The Christmas Guest (Illustrated Poem)

“The Christmas Guest”

— Helen Steiner Rice

It happened one day at the year's white end,

Two neighbors called on an old-time friend

And they found his shop so meager and mean,

Made merry with a thousand boughs of green,

And Conrad was sitting with face a-shine

When he suddenly stopped as he stitched a twine

And said, "Old friends, at dawn today,

When the cock was crowing the night away,

The Lord appeared in a dream to me

And said, 'I am coming your guest to be.'

So I've been busy with feet astir,

Strewing my shop with branches of fir,

The table is spread and the kettle is shined

And over the rafters the holly is twined,

And now I will wait for my Lord to appear

And listen closely so I will hear…

His step as He nears my humble place,

And I open the door and look in His face."

So his friends went home and left Conrad alone,

For this was the happiest day he had known,

For, long since, his family had passed away

And Conrad has spent a sad Christmas Day.

But he knew with the Lord as his Christmas guest

This Christmas would be the dearest and best,

And he listened with only joy in his heart.

And with every sound he would rise with a start

And look for the Lord to be standing there

In answer to his earnest prayer.

So he ran to the window after hearing a sound,

But all that he saw on the snow-covered ground

Was a shabby beggar whose shoes were torn

And all of his clothes were ragged and worn.

So Conrad was touched and went to the door

And he said, "Your feet must be frozen and sore,

And I have some shoes in my shop for you

And a coat that will keep you warmer, too."

So with grateful heart the man went away,

But as Conrad noticed the time of day

He wondered what made the dear Lord so late

And how much longer he'd have to wait,

When he heard a knock and ran to the door,

But it was only a stranger once more,

A bent, old crone with a shawl of black,

A bundle of kindling piled on her back.

She asked for only a place to rest,

But that was reserved for Conrad's Great Guest.

But her voice seemed to plead, "Don't send me away

Let me rest awhile on Christmas day."

So Conrad brewed her a steaming cup

And told her to sit at the table and sup.

But after she left he was filled with dismay

For he saw that the hours were passing away

And the Lord had not come as He said He would,

And Conrad felt sure he had misunderstood.

When out of the stillness he heard a cry,

"Please help me and tell me where am I."

So again he opened his friendly door

And stood disappointed as twice before,

It was only a child who had wandered away

And was lost from her family on Christmas Day.

Again Conrad's heart was heavy and sad,

But he knew he should make this little child glad,

So he called her in and wiped her tears

And quieted her childish fears.

Then he led her back to her home once more

But as he entered his own darkened door,

He knew that the Lord was not coming today

For the hours of Christmas had passed away.

So he went to his room and knelt down to pray

And he said, "Dear Lord, why did you delay?

What kept You from coming to call on me,

For I wanted so much Your face to see."

When soft in the silence a voice he heard,

"Lift up your head, for I kept My word --

Three times My shadow crossed your floor --

Three times I came to your lonely door --

For I was the beggar with bruised, cold feet,

I was the woman you gave to eat,

And I was the child on the homeless street.

Three times I knocked and three times I came in,

And each time I found the warmth of a friend.

Of all the gifts, love is the best,

And I was honored to be your Christmas Guest."

-

A thought occurred to me…

Every time I read this poem, I am touched by the sentiment, and I think: imagine if a beggar, a broken down old woman, or a lost child showed up at my door on Christmas.  And I pat myself on the back thinking how wonderfully hospitable I would be, and, surely I would see Christ in them.  But of course, none of this is ever going to happen.

But the very same day, at the market, I hardly notice the woman checking out my groceries; A neighbor drops in and I am short, and too concerned about getting around to what I need to get around to; A friend calls and I screen it because, I’m just not in the mood right now.  

And then it occurs to me…  and I think about all the visits I have missed.  

The Rock that wanted to be a Tree

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The Rock That Wanted to be a Tree

Have you ever wished you were someone you’re not? A short animated film about all the foolish things we do to become someone we are not… and finding out the person we are. For children (of all ages).

Think

• Am I comfortable in my own skin?

• When I see some “good thing” in someone else (talent, confidence, good looks, success, etc.) I am either:

  • Happy for them

  • or feel worse about myself

• How much time, effort and energy have I put into trying to look, act, or be like someone else?

• Have I ever felt, looked acted like a fool in the process?

• How much time, effort, energy have I put into figuring out who I really am?

• Think of 3 peoples lives that would be affected if I didn’t exist.

• (Now think of 3 more).

• Think of 3 people's lives that you can make some impact on in the near future.

• (now think of 3 more).

• If there is a God (and I believe there is) do I think this God knows who I am?

• And if this God does know who I am, what do I think this God thinks of me?

  • Disappointment

  • Couldn’t care less

  • Like a parent thinks of their favorite Child

  • Is too busy for me

  • As a spouse thinks of the one they love

Thought

I once heard a story about a young girl who wanted to be sister with Mother Teresa. One day mother Teresa met the young novice and asked her frankly, why do you want to be a sister? The eager young novice answered with deep sincerity, “because I only want to one day be just like you”. Mother Teresa laughed and said, the world certainly does not need another one of those… but what it really needs, is one of you.

Why Doesn't God Just Show Himself?

“Know Him, Know God”

— b

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How do I know God… (if I wanted to get to know God)

God knows you already.  God knows everything about you.  God knew you before there was time and space, when you were just an idea in his mind.  And he has loved us, just the same ever since.  But God wants us to know Him.  And His wish is for us to one day fall in love with Him.  This relationship is the essence of religion.  So what would be the best way for God to reveal Himself so that we could know him, so that, we might fall in love with Him.  

Sure, God is all powerful and could stop time and pull back the sky and reveal Himself as is, but would we love Him or, just fear Him?  God could cause all kinds of unexplained cosmic phenomenon, but can we know and relate to permanent lights flashing in the skies?  God could show himself to each of us, individually.  But wouldnt that be a practicality nightmare?  When would he do it, at what age?  Would we all just be sitting around anticipating the moment God appears in my life?  God could just, make us know him, like a built in feature. But hat isn’t love.  Love requires choice, intent, and most of all, freedom.  

If you loved someone dearly, and they didn’t know you, how would you reveal yourself to them?  Isn’t the best way just to introduce yourself?  And not as some person of high status, and aires of power and prestige, but just as a regular, humble, human being.  God is not looking for our admiration, but for our hearts.  

But how would we know this humble man is in fact, God?  First, he could pre-announce his coming.  No other human being in the history of the world was ever, pre-announced.  And second, this is where all those miracles come in. They are just signs that say… He is the one.  

God is not interested in an army of blind, robotic, believers.  If He was, he would have came in any of these other ways.  God is interested in entering a love affair… with you, with me, with everyone, making us all one big family.  United.  

Me: “How do I know you, God?”

Jesus: “If you know me, you know the father…” Jn 14:7

What does this mean for believers?

• It means every single thing Christ said and did, must be read/heard in the context of: THIS IS GOD ON EARTH.

• It means every word we read/hear in the old testament, in some way points to: GOD COMING TO THIS EARTH AS JESUS CHRIST.

• It means whenever we are wondering, why doesn’t God just show himself… as Philip wondered 2000 years ago… we only need Christ’s response: If you see me, you see Him.

• It means that, the God that is holding the entire Universe into existence at this very instant, became a tiny human being like you and I, so that we could know Him (and have a relationship with Him).

• Do I believe this?

What Does this mean if I don’t really believe in God?

• I think, at the very least, it’s a challenge, to forget about “organized” religion just for a minute, and with a clean slate just ask myself… what if?

• It means God and therefore religion (Christianity) is not about an ideology, a philosophy, a set of teachings, laws and rules and regulations, it’s about a relationship with a LIVING PERSON in God.

• It means, religion is nothing more than - an open invitation to enter into a relationship with this LIVING PERSON. It must never be forced.

• Know that I wish you peace with whatever you choose.

Finding Purpose... in 2 steps.

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Finding Purpose and Meaning in Life… (when we get a little lost)

The following excerpts are taken from Fulton Sheen’s talk: The Philosophy of Life.

Breaking the anxiety of life

“Some years ago there was an Indian who went into Tibet. He went in to do a little evangelizing and he took with him a Tibetan guide. In the course of the trip they got very cold crossing the foothills of the Himalayas and they sat down, exhausted, almost frozen. And this Indian, whose name was Singh, said, “I think I hear a man moaning down there in the abyss.” And the Tibetan said, “Well, you are almost dead yourself; you can’t help him.” And Singh said, “Yes, I will help him.” So he went down, dragged the man out from the abyss the best he could and carried him to the nearby village and came back completely revived, revived by that act of charity. And when he came back, he found his friend, who refused to aid the neighbor, frozen to death.”

Step 1: Help your neighbor

“First, go out and help your neighbor. Those who suffer from an anxiety of life do so because they live only for themselves. Their mind, their heart, each has been dammed up and all of the scum of the river of life makes of the heart and mind a kind of a garbage heap. And the easiest way out of this is to love people whom you see. If we do not love those whom we see, how can we love God, whom we do not see? Visit the sick. Be kind to the poor. Help the healing of lepers. Find your neighbor, and the neighbor is someone in need. Once you do this, you begin to break out of the shell. You discover that your neighbor is not hell, as Sartre said, that your neighbor is part of yourself and is a creature of God.”

STEP 2: Be open

“The second way is leave yourself open to experiences and encounters with the Divine, which will come to you from without. I say leave yourself open. Your eye does not have light, your ear has no sound or harmony. The food of your stomach comes from without. Your mind has been taught. Your radio pulls in unseen waves from the outside. Therefore, allow this hole in your head, this hole in your heart, to receive certain impulses that come from without that will perfect you, no matter how far away you be, and what I’m talking about, they will still come.”

-FJS

Listen to his talk HERE (25 mins).

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SUPER-READS

Life is Worth Living

By Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Man's Search for Meaning

By Viktor E. Frankl

A 5 minute meditation on REBUILDING

“... be the palace”

— imb

Think

• If I were a house.  What kind of house would I be?  

• How much work do I put into - home improvement?  

• Is my house good or just good… enough?

• Are my home-improvements mostly cosmetic?

• God wants to tear it down, and build a palace in its place: How do I feel about that?

• Do I think God wants me to be unique, or the same?  

• Do I think God wants to change me into something I don’t want to be?  

• Who can do a better job at rebuilding: me or infinite wisdom?

• Do I believe in… super natural forces that can help perfect me (grace)?  

• What is one wall that I put up, that really has to go?  

• What is some (behavior) that I’m really attached to, that I know has to go?  

• Whose best interests do I think the God has in mind: mine or his? 

• Would I trust the God of the universe with my stuff?  

• If I was a house, would I bring up the property value of the neighborhood… or bring it down?

• So God wants to “move in” to my house. Hmm… How do I feel about this??

• Who, or what, have I already let move in, that I should probably kick out.

Thought

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”

-C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Mere Christianity

By C. S. Lewis

Are you a Grumpy Farmer or a Cheerful Farmer?

Are you the Grumpy or the Cheerful Farmer?

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A Simple Secret to a Sweet and Happy Life…

“One secret to a sweet and happy life, is learning to live by the day.  It is the long stretches that tire us.  We think of life as a hole, running on for us.  We can not carry this load until we are three score ten.  We can not fight this battle continuously for a half a century.  But really, there are no long stretches.  Life does not come at us all at one time; it comes only a day at a time.  Even tomorrow is never ours until it becomes today, and we have nothing whatever to do with it but to pass to it a fair and good inheritance in today’s work well done, and today’s life well lived.  

It is a blessed secret this, living by the day.  Any one can carry his burden, however heavy, till nightfall.  Any one can do her work, however hard, for one day.  Anyone can live sweetly, patiently, lovingly, purely, until the sun goes down.  And this is all life ever means to us - just one little day.  “Do the days duty, fight the days temptations, and do not weaken or distract yourself by looking forward to things you can not see, and can not understand”.  God gives us night, to shut down our little days.  We can not see beyond.  Short horizons make life easier, and give us one of the blessed secrets of brave holy living.”

-Fr. Lasance, My Prayer Book, p.51.  

Do God and Science contradict one another?

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God and… or… Vs… Science

For some reason, we have the idea that it has to be either God - OR - science, as if one contradicts the other, as if one disproves the other, as if they are two opposing forces at battle. But if there is a God (and I believe there is) and God is Truth (and God would have to be, or else He wouldn’t be much of a God), then Truth could never contradict science, and if anything, science should lead us to God, never away.

The Fine-Tuned Universe

No matter where you stand, the idea of the “fine-tuned universe” is utterly fascinating. The basic FACT is this, in order for there to be - any universe - (or any life in the universe), a number of conditions from the very beginning have to be perfectly, super-calculatedly, precise. If any ONE of these condition were off, in some cases by the slimmest, slightest, tiniest degree, the universe would have burned out long ago. But don’t take my word for it, look it up:

Here is a much better, much more thorough video on fine-tuning (Youtube) HERE

To remain objective, here is another video from a modern leading physicist (YouTube) HERE

The greatest resource online about God and science from a methodical scientific stand point can found here - Magis Center

Objections to the fine-tuned Universe:

Isn’t it arrogant to think that the entire, vast, massive universe is made just for Us?

If you don’t believe in God, then, we are all just meat and electricity on some rock in the middle of nowhere, and arrogance really has nothing to do with it.

But if you do believe in God, then look at it this way: If you are/were a loving parent… wouldn’t you give the entire universe (and much more) for your child?

Isn’t it a waste? All that space and time, just for us?

First, see Obj. one above.

Second, God is beyond, outside and above space and time, so therefore, no matter how big or small, long or short the universe is - is irrelevant to God. To God, the universe can be as tiny and simple as a single atom, and whether the universe lasts for one second or one trillion (x123) millennium… it makes no difference to God.

What about other planets? more life out there?

There could very well be. And I would bet the shirt off my back, that if there were - intelligent life - out there, they would also have some notion of the one God.

If you break down any particle in the entire universe, eventually you come to laws and math. Are laws and math the activity of mind… or accident?

Quotes from the scientific community on God and Science

“Astronomy leads us to a unique event, a universe which was created out of nothing and delicately balanced to provide exactly the conditions required to support life. In the absence of an absurdly-improbable accident, the observations of modern science seem to suggest an underlying, one might say, supernatural plan.”

-Arno Penzias (Nobel prize in physics)

"I find it quite improbable that such order came out of chaos. There has to be some organizing principle. God to me is a mystery but is the explanation for the miracle of existence, why there is something instead of nothing.”

-Alan Sandage (winner of the Crawford prize in astronomy)

"When I began my career as a cosmologist some twenty years ago, I was a convinced atheist. I never in my wildest dreams imagined that one day I would be writing a book purporting to show that the central claims of Judeo-Christian theology are in fact true, that these claims are straightforward deductions of the laws of physics as we now understand them. I have been forced into these conclusions by the inexorable logic of my own special branch of physics.”

-Frank Tipler (Professor of Mathematical Physics):

"I find it as difficult to understand a scientist who does not acknowledge the presence of a superior rationality behind the existence of the universe as it is to comprehend a theologian who would deny the advances of science.”

- Wernher von Braun (Pioneer rocket engineer)

On DNA…

“As regards the origin of life, our uniform experience is that it takes an intelligent agent to generate information, codes, messages. As a result, it is reasonable to infer there was an intelligent cause of the original DNA code. DNA and written language both exhibit the property of specified complexity. Since we know an intelligent cause produces written language, it is legitimate to posit an intelligent cause as the source of DNA.”

- Charles B. Thaxton, Ph.D.

“...The capacity of DNA to store information vastly exceeds that of any other known system: it is so efficient that all the information needed to specify an organism as complex as man weighs less than a few thousand millionths of a gram. The information necessary to specify the design of all the species of organisms which have ever existed on the planet…could be held in a teaspoon and there would still be room left for all the information in every book ever written…”

- Dr. Michael Denton (Australian microbiologist)
 

“The DNA molecule is literally encoding information into alphabetic or digital form. And that’s a hugely significant discovery, because what we know from experience is that information always comes from an intelligence, whether we’re talking about hieroglyphic inscription or a paragraph in a book or a headline in a newspaper. If we trace information back to its source, we always come to a mind, not a material process. So the discovery that DNA codes information in a digital form points decisively back to a prior intelligence.”

- Stephen Meyer (director of Science and Culture, Discovery Institute).

Quotes from the Catholic Church on Evolution, Big Bang

"The Teaching Authority of the Church does not forbid that, in conformity with the present state of human sciences and sacred theology, research and discussions, on the part of men experiences in both fields, take place with regard to the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter—for the Catholic faith obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God.” 

-Pope Pius XII Humani Generis 1950

“Today, almost half a century after publication of the encyclical, new knowledge has led to the recognition of the theory of evolution as more than a hypothesis.  It is indeed remarkable that this theory has been progressively accepted by researchers, following a series of discoveries in various fields of knowledge.  The convergence, neither sought nor fabricated, of the results of work that was conducted independently is in itself a significant argument in favor of the theory.”

-St. John Paul II, 1996

"... there are so many scientific proofs in favor of evolution which appears to be a reality... which enriches our knowledge of life ... But on the other, the doctrine of evolution does not answer every query.

-Pope Benedict XVI, 2007

“The Big Bang theory, which is proposed today as the origin of the world, does not contradict the intervention of a divine creator, but depends on it. Evolution in nature does not conflict with the notion of creation because evolution presupposes the creation of beings that evolve.”

-Pope Francis, 2014

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Why is sin bad?

“While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.”

— Luke 15:20

A SIMPLE REFLECTION ON SIN

1. TRUE / FALSE: Relationship is the glue to Marriage. Family. Friendship. Community. Country. Religion.

2. If/when relationship breaks down, we are left with?

   [Give a short description]

3. The foundation of any relationship is?

   a. Love (this is what I mean by love)

   b. Something else.

   c. Science.

   d. Me

4. If you chose a. Love. What is the foundation of my love of [the other]?

   a. Because I’m a really nice person.

   b. Because they’re a really nice person.

   c. To get something out of it.

   d. Because of the incredible dignity of every person (this is what I mean by dignity)

   e. to fulfill some need I have

5. The foundation of the incredible dignity of every person is?

   a. The fact that we are all made of, and from, the same stuff (physical and spiritual).

   b. The fact that we all know and experience the same stuff (suffering, joy, and everything in-between).

   c. The fact that we all have knowing, loving, and good-ness, inside us.

   d. that fact that we all are like God, in some way.

   e. all of the above.

6. So therefore, TRUE or FALSE: Relationship, which is the glue of family/culture/society, is based on love, which is based on the incredible dignity of every human person, which is based on the fact that we are all human and divine in someway.

So why is sin Bad?

Because all and any SIN:

• degrades

• diminishes

• disregards

• cheapens

• patronizes

• ignores

• and/or just-could-care-less about the dignity of the other, and ourselves (and God)

Which destroys love - which destroys relationship - which breaks down family, culture and society.

This is why it’s bad.

BONUS QUESTION: What is the anti-dote for sin?

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Is religion just a something for the weak?

“It is no longer about my strength, only His.”

— Ab

Marx: religion as, “the opiate for the masses”.

Even though today we have taken this phrase out of its original context, with perception being what it is, the question remains, is religion (Christianity) an opiate for the masses?  

Opiates are an artificial means to a high used to ease or escape some current affliction for temporary relief.  So the question is…   

Is Christianity artificial?  

Many would say: YES. Ironically, Marx would not.  In fact, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that Karl Marx wasn’t an atheist, but rather, just against God.  However, the argument that Christianity is a “fake” is a difficult one to make given today’s scholarship.  We may disagree on is Jesus Divine or not, but to say He was completely invented is an argument that no longer holds its ground. (For more on this watch the video: I don’t believe in God because I think it was all made up.)

Is religion a “high”? 

For some, Yes.  Religion is just another feel good pill, or, something I do to make myself feel better.  While a relationship with God does provide much consolation, it’s not about this.  And if we get hooked on the consolations, then Marx is right. If we are in it merely just to feel good, then we may need to reexamine our motives just as if we would if we were in a marriage merely to feel good.  There is so much more. God doesn't want us to get hooked on the feel good, he wants us to get hooked on Him, just as your spouse doesn’t want you to get hooked on him/her just because they make you feel good… but because you love them.

Is religion an escape?

Religion is about as far away from an escape as San Diego is from say… Pluto.  In fact, a relationship with God is the anti-escape. It’s more like a giant 1000x magnifying mirror that reveals even the most hidden blemishes and blackheads of our soul. It only when we see them, that can we remove them once and for all. God will provide the tools (and this doesn’t always feel good).  

Do you really think she did it just for a high or to escape?

Is religion temporary?  

For many of us… unfortunately, it is.  We are temporary creatures.  Hot/cold, in/out, micro attention spans, bored easily and disenchanted even easier.  In fact, everything is temporary: our relationships, our ups our downs, the good things, the bad things, our life, our cultures, our universe and everything in it… is temporary.  The only thing that is not temporary… is God, and your soul.

Freud: religion as, wishful thinking.

Freud speculated that it was our early, collective psychology of - neediness - that projected the “illusion” of an idyllic, benevolent, loving father, to comfort us from the harsh realities of life, protect us from our violence, and forgive us of our guilt.

And he was probably right… about countless ancient myths, beliefs and their deities.  But this is not Jesus. Jesus was a living, breathing, historical, figure who walked the earth at a specific time, in a specific place, was recorded and followed to this very day.  Jesus is no psychological projection just as Abraham Lincoln is no projection.

However, isn’t it interesting that Freud, the father of psychology, identified our deepest psychological need to be loved, to be comforted, to be protected, and to be forgiven. It is the human condition.

The Real Illusion

Maybe it is not God that our psychology projects, but rather the image of strength that is the illusion. We are unceasingly bombarded by these images… aren’t these the artificial, the escapes, the opiates of the masses? And maybe it’s when we can shed this image, like throwing down a heavy armor, and are - ok in our weakness - that God can finally get through to the flesh, un-impeded. And once he is in, he brings his strength with Him. And then we are strong. And it is in this sense, that God is for the weak.

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What is love?

What is Love?

There are many types of love: the love of a friend, the love between family members, the love of a mother and her child, and the love between spouses… but this can all be very confusing. Is there just one-type-of-love that we can use across all of these?

Love’s only focus: the other

The hard question we all must ask ourselves is, do I love [so-and-so] for my own sake, or for theirs. Love’s only focus is - what is good for - the other.  And love’s only aim is - how can I give myself for that good; even if in giving something for their good, I have to give up something for my good.

Love is NOT…

An emotion. Some sappy, sentimental, warm and fuzzy thing; a hot and steamy, pleasure and stimulation, romantic thing; thunderbolts and electricity, or some kind of invisible force that takes over my mind and body. These may be part of love, or side effects, but not love in itself.  Love is certainly not something I do to get someone to love me back, or even just to like me, or to make the loneliness go away, or to feel better about myself.  Love is something we do, for the GOOD of the other.

So does that means, love is just, giving “the other” what they want?

If your child desires something that is harmful to themselves, to you, or to anyone else, is it loving to give it to them? That is what we call, feebleness.  Love gives only what is good for the other. The hard part is knowing the difference between that which only seems good, and that which actually is good.  And Loving someone certainly DOES NOT MEAN, we stay in a situation that is harmful.

Love your enemies…. or, love the people you don’t like. 

I once heard a Catholic priest say that the litmus test for all Christians is, love your enemy.  Today, I don’t think any of us have many mortal enemies, or nemesis’s. But there are a lot of people we just don’t really like, or they don’t really like us. Here’s the thing: we can love love someone we don’t really like. Loving someone doesn’t mean we need to meet for coffee and cakes and become bff’s… it simply means, at the very least, genuinely wishing them the best in our hearts. This in turn, helps us to - let go - of that tension we have for others in heart.

How do we know what love is? 

Because Love itself pierced the time and space barrier, broke into our world, and wrapped itself in flesh and blood, skin and bones, hair and teeth, in the form of a human person: Jesus Christ.  And said, just do what I do. You may or may not believe this, but the only way to really know, is to look into it for ourselves.  

One thing that cannot be denied, he gave his entire life, until his very last breath, his very last drop of blood (literally) for the other, to the point that he even loved those who were beating him to death, “forgive them, they know not what they do”.

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Is Christianity just another myth, fairytale or legend?

Christianity was made up for power, control and money.  

When asked, why do you think Christianity was made up, the most common answer I get is: for power, control and money.  But this cannot be the answer simply because, It’s impossible. Historically, the church wasn’t in any position to have any sort of power, control or money until, at the very earliest, the mid 5th century. That’s four hundred years (or more) after the death of Christ.  So that’s like saying that today, I want to start a movement to gain control, power or money… 400 years from now.

AS a matter of fact, in those first 400 years, the followers of of Christ, or, the way, as it was called, were only met with ridicule, censorship, persecution and brutal death. I could see dying for something I believed to be true, but would you die a horrible death for something you knew was a lie?

Without a doubt, there were times throughout history where human beings in the church did abuse her power for control and money, as persons in any sort of authority whether it be police, medical or academic have done so.  But this does not therefore nullify all law, medicine, or education. But to say that Christianity itself was invented for this purpose… is not only impossible, but disregards history.  

Do you think he was following a fairytale

So where did it come from?

In order to see why something was founded, a good place to start is with its founder and the founding principles.  So if Christianity was founded for power, control or money, we should see indications of that in the founder and his precepts. The founding principles of Jesus of Nazareth and Christianity are:

Turn the other cheek  

Love your enemy

Love everyone else as you love yourself

Forgive infinitely

Blessed are the meek, the peacemakers, the righteous  

If you want to be the first, be last, the servant of all 

Work for treasures in heaven, not on Earth

Beware of the deceitfulness of riches

Sell what you have and give to the poor

If you have two of something, give one to the poor.  

Feed the hungry

Give drink to the thirsty 

Clothe the naked 

Shelter to the homeless

Visit the sick, the widows, and the imprisoned

Do these sound like the founding precepts of a movement seeking power, control and money?

We may say, yes, well Jesus and the early church had it right, but the “institution” ruined it many years later.  Then at least we can agree that it wasn’t all made up, and lets save that other debate for another time.

In peace.  

Why do I feel so empty?

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Why do I feel so empty?

Feeling bored, unfulfilled, like there’s a giant hole right inside me? Join the club, the emptiness is inevitable. The fact is, we were all made with a giant, bottomless, unlimited, never-ending, infinite sized hole inside us. And only something that is bottomless, unlimited, never-ending and infinite, can fill it.

I object to this.

I’ve heard from many who have said, I was onboard with the first part of this, but I am offended by that last part. Or. This video was great… right up until the end. I think what’s at the heart of the objection is the thought: so you’re saying only those who believe in God can be fulfilled? So the question is: can I be fulfilled without God? And the answer is, yes and no. Please let me explain.

Would you agree that what really fulfills us, what it all boils down to is: LOVE/TRUTH/GOODNESS. LOVE as in family, marriage, kids, friends, giving, helping one another, etc. TRUTH as in knowledge, learning, understanding, wisdom, and figuring out of life’s little secrets. And what is GOOD as in that thing, what ever it may be, that is right, that lifts up and bears fruit, and that is opposed to - all the things, that are not Good. And it is true we can be fulfilled in all these these things, even if we dont believe in God.

We would just say, that God is LOVE, TRUTH, and GOODness. So anytime we are fulfilled by the love of a child or a friend, we are in a sense, being filled with God. And when we discover some truth that enriches our world and our outlook, we are being enriched by God. And when we are moved by some goodness we see in another or even in ourselves, we are being moved by God.

So to say, we don’t need God to be fulfilled, to us is kind of like saying, we don’t need the source of all fulfillment, to be fulfilled.

What's the best thing we could want?

Which is the better?

• A little money or endless money

• A little sushi or endless sushi (or pizza if you don’t like sushi)

• A short vacation or a long vacation

• a little joy or endless joy

• A little life or endless life

Do you believe in heaven, the afterlife, eternal life?

Why not?  What is that is holds us back.  If we say science: science is not an adequate answer because the afterlife does not fall in the realm of physical science, but of the spiritual. If we say there is no proof, well show me the proof that it doesn’t exist?

But humor me, what if it’s real?  Would it not be the best thing we could want?

Imagine you are dying… 

You know you are dying.  The moment has arrived.  But at the very instant when death comes, you remain conscious.  You are still thinking, you are still knowing, still existing.  The pain, fear and suffering are all washed away in a flood of freedom, clarity, fullness. It’s as if your consciousness just broke free from its shackles and expanded from the little world inside your own head, to the size of the universe.  It seems you can experience everything, as if everything is part of you. But more so, you sense right away you are not alone, that you will never be alone again; you sense an incomprehensible love that knows everything about you.  Though you have no eyes to see or ears to hear, you perceive others around you, as if you are part of them, and they are part of you.  You know them, you recognize them, and you know they know you, and there is no hindrance of any kind in between you and them, only perfect love.  You discover right away, that everything is one.  If only I knew this before, you think. And even an eternity, would not be enough to scratch the surface of that loving - Oneness (God).  It’s a completely new way, a different way, of living… and it’s just the beginning. 

Near Death Experiences, (NRE’s) 

You may think it’s all nonsense, wishful thinking, there’s no proof, and once you’re dead, you’re dead.  While we can’t “prove” the afterlife, there may be some clues.  Given our advancements in medicine, med-tech, and our ability to resuscitate those who have suffered clinical death, more and more people have reported near death experiences, or NRE’s.  Now, because of the vast number of NRE’s (in the millions), countless peer reviewed, scientific studies have been conducted and found striking consistencies among them all.    

Are NRE’s real? If so, what can they tell us about God, afterlife, and the soul? A vast resource that evaluates only the scientific research can be found at: Magis Center, NDE’s

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