The Secrets In Plain Sight!

You may know someone who can see and hear what others can't, but would that person tell you?  I know some who I believe might be, but many of them are not about to reveal such a secret.  Others have faced ridicule, shunning and worse, and as a result many have tried their best to "tune it out" of their lives.  I certainly recall when I was reading about one visionary that it occurred to me that he was lucky that he did not have my third-grade teacher.  She would have accused him of "day-dreaming".

If you've been through that, here's some news:  You can open the door now!

And let's see how you might do that. 
 
Blessed Be!

There's a part of most people's lives in which the most important aspects occur in complete privacy when they won't be interrupted, and the details are strictly your own business.  I'm talking about your prayer life, of course.  Did you think I had something else in mind?

A very dear friend, who happens to be a Roma Catholic priest once told how he was advised just before his ordination that he needed to jealously guard his prayer life.  And with good reason!  And you don't have to be clergy to need to protect that part of your life.

And, of course, your prayer life is something that evolves, like your intellectual life. 

Let's expore it and its implications.

Blessed Be!

Some people have a nasty habit of jumping to concllusions about what someone is doing, and that is especially true where religion or spirituality are concerned.  The big problem with conclusion-jumping is, of course, the fact that conclusion-jumpers set themselves up for a double-whammy against them.  Besides the possibility that their conclusion might be outright wrong, they might miss something that they might desperately need to know - whether or not they will admit it.

People who explore more than one path or work with more than one deity are especially likely to be victims of conclusion-jumpers.  And here, we can see some of the most obvious secrets which people ought to understand.  And for some of us, they bring comfort!

Blessed Be!

Every spiritual path has its magick, whether the followers of any particular path want to admit it or not.  Even the staunchest fundamenalist Protestant has to admit that there's more to baptism than getting we, after all!  And from there we go to the even more major forms of magick, such as healings and when people who are pronounced dead turn out to be not as dead as the doctors thought!  In the words of one modern theologian, we get into something beyond scinece.  And, I think that that term is appropriate.  In some cases, it might be something which science has not yet reached.  In other cases, it is where science might not ever reach.

And it's there for us.  Let's see!

Blessed Be!

The recent events in an organization representing my former path caught my eye, not for the more lurid stuff that sells in the mass media, but for something else they're considering which, in the words of one critic, would promote spiritual tourism.  But what is spiritual tourism? And what can be done about it?

You might consider tourism to be the direct opposite of exploration.  Look at it on the physical plane.  A tourist travels in an air-conditioned bus, comes and goes on schedule, looks at all the neat stuff, takes pictures, shops at the gift shops, and gains little.  An explorer makes sure of necessary comfort and safety, but seeks the full experience.  There's a difference!  Let's look!

Blessed Be!

And here is something we need in all aspects of our lives, but especially in our spiritual lives - an understanding of priorities.  Many decades ago, someone was elected to lead his country based on his promises to re-vitalize an economy which had indeed failed.  And, he succeeded beyond any citizen's dreams!  It was the rest of what he did that made Adolf Hitler one of history's most infamous figures.  People looked at the economy, and did not consider some other questions. 

The same applies in our spiritual lives, especially when it comes to the importance of following rules.  There are some folks whose spiritual life (if you can call it that) consists entirely of following rules!  And that's like driving your car following all of the rules and laws, but forgetting what your destination is!

So, let's look at spiritual priorities!

Blessed Be!

What will you do when it happens?  It could, you know.  It can happen to me, to you, or to anyone who actively pursues something spiritual or religious.  Think about it!  All that time spent in prayer and meditation, and doing rituals of one kind or another, and we call it "communion with The Divine", or "communicating with The Divine", and do you notice that both times, the key word begins with "co-"?  So, for all that you are saying and sending, what do you do when you start receiving?

Some of the most wonderful tales of saints, Christian or otherwise (Ananda was a follower of the Buddha), we hear about the innocent, often young, and in an atmosphere where such things are at least tolerated.  If someone came forward like that today, would someone listen, or would someone recommend them to a doctor?

And so, how to receive, what to do with it, and how to apply it.  None of us knows when the next time will be, or in what context!

Blessed Be! 

And now, let's look at something that's vital for each of us, including you personally.  Let's look at some of the spiritual hygeine issues caused by the guilt trips some people like to put folks on.  It could be a one-on-one, like a Sunday school teacher criticizing a child for having something nice when there are other children who don't have something as nice, or it can be a TV preacher acting as if he owns the admission booth selling tickets to heaven. 

We've all experienced it, and there are ways to deal with it.  Let's look!

Blessed Be!

Speaking about what is said about various religious groups, take a look at what is said and written about the Templars!  Their mission was to protect pilgrims during the dangerous leg of their journey between the port and Jerusalem.  They did their job well, and they also were successful in gaining what some folks thought was a lot of wealth.  And that was their demise, especialy when a French king who needed money got the Pope to go along with him and have the Templars suppressed.  And what followed has made many rich writing books and movies of speculation and made others broke by following such speculations.

Enough of that, let's look at the real lesson of the Templars and what you and I and all the other folks can do to apply what they did in what we do.  And yes, it's for us, too - and all others with a spiritual journey.  Come and see what I mean! 

Blessed Be!

Did you ever notice how many people make pronouncements about various religious groups, especially ones that they know nothing about?  Sometimes it comes from not having all the fact, and sometimes it comes from just plain ignorance.  And today, for your enjoyment, I've collecgted what I consider to be the five most popular lies about religion.  If you're a Wiccan, Pagan, Roman Catholic or Mormon, I can assure you that they've been said about you and you've probably heard them!  What's worse, someone might have actually tried to confront you about them - someone did that to me.  So let's look at them and see. 

Blessed Be!