Thank you Nancy for your own awakening as a fellow Christian and for having the courage to step outside your comfort zone by mentioning issues with which many many Christians experience as an internal struggle between the Christian doctrines we've been taught and what our own intuition is telling us... there's a distinct discrepancy here!
Being raised Roman Catholic, I can attest this article is a good stepping stone for a community dialogue for all Christians, because it mentions some of the most blatant contradictions within the Christian dogma: Eternal punishment in hell; believing in a fearful God rather than a loving and forgiving God; disbelief and condemnation of the sciences of astrology, numerology, and astronomy; and last ...but certainly not least, one of the biggest self-serving and hypocritical aspects of Christianity (in my opinion): The encouragement of each individual church and accompanying preacher to INTERPRET the words of the Bible to however THEY see fit finding relevance within their congregation. This is basically a license to change the meaning of the biblical message to meet their personal pressing needs. In other words, to make it up as they go ..."as in the mighty words of Jesus Christ: 'If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Word of God, you will save it... If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.'” (Mark 8:34-38)
From my loving & forgiving God/dess to your condemning, judging, unforgiving, fearful fire & brimstone God, I send you much love, forgiveness and COMPASSION on your journey! See you --eventually-- in the 5th dimension!
With Light & Love,
Gavin
ps: Thanks for letting me tease you with my closing words... teeheehee! :^D
THE AWAKENED CHRISTIAN
For seventeen hundred years, the Christian religion has abided by a set of doctrines created by men dedicated to standardizing the acceptable beliefs concerning the nature of the Source of our being and of Jesus. The resulting codified religion leaves little or no room for Christians to seek Truth on their own. Reprimands, accusations of heresy, excommunication, and loss of job, family, and/or friends hover in the shadows ready to pounce on anyone daring to explore our magnificent world by going outside the traditional Christian doctrines. Fear stifles our innate curiosity to learn more about the Source of our being and where we, as humans, fit into the divine scheme of cosmic life.
Christians are taught to read the Bible as the Word of God and to interpret it in accordance with the codified church doctrines. A literal interpretation of the Scriptures results in a multitude of horrifying teachings concerning the nature of our Source and of human beings. Little do we realize that our concept of God and ourselves forms the philosophical foundation for our relationship to each other and to our planet. We have created a God in our own misguided image of self and it is not a pretty sight. This God is a warrior who fights on one side or the other, is bloodthirsty and without compassion when it comes to killing the enemy including women and children. We have created a God who is far less than the average human being. This God is unforgiving and plans eternal punishment for those who do not abide by the accepted doctrines of "Christianity." Human beings created a God separate from self, a God to whom we pray and can only hope He hears. If He does hear, we never know how He will respond. We do not know the meaning of the Apostle Paul’s statement to the Greeks in Athens: "In him, we live and move and have our being." (Acts 17:28)
The writer of I John reveals our Source of being: "God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them…. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts our fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because he first loved us. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also." (I John 4:16, 18-19, 21)
These few verses of Scripture are the building blocks on which the Awakened Christian acquires Truth. We are to know the Truth: We live and move and have our being within the energy of Divine Love—the Source of our being. Neither exceptions nor middle ground are permitted when the Awakened Christian lives in love. Anything contrary to Love is not Truth. Fear is not possible when we live and move and have our being within the energy of Divine Love. Punishment is not of Love. Punishment must be distinguished from discipline in that the art of self-discipline is required in order to evolve spiritually. Discipline is written into the universal law "we reap what we sow." (Galatians 6:7) A God of Love cannot and will not punish. God as Love allows us to develop the very advanced art of self-discipline by harvesting whatever type seeds we have planted and learning the lessons involved by means of the reaping process.
With Divine Love as the foundation, the awakened Christian is set free of the chains of orthodoxy to explore Universal Truth. Gone is the fear that we might lose our faith if this or that is true; or, if I ask too many questions. Evaporated is the fear that God will sentence us to eternal punishment if we do not hold fast to church doctrines and to the literal interpretation of the Scriptures. The awakened Christian is no longer imprisoned by false teachings. Gone is the necessity to cling to the belief that Jesus’ crucifixion was the blood sacrifice God required in order to forgive humanity for its sins (mistakes). God is not impacted by our behavior, thus has nothing to forgive. The mistakes we make are a part of our own growth process—we reap what we sow. We do so while living and moving and having our being within the love energy of God. There is neither judgment nor sentencing. Our Source of being simply awaits our awakening.
The awakened Christian recognizes that All of Creation lives and moves and has its meaning within the love energy of Source. Humanity is the microcosm of the macrocosm. The ingredients that make up our physical bodies are the same substances contained in all of creation. All is energy. All of creation sings to the sound, frequency and vibration of mathematics. Even music is mathematics. There is no field of study that can be outside of omnipresent Source. Humanity can choose to misuse universal Truth; however, misuse does not mean Truth itself is outside of the loving energy of Source permeating All of Creation.
The awakened Christian is aware that all attempts to categorize facets of creation as off-limits are operating outside of Truth. Example: In the late 15th century, the church condemned the study of astrology. In Truth, God created the stars, planets, and the qualitative influences they have upon human beings and the entire universe. Thus, the church condemned the study of a portion of God’s meaningful creation. As a result, orthodox Christians avoid the science of astrology and deprive themselves of the tremendous personal knowledge and guidance to be found therein. The configuration of stars on any given day of birth broadcasts the soul purpose and lessons to be learned for the souls reincarnating on that day. In truth, birthdays are celebrated as opportunities to re-affirm the soul’s intent for the coming year. (See Sun Signs on www.pathwaytoascension.com as an example of soul-centered astrology.)
Soul-centered astrology is not the only avenue the universe offers in the form of extremely individualized guidance. The awakened Christian is familiar with the reason importance is placed on the names of the biblical characters. Names possess a numerical value that also proclaims our soul’s purpose for this incarnation. Our names depict who we are and were intuitively given to us by our parents. (See Your Destiny Number on www.pathwaytoascension.com to determine the meaning of your name.) The lines on the palm of our hands also reveal our potential personal story. Our handwriting shares the qualities of our personality with those who study it. Within the universe, we are an open, energetic book of life. We are known for who we really are—an indispensable part of the divine plan for the whole of creation.
The planet on which we live is one of untold millions of inhabited planets throughout the cosmos. An awakened Christian is aware that all of creation is living and evolving—including the stars, planets, animals, rocks, and plants. Life never ends and is everywhere. No part of divine creation is non-essential; all of it is woven together to build the meaningful whole. Earth and the other planets are not simply round balls on which intelligent beings live; instead, they too are a form of intelligent being. There is a reason we call our planet Mother Earth, or Gaia. She is a living, intelligent, evolving spiritual being. As such, she has graciously consented to allow Earth humans to evolve along with her. All of creation is evolving into higher and higher planes of existence.
Our Milky Way galaxy is one of many galaxies teeming with intelligent life and possessing technology so advanced as to render earthly technology infantile. A vast variety of beings exist within our galaxy—some appear very similar to Earth humans, others, very different. The awakened Christian is open to accepting our galactic family and working with them to restore Earth to its pristine purity and beauty. The Galactic Federation of Light will appear in visible form in the very near future. Our galactic brothers and sisters come in love to assist us in preparing Earth and ourselves for ascension into the 5th dimension of consciousness.
No negativity may enter the 5th dimension; therefore, the awakened Christian accepts the divine call to purification. We acknowledge the fact that Earth has heretofore been our classroom; that we incarnated to learn lessons in soul growth. For this reason, we are all prone to make mistakes, some of which have been hurtful to others. As we achieve full consciousness of our eternal lifestream, we understand the reasons "why" for all of our difficulties and pain—they are the ways by which we learn. (See the 16 Lessons on the Metaphysical Interpretation of the Biblical Book of Job noted above.) With that understanding comes the knowledge that there is nothing to forgive, nothing about which to hold resentment. Just as Source has nothing to forgive in relationship to us, we have nothing to forgive concerning others. Once we understand the reasons "why," we would not dream of punishing for eternity anyone who caused us pain by their mistakes. Instead, the spiritually advanced action is to thank others for assisting in our learning process.
An awakened Christian is aware that eternal life has no beginning and no end. Eternal life for each of us involves a wide variety of experiences, both on planet Earth, on other planets throughout the universe, and within the realms of spirit. Most of us have chosen to incarnate on Earth numerous times because it offers the opportunity to learn—on the plane of duality—how to choose consistently good over evil. (The plane of duality is symbolized by the tree of good and evil in the biblical story of the Garden of Eden. Evil is "live" spelled backwards. So one could interpret, evil is living with our backs turned away from our loving Source.) Now that the being we call Mother Earth, or Gaia, is preparing for ascension into the 5th dimension, we are given the choice to prepare for our own ascension into the 5th dimension or to go elsewhere within the universe to continue our spiritual evolution. We all originated from other planets and will have the opportunity to return to our home planet, which may already be functioning on the 5th dimension. Thus, the awakened Christian thinks in terms of a universe of planets and beings—all belonging to the family of God.
The awakened Christian knows the Bible to be a book of narratives that reveal Truth through the medium of symbolism, which means an actual historical framework may or may not be present. The surface story serves as the skeleton housing a far deeper level of teaching. The metaphysical interpretation of the Biblical Book of Job, found at www.pathwaytoascension.com, offers a most vivid example of symbolic meaning within a biblical saga. We grew up being taught that Job depicts a righteous human being who suffered extreme loss, yet refused to curse God. Instead, the Book of Job reveals the process of individual ascension into higher levels of consciousness—a journey we must all undertake at some point in time. Likewise, the New Testament can be read as the account of embarking on intentional ascension into higher realms of awareness. Jesus—symbolizing the soul within each of us—shows us the way to achieve ascension through the five major events in his life: birth, baptism, transfiguration, crucifixion, and ascension.
In summary, the awakened Christian thrills to the knowledge that the universe in which we live is alive and constantly evolving into higher manifestations of the Source of our being. There is no end to life, no reason to fear, no eternal punishment, no permanent state of being. There is only omnipresent Love in which we live and move and have our being. The awakened Christian is set free by seeking and knowing that the Holy Spirit within will guide everyone into all Truth.
by Nancy B. Detweiler
Author's note: For the purposes of this article, I use the term "Source of our being" to refer to the omnipresent energy of Divine Love in which we live and move and have our being—the Ultimate Source of all creation.
I use the term "Awakened Christian" to mean the one who follows Jesus as A Wayshower on the pathway to individual ascension. Jesus, as a Wayshower, reveals the way; He cannot walk the path for us. The awakened Christian recognizes this fact and strives to tread his/her own pathway to ascension.
preceding article originally posted:
http://www.pathwaytoascension.com/christian.html
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