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The Opening of the First Seal

The Strange Preacher — Thu, 02 Apr 2020 04:10:57 +0000

The Strange Preacher

Hi folks,

Can you spare 6 minutes?

I thought I would throw an idea out to you to see what people thought of it. To say that recent events have been a tad disconcerting is an understatement. They’ve got me thinking about the future and how vulnerable our Christian family is to the vagaries of fate.

Christ taught us spiritual liberty and spiritual independence. He taught us not to become spiritually reliant on ‘middle men’ and to establish a direct personal relationship with the one Great Source of all, the Almighty Father. In this relationship he promised we would find new life, abundant life, even everlasting life. He has invited us into the achievement of unimaginable joys through the loving worship of God, the freely bestowed loving service of man, and the perfection of our own characters. He gave us the freedom to do God’s will through faith and this freedom no one can take from us, making us free indeed by his divine grace and abundant mercy. His message contained tones of self reliance and an urge to profit from one’s talents for the glory of God and especially not to waste the great talents we’ve been given.

However, as the ages passed, the children of Christendom have been rendered virtually unconscious by endless ‘comforts’. They have, unwittingly, drifted into complacency and allowed themselves to become dependent on external forces, in this instance the forces that shape the economy like Globalisation. However, recent developments have exposed the vulnerabilities of globalisation. These vulnerabilities reveal the huge liabilities of current practices and imply, at some point in the future, very great cost to the communities of the great nations of the earth, not least to the followers of Christ.

Globalisation has provided almost universal access [in the global west at least] to cheap goods from abroad: cheap food, clothes, medicine, cars, technology, and holidays. This affluence carried with it an exorbitant, but hidden, cost to the family and to the social order in general. Now we can very plainly see that if the Lord should “choose” to strike the earth with a plague then our ‘global’ supply chains will be terminally disrupted and the faithful will be cut off from food, medicine, and other essential supplies. A truly intolerable situation.

I think that we have been given an unbelievable blessing that recent events occurred in Spring and not at the start of Winter.

I believe the Fellowship of the Children of God should consider setting up Co-Operatives for the growing and sharing [read that as buying/selling] of food stuff [and possibly textiles]; if for no other reason than to guarantee their own supplies. We have become reliant on forces external to us and thereby have become extremely vulnerable. It is, then, incumbent upon us to restore our own power and to promote a culture of self reliance.

Recently, I’ve been reflecting on the Book of Revelation and how the Children of God are tested through the ‘end times’. I can’t imagine that the children of those days enter these times ‘unprepared’, for it is certain that such will be the severity of the testing of those days that unless they have established their own supply chain then they will vanish from the face of the earth every bit as quickly as the ungodly. Indeed, I was struck by the thought that perhaps one of the reasons the children of God become victims and martyrs in the ‘last days’ is due to the fact that they have made provisions for the testing and thus become targets by the unprepared ‘children of this world’ who might seek to plunder their resources. It has to be admitted, the ‘End Times’ appears to be nothing less than a global siege of truly biblical proportions.

The outlines seem to follow coherently: Disease [global pandemic] followed by calamitous social unrest [also global, as citizens turn upon their governments for their ineptitude, short sightedness, and in consequence of the breakdown of the global economy] followed by famine [which must inevitably follow as global unrest adversely impacts supply chains], and that is just the start of the woes, more and worse is set to come possibly in the form of a cosmic calamity in which interstellar matter lays waste to the planet. To think that we could survive such a testing without working together is insane and to think that this working relationship [with all its tools, resources, and systems] will just magically appear when the time is right is not only delusional it is positively suicidal and guaranteed to work to the very great detriment of the children of God on earth.

Right now we have a chance to do something of lasting value for the Kingdom, for our children and our children’s children. And even if what’s occurring today is just another blip and nothing to be concerned about, at least it can serve as a wake-up call to us all – one that should wake us to the profound vulnerability of our social structure and get us thinking what we might do to weather the storms ahead because, no matter what, the storms are coming.

A Christian Growers Co-operative would not only give the community a fighting chance IF things were to go south but would provide us with fun opportunities to come together as a community. It would also serve as a means of reaching out to and taking care of some of the most vulnerable and needy members of our community but it need not stop there. There really is so much more that could be done but I don’t wish to take up too much of your time. I guess I just want to plant a seed. [Pun intended]

Presently, for one reason or another, our farmers [especially small farmers] are on the back foot and need us now more than ever. What’s more, it is now glaringly obvious that we desperately need them. The sooner we can foster a solid working relationship with them the better for all concerned.

In light of recent events, it seems like it would be wise to establish contracts with Farmers so that they can make a decent living. As a fellowship we can assist in the planting, growing, harvesting and distribution of these supplies; anything that reduces cost to the farmers and ensures our control and access to the goods. The community can negotiate a fair ‘price’ on the goods and use the profits to enhance the welfare of the community.

Today, while reflecting on the Book of Revelation, a fact struck me: that during the END TIMES global opinion is divided [at least if we are to accept the account given in the Book] as regards the ‘starting of the clock’ on these events. It seems that only the Elect are conscious of the fact that the ‘clock’ has started [or at least are prepared for such an eventuality [are so living as though it was true]], while the rest of the world sees only coincidence or that the faithful are merely twisting current events to suit personal narratives. But regardless as to whether or not the spiritual Starting Pistol has been fired, recent events have revealed that we have become complacent with regard to our independence – in that we have become so dependent on a globalised market – that we have become dangerously vulnerable as a community which is anathema to the Lord’s desire that we long endure on the face of the earth.

There is only one brotherhood, the Brotherhood of those that seek to do the Father’s will. We should not allow the shackles of tradition to restrain us in working in concert with our brethren from other traditions to ensure the long term welfare of the brotherhood of the faithful.

This seems a wise move to me. Such activities could do wonders for revitalising the community of believers, create great teaching and service opportunities. It’s not that I think we are [or should be] Dooms Day Preppers but at the same time, dependence upon God without the supporting pillars of wisdom can only end in disaster for us. As Cromwell is alleged to have said: ‘Trust in God but keep your powder dry.’

A WARNING TO THE POWER ELITE FROM ENOCH

Paul Kemp Administrator — Tue, 10 Dec 2019 17:07:07 +0000

A WARNING

TO THE POWER ELITE

FROM ENOCH

The following words are taken directly from 1 Enoch, a prophetic work written around 100 BC written about the end of the age in his, then distant future. Verb tenses and pronouns have been harmonized. The individual verses have been reordered from the original work in order to produce an easily readable coherent narrative. I believe that this narrative represents God's judgment and predictions regarding the rulers and leaders who plunge the world of today into an ever deepening chaos. The words in parentheses are my clarifications, the rest are from Enoch excepting the last verse which is taken from Ezekiel. Now then we have:

"Before the flood, oppression existed and prevailed on earth. Great punishment took place; and there was a consummation of all iniquity, which was cut off from its root, and every fabric raised by it passed away (The Great Flood). Iniquity however, shall again be renewed, and consummated on earth.

"In the seventh week a perverse generation shall arise; abundant shall be its deeds, and all its deeds perverse. Every act of crime, and every act of oppression and impiety, shall be a second time embraced. The powerful shall transgress, and think themselves gods; while evil shall be multiplied among them. Therefore iniquity, sin, blasphemy, tyranny, and every evil work, shall increase; and when transgression, impiety, and uncleanness also shall increase, then upon them all shall great punishment be inflicted from heaven. Contemplating the earth as they (the powerful) do, they who are men, put elegance upon them more than married women, and both together more so than unmarried ones, every where arraying themselves in majesty, in magnificence, in authority, and in silver: but gold, purple, honor, and wealth, like water, flow away. Erudition therefore and wisdom are not theirs. And in it shall they perish, together with their riches, with all their glory, and with their honors. They are sinners who counsel men to commit crime craftily. They are found in every place, every counsel possess a little of them. Their strength shall be in their riches, and their faith in the gods whom they have formed themselves. They shall deny the name of God, and shall expel Him from their places of worship, in which they assemble. They build up their houses with crime and acquire gold and silver. They will condemn the angels of heaven, shall lift up their hands against the Most high, shall tread upon and inhabit the earth, exhibiting all their works of iniquity.

"Woe to you who are rich, for in your riches have you trusted; but from your riches you shall be removed; because you have not remembered the Most High in the days of your prosperity. Your wealth makes you resemble saints, but your hearts reproach you, knowing that you are sinners. Woe to you who feed upon the glory of the corn, and drink the strength of the root of the spring, and in the pride of your power tread down the humble. Woe to you who frustrate the word of the righteous; for to you there shall be no hope of life. Woe to those who write down the word of falsehood, and the word of the wicked; for their falsehood they record, that they may hear and not forget folly. Your faces shall be covered with shame; while every deed, strengthened by crime, shall be rejected. All your evil deeds are disclosed in the heaven; and that none of your oppressive acts are concealed and secret. In heaven they are daily written down before the Most High. This word shall testify against you, for the remembrance of crime."

"The world shall be marked for destruction; and all men should be on the lookout for the path of integrity. The Son of man (whom all will behold), shall raise up kings and the mighty from their couches, and kings from their thrones; he shall loosen the bridles of the powerful, and break in pieces the teeth of sinners. He shall hurl rulers from their thrones and their dominions; because they will not exalt and praise God, nor humble themselves before Him, by whom their kingdoms were granted to them. Yet shall not the mighty rulers of that period be destroyed; but shall be delivered into the hands of the righteous and the holy. Nor thence forwards shall any obtain commiseration from God, because their lives in this world will have been completed. The countenance likewise of the mighty shall he (Son of Man) cast down. In the day of trouble evil shall be heaped up upon sinners. In those days the kings of the earth and the mighty men, who have gained the world by the work of their own hands, will become humble in countenance. They shall not be saved by gold and by silver. Nor shall they have it in their power to secure themselves, or fly. Trouble shall come upon them, as upon a woman in travail, whose labor is severe, when her child comes to the mouth of the womb, and she finds it difficult to bring forth. One portion of them shall look upon another. They shall be astonished. Their faces shall be full of confusion; darkness shall be added to their faces. Darkness shall be their habitation, and worms shall be their bed; nor from that their beds shall they hope to be again raised, because they exalted not the name of God. From that period those who possess the earth shall not be powerful and exalted. Neither shall they be capable of beholding the countenances of the holy, for the light of the countenances of the holy, the righteous, and the elect, has been seen by God. They (the powerful) shall perish from before the face of God, and from the face of his earth. But in the day of their trouble, rest shall be on the earth. Iniquity will pass away like a shadow. Every work of the ungodly will disappear from the whole earth. Sin shall perish in eternal darkness, nor be seen for evermore."

"God will change the face of the earth; He will bless it; and cause those whom He has elected to dwell upon it. But those who have committed sin and iniquity shall not tread upon it; for God has seen them. The righteous ones He will satisfy with peace, placing them before Himself." The Lord God thus declares, "Repent therefore, and live! For it is not My desire that anyone shall die." (Ezekiel 18:32)

'Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world!' Jn. 16:33

Strange Preacher — Thu, 16 May 2019 22:14:03 +0000

'Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world!' Jn. 16:33

Economically speaking, the West occupies a prosperous First World state. However, spiritually speaking, it languishes in Third World squalor. The spiritual poverty of the West, more specifically western Christendom, is at the root of much of the worlds suffering. The challenge lies then not so much in the fact that the West dominates the world's purse as in the fact that her children are still charmed by the lure of 'shiny things,' the pursuit of materialistic goals, to the exclusion of other, more noble aspirations eg.: the riches inherent in actualising the divine self. Its children are, in real terms, still quite immature. And so it is that, 'Only when man has become sufficiently disillusioned by the sorrowful disappointments attendant upon the foolish and deceptive pursuits of selfishness, and subsequent to the discovery of the barrenness of formalized religion, will he be disposed to turn wholeheartedly to the gospel of the kingdom, the religion of Jesus of Nazareth.'i

True poverty is not simply a case of empty pockets but a heart empty of spiritual ideals, values, dreams and vision, a life bereft of values, meaning and purpose.

The Christian scriptures teaches 'out of the heart come the issues of life, murder, theft, adultery' Mat. 15:19 or 'as a man thinketh in his heart so is he' Prov. 23:7. The social and cultural realities of this world are reflections of our inner realities. Culture, in all its multitudinous hues – dark or delightful, is simply the shadow cast by the human heart. Consequently, all lasting transformation must occur on an inner level and all such transformations are a matter of personal attainment, personal growth – spiritual growth. Any effort not specifically focused on facilitating personal growth, spiritual regeneration and inner transformation, is an effort focused on the effect and not the cause of our social ills; it is to attack the branch yet leave the root untouchedii. It was for this reason that Jesus enjoined his followers to pray that God 'create in me a clean heart.' As a result of these insights it can be seen that the first goal of any transformational effort should begin with education, spiritual education - education on ideals and idealism, and the nobility of service.

The ills that plague the nations of the Third World will never be solved with mere money. Were we to hand over a trillion dollars to uneducated peoples, the money would be squandered as a direct result of the fact that their cultural experience would unlikely have furnished them with the intellectual tools required to manage such a resource nor would they likely have acquired the skills of personal restraint and self-discipline necessary to manage such wealth. Merely throwing money at a problem, without adequate vision and support, would not only be of no practical use, it would undoubtedly make things worse. It might be wise to make note that though the West presently dominates this wealth it certainly has a ways to go in the wise and magnanimous management of it.

Challenging the oppressive structures of this world, while significant, is not the 'final solution' to the ills that assail us. Utopian civil structures demand first an ideal type of citizen; only thereafter may such illuminated individuals safely employ the civil structures and social institutions that govern such a society. Unless the lives and the action/decisions of the citizens of any hypothesised Utopian state are founded upon some transcendent Ideal then the structures are of no import. Corruption is a cancer to any system but it begins in the human heart. Consequently, perfect social systems without similarly perfection oriented individuals are doomed. Changing the system, without also inculcating the ideals of perfection within the cultural experience of that society's same citizens would be akin to putting a plaster on a bomb. Such social shortsightedness can only lead to tragedy on an epic scale. This is the insight alluded to within Jesus' parable of the Foolish Builders, Matthew 7:24-27. Without sound foundations, no project can stand the test of time. Our greatest foe is never the cultural milieu and structures into which we are born but the evil tendencies that ever spring from the soil of the imperfect corrupt human heart.

Similar views have been expressed by Daniel G. Groody, in an essay of his to be found in the journal Theological Studies, Vol. 62, No. 2., 2008; 'Globalizing solidarity: Christian anthropology and the challenge of human liberation.' He notes that 'to argue in favor of the strengths of the free market and material prosperity without reference to the weaknesses of human nature is to court moral and social disaster because it unravels the bonds that unite us as a human family.'iii Pointing out that:

'Without an adequate vision of human life, it is easy to lose sight of our interconnection with each other and become vulnerable to an inner slavery that not only ignores human need but even rewards human greed. Structural reform is certainly needed, but politics and economics alone are insufficient to bring about the renewal and reordering of society. Nor can they map out the contours of a liberating human anthropology. Fundamental structural reform must be accompanied by a more fundamental inner change that originates in the human heart.iv

While the value of the observations made by Liberation Theologies that 'many of the problems and disorders of the modern world... have their roots in structural and systemic issues that create and perpetuate global injustices,'v cannot be discounted, Groody is concerned that the deeper issues at hand have gone relatively unexplored. Pointing out that 'these disorders on a more fundamental level are related to what happens within people.'vi Stressing that, 'Our inability to deliver ourselves from inner discord not only contributes to global disorder but also distorts our understanding of how we come to realize our identity as human beings. This problem, at root, is not simply a political, economic, or social one but a spiritual one.' vii

Thus can we more clearly appreciate the depth of insight implicit in the teachings of Jesus. When he declares, 'the kingdom is within' – it wasn't simply a figurative statement. By giving preeminence to inner realities, he was laying emphasis on the fact that it is our hopes and dreams or lack of them, our passions and ambitions idealistic or craven, above all – our loving devotion to one another or its absence, that shapes our realities; while circumstances merely offer the context for their extemporisation.

'Fear not little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.' Luke 12:32

The radical nature of the Gospel Jesus lived and died preaching, is – to a degree – eclipsed by the tremendous social transformations that have been realised in His name since last he walked the earth. His prayer was always that all his followers, both present and to come, should be one – that they enjoy the same unity and communion that he shares with the Father among each other and with the Father, Jn 17: 20 - 22 . This facet of his teachings was taken up by Paul in Galatians 3:28 when he declared that: 'There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.' This teaching is implicitly opposed to any forms of oppression, any form of inequality, and challenges his followers to establish a radical equality, among one another and throughout the world. However, it should be borne in mind that the Master understood the delusion of 'equity' for he pointed out that 'the poor ye shall always have with ye.'

It should be realised that the prayer's Jesus uttered have a formative influence on this world and have not gone unanswered. In the eyes of the Eternal Father the unity for which His Son so ardently prayed, and died to establish, has already been granted and so already 'IS', at least in terms of the experiential consciousness of Deity. We, however, occupy a temporal frame of reference and therefore consciously experience it as a relatively endless series of transformations. Consequently, those of us that strive to bring about the unity of the world and that endeavour to vanquish oppression KNOW that the long sought after day will come. We know that the days of darkness and struggle are numbered and can draw succor from that; while concurrently strength can drawn from the truth that every effort, weak or strong, every success or failure, brings the day of victory over oppressive forms that bit closer.

It was during that fateful dialogue with Peter that Jesus made another instructive statement. Having finally led his apostle's to the point where they were now capable of recognising his true identity, he then said that he would commit to their keeping the 'keys of the kingdom'. Thereby establishing the Christian community as an instrument of G*d on earth. It is their G*d given right to organise themselves as they see fit, and according to purposes envisioned by themselves, that is perhaps their greatest strength. It is this 'spirit led' community that is thus endowed with the necessary wisdom, personal fortitude, and devoted commitment to kin-dom values that is destined to bring the world into balance.

This community can, has, and will continue to grow and nothing can stop it, not 'all the forces of evil' nor 'the hosts of sin'.

From this study it should be plain that the concept of kingdom as taught by Jesus sought to co-ordinate many dynamic realities. While it is significant that many of the metaphors that Jesus used to exemplify the nature of the kingdom shared a common element, namely 'growth', it should be pointed out that the multifaceted nature of the expositions of Jesus regarding this subject served to highlight the many varying dimensions of kingdom, thus offsetting any inclination to limit conceptual range – while at the same time facilitating the elucidation of some of the more instructive elements. However, the repeated references to 'growth' indicates that Jesus envisioned the kin-dom growing, much as a seed will through the seasons, until the time of the harvest. Harvest, in the context outlined in this essay, can be nothing other than the day referenced in the words uttered by the prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah, 'and they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD. Jer. 31: 34. "And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." Is. 2:4

Jesus was introducing humanity to eternity and to the means of engaging with it in time, as has been established by the Source of Time and Eternity, Deity, i.e.: the will of God, the mechanism through which the children of time find their way into the presence of the Eternal and the means whereby the Eternal can both commune with and positively guide the children of time. It was by means of commitment to the doing of God's will that Jesus was empowered to 'overcome the world' and thus if his followers similarly wish to 'overcome the world' then to them Jesus has only one thing to say:

If you dare to believe in me and wholeheartedly proceed to follow after me, you shall most certainly by so doing enter upon the sure pathway to trouble. I do not promise to deliver you from the waters of adversity, but I do promise to go with you through all of them.viii

i The Urantia Book 195:9.7

iiThis idea is found as theme within the works of the author James Allen, undoubtedly among many others. Three titles reflecting this are 'As a man thinketh', 'The Byways of Blessedness' and 'Above Life's Turmoils'. All these works can be downloaded freely from The James Allen Free Library.

http://james-allen.in1woord.nl/

iii Groody, Daniel G.; 'Globalizing solidarity: Christian anthropology and the challenge of human

liberation. Theological Studies, Vol. 62, No. 2., Section: Pg. 250(19) 2008

ivOp. cit.

vOp. cit.

viOp. cit.

viiOp. cit.

viii The Urantia Book, The Urantia Foundation, 1955. [159:3.13]

War & Peace

Strange Preacher — Wed, 16 Aug 2017 23:57:22 +0000

War & Peace

From the abundance of the heart spring the issues of life and not scripture. The self deceived heart may endeavour to make its foul intentions acceptable by wrapping them up in the righteousness of scripture but excrement wrapped in gold is still excrement. To dress one’s evil intentions up in the words of scripture is to come as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The shallow are fooled by such pretence; are content with the surface of things, with the appearance of wealth, nobility, culture, education, but never dare to venture below the surface. They clamour for conformity and revile the individual, revile the prophets that dare to pierce the façade and expose the rottenness within. They are the children of the shadows and not the light.

War has never been fought for a noble cause. Not once. Not ever. The roots of war are to be found in the bestial and self deceived human heart. Have you ever noticed how those who are quick to violence are even quicker to justify themselves and their actions? Fast, indeed, is the fist but faster still is the hate filled heart. But pause for a moment and consider deeply what they say and soon you will discern the disingenuous nature of their words and the wretched stench of hypocrisy. Is there not something to be learned from the fact that those who love violence will act on the slightest excuse, while those that love peace can find nothing that will justify violence against a brother?

Violence, be it between brothers or nations, is always about domination and control – the very antithesis of the ideals of spiritual living which are service and love. The waging of war then, being rooted in the flesh, can never be a service to God [who is spirit] it is, moreover the waging of grievous sin.

The call to WAR is always subterfuge; it is, without exception, a lie. No one would send their children off to war if they knew the real reasons behind them. War is merely a game played by the super rich, a game which reduces our homes and cities to ash and in which our children’s lives are thrown out like chips on a poker table. The great irony is that real, behind-the-scenes, players never get harmed, they just get richer.

As the man that is given to violence readily deceives himself that his actions are righteous, even so do the leaders of nations summon their army of soothsayers [the media] and ‘prophets-for-hire’ [experts] to lead the nation’s children into war. So strong is the spell cast by these fiends that that the nation’s children volunteer to lay down their lives for “this noble cause” and when these children return home – dead, or worse than dead, wrapped in a flag their parents weep proudly at the nobility of their sacrifice, all the while blind to the real tragedy – that they died, and continue to die, for nothing more noble than ensuring rich men can have a bigger pools and more private jets. They have become the unwitting instruments of thieves and long distance murderers. The cognitive dissonance generated by this calumny is profound. Is it any wonder that people have a hard time accepting truth when it is so at variance with the vision they hold dear to their hearts, when it reveals them to be worse than fools? Who has the stomach for that?

These so-called leaders are creatures of negotiable virtue; moral chameleons, appearing as creatures of light when they walk among the noble and as creatures of night when among the children of the shadows. They know well that we would not send our children to die in the service of ignoble men – to die so that these soulless, black hearted, wretched excuses for humanity can attempt to fill their bottomless pockets but there’s a lot, an awful lot, of money to be made. They have no compunctions whatsoever about trading blood for diamonds, gold, land, and oil…well, once it’s not their blood that gets spilled. But when you already own the media and the government and you are safely ensconced behind an impenetrable wall of money and power you need not worry too much about what people think. After all, you have enough money to make sure people [the vast majority of them anyway] think what you want them to think.

For the Hawks of War FEAR is everything. It is for this reason that the media constantly fosters anxiety; a couple of well placed bangs and you can be reasonably assured that the sheep will race off in the desired direction.

However, the Prophets-for-Higher – the prophets of peace, equality, justice, fairness, integrity, honesty, of social responsibility and service, who are the very destroyers of fear are a source of endless torment for the hawks. The Prophets-for-Higher, the passionate advocates of higher and better ways, always end up condemning and exposing the weakness of the version of reality being peddled by the hawks. They are tirelessly dedicated to highlighting the bankruptcy of the current system and the insanity of attempting to maintain such doomed systems, even going so far as to proclaim that better ways are not only preferable but actually possible and, in the long run, far less costly! The prophets come to a weary, desperate, and fearful generation preaching words of hope, consolation, and healing and for this service they are castigated, vilified, ridiculed, beaten, imprisoned, tortured, and murdered. The hawks are jealous gods.

For the hawks FEAR is the only reality.

They cling to FEAR as though it were life itself, as though it were salvation. To reject or discountenance it is heresy, insanity, even suicide! Their world cannot exist without it and that is why the elimination of fear is the first step to a better world. Indeed, the first duty of all spiritual leaders should be to liberate their fellows from the fetters of fear; to teach people not to be afraid, loose them from the shackles of fear and establish them on the path to liberty which is faith, for a better world is not possible without faith.

When our choices are based on fear we are the bondservants of fear [the flesh] and become locked in a cycle of Doom and Destruction. When we dare to make the choice of faith [become enthused by a vision of a better world] we affirm for the world our liberty from the shackles of fear and establish ourselves on the way of Hope and Healing.

When the Prophets-for-Higher come the hawks rush to rattle the cages and attempt to set the world on edge – filling it with fear: white afraid of black, black afraid of white, old fearful of the young, the young contemptible of the old, the wealthy in dread of the great unwashed, the great unwashed resentful of the wealthy. The world becomes infused with mistrust, suspicion, and paranoia. Trust no one, they say, except US. They, the very one’s that have created, fostered, and promoted this constant state of fearful anxiety, claim to know the way to brighter and better tomorrows. All our woes, they say, have their roots in X [insert appropriate outsider ‘HERE’]. Destroy X, it is claimed, and our troubles will melt away. Violence and war, these are the instruments wherewith we shall build enduring peace!

The Prince of Peace spoke of these fools before and named their sin: “They say that which is good but they do it not!” and warned us not to pattern after their works, lest we follow them into the pit [imagine the fate of Israel at the hands of the Romans but on a global scale].

The Prince of Peace came proclaiming peace on earth and good will toward all men and preaching the glad tidings that we are all one family, the children of the Almighty One, and that the rule of this family is simple: Love.

Indeed, what could be worse for the hawks of war than for the people to become truly enamoured with the idea that we are one family on one earth and that we should love and care for one another and even that we should establish systems that foster and promote such ideals? What could be worse for the hawks than for the people to discover that fear is an illusion which robs them of peace, joy, and hope and that peace, joy, and hope were within easy reach through faith, fellowship, and service?

The spiritual ideals of the divine family can illuminate a better way for us. Love is the law of the divine Kin-Dom and service is its lifeblood. In the ideal family the strong protect and nurture the vulnerable, and abundance is used to nourish the whole family, not just the chosen few. Those that cannot abide by such ideals are little better than beasts, craving a world where savagery is rewarded and the strong are allowed to prey upon the vulnerable.

Between the Savage and the Sage there lies a long road, from the darkness of ignorance, fear, control, and domination to the light of wisdom, faith, love, and service. What’s it going to be? Will we yield to fear and the darkness within or will we take up faith and follow the light of a better way, a better world?