It's me, mike hillebrecht

Are you a human having a spiritual experience, or, a spiritual being having a human experience? Take a moment to consider this because it affects in a number of ways how you relate to your life experiences. In the mystical writings of the fourth gospel, Jesus makes a similar claim to Rabbi Nic:

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (Joh 3:6)

Notice the absolute nature depicted in this claim. There are two distinct beings, flesh and spirit. According to this claim they are separate; however, what is not divulged is what the prior verse proclaims:

Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (Joh 3:5)

These two verses are the follow up to the response Jesus made to Rabbi Nic when asked how it was that Jesus was able to perform the miracles he accomplished. What was his initial response?

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (Joh 3:3)

Now I know that many of you have never encountered this interpretation which is precisely what “born again” means. Yet the proper understanding of this is what is leading us towards the answer to the opening question. There is one more verse I wish to employ in this matter from the opening to the letter addressed to the gatherings in Ephesus.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: (Eph 1:3-4)

There are many people who have been told down through the ages how mankind is a corrupted being unworthy of being in the presence of the living God. These people have been conditioned to believe how their spirit is dead from this corruption causing their soul, the flesh or animal nature, to be the driving force behind all their wicked acts. It isn’t until a person repents from all their wicked ways and confesses that Jesus is the Lord of their life, will they then be filled by Holy Spirit, who will permanently reside within them, allowing them to enter again into the presence of God. This occupation by Holy Spirit does not signify that the human spirit has been revived to life, but due to the death of the human spirit, Holy Spirit has a fresh vessel to inhabit.

This narrative, and derivatives of it, focus on humanity first. The human is the premier being on this planet and holds the position in all undertakings, good or bad. When the “bad” becomes unbearable, a cry for relief activates a spiritual response. In this scenario, humans have a spiritual experience, through the grace of God, to aid them in their life cycle. Entire denominations are structured according to this belief and to believe otherwise places that understanding as heretical, a term which simply means, “a different belief from what is classified as orthodox.”

The heretical viewpoint

According to the Ephesian letter, we (whatever that means) were in Christ (again, whatever that means) before the foundation of the world. This place where we resided first is a spiritual world, plane, region, consciousness, or whatever term you wish to employ which describes something not biologically natural. In this environment, the kingdom of grace, we are in the presence of God, who is also known as Love, held blameless. We move and function in this setting without corrupt-ability, immersed and showered in love. This is the field, the realm, or the spiritual condition we were born into. When Jesus claims we are born from above, this is what he is referencing towards. Spirit is spirit.

All of mankind has been, is now, and forever will be an amalgamation of the natural biological processes of an earthly being and a spiritual being living in love. “…born of water and spirit…” is the description of this union. The human embryo, womb-wrapped, immersed in the nutrient rich amniotic fluid expelled at birth, is implanted with a love-possessed spiritual identity which each person will carry throughout their entire life cycle. Nothing is capable of breaking this spiritual bond of love, ever.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (Joh 3:16)

Jesus, is the only begotten human son of God according to orthodoxy. The rest of us…we’re the world, loved by God, in Christ found blameless; the perfect union of flesh and spirit just as it has always been and forever will be. To think otherwise would be called heretical. As a good friend of mine was fond of saying, “You’re are greatly loved by God and there isn’t a dag-gummed thing you can do to screw it up.” You are after all, a spiritual being having a…

We’ve all experienced it. Life is going along rather uninvolved in our part and then suddenly…your attention shifts, your body adjusts, your memory kicks in and you recognize that what is happening at this precise moment already, somehow beyond your comprehension, has occurred. Deja vue. Then the veil of the dream evaporates.

Incarnation is the deja vue of the divine. The Creator so loved his creation that He became His creation’s highest achievement – human. Then the veil ripped apart forever affecting all humanity.

Can mankind recall the divine nature it was created as? This question slaps the face of anyone who believes man is anything but divine. Being made in the image in not the same as made in the likeness as history has well documented. When God’s sole description is wrapped up in the word of Love, humanity has fallen far short to such a lowly status. How many times, under so many extenuating circumstances has mankind failed to recognize their true divine calling?

70, maybe 80, years to live a life worthy of… what? Okay, you made a mistake or two, or maybe a helluva lot more, but does that disqualify you from… Grace. Never. Never from grace.

What I’m about to say I cannot prove. There is no evidence to back up what follows. But sometimes you have to make a declaration simply because…

If incarnation is the deja vue of the divine, wouldn’t re-incarnation be the deja vue of those created in the image and likeness of the divine? If the realization of divinity escaped the thoughts of humanity, wouldn’t Love make every effort to secure that realization over however many attempts it required?

Before you make the fundamental claim of Heb 9:27 that man is appointed once to die, recognize that there are example throughout the bible of humans dying more than once (i.e. Lazarus, the son of the widow of Naim, Tabitha). So, let’s not attempt to block any thoughts about the possibilities using one verse when there are more which counter its claim. Obviously, this verse in the book of Hebrews is addressing something entirely different than what I’m looking at.

What do you do when you recognize that you’ve been here before without actually having been here? Is it possible that the incarnation of Christ was simply the prelude to the re-incarnation of Christ across all humanity until we grow up into fullness of the body? Does 70 to 80 year complete a growth cycle or is it merely the pattern of evolving a seed which is planted and grows new fruit? How is it possible to have wisdom beyond our age unless the number of celestial cycles wasn’t the issue?

How does someone grow up into Christ who makes a death-bed confession and passes into the arms of the Lord within the hour? How, pray tell, do any of us grow into Christ in a single life time? We can’t even master the single commandment given to us to love our neighbors and enemies as ourselves. Wouldn’t it seem reasonable, even logical under the nature of Grace, that mankind would be able to achieve his highest potential, ultimately, regardless of a limited duration upon this rock even if it required multiple iterations?

What if every deja vue you’ve ever experienced is merely a graduation ceremony of every incarnation Christ has accomplished within your eternal life? Would you seek after another moment if you knew you’ve been here before?

A loose cannon. Nut case. Bucking the system. A heretic.

I don’t know of a single person who finds any of these terms flattering. In a world of conformity, to color out of the lines is tantamount to being branded as a troubled child with a learning disability. Anti-social behavior of this caliber will not be tolerated around the common core of people who have mastered their sensibilities.

Then there was Jesus; trailed by a whole host of followers, many of whom decided on their own that maybe they couldn’t bear the stigma of being seen as different, so they renounced their following and returned to the status quo leaving twelve. Yet even these intrepid few didn’t start out as fearless as we count them to be today. They were quite full of fear. It wasn’t until they encountered the death-defying reality of Jesus that they too could claim the title of…blasphemer.

Does that sound like you? No! Of course not! You’re a good follower. A sheep following the master; one of the ninety-nine, right? Only trouble is that sheep don’t follow, they have to be led. Apparently, you have been led, by someone you thought was a shepherd, to follow, not to find a path on your own. But how did this happen?

Since the vast majority of humanity has lost the fine art of tending to sheep, allow me a brief moment to breath some ancient wisdom into our modern lifestyles. Sheep are stupid. (If you’re offended here, stop for a moment and realize that I’m not speaking of people.) The shepherd leads from the rear, pushing the sheep forward. This position allows him to watch their movements and spot any danger ahead. If you’ve thought that a shepherd leads his flock from the front, you are greatly mistaken. In this position, he could walk completely away from the herd and they would NEVER follow simply because they don’t know he left them. This is partly the reason the shepherd has a staff. The hook is to rescue a sheep who has gotten trapped in the brush or in the stream, yet on many occasions it is to provide a blunt reminder that the sheep is supposed to be moving forward.

Doctrines, dogma, and creeds defined by men, like a shepherd’s staff, are used to control followers. The people delivering these statements of faith always incite their prowess with admonitions of, “Beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing.” This is a claim made by someone at the head of the pack ignorant of how a wolf suddenly appeared in its midst. Since no one in the group really knows any differently, it sounds right, and insures that anyone who steps out of lockstep gets taken to the shed…

Consider the case of one of the original fathers of the church, Origen. Born in Alexandria, Egypt about 150 years after the death of Jesus, his prolific writings would form the basis of all Christian thought. However, 300 years after his death, he would be declared a heretic and most of his writings were burned by the church! The establishment he defined deposed him.

Today, to be declared a heretic brings images of being burned at the stake, thanks to the glories of the Inquisitions carried out over 600 years ago. However, what does it really mean to be a heretic? The term simply means to have another or different thought. Different from what? Whatever is deemed to be “orthodox”. In the case of Origen, he was orthodox until others declared him to be unorthodox. This change in status, as with all heretics, was due to the inability of the power structure to maintain control over the sheep because of what the “other” thought could produce.

What was the thought that resulted in Origen being cast as a heretic? There were a variety of things, but the main one was that he believed, and taught, how the soul of man, originally created by God and deemed good, could change from its fallen state and be reborn to its original purpose. Consider how his thought ran counter to the thought prevalent during the time of his judgment, and even still to this day: Once a sinner, always a sinner. So much for grace!

Now I recognize that there are a number of theologians who will dismiss this writing as being far too simplistic an account of events which occurred well over 1500 years ago. That’s the trouble with trying to recount history within the church: no one really understands what is the truth and what is the means to preserving control over the sheeple. Orthodoxy is the blue pill for most of the populace, but in keeping with the cinematic effect, the red pill is not un-orthodoxy. “The traditions of man make the word of God no effect.”

Truth is something which must be sought out. It is there for your discovery. However, once you find it, you are responsible for whether you will utilize it or not. This doesn’t mean that you now are empowered to create a world-wide deliverance ministry. It means that you are a bearer of truth which the majority of people are blatantly afraid to touch. In their eyes, you’re a dangerous person to be around because you think for yourself. This is something the status quo will never cotton to.

All the things which you have been told over the many years of religious indoctrination you’ve been involved in (don’t think being an atheist gets you off the hook here), are simply a means to keep you boxed in and reliant on the system to be your final arbitrator of worthiness. Truth is you were worthy even before your birth. You are loved beyond all comprehension. You have never been a sinner first – you have always been divine. Going rogue is simply following in the footsteps of the one who mastered the technique. Welcome to the family.

There was a saying we always told our newest recruits to recite should a customer ever ask them how long they had been with our company: “I’ve been around construction all my life.” The intention was never to evade the question but rather to bolster the confidence of the consumer that they had selected a company who hired competent workers to build their project. If pressed, then the recruit could honestly say how long they had been with our firm; however, rarely was this ever followed beyond the initial inquiry.

So, let me ask you a question: Can you honestly make the same claim? Have you been around construction all your life? Some of you might profess that you have no clue about construction and couldn’t tell the difference between a left-handed wrench and a right-handed hammer. There may be some of you who dabbled in the industry while going through college or during summer break, but that has been ages ago and your profession of choice has long since replaced the callouses on your hands that hand cream couldn’t soften.

It is possible that the honest answer for those of you I’ve pointed out would be a resounding No! However, honesty has a nasty habit of inflicting second thoughts. Look at the question again, not as what you think it says, but what it factually asks. It is quite possible you’ve thought it asked have you worked in construction all your life, where it actually only asks if you’ve only been around it. Think for moment…who hasn’t been around construction? Just drive down the road, you are bound to pass at least a couple of projects – it might even be the repair of the road itself.

Okay, so we can agree that you, just like me, just like everyone on the face of this planet, has been around construction all their life, right? But is that still the whole truth? Is there ever a time when you might not have been around construction? This is foundational (every pun intended here). If you don’t think so, then take a gander at these writings.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ: even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love:
(Eph 1:3-4)

According to the grace of God which was given unto me, as a wise master-builder I laid a foundation; and another builds thereon. But let each man take heed how he builds thereon. For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
(1Co 3:10-11)

Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which you have given me: for you loved me before the foundation of the world.
(Joh 17:24)

Who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
(2Ti 1:9)

Before the foundation of the world. Foundations are construction projects of the highest concern. Entire structures, even planets, are supported upon them. Principles are foundations, as are beliefs and values, where entire societies rise and fall on their ability to endure the storms and turmoil which assail their foundation. Regardless of how society is moving, there is a construction project you where around before you were even around. In other words, your life, the eternal life you have, not what you’ll hopefully have one day, but do possess right this very moment, has always been in the foundational love and grace of God, expressed in Jesus, the Christ. Paul even claims that you are still a work in progress. You’re not closed for construction as might be thought by many, you are still opened for construction.

There is a lot of talk these days going around about people being in deconstruction. My take on it is pretty simple: Foundations take time to prepare. Paul was pretty clear, there is only one foundation: Jesus Christ. Jesus’ foundation was pretty clear: God loves him, and he want us to experience it. Deconstruct that. You can’t because it is a foundation laid in grace.

Whatever you’ve been through in this deconstruction process of yours (and I’ve been through a lot myself), you are going to find that the BS you’ve lived in, walk through, and spewed, which may have been for your entire life – all of which now seems like such a total waste of your time and energies – might seem like the structure or edifice, but it’s not. In the foundation business, it is merely loose dirt being excavated to reach solid ground. Your best strength and support will never be seen by anyone. Foundations are always buried. You’re not as built-up in your most holy faith as you might have thought you were, thankfully, you’re just deep – deep in an eternal love. It’s foundational.

Life. All of us experience life either as another obstacle to get around, over or through; or as a school, where you get knocked around until you learn from your mistakes and graduate to the next lesson. I’m not much into the dualistic mentality these two offerings present and tend to view life in a “both/and” frame of mind. Life is a school where you must navigate a course filled with a number of obstacles, each one trying to kill you – mentally, emotionally and physically – and it is your responsibility to learn how to overcome these issues by recognizing their pattern of occurrence throughout the journey you’re on. At the end, after having traveled your path with success, and sometimes failures, you get the rich reward of…

It gets kinda murky here. Various religions of the world, and even those few non-religions, have a view of something “other worldly.” Let’s face it, at the end of your life is a point we call death. You go through life to learn, and then die. What is the point of it all? That is the $64,000 question!

In the western religious framework, the deceased enters into a heavenly paradise and receives judgment for the life they’ve lived. A bad life’s work, according to some strands of believing, will force the deceased to spend the rest of eternity in the darkest regions of hell tormented by unquenchable tongues of fire. Conversely, all faiths abide in the notion that a good life’s work rewards the deceased with a heavenly home and reward. What often is not stressed in either of these options is…

Advances in medical treatment, from hand washing to prescription drugs, have today created an entirely new segment of people who have encountered near-death experiences (NDE). These people of all ages and social classes have truly died for several minutes and then been revived. Many of these people have documented stories of “other-worldly” experiences meeting loved ones who had gone on before them; or of seeing a bright light at the end of tunnel they traveled through; or being enveloped in an atmosphere of unimaginable love and serenity; and of course, the proverbial “life-before-my-eyes” sequence – the point behind my writing this.

The NDE people who experienced this cinematic cavalcade of past life experiences all admit that they were being judged. The criteria for judgement was one simple question which they were asked in a variety of forms: “Did you learn to love?” The judgement, which came after viewing an entire lifetime of actions and their results upon all the other people the deceased interacted with, was rendered by the harshest of judges – the deceased!

There are testimonies from a multitude of people who claim how a person who experienced an NDE is different in their interactions after the NDE then how they were prior to it. They claim how with the NDEr there is a greater level of compassion for all people, a humility which allows people to reach for their highest aim. It’s as if they’ve passed through a place and found their purpose to living.

Now I know there are many of you who will dismiss this writing because in your fundamental mindset there is no record of any of this in your bible. However, I think there is, and plenty in just the New Testament alone. The trouble is congregations have never been shown what to look for. Recall, all these advances in medicine really haven’t been around except for the last 150 years. Coming back to life wasn’t something that was very possible when a person died back in the days of the bible writers. Except…

Saul was a vile, maliciously religious man who felt it his duty to protect Israel from anyone who believed that a crucified criminal was the messiah and king. Sure, we all know how Saul persecuted the church in its early days by killing and imprisoning the earliest believers across the land. Then one day while on his way with his companions toward the city of Damascus to arrest the followers therein, something happens to Saul. I know how the story reads, yet, how do you explain something you’ve never encountered, something which your language isn’t prepared to define? One thing all who experience an NDE confirm is that there aren’t words capable of describing or even able to capture the magnitude of the event.

What if Saul, knocked from his donkey, suffers a blunt force trauma which enables him to have an NDE. Consider how this event forever changes the character of Saul and causes him to be called Paul.

Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, Doesn’t have a swelled head, Doesn’t force itself on others, Isn’t always “me first,” Doesn’t fly off the handle, Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, Doesn’t revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end. Love never dies. (1Co 13:4-8 MSG)

Did Saul learn to love? Maybe Paul has been telling us the answer to this question all along, but we never considered how he came to the answer. Paul claims in 2 Cor 11:23 that he suffered many deaths – not fictious ones – but life stopping events which catapulted him out of his mortal form into a spiritual condition. I believe that it is quite possible that Paul suffered one of these events just prior to his first visit to the city of Corinth. I make this claim based upon the reading of 1 Cor 2 where I feel that Paul is trying to convey a reality which he just encountered but has a limited language set which would enable him to confidently proclaim his truth.

Consider how Paul becomes recognized as the apostle of grace, a revelation which comes through multiple NDEs. How could it be any other way? A person must discover whether the most important lesson in life – did you learn to love – will allow them to return grace-filled in order to resolve the acts they have done which they alone judged as unloving.

While a rise in NDEs may be a recent occurrence in humanity, the results, which have been documented in multiple studies, have the same impact on the lives of people just as Paul experienced in his life. If life is a school where we are here to learn a valuable lesson, did you learn to love, seems to determine whether we live in the grace we need to accomplish it. It might not be simply that we need to die to self as much as we simply just need to die so we can see our life pass before our eyes and judge our actions. Then we’ll truly know if the lesson has been learned or we need to come back a resolve the breach.

In this post I want you to suspend all you think you know to be…

I’m going to make the brash assumption that as you grew up, just like I did, there were a number of stories that influenced your perspective on life. These stories, their characters, the escapades they endured, the obstacles the hero overcame and the prize which was gain as the result helped shape and mold you, in a small to large fashion, into who you are today. I’m not talking about stories you read out of the bible – while noteworthy in their own right – I’m talking about stories like the mighty Cassey at bat, Robin Hood, King Arthur and the knights of the round table, John Appleseed, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey; even Indiana Jones and Harry Potter.

While each of these stories, and any which you may have feasted upon that I haven’t mentioned, have grand narratives that a person can get lost within and emulate, we recognize, hopefully, they are merely make believe, fiction, fantasies. They can be described, and often are categorized as myths.

According to Wikipedia, Finnish folklorist Lauri Honko offers a widely cited definition for myth:

Myth, a story of the gods, a religious account of the beginning of the world, the creation, fundamental events, the exemplary deeds of the gods as a result of which the world, nature and culture were created together with all parts thereof and given their order, which still obtains. A myth expresses and confirms society’s religious values and norms, it provides a pattern of behavior to be imitated, testifies to the efficacy of ritual with its practical ends and establishes the sanctity of cult.

Honestly, that sounds good for some of the older stories, but how can you apply this definition to stories like Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, or any of a broad swath of narrative which inspire us to reach beyond ourselves in order to pursue a higher calling? Finally, what in the world does all of this have to do with grace?

For a number of months now I have been deeply embedded in a field of study which I can truly say has redefined my entire understanding of the grace message. To this end I wish to offer a definition of what I believe will facilitate my point from here on. What is a Myth?

A myth is a narrative, using limited language to define or describe an alternate reality. It is not a make-believe story, a parable or allegory created to make a point. It is an event which defies descriptions or articulation yet succumbs to the constraint of language to create a stepping stone into a realm beyond perception.

This is the nature of grace. We don’t have a clue, still to this day, what Paul was trying to describe to us. Yes, we’ve taken two thousand years to break it down, parse away the chaff and arrive at we think is the truth, the kernel that contains all Paul meant. We still miss it despite all the efforts of the greatest theologians of the past and present to enlighten us. Why?

Paul experienced an alternate reality, possibly many times, which he grappled with trying to describe, using the limited language he possessed, for those of us who haven’t experienced it yet. If you question my assertion of this, look at the following to gain a possible understanding:

I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knows;) such a one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knows;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. Of such a one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities. (2Co 12:2-5)

Paul is talking about himself in this passage, yet he can’t seem to reconcile what occurred was to him – and this is after fourteen years! In the terms of today, this is the description of a near death experience. Paul is attempting to convey what happened to him when, in one of his many deaths (2 Cor 11:23), his spirit ascended into the heavens. What Paul witnessed there he has offered to us throughout his writings apparently being careful not to divulge what he heard. Paul’s entire message is the articulation of what he experienced in one, or multiple, near death experiences. This includes grace.

People have often expressed their difficulty in understand what Paul is trying to say throughout his writings. Duh! Only a dead man can understand what he means. If you’ve had a near-death experience, then probably there isn’t any issue – it probably feels just like being home. However, not many of us have had the luxury of experiencing this type of event in life, so we must muddle through as best we can, hoping that a revelation will open up the alternate reality Paul encountered for us. Until then, grace will forever be a myth, an articulation of an alternate reality using the limitation of your present language. Unless we recognize and accept this simple truth, grace will seem make-believe, a simple fantasy.

Cancer.

If there was ever a word that can generate more fear in us than this one, truly I don’t want to know it. The “Big C” immediately causes a course correction in the lives of everyone. No more living life the way you want to – these are the consequences for…

Depressing right? Who wants to even think along these lines, after all, you’ve got a life to live.

Any way you want to slice it, cancer always evolves into a discussion about you and your needs, whether you have it or someone you know has it. Ego hates the possibility of being detached from its host.

Consider how cancer is basically a cell that has gone rogue and is now terrorizing the community it lives within just like a suicide bomber on a jihad. Its fundamental task is dominating the territory, taking no prisoners while striving to gain more ground through aggressive re-population techniques. As weird as it might sound, cancer has an ego too – its needs come before anything else.

What if humanity, all 7.5 billion today and those who have gone before us, were not as independent as we have been led to live to be? Sure, you are as unique as the person next to you, but are you really separate or apart? What if all of us are part of one collective…for lack of a better term, let’s say consciousness. A great big thought!

Practically every mystic has tried to convey this concept to us over the ages, yet doctrines and dogmas have pigeon-holed it simply because losing control by a few over the masses is a higher fear than sharing a common origin. Ego or cancer. Same result.

According to the western tradition defined by the writer of the Fourth Gospel, the messiah, in communion with the deified image of his Father, seeks to convey the truth of their collective consciousness upon those who have, and will, follow his teachings. “…they be one as we are one…” is not a claim of egoic superiority by any stretch of the imagination. This man knew he was about to be arrested, tortured, beaten and killed. What kind of ego would say, “Come on boys, let’s do this together!” when none of his followers were certain about who they were committed to? Yet, the mystical reference remains: we are One.

Scratch any one of us hard enough, and despite the ideological colorings we display, the red of our life stream is the common denominator to our single nature. Your thoughts and aspirations, noble or ignoble, are not you. Even your actions upon these thoughts, are not you. In a collective consciousness, they are all of us.

Before you think I’ve gone off the socialist deep end of this topic, hear me out. Cancer cells are malevolent actors in a body and the body is designed to rid the body of such elements, sometime successfully, often only through some other form of intervention. Either way, the collective is affected in its entirety.

Our ego, its thoughts and aspirations, work within a collective whether we realize it or not. Malevolence isn’t just something found in a cell, it has a full-blown body of thought and actions carried out in a variety of manners by members of a collective within the Collective.

The Collective Consciousness of mankind has always dealt with the one who wasn’t willing to be one with all beings. Yes, it might have taken “time” for the affect to manifest, however, time heals all wounds. Sometimes, we run out of time before we see the healing, but this doesn’t mean that the process isn’t running its due course. It is what we do in the gap called “expectation” that forms our character.

When faced with terminal illness, there is an action which seems to appear without thought. Love. Sure, there may be fear, dread, angst, hatred, bitterness, denial, and a whole array of other emotions and feelings expressed at this moment, yet love seems to be the cream that eventually rises to the top.

Regrettably, it has to rise. It couldn’t just be at the top already; which means that it is a process. Jesus commanded those who follow him in the unity of his paternal relationship to love one another. Command. Why do we need to be told to love? Why am I not allowed to love whomever I want whenever I want? What does a command require that a natural inclination doesn’t? Grace-filled purpose.

Should my ego declare that I don’t need to love you, am I acting as a rogue cell in the collective consciousness of humanity? If my ego sees you as one of those who are against me, who is the rogue cell in the collective consciousness, you or me? If my talking-point is vindictive towards your talking-point which I see as vindictive towards me, who really has gone rogue?

“This command I give you…” Yes, we have differences, or better yet, we have egos. Yes, our ego gets in the way of others more often than not. Yes, our definition and acts of love are often hypocritical to those we think we are being loving to. Yes, our ego betrays our sense of self-worth. Yet, it is commanded simply to promote the collective consciousness through grace-filled acts. We don’t have to like it (and we often argue, fuss and fight against it), but it is the only solution to our chemo-alternatives. In the scheme of the collective consciousness, you are not your own. Paul got it. How about you?

Between the ideologies of Left and Right is a line. A border, the demarcation of tolerance which all parties recognize as the defining moment where, once crossed, allegiances to the former are severed. (As a matter of fact, up to 99% of the population does not even have a clue to the history of Left and Right and the line which created them. That is food for another time.)

Most of humanity never considers the implications of such political jockeying. We simply see the line separating order and chaos. We walk this fine line moment by moment in our daily struggle to exist in the maelstrom which surrounds us. Our being is defined in the choices, minor and major, made in the balancing act of walking the line.

There are times when we wander into the realm of the left, the chaotic tumult of denigrating forms and functions. We encounter the debilitating morass of deconstruction and the disorienting swamp of relativism. Up is down and down is up is the only understanding which applies – until even this is turned inside out because it is too “traditional.” It would appear that there is a portion of the populace which relishes the habitation of this environ, yet, most seek every opportunity to exit even the faintest whiff of the air which wafts about this realm.

Stability, order, conformity are the hallmarks of the right side. If it ain’t broke, means there is nothing wrong with it. Keep your hands off. From the right there are clear delineations of justice and infractions of these rules have a punishment assigned to them. Conservation of the status quo is priority one. Change, while it can happen on the right, is not swift. It follows a long, thoughtful introspective course which will not accept chaotic forays into the surreal simply to contrast the vibrancy of the line. The deeper into the right of order, the less the shades of grey reside.

Morality lives on the line. Many might believe otherwise but that is to make morality relative to which side your feet are firmly planted. To live a high moral life does not mean to live by some codified standard birthed and cemented in an orderly, stable milieu. Conversely, a “devil may care” arrogance from a chaotic state lacks the potential required to claim any moral underpinning. The line, with one foot in order and the other is chaos, is the high moral ground. It requires constant vigilance to principles of justice, right and wrong. It must navigate daily situations with grace and finesse, applying equal measures of relativism and pragmatism in order to keep itself fixated in the justifiable truth of the line.

Each party, occupying their respective position along the line, seeks to claim a moral superiority over the other without recognizing that the line maintains the tension to each of their entitlements. Many are the actors (I use this term correctly) from both camps who wish to swoop into the opposing side and dramatically appeal to the sensibilities and reasonings of their naïve audience, hoping to evangelize even just one to their noble cause. And yet, the line waits for the toll to be exacted from all who wish to cross it.

Today, all around you, actors are plying their craft of persuasion to bring you up to the line, hoping you will cross. Some will, some won’t. The line cares little either way. You, on the other hand, will always care about the line once crossed. Its boundary will forever shape the morality you adhere to. It holds no allegiance to either side, so you’re unable to claim it as an ally wherever you decide to venture. The line is a signpost warning, or welcoming, you into a different state of being. The line is your first and last harbor of responsibility to yourself and others. Approach with caution.

I have a friend who is fond of bracketing his comments to me with, “Can I be honest with you?” Despite how many times I respond to him, “No, just continue to lie to me so that your reality isn’t hampered by truth,” he still continues to employ this default response – not only with me, but everyone he has a conversation with! How many of you know someone like this?

There is a line from a Don Henley song The Heart of the Matter, which states, “…the more I know, the less I understand…” I’ve reached this point in my life. Sure, we’ve all had the experience of adolescence where our wisdom far exceeded that of our parents; followed by the humbling recognition that our parents were far more wise in our conflation of ego then we surmised. Yes, I too, am an adherent of the “fake it until you make it” propaganda offered to new parents and it worked well for me while raising three children into adulthood. However, ego aside, I know far less than you’ll ever know about. I have an image to uphold, after all.

Which brings me to the point of this diatribe. How does what you believe matter to anyone but yourself? If your beliefs only apply to you, what difference what does it make if someone else holds a different set of beliefs?

When I was young, I believed in a fat man who landed on our roof at night in a sleigh pulled by reindeer who could fly. Today, well, I believe in fat men – actually, men of all diameters. When I was young, I was led to believe in six days of creation. Today, light-years have supplanted such a novice notion. Age, or maturity might be a better term, has categorized many of my beliefs into “been there, done that; now I own the marketing rights to a designer shirt concession.”

Some might think that I’m claiming that beliefs are relative; I, however, don’t believe some of my relatives know there is a belief to be claimed. Do I dismiss truth then, some might interject? No, if truth is really what matters. Before you get all puckered up over that statement, grab a glass of lemonade and cool down while you continue reading.

I fully recognize that the primary reason most people believe anything is simply to fit in with others. Face it, arguing the benefits of red sauce over green sauce only has importance in New Mexico. However, many of our strongest held beliefs, from God to country and everything in between, are simply there to isolate us into categorizes useful to marketing programs by big corporations and political operatives. “Divide and conquer” in the mantra of these advocates for “unique” privileges.

Have you ever considered just how far humanity can go in this division of belief and still function? Let me make it simple for you: IT GOES UNTIL there is only ONE person, you. At that point, you no longer fit in with any one. Then what happens?
Well, then I guess we finally get to the heart of the matter in all things – Grace.

The greatest thing I love about grace is that no matter how right or wrong any of us are, in grace we’re still ONE. Your beliefs are not mine – and can I be honest with you, I’m glad they’re not – grace is the only thing which makes our relationship work.

I offer grace to you so that in your bravado, you can play the fool without me having to agree with you, expecting the same in return. Our relationship is strengthened by the simple belief that comes from knowing we’re on safe ground with each other. However, if you, or I, ever believe that one of us is of greater worth, higher value, superior in any fashion, grace fails. Grace is lost in inequality. If you’re looking for social justice, where all are deemed equal in the eyes some higher deity, grace will not permit you to classify, separate and diminish through superiority, despite what you believe.

Remember that song I spoke about from Don Henley, The Heart of the Matter? Guess, according to the song, what the heart of the matter is: Forgiveness. Grace abounds in an environment of forgiveness, no matter what you believe, honestly. Be yourself by allowing others to be themselves for their own sake, not yours. Forgive yourself and grace follows. Believe it.

Across the western landscape of religiosity, within its structural bastions most commonly known as church, adherents are disappearing. No, the long sought-after rapture has not occurred so much as the depressing reality of this present day not aligning with an outdated mode of addressing the issues common to all humanity. The elephant in the room is that religion, as presented to the western world, is not relevant. Before your knee-jerk tendencies kick in, give me an opportunity to explain a cultural phenomenon which might be behind this.

The “N-word” is a hot topic for a variety of very valid reasons. Socially oppressive stereotypes blast onto the scene whenever the word in issued, in whatever form, verbal or written. Even employing it within this stream will present my entire message, heretofore void of any use of the word, as suspect to nefarious intentions predating my birth. The associations which this one word conjures up in the minds of many are all valid expressions of how this one word holds such a strong sway over the ability to effectively communicate in the world today.

Many have attempted to navigate the rocky shoals of social discourse, both public and private, as this word has been fired over the broad side of our vessel of choice. Social systems have gone out of their way to accommodate the angst of a people who, rightfully, resent the entire panorama of classifications which ensue from this word’s use within the public arena. Great strides have been made from the efforts of those committed to seeking equality among people of varying hues, however, there is a resistance which is unsuspecting. It is founded in the language of the church and has been passed down for more than two millenniums within a single word: redeemed.

I want you to consider this for a moment as the twenty-first century individual that you are – not as the first century person the biblical narrative was written to. When people of faith proclaim that they are, “redeemed by the blood of the lamb,” what is the present-day equivalent to this metaphor? Yes, the claim is a metaphor. It depicts something deeper than its appearance, something which affects the actions and character of people across the sweep of time.

Redeemed. To buy back. There are no shortcuts to the meaning here. An economy of exchange transacted upon a person by two parties. Slavery. Oppressive servitude to one master transferred toward another master for an agreed upon valuation of worth.

The blood of the lamb. Death. Sacrifice of an innocent victim by the hands of a mob, as a political means to maintain class superiority.

Marry them together: Oppressive servitude to one master transferred toward another master for an agreed upon valuation of worth through the sacrifice of an innocent victim by the hands of a mob, as a political means to maintain class superiority. Again, what is the twenty-first century equivalent to this metaphor?

Some of you might think that this description is wholly relevant to the condition of mankind. However, I would suggest that you are merely parroting the constrained language and attending thoughts of the first century. In an era of bullet trains, quarks and quantas, Big Macs and sushi, Ipads and Bluetooth, you can’t come up with anything better? You are calling people slaves, indentured servants to a divine being, in a world where the term is graphically employed against the sex-traffic industry or harkens to an era where the “N-word” prospered.

Relevance does not need to employ outdated concepts to impact a culture. Sometimes you’ve got to simply admit that there is an elephant in the room and you honestly don’t know how it got there. Maybe it’s time that we allow the events of the cross to transcend into the present using language which is more fitting to our times and understandings. The social justice warriors of today, who have already marginalized the institution religion is based upon, will one day return and focus their ire against the implications of redemption and, despite many gyrations as the flailing of a fish out of water, politics will win the day.

It’s time to tell the Story afresh with the compelling and penetrating language of today which will not only tingle the ears but pierce the heart. The sound of the Logos is not constrained until we slacken our devotion to hearken to the voice crying in the wilderness, “Prepare the way…” If there is an elephant, acknowledge it for the benefit of all, but don’t play around with it by trying to have the blind describe it. It annoys the congregation as much as the elephant.