Creation Creates

We humans lack the ability to create something unimaginable to us. Everything we humans create is based on preexisting elements and we are just rearranging them in different ways to "create" something new, when the new "creation" is simply a remix or a compilation or a mixture or a collage. This applies to every aspect within our lives. Music, writing, speech, inventions, mythological creatures, and even life itself.

Music is simply a combination of notes arranged in different orders at different speeds. Writing and speech is a combination of preexisting words rearranged in order to convey a new idea or "creation". An invention such as the light bulbs was "created" by harnessing electricity and using other items that already existed. Mythological creatures are "created" by combining different aspects and characteristics of existing creatures. The Angels known as Cherubim are described as having four faces – that of a man, an ox, a lion, and an eagle, and four wings covered with eyes (Ezekiel 10:14).

Animals within our world are a combination of other animals, the platypus is a prime example of this notion. Us humans are all said to be a lineage of Adam or first man and are just different genetic variances. Carbon is a primary component of all known life on Earth, and represents approximately 45–50% of all dry biomass. Everything in the universe is cyclical meaning everything is recycled into a new "creation".

We humans lack the ability to perceive God due to the fact that God is far beyond anything recognizable to us. We cannot conceive of something beyond our own comprehension without the grace of God. In our attempt at knowing our God we conceptualize God as a human, think old man in the sky. We think of God as a concept such as Love or father. We think of God as nothing or as everything. We think of God of being in us or outside of us. Anything that we imagine to be God, is only a fraction of God or a combination of existing aspects of God but not all of God. God is uncomprehensible to us since God is the origin of all that was, all that is, and all that ever will be, including beings we aren't even aware of. Love and Peace!

Miracles Vs. Magic

Miracles and magic can appear to be the same on the surface but ultimately are two ends of the spectrum. Not in a "right" vs. "wrong" or "good" vs. "bad" kind of way. Miracles are the disappearance of an illusion, while magic is the attempt to give the illusion, whatever it may be, power. No illusion has any power since it is only an illusion and therefor it is impossible to give more power to an illusion using magic even though we try. Sometimes magic can appear to make an illusion more powerful, but magic in its simplest perceived form transforms the illusion into another form of illusion that appears to be more powerful or different, but it is still just an illusion. A miracle illuminates an illusion thereby causing us to see the illusion for what it is, which is nothing but an illusion.

We say that death is real, we say that we shall all die. Jesus Christ came into the world and showed us death isn't real. He did this with what we refer to as miracles, when in reality he was just showing us the truth and that death is an illusion. Some people wanted to hold onto their illusion of death so desperately that they tried to kill Jesus by attempting to crucify him. In which Jesus just casually showed back up afterwards and casually said I told you death wasn't real. Even to this day, two thousand years later we are still split on this. If we believe death to be an illusion, we believe that Jesus came and appeared to die but never actually died. If we believe death to be real, we say that the stories about Jesus are made up or exaggerated or we say that maybe he never existed at all. Our personal beliefs and illusions don't change reality, no matter how hard we try to make them. 

Jesus healed the sick. This is a miracle to us since we believe that we can be sick which is an illusion. Jesus healing the sick is simply us being shown that sickness is illusion. If we decide to cling to the illusion that sickness is real, we will become "sick" in order to prove to ourselves that the illusion of sickness is real ultimately refusing to see the illusion for what it is which is nothing. Just as we attempt to kill ourselves in order to prove the illusion of death to be real, we spend our lives trying to die, instead of just living. We can go through the list of all the miracles performed by Jesus or any other person, but they are all the illumination of an illusion.

Magic on the other hand is used as an attempt to maintain an illusion or an attempt to make an illusion more powerful. When we "use" magic, we are essentially doing nothing, no matter how much we would like to believe that we are. It is fairly common knowledge that magicians in this world use the "power" of illusion in order to get your mind to believe something to be true that is not. Magicians use techniques such as sleight of hand, misdirection, and optical illusions in order to trick our brains. Magicians appear to do things that we deem impossible using deceptive methods and trickery. Since illusions are not real, using them or attempting to amplify them does nothing. There is no such thing as real magic. Using an illusion (magic) in order to transform another illusion (any illusion) is simply not possible. All magic is the same whether it be a street magician or magick within an occult practice. We made magic as an attempt to recreate the miracle which seems to be outside our reach. 

Something as simple as a headache can appear to be made better by taking an aspirin tablet. This is magic since we believe that we are "healing" the headache by using a pill when in reality the pill just helps us to ignore the headache until we forget about it, but more often than not the headache comes back, and we are left relying on the "magic" pill once again. If it were truly magic, we should only ever need to take one pill and be done. The fact that we need to take more pills and oftentimes for extended periods of time in order for them to works shows of their lack of "power". The miracle shows us that we couldn't possibly have a headache and we don't need any "magic" pill to get rid of it. Headaches are very often caused by another factor, more often than not stress. If we reduce our stress levels, we are able to reduce the frequency of headaches if not get rid of them completely. We believe it would take a miracle to get rid of our chronic headaches and that is simply because we believe that we can have headaches in the first place. Magic always needs more magic. A miracle only happens but once, for that is all the miracle needs. Love and Peace!

The Chameleon

1 Corinthians 9:19-23
19 For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.
20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.
22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
23 And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.

Self-identity is at the core of who we are, for what we believe that we are, is who we are and will be, or so we think. We decide who we are and how what our perspective is. On a very basic level we can choose to be an optimist or a pessimist. Many of us believe this is just our nature and that we can't change whether or not we are a pessimist or an optimist. This appears to be true, if we are born into a family of optimists, we will more than likely be an optimist. We can also choose to rebel and be a pessimist within a family of optimists' and be the "black sheep" of the family. We can be born into a family of pessimists such as I was and become a pessimist just like we were taught by our family such as I did. 

We can also choose we don't like being a pessimist and decide to see the world as bright and beautiful instead of dark and depressing such as I did. We can choose to ignore all the dark and depressing thoughts and only focus our attention on the bright and positive thoughts such as I did. We can make the personal choice to go from being a pessimist to an optimist such as I did. I don't tell you about my experiences to brag or to bring about sympathies or condolences, I simply relay my experiences in order that you may find hope, hope of another way, hope of something better, and hope that you too will find your peace so we may all live in peace together as it was, as it is, and as it shall ever be by the grace of God.

We choose how we see ourselves and how we perceive our reality. Pessimism and optimism are simply one way to see the world among thousands upon thousands. Who we think we are is how we see our reality. Since we all identify with different realities in this world, the disciples of Christ are able to take on a chameleon type appearance to the people still within the world. We are able to be anything to anyone at any given time for our identity is in Christ is on solid ground and we no longer crave the identities within this world. Since Christ is our identity, God works as one with the disciples of Christ and we will appear into the minds of those who need us when they need us and as they need to see us.

At the core of all of our beliefs and the center of our identity is simply one of two beliefs. We believe that we are evil sinners in need of punishment. We believe that we have fallen from the grace of God and are somehow separate from everything else and are watching existence from the outside of itself looking in. We believe that we are in desperate need of forgiveness and are destined to live out eternity in torment.  Or... we believe that we are perfect in every way and that God or the source or the creator or the universe didn't make any mistakes, and everything is exactly as it should be.

The first belief brings about nothing but pain and suffering. The second belief brings about everlasting peace. We all decide what we believe, we all have the free will to choose our belief. There is only one truth, both cannot be true at the same time, they are conflicting beliefs. We try to believe both at the same time and compromise, but truth doesn't compromise. Having conflicting beliefs creates chaos and confusion leading to misery and despair. Choose to believe that everything is as it should be including yourself and live in peace. Choose to believe that you are a sinner in need of punishment and live in confusion for nothing will make sense in a world that is believed to be something other than it is. Love and Peace!

Family - Part Three

We discussed the individual dysfunctional family unit in Family - Part one, then we discussed the dysfunctional human family in Family - Part two. In this discussion, we will discuss what a functional family looks like and how we can achieve that within the human family as a whole. We all have a part that we can play in transforming our dysfunctional human family into a functional one with the goal of peace for all, if we so choose, and no one is forced to participate if they don't want to. The things that we will discuss about what a functional family looks like can be applied to anyone that we consider "family" whether it be a split off part of the whole or of the whole family itself. The seemingly smaller family units are still part of the whole family so this applies to all levels.

Too few of us are unaware of what a functional family looks like. If we were not born into a functional family unit, we were more than likely not taught what a functional family looks like or how to even be a part of one. We are then forced to learn for ourselves due to becoming aware that the current way just isn't working, look around and you'll see this as true. Sometimes we seem to fall into a functional family by marrying someone within a functional family unit and we become aware of how dysfunctional our unit is. Quite often many of us remain trapped with the dysfunctional familial habits since we don't know anything different. We are unaware that there is another way even if we can't see it or understand it.

A spiritual awakening is simply becoming aware of the truth that things aren't as they seem and the intuition that something just isn't quite right, and you know you're missing out on something, but you just can't place what it is. We feel this in the depths of our soul, and we can't explain the experience to anyone who hasn't had it for themselves. Having this spiritual awakening or realization that something is missing, we end up on a quest to find the truth, whatever it may be. Often times that means losing all of the people with whom we thought were our "family". We start to realize that many of the "family" we thought we had, weren't actually family at all but were just using us for their own gain. We also become aware that we were using them just as equally for our own gain which is why it is only our pride that is hurt when they leave us or when we leave them. It is only by realizing that our "family" is not who we though they were, that we are blessed with the ability to see the family of existence that was born out of and into Love.

A functional family sincerely apologizes, forgives each other, and changes the behavior that causes the harm to another.

A functional family treats each other with dignity, respect, and kindness.

A functional family strives to make each other's lives easier, happier, and brighter.

A functional family is there for each other and shows up for each other.

A functional family accepts each other completely, including all of the "faults". One of those "faults" may be the complete lack of willingness to make any effort towards being a functional family member. If a family member isn't willing to make the effort to be part of a functional family, there is simply nothing we can do but to Love them and let them go. 

We are all one big family and that doesn't change whether or not we believe it, or if we can see it or if we even care. Being within close proximity to certain family members over others has no significance, it is only us who put significance on the smaller "family" units. Now how to we apply this knowledge about what a functional family looks like? First things first, we CANNOT force someone to change their behavior if they don't want to, having free will and all. If we Love a family member and would like to have a functional relationship with them, it will only work if they are putting in the effort alongside us, otherwise we will find ourselves just wasting our energy on an immovable object. Any family member who does not consciously make the decision alongside us, of their own free will, will only seem to hinder our progress towards achieving the ultimate goal of peace for all.

We know we can't get anywhere working with family members who have not chosen to bring peace about, for they have chosen the illusion of pain and suffering and since the opposite of pain is the illusion of pain and suffering. Which leaves us only one option, to work with the family members who have also chosen peace. We don't need to seek out anyone who chose peace for they will come to us when to time is right. Those of us who choose peace will work with anyone who is willing and able because we know that by showing peace to others, we show peace to ourselves and the whole of existence is raised to a higher level of peace. No one can disrupt our peace from within but ourselves, others may appear to disrupt our peace, but it is simply something within them that shines a light upon something within us that makes us uncomfortable. By finding our inner peace, we no longer have our peace disturbed by any "outside" force. By rediscovering our inner peace, we bring the peace of the world about. Imagine just for a moment how lovely a world would be where we all acted as one big functional family unit, instead of always being at war with ourselves. Love and Peace!

Family - Part Two

Coming from a dysfunctional family as I described in Family - Part one, it becomes easier to see the dysfunctional family dynamic all throughout our lives. We are one big human family and have split ourselves up into smaller familial groups. We first split ourselves into the familial countries that we live in. We are "American" or "German". Some families (countries) fight with other families, some get along great, some have cut each other off, and some are at war with each other. There is talking behind other families back, deception, animosity, and so on and so forth. Sometimes other family members have to get involved between spats and it turns into an all-out world war.

We then split each familial country into states, provinces, or territories and those become our new smaller family. Continue on down to city, neighborhood, household, and blood relatives. We create families within religions, hobbies, interests, and beliefs. We say this person is my family, but that person is not, forgetting all along that we are all one human family. We try to convince ourselves that someone is not our family because they have different skin color or look different or act different. We tell ourselves that only our "blood" relatives are family, completely ignoring the fact we all share the same human bodies with the same human blood. Blood family is simply different genetics within the same blood that flows through us all, which is why we can donate and receive each other's blood. We even split our household blood family apart, instead of family we say, spouse, partner, child, parent, son, daughter, husband, wife, brother, or sister. Anything in order to not have to face the cold hard truth that we are all one family.

We are in a family that is currently 8 billion strong, yet we often feel alone. How could we ever feel alone when we have 8 billion family members to talk to, to laugh with, to entertain, to create memories with, and to live life with. We have family members who support each other, we have family members that help each other, we have teachers, doctors, artists, musicians, entertainers, humanitarians, and every other kind of family member. We split ourselves apart because one family member does something we don't like or because we just can't seem to get along. Maybe one family member just seems to get off on torturing everyone. It's perfectly fine to walk away from family members who disrupt our peace, if a country seems to be bullying all the other countries, the other countries are free to ignore the country that won't leave anyone alone.

There is no need to fight within our own family whatever family that may be, fighting accomplishes nothing except for more discomfort for all of us. It is much easier and a lot less stressful to just walk away with a family member that cannot be reasoned with. The issue that arises is when we forget that we are still family. We start to separate, divide, and compete. Life becomes about getting one up one someone or being better than or getting revenge. All the while were doing this to our own human family. We are one big dysfunctional human family, plain and simple. That is why we fight, that is why we argue, that is why we attempt to hurt each other, and that is why we appear to have the ability to hurt each other.

We have split our human family up so many times in so many ways that many of us cannot even fathom that the human family are part of a still larger family and then still larger than that and so on into infinity. We have a hard time comprehending that the person with a different skin color is still family. Humans are all decedents of Adam or first man. All life descends from the same source which we often times refer to as God. We abuse each other, we neglect each other, and we forget that we are hurting our own family. Since we all came from our one family (God or the source), and we are all part of the same family that means that anything we do to each other we are literally doing to ourselves. Love and Peace!