A Life Worth Living

I read this today on a friend's Facebook status update:

"Life isn't worth living, unless it is lived for someone else."
- Albert Einstein

Though I agree with the spirit of the quote, the difficulty I have is that there is no indication of how living for someone else is accomplished; Life is worth living because life has intrinsic value in itself. Though a brilliant man, the quote itself doesn't satisfy. Going to God with my spirit of disquiet and meditating on it through the day, his word spoke this in response:


"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.(1) And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.(2) Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.(3)"

What I get from the theme that unfolds through these scriptures is that dying to ourselves and our needs is the only way to successfully live for someone else; outside of that it will be impossible to execute effectively. This is the antithesis of the modern ethos and anathema to the commercial realities of the modern economy; which is why a product of modernity (myself) finds the Einstein quote difficult to grasp. God's logic is foolishness and backwards.(4) God's logic says that we gain life and value by first losing it:

"Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it."(5)

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Meditation on Maria Valtorta's "Notebooks - 1943: May 19th and 21st"

Bloggers Note: I was reading this today and it really resonated with me. Especially since I am so focused right now on writing blogs on current events in relation to scripture and the dangers technology poses to society. It is also a reminder of the impermanence of our endeavors, and reinforces the foundations of charity, humility and grace.   

May 19, 1943
Jesus says:

“This is the punishment for your human pride. You have wanted too much and thus lose even what I had granted for you to have. The works of human genius and ingenuity, my gifts, of which you are so proud, turn to dust to remind you that I alone am Eternal, I alone am God, I alone am I. But what is mine remains. Neither man nor the devil can destroy it. No attack, no wile is capable of destroying what I made and what shall be, ever the same, as long as I will. The sea, the sky, the stars, the mountains, the flowers on the hills, and the green forests. The former are inviolable, like Myself; the latter rise again from every fleeting death inflicted upon them by man, as I rose from the brief death man dealt out to me. And the plants slashed and the grass crushed by war shall live again as I made them the first day. Your works shall not. The works of art shall not. The churches and domes, the palaces and monuments you prided yourselves on - made over centuries and perishing in an instant for your punishment - shall never live again. And the works of progress come crumbling down, along with your foolish pride believing itself to be a god, just because it invented them, and they turn against you, increasing destruction and pain. But my creation remains, and remains more beautiful because in its immutability, which no device can scratch, it speaks even more forcefully of Me. Everything that is yours collapses. But remember, poor men, that it is better for you to remain without anything, while having Me, than to live amidst the heights of art and progress, after having lost Me. One thing alone is necessary for man: the kingdom of the spirit, where I am, the Kingdom of God.”

 
 

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Bloggers Note: I liked this because it highlights Why Grace changes everything. It also addresses, I think, legitimate critiques of the church and why behavior modification programs don't really work. It's not something that can be given, it is something that is nurtured within us by the Spirit of God. I pray that everyone wills to set their foot on this path... 


May 21, 1943

I am recalling the last conversation I had with you and your desire for me to say if I am aware of having done some good to souls. Yes. Through the goodness of God, yes. It is at least very uncertain that I have done so through my own merit, except for a few cases where it is clear because in those instances I have paid personally. Until 1923 I tried to take souls towards goodness, but to a purely human goodness. I showed myself to be upright, serious, and rather good, so as to lead others to be the same. But I was not looking to supernatural ends. It was an activity I can say involved amendment limited exclusively to a code of human morality. The idea of doing something pleasing to God, of doing something useful to souls, was far from my way of acting. I obeyed my naturally upright instinct, also taking pleasure in being cited as a model. This, in all probability, saved me from taking false steps. It was perhaps the natural result of so many pure prayers offered in childhood and later in adolescence, at school, which obtained for me the capacity to remain good, at least according to the human conception, and thus to lead others to be good. Then, when the light shone in me, I understood that it was necessary to raise goodness from the natural plane to a supernatural level, concerning oneself not with the utility which may come from being good in this life, but with the utility flowing there from in eternal life.

I understood that we must be good and lead others to be so, not for our joy, but “to do Jesus a favor.” That’s it. Having found this truth, I found everything, and everything changed. With my whole mode of existence grounded upon love, my way of acting also changed in its method and aspiration. From 1923 on I thus let my human self drop lower and lower and fall into the shadow, with all its human sensations, ideas, works, and so on, and, without ever reflecting on the consequences which following God’s way might have for me in human terms, I concerned myself solely with that way, along which I channeled myself and - aspired to having many others following behind me. The first creature led to God by word and prayer - as I have already told you - was an elderly woman, over seventy, and then, further on, in one way or another, I have pulled out additional little fish, placing them in the Lord’s hatchery. Unfortunately, I have also come up with such-lively ones that after they were fished out, they managed to wriggle away, preferring the miry slime and putrid, stagnant water to the pure, crystalline, beatifying waves of the divine fish pond. But the desertions of some, my defeats, have not discouraged me.

I have continued all the same to speak of God, even when convinced I am speaking to an impenetrable heart. I have continued to pray and act, indifferent to the gestures of irony and rudeness and the disappointments. Something will clearly remain in those hearts! Don’t you think so? And God will do the rest. The defeats serve to show me that, without God’s help, I am less than nothing. The victories serve to show me that God’s benignity is so fatherly and superb that He is always ready to hear us when we ask for what is just and to help us when we do our best for the sake of his honor. I told you about that girl saved from death. And I won’t repeat myself. I told you orally that not one of those I have entrusted to the Lord, among the soldiers in combat, has died. Furthermore, I can add that I obtain many of the things I request for others. Indeed, it is quite unlikely for me not to obtain them. Jesus is so good that He refuses nothing I request for my brothers and sisters. If anything, He is more hesitant regarding me, about things I request for myself. It may also be because I-know how to say “thank you” to Jesus when He grants me a favor. There are so few who know how to say that “thanks” to Him which is not refused even to the street-sweeper who cleans the sidewalk for us! The good Lord is treated like a servant obliged to content us - and the good Lord so desires to hear the words “Thank You, Father!” As for my girls, I can state that I have left a trace in them which will not die, even if for the time being, in at least one of them, it seems to be a trace wiped out. Just as I have left it in my friends and in the women who formerly heard me when I gave talks.Yes, I can say, without false modesty, that I have not passed over the earth to no avail. As I can state that I have seen and see the graces I request raining down into my hands. A gentle rain which I sprinkle upon hearts, joyful if, by way of this rain, obtained, moreover, at the price of blood, a soul turns to God and clings to Him more and more tightly.

But perhaps it is because I pray more for others than for myself and also do not resort to certain-draconian-means on my own behalf which make it impossible for the good Jesus to deny me some

 I am so happy when I hear someone I have prayed for say, “I have obtained that grace!” Glad because I think that in that hour the person is happy at heart and, therefore, good, glad because I am increasingly convinced that Jesus loves me. There is a Sister of mine, now their Provincial in Rome, who openly avows that she has realized that I obtain what I request and that she thus counts on me. Oh, but poor Maria obtains everything because she has managed to do what Jesus did: place herself on the cross. And then trust and trust in Jesus, with a confidence much greater than the trust I placed in my father. Many do not obtain because they are incapable of turning to God as a true Father, Brother, and Spouse, and they speak to Him mincingly. They sound like pompous addresses in the ancient tragedies or delivered by ambassadors: “Sire, on this day of favor.... With our souls at your feet, we humble ourselves,” and so on and so forth. Oh, no! That’s not my style.  With a smile, tears, simplicity, insistence, and security, I speak to Jesus until He smiles - and when He smiles, that grace is certain. And it cannot be said that I request little. I am a beggar who is never content! But the Lord is so happy to grant the favor, like a King distributing his treasures!

Father's Love Letter

I stumbled on this video today and thought it was wonderful. I really like how they thread scripture together to make a coherent message; a message that most people miss when reading the bible. It's lovely, and hope that everyone who hears it is able to respond in kind.

The Nephilim and the Last Days Pt. 1

Genesis Chapter 6: 1-18

And it came to passe, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth...

  ...and daughters were borne vnto them:  

that the sonnes of God 

saw the daughters of man...  

that they were faire...

And they took them wiues.....  

.....of all which they chose.

And the LORD said, 

“My Spirit shall not alwayes striue with man; for that hee also is flesh:

yet his dayes shalbe an hundred and twenty yeeres.”

 There were Giants in the earth in those daies: and also after that ....

 when the sonnes of God came in vnto the dauthers of men 



and they bare children to them

the same became mightie men, which were of old... 

...men of renowme.

And God saw....

that the wickedness of man was great in the earth....

 ....and that euery imagination of the thoughts of his heart was onely euill continually 

And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth,

and it grieued him at his heart 

 The LORD said, “I will destroy man, whom I haue created, from the face of the earth: both man and beast, and the creeping thing, and the foules of the aire: for it repenteth me that I haue made them”

But Noah found GRACE in the eyes of the Lord.

These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a iust man, and perfect in his generations





 and Noah walked with God





And Noah begat three sonnes, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 

The earth also was corrupt before God

and the earth

was filled with violence. 

And God looked vpon the earth

and, behold, it was corrupt;  

for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. 

And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks.

For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die.

 But I will establish my covenant with you

  and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you.

China Genetically Modifying Cows To Produce Human Breast Milk

Original Source Article

I remember there was a time when I would have been excited about such a development. I did not really think about future ramifications; what kind of impact this would have in a closed loop system, or what it would do to the body if actually ingested. I wouldn't have asked questions such as, 'Why is this necessary when human beings have been able to produce breast milk through the ages? Or have come up with viable alternatives due to increasing population?' Of course, it could be argued that because of the decreased population of women due to China's one child policy, combined with the cultural bias toward females and the subsequent sex-selective abortions, they truly might be running low on breast milk. I mean, it takes women to produce human breast milk, but when you're aborting them in record numbers you've got to merge the genes of a human being and a cow to fill the gap. This is of course the most logical and simple solution. Rethinking the one child policy and letting God take care of the numbers is pure madness. Besides, how else are they going to supply the carrion necessary for 'fetus soup' da jour.

Of course, what does one do with all those aborted fetuses? Cook 'em up! Yes, you read that correctly, and forewarning, the link does contain graphic content. This would normally make anyone feel sick and depraved, but it's sold as a health benefit. You know, like eating stem-cell soup? Of course, there are those who claim it is all a myth. I say, who knows. I don't know the truth regarding the specifics on the fetus soup situation, nor do I think anyone really does. I suppose only the conceptual artist who allegedly concocted the pictures displayed in the links provided. But I wonder if it's one of those cases where art is imitating life. Also, if it is true, then it could explain the lack of concern for the cannibalistic nature of eating a cow that's also part human.

*Sorry for the tangent. I know that the main claim of the article is that this is for nutritional reasons, however, I just find the world generally hostile toward women and see this development as another example of industrial exploitation of women's bodies.* 

What I do know is that the architects of society have created enormous inequity and as a result terrible tragedy is occurring. But what's most alarming is that the worse the problem gets, the more perverse the solutions become. Of course, if one has read the article, there are specific reasons for such modifications; one being health (starting to recognize the theme here?).

"It's good," said worker Jiang Yao. "It's better for you because it's genetically modified."

I don't think so Jiang! It has been shown the GMO foods cause tremendous deformities. Epigenetics is the key to understanding why what we ingest effects our genes. There is a wonderful PBS/NOVA segment on it. I highly recommend you watch it if you want to know more about it. It's a very exciting field. Sadly, GMO foods in particular have incredibly damaging effects on test animals, and given what we understand about epigenetics we're talking about potentially altering the human being forever. The alteration process is called transgenics, which is part of an overall trans-humanistic movement.  There is intentional transgenics, meaning a proactive movement to alter the biological by crossing species as documented by Tom Horn, and then there is unintentional transgenics, where mutations occur by proxy via GMO foods and other unnatural substances we consume. Please take the time to watch Tom Horn's documentary below. It's about an hour long, but very informative.

Supposing you have watched the film before reading this paragraph, you probably feel the same way I do; that the article is more than likely a cover story and has nothing to do with producing milk for 'health benefits' by way of manufacturing 'more nutritious meat'. If you want more nutritious beef, feed it better. It's a rather simple solution. But the solutions that are being funded and presented are completely debase, and even the most uninitiated mind wonders to itself, 'What is going on here? Something is not quite right.' Well, my hope is that this blog will begin your journey into understanding why it's not right, and to assure you that you are perceiving correctly; something is wrong.

Hydra

But what are the reasons why this is happening? We are told that science and technology are the means to resolve many of the problems modernity faces. However, as I pointed out earlier, every solution we implement creates another problem, more disastrous than the the initial problem that was being solved; like the mythological hydra, we cut off one head, and two more pop up in its place. This is mainly because many of the solutions are conceptualized within the context of the same business model that created the problem in the first place. The GMO delima is a great example of indirect, or unintentional transgenics. Due to wartime efforts during WWII, large industrial complexes were built to develop machines, munitions and chemical weapons. After the war, chemical biocides were used in agriculture and directly lead to the green revolution, which increased world population. Due to the increase in population, we needed more food, increasing the use of chemical farming. However, insects and fungi started to adapt to the change in the environment and developed a resistance to the chemicals. They increased the potency of the chemicals to kill the new super bugs, who in turn adapted again. It's progressed to such a degree that they now need to genetically modify the plants to withstand the chemicals used to kill the bugs, or alternatively, put the pesticides directly into the plant. And on it goes, when will it stop, nobody knows! There seems to be a subconscious compulsion, driven by the powers and principalities, to propel humanity into oblivion.

On the other hand, there is intentional transgenics, and there are many proponents who actively seek to advance it. People like Ray Kurzweil, who claims the trajectory we are on is a wonderful thing, is one such advocate. They feel that with technological enhancements, human beings will become something vastly superior than we are now. I would like to clarify something at this point: I'm not a technophobe, nor a Luddite. I do not have a problem with technology or science. I think technology is direct evidence of our creative inheritance as we are made in the image of God. We, baring the face of God, are creative beings. To me, advances in science and technology speak to the profound truth revealed in scripture. However, something is wrong, and our creative drives propel us toward frightening futures. Why is that? Are we that bad? Well, I know we certainly don't feel that evil as individuals, however, the systems we create seem to catapult us into the proverbial wall. How is it that we create world systems that are continually against our own benefit? I find that a good friend will tell you things about yourself you don't want to hear and can't see about yourself. God, our friend, says this:

Jeremiah 17: 9-10

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” - ESV

Pretty damning. But given the current state of the world I think this is a pretty apt observation, since we're (collectively) running the show. Now, let's lick our wounds, buck up, and take a look at the above quote again. Putting it into context with the essence of this blog, what comes to my mind is that if our hearts are wicked, it then follows what we create will be wicked. Our creative drive is not the problem.  Our heart, which is the driving force behind our creative potential, is. There is also more there than just a rebuke. There is also wise instruction that can act as a guide post for us. What does 'the fruit of his deeds' mean? In scripture, fruit is used as a vehicle for understanding what certain actions will produce. The fruit produced by action is what's judged; meaning whether the end result of continued action is worthy, good, or not. Let's use that rubric and put it on the trans-humanists. What fruit will the seeds they are planting produce? Upon closer inspection, the end result of intentional trans-humanism is ultimately Godhood. Yes, that's right, it's the same old story. A VERY old story. Man, though knowledge (gnosis), obtaining ascension.

Genesis 1:5-6

"For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

There is much more to be said on this, and I apologize that I can't expand on every point raised in this post. I am also not a biologist, or scientist so any further information anyone has regarding these issues will be most welcome. To those who are learning about these things for the first time, I encourage you to google search trans-humanism and the Singularity: Become informed. There will be more announcements about these advances in the months and years ahead, and possibly even an opportunity for you to accept modifications in the not too distant future. I'll let you ultimately decide if this fruit will produce anything good, or provoke judgement by going against the grain of the natural order of things. With that, I will leave you with a documentary that helps underscore my point. It's called 'Building Gods'. One last thought. I wonder why these trans-humanists never ask the question, 'If nothing changes our heart, what kind of God's will we be building?'

For additional mental fodder and insight into our food chain, check out FOOD, Inc.



Peace and Blessings

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In the Beginning....

This blog is an exploration of my intermittent sparks of interactions with God, scripture, Jesus and life. I also wanted a place to funnel thoughts, observations and musings. When I speak of God, I am not speaking to a general psychological sense, a field, source or ground of all being. I understand that God is really a very loose term today; a blanket word to define order, meaning and purpose. Most people feel more comfortable substituting God for Universe. I am not talking about that, though I understand and deeply appreciate that perspective. I am speaking about a relationship with the Living God as revealed through the prophets, and testified to by his Son, Jesus the Christ.

I thought the whole notion of God, especially Jesus, absurd. I am by nature a mystic, and my gifting leans toward the esoteric. For many years I was deeply involved in consuming occult knowledge and philosophy; I chose the left hand path.  I was an initiate in the mystery school and thought that God was the little God, the God who was manufactured to keep people enslaved in specific economic stations and appropriate the innate creativity of man. Evidence testifies to this this basic truth and most knowledge seekers and inherent spiritualists can see it. For reasons I will not detail here (but plan to sometime in the future) all that changed after I had an experience that altered the course of my life. Alone in my room late one night, the Holy Spirit swept over me during a sermon I heard on television. I yielded, asked Jesus to forgive me of my sins and be the Lord of my life; to save me. He did, and in the most spectacular way.

The morning after my conversion, I realized I knew almost nothing about the bible. I knew what I had heard or seen on television. When I read the bible previously and lightning didn’t shoot out of the clouds or anything, I left it alone. I thought it was brutish and antiquated. When I read the new Testament I thought some of the things Jesus did were really awesome: kicking out bankers, concern for the poor and a zeal for justice. But when he started talking about this life I somehow had to live to be pleasing to him, and saw the same theme threaded through other books, I began to realize that even though I considered myself a moral person, and Jesus (possibly) a good moral teacher, his precepts were too much for me to execute. How could anyone live the life God required? Instead, I pursued paths that seemed more rational and realistic. Long story short, I really didn’t know the man in the book even though I had just asked him to forgive me and gave my life to him. I knew only one thing; he was good, he was God, and he was REAL! I could not deny my experience. But I needed to know exactly what I had gotten myself into.

I went to the bible store I knew of and told the clerk behind the counter that I needed a bible. When he showed me the options I was shocked to find out that there were literally hundreds of them! Uh….? What? The clerk helped me pick out the NIV bible, and told me to start with the Book of John. When I read it after being saved, It was alive to me in ways it never was before. I actually started to understand what it was saying. I wanted to know more. My appetite was ferocious, as were my questions and my zeal for God.

Since that time I have grown in understanding and love for Jesus, my wonderful friend. I have been examining the occult, secularism, philosophical and political trends we see manifesting in the world today through the lens of his holy spirit. I was alone when I accepted the Lord and I am walking my Christian life alone. I fell away from the Church within 4 years of attending and being 'On fire for God.' Exhausted with Church politics and Christian affects, I wrongly equivocated the space and fellowship with my experience of God.  I am not antagonistic towards The Church. They are my family, my brothers and sisters in God. Fellowship is wonderful, but it lasts for a short time. Like a wisp of dust, it is gone just as quickly as it came. I am not very good at being in Church, though I see the tremendous value in it. I also don't see myself as a very good Christian in terms of what is necessary for effective evangelism and as an example of how to live in the world.


Despite all this, when I enter a place of worship with other believers it feels like coming home, and I love them merely for the fact that they believe. It's comforting to know I'm not alone, but beyond that I have difficulty relating and have tremendous anxiety about the inherent bickering over scripture and obsession over assimilating Christian culture.  I am at a place where I feel lead by the spirit of God, who engages my heart and is bringing me into deeper layers of ecstasy while reaffirming God's wonderful grace. I felt a burden on my heart to share my thoughts and experiences in a more open forum. I do not have a specific agenda, or particular audience I want to attract – I am just wondering out loud. However, I am operating off very specific foundations that are unalterable: Jesus Christ is the only way to God and through his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, we enter into relationship with him and The Holy Bible is the inerrant Word of God.

If you feel differently, I want you to know this is a safe space for you as I do understand why one does not believe such things. I really do. And I love you. I am you. I will be exploring what these truths mean, how one lives with a world view in opposition to the deluge of others that are more pliable. There will be music, art, literature, politics, theory, philosophy and the occasional musing. This is my open diary, my inner dialogue and I invite all. But I most especially invite the spirit of God, whom I hope will be inspiring many, if not all, of the content found in this blog.

Peace and Blessings, Always...