The Knowledge of Good and Evil.

The story of Adam and Eve is a myth.
But like so many myths it contains a seed of truth.

This seed is that the problems of humanity are cause by the knowledge of good and evil.

This is the old problem of dualistic thinking.

Life is not in black and white - there are seven colors in the spectrum.
And while some things in life are dual, others are singular, or even multiple.
There is diversity in nature.

The knowledge of good and evil causes us to divide everyone and everything into good and evil.
This is a false dichotomy.
This black and white thinking is the cause of persecutions and wars.

The only evil in the world is deliberate, conscious evil which is chosen by some as an alternative to good, usually because they have been misled about the nature of God.

Other things which we call evil have reasons which ultimately derive to some kind of fear.

The King James Bible translates Deuteronomy 6:4 as, " Hear O Israel:'The Lord our God is one Lord.'"
This means not only that there is only one God but that God is one (i.e. not dual).

So we have been looking at things the wrong way.

One definition of holistic is - emphasizing the importance of the whole and the interdependence of its parts.

God is holistic, not dualistic.

There is no Satan, no dark forces.

God is one.

So, instead of dividing everything into good and evil, we should look at life as a whole.

No good man is entirely good and no bad man is entirely bad.
Everyone is a mixture of good and bad qualities.

So, in effect, everyone is the same.
It is a matter of degree.

And perhaps those we call evil are those who most deserve our sympathy.
Because what was done to them caused them to become what they are.

Who are we to judge them.

They should be forgiven as we have been forgiven.

Sleight of Hand.

Satanism in the media is disguised in order to maintain popularity.

Shows promoting rock music covertly sell Satanism to young wannabes who will believe their stories of instant success.

Their songs have double meanings and they are always ready with a lie to tell an unsuspecting public.

The main reason why they have not been exposed is that modern people don't believe in the devil.
So they presume that others don't either.
How can there be Satanists if there is no Satan?

There may not be a supernatural being called Satan, but there certainly are Satanists in the music industry.

And they are not just openly Satanic bands.
Others disguise their true nature by sleight of hand.
They pretend to be good, or even saviors, in order to get people in.
Once they have taken you in they will turn your mind to the dark side and lead you astray with the intention of getting you into hell.

There is no hell in  reality, but the damage they do remains.

So beware!

Heart of Flesh 2.

"I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh."  Ezekiel 36:26b (NRSV)

This is far removed from the attitude to flesh expounded by St. Paul.

In his writings St. Paul sets up a conflict between spirit, which is pure and good, and flesh, which is dirty and bad.

This has created a theology which denies the flesh in favor of spirit.

Heaven is the reward for sacrificing pleasure on earth.

This is the attitude of many Christians to gay sex.

Heterosexual sex seems not to matter to them, but gay sex is banned.

We are expected to sacrifice the consummation of our love in order to achieve heaven.

They, of course, don't do this themselves, but it is expected of gay people.

This theory is contradicted by God.

"I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh."  Ezekiel 36:26b (NRSV)


[Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.]

Mary and Martha.

Today we had the story of Mary and Martha.

Martha complains about being left to do all the work while Mary sits at the feet of Jesus while he is teaching.
Jesus tells Martha that Mary has chosen the better path.

So what would Jesus have said to Mary?

You can forget about moral judgments and purity codes.
You can even forget about hell.

Do not concern yourself with works done out of fear or obligation.

Open your heart.

Know that all men and women are your brothers and sisters.

Forgive everyone.

And you will be a child of your Father in Heaven.

Categories.

Consciously or unconsciously we divide the people around us into categories.

Firstly there are the real people - people like us who don't have any special needs or problems and think and live like us.

Secondly there are the poor and the needy - second class citizens who make demands on our finances and time.  They may not think and live like us.

Thirdly there are people who are different - people who have special problems or do not think and live like us.

Fourthly there are foreigners - people who are not like us.  We fear and doubt them.

Fifthly there are people who have done something wrong - bad people and criminals of whom we are afraid and of whom we feel superior.

Sixthly there are evil people - these are barely people at all and are not deserving of our attention or compassion.

We rationalize these categories in order to make ourselves good and others bad or inferior.

But God does not see them thus.
To God all people are equal.
Each is a child in their own right.

Jesus constantly challenged our categories.
He broke down the walls we construct around ourselves.

In the end everyone is equal.
All are perpetrators and victims, elitists and underdogs.

Our sins are forgiven.

So rather than dividing people into categories we should see that everyone is the same - a product of birth and experience.

And perhaps those who are the recipients of our greatest disdain are the ones most deserving of our compassion.

Brokenness.

The concept of brokenness means that life is imperfect and nothing works.

It is a little bit like the Buddhist concept that all life is dukha or unsatisfactory.

But rather than this being a spiritual state or some kind of cosmic condition, this is caused by human frailty.

Human beings act in ignorance and fear.
We do the wrong thing.
This is the cause of human suffering.

It is only when we discover Love that things begin to change.

Love is the cause and the purpose of life.

It is Love which mends our broken hearts and heals our broken world.

We Don't Want to Know.

When the light rises it illuminates both good and evil.

So when it becomes apparent that God is love we rejoice.

But when we see that our favorite stars and sportsmen have sold their souls to the devil we don't want to know.

Then when we are told that there is no devil we are glad.

But there are still devil worshipers poisoning our minds through the poplar culture.
We are constantly cursed.

When we realize that God does not punish us, now or ever, we rejoice.

When we realize that God does not punish even those who have sold their souls to the devil we don't want to know.
We need bad people to blame and deride.

So God is universally loving.

We must accept that there is evil around us.

And we must try to forgive.

No One Wins.

If you are waiting for God to intervene and adjudicate between your group and your opponents (with your group winning of course) then you will be waiting a long time.

You've already been waiting a long time haven't you.

This is because God does not take sides.

God fosters a live and let live approach.

This is why there is no solution in the Middle East.
Because each side is trying to win over the other.
Both claiming God is on their side.

The point is not who has the right to the land.
The point is can they live harmoniously side by side.

There is no Last Day.
There is no Judgment.

Once we realize this we can get on with the business of peace.

Making Peace.

Anything that fosters understanding between conflicting groups in our world is helping to create a more harmonious and better place for us to live.

This includes understanding between Christianity and Islam, right and left, gay and straight etc..

Getting to the root of the problem is the key.

And there you will find fear.

Violence and anger are most common where we find the most fear.

Fear makes us use force and coercion.

Often this fear comes from the pulpit.

You will find that the most violent religious people are those whose leaders preach fear from the pulpit.

Terrorists are people who are terrified (usually of God).

So anything that we can do to reduce the level of fear in our society will help to curb violence and hatred.

Faith.
Understanding,
Love.

Theses three reduce fear.

And these come from God.