Counting the Cost

"What violence is to a dictatorship, propaganda is in a democracy." 

Noam Chomsky

We are at war, not a war with tanks, guns and bombs but one of certain devastating consequences nonetheless. It's a war of dis-information, mis-direction, and division, a war of lies and fear versus science and faith. A war so clever it has us fighting one another and throwing away the freedoms that our ancestors earned with blood, sweat, and tears as though they were poison. A war to distort truth and warp minds, to paint those who make the "great sacrifice" heroes of the new world being forged in tragedy and those who question the received wisdom and object to the destruction of their rights as selfish monsters. They have stolen the world and it's going to cost us dearly to get it back. The longer we wait the more it's going to cost us. 

The Great Source

“My brain is only a receiver, in the Universe there is a core from which we obtain knowledge, strength and inspiration. I have not penetrated into the secrets of this core, but I know that it exists.”

― Nikola Tesla

Most spiritual traditions share a common essence, their most revered spiritual teachers taught one great and liberating truth: that at the core of reality there exists the living source of benevolence, creativity, and ingenuity. They further taught that this Great Source actually and genuinely cares about us and our fortunes. Moreover, that it has released tremendous resources that we can use to transition from ignorance, illusion, and the sorrows that ever attend these handmaidens of imperfection to the sublime joy, liberty, and peace that ever crowns the attainment of wisdom and the knowing of truth.

The benevolent love and selfless devotion expressed by the Great Source shapes the Universe, even as it shapes our lives, and is an endless source of positive personal energy and enthusiasm. This Being and our relationship to it is the GOOD NEWS that banishes fear, installs perpetual hope, and establishes a destiny of unspeakable glory in unimaginable opportunities for divine service.

The Great Source reaches down from clarity, stainless love, and perfect understanding out into the Cosmos of evolving life wherein is to be found the maximum of ignorance, fear, and error. The Great Source reaches out from the realms of the Eternal to the realms of the Temporal, from the Infinite to the Finite. Through a series of mechanisms, personalities, and resources It has established a way from time to eternity, from the limited to the Limitless One. The Great Source sends forth the Armies of Light to proclaim the Way; Its Sons to establish and glorify it. It has invited ALL to his table and thus do His Sons proclaim to the worlds: All that will may come.”

The Instrumental Self

Religion is nothing if not a practical approach to life; however, it is very little practiced. To explore and explain what I mean by ‘practical’ let us compare and contrast an imaginary book: ‘How-To-Play-the-Guitar’ and any serious spiritual book. You can read and reread a book on how to play the guitar but unless you pick up the instrument and practice the steps outlined in the text you will never truly know how to play a guitar. At best, you’ll have a decent theoretical understanding but if you ever get called on stage you are going to crash and burn because, for all your knowledge, you simply don’t know how to actually play the guitar. This is equally true of any practical discipline; one cannot advance without theory and praxis. Actual practice teaches things that you could not learn any other way and makes possible instruction on more sophisticated techniques. This principle holds for religion as much as anything else.

 

One of the major problems confronting religion in the West is, not only do people not ‘read the book’ but the religious services they attend are usually provided by people whose only qualification are that they have ‘read the book’ – but who are not necessarily proficient as a result of practice. So, not only do many not ‘read the book’, they have inherited a culture where it is considered acceptable to outsource that responsibility to others – others read it for them and report back what they consider to be the important bits. And so we find ourselves in the rather remarkable position of being born into a culture that has unquestioningly succumbed to the delusion that they can master an instrument by merely listening to someone talk a little about it – that, as if by osmosis, they’ll acquire proficiency by just listening. I’m afraid, brothers and sisters, nothing could be further from the truth and few errors have more painful consequences.

 

You simply cannot master an instrument without application of the precepts outlined by the masters. As a result of this erroneous approach to the practice of religion it is easy see how our current perceptions of religion, its purposes and practice, have become distorted to the point of delusion. When presented and experienced in these terms religion will inevitably appear ineffectual and relatively redundant. So, in what way does true religion differ from the current dominant format?

 

Religion considers your body an instrument [gifted to you for one lifetime] and nearly every religion offers some practical teaching to help the aspirant achieve mastery of this instrument – a method of acquiring the greatest possible benefit attainable from this most sublime of gifts. They all teach that the measure of harmony, beauty, joy and peace that can be experienced by you is a co-efficient of your level of self-mastery coupled with how effectively you have harmonized your existence with the perfection ideals of the Eternals. The true religions teach that insofar as we harmonize our lives with our highest conceptions of truth, beauty, and goodness we achieve the expression of our ideal selves and thereby achieve our highest possible experience of joy, peace, and contentment.

 

As with any instrument – no one else can do the work for you – you reap as you sow. A great pianist once said: “If I don’t practice for one day, I notice. If I don’t practice for two days the orchestra notices. But if I don’t practice for three days the whole world notices.” And just as accomplished musicians recognize the talent and application of other musicians, appreciate the great work they have done to hone their craft and acquire their skill, so too do those accomplished in the high spiritual arts of divine self actualization recognize the fruits, regardless of differing traditions.

 

Furthermore, they teach that Self-mastery alone, without morality – without the illumination afforded by spiritual values, cannot confer happiness. Self-mastery simply means that you are the master of your desires and that your desires do not master you - which is a prerequisite for happiness. However, the fact that you are free to choose the direction in which your will is applied: to heed or ignore, heal or hurt, create or destroy, means that everything you do has a consequence, whether it is done consciously or unconsciously – intelligently or foolishly, that your choices inevitably carry moral implications. Therefore the consecrated pursuit of higher, holier, and nobler goals and values leads inevitably to greater levels of happiness – which is the personal experience of the actualization of your highest potential, becoming the best person you can be.

 

 

We are confronted with the challenge of having to train our minds to go in the direction we wish them to go or suffer the fate of being drawn off to places that we would rather not be. Such things are not accomplished through mere listening. Overcoming the self of animal origin, the ego, is considered among the world faiths as one of the supreme achievements of mortal life. You see, it is an awful lot easier to listen to someone extol the virtues of self control than it is to actually exercise self control and while throwing some coins in the collection plate might go some way towards assuaging the sense of guilt and shame for not doing more, such actions cannot atone for the lack of, nor can they buy the blessings inherent in, true self control.

 

It is easy to listen to one extol the virtues of turning the other cheek but it is entirely another matter to actually turn one’s other cheek when someone has slapped you in the face. It is easy, and even pleasant, to listen to someone extol the virtues of forgiveness but it is another matter entirely to forgive someone that has betrayed you. It is heartening to hear someone encourage us to bless those that curse us, pray for those that spitefully use us, and to sweep up in loving kindness and unselfish service those that would treat us cruelly and gladly sell us out, but it is another thing entirely to overcome personal resentment and hurt and actually do those things. It is, indeed, easy to be ‘hearers of the WORD only’ but what this world most needs is DOERS of the WORD.

 

Take up your magnificent instrument. Get to know it. Learn how to make beautiful things with it. Use it to make the world a better place. Give ear to the old masters, learn from those that have not only spent a lifetime mastering their instrument but who have created tremendous beauty with it. Who knows, perhaps one day you will be a master and the world will stand in awe of the beautiful things that you have created with your life. Perhaps someone will look at your life and be inspired, draw courage, hope, and light from the spectacle of your life, discover life’s magnificent possibilities and go out and make them realities.

The Conspiracy Theorist

Conspiracy theorist is a pejorative term used to denigrate the character of anyone who dares question orthodox thinking, question the narrative put forth by the establishment, the accepted thinking of the "authorities". In another age such people were called heretics. Words like 'heretic' and 'conspiracy theorist' are psychological weapons used by the powerful to shape the perceptions of the fearful and obedient. Such creatures are diseased and association with them or their ideas is a grievous sin that can only bring trouble on you and yours. "For your own good, and the good of the 'xxxx', have nothing to do with them!" 

Civilization was never moved forward by those who exalt orthodoxy. Without the freedom to critique the official position advanced by "those in authority" be they in matters of science, politics, economics, and religion what freedom is there? Indeed, how can any civilization be advanced if the "authorities" are allowed to criminalise those who highlight, question, and discuss the flaws and shortcomings of the "accepted thinking", who dare critique was is and envision a better way? And what is a Better Way but a system in which justice more abundantly abounds and unjust imbalances of power are corrected, where abuse is reduced, and respect multiplied? Who stands against such advances but those who profit from the status quo? Traitors of their fellow men. 

The prophets have always been people of exceptional vision, capable seeing beyond the mere surface of things into deeper truths, sometimes sensing the hidden dangers and fallacies, which the less enlightened mistake for truth. Thus illuminated by wisdom they perceive the catastrophes that await if humanity fails to adjust its course, fails to align itself with higher truth. They who reject the wisdom of their prophets will be consigned to the dust while the prophets will take their seats among the everlasting stars as shining lights whose enlightenment ever and anon will illuminate the destiny of men and nations for those that have the ears to hear. 

We achieve liberty insofar as we can discover and abide by new and higher truth and those who would hide, or through violence and subterfuge, seek to suppress truth thereby endeavour to keep men in the sure chains of darkness - which is ignorance. But who would hide truth save those who fear it and who fears truth other than a deceiver and what is a deceiver other than a thief? The one who questions the Establishment is not always the enemy of the state neither are the emissaries of the Establishment always the friends of the state, much less protectors of their fellow man. 

In-dependence

In this transition from the Age of Authority to the Age of Experience, from Dependence to Independence, we face a struggle to disentangle ourselves from a parasitic system. This is a toxic system that destroys ecosystems, corrupts governments and legislators, weakens us to a state of craven dependency and fills our minds with paralysing visions of terror and fearful delusions. To this soulless system we are a means to an end and in this an end not of our own choosing. We are a resource to be used, managed and – above all – controlled; we are a number on a ledger, a unit of work, we feed it with our very lives - we are its food. We must stop supporting these toxic, corrupt, and corrupting systems, and start supporting better ones, or they will destroy every last one of us.

The Age of In-dependence [dependence upon the resources within] must be preceded by the discovery of the riches of ‘The Kingdom Within’: those riches born of the ever inspiring divine kingdom that exists within every single one of us. Those inspiring spiritual riches that will be illuminated by the spiritual truth that we are the temporal children of the Eternal God and the kingdom of possibilities within ourselves as communities, the spiritual family of God knowing Man serving divinely endowed and spiritually motivated beings. We are free to employ ‘external’ systems but we should not become dependent upon them. We should, indeed, share with our fellows from the abundance we acquire from ‘within’ [within ourselves as individuals and ourselves as groups] but we should always remain mindful that ‘it is more blessed to give than to receive,’ that when we receive we are – far too often – left obligated, a tactic employed by Big Pharma when giving gifts/inducements to universities, health systems, and governments. 

Presently, corporations are the dominant species, the dinosaurs, of the current age. They are like the Hydra of legend: they have many heads, one in Tokyo, Paris, New York, London and Hong Kong, and many crushing feet in the developing nations: Africa, South China, India, Bangladesh, South America. Their tentacles envelop the globe, reaching into every home. Every medicine chest, every piece of fibre you wear and every tool you use, has been touched by them. 

At present our social systems foster dependence. Over time our dependency has grown to such an extent that we are the cultural equivalent of a depraved, chronic addict. A chronic addict thinks nothing of violence, thievery, deception and untold other shameless and nameless acts in order to feed their habit. If an addict would think nothing of robbing loved ones, Big Oil and Pharma think nothing of intimidating nations and plundering their resources, destroying communities, environments, toppling governments, corrupting legislators and are generally ready to do anything in order to acquire profit. Indeed, the CEO that fails to maximise profit can be ejected from their position.

In the midst of all this are the citizenry, like the children of chronic addicts. Their parents are utterly selfish and care not one whit for them. If the children do not act to protect themselves against the unbridled lusts of their caregivers they will be destroyed. Indeed, the whole house will be burned down over their heads. 

It’s a story as old as time itself, over time the nurturing father loses his way and falls into corruption and hell and the child must save him. The children, the citizens, of a Nation do not hate her. She may be a corrupt mother but she is still their mother. Her sons burn to free her from those who would keep her in bondage, force her and her children into prostitution, violence, and degeneracy. 

There is a lesson to be learned from these stories, a guiding moral, that our civilisations have failed to weave into the fabric of their culture. When those with power put self interest ahead of the welfare of the group, when the parent puts the gratification of personal desires ahead of the moral claims of fostering the wellbeing of the whole family, when those with power fail to appreciate the importance of dignity and self-respect and so drag the community down into degeneracy and shame, when the weak, degenerate, and venal are allowed to squander the resources of the family then are the children of that nation or that family forced to live in squalor and filth. 

A society that fails to ensure that only its wisest and most noble are allowed near the reins of power will, over time, guarantee the progressive disenfranchisement of its people. A society that fails to consciously promote and exalt the acquisition of wisdom as the first duty of every citizen, is then – by omission – covertly exalting foolishness and folly and is sure to reap the harvest of sorrow and heartache that ever follows in the wake of these evils. A society that fails to consciously glorify the ideals of service to ones fellows – of so living as to enhance the world, is unconsciously promoting selfishness and self aggrandizement and with it storing up for future generations unimaginable tragedy and suffering.

Such a state of affairs can only continue so long as the children see themselves as dependant upon their corrupt caretakers. The truly sick minded sincerely endeavour to keep their children enslaved through an evil concoction of lies, terror, and cruelty. However, once the children wake up, once they see through the lies and recognise the truth, once they become numb to the terror and fear loses its grip of their imagination, once the limits of pain have been found then their caregivers lose their power over them. Then they, like Dorothy in Oz, discover that they had the power they needed to achieve personal happiness all along and that no one ever had the ability to take it from them without their consent. Once they realise that they are the ones with the power, that it is their corrupt parents who are utterly dependent on them then it is they that can seize control and get their house in order.

The ideals of one generation determine the direction of following generations. To lose sight of one’s ideals is to descend into spiritual darkness. As a disoriented man becomes quickly lost, so too do men’s lives quickly unravel when they’ve lost sight of their ideals, this is as true for the nation as it is for the individual – even for an entire planet.

The prophet Yuri Bezmenov forewarned the west of the danger of the ‘demoralisation of a generation’. The moral of a story is the jewel of wisdom, the guiding principle, that can be derived from it. The spiritual storehouse of nations and of men are their religions and the philosophies, destroy these and you blind men and nations and such is the momentum of history that without these civilisations will, very quickly, unravel.

In these days of profound spiritual darkness, as civilisation seems to be coming apart at the seams, we need the illumination of spiritual ideals, the guidance afforded by moral principles, and consolations of sound cosmic philosophy as probably never before in human history. The Master promised, ‘Seek and you will find’, you just need faith. The only caveat that I would add to that is: be careful what you seek, not everything the heart desires adds value. 

Therefore, in the words of the prophets of old:

Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding... Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. For wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her…Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honour. Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her; those who hold her fast will be blessed.

The Opening of the First Seal

Hi folks,

Can you spare 6 minutes?

I thought I would throw an idea out to you to see what people thought of it. To say that recent events have been a tad disconcerting is an understatement. They’ve got me thinking about the future and how vulnerable our Christian family is to the vagaries of fate.

Christ taught us spiritual liberty and spiritual independence. He taught us not to become spiritually reliant on ‘middle men’ and to establish a direct personal relationship with the one Great Source of all, the Almighty Father. In this relationship he promised we would find new life, abundant life, even everlasting life. He has invited us into the achievement of unimaginable joys through the loving worship of God, the freely bestowed loving service of man, and the perfection of our own characters. He gave us the freedom to do God’s will through faith and this freedom no one can take from us, making us free indeed by his divine grace and abundant mercy. His message contained tones of self reliance and an urge to profit from one’s talents for the glory of God and especially not to waste the great talents we’ve been given.

However, as the ages passed, the children of Christendom have been rendered virtually unconscious by endless ‘comforts’. They have, unwittingly, drifted into complacency and allowed themselves to become dependent on external forces, in this instance the forces that shape the economy like Globalisation. However, recent developments have exposed the vulnerabilities of globalisation. These vulnerabilities reveal the huge liabilities of current practices and imply, at some point in the future, very great cost to the communities of the great nations of the earth, not least to the followers of Christ.

Globalisation has provided almost universal access [in the global west at least] to cheap goods from abroad: cheap food, clothes, medicine, cars, technology, and holidays. This affluence carried with it an exorbitant, but hidden, cost to the family and to the social order in general. Now we can very plainly see that if the Lord should “choose” to strike the earth with a plague then our ‘global’ supply chains will be terminally disrupted and the faithful will be cut off from food, medicine, and other essential supplies. A truly intolerable situation.

I think that we have been given an unbelievable blessing that recent events occurred in Spring and not at the start of Winter.

I believe the Fellowship of the Children of God should consider setting up Co-Operatives for the growing and sharing [read that as buying/selling] of food stuff [and possibly textiles]; if for no other reason than to guarantee their own supplies. We have become reliant on forces external to us and thereby have become extremely vulnerable. It is, then, incumbent upon us to restore our own power and to promote a culture of self reliance.

Recently, I’ve been reflecting on the Book of Revelation and how the Children of God are tested through the ‘end times’. I can’t imagine that the children of those days enter these times ‘unprepared’, for it is certain that such will be the severity of the testing of those days that unless they have established their own supply chain then they will vanish from the face of the earth every bit as quickly as the ungodly. Indeed, I was struck by the thought that perhaps one of the reasons the children of God become victims and martyrs in the ‘last days’ is due to the fact that they have made provisions for the testing and thus become targets by the unprepared ‘children of this world’ who might seek to plunder their resources. It has to be admitted, the ‘End Times’ appears to be nothing less than a global siege of truly biblical proportions.

The outlines seem to follow coherently: Disease [global pandemic] followed by calamitous social unrest [also global, as citizens turn upon their governments for their ineptitude, short sightedness, and in consequence of the breakdown of the global economy] followed by famine [which must inevitably follow as global unrest adversely impacts supply chains], and that is just the start of the woes, more and worse is set to come possibly in the form of a cosmic calamity in which interstellar matter lays waste to the planet. To think that we could survive such a testing without working together is insane and to think that this working relationship [with all its tools, resources, and systems] will just magically appear when the time is right is not only delusional it is positively suicidal and guaranteed to work to the very great detriment of the children of God on earth.

Right now we have a chance to do something of lasting value for the Kingdom, for our children and our children’s children. And even if what’s occurring today is just another blip and nothing to be concerned about, at least it can serve as a wake-up call to us all – one that should wake us to the profound vulnerability of our social structure and get us thinking what we might do to weather the storms ahead because, no matter what, the storms are coming.

A Christian Growers Co-operative would not only give the community a fighting chance IF things were to go south but would provide us with fun opportunities to come together as a community. It would also serve as a means of reaching out to and taking care of some of the most vulnerable and needy members of our community but it need not stop there. There really is so much more that could be done but I don’t wish to take up too much of your time. I guess I just want to plant a seed. [Pun intended]

Presently, for one reason or another, our farmers [especially small farmers] are on the back foot and need us now more than ever. What’s more, it is now glaringly obvious that we desperately need them. The sooner we can foster a solid working relationship with them the better for all concerned.

In light of recent events, it seems like it would be wise to establish contracts with Farmers so that they can make a decent living. As a fellowship we can assist in the planting, growing, harvesting and distribution of these supplies; anything that reduces cost to the farmers and ensures our control and access to the goods. The community can negotiate a fair ‘price’ on the goods and use the profits to enhance the welfare of the community.

Today, while reflecting on the Book of Revelation, a fact struck me: that during the END TIMES global opinion is divided [at least if we are to accept the account given in the Book] as regards the ‘starting of the clock’ on these events. It seems that only the Elect are conscious of the fact that the ‘clock’ has started [or at least are prepared for such an eventuality [are so living as though it was true]], while the rest of the world sees only coincidence or that the faithful are merely twisting current events to suit personal narratives. But regardless as to whether or not the spiritual Starting Pistol has been fired, recent events have revealed that we have become complacent with regard to our independence – in that we have become so dependent on a globalised market – that we have become dangerously vulnerable as a community which is anathema to the Lord’s desire that we long endure on the face of the earth.

There is only one brotherhood, the Brotherhood of those that seek to do the Father’s will. We should not allow the shackles of tradition to restrain us in working in concert with our brethren from other traditions to ensure the long term welfare of the brotherhood of the faithful.

This seems a wise move to me. Such activities could do wonders for revitalising the community of believers, create great teaching and service opportunities. It’s not that I think we are [or should be] Dooms Day Preppers but at the same time, dependence upon God without the supporting pillars of wisdom can only end in disaster for us. As Cromwell is alleged to have said: ‘Trust in God but keep your powder dry.’