Miracles

If you walk outside and look around, looking deeply into what you see, you will see miracles---countless numbers of them.  Every minuscule piece of life on this earth is an unexplainable, unduplicatable miracle. And you are a miracle of miracles because, of all life on the planet, you alone can contemplate such a thing as a "miracle."
There is a certain epiphany that one experiences when he experiences a miracle--an inner response of awe and wonder and reverence. But because we live in the midst of miracles, contemplating life with a miraculous mind, seeing with miraculous eyes, we become desensitized to that inner feeling, and we walk around yawning, complaining, waiting for a better time. This is a manifestation of evil. Evil is overcome in the pursuit of ultimate Truth. Jesus said "I am the Truth", and He was impatient with humans who wanted to see a "sign" or "miracle" in order to have faith. He realized that they were themselves miracles who had been given life by His Father, God, the Creator, the conscious Core of the universe Who permeates the entire universe, which is His domain.
When we open ourselves to Christ and His teachings--His Living Word--among the countless other gifts we receive, we begin to be reawakened to this epiphany, this awe, wonder and reverence. We become like children who can be amazed at the ripples in the water created by a stone. We begin to celebrate and be thankful for Life, knowing where it has come from and its destination. We begin to Love people with a sincere Love that needs nothing in return, but rejoices in whatever good comes to the other from being loved in that way--the Way. We continue to suffer the tribulations of this world, but in a deeper, more permanent way, we transcend all suffering. We live in a spiritual realm that encompasses all life on the planet, all human experiences, in faith and hope and love, which has become for us an unshakable Foundation; like a depth in the ocean of our lives that cannot be disturbed, even by the hurricanes that pass over the surface. Our heart smiles secretly upon the universe as it is, at one with the universe that is our Father's domain. Now we have come out of darkness into the Light that overcomes all the various darknesses of the soul. Now we are truly free; and we feel free. This way-of-being is accessible to all who believe and continue in His Way.

The Magnificent Brain

Neurologist Wolf Singer says the brain is like an orchestra without a conductor. When we decide to take our thoughts captive to Christ  [2Cor.10:5], He begins to become the conductor of the orchestra of our mind; and, of course, He makes the most beautiful music imaginable.

Our Hope

Jesus is still leading us, if we will follow Him, into the solution to the human problem. His seeds of Truth are wafting on the wind across the human landscape. They take root, here and there, and transform hearts into what we have the greatest potential of becoming--what we have been created to become. The fact that He is resisted or ignored is the greatest testimony to the reality of evil. He said, among other wonderful transformative truths, "If you continue in my way, then you are my disciples indeed; and you will know the Truth; and the Truth will set you free." Here alone is the hope for the human family.

It Is Well With My Soul

When all is well with your soul, and you know deeply that all is well with your soul [this place that Jesus brings us to], then you are free to love people with God's Love flowing unencumbered through your heart. It's not about making things right in the world or waiting for the world to become what it has the potential of becoming so that things can then be well with your soul. Rather it's about discovering the essence and truth that Christ has brought to this earth so that then things will be well with your soul. At that point you become Light in the world. We sing this beautiful song penned by Horatio Spafford: "When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll; whatever my lot Thou hast taught me to say, 'It is well. it is well with my soul.' " [emphasis added].

Denial

Perhaps the main problem with denial is that it prevents deep introspection. One cannot look deeply into himself if he is unwilling to face the truth about himself.  He keeps running into the truth that discomforts him. And when one cannot look deeply into himself, he cannot avail himself of the infinite inner world where there is beauty, goodness and undiscovered truth that liberates the soul from the narrowing confines and shallow world of denial. We can only get to God and the freedom He offers by travelling the pathway of truth about the self. The grace afforded by Jesus enables us to face all the ugly truth wihin us. And the power of the Holy Spirit enables us to begin the process of overcoming it. If we continue this process, we discover the ultimate Truth that sets us free, just as Christ said.

Self Doubt

Whenever someone doubts you, or your doubt yourself, no need to panic or get angry. You need only look honestly at what is being doubted in you. After all, the doubt is just about something in you, not the whole person that you are. You can't doubt a whole person--that's judgmentalism; and we don't have to live under that curse, whether from others or from our self.  But if you or someone else is doubting something in you, again I say, don't panic or get angry. Just look at what's being doubted, and ask yourself "Is there any truth in it?" And with some of it, the answer will be "Yes. There is some truth in it." And that gives you the opportunity to either 1. Do something about it or, 2.Bring it into Grace, or 3. Some version of both 1. and 2.  Therefore you do not have to condemn yourself because of something you doubt about yourself. You can stay free. In a peaceful, confident place; not because you are perfect, but because you are trying to get life right, which means that you are devoted to living in Love and Truth. And that is the best any of us can say. Some people either never doubt themselves or seem to never doubt themselves. Those who seem to never doubt themselves are often those who are honestly looking at their faults, bringing them into Grace, and plunging onward, trying to do good. Or they are those who never doubt themselves. We earnestly hope that these [those who never doubt themselves] have a healthy dose of humility, because those who do not doubt themselves and lack humility are dangerous for the human family. Some of the most evil people in history seemed to have been supremely confident in what they were doing.

New Year, New Life

It's the first day of 2017 A.D., anno Domini, Latin for "in the year of our Lord."  It's amazing, if you think about it, that the significance of that number, 2017, is ignored amidst the fireworks, champagne and choruses of Auld Lang Syne.  It never ceases to amaze [and disappoint] me that we seem to go out of our way to avoid talking about Jesus in the important matters of life. Or if He is brought up, it is usually in some distorted or caricaturish  way that has little or nothing to do with who he is, based on someone's inept means of trying to live the Christian life. Those who are blind to Christ or threatened by his authority love to mock him by exaggerating the distortions that have emerged from the Christian lifestyle, as if there were no distortions in every endeavor of life. Some seem to militantly avoid his amazing, deep and liberating teachings, and how much aid to the poor, sick and traumatized people of the world has been ministered in his name. Many still say we are a Christian nation, and it seems very evident that our Founding Fathers and Mothers were basing this democracy on Biblical principles that, to them, were transcendent and universal. The roots of Christianity run deep in our nation. And I believe that is precisely why we have enjoyed such prosperity and especially freedom, since the God of the Bible is free, and sent ten plaques against those who had enslaved His people. Jesus said that he came to "set at liberty those who are oppressed." This is profound because oppression permeates the hearts and minds of those who live in prosperity; not just the poor. Freedom is not primarily a political phenomenon; it is primarily an issue of the soul. Some in prison sing songs of joy; and some living in palaces commit suicide.
I hope that 2017 will be a year with increased emphasis on the One whose life and teachings are demarcated by it. If so, it will truly be a very good year.