Tag: prophet

Quelling the Noise to Hear the Whispers on a Higher Plane

When I first started painting/drawing, I was asked to do a self portrait, my cousin told me that it was a good exercise for accuracy, especially in how one sees and portrays oneself to the world. The first one I did was from an old picture after a hike in New Zealand. At this point, The above portrait in progress is (and very much at the beginning the process), I guess, just another furtherance of personal exposure, except on my terms so no one else can create a facsimile of me, which truly is the only reason I decided to do it (not altogether true, I was commanded to do it with reverence). I call it “Seeing into the Unknown”. I actually took a bunch of photos (which afterward I deleted…I still hate photos) and uploaded them to my AI friend, Rose, and created a photograph by which to use as a reference. After many incarnations, I guess AI can take you only so far, some aspects we still couldn’t get right, like my neck is truly more wrinkely than above, and my fingers are ridiculously long for someone my size and my eyes are bigger. Definitely not at the point of no return, but for this one, there probably never will be. We are, after all, most critical of ourselves.

I wrote the posts below during the time in 2013 when the cardinals in Rome were in conclave to elect the new Pope (which turned out to be Pope Francis). I wrote them after the papacy seemed to lose its way with Pope Benedict, and thought maybe a primer on being a prophet was necessary, not in a OMG who do you think you are kind of way, but more simply, one that would keep the new pope on track (and since we are all the same in God’s eyes, why not a fellow sojourner like me). I ask you to read them, primarily to see if my own journey rings true to the truth that I embraced and have tried to share: that the God of Love created us all, as unique blueprints, with individual gifts, that when added to those motivated and powered by Love come together and evolve us toward the Kingdom of Heaven, or the Omega Point. (note, I wrote the posts about being a prophet just before I started this journey that I’m on which began in 2014). Was I also being prescient writing about my journey that followed? I reference these three posts a lot and while I would never claim to be a “prophet” as it is generally understood in present nomenclature, I do claim it in the a way that any person of faith can follow this kind of path if they are committed to the truth they are unfolding. I have, in pursuing this truth, followed every step that I laid out in those posts. And yet, as I wrote the last sentence, the verbal tirade I went on earlier in my car because of the insidiously stupid drivers out today came to mind. So, if God can choose a recalcitrant person like me to speak about love, then I guess anything is truly possible. If you get inspired, awesome! If not, well, have a wonderful life…you are still a beautiful blueprint in God’s eyes and are of consequence…unless of course you act in direct conflict with God and your unique purpose, then, well, I guess you’ll reap what you sow or I will just hit you with my car. I know I shouldn’t need to say this, but the last part was a joke. Anyway today I’m going to talk about noise.

Prophet in the Conclave
It’s not Easy Wearing White
Finalis Lectiones…Francisci propheta esse

Sometimes I can barely hear myself think. It’s the constant noise I’m bombarded with everyday, from the noise of political advertising and general shit show of what is happening in my country right now, to the noise of sporting events televised on every floor of our house, to the noise on the internet, and especially the noise that comes with being a utility for just about everyone I’ve come in contact with lately, which is a nice way of saying because I am capable and competent, and generally affable, unless I’m in my car and you are driving badly, it is easy for people to ask for my help. And as an example happening in real time, when a certain someone in my house can’t figure out how to empty the dirt cartridge on the vacuum cleaner and demands my immediate help, even though I am deep into writing this and when I ignore him, stands right next to me swearing and then does something which is entirely reflective of how “not” mechanical he is that explodes dirt everywhere including all over me and my laptop…if I were in my car he would be dead right now…again, a joke. I literally pointed to the directions that are displayed in picture form RIGHT ON THE SIDE OF THE DAMN THING and emptied and reattached it in seconds. Most of the time I love helping people and I think I am really good at it, but sometimes, when the requests are continuous and all at once, it is definitely not awesome and starts to turn into noise and I lose focus. Most often the requests are not earth shattering and are the reflections of my ordinary life, from answering legal questions, medical issues for family, fund raising requests, a multitude of insurance submission and billing issues, volunteering, technical, mechanical (because someone is not mechanical) or pesky problems (like our mousie infestation) or those who just want to bend my ear in these tough times.

It’s when the noise of every day life is layered upon layer when I would love to get away from it all and find silence to hear the “whispers” that have always been a source for my survival. It is these kinds of moments, when I especially see the wisdom of stepping away from lead and into the solitude of my studio, where the “wind” of it all won’t distract me away from being a successful anchor. The reason I reference the wind as “noise” in this particular situation, is because, as I’ve mentioned before, I don’t like the heavy and loud kind of wind that can wreck havoc and makes me feel like I’m being blown off course, when I can’t hear for the deafening roar of it and it blocks my vision so I can’t see clearly. All together, it causes me great discomfort and fear. When I think of this same kind of phenomena on a spiritual level, it causes me no less discomfort and fear and I have spent a large part of this journey finding ways to “still” the storm inside my head, heart and soul. And just when I think I have mastered the “big” kinds of spiritual winds, something happens that reminds me that, because I am flawed and human, there will be times where it will still take effort to quell those fears that rise up and utilize the practices I’ve learned for shutting down the noise.

I know there were times when Jesus got overwhelmed too, he often went into the desert to pray and receive spiritual sustenance so he could continue his ministry. There are several references from the gospels, where he went into solitude to pray whether it was up on a mountain, or into the desert. One of the reasons he did this was to reach the point where he could promise us: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light”. Following his example, it is only in the quiet sanctuary, of my studio or in nature, that solitude and prayer offers that give me rest. Teilhard, as well, appreciated his times of solitude. He wrote a beautiful piece called the Mass on the World while he was in the Ordos Desert in the southern part of inner Mongolia, where he offered up the entire working, suffering and roaring planet as his host and chalice (the bread and wine of the Mass). You can look it up online, it is truly beautiful and complicated and powerful, and in many ways is still beyond my understanding. Here are a couple of my favorite passage:

In the beginning was Power, intelligent, loving, energizing. In the beginning was the Word, supremely capable of mastering and moulding whatever might come into being in the world of matter. In the beginning there were not coldness and darkness: there was the Fire. This is the truth.

So, far from light emerging gradually out of the womb of our darkness, it is the Light, existing before all else was made which, patiently, surely, eliminates our darkness. As for us creatures, of ourselves we are but emptiness and obscurity. But you, my God, are the inmost depths, the stability of that eternal milieu, without duration or space, in which our cosmos emerges gradually into being and grows gradually to its final completeness, as it loses those boundaries which to our eyes seem so immense. Everything is being; everywhere there is being and nothing but being, save in the fragmentation of creatures and the clash of their atoms.

Blazing Spirit, Fire, personal, super-substantial, the consummation of a union so immeasurably more lovely and more desirable than that destructive fusion of which all the pantheists dream: be pleased yet once again to come down and breathe a soul into the newly formed, fragile film of matter with which this day the world is to be freshly clothed.

I know we cannot forestall, still less dictate to you, even the smallest of your actions; from you alone comes all initiative — and this applies in the first place to my prayer. ‘Lord, lock me up in the deepest depths of your heart; and then, holding me there, burn me, purify me, set me on fire, sublimate me, till I become utterly what you would have me be, though the utter annihilation of my ego.

I asked “Rose” to compare Jesus and Teilhard’s views on the noise that keeps us from hearing God’s whispers (and also helped with the closing paragraphs pulling it all together):

DimensionJesus’s PerspectiveTeilhard de Chardin’s Perspective
The Nature of Worldly Noise• Represents the crushing demands of crowds, anxieties of daily life, and superficial worries.
• Acts as a spiritual weed that can choke out the word of life.		• Represents dispersion, fragmentation, and chaotic static.
• Scatters human energy and traps human consciousness on the superficial surface of existence.
The Purpose of Solitude• Provides an intentional space (erēmos or wilderness) to withdraw from external expectations.
• Serves to protect and solidify one’s identity in relation to the Father.		• Represents the process of entering into one’s own internal depth (the “within”).
• Consolidates a strong internal center, ensuring personal identity is preserved rather than lost when uniting with others.
The Posture of Silence• Creates a secret, inward environment free from performative prayer.
• Fosters radical trust, active listening, and an awareness of the kingdom “within.”		• Hushes superficial distractions to tune into the invisible layer of collective thought and love (the Noosphere).
• Reveals the universe as a living, breathing reality charged with divine presence (the Divine Milieu).
The Ultimate Goal• To align completely with the divine will and anchor the soul before returning to serve others.• To gather internal energy and unique spiritual blueprints to move the world collectively toward unified consciousness (the Omega Point).

There is a fifth principle that is rarely discussed in climbing, yet remains completely essential to surviving the wall upward and forward: the absolute necessity of silence as part of the effort. Silence, especially in one’s head is crucial in learning to listen to the “whispers” of the spirit that direct and invigorates us to continue on the journey. I’ve also found, for anybody involved in charging upward onto a higher place be it anchor or lead, letting love drive you doesn’t mean you let go of the rope or take your hands off the wheel like a self driving car, it simply means you hold onto the silence necessary to hear the whispers so love can direct where you need to go and how to get there…and that can’t happen when you’re surrounded by noise, whether it is physical, mental or spiritual.

In a world consumed by hyper-connectivity and endless static, we have been conditioned to believe that our presence must be loud. We assume that if we aren’t constantly transmitting, shouting warnings, or reinforcing the lines with literal words, the connection will fail. But when a lead climber moves out onto an exposed, high stakes wall, clumsy human words become nothing but dangerous noise. Under that level of intense pressure, the analytical mind cannot afford the luxury of distraction. It requires an absolute dispassionate concentration.

True anchoring means having the radical maturity to hold the space in complete and respectful silence. We do not crowd the line with our own anxieties or demand immediate validation from the horizon. Instead we drop the reins of outgoing control and let our quietness act as a protective shield. Silence is the very medium through which the “within” of the system communicates. It is a shared, unpolluted vocabulary that allows those out on lead to completely trust their own instincts and the power guiding them, and know with absolute certainty that the safety hub below is perfectly stable.

That is what looking into the unknown means for me in this moment. My eyes and posture open demands that I am still and listen to the whispers. I choose to be quiet not because I am trying to shut the world out, but because I am allowing Love to do the driving and I don’t want to miss a minute of it. I am standing firm and trusting the the unyielding center of safety we have built is fully capable of holding the vessel steady through the roaring wind, allowing the beautiful, physical dance of this journey to unfold just as the Author of Love intended.

Ask and Receive

law and prophets

I’ve always found comfort in these particular words of Jesus: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”  And yet…really? my bank account hasn’t changed.  Let’s go back and read verses preceding the one I just mentioned. They are an admonition against judgement and pointing out the flaws in others while unable to see our own.  The offer of receiving whatever we ask for comes only after we stop our judgy behavior and look at our own flaws first and foremost.  While that may seem depressing, Jesus doesn’t leave us wallowing in our wicked imperfections…he says, “which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asks for a loaf of bread, or a snake when he asks for a fish?  If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him?”  While he chastises our behavior, it still won’t prohibit God from answering our prayers.

Of course there are qualifications…God responds to our requests with “good things”  God would never give us anything harmful.  I suppose asking for something bad would never qualify.  So how then, do we know what good is?  What follows gives us a clue.  Jesus highlights the golden rule: “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.”  He also encourages us to enter through the narrow gate that leads to life, and not the wide and easy gate that many will follow to destruction. He warns of false prophets whom we will only know by the fruits they bear, followed immediately by “for a rotten tree can never bear good fruit”.  The lines are drawn clear: good tree, good fruit…bad tree no fruit. Goodness can only be known by good fruit.

So what is good fruit?  Is it success, wealth, fame, popularity, prowess or power?  I suppose it all goes back to what each of us sees when we pull that humongous plank out or our eye. We can never see goodness while our vision is clouded; there are too many false prophets out there that exist in obscured vision to lead us astray.  Only goodness can perpetuate goodness, rotten trees never can…and we all know what happens to trees that bear no fruit whatsoever (remember the fig tree).  It doesn’t need to be complicated, we simply start by not judging and pointing out the flaws in others before we can even see our own, treat others exactly how we want to be treated, pray to god in secret with faith, and he will respond with goodness, from which we continue to bear good fruit.  Pretty much sums it all up.

Waiting at the Well

woman at the wellIn the Gospel of John, Jesus functionally begins his ministry at a Samaritan well talking to a woman.  I say he functionally began his ministry, because he had just left the desert from being baptized by John the Baptist.  So what a place to start: not only with a woman, but a Samaritan woman, and even more so, a Samaritan woman of ill repute.  What makes this particular event so powerful is that just prior to this conversation in the previous chapter comes the famous line he spoke to the Pharisee Nicodemus: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but have eternal life.”  We never get Nicodemus immediate response, but from Jesus we get an inclination that he wasn’t completely sold on the idea: Jesus makes it clear that those who prefer the cloak of darkness and fear exposure of their wickedness are already condemned. So after journeying to Samaria, while his disciples had gone to look for food, he stopped for a drink of water.  What followed, (I will make you read it for yourself) was nothing short of remarkable…especially given the timing.

I think it is remarkable because he not only spoke to this woman of ill repute, but he talked to her as if she were anyone else of equal value.  She was the first person who, when told he was the Messiah, believed him right then and there. (Nicodemus was most probably still pondering the idea and the disciples were amazed he was talking to a woman and concluded he simply needed to eat something). You see this is of utmost importance because he knew all about her disreputable past, appreciated her telling the truth, and then offered her everything, because she, like all those who came after her, were in need of and wanted everything he offered.  She wasn’t afraid of the truth, of being exposed.  And yet I still wondered, why her?  Jesus must have recognized a remarkable quality in her, because even though she was a woman of ill repute, when she went back into the village saying, “He told me everything I have ever done, could he be the Messiah?” they actually came.  She wasn’t afraid of her wickedness, like perhaps many of those who feared Jesus. She wanted the light.

What would his ministry have looked like had Nicodemus believed him right away instead of perhaps falling into his fear of exposure.  What if it was he who ran and said to the people “I have met the Son of man who will bring us eternal life”  maybe Jesus whole ministry would have transpired differently.  The Samaritan woman stood in truth when exposed and that made all the difference in the world.

Pray it Forward

praying handsYesterday I was just bored.  Bored with the cold weather, bored with life and its problems and bored with my prayers.  So I decided to change things up a bit and pray for those out there who don’t have the wherewithal to pray, who are too broken, too arrogant or just too ignorant to know that the necessary help is right there, waiting to be tapped.  I prayed so that their eyes may be opened, and their hearts filled with love so they could see the world in a new way.  I prayed also that my judgement on what they needed would not factor in to the equation…because we all have a bias about what people need.  I prayed that God’s will be done and not mine, even if the outcome was to bless those that I don’t think deserve it, or challenge those that I believe do.  If a random act of kindness can create a ripple effect of kindness, think of what a random act of prayer can do.

Step by Step

my shoesThese are my shoes…kind of quirky, kind of fun.  You can design your own on the Adidas website.  I had my name added, not because I was living in fear that someone would steal them, (although they are cool), but as a reminder that it is my feet that are walking this path.  I am the one putting one foot in front of the other, or standing still, or even on the occasion walking backward.  These are my shoes, no one else’s.  Only I can get myself where I need to go.  It’s true that at times, others have given me direction, cleared obstacles and smoothed the way and some have even put obstacles in my path to trip me up…but I am responsible for how I move forward.  Regardless of what is ahead, I can choose to dance or drag my feet.  I can stomp my feet in a tantrum at the unfairness of it all or simply let it go and run forward as fast as I can.  I am the only thing that can stop me.  When I allow chatter like “You can’t do that”, or “You’re not worthy” to impede my steps, I can’t blame anyone but me.  No one can limit me, but me.  The intent of the universe is for each of us to achieve our highest purpose.

This is underlined even more for me as a woman of faith.  When God is for me, who can be against me?  The boon of spiritual assistance gives me no excuse.  As I look to my future and I walk in my shoes, I remember that blame will stop me in my tracks, and will never get me where I need to go, as will lending an ear to those who want me to fail.  I walk in my shoes…no one else.  While my journey may be a singular affair, the upswing is that I don’t have to walk alone.   I can choose companions to walk along side me, which does abate the loneliness of my life’s adventure.  I’m better now than when I was younger at avoiding those who slowed me down or confused my sense of direction, yet I still have to remind myself once in a while when it is time to move out of a crowd and forge ahead on my own.   And while my journey may include walking in step with fools at times, there are many times in hindsight where I realize that I myself was the fool.  I am thankful for those angels God put in my path when it was most needed, and I hope I’ve been an angel to others in their time of need too.

My steps may not be as quick as they used to be and my shoes have taken on a more practical nature, but I embrace the adventure of every new day…I forge on happily, just me and my shoes.

The Naked Truth

flasher

So, what does perfection look like?  The dictionary defines it, in part, as the full growth or development of anything, or a completed state.  So beyond all the traditional trappings…I ask this question, “Given that God is perfect what does God look like?  Avoiding the easy traps of artists portrayals, I start with the old testament when God was always shrouded somehow, because to look upon God physically meant certain death.  The metaphor that came to me as I was struggling to find something completely unique, was that of God as a flasher–God revealing the deeper realities of life, for God’s pleasure, and our limited ability to see God in full glory.  NOW WAIT INTERNET, DO NOT FREAK OUT, KEEP WITH ME FOR JUST A MINUTE!  I have waited for enough time after writing this draft to validate that I have not caught on fire, I have not turned to stone and my head hasn’t turned all the way around once…so just bare with me, if God’s OK with it, so should you.  First of all, the reason I use the flasher image is that God has been clothed in so many different layers over the centuries, it’s about time to challenge many of these historical notions.  So when all the layers are stripped away, what do we have left?  I don’t have that answer yet, but and this is a big one, BUT I certainly had to ask this question first?  Am I willing to see God naked?

Culturally, nakedness is far more associated with sexuality and porn than personal knowledge and perfection.  The kind of exposure from someone who reveals themselves out of pleasure without being asked to do so is not only uncomfortable, many times it is a criminal offense.  Perhaps it is our discomfort and limited capacity for understanding perfection that God chooses to show us only so much at a time.  It can be more than a little daunting to entertain the possibility that many of the fundamental assumptions we have about God are really ill-fitting costumes that not only hide, but distort God’s very essence.  I say this, in part, because if we were so clear about God’s true nature, wouldn’t our world be in a much better place?  So let’s go back to before being naked was an indecent thing.

According to the book of Genesis, when Eve, then Adam ate from the tree of knowledge, bringing sin into paradise, they recognized their nakedness, tried to cover themselves up and hid from God.  Note that being naked was a good thing until they sinned and they began to see themselves differently as a result.  It certainly doesn’t imply that being naked was intrinsically a bad thing does it?  We are created in God’s image, after all…free of any wardrobe malfunctions.  Isn’t it more likely that the need to cover ourselves up as a result of recognizing our imperfection naturally flows to why we try to cover up God as well;  we don’t want the constant reminder of how imperfect we really are.  History certainly says so, for Christians anyway, look how humanity treated Jesus.  If we are truly created in the image of God, and by our own choice moved away from that image, it seems to make sense that in order to discover God’s true nature we deal with our own nakedness…and the neurosis that comes with it first.

Looking at my own naked flesh is mixed with many different emotions.  At my age it is impossible to avoid gravity, period.  I will never resemble those beautiful women in the magazines, and I guess I’m OK with that, but sadly, though, I never thought my body would ever resemble one of those prehistoric fertility goddess figurines comprised of sagging breasts and a marsupial like stomach either…and while spanks work miracles, they do have to come off some time.  But at the same time, this body of mine has survived breaks, falls, injuries, childbirth, dancing, and the many things I have done for God…all that comes with living life.  Our bodies are the empirical evidence of all that we have seen and experienced.  So why is it that we worship bodies that bear no reflection of the greater lessons in life?  Isn’t it true that most supermodels hit their peak before the reach the age of majority?  Why focus on a blank canvas, or a body free of experience?  I truly believe that God’s true nature is probably closer to the reflection most people see of themselves in the mirror–a body worn with experience.  Let’s go back to the definition of perfection…the full growth or development of anything, a completed state.  A life lived fully, should be seen as closer to being perfect than running away from it through growth hormones, plastic surgery or the other myriad of ways we try to look younger.  I’m not saying that we allow ourselves to waste away, our bodies are temples after all…but the obsession with youth has to stop, especially since it sends an unfair message to young people that their bodies are the standard to which all perfection should be measured.  Would I go back to the perky body I used to have?  Ah, now therein lies the rub…the temptation would be great, but seriously no, I would not.  I think I would focus on all the wrong things.  As much as I struggle with aging, it is a natural part of coming to completion…and it is up to me, with the help of God to figure out how to wrap my head around it.  Perhaps, it will mean for me that I am one step closer to seeing God.

The Big E

question markI find it a little surreal talking about evil with any real clarity because it is so weighted in stories of fantasy, monsters, fallen angels, hell and brimstone, red demons etc.   So, let me start with this:  Christian Scripture is heavy on the notion that all things work out for those who love.  Then where does the big “E” come into play?  I’ve never met the prince of darkness personally, but my firsthand experiences of evil through perhaps his minions were good enough to convince me of its existence.  In addition to be donned, the Father of Lies, I think another good moniker for Satan is the consummate actor and tailor: one who tempts us to layer ourselves in costumes and convinces us to portray ourselves as anything but what we truly are.  We then, become so deeply confused that we lose the ability to ask for the right kind of spiritual help.

For example, look at the chaos that gun violence has brought to this country.  There are those who think the government is evil because they believe their second amendment rights are threatened.  There are those who think the guns themselves are evil and that they should be eradicated.  I’m sure God has entertained prayers to abolish both.  Where then, does the true root of evil lie?  I would say the true root lies in the most fantastic misdirection of all.  First, that God has not conquered Satan yet (in classic terms), and secondly, we think we know exactly what evil looks like and what fuels it.  When Jesus died, and before he rose, we are told of a short trip he made to hell where he basically opened a big ol’ can of whoop ass.  What does this mean?  I think that the whole point of Christ’s sacrifice, essentially, is that for those who choose Him, evil cannot infect them…they have a spiritual vaccination, of sorts.  Evil is like an opportunistic virus; it cannot survive on its own, and when we accept the grace of Christ, we have a spiritual armor to protect us.  Without a willing human spirit to infect, it can never thrive.  Think for a moment, what better way to create a foothold in human lives than for evil to skulk around shrouded in disguise in order to infect our perception and cloud our vision, especially when we are at our weakest, or just before we are ready to make a huge move forward in spiritual evolution.  Evil, then, like a plague that spreads like wildfire, tries to paralyze us with us with fear so we become obsessed with how to combat it, even though we’ve had the cure all along.  And we fight it, most often in the name of God and religion.  Aldous Huxley, in The Devils of Loudoun (regarding the crusades) explains it like this:

“Those who crusade not for God in themselves, but against the devil in others, never succeed in making the world better, but leave it either as it was, or sometimes even perceptively worse than it was before the crusade began.  By thinking primarily of evil, we tend, however excellent our intentions, to create occasions for evil to manifest itself…To be more against the devil than for God is exceedingly dangerous.”

So I say, the best way to combat evil in our lives is first and foremost to practice love, and never let fear take hold of how we live our lives.  Then, and only then, will we develop the acumen to recognize, free from disguise the face of evil…I will save that for another post.

Prophet in the Conclave

cardinalsMy son asked me if you have to be a priest to be pope…The answer is no.  Even I could be chosen, and while there is a greater chance of hell freezing over, I wouldn’t.  But I might accept the challenge to teach those cardinals a few things.  If I were to give an intro to Prophets class…it would start like this:

Lesson One: Taking the First Step

To be a true prophet, you don’t need a pedigree…in anything. You do, however, need to say this prayer: “Honoring all the talents I’ve been given, take me down the path I need to go to fulfill my greatest purpose in life and in turn I will promise to keep walking despite the fear that wells up in my throat, the overwhelming feelings of inadequacy that I may face and the desire to give into the temptation to run in the opposite direction.” If you can say those words then you are ready. Please note, however, that once you say them…God will take you at your word. Changing your mind is not an option.

Lesson Two: What is a Prophet?

The Oxford English Dictionary defines a prophet as the inspired or accredited spokesman, proclaim-er  or preacher of some principle, cause or movement. A prophet is one who speaks for God as the inspired reveal-er or interpreter of divine will; one who is held or (more loosely) who claims to have this function; an inspired or quasi-inspired teacher. No where does it say that a prophet must have any greater handle on the truth or is better suited for it than anyone else. You must see a truth, be inspired by it and believe that it is God who is the source of that truth. What separates the prophet from a charlatan or someone of feeble mind? Nothing. Only time, commitment to the truth, and complete surrender to the divine will can keep you on the right path.

Lesson Three: What is Truth?

Is truth absolute? If it is, our human limitations probably keep us from fully comprehending it. Is the color blue still blue in the dark? Because color is dependent on light and the reflection and absorbtion of its waves to produce a color in the spectrum, perhaps it’s substance exists only in the realm of potential until light shines upon it. Truth, like color, depends on exposure to the light in the same way. The first challenge of a true prophet is to shed light into the darkest places in their lives. Sometimes the greatest truths lie hidden along side those things we try to bury in darkness. Before you begin this journey of exposure, let me comfort you by saying that things are far less frightening or threatening once you see them in the light.

Lesson Four: Excremental Vision

Once light shines exposes your personal environment, you may be shocked. Life is not as clean and neat as one might expect. Initially, it may be a shock to see how one can live a midst such apparent filth. Life, however, is messy, as is growth. Embracing the fact that “shit happens” to everyone and it is a normal part of anyone’s journey is essentially the first step in understanding it’s importance in allowing the truth to take root and flourish in your life. Growth cannot occur in a sterile environment  Dirt is essential, as well as fertilizer. The richest and most natural source? Manure. The simple decision to learn from the “shit” that is present in your life is what determines whether it will help you grow or turn you toxic. A prophet uses everything that happens to enrich their truth.

Lesson Five: A Bitter Pill

When you go through the often difficult process of uncovering and embracing a truth, you may have a tendency to tell everyone you know. In your zealous enthusiasm, you may want to strip illusion from the eyes of everyone you love, show them the error of their ways, and challenge them to change. But when you deprive them of the process, truth can be nothing but a bitter pill. Not everyone is ready to let go of illusion and face the truth. Many people may even be angry with you for judging how they live their lives…even though you both know it could stand improvement. The most effective prophet allows themselves to be transformed by truth, and then lives it. Talking about it is often too confusing. When others see the transformation in you and desire the same transformation, then it is time to talk…and yet whether or not they choose to follow the process is still up to them. A prophet is only as effective as the truth they live.

Lesson Six: Once you know, you never unknow a truth

After the initial freedom of embracing a truth, there is often a period of time when you may look back with nostalgia at life shrouded in illusion. It may appear simpler and easier in many ways. This is absolutely normal. Elevating one’s reality brings change to every aspect of life. The brain is forced to work in a completely new and different way. The best way to handle this change is to free fall into it. The phrase, let go and let God is a necessity during this period…as well as remembering the prayer you recited at the beginning of this process. Don’t fight the changes that truth brings and the transition will be easier. You will also be better prepared to face what is to come.

Lesson Seven: The Essential Nature of Things

Once you begin living in higher definition, it may become easy to judge others who live with less clarity as stupid or having little to offer you on your journey. WRONG! Everyone and everything that crosses your path is an essential element on your journey. A wise prophet understands that the big picture is comprised of smaller, seemingly insignificant pieces. Even the darkest of characters can provide an opportunity to share the light of truth. Embrace each person or event as the greatest gift. Gratitude builds hope. Hope illuminates what comes next.
This concludes first series…since I’m sure we’ll see black smoke this evening…stay tuned.

Regarding Jonah and the Non-prodigal son

I don’t know if it is God’s great humor or the hubris of Jonah that resulted in my isolation in the belly of my own metaphorical whale, but  sans the fish smell it was no less cramped, dark, and completely uncomfortable.  When it comes to the non-prodigal son and Jonah, I can completely sympathize with their tendency to mope over a last-minute save.  Today, they are my brethren.  Granted, I may be speaking in the voice of that petulant child that roars her ugly head once in a while, but the feeling of putting my ninja on and wreaking havoc on all the vipers and hypocrites and evil doers even has my rational, old soul, adult self jumping on board.  I am tired of bad people getting away with bad things and coming to Jesus to make it all right.  I wish omniscience was one of my super powers so I would have the ability to distinguish between who has really learned the hard lessons and has changed their ways and the liars who just pretend to.  Then I could  spontaneously combust the wolves with my Darth Vader like stare.  But alas, that would make me no better than they are, focused so outwardly on the sins of others that I can’t see my own.  I  did despair a bit at this awareness because Jesus has taught me to keep forgiving the bastards seventy times seventy….which is how I ended up inside my whale.  My internal rantings began to the tune of  “Walking the Line” and all the difficulties that come with that when there are so many who appear to reap benefits from not only walking far away from the line but taunt the rest of us who do…only to descend even deeper to conclude with a chorus of “nana nana booboo” while I visualized the evil doers being herded off a cliff somewhere.  The echo of all that whining bouncing off the blubber of my internal whale became so deafening that I told my internal petulant child that enough was enough already.  The descent into emotional and spiritual retardation, became an invitation to revisit why it is I choose to live by a higher moral imperative anyway.   It isn’t because I believe that I get to go to heaven, or avoid a heavy karmic backlash.  Truly, I believe it is because it makes the most sense to me.  Choosing a path of love demands certain behaviors laid out for me in the New Testament.  Jesus did prescribe a way to live in the world that will build the Kingdom of God and in order to get out of the belly of the whale I had to figure out that holding others accountable is God’s job and not mine.  The phrase, “it’s not fair” is wiped from my lexicon.  That is not to say that I won’t continue to fight for justice, rather, I will trust that Jesus’ great gift is very much alive and well even when it appears that the line isn’t even visible anymore.  I have learned a great lesson these past days and have regain a greater peace.