What is Good?

It has been said that God is good.

But what is good?

Mercy and compassion, patience, contentment, honesty, truthfulness, faithfulness, charity, faith, and love.

But most of all Love.


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The Glittering Prizes.

Success.

We are taught to chase after worldly success.
Our parents and our teachers tell us we must succeed in the world.
All our efforts are directed towards this end.

But is success in the world what our lives are all about?
Are we to accept that life favors the winners?

God is with the losers, the marginalized, the outsiders.

Does God know nothing about life?

It is we who know nothing about life.

All that glitters is not gold.

Life is about Love.

Equal Love.

Once we realize this we begin to truly live.


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Pathway to Heaven.

All that glitters is not gold.
The glittering prizes of the world
lead only to the Golden Calf.
But he's finding a pathway to Heaven.

And if you listen to the tune,
the sirens sing beneath the moon.
will lure you onto jagged rocks.
But he's finding a pathway to Heaven.

And in the old abandoned church
he finds again his battered faith
which leads us to new faith in life.
And he's finding a pathway to Heaven.

He opens up his broken heart
and sings again the lovers' song
forgotten for a hundred years.
He's finding a pathway to Heaven.

And with the old familiar God
we walk together hand in hand,
beloved and betrothed again.
We're finding a pathway to Heaven.


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Salvation.

Many Churches teach that Jesus Christ is our salvation.

This is backed up by the I am statements in the Gospel of John.

This style of teaching however creates a false impression of what was intended by the Gospel writers.

The reason why Jesus Christ is our salvation is that he taught us how to love.

It is Love that is our salvation.

So don't listen to those who present you with a formula for salvation based on Jesus Christ as a person, or even as God incarnate.

It is not belief that will bring salvation but Love.


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The Catholic Synod.

The decision of the Catholic bishops to reject a more compassionate approach to gay people speaks for itself.

They lack sympathy and compassion.

And their decision reinforces how out of touch they are with modern society.

Some commentators suggested that many of the bishops came from countries where homosexuality is still illegal.

This is true.
And it emphasizes the need for continued education and dialogue in the 77 countries where homosexuality is a criminal offense.

I am certain that in the long run homosexuality will be accepted in these countries and in the Churches which are captive to them.

Homosexuality is not a sin.

Gay people are a part of the wonderful diversity of creation.

And we should celebrate them as such.


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In the Darkness.

Walter Wink describes the powers of this world as fallen.

This suggests that there was an earlier time when they were not fallen.

I would disagree.

The powers and authorities of this world are unevolved.
They live in darkness.
There was no prior time when they were enlightened.

Fear rules them.
They have no faith.
They say, "God has forsaken the earth."

They will not take a risk on charity or compassion.

Theirs is the brutal rule of the plutocrats.
The new Rome.

And they conspire with evil in the darkness.


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Bringing Love Back.

We are inundated
with the cavalcade
of selfish celebrities
posting sexy selfies

to get our attention
and make their name.

The flipside of news
and the a-side of music
lures us to worship
the Pandora of sex.

But I'm bringing love back.

The cause and the purpose
of inter-relations
that opens our hearts.

Ignore the advertisements,
T.V., and movies.....

And follow the urgent beat of your heart
to introduce you to the mores of Spring
and initiate you in the mysteries of Love.


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The Third Temple.

Fundamentalist Christians say that Jesus will not return until the building of the Third Temple in Jerusalem.

But what of the Dome of the Rock?

The mosque that stands on Mount Zion could not be replaced without starting a world war.

So it seems that this will never happen.

But what of the New Age?

What will its temple be?

Where will it stand?

The temple of the Age of Aquarius may not be a building at all.
It may be a mental construct which spans the peoples of the earth.

This is the New Paradigm - a vision of an  immanent and holistic God.

Its foundations are in modern scholarship.

And its cornerstone is unconditional love for everyone.


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Business.

The New Paradigm in business will manifest like a family business.

The purpose of business will not be profit alone but the provision of employment for men and women.

Ideally managers will treat their employees and workers like sons and daughters.

The hostility between employers and their employees will cease and all will help as God helps us.

But it still has to add up.

Business must make modest profits.

The equalizing power of Aquarius will see the wealth of the rich diminish and the income of the poor increase.

This may come about voluntarily if the rich are able to overcome their fears.
But if not there will be international legislation that will bring this about.

Aquarius will not tolerate a huge disparity between rich and poor.

All must be able to live.


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Spreading The News.

While I was travelling to church on the tram I overheard a man talking with a woman about the Bible.

He was saying that some people interpret the Bible literally as the word of God.
But this was not the only way to interpret the Bible.

He said that the Bible was a collection of different writings from different times and different authors.

He also said that we didn't have to believe the story of Adam and Eve as literally true.
He stopped short of calling it a myth but I got his drift.

It seemed to me that if I was hearing this message on the tram then the news must be spreading fast.


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The Good Within.

Jesus said, "'the Kingdom of God is within you.'"  Luke 17:21b (GNB)

Within each one of us there is a Divine Spark - a part which partakes of God's nature.

To identify with this spark we must live in the present moment - the moment of eternity.

To do this we must quieten the mind with its endless searching and distractions.

But the Divine Spark is not in the mind.
It is in the heart.

So to experience the spiritual we must enter the fifth dimension - within.


[Scriptures (marked GNB) are taken from the Good News Bible published by The Bible Societies/Collins copyright American Bible Society.]

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Positivity.

Gratitude, discipline, compassion, generosity, faith, peace, harmony, hope, and love.

These are the things which come from my relationship with God.

Prayer, study, contemplation, devotion, and love led me to the experience of God.

Following in the footsteps of Jesus - loving God and neighbor - I drew closer to God.

I experienced positivity for the first time.

My mental and emotional state improved dramatically.

I experienced beauty and peace.

But most of all Love.


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Negativity.

Depressed, oversexed, suicidal, superficial, irresponsible, criminal, desperate, drunken, escapist, hedonistic, and hopeless.....

These words describe my condition before I discovered what rock music was doing to me.

Satanists in the rock music industry project negativity onto us.

It was only when their malevolence became more obvious in the 1980s that I put 2 and 2 together.

My negative mental and emotional state was coming from the rock music I was listening to.

Since I have returned to the Church and replaced rock music with classical and sacred music my mental and emotional state has improved dramatically.

I have experienced spiritual interventions and protection from God.

And a growing relationship with the Divine.


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