THE PEACEMAKERS * THE LIGHT OF TRUTH

RADICAL HEALING MIRACLES

2009-10-04T21:36:00.001-07:00

If you need radical help in getting yourself out of fear, depression, anxiety, panic, addiction, alcoholism, suicidal thoughts please DO THIS NOW.

STOP EVERYTHING. DROP EVERYTHING YOU ARE DOING AND SIT STILL. Take a deep, long breath. Go outside if possible to the crisp cool air or warm sunshine or even the cleansing rain.

Stop for a moment and enjoy this moment. Know in your inner heart that all is well right now. The sky is not falling. The house is not burning (unless it is); and your heart is still beating.

Unless you are in the middle of an emergency, you have no reason to move or go anywhere for a few moments.

Now, think of 5 things to be grateful for. Really count your blessings. Look up at the trees, the sky, the birds, the flowers. Once your own thoughts are lifted, you can hear higher thoughts and solutions.

There is nothing to worry about. You have all you need right now to be happy and at peace.

All our suffering comes from thinking about the future or the past: what we want and fear we won't get, or what we lost or are afraid of losing, or what mistakes we made. Everything can be restored in proper order, or even better the faster that we turn our attention to the GOOD. In every catastrophe is the seed of something wonderful. "I will restore to you the days the locust has eaten."

If you want an uplift and some encouragement to know that there is nothing ever to fear, check out this website for miracles of healing.
http://www.spirituality.com/tte/wellness.jhtml

"A Cure for Every Ill, even Incurable Illness"
Victory over Paralysis.. Cancer healed, etc.

I am not religious, but believe God is love.

Christ himself practiced no religion or theology; and he obeyed no theocracy. In fact, he thought the religious leaders of his day were full of shallow dogma, hypocrisy and lies. They were obsessed with flesh and rituals and proper religious clothing or icons, intead of the spiritual laws of love. They had little love for those less fortunate. They were arrogant and obsessed with judging others, completely dismissing the laws of forgiveness and redemption that Christ came to teach.

We are all supposed to heal as Christ told us all to. We literally can see through the eyes of Christ and puts bones back together. I called a C.S. practitioner who prayed for my friend, and my friend was healed instantly from cancer. My son's broken leg healed instantly, and he was born with brittle bone disease.

She is a practitioner and astonishing! No one in the negative "real world" believes healings like this can happen but they happen thousands of times a day — even blindness is healed — and there are numerous healings in weekly magazines. People dismiss it, but I have had so many amazing healings through prayer including alcoholism, suicide, depression, my son's brittle bone disease.

I was raised in this and went away from it, but now that I'm waking up again, I realize this is Quantum Physics and the only thing that really works. It's metaphysics. This method of healing I combine with others. It is the way Christ healed, by seeing good and love as God, and as ALL-powerful, and not to give power to evil. But mainstream fundamentalist churches are so married to their belief in evil as being real, they can't figure it out. You can't heal if you believe in both good and evil; in duality. That's the secret of healing. To take a stand.

Keep your thoughts on the beautiful, the good and the true. Try to think only of your perfect health, or if your loved ones are suffering, think only of their radiant beauty, smile, face, glow, spirit. Make a list of things to be grateful for. Keep out of fear by focusing on the good around you.

PERSISTENT PEACE

2009-03-25T20:43:00.000-07:00

Persistent Peace

by Deanna Mummert

Disturbed by TV images of bombed buildings, fear-stricken faces of civilians, and brave soldiers rescuing children from smoked-filled streets, I prayed. The images contrasted sharply against the peaceful sway of the hammock outside my kitchen window. I asked myself: At what point around the earth does the clear blue sky end and the exhaust of war begin? What can I do for peace? What possible difference can I make? What would Jesus do? Actually, What did Jesus do?

I did some research on Jesus and surprisingly discovered that his ministry occurred in the middle of warlike conditions. Palestine was under direct control of the Roman Empire, which continually battled for additional territories. Other nations fought back to gain possession of what they had previously lost. There was a constant tug of war over land. Many Jews believed that what we now call Israel should be ruled only by a Jewish king, a descendant of King David.

It’s no wonder that the Jewish people were yearning for the Messiah to come, build an army, and oust the Romans. The long-awaited Messiah did show up on this fractious world scene, but Jesus didn’t come as a warrior-king. In fact, he did not address the war directly at all. Instead, he taught his followers what it means to be at peace: to love their neighbors, love their enemies—one by one, step by step, and thought by thought. When he and his disciples were caught in a deadly storm at sea, the words “Peace, be still” that Jesus spoke were addressed not so much to the high winds as to the fearful storm within the minds of the disciples.

Exchanging negative thoughts for spiritual facts made a huge difference.

Calming their thoughts, he changed their immediate world from turbulence to peace. Instead of a warrior going to battle, destroying lives to forward his kingdom, Jesus healed people and even raised the dead. During his life, he lived up to the prophetic title, the Prince of Peace.

At the same time that I researched Jesus’ ministry, I also took this statement to heart from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “Stand porter at the door of thought. Admitting only such conclusions as you wish realized in bodily results, you will control yourself harmoniously.” I began replacing negative thoughts that crept into my thinking with the spiritual facts that God is Love, and that the spiritual identity of everyone as described in Genesis is God’s image or reflection—not just some men and some women in certain situations, but everyone, including children, in all situations.

At first I found it difficult to be a really good guard at the entry of my thinking, because the challenges were often very subtle: a driver cutting me off, a rude salesperson, or just facing someone smirking at me. As I kept at it, though, exchanging negative thoughts for spiritual facts made a huge difference. This change in thinking brought calm and even joy to my days. I realized, too, that it took more time and effort to think about why another person was wrong or inappropriate than to just acknowledge their spiritual goodness.

Loving each other is part of loving God.

With all this extra time, I started writing down ideas about attaining peace. For instance, I could strive to understand more clearly that peace is already present, in the moment, in the infinite now. And I could realize that peace between individuals happens when we forgive and understand that loving each other is part of loving God. And finally, I could deeply affirm that peace among nations starts in our thought when we view the world as one community under God’s love.

Then one day while sitting in a restaurant, I overheard pieces of conversations such as, “I’m so mad at him, I’m not calling him for a week.” And, “My aunt was so rude, I don’t care if I ever speak to her again.” And another, “I haven’t spoken to him in seven years, and I don’t care if we don’t speak for another seven.” I suddenly realized how true it is that peace begins at home.

What if you and I persistently followed Jesus’ example of taking care of the so-called little things? Our day-to-day interactions, our family differences, our frustrations with people at our jobs or on the street—what if we were to see them as opportunities to bring peace to our world? I don’t mean superficially. I mean actually expressing what the early Christians called agape—a Greek term for love to and for everyone, the brotherly/sisterly love that corresponds to the love God has for humanity.

Peace isn’t a place to get to—it is the way, the path.

Jesus told us pretty clearly what we all must do to find peace: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” And that includes a rude aunt as much as nations at war with each other! As we spiritualize and elevate our thinking, won’t we be doing what Jesus did—moving the whole world toward peace?

Here’s another step I took that was right at hand and doable. After a lengthy discussion about peace, teenagers agreed to heal at least one relationship problem they had each week. In just a few weeks, we had quite a list of healings. The students identified attitudes they had practiced that brought about healing, such as listening, not judging, expressing love and empathy, showing gratitude and appreciation. The students were surprised at how often they had wrongfully judged others and how good it felt to stop doing that, to love instead.

Peace isn’t a place to get to—it is the way, the path.

We all agreed that this shift in thinking, this focus on loving others, is the road to world peace. We learned, too, that spiritually based love does take persistent practice. It takes humility, patience, and a deep desire for peace. When we’re tired, frustrated, and beaten down, it’s easy to say, “Forget it, I’m writing this or that person off.” But God, our loving Shepherd, takes care of every one of His/Her sheep. Not one is given up. We can do the same.

As we all keep bringing healing to our everyday relationships—even the guy who cuts us off on our commute home—eventually there won’t be any reason left to fight wars. Though no war at all is an ideal goal that may be a long way off, my students and I are glad to have found a way to at least move in that direction.

It sounds so simple, so easy, that I almost missed it. Peace isn’t a place to get to—it is the way, the path. And we can live it every day, every moment, with every good and loving thought.

Reprinted from the March 2008 issue of The Christian Science Journal.
Deanna Mummert

THE TAPESTRY

2008-10-12T19:02:00.001-07:00

OBAMA LANDSLIDE!! I can't seem to post on my normal blog but here I can.

Somehow in this day and age, we’ve seen too much, done too much, been too naked. There’s too much hard-core violence and porn in the airwaves. We can’t really take it back and become innocent again. But I really want to be a virgin again in more ways than one. There is nothing in the physical world left to want, do or imagine. I don’t want one more luxury or gadget to make my life easier except maybe a Gizmo can opener. (I can't believe we're still cranking open cans by hand.)

I don’t think anything impresses anyone anymore except seeing, actually seeing — God. The great mystical force of love inside us all. I was thinking about the tragedy of the hurricane and the tsunami – and how many bodies have rotted and evaporated – how quickly human life is snuffed out. It proves to me what I’ve always known: that man is not made of matter, that rotting flesh has no essence in and of itself, no matter how real the illusion seems. Is flesh man's most important quality? Man is spiritual. We are spiritual beings having a human experience. We are linked to the Divine mind, the one mind, God — and to each other with the fabric of love.

Imagine if the human pageant were just a tapestry — and God sees the complete picture on the finished side, but from our vantage point below, we only see dangling threads that keep disappearing as they are woven in and out. As people pass on, certain threads disappear because they are part of a grand stitch that completes a beautiful landscape — or picture on the other side. We can’t see the whole picture. But God can. We don't know the reason for death and suffering; we don't know what's on the other side, but I'm sure there are many mansions and colors -- and the weave creates a majestic tapestry.

This is a universe of thought. Thought is energy and it is swift (too bad those lying 'Boat Veterans' forever ruined the word 'swift' for me, which just proves I am too much a victim of my thought.) Here's the Catch 22: what you think about all day long, is what you become; what you focus on grows. Whatsoever things are good, pure, lovely -- think on these things and you will bring these into your life in proportion to your thoughts. Our thoughts create our reality, and as Shakespeare said, "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."

I have the profound sense that we can touch God everyday when we are loving to others, especially those who offend us and disturb us, and especially those less fortunate. Have you seen someone's face light up with just one kind word?

I have heard that at the moment of death, we transcend suffering - that it is removed. No one is going to hell by the way, unless their thoughts are already there and they are consumed with hatred for their fellow man.

I lived in Holland and visited Anne Frank's hiding place; it is so sad to think humans can commit hate crimes. We have to be careful not to do this with any group - even extremist Muslims. The tendency in this divisive culture is to lash out at each other, and I have been guilty as well when I speak of the religious-right. But this new breed of militant "Christian" has completely missed the point of Christ's teachings and turned many people off to Christianity in the process. And I believe they are partly behind our foreign policy and this rush to war.

But love heals everything.

McCAIN DIVORCES HIMSELF FROM HIS CORRUPT PARTY

2008-09-04T21:07:00.000-07:00

From Andew Sullivan's blog A reader writes:
Immediately after (McCain's) speech, I remarked to my wife that the tone of it was of a person looking back on a career, not beginning a new one.

Andrew Sullivan: What makes me sad is how so many young people have no idea any more what conservatism could mean if it were true to itself. (I gave it my best shot in my book, "The Conservative Soul.") But the corruption of this party is so deep - morally, ethically, philosophically - McCain can't do it.

I'm sure conservatism will one day recover - because it is right about the main issues: government needs to be kept in its place, taxes should be low and budgets balanced, individuals should be able to pursue their dreams as free of government control as possible, families do matter and need to be free from government interference, free markets and enterprise are the only guarantees of prosperity, moral choices - and their consequences - should be faced by the individual responsibly, and we have to be strong in our defense and prudent in foreign policy. This is the conservatism I still believe in. Deep down, I'm sure McCain does too. But it will only come from the ashes of this fundamentalist, mean-spirited, parochial, arrogant, big-spending, irresponsible shambles of a party. We have to repudiate the party of Rove and Abramoff and Romney and Dobson and Cheney and Bush II.

Burn it down and start over.

REALIZE WHO YOU ARE

2008-09-04T16:32:00.000-07:00

All the resources you will ever want or need are at your fingertips. All you have to do is identify what you want to do with it, and then practice the feeling-place of what it will feel like when that happens. There is nothing you cannot be or do or have. You are blessed Beings; you have come
forth into this physical environment to create. There is nothing holding you back, other than your own contradictory thought. And your emotion tells you you're doing that. Life is supposed to be fun—it is supposed to feel good! You are powerful Creators and right on schedule. Savor more; fix less. Laugh more; cry less. Anticipate positively more; anticipate negatively less. Nothing is more important than that you feel good. Just practice that and watch what happens. There is great love here for you. We are complete.

Excerpted from an Abraham-Hicks workshop in North Los Angeles, CA on Saturday, March
22nd, 2003

All Is Well

NEW LIFE

2008-08-07T17:04:00.000-07:00

From Spirituality.com:

"I do an “establishing the day” type of prayer—knowing that this day is the unfoldment of Love, of divine Mind naturally and effortlessly revealing itself; and all that constitutes my day—everything in my relationships, my home, my harmony—is all divine Principle expressing itself. I can’t be wrongly influenced or disturbed in any way because Love (God) is the only power, and this day belongs to Love. So I establish my day that way, and also several times throughout the day as well. It's very powerful and keeps me right on track." From spirituality.com

Here are four things to improve your relationships, called the four Rs:

Reverse it. Mentally reverse everything that is hurting your relationships. We talked about this earlier. Every trouble is a counterfeit or opposite of a real, tangible, spiritual fact.

Recognize it. When any part of your relationship is good, recognize that the goodness is permanent, not fleeting and fickle. Goodness lasts because it is divine and comes directly to you from the supreme Spirit.

Refuse to give power to the false picture, the negative picture (which is the opposite of good, or life and love — no matter the curveballs life is throwing your way. Hold on to it—it is your divine right.

Rejoice. Rejoice that you deserve all the goodness that Spirit has to offer.

Relationships are important to each of us. The state of our relationships affects our emotions, our productivity and our physical health. Therefore enriching our relationships is good for us and good for everyone around us. So let’s stop being critical, stop keeping score, stop trying to prove we’re right. Let’s enrich our relationships with honesty, gratitude and forgiveness. Let’s be grateful that we are each the dynamic, spiritual reflection of Love. We express love, life and truth. Let’s rejoice divine Love, maintains the tender and rich goodness that fills our lives. Let’s let gratitude and love abide in all our hearts each day of all the years.

YAHOO NEWS: LYDIA CORNELL INTERVIEWS WORLD LEADERS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES and PULITZER PRIZE WINNERS FOR NEW RADIO SHOW

2008-06-25T12:49:00.000-07:00

THE ANTIDOTE TO GREED IS GENEROSITY

2008-05-12T06:10:00.000-07:00

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the mothers out there who sacrifice for their families. "The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world!" WE LOVE YOU MOM! *Below is a fascinating article about OBAMA'S MAMA... a truly amazing woman.

Mom and Dad when they were dating. My dad grew up in Shanghai. He passed away in 1977 and is buried in Leiden, Holland. We lived in The Hague at the time.

My mother has had her share of tragedy. She lost her son Paul (my precious brother) her husband (our wonderful dad), her father (our sweet Poppy/Grandpa); her brother Gerald, her favorite cousin Sonny, and her dear sister Dorothy this past December.

Here's my mom (and sis Kath) today.

Mothers – YOU have one of the most powerful jobs on earth. You can influence your children to become world leaders, talented inventors, creative musicians, great athletes, passionate writers & artists, devoted school teachers, and committed physicians.

If, per chance, you think the job of a mother isn't important, then take a look at a recent survey that asked 5.4 million stay-at-home moms to list their job titles and daily duties: On the average, a stay-at-home mom would earn $131,000 a year. Total up the costs of being an animal caretaker, financial manager, food/beverage service worker, general office clerk, childcare worker, housekeeper, psychologist, bus driver, dietitian, property manager, social worker and recreation worker – and you'll see that $131,000 is a good deal!

Kevin and Jack

Our hearts and prayers go out to Katherine Wolf, the beautiful 26-year old mother from our church who suffered a major brain hemorrhage on April 21st, and her faithful family has been at the hospital round the clock ever since. Katherine has made some great strides, but it's still going to be some time before she goes home... God Bless Katherine, Jay and their baby.

Also, please hole Kristin's mom Muriel in your prayers -- at 85, she fell after an aerobics class and broke her arm. She had surgery Friday night and will have a long recovery process. God Bless her.

DREAMS OF MY MOTHER: WHAT ABOUT OBAMA'S MAMA?
By Ellen Goodman
May 9, 2008
FROM time to time during this primary, I've wondered about Obama's mama. In a race that was so much about biography, about beliefs rooted in her son's "DNA," she's made only cameo appearances.

She was the "mother from Kansas" balanced alliteratively with the "father from Kenya." Or she was the white parent whose genes combined with the black parent. Or she was the woman dying of cancer "more worried about paying her medical bills than getting well." And on Tuesday night when her son all but sewed up the nomination, she appeared again as the "single parent who had to go on food stamps at one point."

I have been thinking of her not just because it's nearly Mother's Day but because Obama will soon have to reach out to Hillary Clinton's supporters, especially to women of a certain age who attached their hopes to having a woman in the White House. Obama has not yet had a "gender conversation" with those women.

What better link does he have than his mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, the girl whose own father expected and wanted a boy child? Ann Dunham, a nonconformist, a woman of the world who traveled a trajectory of change so associated with Hillary's generation?

Last week, my eye lit on an odd correction in The New York Times. It read: "The assertion that Mr. Obama had 'never known' his Kenyan father should have been that he had 'barely known' him." Surely it was a distinction without a difference.

It's no surprise that Obama wrote an entire memoir dedicated to his "barely known" parent: "Dreams from My Father." It was only after his mother's death that he wrote in a new preface, "I think sometimes that had I known she would not survive her illness, I might have written a different book - less a meditation on the absent parent, more a celebration of the one who was the single constant in my life." He added that "she was the kindest, most generous spirit I have ever known, and that what is best in me I owe to her."

From all accounts, this daughter of a family that kept traveling west in restless pursuit of the American dream took no part in Eisenhower-era conformity. She was a teenager in Hawaii when she fell for the charismatic Kenyan in her Russian class and married him six months before her son was born. This was a time when interracial marriage was still illegal in parts of the country.

The rest of the story is known: a divorce, a marriage to an Indonesian, a second divorce. She was a mother who kept her children focused as well as fed. But what's less known is the woman in her own right, the one who became an anthropologist, the woman who spent years as the respected head of research for Women's World Banking, bringing micro-financing to poor people in Indonesia.

Nancy Barry, who was the head of Women's World Banking and knew Ann well, has been bewildered by the way she's been reduced to a stick figure. "She was stubborn, hard core, decisive, convincing, deep-thinking, rigorous in her analysis," says Barry. "When I hear Barack talking about how we are not red states, blue states, but the United States, I think he gets that from his mother. The other core capability he gets from her is the desire for healing."

Indeed, the Obama we see may be the offspring of "Dreams from My Mother."

If Ann were alive today she would be the age of Hillary Clinton's most devoted demographic. She would be among those women who have gone through enormous transitions, making and remaking the female script. Dreaming big.

I am not suggesting Obama drag out his mama as a prop. But he's staked his case for the presidency on his ability to bridge racial, cultural, party divides, to lead a post-partisan America. Now he's faced with another divide: women who identified their success with Hillary's and who are unsure they will vote for him.

What better way to begin reaching out, holding the 'gender conversation,' showing women he "gets it" than by sharing the dreams he inherited and the dreams he understands. The dreams from his mother. A girl named Stanley.

Ellen Goodman's e-mail address is ellengoodman@globe.com.

Let's face it - mothers do so much for us: They cook good food for us to eat, turn a house into a home, mend our wounds, console us when we're disappointed, and cheer for us when we've done something well.

Mothers not only have great value to their families, they are also in a unique position to positively influence their families. Our moms are the ones to instill in us a sense of values, beliefs, and morality. Some experts say that by the age of four or five, most children have already formed a basic set of beliefs and values that shape their world view. To me, the best values are kindness, charity, empathy, compassion, honesty and integrity.

If America would stop valuing money and competition, we'd all be happier and more wealthy.

HUMILITY
Nothing is set in stone. We are all redeemable, even the "bad guys" in government and politics, even our leaders. I heard a humble young Israeli at a recovery meeting day say that he 'to become humble' is everything. It's the only way to attain peace. He made a list of his character defects and then made a list of each of their "opposites." To overcome selfishness you must become more giving. To overcome arrogance, you must become humble.

Humility is the greatest virtue. When I think of how I can "give" instead of "get" the whole day goes better. When I think of how to "understand" rather than be "understood" or force my will and my opinions on others, I attract love.

Love is circular. Let's all be thinking of how we can help others. Human kindness is really all that matters.

THE TAPESTRY

2008-02-08T22:55:00.000-08:00

Somehow in this day and age, we’ve seen too much, done too much, been too naked. There’s too much hard-core violence and porn in the airwaves. We can’t really take it back and become innocent again. But I really want to be a virgin again in more ways than one. There is nothing in the physical world left to want, do or imagine. I don’t want one more luxury or gadget to make my life easier except maybe a Gizmo can opener. (I can't believe we're still cranking open cans by hand.)

I don’t think anything impresses anyone anymore except seeing, actually seeing — God. The great mystical force of love inside us all. I was thinking about the tragedy of the hurricane and the tsunami – and how many bodies have rotted and evaporated – how quickly human life is snuffed out. It proves to me what I’ve always known: that man is not made of matter, that rotting flesh has no essence in and of itself, no matter how real the illusion seems. Is flesh man's most important quality? Man is spiritual. We are spiritual beings having a human experience. We are linked to the Divine mind, the one mind, God — and to each other with the fabric of love.

Imagine if the human pageant were just a tapestry — and God sees the complete picture on the finished side, but from our vantage point below, we only see dangling threads that keep disappearing as they are woven in and out. As people pass on, certain threads disappear because they are part of a grand stitch that completes a beautiful landscape — or picture on the other side. We can’t see the whole picture. But God can. We don't know the reason for death and suffering; we don't know what's on the other side, but I'm sure there are many mansions and colors -- and the weave creates a majestic tapestry.

This is a universe of thought. Thought is energy and it is swift (too bad those lying 'Boat Veterans' forever ruined the word 'swift' for me, which just proves I am too much a victim of my thought.) Here's the Catch 22: what you think about all day long, is what you become; what you focus on grows. Whatsoever things are good, pure, lovely -- think on these things and you will bring these into your life in proportion to your thoughts. Our thoughts create our reality, and as Shakespeare said, "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."

I have the profound sense that we can touch God everyday when we are loving to others, especially those who offend us and disturb us, and especially those less fortunate. Have you seen someone's face light up with just one kind word?

I have heard that at the moment of death, we transcend suffering - that it is removed. No one is going to hell by the way, unless their thoughts are already there and they are consumed with hatred for their fellow man.

I lived in Holland and visited Anne Frank's hiding place; it is so sad to think humans can commit hate crimes. We have to be careful not to do this with any group - even extremist Muslims. The tendency in this divisive culture is to lash out at each other, and I have been guilty as well when I speak of the religious-right. But this new breed of militant "Christian" has completely missed the point of Christ's teachings and turned many people off to Christianity in the process. And I believe they are partly behind our foreign policy and this rush to war.

But love heals everything.

HOW TO PRAY FOR YOUR ENEMIES: DO NOT SEE THEM AS ENEMIES

2007-10-15T13:28:00.000-07:00

Spiritual intuition, patience, and an earnest sense of God’s provision for each of His children ...

I found this beautiful example on my favorite 'healing' website www.spirituality.com:

"A couple from out of state made a full-price offer on a house we had built, but with pages and pages of conditions. We accepted these conditions, but not happily. As we neared the closing date, they had problems with their mortgage lender and became even more difficult to work with. The deal seemed destined to fall apart. I was praying with Paul’s admonition to “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness” (Eph. 5:11). At first I thought it meant we were to have no fellowship with the other people, the buyers. But then a riveting angel message turned my thought around 180 degrees. I realized that the “unfruitful works of darkness” are all the mortal thoughts that seem to disturb and muddy the waters, such as distrust, criticism, annoyance, fault-finding, etc. These are unfruitful, nonproductive. So I made a vigorous effort to have no fellowship with these, and to prayerfully include everyone involved in the impartial and universal love of God. Immediately, I was led to make a personal visit to the buyers’ attorney, and the result was that all the difficulties were resolved in a fair and harmonious way, and we did conclude the transaction." Christine, Illinois, United States

I love this sentence: "I realized that the 'unfruitful works of darkness' are all the mortal thoughts that seem to disturb and muddy the waters, such as distrust, criticism, annoyance, fault-finding, etc. These are unfruitful, nonproductive."

Our enemies are our thoughts about our enemies: thoughts of fear, suspicion, bigotry, distrust, disgust, intolerance, worry. In fact, the minute we stop seeing our enemies as enemies, we heal the rift.

Our enemies can also be our thoughts about ourselves, including our fears of financial insecurity, accidents, disease, terrorism and all sorts of fears of losing what we have or not getting what we want.

God came alive for me after studying metaphysics when I was very young. Later, after working a 12-step program, God became a force that was powerful, tangible and real. I experienced so many absolutely undeniable "miracles" I could no longer pretend spiritual power was an accident. From there, I deepened my spiritual study.

NOTHING TO FEAR

2007-10-09T17:53:00.000-07:00

Dualism is the root of all our troubles. Consider the possibility that there is no opposing force to God, or good.

Also, consider the possibility that we are not born to fear. Most people believe we are born sinners, born of fear and "sin," but I submit that this is the very reason they can't make progress. Most religious people, including Catholics and evangelicals, don't believe they can heal themselves or others, as Christ specifically taught and commanded us to do.

Believing that evil has any real power, or believing in a real devil -- keeps people stuck. This is also why they stay stuck in literal, primitive interpretations of the Bible. And this is why they have thrown away the lost art of healing, Christ's healing power, which he commanded us all to do.

'Fighting our enemies" only makes them larger. And by enemies, Christ wasn't just referring to territorial enemies, but to our own worries and fears. Worrying and being in fear are our biggest enemies. Lack of faith in God's healing power is our biggest enemy.

We are all equipped to heal physical, emotional, mental wounds -- but we are mired in archaic beliefs in "evil" being as powerful as God, good. How ridiculous. Why are we giving so much power to fear, evil or error? Christ healed by seeing man through God's eyes. I experience healings like this everyday, huge physical healings -- but I'm shy to talk about them because I am surrounded by so many nay-sayer with so little faith.

Why did the Catholic Church abandon Christ's healing miracles? Because they were too narrow minded to believe in the miracles and to believe the secret -- that there is no opposing force.

Fear is an illusion, a dream. So is the Adam story.

Genesis ONE, is the only account of creation that is real. Man is made in God's image.

Then man falls into a deep sleep (the illusion of sin, sickness and death.)

"The parent of all human discord was the Adam-dream, the deep sleep, in which originated the delusion that life and intelligence proceeded from and passed into matter."

We are spiritual, not material. There is no power in evil or in matter. The minute you realize this is a "thought" universe, the faster healings occur.

Anyway, you might try it before scoffing at it. I personally have experienced miracles that would seem supernatural -- simply by changing my consciousness, my thoughts, and viewing a catastrophe, broken bone or suicidal depression differently.

Lately I've been so full of gratitude, that colors and flowers, and good luck started popping up everywhere.

The only thing that shifted was my attitude. I started counting my blessings, and being grateful for every single thing. I started looking for how I could be of "love and service" to my family, my kids, my friends... instead of grumbling and being impatient, I took time and time started to expand. If you are really grateful, and fully in the present moment, then time actually seems to stand still. A beautiful Monarch butterfly came over and sat right next to me. Then God really started showing off...

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." 2 Timothy 1:7

Also, consider this: "fear in the Bible" means "awe." To fear God means to be in awe of God, according to most bible scholars (not fundamentalists of course.)

OBJECTS OF CREATION

2007-03-21T06:26:00.000-07:00

JOY
I have been experiencing moments of pure joy lately. It all started when I consciously decided to shift my thought to seeing the beautiful in life. Believe me it hasn't been easy, in light of all the bad news in the world. But I began looking up, now I'm in love with trees, flowers, nature — and I'm seeing things I never saw before! It's amazingly beautiful out there. I'm seeing more and more beautiful objects of creation.

My ideal day: going on a road trip with the kids in the back of the minivan. We went to Tahoe over the holidays, and I can't tell you how majestic the snow-covered treetops are as you drive up to Lake Tahoe. It looks like heaven. In fact the town we went to is called "Heavenly." I get a calm peaceful feeling whenever I see a picture of Tahoe or Sedona, so I keep a postcard of Heavenly, right by my computer.

For the past few years I have not behaved in a very admirable way toward my husband. Everyting he did was annoying and upsetting. But I began to look at him differently. Everytime he annoyed me I would thank him for the good. I became sweeter and more loving and lately, I have fallen back in love with him. The kids are actually nicer too.

Joy is coming back. Despite the horror stories in the news, I truly believe that if we keep our eyes on the "beautiful, the good and the true" as Paul said -- if we "think on these things" and we will bring these into our lives proportionate to our thought.

Man is the offspring of Spirit. The beautiful, good, and pure constitute his ancestry. - Mary Baker Eddy.

In reality, man is not material, he is spiritual. We are just so focused on the material, we forget where we came from and what we're made of. Man's misguided belief in duality (his belief in a devil, in "evil as a force" as big as God) causes most of his problems. But THERE IS NO OPPOSING FORCE. I know it seems like there is, and this is difficult to wrap your mind around, but try it. Try focusing on only the good in life. It will change everything. Only good is real and eternal. I know it isn't sexy to stop arguing or fighting. I know it's more fun to gossip, vent, scream, yell and find fault with others. I know it is more exciting to watch a train wreck than a healing, but it doesn't help heal anything, in fact it keeps us stuck. Bad news proliferates because of our constant nurturing of it. I'm not saying stop shining a light on the bad guys like Rove, Bush, Cheney, Gonzales, Delay, and corrupt corporations. I'm saying let's also uplift each other by seeing the hope that is right around the corner. We need to see our innate goodness and know that truth will thrive as good people come into power.

Paul wrote, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things (Philippians 4:8). Paul’s list contains elements that all point to God.

Paul’s list contains “things that are honest,” “things that are just,” “things that are pure,” “things that are lovely,” “things that are of good report,” “virtue and praise.” And, he tells us to think on these things. All of these things lead us to a life that is peaceful in Christ. Paul tells us to “think on these things.” We are to keep them in our mind. He wrote in Romans, “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:6).

We are to be anxious for nothing (Philippians 4:6): we are to put our trust in God. We are to pray to Him for everything: “but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (Philippians 4:6). And we are to meditate on Holy things.

This is THE SECRET. They just left out the Christ.

BLESS OUR ENEMIES

2006-08-26T10:30:00.000-07:00

As the Native Americans reminded us; "No tree has branches so foolish as to fight among themselves."

FREEDOM FAN SAID: "Ms. Cornell I know you are a woman of faith, who advocates turning the other cheek and loving your enemies as Christ taught, but while that represents a beautiful ideal, I do not find that a workable solution for dealing with the world's evil."

MY ANSWER: If not now, WHEN? When will we use our principles? When will we try the one thing God commanded us to do? There's always an excuse not to trust Christ's command. But you are ignoring the divine principle which governs the universe. God is love. We are commanded to love one another, ESPECIALLY when the enemy is as grim as this enemy. You are completely ignoring the spiritual principles God gave us. And if we actually stopped making the enemy so powerful with our obsessive focus on him, and go about God' business of creating a beautiful, clean, proserous safe world for our children -- focusing on God, love and beauty, the enemy would never have any power over us. It's our attention to him that makes him bigger. WHAT YOU FOCUS ON GROWS.

These simple metaphysical principles are the absolute answer to all the strife in the world and in our personal lives.

IF NOT NOW, WHEN? When will fundamentalists of every stripe, get it?

Standing up to evil, renouncing it, and seeing the Christ Truth in your fellow man, no matter how deceiving appearances are, is the key. But to retaliate on the level of engaging in fear-based obsession and magnifying the enemy, only makes the "enemy" larger. This is a spiritual law. Violence against innocents on the hopes of killing militants, is always wrong. There are much more clever and thoughtful ways of annihiating an enemy and it starts in your thought about them. They diminish when the nations of world unite to reduce their power. Not by creating more violence! We are feeding the violence and darkness by fighting it. We are giving it more power. But it has no real power. Just like darkness has no power of its own. LIght is an actual source of energy. Darkness is the absence of light.

Blessing your enemies is the divine law, the Christ Truth, and never fails to work when applied properly.

"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you and pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you...

"For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Don't even sinners do the same? what merit is there in that?

To return love for hate, now that is the right way. That is truly holy.

Anyway, it's hard but every single time I think hateful thoughts about Muslim terrorists, or George Bush or intolerant "Christians" I turn my thoughts to love. The hardest people to do this with are ex-friends and family.

It works, even if you can only do it 9 times out of 10. It changes everything.

Why do people keep arguing about God when God is simply love? Who can argue with human kindness? Asking to prove God is like asking to prove you love your kids. Love is actually the energy of our focused attention on good, which is another definition for God. You can be attractive even if you're not "good looking" because if you radiate love, you attract people. This energy is molecular. Einstein's Unified Field therefore is love, which is God. Science proves God; the two are not mutually exclusive.

The concept of loving our enemies is the entire point of Christ's mission. That and his healing "miracles," (which he told us we are all supposed to be doing, and which are another form of NOT FIGHTING OUR ENEMIES -- our thoughts of disease, our thoughts of shame, guilt, anger, regret. To focus on people who hate us or want to kill us, or to focus on what we don't have, or on a disease in our bodies, is "embodying" our enemy, giving it life.) Christ's miracles have been buried by pharisaical, fundamentalist thought. These healings are actually based on natural law.

Also, to allow the terrorists to define our lives for us, to "hop" to their commands and live in fear of their threats, is to give them too much power.

Christ's "new law" in the New Testament was revolutionary! Moses' laws were the "thou shalt nots." Christ brought the Beatitudes (which mean "Blessings" and were all focused on a HIGHER LAW -- the law of LOVE, a spiritual way of dealing with life. "Blessed are the Peacemakers for they shall inherit the earth or the kingdom...

Why don't' modern-day pharisees get it? Why can't they see themselves? Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Tom Delay, Tim LaHaye, Bush, Cheney, Coulter are bogged down in primitive eye-for-an-eye Old Testament thought. This will get us nowhere but to chaos and hatred.

We have to be progressive enough to realize life is spiritual. We must put our eyes on God and trust God in national and human relations. Fighting our enemies in preemptive strike, CHOOSING WAR is against God. How can they call themselves Christian and be so full of hatred that they would go out of their way to create enemies, torture, corruption and deceit? Why do they have such a sense of entitlement, of hoarding wealth? We, the American people, do not choose war. It is against everything our forefathers wanted. We need answers.

Thoughts rule the world. We can lift our consciousness above what the material senses tell us. Then we will see heaven on earth.

Act "as if" you really trust God, instead of fear-based human manipulations. If you really follow Christ, you will be able to stare a lion in the eye and he will back down.

For a "pro-life' culture the right-wing people on my main blog sure love death and war. They are reeking of hatred for their fellow man. They advocate more and more violence. It's such a strange hypocrisy, hating one's fellow man, sight unseen, and being willing to bomb innocent civilians in order to catch a few embedded "insurgents" in the name of Christ, yet willing to kill Democrats (as Ann Coulter advocates) over frozen fetal cells and embryos that will never become children.

Why do you think God put us all in different colors and tribes? So we can overcome the easy way: hatred for our fellow man.

It's easy to fight those who hurt you; the higher law calls on us to love those who hate us and seek to hurt us.

Then we will see miracles begin to happen in human relationships.

There are 1.5 billion Muslims. They want peace. Only fundamentalist extremists (in all religions) preach intolerance. To those who do so, look in the mirror.

Einstein did say "goodness, truth and beauty are laws in the universe" as is harmony. Play the piano and you'll hear it. Kiss your child and you'll feel it. Go outside and breathe in the sunshine while playing with an amazingly beautiful striped animal or a butterfly. Bring coffee to someone who thinks you hate them.

LIGHT OF TRUTH * LIGHT OF CHRIST * GHANDI

2006-08-01T18:48:00.000-07:00

This blog is dedicated to spiritual growth and awareness. The Bible is still being written. It did not end, and the world will not end. Life is eternal and spiritual. We will see God when we ALL turn our hearts to love and see Love in each other. In other words, this is a spiritual universe and there is no substance or intelligence in matter. In this site, I will quote from the great wayshowers.

LIGHT OF CHRIST
The Prince of Peace is the greatest way-shower of all time: Jesus Christ — because he overcame the false belief in death and showed us that the kingdom is within all of us. He told us to "take care of the least among us" which means THE POOR, the workers, the children, the homeless, the hungry.

He did not care if you believed in his flesh or personality; he commanded us to abide in love! "To love our neighbor as ourself; to love our enemies. TO NEVER FIGHT EVIL. Fighting ones' enemies is futile. God is Love. Other great way-showers are: Jesus Christ, Buddha, Gandhi, Lai Tse Tung, Dalai Lama, Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science; Emmet Fox, the minister from England who wrote the best book I've ever read on Christ: "The Sermon on the Mount" — the spiritual key to Matthew Wayne Dyer; Viktor Frankl, Depak Chopra and "Conversations with God" author Neal Donald Walsch.

Here are some comments from an earlier post:

Carl said...
I actually prefer Peter Cook's take on mistakes:

"Of course I learn from my mistakes! I keep perfecting them!"
7:44 AM

Steve said...
Hi Lydia,

Again you speak the words of TRUTH,and know that the key to human existance is the fundamentals of LOVE and TRUTH.
PEACE and HARMONY.

Jesus Christ is the core of all love and truth, and humans have to take HIS teachings to incorporate that love and truth into their own hearts and souls.

We all fall short of the glory of God, and that's why we get angry at things that upset us, but we have to find love and truth in life to overcome that anger.

Life today, doesn't compare to yesterday anymore, but even as tough as times might get, we still have to be focused on our 1 primary focus, and that is the LOVE and TRUTH, Jesus Christ taught us to begin with.

SPIRITUAL HEALING

2006-08-16T19:38:00.000-07:00

"There are many causes that I am prepared to die for but no causes that I am prepared to kill for." GANDHI

You can reach my Home page at: LYDIA CORNELL I am in the process of transferring over all my spiritual writings soon.

"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy?"
"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."

As the Native Americans reminded us: "No tree is so foolish as to have branches that fight among themselves."

I have the profound sense that we can touch God everyday when we are loving to others, especially those who offend us and disturb us, and especially those less fortunate. Have you seen someone's face light up with just one kind word? I have heard that at the moment of death, we transcend suffering - that it is removed. They did a study of people whose heads hit the tarmac after an explosion, and one woman who "died" and then was revived, said that she did not feel anything but went straight to the "light" as heaven embraced her. ** No one is going to hell by the way, unless their thoughts are already there and they are consumed with hatred for their fellow man.

I lived in Holland and visited Anne Frank's hiding place; it is so eerie to think humans can do this to other humans -- disparage an entire group of people and actually get the masses to believe that one race of fellow humans were vermin. We have to be careful not to do this with any group - including extremist fundamentalists of any religion. The tendency in this divisive culture is to lash out at each other, and I have been guilty as well when I speak of the religious-right. But this new breed of militant "Christian" has completely missed the point of Christ's teachings and turned many people off to Christianity in the process. And I believe they are partly behind our foreign policy and this rush to war. Zionism is also a form of idolatry: breaking the first commandment of Moses: "Thou shalt have no other Gods before me." Obsession with land or property to the point you would kill for it, or end friendships is very wrong. It defeats the whole purpose of life: Love your neighbor as yourself."

“ To learn that not only you suffer, but the other person also suffers, the other group of people also suffers… when you touch the suffering in other people you want to help, and when you want to help, compassion is born in you… you don’t suffer anymore, and you are motivated by the desire to do something, to be something for other people…and that is Peace. ”
~ Thich Nhat Hahn Zen Buddhist monk, nominated by Martin Luther King, Jr. for the Nobel Peace Prize for his tireless work to end the Vietnam War

We can have peace on earth if we all want it badly enough. We have to send love to our enemies right now. Peace in the Middle East is possible. I suddenly flashed on Middle Earth and Lord of the Rings.

I see it all happening according to our belief. We must take the spiritual key to life and use it now.

God is love, life, truth and this goodness is all there is. We must remember that Christ came to bring the New Law in the New Testament, and his Sermon on the Mount (The Beatitudes) bring the LOVE for our neighbor, our enemies, and for all mankind. The Old Testament brought Mosaic Law and the Ten Commandments, but many Christians today are not familiar for some bizarre reason, with Christ's actual words in the four gospels! This seems bizarre to me. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John: Christ's teachings in the New Testament are all any Christian needs to know about getting along with others in the world. Fundamentalists are severely misguided by focusing only on the Ten Commandments, the "Thou shalt nots." Christ came to bring a higher law of "Love your enemy."

The greatest wayshower of all time is Jesus Christ. And the woman who proved Christ's healing power in an absolute science is Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science. She teaches us how to heal the way Jesus healed, by Divine Law. It is not a mystery,but the Catholic Church buried these "miracles" and made humans feel they weren't supposed to heal the way Christ healed. But Jesus himself says: "And these signs will follow those who believe..."

This is the Comforter.

But Buddha had a wonderful mission, as did Gandhi, Lai Tse Tung, Dalai Lama, Emmet Fox, the minister from England who wrote the best book I've ever read on Christ: "The Sermon on the Mount" — the spiritual key to Matthew; Wayne Dyer; Viktor Frankl, Depak Chopra and "Conversations with God" author Neal Donald Walsch.

TRUTH OR WAR

Gandhi dedicated his life to the wider purpose of discovering truth, or Satya. He tried to achieve this by learning from his own mistakes and conducting experiments on himself. He named his autobiography The Story of My Experiments with Truth. Gandhi found that uncovering the truth was not always popular as many people were resistant to change, preferring instead to maintain the existing status quo because of either inertia, self-interest or misguided beliefs. However he also discovered that once the truth was on the march nothing could stop it. All it took was time to achieve traction and gain momentum. As Gandhi said:

"The Truth is far more powerful than any weapon of mass destruction".

Gandhi said that the most important battle to fight was in overcoming his own demons, fears and insecurities. He thought it was all too easy to blame people, governing powers or enemies for his personal actions and well-being. He noted the solution to problems could normally be found just by looking in the mirror.

More to come....

One of the greatest contributions of Mahatma Gandhi was in the realm of ontology and its association with truth. For Gandhi, "to be" did not mean to exist within the realm of time, as it has in the past with the Greek philosophers. But rather, "to exist" meant to exist within the realm of truth, or to use the term Gandhi did, satya. Gandhi summarized his beliefs first when he said "God is Truth," but as typical of Gandhi, he evolved, later to correct himself and state that "Truth is God." The first statement seemed insufficient to Gandhi, as the mistake could be made that Gandhi was using Truth as a description of God, rather than the summative definition of the entire essence of God. Satya (Truth) in Gandhi's philosophy is God. It shares all the characteristics of the Hindu concept of God, or Brahman. It lives within us, that little voice that tells us the right thing to do, but also guides the universe.

Nonviolence
The concept of nonviolence (ahimsa) and nonresistance has a long history in Indian religious thought and has had many revivals in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Christian contexts. Gandhi explains his philosophy and way of life in his autobiography The Story of My Experiments with Truth. He was quoted as saying:
"When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall — think of it, always."

ZIONISM LAND OBSESSION IS IDOLATRY

2006-07-30T18:18:00.000-07:00

Obsession with land is idolatry: and the Ten Commandments say: "Thou shalt have no other Gods before me." I think Israel's obsession with their land is getting in the way of God's true purpose Israel's greatness does not lie in land. They can't see the forest for the trees.

Zionism is not true Judaism. It is a political land grab that may not have been the best choice for the nation of Israel. The Israelis are a nation with or without that piece of land. Life is more than material or geographical position.

Who would want to be in a arid land surrounded by enemies, when one's birthright is a spiritually powerful nation?

If Israel would spiritually "let go" and let God, meaning cease fighting everyone and everything, they would start a chain reaction -- a great sigh of relief.

This does not mean leave the land or give back land. It means "let go" metaphysically. Whenever I surrender my fighting, my pent up resentment, my whole life changes for the better.

The serenity prayer: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

The world stops fighting you when you stop fighting it.

Disowning Conservative Politics Is Costly for Pastor

2006-07-30T06:47:00.000-07:00

Blessings to a brave Christian who woke up and realized the truth. Of course he will be persecuted for it.

Please read this amazing article below or linked here: Disowning Conservative Politics Is Costly for Pastor

“America wasn’t founded as a theocracy,” he said. “America was founded by people trying to escape theocracies. Never in history have we had a Christian theocracy where it wasn’t bloody and barbaric. That’s why our Constitution wisely put in a separation of church and state.

“I am sorry to tell you,” he continued, “that America is not the light of the world and the hope of the world. The light of the world and the hope of the world is Jesus Christ.”

Mr. Boyd lambasted the “hypocrisy and pettiness” of Christians who focus on “sexual issues” like homosexuality, abortion or Janet Jackson’s breast-revealing performance at the Super Bowl halftime show. He said Christians these days were constantly outraged about sex and perceived violations of their rights to display their faith in public.

“Those are the two buttons to push if you want to get Christians to act,” he said. “And those are the two buttons Jesus never pushed.”

Here is the entire article from the New York Times:

MAPLEWOOD, Minn. (July 30) -- Like most pastors who lead thriving evangelical megachurches, the Rev. Gregory A. Boyd was asked frequently to give his blessing -- and the church's -- to conservative political candidates and causes.

The requests came from church members and visitors alike: Would he please announce a rally against gay marriage during services? Would he introduce a politician from the pulpit? Could members set up a table in the lobby promoting their anti-abortion work? Would the church distribute “voters’ guides” that all but endorsed Republican candidates? And with the country at war, please couldn’t the church hang an American flag in the sanctuary?

After refusing each time, Mr. Boyd finally became fed up, he said. Before the last presidential election, he preached six sermons called “The Cross and the Sword” in which he said the church should steer clear of politics, give up moralizing on sexual issues, stop claiming the United States as a “Christian nation” and stop glorifying American military campaigns.

“When the church wins the culture wars, it inevitably loses,” Mr. Boyd preached. “When it conquers the world, it becomes the world. When you put your trust in the sword, you lose the cross.”

Mr. Boyd says he is no liberal. He is opposed to abortion and thinks homosexuality is not God’s ideal. The response from his congregation at Woodland Hills Church here in suburban St. Paul -- packed mostly with politically and theologically conservative, middle-class evangelicals -- was passionate. Some members walked out of a sermon and never returned. By the time the dust had settled, Woodland Hills, which Mr. Boyd founded in 1992, had lost about 1,000 of its 5,000 members.

But there were also congregants who thanked Mr. Boyd, telling him they were moved to tears to hear him voice concerns they had been too afraid to share.

“Most of my friends are believers,” said Shannon Staiger, a psychotherapist and church member, “and they think if you’re a believer, you’ll vote for Bush. And it’s scary to go against that.”

Sermons like Mr. Boyd’s are hardly typical in today’s evangelical churches. But the upheaval at Woodland Hills is an example of the internal debates now going on in some evangelical colleges, magazines and churches. A common concern is that the Christian message is being compromised by the tendency to tie evangelical Christianity to the Republican Party and American nationalism, especially through the war in Iraq.

At least six books on this theme have been published recently, some by Christian publishing houses. Randall Balmer, a religion professor at Barnard College and an evangelical, has written “Thy Kingdom Come: How the Religious Right Distorts the Faith and Threatens America -- an Evangelical’s Lament.”
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And Mr. Boyd has a new book out, “The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church,” which is based on his sermons.

“There is a lot of discontent brewing,” said Brian D. McLaren, the founding pastor at Cedar Ridge Community Church in Gaithersburg, Md., and a leader in the evangelical movement known as the “emerging church,” which is at the forefront of challenging the more politicized evangelical establishment.

“More and more people are saying this has gone too far -- the dominance of the evangelical identity by the religious right,” Mr. McLaren said. “You cannot say the word ‘Jesus’ in 2006 without having an awful lot of baggage going along with it. You can’t say the word ‘Christian,’ and you certainly can’t say the word ‘evangelical’ without it now raising connotations and a certain cringe factor in people.

“Because people think, ‘Oh no, what is going to come next is homosexual bashing, or pro-war rhetoric, or complaining about ‘activist judges.’ ”

Mr. Boyd said he had cleared his sermons with the church’s board, but his words left some in his congregation stunned. Some said that he was disrespecting President Bush and the military, that he was soft on abortion or telling them not to vote.

“When we joined years ago, Greg was a conservative speaker,” said William Berggren, a lawyer who joined the church with his wife six years ago. “But we totally disagreed with him on this. You can’t be a Christian and ignore actions that you feel are wrong. A case in point is the abortion issue. If the church were awake when abortion was passed in the 70’s, it wouldn’t have happened. But the church was asleep.”

Mr. Boyd, 49, who preaches in blue jeans and rumpled plaid shirts, leads a church that occupies a squat block-long building that was once a home improvement chain store.

The church grew from 40 members in 12 years, based in no small part on Mr. Boyd’s draw as an electrifying preacher who stuck closely to Scripture. He has degrees from Yale Divinity School and Princeton Theological Seminary, and he taught theology at Bethel College in St. Paul, where he created a controversy a few years ago by questioning whether God fully knew the future. Some pastors in his own denomination, the Baptist General Conference, mounted an effort to evict Mr. Boyd from the denomination and his teaching post, but he won that battle.

He is known among evangelicals for a bestselling book, “Letters From a Skeptic,” based on correspondence with his father, a leftist union organizer and a lifelong agnostic -- an exchange that eventually persuaded his father to embrace Christianity.

Mr. Boyd said he never intended his sermons to be taken as merely a critique of the Republican Party or the religious right. He refuses to share his party affiliation, or whether he has one, for that reason. He said there were Christians on both the left and the right who had turned politics and patriotism into “idolatry.”

He said he first became alarmed while visiting another megachurch’s worship service on a Fourth of July years ago. The service finished with the chorus singing “God Bless America” and a video of fighter jets flying over a hill silhouetted with crosses.

“I thought to myself, ‘What just happened? Fighter jets mixed up with the cross?’ ” he said in an interview.

Patriotic displays are still a mainstay in some evangelical churches. Across town from Mr. Boyd’s church, the sanctuary of North Heights Lutheran Church was draped in bunting on the Sunday before the Fourth of July this year for a “freedom celebration.” Military veterans and flag twirlers paraded into the sanctuary, an enormous American flag rose slowly behind the stage, and a Marine major who had served in Afghanistan preached that the military was spending “your hard-earned money” on good causes.

In his six sermons, Mr. Boyd laid out a broad argument that the role of Christians was not to seek “power over” others -- by controlling governments, passing legislation or fighting wars.

Christians should instead seek to have “power under” others — “winning people’s hearts” by sacrificing for those in need, as Jesus did, Mr. Boyd said.

“America wasn’t founded as a theocracy,” he said. “America was founded by people trying to escape theocracies. Never in history have we had a Christian theocracy where it wasn’t bloody and barbaric. That’s why our Constitution wisely put in a separation of church and state.

“I am sorry to tell you,” he continued, “that America is not the light of the world and the hope of the world. The light of the world and the hope of the world is Jesus Christ.”

Mr. Boyd lambasted the “hypocrisy and pettiness” of Christians who focus on “sexual issues” like homosexuality, abortion or Janet Jackson’s breast-revealing performance at the Super Bowl halftime show. He said Christians these days were constantly outraged about sex and perceived violations of their rights to display their faith in public.

“Those are the two buttons to push if you want to get Christians to act,” he said. “And those are the two buttons Jesus never pushed.”

Some Woodland Hills members said they applauded the sermons because they had resolved their conflicted feelings. David Churchill, a truck driver for U.P.S. and a Teamster for 26 years, said he had been “raised in a religious-right home” but was torn between the Republican expectations of faith and family and the Democratic expectations of his union.

When Mr. Boyd preached his sermons, “it was liberating to me,” Mr. Churchill said.

Mr. Boyd gave his sermons while his church was in the midst of a $7 million fund-raising campaign. But only $4 million came in, and 7 of the more than 50 staff members were laid off, he said.

Mary Van Sickle, the family pastor at Woodland Hills, said she lost 20 volunteers who had been the backbone of the church’s Sunday school.

“They said, ‘You’re not doing what the church is supposed to be doing, which is supporting the Republican way,’ ” she said. “It was some of my best volunteers.”

The Rev. Paul Eddy, a theology professor at Bethel College and the teaching pastor at Woodland Hills, said: “Greg is an anomaly in the megachurch world. He didn’t give a whit about church leadership, never read a book about church growth. His biggest fear is that people will think that all church is is a weekend carnival, with people liking the worship, the music, his speaking, and that’s it.”

In the end, those who left tended to be white, middle-class suburbanites, church staff members said. In their place, the church has added more members who live in the surrounding community — African-Americans, Hispanics and Hmong immigrants from Laos.

This suits Mr. Boyd. His vision for his church is an ethnically and economically diverse congregation that exemplifies Jesus’ teachings by its members’ actions. He, his wife and three other families from the church moved from the suburbs three years ago to a predominantly black neighborhood in St. Paul.

Mr. Boyd now says of the upheaval: “I don’t regret any aspect of it at all. It was a defining moment for us. We let go of something we were never called to be. We just didn’t know the price we were going to pay for doing it.”

His congregation of about 4,000 is still digesting his message. Mr. Boyd arranged a forum on a recent Wednesday night to allow members to sound off on his new book. The reception was warm, but many of the 56 questions submitted in writing were pointed: Isn’t abortion an evil that Christians should prevent? Are you saying Christians should not join the military? How can Christians possibly have “power under” Osama bin Laden? Didn’t the church play an enormously positive role in the civil rights movement?

One woman asked: “So why NOT us? If we contain the wisdom and grace and love and creativity of Jesus, why shouldn’t we be the ones involved in politics and setting laws?”

Mr. Boyd responded: “I don’t think there’s a particular angle we have on society that others lack. All good, decent people want good and order and justice. Just don’t slap the label ‘Christian’ on it.”

RADICAL PRAYER

2006-07-29T21:07:00.000-07:00

There is a way to pray that can change the world. But it is the kind of prayer that sees no solid substance in evil; no duality. I have experienced the power of this kind of prayer — seeing only the good, and not believing with my senses or buying into the mortal belief in evil — and my entire life has been transformed. Prayer really does change things in the physical world. I will be writing about this in detail in the coming weeks. This might sound silly, but there is a quick fix when you find yourself depressed or sick with anxiety. Lately, whenever I'm distressed over world affairs or things I can't control, I look at a photo of Sedona! We took the kids there for Spring break this year and fell in love with its majestic serenity. You can choose any beautiful place or face and meditate on it. Or you can choose a pleasant memory. This change of thought is a form of discipline that actually transforms your reality. I sometimes see the eyes of my child or Christ's gentle touch. Actually, picture what you think LOVE would look like, if love were a tangible entity. Sometimes unconditional love disguises itself as a dog! I am being very simplistic, but I find that the less we complicate our crises and the less dogma involved in prayer, the quicker we can leap out of depression and fear. The only thing we have is the moment we are in right now. And the sky isn't falling. There is love all around you. LOOK. GRAB IT, BREATHE IT IN. THANK THE STARS.

My entire temperature changes when I look at Sedona, because that is where my family experienced the most peaceful time in our lives. We don't know how it happened, but this is the one place where we stopped fighting. We spent an entire day not even talking, just playing in a creek and climbing rocks. God is where your heart is. We must all strive to be peacemakers in our own lives, love our neighbor as ourself, and think of others' first. If we all practice the Golden Rule, the whole world will change.

In this article, they are saying that these days everything is so upside down, we act as if killing is actually new or radical. "Radical islam" or radicalism is actually old and tired. What will change the world is radical prayer: complete reliance on God, good. Contrary to what the "Christian" warmongers want to believe, Christ was very firm in his teachings: never fight your enemies. Bless them.

Radical thoughts versus thoughtful radicals
Walter Rodgers

After handling several reporting assignments in Iraq in recent years, I am convinced that the “new religious radicalism” that is gripping parts of the Middle East is a bit misleading. It is neither new nor radical. Besides, against the backdrop of the past thousand years, current terms such as “radical Islam” and “Islamist radicals” are less than helpful, and sometimes inaccurate.

The violence that we moderns associate with Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaeda, and militant Islam has been the standard fare in that region for a thousand years. And the violence has not by any means been the exclusive province of Islam then or now.

In 1098 ad, during the First Crusade, Christian knights from France razed the Syrian city of Ma’arra and wiped out Muslim men, women, and children. Later, when these same Christian knights went on to conquer Jerusalem, they boasted that they rode into the city through Muslim blood. Many in the region today, fairly or unfairly, see the current violence as being imposed by foreign military occupation.

Thoughtful radicals are challenging the cycle of violence with prayer.

And what is perhaps most undervalued in the Middle East today is a genuinely radical theology practiced by thoughtful radicals willing to challenge the cycle of violence with confident prayer that refuses to accept killing as indigenous, inevitable, or natural.

Nearly two thousand years ago, the Apostle Paul was at least as familiar with the region’s blood feuds and tribal treacheries as anyone today. He walked through all of it every day. Yet he saw beyond the violence and was able to declare, “Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” He went further, boldly seeing beyond tribal differences: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Paul’s radical theology was based on the even more revolutionary theology of Jesus that does not sanction holy wars, crusades, or jihads. It is a theology that is the antithesis of violence.

Jesus called on us to pray for those we perceive as enemies.

Jesus declared, “But I say to all of you who will listen to me: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who treat you spitefully.” He called on each of us to pray for those perceived to be enemies.

Try though we may, there is no intellectual wiggle room in Jesus’ words. Exceptions were not made then, and are not allowed now—even if Israelis have stolen your patrimony, your father’s house in Ramla, or killed your son with a “rubber bullet” in Ramallah. Or if Palestinians blew up your beloved daughter or wife on a bus in Jerusalem. Or even if US soldiers forced indignities upon your family when they searched your house in Baghdad.

Today, when we are tempted to say, “Yeah, but they don’t think like that” or “They don’t think like we do,” we need to remind ourselves that Paul insisted we are all children of God. What matters most is not how they think, but how we think.

Exercise your right to be spiritually radical—to pray.

Imagine yourself as a journalist or civilian contract employee in Iraq, and that you have been kidnapped, blindfolded, and threatened with execution. Would you not instantly exercise your right to be spiritually radical, your right to pray—especially if someone were holding a knife at your throat or a gun at your head?

What could be more radical than seeing your assailant as Paul did—as a child of God? That is the kind of prayer that causes the haters to put down their knives and guns.

Christ Jesus set the ultimate standard for the spiritual radicalism that changes the world. At his crucifixion he prayed, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” His demonstration also proved that we don’t have to be crucified because we practice his radical theology of loving our neighbors as ourselves.

Mary Baker Eddy once wrote: “The Christian Scientist cherishes no resentment; he knows that that would harm him more than all the malice of his foes.” And then she added: “I say it with joy,—no person can commit an offense against me that I cannot forgive. Meekness is the armor of a Christian, his shield and his buckler” (Message to The Mother Church for 1902, p. 19).

This is the real, radical theology. It blesses all who practice it, because with nothing to forgive, there ceases to be any destructive sense of victimization, which drives the violence.

Reprinted from the August 7, 2006, issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.
Radical thinking:

Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy:
462:25-30
King James Bible:
Gal. 3:26-28
Luke 6:27,28
Luke 23:34

BUSH'S BRAND OF DEMOCRACY

2006-05-11T16:23:00.000-07:00

MY REGULAR BLOG IS AT: www.lydiacornell.com

This one will be updated soon and will deal with different issues. Thank you for your patience.

RAW STORY
Published: Monday May 15, 2006

ABC's Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:

A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we call in an effort to root out confidential sources.

"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.

We do not know how the government determined who we are calling, or whether our phone records were provided to the government as part of the recently-disclosed NSA collection of domestic phone calls.

Other sources have told us that phone calls and contacts by reporters for ABC News, along with the New York Times and the Washington Post, are being examined as part of a widespread CIA leak investigation.

One former official was asked to sign a document stating he was not a confidential source for New York Times reporter James Risen.

Our reports on the CIA's secret prisons in Romania and Poland were known to have upset CIA officials.

People questioned by the FBI about leaks of intelligence information say the CIA was also disturbed by ABC News reports that revealed the use of CIA predator missiles inside Pakistan.

Under Bush Administration guidelines, it is not considered illegal for the government to keep track of numbers dialed by phone customers.

The official who warned ABC News said there was no indication our phones were being tapped so the content of the conversation could be recorded.

A pattern of phone calls from a reporter, however, could provide valuable clues for leak investigators.

DEVELOPING...