It's me, mike hillebrecht

Seed time (cause) and harvest time (effect) is an eternal law on this world. Fruit never looks like the seed. The death of the seed activates the life leading to the fruit. The death of the fruit is what uncovers the seed within. In both the seed and the fruit death is the catalyst towards transformation.

Seeds are the original vehicle of nourishment for the inhabitants of this world. Some seeds create toxic plants leading to non-toxic fruit, while some seeds create non-toxic plants leading to toxic fruit; and the remaining seeds produce non-toxic plants and fruit. Toxicity cannot be discovered in the appearance of the seed only in the life it creates.

Many seeds have evolved to permit nature to disperse them across a vast region. Some seeds must be devoured by animals to permit it’s digestive system to release the protective coating the seed is encased within so that it may grow when it lands on the soil. Other seeds simply land from the place of their origin sustaining the ecosystem.

We look about and can witness change occurring throughout the various seasons of the solar cycle. Seeds and harvests follow this cycle. The change which transpires is the evolution of the seed to fruit. To fixate our gaze at a singular moment in the cycle and expect immediate change is ignorance in how growth evolves. To look at the cycle at its end and declare that nothing is happening and changes must be made is to ignore how the bulk of the work of growth must first be hidden under the earth apparently as death.

Are riots the seeds of change or the fruits of despair? Will real transformation occur without the death of either? What nourishment are these riots providing either as a seed or a fruit? When does toxicity factor into the cycle? At the beginning or at the end? IF this is a non-toxic occurrence, the seed, growth and fruit should feed us, right? Are the riots landing on the soil in a digested form or undigested form? Are the expectations of change merely the fixation on the end of a cycle when dormancy is natural and required to birth new life? Or is there a mutation attempting to re calibrate the cycle for a new expression of growth out of its proper season?

Our unique perception is the only soil these questions grow within. What cycle are you experiencing in the seed to harvest continuum?

Vulnerability.

We come into this world with it and leave this world with it too. From the beginning of time mankind has lived under the daily influence of a sense of being “less than” some other power, force, or consciousness.

We continually attempt to “mask” our perceived nakedness in actions which often cause more harm to us than confront the truth about our condition. These masks can be in the form of education, position, wealth, possessions, and relationships. Each mask offers us protection from our insecurity simply by allowing us to hide from those who do not possess what we have acquired. A bolstered sense of superiority we believe is the remedy for vulnerability.

The biblical record states how the first man masked his nakedness with the foliage of the garden he had been placed within. When the Creator, the ground of all being, sought for the man, the man felt compelled to hide because of his perception of being vulnerable from his actions. This is the plight of all humanity.

Our actions, more often than not, condemn us rather than compel us. How can this be possible? The answer can be found in the Creator’s response to the man when the man was asked why he was hiding. “Because I was naked,” was the response from the man.

“Who said you were naked?”

Who said…
…you weren’t smart enough?
…you weren’t tall enough?
…you weren’t skinny enough?
…you weren’t old enough?
…you weren’t gifted enough?
…you weren’t successful enough?
…you weren’t rich enough?
…you weren’t beautiful or handsome?
…you needed that car, house, dress, coat, shoes, watch, or (fill in the blank)?
…you couldn’t teach, write, speak up, sing, act, draw, paint, engage an audience or class?
…you can’t touch this or be touched by that?
…you aren’t worthy, dependable, valid, honest, pure, charming, accepted and loved?
…you are responsible for the actions of others you have never met?
…you are a product of generations who lacked accountability?
…you are not as innocent as we think you are?
…you must repent for your wickedness?

Ah, yes…repent! This always follows the trail of vulnerability like a pack of wolves following an injured animal to its demise. There is blood spilt in the battle of your mind which must be licked up by the dogs of war while your wound festers into a pool of puss, oozing all over everyone in the form of bitterness, envy, anger, greed and resentment. REPENT, ye sinner!

Bullshit! Who said repentance was crying out to God about how unworthy you were? Again, who said?

Let’s get right down to the nuts and bolts of it. Who said you were vulnerably naked? You did, right? You looked around and decided you don’t look like or have what others around you have and the difference rattled your sense of conformity.

Who said you had to conform, had to fit in or be left out? When you think of who that person was, ask who told them, and keep asking on down the line of history. Eventually you will realize that you have been merely following what other thought you should be doing rather than doing what has been intended of you from the very beginning.

At this defining moment, you will have to decide on whether you are going to continue being a creature of other’s habits or if you are going to truly repent. Repent simply means to change your mind. Its no big theological dilemma. Change or not, its up to you. Secure the mask of your vulnerability and thereby strengthen the hold others have on your destiny, or, embrace your destiny through acknowledging you are exposed, and it doesn’t matter.

Yes, you read that correctly, it doesn’t matter. The first man was naked long before he told himself he was. It was only when he evaluated his action as being right or wrong that he developed the consciousness of “not-being.” None of us have the capability of “not-being” simply because we came from the ground of all being and possess the consciousness of “all-being.” We plainly must stop believing how we are “not…” and just “be,” warts and all. And so, in the words of Forrest Gump, “That’s all I’ve got to say about that.”

“Shame on you!”

Have you experienced this scathing rebuke? How did it make you feel? Who delivered it to you? Was it a friend, co-worker, or was it a family member? How old were you the first time it occurred? Did it become a significant emotional event which you have carried throughout your life feebly trying to overcome the aftereffects?

Shame is a tool of control. It has been used against us for this purpose and we employ it for the exact same reason. We want our ideals to be the only one which have preeminence in any given situation.

Morality – the nature of right and wrong – is the backbone of shame’s destructive tendency. Other’s interpretation of what constitutes “right” is the warrant they serve us when shame is searingly thrust into our consciousness. This is true even when we do it to ourselves.

We live in very fluid times and shame is the rudder which directs the course of events presently. The “Cancel Culture” is the present instrument of shame. However, we should not overlook the great efforts in shame that the other movements, including the government, who have entered into the arena of controlling our actions.

I am well aware how being an old white man there are those younger than me who will attempt to shame me as being privileged, racist, Nazi, potentially misogynistic, homophobic, conservative, liberal, or progressive. Each of these petards, or any other from the quiver of slurs, are used frequently to squash any dialogue before it even begins. Their apparent value in use is just how shame-filled they make the person feel. The side effect is also just how shame-filled do they make those around the person feel too.

Control is about dealing with the masses not the individual. The individual is merely an unsuspecting tool which the agents of shame use to herd the masses who might develop the ability to think independently. Critical thought is often the light which causes the cockroach of shame to scurry into the crevasses of their self-importance.

During world war 2, Germany required all Jewish people to wear a star of David on their clothing as an identifying marker of their heritage. This was employed as a means of casting shame upon a people group within the population at large. It brought with it ridicule and violence from the general population which the government could not fully accomplish with their limited resources. The government merely had to employ the means of public indoctrination of shame to achieve its desires of control. Those who were critical thinkers about the morality of such actions were dealt with appropriately.

In the biblical record, the first occurrence of shame is self-inflicted. The first man, Adam, attempts to clothe himself and then hide after eating the forbidden fruit. When God asks him why he acted in this manner, Adam’s response was because he was naked. How God responds is often missed in grace circles simply because the tradition of God being a judgmental and vengeful deity is so ingrained into our psyche. “Who said you were naked?”

Grace transcends our shame-filled shroud of self-imposed guilt. It cuts right to the core of who we believe we are. It demands that we stand in the truth.

Today, we face a great divide in our nation and across the globe as the perception of a pandemic has been thrust upon us. Governments are attempting to contain the spread of a new contagion they know little about. Control of the populace is the operative means being used to contain the effects of this invisible force. There are competing theories and treatments being presented as never before in how to address this matter, and yet, the narrative being offered has to be controlled also. Social media platforms and MSM outlets are working furiously to ensure that only one voice, one explanation, one treatment and cure is heard by the populace. Self-isolation, social distancing, hygiene and face masks are a reality to our nakedness to this invisible force.

We were told that our efforts to close down the economy by staying home would help to “flatten the curve” of victims needing to use limited hospital resources. As projections of cases never materialized, we began to hear that we were doing this to protect the lives of those who were most susceptible. The slogans, “Stay at home and save a life,” and “Wear a mask so you don’t kill a loved one,” began to filter into our consciousness without any validation of these being statements of truth. We began living in fear of anything or anyone outside of our circle of direct influence. We began to confront our belief in a person being innocent before proven guilty. Additionally, we forced ourselves to confront our fear of dying.

Fear is the catalyst for the use of shame. While morality will be the structure of how it will be administered, fear is the volcanic purging which fuels the shame-inducing event. Agents of shame fear their loss of control. Losing it is a personal death blow. The ego, which drives their identity, seeks the role of authority and it is from this position that uncertainty is forbidden to enter. Death, the ultimate uncertainty, is therefore the greatest fear, the pinnacle of uncontrollability.

The injunction God presented to the man and the woman in the garden was that in the day that they ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they shall surely die. Doing the wrong, or evil, thing causes death. However, the fruit is also good and doing good will cause death also once the fruit has been eaten. Good and evil, the basis of morality, causes death across the entire spectrum. Shame is the tool which flails at our nakedness trying to hide our perceived imperfections in ourselves and others.

The next time someone ask you do you have a mask, whether you do or not, consider who told them you were naked and what fear they have been forced to deal with in asking you this question. If you are one who refuses to wear a mask there is no shame in this, despite what society seeks to thrust upon you. You have made a choice and grace honors this just as much as it honors those who feel compelled to submit to a different narrative without careful consideration of truth.

In the final analysis it might all come down to how much of an agent of shame have you been. If you can’t even control yourself how does trying to control others work toward your being the best you can be? Is it possible you can live a grace-filled life that is not ashamed of who you are or of the people around you?

The quest for the meaning of life is fraught with the myopic preponderance of self. “What am I here for?” Understandably, it is difficult to remove our self from the matter of living when purpose seems to be the result of our actions. However, what if life is not, and never has been, about you? What if there is no “you” in the first place, but a “you” in maybe the fifth place, the place of grace? Consider the following:

“ I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” Gal 2:20

Paul recognized a deep truth about his position and purpose in life. We seem to have lost this truth as we navigate throughout the world. But some might ask, “What truth? I know this verse and confess it frequently.” The truth is not in the saying of the verse or even knowing the location of the verse. The truth is in residing with the knowledge that Christ is living as you.

Tradition has relegated the role of Christ to just a function and title of Jesus of Nazareth. In his book, The Universal Christ, Fr. Richard Rohr makes the following distinction:

“Christ is God, and Jesus is the Christ’s historical manifestation in time. Jesus is a Third Someone, not just God and not just man, but God and human together.”

Paul recognized how Christ is far more inclusive of the entirety of creation than to be housed in the singular manifestation of Jesus. He would claim that Christ in you is the hope of glory. Not in the far-off future but in the here and now. He would also claim that in Him we live, breath and have our being. This is a 24/7 statement of utter dependence. Do you live like this?

God is all knowing, correct? Yet, how often do we assume that only we have the answers? Even when we search for the meaning of life it falls heavily upon our shoulders to carry the burden of discovery. Rarely, if ever, do we relegate our quest to the One who knows for certain. We’ve exalted our “self” into an idol we worship more than the One who created the universe we stand in.

Jesus eloquently depicted this concept in the passage about the vine and the branch. Almost everyone knows this passage and, regrettably, the emphasis in most teachings seems to be placed in the production of fruit. This is not what the message is about since fruit production is simply the effect of being in the vine. Jesus claims that if you are not in the vine then you are as a branch which gets casts into the fire. This is not a reference for to going to hell as many have been led to believe but merely the stark reality where having “self” as an idol which is a lost cause that no one else will appreciate – even at your demise.

Being in the vine, being in Christ, holds a life force of untold riches with naturally producing divine results. The fruit never asks the vine “what is my purpose,” simply because it is the effect of the life within the plant. The branch never asks the vine “what is my purpose,” because the branch is an extension of, and at one with, the vine. This explains the comments which Jesus made of, “My Father and I are one,” and “The Son can do nothing of his own but only what he sees the Father doing.”

God is ever present, correct? That is up until the point we feel that He has left us. But He has promised that he will never leave us or forsake us. If Christ is in you, how can God ever leave? Certainly, we have read how Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” and have come to believe in some way if Jesus felt this separation then it must be true for us too.

Wrong! Once again we have elevated our “self” idol above the all-knowing God who is ever present. David was pretty clear on this matter in his song when he declared how there is not a place where we can go, either in the heights or depths of this world, or our mind, where God is not already there. If you’re there, so is God, as you.

“Love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, mind and body.” This, Jesus declared, is the first commandment. There isn’t a spot of your being which isn’t covered in this commandment to love, and yet, we find it so difficult to do simply because we can’t “grab a hold of” an invisible God. Consider the second commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” There is something, or someone, you can grab a hold of! Yet, Paul will tell us how if we say we love God but don’t love our neighbor, we are liars.

In case you missed it, allow me to make the connection. My entire premise for this writing has been God manifesting as you. If He has done this as you, He has done it as your neighbor too, since He is no respecter of person. After all, God is everywhere, even in your neighbor. So, loving your neighbor is loving God, which according to the first commandment, you should be doing with all you heart, soul, mind and body. But you may say you don’t like your neighbor. Your choice is simple then: allow Paul to call you a liar so you can hold onto your “self” idol or do what Jesus said and love your enemy. They are both looking for the same end result – love God.

I recognize what I have stated here is difficult for a number of people. For some the thought of loving themselves is impossible. The variety of reasons go beyond the space I have here, but in a nutshell, it comes down to not believing yourself to be worthy of love. This too is an exaltation of the “self” idol. It might not appear like it, however, whenever we raise a standard which places demands upon our performance which can never be achieved, we lose sight of the fact that it is our creation, not God’s, which is holding us in bondage.

Furthermore, we have been trained to keep God up there and out there for so long that even the Hubble telescope is looking for Him. Yet we’ve missed the declaration of Jesus telling us that the kingdom of God is within us. A kingdom only exists where a king resides. Before you think that I am declaring you, me, or anyone else to be GOD, forget it. Our meat sack of a body is merely the earthen vessel which transports the divine flame of all creation. It is a vessel uniquely designed to house and transport the vastness of a Creator who, as you, is exploring and enjoying the interaction of the life of His creation.

So then, if you are looking for the meaning of life, try for a moment to consider that the meaning of life resides within you and is flowing out of your already. Consider that this activity is also happening to the people around you across the globe. Take a moment to connect within where the kingdom resides and ask how all this works and what is your role in Its purpose. Contemplate on what God, as you, has to offer in this realm and ask how you’re to accomplish this. Continue doing this until you experience the rushing of a divine spark burst into a loving flame which consumes you. Then…

“What the hell were they thinking?”

This is probably the most uttered phrase these days. Actually, it seems to almost be an anthem to those who scratch their heads in wonder. Let’s face it, we are standing in some deep manure throughout many areas of our society and what got into this situation, as well as what will get us out of it comes entirely down to how we think.

There is someone who once said that the thinking which got you into a situation is not going to be the same thinking which will get you out of it. Albert Einstein said, “Thinking that doing the same thing over and over and expecting change is the definition of insanity.” These statements are a testament to all of our thinking processes.

Back in the day, when I was teaching at a technical school, I was asked to create a new class for the students which would benefit them in their chosen field of employment. I was given free rein to develop the curriculum and use whatever supporting text required to fulfill the needs of the course. The only concern which the dean had was that whatever I created, it had to fit each of the three different student groups we were serving without having to be customized for any one of them.

I spent several weeks previewing the needs of the employers of our students in an attempt of determine just what would benefit each in the short term but also over the long run. The fact that this had to apply to all three classifications of students made this a rather arduous endeavor.

During this time, I was introduced to some work written by Dr. Edward DeBono who is a world renown expert on creative thinking. Reading through a number of his books, I discovered he had developed a program on how to teach a person how to think and do it creatively. His CoRT program was divided into 6 modules, each having around 10 lessons to explore. The first section was a core module which brought a number of tools to the student to hone their thinking skills and would subsequently be the basis for moving through the other 5 modules of the course.

I immediately recognized how this program was what I was looking for to supplement the students. Most people believe that when you go to school the most basic skill you should walk away with is thinking, right? Regrettably, it’s not. The most basic skill is memorization. This is the only activity that guarantees a student will be able to pass a test. This was true then, and regrettably, still hold up today. Ask a student to think, critically, or even creatively, and they will look at you like bull frogs in a hailstorm…MORE

If you want to see how this proceeded and what the tools look like, click the link below and begin your journey to better thinking.

A Tool of Thought

Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Gal 2:20 MSG)

What is the purpose of it all? A fairly common question often asked in a moment of existential yearning. Motivational speakers will tell you that it is your purpose you are to pursue with passion. Regrettably, they don’t tell you how to discover your purpose except through some claim of, “Do what you’re passionate about and then you’ll know what your purpose is.”

So, we try things hoping just one venture might ignite a spark within us. We go along, sometimes for decades, hoping the path we have chosen is the purpose we have been searching for. Some become so full of themselves in this journey every decision they make is backed by the Frank Sinatra song, “I did it my way.”

Most, however, feel aimless. Wandering without a destination or plan, battered by the winds of change, always one step away from going over the edge into the abyss of despair. They are empty, never even tasting a measure of the fullness they crave. They feel that their life has no value.

The one thing which both of these viewpoints share is the preoccupation with self. Either I have a purpose, or I don’t. It’s all about me, myself and I. I was deposited on this planet with the intent to appreciate in value before being withdrawn. Purpose is the catalyst to appreciation, not only for myself, but from others. Self-centered thinking.

So, let me tweak your perception for a moment. Consider the opening passage from Paul. He comes to realize how “he” doesn’t live this life. Oh, sure, there is a body walking about the earth, but it’s occupied by Christ, not Paul. Does Paul’s claim appear to be any different from, “The Father and I are one,” which Jesus made? No.

How many times have you professed Paul’s claim and yet didn’t believe “yourself” enough to accept there is no longer a “You”? How would you feel if suddenly there came a flash of revelation that your earthly birth was simply the manifestation of God showing off as “you”? Would you and God then be “One” just like Jesus was? Would Paul’s revelation become your revelation? What if “your” purpose was to discover “His” purpose as “you”, how would this unfold? If you and the Father are one, and I and the Father are one, aren’t we then one according to Jesus’ prayer?

If we are the unique manifestation of the Father on this earth, what purpose is there in praying to a God who is up and out there somewhere? If the kingdom is within us, does prayer need to spoken out for others to hear? Can communion with the Father be an internal occurrence known as prayer? If the Father “fills all in all,” can we claim to be purpose-full?

Have you been filled with a purpose which you draw from within, rather than from without? Who is living this life, fully you or you, filled? If there is a purpose in this writing it is to get “you” to recognize how full of purpose “you” are already; “being filled” denotes a lack which an abundant Father finds no purpose in.

“Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” Matthew 4:17

“The kingdom of God comes not with observation…Behold the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:20-21

Lack. It plagues us. We cannot seem to overcome it.

Desires. We have many which we cannot seem to quench. Rarely will we admit that we lack desire, unless it is as a response to take an action we don’t wish to pursue.

What do these two terms have to do with the kingdom of God you might be wondering. Many people are living without simply because they don’t know what they have within. Even those who know what they have within cannot access it properly, and hence, live without simply because they fail to repent.

Okay, that last thing is a big hang up and red flag for most people. Religious tradition has butchered the true meaning of the term so you cannot even mention it without sending people into a frenzy of moralistic whining. So, I’m not going to play that game with you; I’m simply going to explain what the term means within the context of this writing. (It is valid everywhere too, but that is for another day.)

When I was young, I abhorred liver. The very thought of it not only sent shivers down my spine but caused me to gag uncontrollably. A few years ago, I changed my mind about it. Today, I love it! I discovered how it was prepared when I was a child was the reason for my reactions to it. Yet, today, with a many new alternatives in preparing it, I can enjoy what most of you probably still distaste. My tastes for it evolved and changed.

Repent means to change your mind, the way you think and see things, how they taste and nourish you with a more developed and refined palate. We often get stuck in the bland traditions which fill our heads. Jesus tells us to rethink what true food is all about – it is within your grasp.

The kingdom of God is not some far off event which will happen when the world folds up like a cheap rag. It is a very present reality, right now, all around you. Even better, it is within you. You don’t have to grasp for it as much as reach within to allow it to pour it out. “Out your belly shall flow rivers of living water.”

Notice how Jesus claims that the kingdom of God does not come by observation. You can’t look around and see it with your natural eyes. We’ve been trained to rely on our sight to distinguish the environment we occupy to be favorably or not. This feeds into our sense of lack and produces within us the emotional cocktail which nourishes the perception of lack.

But there isn’t any lack, anywhere, ever! We only think there is. We have conditioned our mind to perceive it as so simply because we don’t “see” the kingdom of God around us. It isn’t around us; it is within us.

“Taste and see that the Lord is good.” Notice the progression. Something must come from within in order to project an outward appearance. You have to develop a new taste for something in order to see, create or revise a thought, or perceived consciousness. Jesus tells us that only God is good. This means that everything which we have categorized as “good” is a misperception because we haven’t “tasted” it properly. We boldly claim to have a discriminating palate for all the things we see, regardless of people, places and circumstances. Truly, we have only developed an appetite for junk food rather than the meat of the kingdom.

So how do we change our desire for a diet of lack? “Be still and know that I am God.” Stillness. Stop looking out for what you desire, look within. Now, recognize this very act will offend many, if not most of you. It is impossible in this day and age to stop everything and be still, right? There are so many things which must be done or pursued, right? Bills to pay; school to finish; work to rush to; family to address; friends to…you get the picture, right? Are you kinda fed up here?

You are living without simply because you refuse to look within. There is a kingdom within you that you carry everywhere you go 24/7. It is the fullness of who sits on the throne of this kingdom that is your source. When was the last time you considered how you are a transporter, a vehicle, a vessel of the living God who is all power, all knowing, all present, all creation, all love, and all peace? The banquet table of this kingdom is always overflowing within, yet we fail to stop, become still, and taste of the goodness within.

Is it time to change your mind, your thoughts, your consciousness about how you see the kingdom of God? Are you fed up with always seeking after things which don’t soothe the hunger burning within you? Have you ever considered your lack as a diet employed to make you look within? What if the kingdom of God IS the desire of your heart that your head just can’t seem to grasp simply because stillness is so counter-intuitive?

There will always be lack without the kingdom of God. It is still entirely within your grasp to manifest the kingdom’s abundance not by what is seen about you but rather by what swirls and boils within you. There is a greatness within you which you know not of. Stillness is the path within.

Therefore they could not believe, because that Isaiah said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. (Joh 12:39-40)

The single largest roadblock to living in the oneness of the Father is duality, a pair of I’s. Our entire life is a focus upon I and an other I. Our perspective is entirely crafted to distinguish differences in others who are not us simply to determine whether they are a danger to our well-being. We even apply this to our view of God. Let me take a moment to look at these two I’s from a point of view designed to dissolve our dual perceptions.

In the first book of Genesis, God declares how He will make man in His image and likeness. At no point in this creation narrative are we given any physical description of God. He is incorporeal. Man, therefore, who is made in the image and likeness, must also be incorporeal. We are a mirror of God, and as a far as He is concerned, it is very good.

There is a phrase whipped around in many charismatic circles stating, “God is all in all.” The first creation story of Genesis clearly portrays this. God draws forth all of creation from the exhalation of His breath. Nothing exists without His breath declaring its life. Yet, the term “breath” and “life” are concepts we associate with matter, things of substance, of which God is not.

So, let me reiterate the claim how God caused a vibration which excited the field of all possibilities resulting in some invisible energies to slow down and coalesce into a single locality known as our universe. Mankind, however, was generated into a vibrational pattern which is identical to the pattern of God. It is not a pattern different, similar too, or comparable too – it is identical in image and likeness. There is not one and another, and another for eight billion reiterations. There is one vibrational pattern – God.

From this we should begin to understand that God is. Nothing follows that statement in its purest formation. “All in all,” is a descriptor which allows us to weakly grasp the infinite in our finite concepts of meaning. To declare God as all-knowing, all-present, all-power, love, life, the first and the last, or any other term we have embedded in our mind is simply an attempt to capture the magnitude of grandeur before us. Moses discovered this in the name “I AM.” God is I AM. God is one. The one I. The Father and I are one.

Jesus made this claim, “…if you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father.” Yet, isn’t Jesus a physical being? Yes, of course he is, but Jesus recognized how his vibrational pattern and that of God is identical. God manifesting as Jesus – identical vibrational patterns, one pattern, not two. His seven great “I AM” claims in the fourth gospel are not about the life of a second “I” walking about the earth, they are about the one I inhabiting all lower vibrational patterns living, moving and being in them.

At some point in our evolution as lower vibrational patterns we assumed an identity which caused a second I to dominate our consciousness. This second I began to hamper the one consciousness of our true identity and flooded our thoughts with descriptors we desired to possess on the material plane. Paul would declare how this activity is the result of the carnal mind which holds the first consciousness as an enemy because the carnal mind can only see the lack in a material realm not recognizing the wealth of possibilities in the non-visible realm of God’s kingdom.

Consider how Jesus, when he entered into his ministry declared, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” “Repent” does not mean all we have been indoctrinated with over the centuries. It simply means to change your thinking. Change your consciousness back to the kingdom of all unseen possibilities.

This is the first step we undergo in moving back to our first vibrational pattern. It is purposeful intention toward a divine objective. It requires us to dissolve the second I into the will of the One. As John the Baptizer stated, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” The use of “I” here in this declaration is a reference to the second I.

Please understand the carnal mind, or as Freud deemed it, the ego, will not give up its position without a fight. So, while John’s statement, truth-filled as it is, might seem easily attainable, it will require some discipline to achieve. Paul claims that it will require casting down thoughts and imaginations which exalt themselves against the knowledge, or consciousness, of Christ, which is the hope of glory and resides in you. However, he encourages us to recall how we have the mind, or consciousness, of Christ. The original vibrational pattern is still operating within us. These thoughts and imaginations are material desires which can only manifest from the invisible field of all possibilities known as God’s kingdom, not from the power and might of our workings.

Being “born again” is the result of bringing the second I to a daily death through accepting that the Father is one with all of His creation. As we, moment by moment, acknowledge our dependence on the invisible realm of all possibilities, the second I decreases so that the One I resumes its preeminence. There will come a day, when we, like Moses, suddenly discover our true identity. This revelation will resonate out of us, “I am that I AM.” In this moment, heaven will invade earth at the next coming of our Christhood and the God we have been looking for will become the Looker in His mirror. In this day we will finally discover the hidden message of the good news of how God has manifested as us to live, move and have our being as one with, and in Him.

Let me get real with you. This whole world pandemic deal is a freaking mess. However, you’re in luck. I wrote the book on a freaking mess back in 2012, aptly titled, Your Life is a Freaking Mess. I would like to say that I am prophetic in my ability to foresee this moment in history, but that would be a lie. Face it people, this is not the first time that our life has been a freaking mess. I penned that epic when the world was in the last stages of a financial meltdown. It is a guidebook for people who have come to the end of their rope and discovered they haven’t left any slack to hang themselves. I offer some of my life antidotes as examples of how to navigate the shoals of despair. The big take away from the book is this: Breathe.

Fast forward eight years and here we sit again, hyper-ventilating. The only thing predictable in a freaking mess is that air seems to become a valuable commodity. (Don’t allow toilet paper to dominate your thoughts. Shit happens even in a freaking mess. Breathing, however, is the thing to watch.)

Isolation is creating within many the mental exercise of panic. Fear is the medium of exchange in everything you watch and listen to. Face masks project terror as people are being robbed of their sanity through hyper-sanitization. Conspiracies abound and multiply as days stretch into weeks with no hope of being able to venture into the public domain. We have binged anything worth binging and cleaned everything more times than we want to admit. And yet, there is this still small voice haunting our every moment of isolation, whispering to us, “My grace is sufficient.”

WTF! If you’re offended right now, then you need to screw your head on buttercup, you’re in a pandemic and no body – even the government – knows what the hell to do. They are making this up as they go! Yet, “My grace is sufficient.”

Listen to me for a moment. Breathe.

Do it again, breathe.

If you start to panic, breathe; if your heart starts to race, breathe; if you begin to allow your mind to run through every scenario of your fateful demise, breathe. Close your eyes and keep breathing.

I’m going to assume that that you have opened your eyes now and are willing to continue reading.

In the throes of a freaking mess, the most difficult thing to do is to find a footing which will sustain you throughout the tumult swirling about you. Bible verses don’t mean squat at moments like this simply because the pain – real, spit in your face, twist your nose pain, poke you in the eye pain – is more real than some type on a flimsy piece of parchment. And yet, somehow you keep breathing a grace which is sufficient. WTF is going on?

You need to understand something here. I am not like others who have given the message of grace from the perspective of being a sinner saved by grace. My grace message goes back much further than many want to profess. So, allow me, in our freaking mess, to show you what that still small voice is trying to get across to you.

“The kingdom God is within you.” Stop thinking that the kingdom is coming one day in the future from up there and out there, it is in you right now. Every king sits on a throne and proclaims His rule from that throne. God’s throne is described as a throne of grace. This means that every edict which is uttered from this throne is recognized as being a grace event or grace mandate. In a kingdom which abounds with everything, grace is sufficient. This grace has been sufficient long before the foundations of the world.

“I and the Father are one.” You are not any different from Jesus. You and the Father are one. There actually isn’t even a “you” as much as there is Him being as you. (Image and likeness, people. You are not in His fullness.) Whatever the Father says, as you, is spoken from the same throne of grace as if He spoke it directly.

“Son, you are ever with me and all I have is yours.” God cannot give you anything. So, quit asking for it! I know this doesn’t make sense, right? Consider this: For God to give you something, He would also have the ability to take it away. Love doesn’t take. You already have it. As long as God is, you have everything through the power of the grace of His kingdom.

There are those people who seriously believe that this entire mess is God’s reaction to our Adamic nature, or because of some sexual deviation, or because prayer is no longer in school, or because…yada, yada, yada. You can believe the mythic conjuring of these folks if you want to and the magical cantations they prescribe you follow three times a day until the next holy day. But all that work, genuflecting and purification will not dampen the whisper, “My grace is sufficient for you.”

The truth of this situation which the vast majority of people will never even attempt to decipher is found in their personal mess and just how grace is sufficient in what they face. Now that you’re faced with being at home, unable to go to work or any social functions, even limited in going to the grocery store, your mess is blooming all around you. Yet, “My grace is sufficient.” Do you know what this means? Breathe. There is a voice calling you, but you’ll only hear it between each breathe.

The million of years that this planet has existed and the hundred of thousands of years that humanity has traveled across it, there have been viruses. This one is simple the next in a long chain of evolving viruses. It will be demoted next season by another virus which, those who survive this go around, will have to face just like all the others before.

Regardless, then, now, or whatever follows, the response does not change. “My grace is sufficient.” There is no lack simply because, “My grace is sufficient.” There is nothing missing because, “My grace is sufficient.” All worries and concerns melt away because, “My grace is sufficient.” But what about…“My grace is sufficient.”

So, what is the correct response to this pandemic?

You: Breathe.

God: “My grace is sufficient.”

You: Breathe.

Repeat.

Now I know there will be many of you who will dismiss this as trivial because you don’t see how your freaking mess is going to be aided by the simple act of breathing. Look buttercup, you’ve screwed this up yourself through all the actions (and many nonactions) you took. Quit playing god for a moment and let God do what He has always been doing. Until you realize that the very act of breathing is acknowledging your dependence on Him, you are not going to understand a darn thing I’ve been trying to put before you. Breathe, just freaking breathe. And while you’re doing it, listen. Pay attention to the silence, the realm of God. Sure, you’ve got questions, concerns, fears – but shut up. Do you honestly believe that a God who is all powerful, ever present, and all knowing has no clue what a mess you’re in? Why do think He wants you to experience, “My grace is sufficient,” more than chalk it up to one more bible message you’ll file away and forget about in ten days?

So again, what is the correct response to this pandemic?

You: Breathe.

God: “My grace is sufficient.”

You: Breathe.

Repeat.

I’ve had a few people question my actions during this pandemic. They seem perturbed that I somehow feel above the rest of the herd by not solemnly following the dictates which are being handed down from ivory towers of political/corporate structures. There are the shaming tactics of how dare you risk the lives of others during this global crisis. To all of this I shake my head in disbelief – not at what is being said, but how mindlessly gullible the world has become.

Let me be upfront with you. I have a family member who is in the “at-risk” category of this mess. 26 years ago, she came into this world a quadriplegic; unable to breath on her own, she has been kept alive by a respirator 24/7/365. Consider how, ten days after her birth, my wife and I are ushered into a small conference room filled with “experts” who tell us what her condition is, and then, how she won’t live more than two years because she will develop pneumonia from being attached to a vent; how she will need to have her limbs amputated because her skeletal form will not be able to support them as she grows; how there were no care facilities capable to handle her varied medical needs; so our choices were to keep her in ICU for an undetermined time, or take her home and wait for her soon anticipated demise, or pull her life support. WTF do “experts” know?

The late comedian George Carlin was fond of saying, “I have one rule in life: Don’t believe a fucking thing the government says.” At my age, I have lived through the Bay of Pigs fiasco; the assassination of an American president, his brother and the leading civil rights leader of the nation; the Vietnam war and its protests; a drug war; the Iranian hostage crisis; OPEC oil embargo and gas lines; 21% mortgage interest rates; the dot-com bubble; WACO, Ruby Ridge, Oklahoma bombing; the impeachment of a sitting president; a cold war, nuclear proliferation, the fall of communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, giving citizens the first breaths of freedom in a generation; I witnessed leaders in Africa, China and Vietnam purge their country of hundreds of millions of people because they were too “intellectual” or “different”; the ten-year cycle of polar ice caps melting because of global warming, which became climate change simply because the caps weren’t melting fast enough; 9/11 and the loss of many of our personal liberties all in the name of a war on terrorism; two Gulf-wars and the illusive hunt for weapons of mass destruction; the NSA, Snowden, Manning, Wikileaks and Julian Assange; the decimation of my IRA because some banks are too big to fail; Benghazi and the rule of politics over power (and don’t get me started on the blackhole of the last three years); but of course let us not forget mumps, measles, chicken pox, walking pneumonia, AIDS, SARS, Ebola, MERS, Bird flu, swine flu, H1N1; and so many more “national events” leading up to this, A NEW VIRUS, out of communist China, no less.

Allow me to be blunt here. The term, NEW, means that experts do not have a clue because they, “have never seen this before.” How many times have you heard or read that line over the past two months? Yet, people seem to think that the government and science has everything under control. WAKE UP! It is quite possible that you know more about this than anyone who claims to an expert. People, they are making this up as they go. The hope is that science will prevail and provide us with a vaccine. WAKE UP! It takes time to create a vaccine, like around 18 to 24 months! You going to stay sequestered in your home that long simply because an “expert” said to?

Their science relies on mathematical models which do not have the ability to factor in the one key element unique to mankind: The ability to independently think. So, what do they do to keep the model working on their behalf? Employ fear. Fear is the most primal human emotion. It shuts down all ability to think rationally. The constant display of daily deaths is no different than when Walter Cronkite displayed the number of soldiers killed in Vietnam every night in the 60’s and 70’s. “Save us, oh save us and our way of life!”

Life, as you have known it, is a ruptured pimple. No matter what the economic “experts” try to spew at you about how soon we’ll be back up and running just like before, it is only puss. Think of the industries which took the greatest hit, you know, the “non-essential” ones. How many of you, when your protectors finally permit you to leave your cage, are going to rush out get you hair cut, nails trimmed so you can go to a restaurant, and then the movies, or have a few drinks, and then see a concert? Honestly, you trust that these venues are now “safe” simply because they told you they are? Welcome to the second wave (of fear) they keep touting. “Stay at home where you are safe, and we can protect you until we get the vaccine to you.”

Look, I am out there in the public and it looks like a freaking zombie apocalypse has happened. People don’t look at you accept to find the best route to dodge away from you. Masks hide all ability to know if there is a smile behind the sullen eyes, and God forbid you run across a deaf person who reads lips! I refuse to wear a mask simply because I have a beard. Masks don’t work with beards according to OSHA. Besides, if everyone else is wearing one, thank you for keeping the environment safe for me.

But this is what concerns me. I had a small child, joyfully riding her bicycle down the street suddenly stop and call back to her mother for help about whether she should move forward, simply because I came around the yard 30 feet away from her! Gullible adults are infecting the minds of young people simply because an “expert” told some politician this is the “right” thing to do. Imagine how this will affect her life in 10, 20, 30 years.

So here are my parting words. If you are one of those who are at risk, do what you have always done – stay away from nut jobs who can’t, and refuse, to follow proper sanitization protocols. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, stop picking your butt and scratching your manly parts should not have be said, but obviously people are just plain ignorant of decent personal hygiene protocols. There is no need to invade the personal space of someone. If you can smell their deodorant, you’re too close! Get outside and dig around in the dirt. There are all kinds of diseases in the soil which never bothered you when you were growing up. Take the natural course to ward off the vaccine blues; Vitamins B1, C, D and K; Minerals Zinc, Potassium and Magnesium; Oregano Oil and Olive Leaf Extract round out the list. This concoction has kept our “at-risk” family functioning for over 26 years despite what the “experts” say.

And lastly, think! God gave you a brain, use it responsibly. Don’t tell me we are all in this together when everyone is spouting the same party-line BS. Together is not sameness. Everyone is doing their best with what they have available for them. To jump all over anyone who you feel is not living up to some arbitrary standard simply proves to me that you are not doing your best with what you have available. Here is why you are shut in. The intention of keeping people apart is not for health reasons, it is to keep people from interacting in conversation which might expose just how naked the ruler is in his “new” robe of authority. Do your best to ignore what they deem to be best for you so long as they parrot, “we’ve never seen anything like this before.”

PS. Whether you want to admit it or not, a disease that kills old people, like me, isn’t news. People die, every day, in many ways and their departure, while tragic to the families left behind to grieve, doesn’t really make an impact like the MSM wants it to be made. In the last three years I have had my parents, my best friend, and three other great friends die. It comes with being human. It is our greatest fear and it sells. Remember that: it sells.