Buddha's Blessing.

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Homophobia.

Violence against homosexuals is not new.

In Australia there was a tradition among men of poofter-bashing before the gay liberation movement of the 1970s.

Many, especially those of the older generations, still harbor these views.

This is why the Church, which is made up of mostly older generations, is so slow to change.

Resistance from homophobic elements within the Church slow down any progress.

And a reluctance to question the authority of the writings of St. Paul only adds to the problem.

St.Paul's writings on sex and homosexuality are ill-informed, ignorant, and perverse.

We would do better to follow the teachings of Jesus.

Jesus made no mention of homosexuality at all.
And his inclusive approach would indicate that he would not be homophobic in his views.

Homosexuality is love.

And as love it is part of God.

We would do well to recognize this.


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Competition.

Before we have any contact with God we compete with each other to see who can be the most daring, the most drunken, the most pleasure-seeking, the most rich, the most outrageous, the most violent, the most, evil, the most good.....

This, of course, gets us nowhere.

But we don 't know any better.

Contact with God brings concern for others, especially those who are less fortunate than ourselves.

We cease to compete for supremacy and begin to care about others.

We become more charitable, more generous, more compassionate, more forgiving.....

Once our fear is gone we can afford to be more merciful.

We know that we are loved.

And we long to share that love with others.


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Natural Justice.

Natural Justice teaches that the world and God reflect fixed Laws by which we are rewarded or punished - rewards for good behavior and punishments for bad behavior.

Natural Justice is a naive expectation.

It cannot be sustained upon any length of experience in the world.

The Book Of Job in the Bible was written to refute the claims of Natural Justice.

So the religious elites projected their expectations of Natural Justice into the afterlife - creating Heaven and Hell.

If God does not behave in this way in life why would He behave that way after death?

A better explanation is that God is Love.

God, when called upon, will try to help us.

God is our loving Father.

And a father does not condemn his children.

But we are not passive puppets.

We love and participate in God's work.

We are co-creators with God.

So we can replace the childish notion of Natural Justice with the mature understanding of Love.


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Amorology.

In the English language we have words for the study of life (biology) and the study of mind (psychology).  But we have no words for the study of imagination or the study of love.

This betrays a bias towards science and left-brain, rational thinking.

This reflects a worldview which devalues right-brain, imaginative thinking and emotion.

Love, of course, is not exactly an emotion but it is something that we feel rather than something which we think.

So how are we in the West to relate to God who acts symbolically and who is Love?

We need new words to describe this experience.

The recent invention semiotics (the study of symbols) is a start.

But for words of love we must look to the Greek language which has several words for different kinds of love.

Love, of course, is the mustard seed of the Bible (Matthew 13:31,32) which is the tiniest seed but grows into the largest bush.

This means that it is something which is regarded as of little value by the world but grows to become the most important thing of all in Life.

My word for the study of love is amorology.

So now we can at least think it.

Our journey begins here.


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Aquarius.

What is the meaning of Aquarius?

The Water Carrier shoulders the jar which holds the mysterious water.

This is the Water of Life which is Love.

And it is dispensed without prejudice to everyone.

The Egyptian hieroglyph of the jar, ab, means the heart.

And it is from our hearts that the water flows.

From an infinite source love wells up within us and flows freely to those around us.

This is the meaning of Aquarius

We are Water Carrier if we give freely of our love.


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The Humanities.

When we were at school we studied the sciences - mathematics, chemistry, physics etc..  But we also studied the humanities - languages, literature, history etc..

We were just beginning, however, to enter the mind-set which ultimately valued the sciences much more than the humanities.  Art was for dummies.

Now education is considered job training and the humanities are not valued at all.

With this development has come a lack of humanity in our society.

We are trained to think entirely in left brain, rational terms.
The right brain imagination, which feeds religion, is ignored.

And as such we are unbalanced psychologically and emotionally.

We need to bring more humanity into our lives.

This is the task of 21st Century religion.

The revelations which are coming from God attempt to redress this imbalance by re-reading the scriptures as poetry and metaphor.

In this way the spiritual becomes intelligible rather than being considered fanciful and thus being discarded as worthless or even dangerous.

Too often we regard the visible as the real whereas the metaphorical refers to unseen realities which can be apprehended and experienced.

Science ignores the sacred.

We must recapture the sacred in our modern world in order to regain our humanity and our sanity.


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The Aquarian Temple of God.

The Aquarian Temple of God may be a mental construct in which God is panentheistic and immanent.

That is to say that God is everything and more and everything is in God and God is in everything.

This is not to reject science but to complete it.

To bring a sense of the sacred to the lifeless laws of science.

For God is not just an impersonal force or energy.
God is also life and consciousness and intelligence and imagination and love.

God is sensitive and artistic.

He relates to us as a person.

He enlightens our minds.

But the sanctuary of the Aquarian Temple is our hearts.


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Gentle Giant.

What is the alternative for musclemen to the demonic tags of beast and monster, punisher and master with their connotations of violence and evil.

First of all he is a big softie, a gentle giant.

Secondly he has a big heart.

Thirdly he is a rock.

What is the alternative to muscle worship?

What is described as worship by those who would corrupt him is none other than love.

His beauty inspires admiration, adoration, respect, and love.


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Sexuality.

The single most decisive issue which has led to the decline of the Churches is their attitude towards sexuality.

Sex is a natural expression of human life.
It is healthy and it is good.

There has always been sex and there always will be.
You cannot stop it!

So rather than telling young people that sex is dirty or bad we should be teaching them that you should always have consideration for your partner and respect their wishes and their rights.

The relationship of sex to love and ultimately to long-term relationships should be noted.

The Church cannot afford to be seen as a moral wowser.

We must change our attitude to sex in order to heal the sickness that has poisoned the body of Christ's Church.


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The Question?

When is the Church going to ask The Question?

Since the 1960s people have been leaving the Church in droves.
But no one ever asked The Question.

Now the churches are empty.
And it may already be too late.

Why are people leaving the Church?

This is the obvious question - the elephant in the lounge-room - which seems never to be asked.

In my experience Church congregations are still patting each other on the back and congratulating each other on what a good job they are doing even though people have left and there are no young people.

I can only surmise that the men and women in authority in the Churches are so threatened by The Question that they block it out of their minds altogether.

They still seem to think "We have the Truth and everyone else is wrong".

To admit that they may have been doing it wrong themselves is too much of a threat.

So when is the Church going to ask The Question?

Or will it die without asking it?


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The World Hates Us.

Jesus said, "If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you."  John 15:18 (NRSV)

The world hates the Hippies.

Why?

Because the Hippies challenged the rule of the rich and the domination of the violent.

As Jesus did.


[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.]

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Com-Passion.

Should people with disabilities have sex?

This may sound like a silly question.
But many of us still harbor unconscious attitudes which would castrate people with mental illnesses and physical disabilities.

Should gay men who cannot get a partner access pornography on the internet?

It is unreasonable to expect adult gay men to be chaste when the rest of us are free to do as we please.

And internet sex is safe.

A more appropriate attitude is compassion.

Can compassion be applied to sex?

I think it is the only appropriate approach.

So, instead of getting on your high horse about morality, you should be viewing gay men and people with disabilities with compassion and allowing them access to sexual expression.


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Denial.

The whole world is in denial.

Everyone knows that rock music is Satanic.

The symbols of Satanism are obvious:

Tongues, daggers, snakes, spiders, webs, horns, skulls, death, graves, skeletons, fire (hell), apples. fall, rogues, villains, sin, filthy, wicked, shame, bad, transgression, upside-down, backwards.....

Because Satan is not real does not mean there are no Satanists - those who believe in the devil and do his work in the world.

And because the devil is not there does not mean that what they do has no effect.

Their evil malice - their curses and their sabotage, their temptations and their lies, their drugs and their addictions, their rip-offs and their deceptions - all these things remain.

But you are all in denial.

You say it's not there.

Wake up!

Open your eyes!

Realize!

We have all been deceived.

Rock music is Satanic.


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A Different Perspective.

Once it is established that God's home is in the heart we begin to see things from a different perspective.

No longer do we insist on mental principles motivated by fear.

No longer do we moralize and judge.

No longer do we use force and violence.

But we ask, "What does my heart say?"

If we do this we will make concessions according to compassion.

If we do this we will seek understanding not rectitude.

If we do this we will act out of love not fear.

Then we will be Home.

And God will dwell with us.


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God's Gay Sons.

What is it that makes some religious people so angry when they see two men kissing?

What is it that makes them threaten, and bash, even kill them?

It is fear disguised as righteous anger.

They imagine that gays offend God.

But the world does not know God.

God does not punish us.

God punishes no one.

God loves gays as a father loves his gay sons.

There is no condemnation there.

Pray to understand.

Pray to overcome your fear.

And God will answer you with Love.


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God's Blessing.

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Orlando.

May God forgive Omar Mateen for the murder of 50 gay people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, U.S.A..

We know that they are in Heaven.

Our prayers are with the gay communities of the United States and around the world today.

March on!


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A Blessing.

What is needed is a Church which is an unmitigated blessing to its members and to the community around it.

No longer will we be a threat to others.
No longer will we judge others.
No longer will we boss others around.

But we will help and encourage each other at all times.

To do this we must become an unmitigated blessing ourselves, an agent of unconditional love.

If we open our hearts and give love to those around us we will be reflecting the Love of God and can truly be called sons and daughters of God.

So follow your heart.
And give love to others.

Be a blessing.

This is the way forward.


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Life.

What are the things of Life?

Light.
Day.
Birth.
Growth.
Health.
Breath.
Clean.
Pure.
White.
Good.
Blessings.
Harmony.
Grace.
Joy.
Peace.
Love.

But most of all:

Love.


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Help Him.

Pray for Him.

Gay Life.

Your Satanic spells spread death over us all.
Cursing us, poisoning us, dragging us down.

But your lies cannot contain us.
There is life and hope in gay people.

Despite your despicable plot.
God has turned His face towards us.

And breathed Life into us.
Spreading Light, Life, and Love among us.

My prayer is this:

May God, who knows everything,
consider our plight,
and raise us up
from the depths of darkness
into His beautiful Light.
May we rise
from death into Life.
And find our place
in Heaven. 
                                        Amen.

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Satanic Rock.

When I talk to people about Satanic rock music most people can see the obvious ones - heavy metal, death metal, punk rock etc..

But my contention is that the rest of them are doing it as well but it is mostly done with backtracking and subliminal images while maintaining a mask of respectability.

Images of flames, death, spider webs, the Beast.....
All of these things are associated with modern Satanism.

The promise - You shall be as gods - has seduced them.

They are dogs (gods backwards) and divas (goddesses).

So be careful what you watch and listen to.

It may not be as innocent as you think.


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Infinite Love.

"(Love) is the one absolute of biblical faith.....All other claims to some theoretical absolute truth, even by the Church, are all in the head, and that is not where we need truth."*

The truth is in our hearts and that is where the soul finds rest.

It has been said that love is the only thing that actually increases the more we give it away.

This reflects God's Love.

"God's first idea was to pour out divine infinite love into finite, visible forms."*

The internal source of love is infinite as we find when first we learn to give our love to others.


*Richard Rohr from Eager to Love.

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Muscle Culture 2.

Hero.
Greek God.
Big-hearted.
Rock.
Pillar.
Protector.
Brother.
Lover.

These words will heal and redeem musclemen and their admirers.

They will reorient muscle culture towards Heaven.

And they will recruit them to the service of God who is Love.


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Muscle Culture 1.

Monster.
Beast.
Animal.
Punisher.
Dominate.
Pig.
Torture.
Worship.

All these words come from the Satanists who control our popular culture.

Muscle culture has been infiltrated by Satanists who want to control sex.

So that we all finish up worshiping the Beast and Satan.

But there is a loophole in their plot.

Muscle worship is Love.

And musclemen want to be loved.

And it is Love that connects us to God.


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Mayhem.

When the young son of a member of our congregation arrived in church wearing a t-shirt sporting an image of the skull and crossbones with the word mayhem above it I felt obliged to say something.

When I said to the father that the image and words were Satanic, probably from a rock band, he said he didn't know anything about that.

So was the boy just trying to look tough?

Fashion?

Are people doing these things without knowing what it is?

It would seem so.

"'Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.'"  Luke 23:34 (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.]

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The Lost Ring.

One morning I had a visitor.
It was my washing day and after the visitor had left I hung my washing on the line in the backyard.

When I came inside I realized that my ring was not on my finger.
I searched the house and the backyard but I could not find it.

I took the sheets off the bed, I swept behind the cupboards, I looked in all my pockets but it was nowhere to be found.

I spoke to my visitor on the phone and asked him to check his bag.
No.  It was not there.  But he swore that I had had it on while he was visiting.

Two days later, when I was leaving to do my shopping, my landlady was hanging out some washing.  I had told her about the lost ring the previous day and now said to her that I had narrowed it down to the backyard area around the clothesline.  She said she would keep her eye out for it.

When I returned from shopping my landlady was waiting for me.

She produced the lost ring.

While she had been hanging out her washing she had noticed something in the grass.  When she had bent down to investigate it had been my ring.

I felt like the woman in the Bible story of the lost coin.
She searches and sweeps the house and when she finds the coin she is jubilant and invites her neighbors to celebrate with her.

So rejoice with me, for I have found the ring that I had lost.

"'Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.'"  Luke 15:7 (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.]

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Everything.

Some philosophical and theological systems teach that God is in control of everything, that in some way every event is an expression of God's Will.

Thus the ancient prophets of Israel preached that God's chosen people must have sinned because their enemies had overrun them and destroyed their homeland.

Because God reigns.

This seems to me to be a false notion.

I cannot see that God is expressing Himself in the wars in Iraq and Syria.
I cannot see how God can be expressing Himself in violence and starvation.
I cannot see how God can be expressing Himself in materialism and evil.

Rather I see these things as the ignorant actions of human beings with free will which are mostly motivated by fear.

God is not to blame.

You may wonder how people who pray five times a day could rape and murder in the name of God.  This is because most of their piety is fear and their prayers are recited by rote - their faith is dead and God does not speak to them or through them.

So, although I believe that God is everything and everyone and God is everything and more, I do not believe that everything that happens is in tune with God's Will.

God's Will is that we love one another.

The rest is fear.  


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What Do You Need?

When I sit down to write I merely look at those around me and ask, "What do you need?"

Often it will be some knowledge which is hidden.

Sometimes it will be a perspective with which you are unfamiliar.

Other times it will be some teaching which is pointing in the right direction.

Always it is Love.

So seek the Light.

Learn how to weep.

And open your heart.


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