The Burning Bush.

What is the mystery of the burning bush through which God spoke to Moses on Mount Horeb?

I believe that the key to this is the fact that the bush was on fire but was not consumed.

Moses was born in Egypt and grew up there.

The Egyptians worshiped the sun (Ra).
And the sun is a fiery image which will consume you if you go too close.

So Moses' unconscious image of God was of a consuming fire.

The fact that the bush was on fire was but not consumed allowed Moses to approach God without fear.

So the burning bush is able to be the medium through which God can communicate with Moses without triggering his unconscious fears.

The name I Am is also compatible with Egyptian cosmological understandings.


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Outcomes.

Jesus said, "'No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit.'"  Luke 6:43,44a (NRSV)

I would suggest that celibacy or more accurately the sexual abstinence of male priests in the Catholic Church has produced the fruit of child sex abuse.

Likewise the literal interpretation of passages in the Bible which relate to homosexuality have led to persecution and violence against gay people.

Belief in the Rapture, Judgement, Satan, Hell, and the End Times have all produced bad ethical outcomes.

"'each tree is known by its own fruit.'" Luke 6:44a (NRSV)

To judge doctrines and dogmas by their ethical outcomes rather than their Biblical inclusion is the first step to discrimination.

And discrimination is an essential part of spiritual growth.


[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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Brothers and Sisters.

"'Look towards heaven and count the stars.....So shall your descendants be.'"  Genesis 15:5 (NRSV)

This was God's promise to Abraham.

If you count all the Jews (sons of Isaac), the Muslims (sons of Ishmael), and Christians (followers of Jesus) who have ever lived, then Abraham's descendants would number in the billions and rival the stars in the heavens.  

So as Christians we are spiritual descendants of the same father (Abraham) as all the Jews and all the Muslims.

They are our brothers and sisters.

Abraham worshiped the one true God.

If we count this one God as our Father, as Jesus taught us (Matthew 23:9), then all the people of the world are our brothers and sisters.


[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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A Sign.

When the leaves turn red.

And the red berries appear

on the trees.

We know that

it is autumn.


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Camellias.

Amid the bracing

chill of autumn,

the golden hearts

of camellia flowers.


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Abundance.

God outdoes the chance of death by sheer abundance.

Billions of stars and planets, plants and flowers, seeds and sperm ensure that life outnumbers death caused by mishap, chance, or sickness.

So that life flourishes and comes to consciousness and love.


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Hippies.

When the Hippies rejected the Church in the 1960s they were rejecting the hypocrisy and sex-phobia of the institution.

They never rejected Jesus.
And they never rejected God.

In fact the pacifism and non-violent resistance which the Hippies adopted was derived from Jesus' teachings.

Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jnr. both acknowledged that their methods of non-violent resistance came from their faith in Jesus.

The principle of unconditional love also derives from Jesus' teaching to love the Father, love our neighbor, and love our enemies.

So, far from being Jesus' enemies, the Hippies are still in fact followers of Jesus.


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