You were once but a dream

You were but a dream in the mind of God. Your existence is as a consequence of the plans and actions of those beings that have been endowed and empowered to turn God’s dreams into realities. And while the rulers of temporal universes aspire to the perfection of the eternal and divine cosmos, there is still the inescapable fact that such a journey requires time and that the direction of such a journey is from the less perfect to the more perfect. Thus, while our beginnings may be marked by darkness, confusion and suffering, our destiny is to dwell in the shadowless light, perfect knowledge, and abounding peace.

Children of Zion!

The perfection seeking children of the cosmos are animated by the service motives of the Divine, as opposed to the purely self centred concerns of the creature of flesh. In contrast to the weak and corrupt, the perfection seeking children of the cosmos employ faith instead of fear, loving service instead of intimidation. By so living, truth becomes enthroned in the hearts of all who behold such righteous lives.

The children of truth cannot be perturbed by the dark shadows of fear. The wicked may shoot their arrows from the shadows but a shadow cannot enter the light. They may marshal their Wizards to call up the fearsome spectres of doom, summon their army of Soothsayers to spin an entangling web of whispers, and send for the prophets-for-hire who answer to the Call of the Coin and have them put on a mighty and frightening display such that the world trembles, but the children of truth will remain unmoved and in perfect composure. They know that all this smoke and thundering and lightening is nothing more than a spectacle to frighten children. Those firmly ensconced in the light of eternal truth are not troubled by shadows cast by the children of darkness.

Behold, the Children of Zion! Give ear to their clarion cry: “Peace on earth; good will to all men!” They call you to faith and to courage, to service and to sacrifice. They do not promise a life of ease. They come wielding the hard and unyielding sword of truth. They come to free those bound by the chains of fear, to loose those held captive in spiritual bondage. They call us to higher and holier attainments, to the pursuit of perfection. I heard them say, ‘The journey to the Promised Land is NOT be easy but it is worth it!’ How sweet to the soul are the words of these prophets! They are a soothing balm on a troubled brow.

But how bitter are those words forged in darkness! Words of fear and cowardice, ‘think of yourselves and your families, all you have earned – you don’t want to lose it all, do you?’ as if it could be kept… They fulminate, ‘It’s impossible, impractical, too difficult, too much trouble, nobody would go for it, you’re not considering all the consequences,’ they are the prophets of doubt and fear. They seek to bind you into the grooves of tradition and established custom. They send forth the dogs of fear and while their Sorcerers summon the dark clouds of Doubt and Uncertainty. They want to blind you, not enlighten you; divide you, not unite you. They want you to think that the child of another is of lesser value than yours. They try to use hate, suspicion, and mistrust, to blind you to the supernal truth that the human race is one family – we are all brothers and sisters. They wish to tap into your fear and make you desperate, not tap into your faith and give you hope!

Come! Join the Children of Zion! Come! Live the fearless life! Come! Join hands with the Almighty and the children of the Almighty and let us together overthrow the corrupt kings and the servants of the Great Harlot! COME!

Finding the Kin-dom

When we have found that inner reality, the Kin-dom within – the Pearl of Great Price, we have discovered for ourselves, within ourselves, by ourselves and as ourselves the most inspiring and liberating of all truths; that God is my Father. We can faith grasp that; this Father loves us with a stainless and all-wise love; craves association with us throughout all eternity; will spare no expense to secure our eternal survival; yearns to reveal to you a universe of sublime wonders and to afford you endless opportunities for loving service; that, in the end, you might manifest the divine character of your spiritual potential, actualise your Spirit Self, the higher, ideal, better, more noble, kinder version of you – the YOU that is like God, the REAL you, the child of the God of Love, the God of Sharing, the God of Joyful Fellowship. Hence, we can sense the thrilling and joyful nature of the gospel, appreciate the indomitable good cheer of the Master and be heartily encouraged when we read his words, ‘Fear not! Believe only! It is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kin-dom.’

The Shocking Truth

The Heavens will not force feed truth to one that has no appetite for it.

Niels Bohr once said: ‘Anyone who is not shocked by Quantum Mechanics has not understood it.’  I feel the same is true of the Gospel – if it doesn’t knock your socks off then you have not grasped it, you have no appreciation of the sweeping implications of its truth. You may indeed hear the words but the truth thereof evades you. You may attend your religious services and mutter out the chorus of a hymn, even throw money into the Collection Plate, but that is hardly the inspired religious living of one that has heard the gospel. Such behaviour is not indicative of communion with transforming spiritual truth; the truth that compels one to pour out one’s soul for the salvation of the world. The ardour of true religious living, inspired living, could not possibly be compared to the mild inconvenience of convention that currently passes for the religious life of most post modern peoples. The gospel is electrifying in effect and those that are courageous enough to open themselves to its shocking truth are forever changed by the experience.

While the facts of quantum mechanics may require strenuous intellectual effort and training, the truth of the gospel is almost too easy and therein lies much of the problem. Quantum theory might change how you understand the universe and your concept of reality but the truth of the gospel doesn’t stop with merely changing your universe, it changes youand your whole relationship with the universe.

The great difficulty inherent in the experience of receiving the truth of the gospel is that it can only be received by those that WANT it; it can only be understood by those that wantto understand it. The sincere and heartfelt desire to experience this truth is an inevitable prerequisite that must be met before the Heavens can release its nourishing spiritual treasures to the hungering soul; and herein lies a glimpse of the Unforgiveable Sin – the personal refusal to embrace, receive, and live this truth.

Today we have Celebrity Atheists, individuals that are accomplished in self promotion and who promote themselves as ideal models of good sense, the gold standard of sound reason, true prophets of the facts, ardent enemies of superstition and ignorance. Indeed, so well have they promoted their theories that they have convinced, nearly, the whole world that to not be in their camp is to side with error, foolishness, and ignorance. However, when I survey these teachers I am reminded of a truth taught by the Master: ‘Seek and you will find’ – a dangerous truth indeed. You see I understand that God is not arbitrarily hidden from His children. He is found of them that sincerely seek Him. Indeed, it is arguable that of all the things in the Universe God is the easiest thing to find. Given this truth, how then can it be that these great intellects, these paragons of sound reason, have failed to find Him? There can be only one conclusion: they were not sincere in their search. After all, you cannot find something that you are not looking for.

Such individuals might be well accomplished in some one of the scientific disciplines but they are obviously not accomplished in this business of finding God. They point to their failure to find God as evidence to the effect that God does not exist. This is reminiscent of those that claim that a puzzle cannot be solved merely because they cannot solve it; that a thing cannot be achieved simply because they were unable to achieve it; that a thing does not make sense purely because they are unable to make sense of it; and this arrogance is worse compounded by the outright rejection of those that claim to have solved the problem, to whom the issue does make sense, or who have achieved the very thing these have said could not be achieved. In a remarkable irony, these fellows become guilty of the very thing they condemn in others – being closed-minded.

Just as quantum theory has its great teachers, the science that underpins the actualisation of our spiritual potential has its great luminaries; and just like the work of Planck and Einstein needs translators and teachers who can make their work accessible and serviceable to ordinary mortals, so too does the work of great teachers like Joshua ben Joseph of Nazareth or the Buddha need its teachers and translators. These lesser lights, if you will, vary in talent: some, being incredibly gifted, can make the most complex issues seem like child’s play; while others, less able, can turn the brightest vision into a nightmare. I would like to number myself among this army of lesser luminaries. It is my ardent hope to unpack some of the tremendous spiritual riches locked up in the life and work of Joshua ben Joseph of Nazareth and go some way towards clearing up the great rivers of ink and blood that have been spilled over his teachings and that have over time come to obscure his inspiring message.

It is disingenuous on the part of these celebrities to select the worst possible teachings as an example of the essence of religion and declare triumphantly therefrom that the whole endeavour is ridiculous. If I were take the work of scientists from a thousand, two thousand, or three thousand years ago, select their worst work and parade this foolishness before the world as ‘The Folly of Science’ that would be a gross misrepresentation, bordering on outright deception – even though every instance I selected would be an instance of fact. Would it not be fairer to simply recognise the truth in what they taught and pass lightly over the error? Shouldn’t these individuals aspire to at least this, instead of going for the cheap shot? Practically all religions, regardless of the foolishness they hold as sacred truths, share certain ideals which they contend are of timeless value to the forward march of civilisation: self-control, social service, family, justice, peace, love, truth, beauty, and goodness, and the hope of everlasting life. They extol these virtues with undaunted fervour, despite the fact that they are constantly undermined by the wicked and corrupt.

If you want to experience truth, and you want this sincerely and with your whole heart, there exists no power capable of preventing you from achieving this experience. On the other hand, however, if no desire to experience truth exists in you then there exists no means by which you can be made to experience truth. The Heavens will not force feed truth to one that has no appetite for it. There is certainly a case to be made to the effect that in the hunger for truth is to be found a revelation of truth but that is a deep teaching for another time.

So, let me end with the greatest truth: that which we call God exists, is real, and is the Great Source from whence springs all truth, beauty, and goodness, all love, hope, and mercy, all life, joy, and peace, and the great purpose of life – the quest to find and become like God – is an endless journey exploring the limitless depths of the Infinite One; a stupendous journey exploring the endless revelations of the unending majesty of truth, beauty, and goodness. As we come to know God better, as we learn more and more about that reality which we denote by the term God we likewise increase our store and appreciation of truth, beauty, and goodness. The Great Source is that reality from whence springs all things and beings, meanings and values, facts and personalities. Thus understood we call this reality the Universal Father because it is the Prime Ancestor or Great Source of All.

The Great Father has sent to us His prophets, teachers, and poets that he might make Himself known to us – the potential children of truth, beauty, and goodness, that we might learn of His glory and goodness, and attain for ourselves the glorious destiny of the Children of the Almighty. But not all have the heart to receive the teachings of these light bearers and through the grace of free will can reject such a destiny. As the prophets have taught us, ‘There is a way that seems wise to a man but the ends thereof are death.’ Go figure.

Divine Thunder

Service is to Sonship as Thunder is to Lightening

As the thundering clouds above strike fear and dread in the hearts of those that hear them, let the divine thunder of our loving and unselfish service strike hope and joy in the hearts of all that perceive it!

Moving Forward

Oh, children of the Earth,

How long will you suffer War?

Why do you give men the power to make war?

Why do you allow men to rule over you

That believe in violence?

How long will you entertain the delusion

That you can build

The Kingdom of Peace

Using the weapons of War?

What vile experience must you endure

To make you realise the revolting nature of war?

What horrific scourging

Need you suffer

To make you lose your taste for

Steal, blood, and terror?

Men of violence,

Who see enemies everywhere,

Are not fit to run a school

Let alone a nation.

Let us no more learn to make war!

When will be begin to learn to make Peace?!

Let us no more learn of war,

Let it become a bad memory,

A terror of the night season,

Whereupon awaking

We discover

The world of beauty, harmony, light, and life.

Let us transform our means of destruction

Into a means of creation,

Our means of inflicting harm

Into a means of creating healing.

Let us put an end to mourning

Let us no more hear the sound of mothers weeping

Let us stop the tears bought with terror.

Instead, let laughter peal through our streets like thunder.

Instead of screams

Let music fill the air

Instead of the bitter parting,

With fear that they will never return,

Let there be joyful welcoming

With the peace that knows they will never go to that place again

With joy let us move forward

Into the light of the truth of love and brotherhood

Knowing that we have once, for all, and forever,

Put the darkness of hatred and enmity behind us

Let forgiveness break the chains of hatred

That hold us fast in the darkness of the past

Let faith reveal the

Brighter worlds and better days ahead

If we are to give our lives

Then let us give them

With Love to Beauty, Truth, and Goodness

The Lord of Life

Happiness consists not in what you have but in what you are, not in what you can get but in what you can give. You can make this world a better place. You can enrich it and the lives of your fellows. You can be a source of healing and beauty, love and joy, justice and strength. You can increase the value and worth of all you touch. You can be such a being of light and life. Or you can choose the ways of darkness and death.

You can inflict hurt and horror, fear and despair, corruption and weakness. You can diminish and desecrate everything around you. You can be a Devouring Darkness. The Master well said, ‘if the light that is in you is turned to darkness, how great is that darkness!?’

We are all given five talents: a body, a mind, a spirit, a personality, and an endowment of time, to do with as we wish. If we invest these gifts wisely, in such a way as to honour the Lord of Life that bestowed such gifts upon us, then when the time of reckoning comes the Lord of Life may look favourably upon our service and invest yet more in us.

But if we are wicked and slothful stewards of the Lord’s investment; if we take his gifts and use them to destroy and diminish what already is – instead of building and enhancing, if we will gratuitously squander these gifts in the gratification of selfish amusements then when the reckoning comes the Lord of Life will seize and reclaim these gifts and no more will the souls of the wicked stain the Kingdom of the Living.

There are ways that seems wise to the wicked but the ends thereof are death; therefore should the wicked watch their step. Mark you well: you that would trade fire for gold, ancient forests for new money, who foolishly believe that oppression and injustice offer solid foundations whereon to build, who would with malice of forethought plunder the wealth of widows, orphans, and the elderly, you do grievously err. For the True Scales are in the hands of the Lord of Life and when all the tears, suffering, prayers and supplications are finally measured, all that you have and are will not be sufficient to balance the Scales. Thus will the Lord of Life call upon his abundance and Balance the Scales and all that you have and are will be consumed and those that knew you will be astonished for your place in the Kingdom of the Living will no more be found.

Less is more

I heard a a saying while back that went: if you are not happy with what you have how could you be happy with more? It got me thinking: ‘if you’re not happy with what you have then maybe you need less’? Less bullshit, less drama, less ego. Maybe you need to let go of a certain way of looking at things, or give up an approach to things that no longer works: give up your bad attitude, give up complaining, whinging and moaning about your lot; give up expecting the world to conform to your hopes and wishes. Maybe you need to look at what you can give and not what you can get, at what you are more than at what you have. When it comes to affairs of the Spirit less really is more.

The Divine Romance

The sage of old declared: of all the things a person can pursue in life WISDOM is of greatest value. We are taught that: Wisdom is the principle thing, in all your getting get wisdom; in her right hand is to be found long life and her left riches and honour; her paths are peace and her profit greater than silver, greater even than fine gold. She is more precious than jewels; nothing can be compared to her. Therefore, pursue wisdom. These words have stirred my soul for years and after decades I pursuit I can finally say few are the joys more sublime than the pursuit of this Handmaiden of the Soul – a divine romance to be treasured throughout all eternity.

I was first turned onto wisdom by the story of King Solomon. After inheriting the throne from his father, King David, he was overwhelmed by the prospects of rulership and so he prayed and after he prayed he dreamed. He didn’t pray for fame or riches but for the wherewithal to rule wisely and his prayer was pleasing to the Lord; and as the maxim goes, ‘pursue the substance and the shadow will be included,’ so it was for good King Solomon, in pursuing the substance that is wisdom the shadow of fame and riches followed.

Fame and riches are only prized by material minded men and women – the children of this world; but the wise understand that wealth cannot atone for foolishness or selfishness. It cannot buy peace, love, hope, forgiveness, loyalty, friendship, nobility, grace, maturity, trust, character, or salvation. What must it cost us before we learn that an ounce of sense is of greater value than a ton of gold - even several tons? and lest this be not obvious to you remember: a fool and his money are easily parted.

The values and priorities of the post-modern world are mixed up, even toxically so. Alas, our culture is all we have to pass onto our children and they find out, too late, that it is spiritually bankrupt. We teach our children that the ends justify the means and encourage them into the blind pursuit of wealth, power, influence, and fame. The spiritual and moral bankruptcy of our ambitions is ravishing the earth even today, let alone what future generations will have to suffer due to our poverty of true values.

The forward march of civilisation is into the unending quest for higher and ever truer values but the very mixed up nature of the values that guide us at present has us going in endlessly repeating circles of social, environmental, political, and economic chaos and calamity. True it is that many will not enter the Kin-dom except through great tribulation!

Wisdom understands that a person may be happy by accident but they can never stay happy by accident. Your portion of happiness, peace, contentment, joy is almost directly proportional to your quotient of spiritual wisdom and directly upon how effectively you can harmonise your life with the fundamental laws, intelligence, and purposes that shapes and governs reality.

When a nation fails to affirm and overtly promote the pursuit of wisdom as the first goal and primary duty of every citizen it is, by default, covertly and implicitly dedicated to promoting the pursuit of folly, thereby do nations, peoples, and individuals court social, cultural, economic and political disaster.

When are we going to grow up and place the pursuit of wisdom as the number one priority of mortal life?

http://culliganbarry.wix.com/3rdtemple

The Pursuit of Wisdom

The multiplication of knowledge and unceasing technological innovation is not equivalent to the multiplication of wisdom. Indeed the rapid changes in technology, and its corollary of increased complexity in human civilisation, means that our old maps to personal fulfilment and happiness stand in need of radical re-visioning.

The ability to gratify every material want will not, in and of itself, generate happiness. Such purely material achievements cannot satisfy the souls’ deep need for truth, beauty, goodness, meaning, value, love, hope, unity, belonging, peace, to mention but a few of her necessities. We need to learn anew to ‘Seek first the Kin-dom’ - to discover the Great WHY – to discover for ourselves, by ourselves and within ourselves, the reality of the Father and His unending love. All other things are merely husks.

Any nation that fails to affirm and overtly promote the pursuit of wisdom as one of the first goals and primary duties of every citizen is, by default, covertly dedicated to promoting the pursuit of folly, thereby do nations and peoples court social, cultural, economic and political disaster.

We are a ‘hard-headed and stiff-necked’ people. Such stubbornness and pride can have only one outcome, tragedy. By refusing to hear the words of the wise we invite unimaginable suffering into our lives; in the greatness of our folly we explore every path and thereby garner for ourselves every pain, suffer every heartache, and so agony – the great enemy of apathy - will drive us in search of that peace which is the flower of enlightenment. Thus do we see that it is ‘only through much tribulation that many will enter the Kin-dom’. Consequently, I am left pondering – is world-wide tragedy a precursor to world-wide enlightenment? Is world war a preliminary to world peace? Is injustice, executed on a global level a pre-requisite to the realisation of global justice? Do we really have to go that far before we realise our folly? Do we really have to foist that much suffering on the heads of our unsuspecting children? Must they suffer the consequence of our selfishness, ignorance, and foolishness? How long must we wait before the ‘people will no longer say, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, but the children's teeth have been set on edge.’’ Jer. 31:29. 

The God of Reflections

The God of Reflections

I recently posted an article on a Christian forum looking to form a fellowship of people for who recognise that the spiritual roots of the ideals of brotherhood run far deeper than tradition. Unsurprisingly, this article attracted all manner of turbulent souls whose whole purpose seems to be dedicated to being Trolls for Jesus. The thread was dragged down into the dark deeps of acrimony, self righteous assertions, theological arrogance, and the sort of holier-than-thou bull that I was looking to avoid. To be fair, after a couple of posts folks didn’t bother reading the original message. They responded with gusto to comments made by others and derailed the thread. I expected this but I did secretly hope that the unexpected might occur.

This got me thinking about religion, about tradition versus experience; about the different types of knowing God, the theoretical and the experiential.

I can write here about a kiss, a dinner, a sunset, a flower. I can write about a cure for an ailment or hot sex, about a car, or swimming. I can, through writing, create reflections of that about which I write but no matter how well I write the reflection will never, ever, ever, be the object reflected. I can write a mouth watering review of a fabulous meal that I enjoyed but it will not fill your belly. I can tell you about my beautiful home but it will not keep you warm or the rain from over your head. And no matter what I write, no matter how well I write it, what I write will never be more than a reflection, it will always lack that most irreplaceable of all dimensions, the actual experience that was the inspiration from whence the reflection was contrived.

We write about our experiences. We reflect on our insights and values but the things that we write are not co-incidental with the object of our inquiry. The same holds for religious or spiritual experience. I can write about God but that which I write is not God, it is only a reflection – even one seen ‘as through a glass, darkly’. I can write about Jesus but that creation is merely a reflection and a reflection is never a flawless or replete portrayal, it always lacks; it is always so much less than. I can take a photo of my friend but the photo is not my friend. The significance of this fact seems lost on many religionists.

At best a reflection will possess the aroma of truth, in Christian parlance, will be quickened by the spirit of truth and this spiritual presence of truth is what lends authenticity to a reflection. However, theoretical experts confuse reflections with the objects reflected; confound the photo with the friend. They think that the spirit of truth has somehow become imprisoned in the forms. Consequently, these manmade creations - these reflections – are seen to be invested with divine attributes [like infallibility] – in essence they become totems and the worshippers of these totems, whether they realise it or not, are idolaters. They are idolaters because they worship, fight for, and would even sacrifice their fellows to preserve this manmade object of their devotion.

Tradition can never be more than the object and the experience that inspired it. Tradition can never be more than a reflection. It may be more or less blessed with the spirit of truth, depending largely on the spiritual genius of the diarists. But in the hands of the spiritually blind it is no more than a weapon that divides. The children of God are peace makers, are forgiving, tolerant, and humble. They strive not with their fellows and look only to establish unity, for they know: God is unity.

It has always seemed to me that it’s better to have God and no tradition than to have tradition and no God. The personal experience of knowing God - experiential knowledge - is infinitely more to be preferred than mere knowledge about God - theoretical knowledge. It is an astounding spiritual tragedy that there are people that are experts in tradition but don’t actually know God. While on the other hand, marvel of marvels, there are people that actually know God but don’t know jack about tradition.

This parable best illustrates my point. There was once two people that grew up in the same town but, as circumstances would have it had never encountered one another. The years fly by and both end up travelling the world. As Fate would have it the two ended up in a town on the far side of the world. While out with friends one evening one overhears the conversation of the other and is electrified with the recognition of ‘HOME’ and strikes up a conversation. They quickly learn that they used frequent the same places but at slightly different times. They know the same schools and stores; have heard of the same local heroes. They have never met but they recognise that they both come from the same place and are heartened to meet a friendly face at the far side of the world.

Also in the bar, is another person; one that has never visited the land from whence our two heroes hail. He, likewise, overhears their conversation and interrupts them saying that he is also familiar with the place they are from but his accent isn’t the same. He’s heard of the diners and restaurants but he’s never actually eaten in them. He couldn’t describe the smell as you walk in the door or the feel of the carpet under your feet or the familiar smile of greeting the restaurant owner always beams when he welcomes his ‘favourite regulars’. When the two new found friends dare to correct this self proclaimed expert he takes offense. He objects: but I have read it, it says so here and here. You gentlemen must be wrong. You have been away from your home a long time and your memories must be rusty. Consequently, before long, the two chaps find a way of departing from this man’s company.

God is a place wherein some grow up and the people that have grown in God always recognise one another regardless of other incidental factors like traditions, customs, nationality, gender, or race. They recognise the accent; their personal familiarity with the nuances of the terrain; the hard knocks doled out by the town teachers. But there are others and the only God they know is the God of Reflections, and anyone that has had the experience of living in God can recognise these people instantly. 

Alternative Communion

I’m interested in establishing a non-traditional, gospel based, spiritual fellowship that will be open, welcoming, inclusive, liberal, progressive, committed, sincere, profound, engaging, challenging, rewarding, supportive, nurturing, enlightening, inspiring, empowering, and participatory.

By gospel I mean the universal brotherhood of all humanity – one for all and all for one – in the service of the Father Almighty; the Source, Centre, and Destiny of all things, meanings, values, and beings.

I see the traditions out there, hard at work – ministers tending their flocks, singing songs of praise and generally doing their thing but I have yet to find one that feels like HOME. I understand each to their own when it comes to communal religious worship but I have yet to find a fellowship that I could feel a part of, where I could let my guard down, be my self, and enjoy communion with my brethren. I know and believe that we are all one family under God but it is true that birds of a feather flock together and, I guess, I’m looking for my flock.

I am devoted to the Master and his cause but I don’t personally subscribe to many of the teachings of the traditions and that creates challenges. It appears to me that the world of Christendom is subdivided up into various communities whose borders are defined by their respective creeds, and who have made salvation and passage into communion dependent upon the willingness of the prospective member to subscribe to their particular variation of their respective creeds; a salvation by right beliefs sort of thing. This issue is further compounded by the tendency of some to externalise their identities. They identify themselves with their creed, code, and cult, and consequently confuse the rejection of some or all of their creed, code, and cult, as somehow a rejection of them and I don’t want to be hurting anyone’s feelings. I just want to sit down, break the bread of spiritual inspiration and share it with my fellows.

I enjoy the company of the followers of Jesus, regardless of their beliefs, but I personally find the atonement doctrine revolting and the call to the hatred and condemnation of homosexuality despicable. If some Christian thinks I’ve just bought a one way ticket to eternal damnation for espousing such opinions, that’s cool too – whatever floats your boat buddy but that’s the sort of thing that creates serious challenges to communion, that and the dreadful worship music that get played in contemporary churches. Don’t get me wrong, I love music; I’m a musician myself but some of the tunes belted out in the churches are like needles in my ears. I just can’t handle them.

So I’m caught on two things: the demand for conformity of beliefs and having to endure [what is for me] terrible music. I understand there’s no accounting for taste. Some like heavy metal, some like country, others classical and opera, and yet others love contemporary Christian worship music. Not me, sorry about that. I will gladly concede that some of the tunes are great, Rich Mullins and other spring to mind but overall quality is pretty low. Maybe one of you good people will educate me.

I’ve got a few like minded friends here in Galway. We have a little fellowship [at least one of which really, really, loves worship music] and I’m wondering if there are any other like-minded souls out there that would be interested in setting something up?

For more on the subject check out this link

Link to Do Something Irish

Reflections of a Strange Preacher

There is a fundamental joy and liberty inherent in the realisation that you are a child of God and that all men are brothers. Moreover, such truth contains the inspiring and enthralling vistas of divine destiny; while fear and death are swallowed up in the realisation of life everlasting.
And what is this life to which we are invited? But one of endless transformation, of transforming the world even as we are transformed: of transforming potential into actual, dreams into realities;of establishing Justice where there is injustice, peace where there is war, healing where there is hurt, and prosperity where there is poverty.

In these endeavours God is with us...the greatest power in the universe stands with us. When aligned with the Father the children of God are the most powerful force for positive social transformation on the face of the earth.

Gospel to the Gentiles

Jesus taught that all people are the children of God: Jew and Gentile. For those that don’t quite understand what a gentile is that’s anyone that’s not a Jew by birth – this covers all people of every race and persuasion, everyone, everywhere in the world, all of them, all at once, all of them are equally the children of God, no ifs ands or buts. It’s difficult to appreciate just how radical were the teachings of the universal brotherhood of all mankind until you realise that Jesus was preaching this message to a people for whom racism was a fundamental part of their religion. All that were so unfortunate as to not be born Jews were perceived by certain quarters as little better than dogs – gentile dogs. That Jesus invited these dogs to the table of Divine Brotherhood was astounding and this message still challenges people to this day – especially so-called Christians.

He said that we would know his true followers because they would follow his commandments and treat all men as brothers - they would be free of prejudice. They would extend forgiving tolerance and loving mercy even to those whom the world would call enemies but whom the children of the Kin-dom would know to be brothers (albeit brothers lost in spiritual darkness). Frankly, these attitudes are seldom exemplified by alleged followers of the Master – regardless of tradition and, chances are, many would balk at being expected to so live but this is the very price required to stay in the Kin-dom; indeed is the very substance of the Kin-dom. What we do tend to hear from the so-called followers of the Master is castigation, vilification, condemnation, demonization, and a great rush to call fire down from Heaven – none of which exemplify the Masters life, teachings, or values.

It is impossible to reconcile the exclusivism of the traditions with the universal brotherhood proclaimed by the Master. It is a tragic indictment of the traditions and clearly indicates how far they have strayed away from the essence of gospel; they follow not after the Master’s voice, indeed they follow the voice of another. The Master extends his hand to all and welcomes all that have the faith to accept the great truth he lived, taught, and died for; that we are all brothers and sisters, we are all the children of God. In his life he taught us how we proclaim this truth to the world: through loving service for our fellows; through the progressive sanctification of one’s life, and through the consecration of one’s life to the doing of the Father’s will – manifesting His love for all His children.

The traditions have set the bar very low indeed when the benchmark of piety and of being a good Christian consists mainly in regular participation in and observance of religious rituals and tithing. Without doubt this represents the spiritual low-tide mark that reveals just how spiritually impoverished many of the traditions are.

Diary of a Strange Preacher 13 Feb 2016 10:33

The What

I wish to establish a non-traditional, gospel based, spiritual fellowship that will be open, welcoming, inclusive, liberal, progressive, committed, sincere, profound, engaging, challenging, rewarding, supportive, nurturing, enlightening, inspiring, empowering, and participatory.

By gospel I mean the universal brotherhood of all humanity – one for all and all for one – in the service of the Father Almighty; the Source, Centre, and Destiny of all things, meanings, values, and beings.

Diary of a Strange Preacher 13 Feb 2016 10:30am

The WHY

In order to establish Heaven on Earth we must understand that our first step is to realise the Heaven within; after all, the world is but a mirror – it can only reflect what we project. To this end is I will establish a fellowship whose primary purpose will be to enable people to discover and share the bounty of the Heaven within.

There exists a reality that is far greater than you can imagine. This is a healing, transforming, inspiring, ennobling, liberating and energising truth. Upon contact with it you are translated out of the dark pits of fear, despair, and destruction and elevated to the high and illuminated plane of faith, hope, and endless creation. I want all the world to know this experience.

This truth is my WHY. I crave the world to know the liberty consciousness of this truth brings: liberty from fear, death, and woe. In this the hurt I proclaim will find healing, the lost will find a new and better way. It gives strength to the weak and courage to the fearful. It is the hope of the good and wise men of all ages. It is a living reality, even the very source of life itself. It is the centre from whence all has its origin and the destiny toward which all has its end.