great lengths writing about our fallen state? for certain it is NOT to lower our value as human beings. rather, it is to make us truy appreciate the great love God has for us. understanding our fallenness also enables ourselves to find PEACE with our "failings" and the failings of others and thereupon foster harmony amongst each other.

look around you. look at your life. there is so much turmoil, anguish and disharmony and we can't seem to break free from this state of living. it need not remain that way.

we cannot be the master of our fallenness without first coming to terms with it.

coming to terms with it means realizing that though we may not be able to CHANGE it, we are but called to STRIVE to overcome it.

may we find our peace while we are still in this existence.

and not wait until we are six feet under.

draft 18

forgiveness gets easier when we have understanding.

draft 17

In the beginning there was only the spiritual realm and in this realm was God and God alone. There were no atomic particles, no quarks and no physical laws. There was only God, spiritual laws and the nature of God - Love.

love does not rest in one place. it is active. It, in fact, very active and the direction of its activity is outward. though it may be contained for a time being, it cannot remain so forever. and thus, the love of God burst forth and manifested itself further in the creation of other spiritual entities.

but the manifestation of love did not stop there for after the development of the spiritual realm, God sought to manifest the beauty of His love in a tangible manner. and thus sprang forth the beginnings of the physical realm.

and just as there are spiritual laws in the spiritual realm, so did the physical realm begin with physical laws. with the physical laws the formation of all things physical unfolded according to the orderly randomness of God.

it is this bursting and unfolding style of God's creation of that darwin and others have sought to observe and describe in various thoeries such as the big bang theory, the theory of evolution and quantum theory.

finally, at a particular moment in this unfolding process in the formation of the physical realm, God created the greatest tangible manifestation of the beauty of love when he formed a unique being that merged the physical with the spiritual. that being is the human being - the single entity of love that is the lynchpin between the spiritual and physical realms.

nobody made God. God simply was. this is a concept that our minds have difficulty grasping because we started from something. even scientists such as hawkings attribute all physical creation back to physical laws. so kyle's question would be parallel to asking how did physical laws come to be (who made physical laws).

and that my dear brothers and sisters is the story of ALL creation. understand it and in so doing, grasp your eternal value to God and the value of all human beings to Him.

draft 16

the Lord knows what you need. do not allow the chaos of life to fool you into thinking that He has abandoned you. never allow yourself to fall into the trap of believing that you are being punished in the form of "misfortunes" that your life seems forever mired in.

draft 15

the love of Jesus is a love of ALL and for ALL.

we can certainly condemn and deal with ACTS of evil but it is not in our authority to condemn human beings by whom such acts come.

 for all human beings are fallen and the fallen state is of an evil nature.

and thus we are called to rise up from our fallenness through selfless love.

to strive to overcome our fallenness and to continually do so until the end of the journey of our soul

the end of that journey is the day of reckoning or the day one commits the greatest act of love (whichever occurs first).

draft 14

one's fallenness does not disqualify one from understanding and explaining the teachings of Jesus to the rest of the fallen. we are all called to help each other overcome our fallenness. we are NOT called to help each other ENJOY it.

draft 13

and here is the not-so-secret secret - intelligence is not the core of our being; our soul is. our intelligence (some refer to this as our consciousness) is not eternal; our soul is eternal and that is what makes it the most valuable entity in this existence.

draft 12

i go precisely (not recklessly) to where my fears lie so as to eventually master the skill of overcoming these.

draft 11

in truth, i do not have much wisdom. the wisdom of my actions (that eventually bares itself out) stems from my blindly setting course along the path that the Holy Spirit seems to lead me to. where does my certainty come from that the inspired path is indeed from the Holy Spirit? the certainty stems from the underlying motivation to do an act of love however foolish the act might seem at the onset.

draft 10

though faith is inherently and ultimately blind, it is only with the sight of understanding that we eventually gain it.

God gives us this faith when we passionately seek and want it.

we come to seek and want it when we see with understanding.

~~~~~

draft 9

the precise moment when i finally woke up to beginning to love Jesus is very clear to me to this day. i was in high school and almost obessively in love with a girl in the class year after me. long story short, i was agonizing one evening over how my passionate love for her was largely ignored and unrequited despite my relentless efforts to gained her attention and favor.

as i was praying to God and crying out my emotional anguish to Him, it dawned on me that i was doing the exact same thing to Him (God).

that was the moment i truly felt the pain of God and His unrequited love for me.

that was the moment i cried and began to pay more attention to recognizing His love for me and mine for Him.

that was the moment i began to love Jesus.

~~~~~

draft 8

our fallenness, if we let it, will turn everything beautiful into an aberration.

~~~~~

draft 7

Your core essence is selfless love. Whether you buy into this truth or not, whether the thought of it makes you puke or not, you will never find that which you restlessly seek until you strive to align your life with this reality.

~~~~~

draft 6

as failure prone as i am in actually commiting selfless acts of love, i nevertheless attain most of my peace from knowing that i am earnestly striving continually to do so.

~~~~~

draft 5

strive to live your life in accordance with who and what you really are.

you are a child of the Most High and made from His essence.

~~~~~

draft 4

mother teresa was moved to a life of herculean acts of selfless love not so much for the impoverished and marginalized who directly benefitted from her care but rather for those who are inspired to see the virtue of such acts. in other words, to allow others to see Jesus in our time and age.

and that is inclusive of those who were the recepients of her care.

~~~~~

draft 3

when our senses are stripped of all that is manmade and that which are left in our midst are but the natural, pwrhaps then might we sense the distinct and quiet presense of God.

~~~~~

draft 2

our mind is the epicenter of our fallenness.

do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..." - from the epistle of saint paul to the romans.

the light of Jesus shines bright within our soul to illuminate our mind. tap into that light to renew your mind and thereupon begin the process of transforming your life. and thereupon find peace and live in peace.

~~~~~

Colored View

Our view of others is oftentimes colored by our view of ourselves.

~~~~~

draft 1

there are some who view God as an utterly selfish being who created the universe and programmed all that is in it to behave in His prescribed manner solely for His entertainment. it would be a sad realization if indeed our existence was nothing more than that of a puppet's.

indeed, we can observe in our responses to stimuli (whether it be a physical, emotional or other type of stimulus) that a lot of these are automatic (occur instantly without even a conscious "decision making" process on our part) and predictable. there are numeorus experiments in sociology, psychology and other fields of science that clearly demonstrate and confirm the PROGRAMMED aspects of our being.

can you think of any act that we do that is NOT an effect of some programming in our being but rather is a conscious exercise of free will?

i believe that everytime we STRIVE to overcome a programmed response (be it physical, behavioral, emotional or other) in order to manifest our selfless love for God (via our selfless love for others), we are exercising free will.

the nature of free will is spiritual and thus it resides only amongst spiritual beings in accordance with spiritual laws. in other words, our soul has free will; not our mind.

overcome your mind so as to allow your true destiny to unfold.

~~~~~

Greatest Act of Free Will

No greater exercise of free will is there than to offer and surrender one's free will back to God.

~~~~~

Wisdom

In truth, I do not have much wisdom. The wisdom of my actions (that eventually bares itself out) stems from my blindly setting course along the path that the Holy Spirit seems to lead me to.

Where does my certainty come from that the inspired path is indeed from the Holy Spirit? The certainty stems from the underlying motivation to do an act of love however foolish the act might seem at the onset.

~~~~~

Overcoming Fear

I go precisely (not recklessly) to where my fears lie so as to eventually master the skill of overcoming these.

~~~~~

Gaining Faith

Though faith is inherently and ultimately blind, it is only with the sight of understanding that we gain it.

~~~~~

Guilt

The purpose of guilt is to bring to the immediate awareness of our mind an act or sentiment (originating in the mind) that is not in alignment with the nature of our soul.

Sadly, society as a whole together with religious institutions have over the centuries exploited guilt to bring about selfish control of others. Nevetheless, though we may be effective in controling the behavior of another by enhancing their guilt, this is but a superficial and short-term effect. True and lasting change is that which orignates from within a person - the longing of the mind to be in alignment with the soul.

Jesus never resorted to guilt; He only loved.

Resort to love, not guilt.

~~~~~

Spiritual Bodies

All things made of matter are but atomic particles swirling about in a randomly ordered way. Take away the order and you have nothing but a bunch of particles.

Spiritual bodies consist also of matter but differ from everything else physical in that they possess flexibly integrable order. As such, spiritual bodies possess qualities like the ability to pass through objects. More significantly, they are not bound by the restrictions of space, gravity and time.

~~~~~

Revenge

Revenge is a parasite that eats away at our soul.

~~~~~

Forgiveness and Spiritual Evolution

Every act of forgiveness is a progessive step in the spiritual evolution of the forgiver (directly) and the forgiven (indirectly).

To be able to forgive the person who raped, beat and killed your child (for instance) is indeed a significant milestone in the journey of the forgiver's soul.

~~~~~

Lasting Happiness

happiness without peace is but make-believe;
but happiness from peace is indeed truly received.

happiness without peace may cost you quite a penny;
but happiness from peace you need never shell out any.

find your peace;
find your lasting happiness.

peace.

~~~~~

Love and Incarnations

Love formed and completed in one incarnation is NOT meant to follow and continue on to the next one. In other words, romantic love formed and completed in a previous incarnation is not meant to follow and continue on to one's current existence.

~~~~~

More on Adversity

Our peace with adversity converts adversity into opportunity. In particular, an opportunity to be the person we really would like to be.

Thus, what was initially perceived as misfortune soon gives way to the perception of a blessing (or silver lining if you prefer that term).

~~~~~

a prayer

o lord my god,
am i misguided in
letting myself
internalize the anguish
and sorrow of others?

must i instead maintain
whatever joy and peace
i happen to manage in
my life unaffected though
mindful of and emphatic
for those around me who
cry out for relief of their
frustrations, fears and
agony?

does one really emphatize
when one has allowed onself
to be disensitized to the
sufferings of others for
the sake of preserving
one's own sanity and peace?

~~~~~

Flavors of Peace

When amidst prosperity peace we find and have,
to God we (hopefully) sing our praise and glory.
When amidst adversity peace we find and have,
to God all angels and saints sing their praise and glory.

If amidst adversity, peace my child could find,
free from worry I then would find myself in faithfully resigned.
For peace amidst prosperity is artificial and but a brief kiss,
whereas peace amidst adversity is real and spiritual bliss.

Though we gravitate to prosperity
in our quest to find peace thus,
It is ultimately in adversity
where peace finds and gravitates to us.

~~~~~