Why Christianity Cannot Usher In the Kingdom of God

Having grown up Christian, I know the topic I bring up will be extremely controversial. There are many Christians out there who believe if they do certain things, their place in God's kingdom is assured. They will condemn everyone who doesn't do these things to the eternal tortures of hell. This is exactly where the problem lies. The doctrine we know to be Christianity is based on the premise of separation--good and bad, right and wrong. It is not possible to live in community if you come from a place of separateness.

One of the basic tenants of Christianity is that we are all a bunch of terrible sinners, not having any value in and of ourselves. It is only through Jesus, our Lord and Savior, that we become spotless and blame-free. In other words, Christianity breaks us down to build us back up--all with the understanding that we are nothing without God. Ironically, there is some truth in this statement! We are nothing without God...because we are God!

OMG!!! Blasphemy and eternal damnation for even speaking such a concept!!! What Christians don't understand about the idea that we are God is that God flows in and through all things. God IS all things! This is why Jesus said, "Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me." (John 14:11 NIV) Jesus goes on to say in verse 20, "On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you." Jesus is telling us we are One with him and One with God!!! 

The thing is, Christianity as it has come to be known is not based on Oneness. It is based on separation! I believe the reason for this stems from the way the world was created. This world was created through an act of separation. We read in the First book of Genesis, verses 3 and 4:

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.

Further reading in this chapter shows that God continued to separate things out from the Oneness in order to create our world. This world was created in separateness! This is how we chose to experience it, but separateness is not the end goal!

Jesus came to teach this truth: We are all One with God! It is not Jesus fault we have been taught to judge everything, and thus separate everything! If you don't believe that Jesus taught Oneness, look at how he lived. He talked to and ministered to those people that society had been taught to despise--the woman at the well, tax collectors, those sick with leprosy. The people Jesus spoke out against were the very people responsible for keeping such groups separated--the teachers and leaders who held themselves "better" than the common man because they followed what they had been taught was the letter of the law! The pharisees and sadducees all taught separation in one form or another.   

The kingdom of God is based on the premise of unity--of Oneness! If we cannot learn to break down those barriers that separate us one from another, we can never learn to live as One. As long as Christianity promotes the idea that we are separate from God, it will never be able to participate in the building of God's kingdom on earth.

Learn to live as God lives. Learn to BE One! 

  

Love Them Anyway!

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.
~attributed to Mother Teresa

I was a very sensitive child. Often, I would find myself on the receiving end of anger, sadness or some other pain, and I would allow it to overwhelm me to the point I would cry or get upset. The world can be a very cold, angry place.

I gained some perspective on it when I was around twelve. It dawned on me that there were times I hurt people without meaning to. Sometimes, my impulsive actions led to misunderstandings--consequences I had not intended but which happened all the same. In that moment, I resolved to give others the benefit of the doubt. I realized that not every pain I received was intentional. This helped me not take things quite so personally.

It has only been in more recent years that I have gained more perspective on the intentional hurts people inflict on others. Yes, sometimes people will intentionally hurt you. Sometimes, you did nothing to bring that hurt to yourself except be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The thing is, people who hurt you, whether intentionally or not, do so because they live continuously in a state of pain. Their actions are based upon the pain they know. Thinking outside this box of pain may be beyond their present capabilities.

In our day to day lives, we allow this pain to separate us from those who seek to hurt us. There are times when walking away is the only thing we can do to keep ourselves from fighting back. Still, this pain places walls between us. We allow pain to keep us broken.

Mother Teresa's words speak to Oneness. They counsel us to accept that painful experiences will happen. We cannot control the actions of others. We can control the actions we take. We can choose to look past the flaws of others. We can choose to understand the pain others inflict on us comes from the pain they constantly live with, and we have the ability to accept it and love them anyway. Loving them anyway has the ability to break down all those barriers which separate us from one another.

We do not have to let the pain in our lives divide us. When we make the choice to love regardless of the other person's circumstances, we allow all that IS to move freely within our lives. Not only does this allow us to expand, but such actions ultimately touch the lives of every other person they come in contact with. Unconditional love can break through any barrier and unify the whole!

The next time someone hurts you, allow yourself to move past the pain and love them anyway. By doing so, you allow yourself to touch the heart of God and become the heart of God for others.

Weinergate...Really?

At this point in time, I cannot stand watching the news. Unfortunately, my husband does watch the news. There are many days I cannot totally stay away from it because it is on as I pass through the room. Seems the biggest, most important story these days involves the personal trouble of U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner. Apparently, he has gotten into some trouble because he tweeted "lewd" pictures of himself in underwear. I just have one word to say. REALLY???

Were the photos responsible for some breach in national security? Is Congressman Weiner the Mata Hari of the current political age? I think not. Do his actions show lack of good judgment? Yes. Do his actions show he has personal issues? Yes. Do people need to know this about him? Only if it would influence how they vote when he comes back up for re-election. Besides this, it truly should be a personal matter between him and his wife. If he were not part of the power elite, it would not be a public issue.

Weinergate is just one more thing for political opponents to point fingers at in order to justify how "right" they are. The question is, does your enemy's problem make you a better person?

We need to stop being a people of finger-pointing! The only thing finger-pointing accomplishes is separation and distraction! It makes people choose sides over issues that are fruitless! How is knowing Weiner is cheating on his wife going to improve the unemployment rate or fix the healthcare crisis?

Where are the solutions to the world's problems? They definitely don't reside in politics if all politicians can offer is a picture of some guy in his underwear.

The Law of Separation

There is a spiritual law which has sat on the backburner of my mind for years, never fully explained or defined but always bubbling in the background. Lately, it has weighed heavily on me and I feel very prompted to share it. It isn't that people don't know about it. Like me, there are many out there who sense the truth of it without defining it as such. I just feel it incumbent on me to put it into words--to attempt to put it in the forefront of people's minds so they will no longer ignore it but actually live the principle. I call it the Law of Separation.

Simply stated, the Law of Separation says that when one actively works to separate something from itself the end result will always be a problem, whether it be disease, conflict or confusion.This principle works on everything from a microscopic level to a global level and beyond (although it is limited to our world of duality).

Let's look at the example of grains. White flour is made by separating the starch portion of the grain from the bran. While white flour is lighter and often seems to taste better, the reason it is not healthy for you is because the nutrients your body needs to actually digest the starch (aka white flour) is contained in the bran. Consequently, the starch is not digested when you eat white flour and it easily contributes to obesity and all the health problems associated with that condition.

Now let's look at societies/cultures. When one culture sees itself as better or more deserving than other culture, barriers are built between the two. If the separation is allowed or encouraged to continue, conflict results. Fighting occurs over property and resources, justifying even more violence. There is a natural progression here from arguing to aggression to war and even sometimes to genocide.

Granted, these examples are perhaps an oversimplified view of this spiritual law, but the Law of Separation shows up everywhere. This leads us to the question, "If separating something from itself creates problems, how can we fix the problems that are already here?" Again, the answer is simple (although not necessarily easy to do). We need to rebalance the situation by seeking out and dissolving those things which cause separation. It is important to let go of all that which separates. It is by clinging to the separation that we run into problems in the first place.

We have been placed on this planet in order to experience things in a more individual and personalized way. To accomplish this goal, individual elements where separated out in a physical/energetic way. We came to this place of separation, not to remain divided, but to learn about our own individualality and uniqueness and celebrate them. Our perfection lies not in remaining separate but in learning to live as One.

Eastern Religions, Nonduality and the Bible

Sometimes, inspiration strikes in the most random ways while doing the most mundane tasks. Tonight was one such night. I was driving to the local convenience store to run a quick errand, not really thinking about anything more than the task at hand. All of a sudden, I heard a voice in my mind's eye quoting scripture (a throwback from all the times I listened to my father quote scripture as a child).

The quote is from the book of Genesis in the beginning of the old testament. "God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness." (Gen. 1:4 NIV) When I heard the statement, what really hit me was the fact that it says God separated the light from the darkness. In other words, in order to create the earth God had to separate the elements of dark and light. Prior to this, light and dark would have been one and the same!

Christianity teaches there is a good and a bad, a right and a wrong, a dark and a light. These things are clearly defined in detail in the Bible. Sinning is thought to be making bad or wrong choices (whether intentional or not). This separateness seems to be at the core of many Christian values and beliefs. Because of its two-sided nature, Christianity is sometimes called dualistic.

Eastern religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism, teach something other than separation--the concept of nonduality. This is the idea that everything is ultimately One. The goal of life is thought to be to progress to the state of Nirvana, or Oneness with the Divine. These religions recognize life on earth is dualistic in nature. The goal is to rise above it to obtain a state of peace and wholeness.

Look at the problems facing the world today: wars, genocide, poverty, greed. Yes, these problems create untold misery for countless people. How do we choose to deal with these problems? We pick a side and stand up for it or fight for it. Does this stategy work? Do we still have wars, genocide, poverty and greed?

The problem with choosing sides is that keeps us in a state of separation. Choosing sides fortifies the belief we have to fight. Choosing sides inherently creates problems. Albert Einstein once said, " We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them", yet when we choose sides that is exactly what we are doing!

Duality came into being when the earth was created, but that is not our natural state! We came from a place of nonseparation according to the Bible--a state of Oneness. As Christians, it seems to go against everything we are taught about right and wrong, but that is exactly how we need to go about solving the problems of today.

There may be some concepts worth learning in eastern traditions after all.      

The Missing Secret

As a huge fan of The Secret (Extended Edition) by Rhonda Byrne, I was inspired by many great ideas. Things like what you focus on becomes reality and the importance of gratitude have played key roles in my subsequent life and resulted in many positive outcomes. Still, my successes have been somewhat limited in nature and I am aware of many others who feel the same way. In my quest to find answers, I have stumbled upon one principle which was not emphasized, but has been very important in my development: the principle of connection.

The Secret has a tendency to focus on the things you can do as an individual to draw what you want into your life. When most of us see ourselves as individuals, we see ourselves as independent, separate beings. The truth is, when we are separate from each other and the Universe we have no power. There is a power that flows in and through all things. This power binds us and connects us to everything that exists and is the source of insight and inspiration. The more "plugged in" we are to this energy of connection, the more powerful we become.

Think about this: when you are open, smiling, happy, others are much more open to you because you are inviting them in. They like you and want to help you if they can. Doors that weren't previously opened are now accessible to you. You have made yourself energetically connected to them. When you open up like this to the rest of the Universe--animals, places, things--their energy is also opened up to you. The reality is, while we function in this world as individuals, we are always part of a larger whole.

The reverse is also true. When you are closed off from others and the rest of the world, it is closed to you. This is when nothing goes your way, and you are powerless. You may even become angry or depressed. There is no greater hell than the state of separateness.

The solution to making the law of attraction work for you is simple: Learn to connect to that place in your soul that is One with the Universe. Feel your Oneness, your connection. Take time every day to become famaliar with all that is present there--feelings, people, things, places, events, etc. Learn to draw strength from it. You will find insights and inspirations that were always there but never seen before. You will understand how you fit into the great plan. You will have found what is missing. You will have found yourself.

Thankful

In America, Thanksgiving is a day we traditionally look at our own lives and remember all those things we are thankful for. As I look at my own life, it appears much the same as it did last year. Still the changes in my life have been huge, for they have been internal changes which have shifted my perceptions on life and totally changed the ways I act in the world.

Acceptance has been one of those changes. In the past, I would look at difficult situations as catastrophes and in many instances they would overwhelm me to the point of inaction. While I can't say I am totally proactive at this point in time, I can say I am much better at assessing the crisis and remembering it is something I have called to myself because of what it can teach me. Instead of dreading the crisis, I ask, "What is it I need to learn from this?" and am able to deal with each instance a little at a time.

I have also gained a better understanding of judgement--where it comes from and why it needs to be avoided. I know how it separates us from one another and how this separation harms us through blocking energy (love) that should be flowing freely between us.

I know my life isn't perfect. As always, it is a work in progress. Still, I am appreciative of those things I have gained in the past year--the ability to cope more effectively in the world and the lessening of the blocks between myself and my fellow man. I am blessed, and for that I am truly thankful.