Were I to be the founder of a new sect, I would call it Apiarians - and after the example of the bee, advise them to extract the honey of every sect. My fundamental principle would be that we are to be saved by our good works which are within our power, and not by our faith which is not within our power."
"The religion of Jesus is founded on the Unity of God, and this principle chiefly gave it triumph over the rabble of heathen gods then acknowledged. Thinking men of all nations rallied readily to the doctrine of one only God [sic] and embrased it with the pure-morals which Jesus inculcated.
Thomas Jefferson
From Revealation 22:2 - In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Maybe one of the biggest mistakes in the history of Christianity is that we have separated spirituality from theology and Scripture study. In other words, we put the Scriptures (and theology) in the hands of very immature and unconverted people, even clergy. We put the Scriptures in the hands of people who are still at the egocentric level, who still think “It’s all about me,” and who use the Bible in a very willful way. It is all dualistic win or lose for them. The egocentric will still dominates: the need to be right, the need to be first, the need to think I am saved and other people are not. This is the lowest level of human consciousness, and God cannot be heard from that heady place or met at that level.
Richard Rohr
We should in humility and joyfulness acknowledge that the supernatural and divine reality we all worship in some form or other transcends all our particular categories of thought and imagining, and that because the divine -- however named, however apprehended or conceived -- is infinite and we are forever finite, we shall never comprehend the divine completely. So we should seek to share all insights we can and be ready to learn, for instance, from the techniques of the spiritual life that are available in religions other than our own. It is interesting that most religions have a transcendent reference point, a mysterium tremendum, that comes to be known by deigning to reveal itself, himself, herself, to humanity; that the transcendent reality is compassionate and concerned; that human beings are creatures of this supreme, supra mundane reality in some way, with a high destiny that hopes for an everlasting life lived in close association with the divine, either as absorbed without distinction between creature and creator, between the divine and human, or in a wonderful intimacy which still retains the distinctions between these two orders of reality.
When we read the classics of the various religions in matters of prayer, meditation, and mysticism, we find substantial convergence, and that is something to rejoice at. We have enough that conspires to separate us; let us celebrate that which unites us, that which we share in common.
Bishop Desmond Tutu - God is Not a Christian.
seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
1 comment:
Jay - Your posting this morning brought to mind a short prayer that I have adopted. I do not know the original source, I got it from a dinner scene in the movie "Seven Days in Utopia" where it was used as the "Grace" prayer. This is how I use it.
"For food in a world where many walk in hunger,
For faith in a world where many walk in fear,
For friends where many walk alone,
We give thee thanks."
Post a Comment