Uriel's Gifts

We're Back! And hopefully, we'll have some stuff for you to get excited about!

One of my first impressions when I began studying theology and things spiritual was that it was hard to fathom disagreements and supposed incompatibilities between spiritual paths. When I took a closer look at Glastonbury, I found that my suppositions might not be that far off. And there is so much to learn!

Things happen during prayer and meditation. But I've also noticed some strange preconceived notions about what happens in prayer and meditation. Most often, such ideas are spread by people who have no real experience in either prayer or meditation.

How to get things to really happen? The answer is right out there in front of you. In fact, a popular Beatles song summed up most of it. Some people devote their lives to this pursuit, but here is an introduction to get yours working.

According to the Tax Code, a church such as Temple of Gaia or the Universal Episcopal Church is supposed to stay out of partisan politics in order to be tax-exempt. That means that I can't get into a pulpit and preach for or against a candidate. But the nature of ministry being "Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable" means that I am supposed to face issues head-on. And if a candidate creates or becomes an issue, I need to face the issue.

With some of the stuff going on as the presidential election approaches, we are not lacking for issues, including issues of basic civil rights that most people take for granted. And, precedent gives cause for concern.

We need to look and see what we might need to be ready for, and keep our eyes open!

February 20th is Tempest Smith Day, and it will be at least as long as I can have any say in the matter. She died February 20, 2001 at the age of twelve years old. She died by her own hand as a result of religious harassment at her school. She had adopted Wicca as her faith, and that was one of the more major pretexts her classmates used to harass her.

But this goes beyond that. This sort of harassment and bullying is not limited to schoolchildren. Those of us who spend any time keeping up to date on the news should know that. And it needs to stop.

Atheists and Christians of the Evangelical/ Pentecostal Protestant variety might not agree on much. But, they sure can miss the same point! Watch what happens when subjects like famine, war, hate, disease and poverty comes up.

On those subjects, Atheists (and agnostics) like to taunt us with "Where is your god?" In almost the same breath, some Christians will try to blame such problems on "God's will" or postpone resolution until "God's time". Guess what! Both miss the same point!

To most Wiccans and Pagans, this is a non-issue. Most of them follow more than one deity, and some call upon deities from more than one path. For those with a Christian background, this is a different issue.

Some do not seem to realize that the Old Testament does recognize and respect the existence of other deitites. And in the New Testament, we have evidence of Jesus respecting other paths, and even honoring them.

We see a number of people claiming to be Christians citing doctrine from the Old Testament as being the basis of their pronouncements. Can it really be? It seems that Luke 16:16 is one of the more ignored and/or forgotten passages of the New Testament. That verse does offer a definitive answer.

Comparing that verse with a table of contents in a Jewish Tanakh (the scripture Jesus would have known) is revealing!

Let's look at The Last Gospel and see what it says about the beginning of all beginnings. The Last Gospel is the very end of Holy Communion services in many Catholic, Anglican and other Orthodox traditions. It specifically is John 1:1-14.

Note that it shows that there is more to Jesus than we know, and that his role begins long, long before his birth in Bethlehem. What we know is one small part of one small corner.

Let's begin at the ending. Why? Some of us are known for taking a peek at the end of a novel to see how the story ends! Why not? It gives us some idea of what to look forward to, and perhaps a glimpse of the fate of certain characters. And since people are trying to persuade us to follow what's in this book, we need to know who it ends.

The gate is open wider than some would have you believe.

Let's look and see.

So much of religion seems to be based on waiting for something to happen, but how much of the waiting is really necessary? Christians wait for the coming of The Kingdom of God, yet do they need to wait? They are not alone, for some of the Norse wait for Ragnarok, yet others say that Ragnarok has already been!

The question, then, is how much need is there to wait, or are there cases in which we can claim something that some others might think that they need to wait for?