Dependance and Dependability

I have taken a position with an organization that advocates for mental health patients, It's called Mental Health America of Greater Saint Louis. My job is to teach a class called the Bridges Program, it's meant to inform and empower our clients to reach their life goals. Personally I can't think of one unaccomplished goal in my own life which would be obtainable. After years of personal experience dealing with disability and treatment, my own coping skills are still inadequate I feel. The next time i am facing a difficult and stressful situation in life I don't know how well I will fare. If I have anything to share that would help others cope better, I would be surprised. But the content of these classes is perfectly represented within a teacher's manual; and teaching the class consists of reading the material out-loud more or less. So I wouldn't say that its a difficult job for 2 hours per week over 10 weeks.

One of my good friends says I need to do this so that my life can have purpose again, but I think that my life is already meaningful enough, I don't really need to do more. But I took the teacher training years ago when it was available and now they need someone to do the work. I have been pursuing my case for disability benefits from our Social Security System here in the USA for many years. I once had them but I was taken off because I tried to work; unsuccessfully in my opinion. I maintain that I am unemployable and uncompetitive as an employee in the field of unskilled labor. A couple of Social Security Judges have already decided that I am able to work, but they've never taken the time to convince me they were right. In fact time is one commodity in short supply for a professional judge's it seems, they hold interviews which is not quite the same thing as a simple conversation.

Perhaps the only thing which is disabling me today should be defined as a Personality Defect rather than a medical condition. But I am the product of my life's experience; and it hasn't all been good or pleasant experience. Even though I have worked in the past, I never once managed to obtain financial independence. I was never able to support myself, let alone a family; I have always been dependent on my parents for support. They have always paid some of my bills, they paid for the cars and the car insurance, when I lived on my own they paid my rent. Still Dad has never once claimed me as a dependent in his tax filings even though that is the truth. If I fail to qualify for the disability benefits I also fail to qualify for the medical coverage from Medicare, which is something that I really do need. Otherwise all my medical expenses will be paid by my father, which I deem to be unfair because Dad worked and paid for the disability insurance all his adult life, and he shouldn't have to bear the full burden of my care. He paid for protection as every US citizen does; my psychiatrist is of the opinion that my case has been denied on the grounds that Dad is well-off financially.

Admittedly I've spent long hours worrying over the possibility I'll be drawn into court over my unpaid child support. But i'm unmoved to take any action in the matter that would eliminate that possibility, my attitude is one of waiting out the situation. I've also spent long hours worrying over such problems as the eventual extinction of my species here on planet Earth. I'm sure that most people would agree that it's well beyond my individual power to influence the outcome of historical events. And of course if we are truly powerless to change a thing, we should try not to be too concerned about possible futures. I would love to save the World for Peace on Earth, but clearly that goes well beyond my abilities. And to be honest, should I be the one to say how other people should behave; because changing the world means changing human behavior more or less. If I could do one thing to improve the quality of life for my own children, by all means I should try to do that thing.

My daughter is a bit older than the two boys and she's become disenchanted with the world and committed to serve God in some way. By serving God I think she means to convert people to the doctrines of Christianity, she's been posting a sort of video blog on youtube, airing her own convictions. If I could do one thing for my children they should see the Earth as I see it; as a wonderful and beautiful place to live. But then I would have to prove to them that Humanity only makes the world a better place, and that's a hard thing to credit. We know that bad things have happened in the past and that bad things continue to happen in modern times. And I want to sell them on the idea that this is HEAVEN, the world is perfect just the way that it is. I want to convince my daughter that everyone makes their own choices in life and that God guarantees each of us free-will; but she's already convinced that some higher-power is in control of the world for ill, the personality of the devil or Satan. If I try to suggest that no such spirit of pure-evil exists or has influence over the world she would be vehemently opposed. Conveniently this is exactly what our friend Satan wants people to think, I've been duped into believing it. Ultimately we ourselves are responsible for conditions here on planet Earth, we can not easily lay the blame on some higher-authority than humanity itself.

But still there really is a God who cares about us, at least I am convinced of that. A God who has everything and needs nothing from us not even our love. We are the ones with needs and desires, God is unlike one of us and we can never become like God or a God. We are entirely dependent upon God every moment of the day and we can never become independent; not even God can give us independence from his grace. The only thing that one of us really needs to feel happy, is to trust God to be dependable. "I know that I will never be forsaken, I've found my way into God's heart." If we can say this and believe in our heart that God is trustworthy, then we have won the greatest victory in life. And in this respect I have been remarkably successful, and I have never achieved a lot of success as the world defines success in life. I don't have to be the better man, I just have to improve myself. If life on Earth could be described as once Grade Role-Playing Game, then clearly the player's could be ranked in any number of ways. But once the full story has been told, our individual ranks don't matter. It doesn't really matter how well we compare to one-another, that some form of progress was made makes all the difference.

Once we come to full appreciation that we are Established within the Kingdom of Heaven (this Heaven) we are forever separated from the circumstances of our lives here on planet Earth. We can not be defined by our accomplishments, and we are not defined by our intellect or rationality. We are only defined by the fact that we exist and have existed as a part of this greater whole, and that we have been blessed with the gift of consciousness. Perhaps we really do have some definate beginnings here in the Universe, but now that we are a part of it we will be a part of it for as long as it lasts. And it may very well last forever, despite the fact that it also has a definite beginning by all appearances. We have to be satisfied that we live in Eternity even though ultimately we ourselves (and this Creation) are not eternal. Will consciousness endure beyond our mortal ends? We have a few good reasons to think that it might. We have a good reason to think that all of this physical stuff is NOT the sum total of Creation, there is still something more to this Universe, something that has never really been seen. But when we look out to the distant stars and galaxies we find the hard scientific evidence that there really is something more. And how many of us have heard a tale of the near-death experience? A few of us have died and been revived, and some of these people have a story to tell. A story of an experience and of a memory when there was no brain to remember it.

If God or Creator guarantees us certain individual and equal rights, its difficult to define what those rights might be. Clearly we all want more rights than God does guarantee, to this end we have established governments backed by the threat of violent means to secure the desires of a few. A portion of the world's population is served by tyranny, and we do not fight against tyranny when it serves us. Life is very very good for those people who get to make the rules and conditions. Of course its not quite good enough to be able to make rules, you have to be able to bind other people to those rules. But clearly even the threat of physical molestation is not enough to bind some people; because if they have a good reason to feel angry about something, they are often willing to die (and to kill) for a cause. This will to violence shapes our world, "Peace through Strength," we say and the power to destroy guarantees our right to govern the rest of the world. So long as the people place their faith in the idea that, "might makes right" it will always be like this. Popular consent and numbers of votes provide all the necessary rational for doing things a certain way. But I think that history has proven well enough that a man may have good reasons and still do the wrong thing. Enough people would argue that the world shouldn't be the way that it is, and its not the place of perfection that it could be. Life doesn't have to be hard or unpleasant, it could be enjoyable and comfortable for all the people. No one should be made to suffer so that someone else can get ahead of the game, but some pockets are always growing deeper while many people go without food and adequate shelter. How can we make sure that everyone has enough, there's too many of us and our numbers are constantly growing while the world's natural resources are dwindling. And all the while it seems fundamental human nature to struggle for a larger share; we'll take whatever we can get and always want more than we have.

We are all-together on the road to becoming something more than we have been. Its true that we each begin life with some small power over creation or reality. We are endowed by consciousness and therefor volition, a muscle to move hands and shape the world around us. And we have created tools that extend our reach and our strength, they empower us to do more. And we have created the Hierarchy in order to better organize a group effort to change the world in ways that a single person alone could never accomplish. Even given unlimited time and intelligence no one person could ever recreate the world as it stands today. And someone decides which jobs will get done, and what needs we can afford to neglect. And we all make these kinds of judgments to decide who we would like to have for our friends, and which people we can afford to neglect. And I guess we have to make these kinds of judgments because our capacity to pay attention is limited. But so long as we are all on this journey together, is it even possible that we could ever become more than merely human? Perhaps, as many of us do allow for higher-powers, we have something more to aspire too. We can imagine a Creator, a person of greater authority and greater power with unlimited reach within this Universe. And as soon as we imagine such a great person, we can imagine a multitude of lesser persons, a population of Angels and Demons above humanity yet beneath God. And according to the evidence of our own eyes and experience, there is a multitude of persons within this Heaven. We are all aware of many other persons just like ourselves, our peers; although some we may think are less than peers. I stand above someone else and perhaps there is a lord above me, hopefully someone that I can admire and respect. Or perhaps we should only give recognition and pay homage to the Lord of all Lords, the Creator himself. But of course very few of us have ever been given the opportunity to meet such a person. If such a person exists they seem to be undemanding, content to allow humanity to govern itself, making no effort to govern us here on Earth. Of course a great many people trust Moses and believe that a God did give humanity a few rules, more likely Moses used his best judgment and scribed the 10 commandments himself. I can very well appreciate and feel the anguish of a man who desires guidance from the God of his own belief when nothing comes. At least nothing as overt as a booming voice from the sky, if men ever do enjoy guidance from on high its never clear and obvious how it comes to us. But as I've heard a few people testify, and as Moses did claim to experience, and which i myself have experienced, occasionally there is some sign which represents objective reality for the observer and is undeniably divine or at least super-natural.

I met one person via Facebook who claims a personal experience of Jesus in the flesh, and said that the Lord gives him instruction frequently. He suggested that I pray to Jesus for the things I want, and keep a written record of the prayers that are answered. I esentially told him i wouldn't presume to make a score-card for Jesus; and while he may pray for the things he wants, he doesn't really know who or how many higher-powers can hear those prayers. If we speak the words out loud or write them down then practically anyone and everyone could be a witness to our desires. We've all heard someone pray before, in-fact we have some Prayers of Jesus in a written record. And who did Jesus say we should pray to, himself? I think he clearly said we should pray to this other person he called, "Heavenly Father." The writers of the New-Testament books have confused the issue further by saying that the father and the son are one and the same person more or less; and Jesus is presented as the Creator. But evidently Jesus was a human-being like us, with a definite beginning at the time of his conception, and before this moment in time we are nothing that can be accounted for. The Bible suggests that Life on Earth began as the Angels and Demons fell from Heaven, and it's a favorite doctrine of some that we did indeed enjoy some pre-existence and that perhaps we even chose to be here. But for all these people it is not a matter remembered but an article of faith, they have made an investment in this thing as truth, and if it is wrong they only stand to be disappointed. I for one am satisfied that I did not come here from somewhere else, nor was a choice made, clearly we don't always get to make a choice and choices are always being made of which we are completely unaware. Inevitably some of those choices being made by other persons will impact our lives directly. The person in question may very well be dead and long gone from our world and still exert some influence by a decision they made. The past decisions or discoveries which matter the most in our lives are usually very well documented whether or not we ever learn to read and understand them ourselves. These are our arguments, our rationality, whenever we take action in the world it has to make some kind of sense. And when we can see the sense of it, it becomes justifiable; if we can not make sense of it then it may be deemed unjustifiable.

Most human behaviors and acts deemed criminal will be counted as unjustifiable. There may very well be some kind of rational behind such deeds, but the rational may be considered one of insanity. Of course we like the world better if it all makes perfect sense, we would like to have a reason for our existence, a reason that we can understand. The sane rational world is the one we want to live in, a world where every human behavior and deed can be justifiable. Well it is all justifiable, and because human behavior is always justifiable in consideration of all conditions and circumstances, it is not punishable. We can always argue for a case of ignorance, a person did act without some knowledge, their rational may have been erroneous but perhaps it can be understandable how the error occurred? Jesus himself used this argument to suggest that humanity deserves a pardon, and not just on an individual case by case basis but as a community of people. There are things we have done as a community that might be punishable, but the people simply didn't know any better.

So there is my rational and my argument, the sum total of human behavior is always justifiable, the Earth is and has always been a place of perfection. If we have been victims of Insanity we are not to blame for this, in most cases we have been taught what to believe in. If we have been given bad instructions we are blameless for this. Our intellect and rationality has faults, and we are often motivated to act out of very passionate feelings, we don't always need a good reason for doing the things we do. In most every case we are able to make some kind of sense out of our own choices, decisions and actions. If my beliefs or my feelings and my faith make no sense to anyone else its of little consequence to me, I do not take my validation from the community of humankind, I only need to be presentable before my creator. In my own faith everything that we do experience that is subjective, can be rendered objective before God. God is the one great observer of all things, all human experience is genuine experience. When we honestly believe a thing, God knows exactly what it is we believe, therefore he is always aware of how we have been motivated.

I trust God, he may not guarantee my life to be free of all suffering, but I know that he's dependable for something that I will always need. I would love to be guaranteed freedom from molestation, freedom to travel unhindered by worldly authorities and to make my residence wherever I choose. I would love to be guaranteed the means get all manner of material goods. And above all else, I would love to be guaranteed the means and capacity to become something more than I am today, a person far less limited and far more empowered. If I could get one thing guaranteed for the whole of humanity it would be the long life, that they should be made to live again and long enough to become wise. My family and friends should all enjoy the opportunity to learn history first-hand, in conversation with the people who lived it. I think it is not wrong that we might judge one another, but we should all learn to be kind and forgiving judges. We only need to realize that an opinion is not a thing set in stone, our feelings may be subject to change over thousands of years of experience. And in the long run, whatever the truth may be, we should be happy with it.

For What Are We Responsible?

We fight a battle for survival every day; and we win it little by little. But no-one has ever managed to win this battle completely and decisively. For some of us the battle is very easy, more often pleasent than un-pleasent. No-one can show us how it should be fought, we struggle through our own trials and errors.

There's no argueing philosophy with a man of action. We can not get through life by avoiding work. It seems that some battles need to be fought by someone. Quite often we trust not in our God more than superior firepower. Is it truely the most persuasive argument, "Do or be killed?" For many there is some noble cause worth dieing for. By submiting to an aggressor we think it does cause our loss of dignity. We want rights, and to be treated as soverign powers, independent and creditable. We insist, we demand, fair treatment and when its not forthcoming we complain. The right to life alone is most sacred, even if we must survive a life of hardship. Better endurance lends itself to better solutions, in a world full of combatants we win by outliving them.

When we do place our trust in Higher-Powers we need to cultivate a great deal of patience. It seems the best answer to violent conflict is simply to do nothing, wait and occupy yourself with a little game. If we could walk away from a heated argument, we can only get so far away. And then we must contemplate this ineffable companionship and our great interdependence; there is no divorce, no possibility of seperation. We may not choose to ignore our peers because the world is full of dependencies; otherwise we are neglectful of our own responsibility. But what demands can we really make? We often try to get away with as much as we can, we presume that one person may have superior authority. And if we believe thats true we often struggle to be that person.

If there were an authority above all men, its hardly offering to solve our problems for us. We can not complain about the means to an end, where we see no means employed. No one can tell the boss what problems are his responsibility, or how they should be solved. The best we can do is make a suggestion, and offer up our rationale. We can plan for the future we find most desireable, but it wouldn't be realistic to think some divine agency will guide is right to it effortlessly. Some of us even feel that some particular sort of future has been promised, and this possibility has been described in a variety of ways. More often than not the wicked should be punished and our oppressors permanently condemned to some seperate existance. You see we long for seperation, we think it the best solution. If only we could each choose our most favored companions, then we must hope to be chosen by them as well. But who can really decide where to draw the dividing line? Who knows best what is good for us in the long run? Perhaps there is a God who will judge between us, who loves some more than others and dispenses either honor or dishonor. And for what might a person be honored; we are often at odds over this in our faith. For what noble cause has been served, at personal risk and sacrifice. Those who have proven most effective at changing the world, whether they changed it for better for for worse should reap the greater rewards or punishment.

But just for a moment try to imagine a future Earth without punishment or rewards. There is no glory in all the works of humanity that dwells upon us, because all glory goes up to God. The one source of all inspiration, whether a man be inspired for good will or ill. The Arts of Humanity will endure forever and be scribed upon history and the memory of all things even if Life fails us. But it is life that we should really want, manifestation and everything that goes along with it. That is the promise of a ressurection, neverending life that mortality flees beyond the farthest horizons. None may be punished with death, we must endure that company long time. Because there is only one Earth, and its a small world such that none may escape it. There is no other world in the furthest reaches of the Universe that a man may inhabit, and therby gain a greater degree of seperation from his own community. Its a world where no-one can be bothered to lie about something that did happen, only the true story may prevail, it will be told and re-told. And if we can be judged, we judge one-another; if we can be forgiven that person must learn self-love.

But is the ressurection really a promise from some divinity with the power to make it real? Is that a possibility? Is that fated? Is it gaurenteed or conditional? The Universe itself is wonderfully strange and its hard to say what's possible here or to rule out one possibility. If we are willing to consider testamony as evidence, there is a considerable amount of evidence favoring divine powers. There may be a kind of super-nature underlying the fabric of reality that is easily overlooked because we suffer limitation in the ways we can observe this reality. There may yet be some subtle quality here, of which we do partake, that has never been measured or weighed. Observational evidence suggests that there really is an invisible world, invisible yet substantial and influential.

It shouldn't be hard for us to imagine one person, one personality. And still very easy to imagine a multitude of persons and personalities, because we can see that much evidence around us. Clearly there are, and have been numberous persons existant, inhabiting this place. But usually we imagine the limits of this great multitude can be defined by Humanity itself. If there is any purpose to the Universe we must be it, we give it purpose. Without the life of homo-sapiens this Universe should be rendered meaningless, a highly predjudiced point-of-view. And while we observe one another, its easy to imagine another intelligent personality beyond the scope of Humanity. Individually we human beings exert some influence over the material world around us, we are endowed with some kind of common power over reality. And we have imagined a person with more power and influence over this reality than we have. We have imagined a Creator for all this stuff, a person of superior intelligence and longevity. It couldn't possibly be true just because so many of us have believed in it. There is absolutely nothing within reality that could depend upon our beliefs and opinions, there are only factual events. There are events that we have not observed ourselves, some events that no man has ever observed because afterall some places are far distant and history is longer than Life itself. But our friend the Creator has some kind of life that does extend at least to the very beginings of creation. Inasmuch as we have discovered that this wonderful place does have some definate beginings, it's not by appearances an Eternal thing. Of course if the Universe does have a definate begining we can easily imagine it may have a definate end as well. There are few things that we have been able to apprehend with our senses that seem to last forever. Certainly some aspects of creation will last a very long time, far longer than a single human life-time, perhaps longer than the life of the species. If we try, we might be able to imagine an Earth and a Universe where Humanity has become extinct, we know of other species that have failed here, to be found no more.

While we are here, we are men and women of action; Life demands work from us. We can labor to make the Earth a more comfortable place to live, we have succeeded in this respect and may continue to succeed. Yes there are battles for us to fight, there are causes to be served. There are tyrants to be opposed; there are violent men to be vanquished. And we never cease struggleing for a little bit more even after life has become easy for us.
Its not a bad thing to have desires, to want better and more and higher-quality experience. It's not entirely a bad thing when the neccessities of life become convienient to most of us. We can spend some of our time in leisure and rest, life may be a stuggle or a battle but its not a constant battle. Occassionally there is a moment that we can enjoy. There really is no other purpose to life than simply to endure for as long as possible. Ideally we will discover that we ourselves last forever, something endures beyond mortal ends, the physical self is not the full story. A consciouness of personality that perhaps longs for its loss and a return to manifestation. To embrace Life once again, what sacrifices should we be willing to make for this boon? And if there is some sacrifice that we can make to assure this, can one person make it for all the rest? It would take a God to make such a sacrifice as this, human-beings are too feeble. And of course some people do believe that the sacrifice has already been made; salvation favors a friend to that Lord.

Where Art Thou oh Great Kingdom

The Kingdom of Heaven is here and now on Planet Earth as one person among six and one-half billion now living. As Jesus always proclaimed the Kingdom is near at hand, and not coming soon to a theater near you. The Kingdom lived in the person of Jesus, as it lives in me. If only because we know in our hearts that we belong to it, and it belongs to us. We take our place among Kings and Lords, of which there have been many before us. We possess a small piece of the world in this flesh and bone that we wear like a garment. That is enough of a territory within the realm of manifestation for a fair kingdom, it doesn't really depend upon greater authority than any man may have.

I am a nation of the world unto myself, although I reside within the national borders of these United States of America. I am not an American, I am an Earthling without respect for the world's political boundaries. I am not a patriot and citizen of the USA, although by birth I may make that claim; instead I am a citizen of the whole world and Humanity. Every man i call brother, and every woman i call sister, and every child i call my child. But in truth even the adults are my children because I claim them, I claim responsibility for them. For the 14 billion citizens of Humanity, of those now living and all those who have already lived and passed away, I claim responsibility. And what does this responsibility demand from me? I should do whatever can be done to promote the welfare of all people, because I am one of the people and I have a special interest in the people. But I get to decide for myself what it is that the people deserve from me, and how it will be delivered. And of course I am subject to certain limitations; I certainly do not have the means, independently, to feed the hungry. My authority goes as far as it does, and I have done nothing to gather supporters from the world. I have no need to command the labors of men, they have already organized themselves to pursue their own goals in the world. And it pleases me that roads have been built, and bridges, and cities.

The challenge for me now is to win the world as a personal property, not that I need so much for myself. But with property comes property rights and the right to make demands. Such authority as I require for my work could never be granted by a national government or a king of the Earth. No power on Earth can guarantee my rights, especially If I believe it is the right to govern all the people. I want to take my turn at making all the rules, I have waited for the opportunity very patiently. But clearly I do not have an army of the world's young men and women standing behind my great cause, who would be willing to fight and to kill for me. Evidently I can not muster the force required to beat the people into submission. They will never allow me to exercise my property rights, no amount of argument would ever suffice to convince the people the whole world belongs to one man. But there must be a Landlord you see, its a role required by historical precedents, an no one man has ever been able to fill that role. Its a job or career much like any other job or career, and clearly a position of great authority, just waiting for the man who can fill the requirements. No-one can really say what qualifications will be needed to govern the world, we are not choosing our candidates, no-one is voting on the matter.

You really only need to win one vote to win the job, you only need one supporter. If that person is the Lord of Angels and Demons alike, Father to the stars and planets of Heaven, and a force unto itself. The highest possible authority has never resided here on planet Earth. And as a child growing up in America, I believe we were all taught to believe in this Higher-Authority as we pledged allegiance to the American Flag and said the words, "One Nation under God." If higher-powers had the will to intervene in our human affairs, every patriotic American should bow to it. Even Jesus himself who many have believed to be a Lord and King, has a Lord and King above him and he admits as much. If the spirit of Christ is an eternal principle of God as exemplified by the ideal first-born son, then there must also be an eternal principle for the great sire and progenitor. The Heavenly Father himself, a mortal man and not a God descending from Heaven. Its hard to reconcile the idea of a Heavenly Father with a man who has a beginning and a natural birth. If such a person could appear in our world in modern times, then who was it that formed Adam and Eve? Who is this person who wrestled with Jacob and gave him the name Israel? And who's voice was it that spoke to Moses from the burning bush? We have always believed these persons are God, and that God has appeared in our world as a man in the past. Heavenly Father has been considered a God by Christians, and every bit as eternal as a God should be, ever-present in the long-distant past. To allow for the possibility of a mere mortal man to rise into that position in these latter-days breaks the continuity of our story.

But that is exactly the way things work in the Kingdom of Heaven. For every living species there must be a Sire to sponsor them before the agencies of Heaven. In a small way Moses himself played that role but only for the people of Israel. Moses did not say to himself, "I am an Egyptian, I am everyman and love all men equally." Moses showed preference, and that the true King of Kings among men can not do. The true King and Sire must be the Good Father to all people, he can not even prefer the good and honorable over the wicked. He must say to himself, "Every last man is worth fighting for, and deserves good, and deserves salvation." He must believe that no man deserves punishment, he must see the criminal as a victim. Time alone makes all men wise and redeemable, and everyone deserves more time. To learn and to grow and become mature, that is the one great goal of life and God's plan.

Homosexuality and the Kingdom of Heaven

Technically sex is all about making babies and not about our personal pleasure; however it is this mutual pleasure which often binds us together in partnership. If we can manage to make a lasting commitment to another person, it's always a good thing. Of course we may have feelings of love for another person without sex ever coming into the relationship, and its hardly wrong to have feelings of love for a person of the same sex. But when we do have feelings of physical attraction towards person's of the same sex; I don't think its as simple as making a choice to feel that way. Indeed some people seem to have been made homosexual, by whatever agency of creation, and we really have no explanation for why this is so. Like it or not, homosexuality is a part of Life, and we shouldn't have a problem with that so long we enjoy some personal freedom. No-one should be forced into sex or molested in any other way, if we did not have to fear this, then we should have no fear of homosexuality.

If there are two consenting adults, bound together by emotional commitments they should be allowed to sanctify that union as they see fit. Whether you want to call it a marriage or a civil union, a little ceremony is good and far better than a written contract. And all the trouble with it begins and ends with legal entitlements that should be due to a spouse and family members of someone who is gainfully employed. It should be enough to prove our commitment to another human-being just to live together in one household, it shouldn't require a legal document as proof. But most people fail to make the lasting commitment, and we need a way to settle disputes when partners separate. Unfortunately such matters often require a court of law if our partners can not separate amicably. We really have to wonder how Love fails us so often, or ask if there was truly Love in the first place.

More often than not, we expect a little fealty from our sex partners; we demand exclusivity. Of course this makes perfectly good sense whenever offspring may be involved because you have to resolve the matter of who will do the parenting. If we allowed for a larger household and more partners, the issue of parenting could benefit. But most of us feel that we would have to sacrifice to much of our rights and privileges to an expanded partnership. As much as some people would like to dominate the lives of their children, we share the burden of parenting with the greater community. In a perfect world we would share the financial obligations as well, among every adult citizen of the community. For the most part our children will get to choose their own hero's in life, mom and dad often provide the best examples of what not to be. I think its fair to say that homosexual couples could do the parenting job as well as anyone else, and if they desire to have children should be allowed to adopt.

So is there a place for Homosexuals within the Kingdom of Heaven? If that Kingdom may be extended to Planet Earth there should be. As the Earth is one planet in the vast expanse of Heaven, I've repeatedly tried to make the point that it's already a part of that Kingdom. But many of God's faithful and true believers will tell you that the Kingdom of Heaven is something else, something separate from this Universe even something unmanifest. Our spirits are caught up to this Heavenly Kingdom only when we die and leave this manifestation behind. But in my opinion these 3-dimensions of physical existence of which we are most familiar is not the full story. Manifestation is key to existence, no thing may exist in an unmanifest condition. And every manifest thing exists within God's presence, separation from God's presence is not a possibility. Many scriptural and inspired writings talk about separation as either a fact or a promise, some of Heaven's personalities will be cast out to another realm forever separated from God's presence because they are enemies to God. But in my estimation most people are confused about who God is and what it is exactly that he does for us. Some people feel that there can be more than one God, and perhaps even a man can become Godlike. There may be many Lords within the Kingdom of Heaven, each with his own authority and capacity to accomplish work. Some of these Lords may have followers and some may have no followers, and every Lord pays homage to a higher Lord. Until you come to the Lord of Lords and yet still beyond him lies the One-True-And-Most-High-God. The Kingdom of Heaven may yet be one Kingdom among many, even our creator may have his peers. But until a man grows so much that he can become a Heaven unto himself, we are bound to this Heaven as children of a Higher-Power.

We are creators and progenitors here on planet Earth, but we are not THE CREATOR, we are not THE PROGENITOR of the species. And no matter what happens to us we can never be elevated to these roles. A man can never become A God, a person can not become like God, there can never be more than ONE God. But a man can become something more than his beginnings. And you'll just have to trust that there is a beginning to all good things under Heaven, no human-being is or has ever been eternal. But we are part of eternity now so we have not failed, and I pray thee God that we can become a more durable part of eternity and endure forever. If you can see the great multitude as personalities we can take a broader view on this Kingdom, clearly it is not limited to just human-beings. But every personality is dependent on this flow from God as the one and continuous source of consciousness, consciousness is our best evidence for God's presence within the Universe.

Dawning of Aquarian Age

The People apply their own judgement to create a sliding scale of importance; which is really neccessary if you're applying that judgement to tasks. Some jobs have dependencies and need to be completed before other jobs can be done. But its not so great if we apply the same judgement to persons, and decide that some one person is more or less important than another person. Clearly some people are more or less influential in our Global Community, which leads us to believe that power and authority can be focused on an individual. But the truth is we are equally powerful and equally important. Time is the commodity, we are alloted equal shares at the exact same rate, and it spends in the exact same way - although you may choose what to spend it on. 1 hour out of any human life is just as precious, irreguardless of the person's ability to perform some useful labor. The most fundamental activities of human life - such as breathing for example; are work and labor intensive - but nobody ever gets paid just for breathing. But most of us deserve some recognition just for surviving in this world, longevity is a fair measure of success. Many of us have had to endure some kind of hardship in life, it doesn't always seem fair, but there is no higher authority to gaurentee us comfort and security. We suffer the loss of our property or our companions as gracefully as we can; and there is no-one really to blame for these losses, thats just the nature of reality. While its true that we collectively create our own reality to a degree, the greater part of it is circumstantial and beyond our power to affect or control. But since we are each endowed by some power of will to influence our environment, we still get to make choices of consequence. We shouldn't have to depend so much on the choices that other people are making all the time, independence is freedom, but our interdependence is unavoidable. Most of the time our interdependence works out to be an advantage, but someone is always trying to take advantage of us. We don't always get a fair exchange of labor for labor, someone is always looking to profit. Who would choose to forego profits in favor of fairplay, and share the advantages life has given us? There are few things in life that we may easily afford to give away, and not be deprived of something valuable. We may spend an hour of our time only once.

We should exercise some care not to become too demanding of other people's time and attention; but not because we are unimportant, but because we are NOT more important and shouldn't want to promote the other guy's importance above our own.

When we can look at the 6.5 billion people without prejudice and see peers, companions, and enduring relationships we begin to achieve the true spiritual awakening.

The relationships between the people will endure; and you can't say, "But we've never had a conversation, there is no relationship!" In due course of time you may get the opportunity to have that conversation, we only need to be willing.

Majorities and Popular Support

Of course I do not have the means to subdue the American people on my own, but I never work alone. The number of companions I have available is simply unknown, I may easily have a majority opinion behind my great cause. But the truth is I only need to win one supporter, if that person has greater authority and strength than the American people can muster.

If I propose that the world needs to be forced into peace, then obviously such an idea will not make me popular. I could make more of an effort to gather support from the greater community of humanity, but popularity is not a requirement for the King to do his job. We don't vote for a King you see, the King votes for himself, the ultimate minority. The King defines his own career, he's self-employed always. And we should only hope that the person who wins authority over every nation of the world, is motivated by the noblest intentions. Ideas like, "the greater good" should prevail over personal gain.

But what does our world really deserve, and what are the people expecting? Are they expecting a Kind and Loving Father to rise up from their midsts and guide the world to prosperity? A good judge who will not punish the people. Most people seem to agree that there are some wicked men and women here on planet Earth who do deserve punishment. If there is no punishment they will be greatly dissappointed.

But many people who follow the New Testament Bible are expecting an Anti-Christ to rise to power over the world. A great villan and tyrant, but still a person of considerable authority. This person's authority does not come from God, or so it is believed; this is not a person of superior faith. It all seems to depend on the agency of some Higher-Powers which exist between God and Men. A pact with the Devil perhaps, or should we call him the Ancient Dragon? Clearly this person's time and authority on Planet Earth will be limited, if we follow the prophecy. If we look at this person as the Anti-Christ he is just doing a job, and a neccessary job by all indications. And for his part of the work there is a reward, the reward does not sound very appealing but someone has to claim it.
These are the conditions that will advance our great cause, the ultimate survival of our species depends on this. And the promise of our immortality and ressurection depends on this. Therefor we must consider the possiblity that our favorite enemy, the expected anti-christ, is motivated to make the personal sacrifice out of compassion.

Its long been a saying that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.
And Hell is meant to be a place of everlasting suffering, nobody wants to end up there. Who can cope with that, and endure it? Only the Most-High-God can grant us the strength to endure everlasting torment. The person who finds himself there may long for an end to come, but the end will be far removed from his reach. Curiously this condition does represent a kind of immortality, and the life of that man must be preserved indefinately.

Of course our great tyrant does not go alone to the fire, he has a companion in the Ancient Dragon, and the Beast of the Earth. I've never talked about the nature of the Beast in my blog as yet. This is a creature of Humanity, it is made up of men and women. Possibly every man and woman should be considered as a part of it. In a sense it represents the modern age of humanity, and our civilization is characterized by it. No one has ever been able to tame the beast, it has a life of its own and pursues it's own interests. Those interests are characterized by 7 heads and 10 kings or horns. We could try to guess at the meaning of those 10 horns, and it would be fair to say that material wealth is one strong motivation among men. Political Authority is another strong motivation, in fact religious leaders depend on that kind of authority as much as leaders of nations do. But we don't really need to have it all well defined in order to understand what it is, in essence it is the system that governs our world today.

If we look at our world today and see evil intentions at play, we might conclude that some of the people are evil. We may believe in a Satanic Higher Power, whispering inspiration into the ears of men. A force that opposes life and peace, engenders hatred and not love. But I have never believed in our purity, as manifest beings we depend on immpurity. And I will never be convinced that a spirit of pure evil exists to oppose the Most-High-God. I will never be convinced that a personality may be seperated from God's presence and continue to exist. Therefor I will never agree on seperate realms of existence, where a God is present in one exaulted realm and absent from another realm. The One-True-And-Most-High-God has no enemies in my humble opinion. The Most-High-God is indifferent about life, it is not particularly Pro-Life, it's neither a champion or opponent of Life. But it is a champion of Persons, and Pro-Choice.

I am still unconvinced that a personality may exist and exercise any will or agency within the Universe unless it is also manifest in some way. Therfor I don't agree with a view of Heaven that has it populated by disembodied unmanifest spirits. I'm willing to consider the posibility that our little Universe has more than 3 physical dimensions, perhaps as many as 10. Clearly there is something to this manifestation that we have been unable to observe. I think that the Universe is a wonderful thing and should be preserved and not destroyed. Personally I can't think of a better way to enjoy the experience of Life, than what we've been given. The Earth is still a beautiful world, it shouldn't be a place of suffering.
I'm perfectly content to live here forever in this Universe just the way that it is, without modification, and with good companions.

If the Ancient Dragon will be a good and faithful companion to me I'm willing to meet this person. I'm willing to meet every person as a peer, and to extend the hand of friendship. To walk and talk together, conversation is the best past-time. Even a good argument can be enjoyable if we can manage our own temper. The best way to enjoy life is to treat the other guy as an equal, and to be treated as an equal, even if we are not equals.

The Fundamental Authority

There is something very fundamental about individual human authority which is exactly the same for all men. Despite all appearances, no one human being can be more or less powerful than another. While its true that some people are more or less influential with the rest of the population; its untrue that their individual interests are more or less important than anyone else's interests. And the interests of a group of people can not be superior to the interests of an individual. So long as these imbalances exist, we may not enjoy equal rights.

I can not appeal to a higher authority than myself among men. To be certain there may be men who are more knowlegeable and better educated and better informed than myself. Simply being very knowledgeable about a particular topic represents a certain kind of authority. But this is not the authority to make demands upon the time and attention of others. The almighty dollar does represent the authority to make demands upon the time and attention of others. But even if you have the dollars, the other party must be agreeable to the terms of payment. Often the person or agency that provides goods or services has all the authority required to define it's own terms and conditions. So that our consumers must agree to those terms at the risk of being refused services, even if they have the means to pay a fair price. For some of life's neccessities we often need to win favor and be considered creditworthy, because we do not have the means to pay. But we might have the means to pay over a length of time; depending on our ability to earn a wage.

How do we evaluate the human potential for earning a wage? We look at a person's qualifications, commonly represented by a diploma or piece of paper that claims we know something. If we know what kinds of jobs a person can do, we can evaluate their earning potential. And the value of any given job depends to a large degree upon the demand for that type of labor, and the availability of qualified laborers. But as individuals we can create our own careers in life, we can choose to work for ourselves and define our own jobs. So long as we can find people willing to compensate us for our time, we may enjoy some financial success.

Now with the authority of all men being equal; we can speculate on a person of higher authority. We can speculate on a person of greater means with less limitations; A non-human entity. Consider for example the authority to grant a plot of land, or a deed to any other material resource. We must first find out if someone owns the land already before we can make use of it. And if a group of people craves a land that is already occupied, they must often fight for it. Possession is nine-tenths of the law concerning property rights. And if we can muster the force to deprive someone else of their property or destroy it, thats the other tenth of the law.

The force required to deprive someone of life may be rendered trivial; and we should consider the physical body to be a personal property. Therefor whenever a person is killed in our world, they are also deprived of personal property here. A house takes some time and effort to build, and minimal effort to destroy, therefor it is easy to deprive someone of their house if not their life. And whenever we are powerless to defend our property rights, we must surrender them. And all other human rights depend upon property rights.

Now if there is a Creator Persona who was instrumental in the formation of our solar system and planet, then naturally that person would enjoy prior-claim to the property. And if it by making some choice made life a possibility here on planet Earth; or anywhere else for that matter, then we are completely and utterly dependent on that decision being made. If it was in fact a decision at all, there must be a greater authority to make that decision. An authority which preceeds the creation of life itself, and is therefor greater in scope than the authority that we as individual people enjoy. But I'm talking about a unique individual with very definate beginings. It would enjoy some degree of influence over the whole process of creation just by its position, and guiding creation may be considered as this person's job or career. If we may be gaurenteed any property rights, that gaurentee must come from it, we can not gaurentee those rights to one-another. But our friend the Creator has never saved one of us from our own mortality to best of my personal knowledge; and thereby gaurenteed us a place in creation. If we are given the right to personal property at all within this realm of manifestation, it appears that grant will always be of limited duration.

Now our good friend, the Universal Overseer, would naturally be interested in Human affairs. And it may be within the realm of possiblities that one of us could win favor from it, to be considered creditworthy. As individuals we have the power to accomplish some work in creation, we are each creators in our own right. If our individual efforts may be of any value to meet the desires of a Universal Overseer, we may find ourselves with a worthy career. And of course the rewards in terms of material wealth may be virtually limitless. But the very best reward we could possibly win is virtually unlimited time, the right to exist and continue to exist. And if we have any ability or capacity to provide services of value, a victory over mortality would allow us to continuosly provide those services. Part of being creditworthy is the ability to make a lasting commitment, but only the creator can guarentee that our existence here is uninteruptable.

Jesus told us the parable of the buried treasure, and he said that the Kingdom of Heaven is very much like this story. The treasure was hidden away in some field, and this field has a landlord who employs people to work in his field. And a man so employed discovers the treasure, but he doesn't run to inform the landlord. Instead he covers up the treasure and hurrys off the earn the means to purchase the land, so that he can claim the treasure himself. The field is the Earth itself, and the buried treasure is the sum total of human experience. Its easy to deduce that nothing in the world is more valuable than personal experience, and the quality and abundance therof. We are blessed when we enjoy long lives because we also enjoy a greater share of personal experience. But where does a man go to earn a wage which represents the means to purchase this field? And who is the current landlord that we must find agreeable to the means we have available? Can a man purchase the world by taking a portion therof and by shaping it and crafting it produce durable goods? How could a well crafted portion of the Earth serve as the means to purchase the whole Earth? There must be something of intrinsic value that does not depend upon manifestation at all or the ability to produce durable goods. And it must be something of value to our prior-employer and current landlord.

Therfor i make my appeal to a higher authority and a Higher-Power; to get something that would be of value to our friend the Creator I'm willing to work. I wanted to earn the wages, to purchase the field, to claim the treasure. What is this mysterious wage if not money? We should call it faith, we all start out life with one talent worth of faith, the proverbial mustard seed. But a seed has the power to draw upon the enviornment and grow, eventually it may become more than a seed. As the seed becomes the good tree, the tree becomes the producer of more seed. That is the fruit of a well developed healthy faith. And so from one good tree a forest may be produced. I am the guardian of this tree and it shelters me from the storms, I defend it from harm because it has a life unto itself. I see the tree and it is good to me, so I have hope for the forest. Am I the tree, or is it just an idea about the nature of reality? Is the flesh of this tree built up from facts and hard knowledge or merely beliefs, perhaps a little of both come together in some kind of alchemy. I don't really know how the seed becomes the tree, I just know it takes time to grow, and perhaps a little nurturing.

If you've read much of my little blog you should be able to tell that my self-love and self-interest is very strong. I believe in myself, I believe that I have something to offer. I believe that I have the power to make a decision, a decision that no-one else will be able to make. And a decision that may be of consequence to you, not because I am popular or influential within the community. But because I have a plan, and the ability to communicate that plan in great detail. I've lived long enough to become very well established as a personality within the great Kingdom of Heaven. I've made my mark upon the fabric of reality, a mark that can not be unmade or erased. That I have been here as one human being among many will pass the test of time, that fact will endure even if this body does not. And I have long known something that most people are never made aware of, there is a God or Creator paying attention to me. Therfor I know that higher-powers are very well informed of every plan that I've made. I just need approval, and something that is not entirely subjective. But I have received some validation that should be considered objective and factual. And if it was only one person who believed in me, that would have been Eve, and whenever two agree on something that is all it really takes to make something objective.

I don't know why the world should be saved, I don't know if the people really deserve peace on Earth or any other blessings of prosperity. As a responsible and mature member of the species, I don't need to decide why. I don't even need to decide who is deserving, as far as picking and chooseing between individuals I can't do it. Evidently some people will have to make sacrifices in order for Peace to be established here, in fact every person may be asked to make some kind of sacrifice. The children of humanity may have to endure a little more hardship but not out of unkindness. Clearly it seems unfair that one of us should be elevated above everyone else, and the playing field leveled. Its hard to justify a King's authority, its just irrational that one man's opinion should take precedence over popular opinion. One must be willing to deliver the species into the Dragon's jaws; because if the beast can not be tamed it serves the greater good that it should be destroyed. Unfortunately the threat of destruction is the only argument which carries much weight with the people.

The fine art of leadership is to limit our options; and to describe what those options will be, then to let the people choose. So there are two paths of advance for the human species. One path leads to Peace and the practice of non-violence, a Peace that will last a Millenium at least. And that path leads on to the promise of a ressurection whether or not thats what you want. The other path leads to genocide in the belief that 'might makes right,' and our story will end. You can forget about any kind of life within this Heaven and take your chances on the Eternal Kingdom. I think that most people would be willing to sacrifice just about anything to be on the path to survival. As soon as they realize they're caught in the trap, they'll start trying to escape. A day of judgement without the threat of punishment, since a swift death can not be viewed as punishment.
We all succeed or fail together as a species, the long struggle for survival is meaningful or rendered futile in an instant.

Nature Vs Super-Nature

We only need to answer this one question really, "Can a man be inspired by some Higher-Power?" And then if we are willing to believe that some Higher-Power does exist, such as a Creator, it would only require a small amount of faith to answer that question in the affirmative. Because we can very easily see that as individuals we are very small, seeming insignificant within the whole of the Universe. Still being very small has not prevented us from having faith in ourselves, that we are somehow still significant. Humanity is important for whatever reason, your reason doesn't really matter, the fact that we exist here and now in the present moment does matter. Intelligence and Rationality fails to provide us with a clear path of advance, a path that assures the survival of our species here on Planet Earth. Because we have the power to make the planet unihabitable to human life, and we have the means to rationalize and justify this destruction. It only takes one man or woman to decide that the solution to all our problems is mass genocide, if it can be had at the press of a button. The effort required to destroy a thing has always been far less than the effort required to build, in fact our technology has rendered the effort trivial.

But why does it matter if a man can be inspired? Because we have prophets, and we have this man named John of Patmos, who is the author of a book of Revelations. The last book in our New Testament bibles tells a story of tribulation and hardship but ends with the blessing and promise of our immortality. We may consider this Biblical Prophecy to be mere wishful thinking, derived from an erroneous view of some historic events. I mean afterall if you truly believe that Jesus was rasied from the dead, it stands to reason that other people might be raised as well. And you can follow this reasoning pefectly to conclude that some time in the distant future there might be a general ressurection. With the intervention of some Higher-Power even this reawakening of the long dead becomes a possibility. Restored once again to the flesh, and with a full memory of our lives and past deeds. Once immortal how will we entertain ourselves and pass the time on Planet Earth? Clearly we will pass the time together, there are approximately 14 billion of us, who now live or have ever lived.

We would like to see the wicked men and women punished and deprived of this great blessing because we don't want them for companions. But are we really given to choose and to judge who would be deserving and who should be undeserving? What if it came down to the choice of blessing every human-being or condemning them all together? Either the criminals and sinners must be saved or else the good honorable men and women must be condemned all at once. Jesus and his supporters implied that some selection process may divide the people, and a clear line would be drawn between deserving and undeserving. Some people feel this may depend on a faith in Jesus as our Lord and saviour, and perhaps a babtism. If we were taking a vote on who should be King and guide the species into the future, Jesus would make a very strong candidate if he can be found. But it was not this Lord's purpose in life to judge but to forgive. If we have a need to atone for our past deeds or simple missconceptions, the Lord Jesus proposes to atone in our behalf. Individually we are not strong enough to endure God's plan of salvation, we need help. But among all our rights as gaurenteed by our Creator, is the right to that companionship which we will certainly enjoy. We need never be alone in the Kingdom of Heaven or the greater Kingdom of Eternity. And the Universe is a wonderful glorious kingdom in it's own right, it's a real place where real people can enjoy the experience of LIFE. And the promise of more life is what we all want, its what Humanity needs, whether or not we are deserving.

If our friend John was truly inspired then the promise comes with a certain price, and conditions. While it's not always clear what these conditions amount to, one thing stands out clearly, it is the Millenium of Peace on Earth. It is a Peace which our world does not currently enjoy; and we can hardly imagine how we will get there from where we are now. If we could set all the world's Saints to marching, and all in the same direction, they would have to march towards Peace. Clearly the Peace will never be established without some considerable effort, the people may very well have to fight for it. The behaviour of our more violent compatriots must in some way need be arrested. Generally speaking it would take a pretty convincing argument to see the world leaders give up their authority and start beating swords into plowshares. They don't really care for a ressurection to immortality because this eventuality comes with accountability. So long as we have mortality to comfort us and give us rest, we have a way to escape all possibility of personal consequences. But if we can be made to live forever, but not given a choice to choose for ourselves, to live or not to live with ourselves, it may be a great dissappointment to many. We don't always have options to choose from, you need alternatives to make a decision or else nothing can be decided. To the best of my knowledge there are no other options available to Humankind than more life on Planet Earth.

So basicly we are not voting on the matter, popular consent is not an issue. Either we meet the conditions and win the promise for one and all, or else we dissappear from this Universe once and for all. And the Universe may very well go on without us, and serve the good fortune of other living creatures, whether there are beings of intelligence like us or not. If humanity were ever allowed to escape from this one solar system and spread into the greater galaxy, we may be as a plague upon the possibility of other civilizations. We are born native to this Earth, and here is our home forever and ever, we do not really belong elsewhere. So we may consider that our world is facing a crisis, we have a long history of crisis, to date we have overcome all and survived. Now that the world has failed to kill us we have grown stronger. But we can not win our future through strength; only through meekness, when all our strength fails us. Because the Universe seems to be telling us that there is a Beginning and an End to all things, nothing manifest lasts forever here in Reality. Mortality is Natural and Immortality is Super-Natural, even the Immortality of an entire species of life.

But we should hope for our immortality, and we should hope that the Earth and Sun may shine forever. The Universe itself may endure that long, if we are blessed we may always be part of it. Each and every one of us a small creator and author of history, by the very action of LIFE. If we believe that LIFE is good and brings purpose to the Universe, then we should allow the Universe to have a purpose. We are part of the greater whole today, let us be an enduring part.

Vasovagal Episodes

Well it looks like i have this problem http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasovagal_episode we've decided with a little help from a neurologist. I've had these episodes triggered by hard coughing and I'm currently under docs orders not to do any driving. The reason i'm coughing so much is because of a long time smoking habit, now struggling to break that habit. If I can eliminate the coughing as a trigger I think it will be safe for me to continue driving.

I've had a reoccuring problem with these type of fainting spells since my teenage years. And I'm certain that in some cases it has been triggered by severe anxiety, never could donate blood because of the fainting. I've had blood drawn for tests so many times you'd think i would have gotten over the anxiety by now, but needles still trouble me occassionally. I'm currently taking a psychiatric medication called Xanex for anxiety, seems to help. I started taking the Xanex right after i complained to my doctor about the anxiety over this disability case. Now as i've already remarked in my JAN posting, the disability benefits were denied; and this is basicly the third time an SSA judge has denied my case. However my attorney is still willing to pursue the case and has begun the process of appealing.

I'm just keeping this posting very brief, it goes to my personal life and history.

Is Eternal Life A Possibility for Us?

The Later-Day Saints profess a doctrine of eternal life, they believe that we enjoy some pre-existant condition as spirit children of God. As such we choose life on Earth, we may even be given to choose our own parents. To live within this realm of manifestation is an important part of God's plan for our salvation. But no thing that has some definate begining may be considered 'Eternal.' Only God himself is Eternal and we can never become Gods ourself, but we can become Lords and Ladies within the Kingdom of Heaven. This citizenship in Heaven comes with its own responsibilities, and the Church professes that we must become Husbands and Wives and Parents. We must have that marrital relationship or else we can never be whole and complete as seperate indivuduals, we can only enjoy wholeness in relationship to our chosen mate. Some people would say that a personal relationship with God is all that matters, and they profess that the Lord Jesus IS God, and therefore are satisfied to enjoy some relationship with him. But we can not by choosing Jesus deny our realtionship to the multitude of people who do live within the Universe here on Planet Earth. And all of this world and it's people are some small part of the greater whole, the Kingdom of Heaven and then the Eternal Kingdom of God.

According to the doctrines of the LDS Church this Eternal Kingdom is yet to be established, but it can in no way fail to exist or have a begining and still be considered Eternal. So the only thing that can be established about the Eternal Kingdom is that THIS IS IT! If the World is not part of the Eternal Kingdom today, if it has not always been part of that Kingdom, then God's Eternal Kingdom is in some way limited. But the true Kingdom of God knows no borders or divisions, the underlieing unity of all things is the eternal truth.

We may never enjoy Eternal Life, because we know very well what it means to be alive and that depends entirely upon manifestation. If we did enjoy some pre-existance as unmanifest spirits that is NOT LIFE. No sir, life always has a definate begining at the time that we are born or conceived. We do not exist as persons prior to this eventuality, unless we did also enjoy some prior form of manifestation within the Universe. And I consider this to be a possibility because according to the Bible the Stars and Planets of Heaven are the Angels and the Demons who did fall to Earth. If the Angels and Demons have become manifest as men and women because they fell, then it was not a choice. But if we consider the truth of the Reality the Stars and Planets have not fallen from the sky, they still exist in manifestation and are very durable. Even when a star does cease to shine there is often some remnant left over that goes on. Perhaps as men and women who have been Angels and Demons of Heaven we enjoy some kind of dual manifestation. The Celestial body is far more durable than the terrestrial body. But if we do enjoy this life we have as Human Beings and want it to continue on indefinately, then we need this terrestrial body to last.

Within the Genesis Story we are told of the Tree of Life, and eating it's fruits are the key to everlasting life. No such tree may be found here on Planet Earth in modern times, if it did ever exist here it's long gone. Will this mystical tree ever be restored to the World or must we depend upon the good works of medical science to solve the problem of mortality? I myself do not know the answer to this question, but I do believe we should make every effort just in case. Wether we gain this tree of life or medical science solves the problem of mortality once and for all, we have no explaination how the dead may be restored to life. Somehow this remarkable eventuallity is supposed to be a part of our story here. We don't know when or how it will happen, but if we trust the prophets then we have faith in it.

Perfection and Eternity

Within the Spirit of God lies the ideal of perfection. As individuals we may strive to embody that ideal, to become the perfect examples of an eternal principle. And when we are successful and have all the agencies of Heaven at our beck and call we may become like Gods ourselves. But this exaulted position still comes with certain limitations, so long as it resides within the realm of manifestation. The Individuality of persons must be preserved, and our freedom to make our own choices must be preserved. Therfore we may choose a master to follow or else we may choose self-mastery. If we choose a Lord or choose to become Lords ourselves, the Most-High-God may yet be glorified by our accomplishments. Within the principles of Buddism it is not what some Higher-Power can do for us that matters, but what we can accomplish for ourselves. And the supreme goal of life it to be freed from all suffering; from the Buddist perspective we suffer because of our attachment to manifestation. But its still within the realm of possibilities for us to choose to be part of the physical Universe and choose to be happy at the same time.

If our own limitations do not make us unhappy, then we need not struggle against them. And by not struggling we may enjoy peace and happiness, we all need to rest from our battles some of the time. But we may rejoin the battle at any time, so long as it remains unwon. So long as we do not impose upon ourselves schedules and deadlines for our accomplishments we can enjoy life within the Eternal Kingdom. But within the realm of all possible work there exists dependencies, sometimes we can accomplish nothing at all while we wait for someone else to make a decision. And LIFE IS WORK, to survive is a struggle in itself, but it need not be an overwhelming burden it could be easy. And if we can become Lords and Ladies of Heaven you might think that God himself should make certain that we never have to go hungry. Within the realm of manifestation there is no lack of material goodness, all our cravings may be fulfilled if we have all the agencies of Heaven at our beck and call. And we win the agencies of Heaven through faith alone, so how must we vest our faith?

Does it matter if we believe in the Most-High-God, and that we love him? Does it matter if we trust that God has a plan for us? We may not know what that plan is but if we think that we do know its possible that we are misstaken about all the details. If we think that we do know what God's character is like, its possible that we are misstaking some Lord or Lady for the Most-High. If our beliefs are in error does it harm the health of our faith? Because faith is like a living thing, we need to tend to it and help it grow; it benefits from our watchful eye, a little watering and fertilizing. But faith is more than just mere belief, and more than just passionate belief; because we ourselves have no special power over the fabric of reality to shape it and control it. It depends upon a belief in something larger than ourselves, and what we think of that something matters. If we do love ourselves and love Heaven, then we can believe in our own importance without thinking ourselves more important. If we may count ourselves among God's children without thinking that God's children are ranked in any way, then we are indeed blessed. If we see ourselves within the light of truth we are not only blessed with God's love; but we are blessed with a great multitude of companions and peers. We do not need to choose God, we do not need to follow him, He will be our constant companion wherever we may travel. But we do need to choose one another, and choose fellowship, and we may choose fellowship with the agencies of Heaven. Even all of the angels and demons are children of God and our peers, and the Mind of our Creator is no less the peer.

There is my Lord in Heaven, and I myself am a Lord of Heaven under it. We all have some definate begining here, we are not eternal creatures of life, but we subscribe to eternal principles. Held to be true within the spirit of the Most-High-God; reserved there for us to claim, but we are powerless to deny one true thing. We are powerless to change one historical event, but we decide what it means to us. We may choose to be bound by past decisions that have been made by other men, or we can decide for ourselves what is right and what is wrong. I choose to apply my own judgement, I choose my own direction in life and my own path; I choose self-mastery and self-governance. The road may be long and hard, but i vest all my faith into eternity and therfore choose not to be bound by deadlines. I may still however be bound by our interdependencie's while making progress, that progress may have some limitations.

All-in-All i'm unhappy about the circumstances that we find ourselves in so much conflict here on Planet Earth. I'm unhappy with all the divisions in our world. When one group chooses retaliation against another for some perceived immorality, it does harm the common welfare. We do not hold life itself to be sacred, we often ask that a life be sacrificed for the sake of the common good or for our own self-interest. And we say that some sacrifce is required to preserve our freedom and our rights, our very way of life may be at risk if we do not defend it. But such rights as we desire and believe we deserve are not gaurenteed by God, if gaurenteed by God they are in need of no defense. Even our own personal property rights within the world, while considering this flesh and bone as property, are held accountable to the law of mortality. And for all that we may still have some influence with the world long after we are gone, the world may not reward us. We may feel grateful for the contributions that other great men have made, but can these dead men know of our gratitude and admiration for them? If a Human life may be restored to the World, all those great men and women may learn of our love for them. And it is for this restoration to life that I fight, I am dedicated to this battle forever and ever until it can be won.

Who is this Person Called God?

The process of Creation AND Destruction is ongoing within our Universe. Every star is unique and important to this process, but is one human life less important than the life of a star? We could observe that our Sun is more important than Life on Earth because without it Life would not be possible here. The Sun provides some useful and neccessary labor for us, we are completely dependent on that work being done. But we have become an important part of this process of Creation and Destruction in our own right; we are each small Creators. We created languages and written records, and we shaped the substance of the Earth to suit ourselves. Therfore we created Industry, to shape the world around us more efficiently. And now we have created the PC and the Internet, to usher in this Golden Age of Information.

Our communities are globally connected, we carry on relationships that cross international borders. There has never before been an 'Age of Man' like the modern age; where we can travel to any corner of the Earth very swiftly. The agencies of our civilization reach to the furthest corners of the world. And we may see the most distant lands without traveling or leaving the comfort of our own homes. We have virtually traveled to the most distant planets of our solar system.

Some degree of education has become commonplace among the children of the Earth. And to a large extent we have created knowledge to learn about how things work in the world. We have developed our own systems and techniques for accomplishing work. We have observed the world around us and classified and named everything in it. We observe the many stars in Heaven but it is still beyond us to give each a personal name, many are simply designated by a catalog number. We have apprehended all this wealth of the Living Universe, and exploited it's natural resources to some extent. Most of us can enjoy a life of relative comfort and convienience. And we are each free to expend our labour as we see fit, weighing the effort against the advantages.

Still some problems never seem to get solved, they have been with us for all of recorded history. The Earth iself is still Geologically active and this presents some problem for human life and property, but life somewhat depends on those processes as well. Of course we are completely powerless to prevent an Earthquake from happening, or some other kinds of natural disasters. We can only pick up the pieces and carry on with life after the fact, and the species survives while some individuals may perish.

A friend of mine believes in the coming tribulation, he thinks its something unavoidable, God's great plan. He should pray for the rapture to come swiftly and save him from a troubled world, because he follows the example of Christ. But I told him that so long as he lives here on Planet Earth he falls within my domain, the domain of Lord Ken. He may be counted as an equal or a peer or as just another one of my many children. I told him that my faith is not the tiny mustard seed but the sheltering tree. And he asks, "But what or who do you have faith in? Some unknowable God?" I have faith in myself and my abilities, I do exercise some power to change the world so long as I survive here. I believe that my intentions are good; and not just good for myself but good for all people. And I have faith in the Eternal Kingdom of God, as a real place and this Universe a small part of it.

According to the prophecy of the tribulation all this will pass away, the Universe is temporary and will be destroyed eventually. But I say no, the Universe is built to last forever; and we don't just discard good work when we are done with it. The Realm of Manifestation and Creation is Art and Beauty, its a wonderful thing! He enjoys some personal vision of Heaven at the throne of God; and I say to him, "but this not a vision of life and manifestation." It is not a kingdom of stars and planets, which kingdom he believes will pass away in an instant like a scroll being snapped shut. And all the Angels and Demons of Heaven do battle over wether or not this Universe should be preserved. If we favor the preservation of Universe then we are enemies to God's plan of salvation. He says that Satan is the enemy of God, but I say he is just another Angel, God has no enemies. Satan wants to deceive humanity and see our world destroyed, therefore he has worked to seperate us from our God and from one another. We have become divided in so many different ways. We can't really blame all this deception and division on some divine agency, we are capable of doing this to ourselves without guidance. Satan is not the great evil spirit controlling our world, no such spirit of pure evil intent exists, or for that matter is there a spirit of pure good intent. Every spirit is bound by certain limitations, especially when manifest; and in my own opinion there is no such thing as unmanifest spirit excepting it be the spirit of the Most-High God.

And the spirit of God pervades every corner of Creation, blessing it with consciousness. We can see the evidence of God's spirit at work simply by observing the great multitude of persons. This God is not entirely unknowable because we can know it by what it does for us. It is the source of all inspiration, and the sponsor of insight. It is a God of truth and reveals only truth, it is not a God of deception. It is a witness to events and to our very thoughts and feelings, we enjoy no privacy from this God we have no secrets. If this God loves some of us more than others, it's not clear. If we think of this God as a person, we have to imagine a person who is totally free from all desires. Such a God would not impose governance upon the people, it leaves that for us to do because we have desires. Such a God would never propose 10 commandments for men to live by, it preserves personal choice and personal judgement without limitations.

This is the God of my beliefs, it is not the more personal God as presented within the Bible. If Moses and the people of Israel had dealings with some Higher-Power, and it appears that they did, I do not imagine this person to be the Most-High God. I can not venture to guess why it would pretend to be A God, clearly there may be persons in Heaven who would appear Godlike to us. In authority and power over reality, there are degrees of accomplishment, but these things are accomplished by God's Children and not God itself. Would it be fair to say that the true God is unconcerned about Human affairs, I'm not certain? In my estimation God is glorifed by our accomplishments, when we create or destroy. God is not the story teller, we are the story tellers; God just sorta kicks back and enjoys the story. The One-True-And-Most-High God rarely ever takes part in the story telling, it does not become an actor on our stage. But evidently the God of Moses is a storyteller, much like us.

A Dubious Standard

NOTE This article was a letter to a friend after a telephone conversation.

Your so called standard depends entirely upon direct personal experience or someone else's
testamony of their experience and interpretations.
When you go to the Bible for Validation you are depending on the experience and testamony
of other men. This is not a bad thing really.

But your standard is no better than my standard.

But I'm not concerned about your salvation, I worry more about your immortal life. And we
can not live where God is, we can only live within the Universe. None-the-less we are not
seperated from God's presence. No thing can exist separate from God. No one spirit can be
forced out of God's pressence because that would be death and not seperation to some
cursed realm of existance.

Once a thing has been spoken it becomes objective, if it is written it becomes objective. And
everything that one of us has experienced is genuine objective experience because we have
God and the Creator for a witness, and that's two different persons, three counting ourselves.

There may easily be more than three observers involved with any given event, but there are
always at least two observers present within the Universe. We don't even need to consider
anything that exists outside of this Universe except for God himself.

The LDS Church considers it to be doctrine that there will be a general ressurection at some
time future. Few if any men or women will be denied this ressurection, but according to
church doctrine the people will then be divided into three separate kingdoms for all time.

The three Kingdoms are ranked one above the other, and God the Father is present within
the highest or Eternal Kingdom. According to this doctrine there will never be a possibility to
migrate between these three kingdoms. And the people will be divided according to their
good works in life, or else their faith. But they say that faith without works is nothing at all to
make us deserving.

Therefore according to the Prophet Joseph Smith there will be a Judgement and lasting
penalties or consequences.

I do not agree with Joseph's point-of-view even though he claims it was divinely inspired. The
Earth is one world not three different worlds; and the Earth is the world of the promised
ressurection. Its the only world under the whole expanse of Heaven where human life is a
possibility. We can not live somewhere else, and we have to live without seperation, all
together.

The criminals and the saints alike will receive the same reward. Immortal Life on Planet
Earth. For this i'm willing to fight and sacrifice because I'm just the kind of soldier who
believes that every last man is worth fighting for. Leave no man behind!

I have said that Jesus is just one Lord among many, and this is true. There have been other
Kings throughout human history, but there is only one Saviour. We are all Sons and
Daughters of the Most-High God, its not particularly clever that Jesus claimed to be the son
of God. But he also claimed to be a Son of Man, and the ideal example of the First Born Son.
According to ancient traditions it was the First Born Son who carries forward the family
tradition and heritage more than anyone else. However its really quite impossible for a male
child to be born unless there is also a biological father. And that would be a distinct and
separate individual and mortal like Jesus himself was. If the story of the Immaculate
conception is true, we may never know who the father was, God intervened in human affairs.
It could be anyone, past or present or yet to come. God is the only one who can act outside
of time because he exists outside of Universe, he can break every rule of cause and effect.
The whole of creation can be reduced to pure information, without substance or mass, within
the mind of God.

You think that Jesus is everything that matters, and Heavenly Father is nothing. The one true
King of all Kings among men, our sire and our judge. His will shall be done unto the world,
and the good work of Jesus saves us from him. Judgement without persecution or
punishment, that the Lord Jesus proposed upon the cross, because while its true that men
are ill-behaved it is only because they lack some knowledge. And none should be held
accountable for their own ignorance he proposed.

Yes you do have some special knowledge because you have met the Lord and spoke with
him. That is your personal experience, you are especially favored and why that happens to be
true its hard to say. You say because you had a teachable heart, you were offered instruction.
I've never met the Lord personally but once he spoke to me and said 7 simple little words. He
said, "Ken, do you really want to suffer?" He called me Ken! Immediately i cried out to him,
"Yes! I really do want to suffer." But several hours later i chose not to suffer. I wanted to put
God to the test you see, would he allow me to die in the desert of thirst and exposure or
would he save my life. Once I did try to take my own life and it was preserved, perhaps God
does still have some use for me in this world or else he should have counted me worthy of
some rest.

In order to take our world today as it now exists, and turn it into the world of a promised
ressurection will take a great deal of reorganization. I dedicated my life to that work from the
age of 19 when i had my personal experience. I never knew exactly what I could do, or what
needed to be done. I said simply to God take my life and prepare me for the work ahead. And
he did take me and temper me in his furnace, I suffered a great deal and did cause the
people around me to suffer as well. But all that horrible experience has paid off with
dividends, I wouldn't go back and change a thing. Not even my bad behaviour, although there
are a few people whom I think i do owe an appology; and a few more whom I think owe me
an appology.

I'm not isolated or seperated from God. I'm not isolated or seperated from my family and
friends. I'm not seperated from Christ, if he wanted to come to me he could have come to
me, I have asked him to come. We have never fallen from God's grace, and if we could ever
have this condition of grace we must have it now. I am at peace with God and I place my full
trust with him, that he will preserve me against all odds and beyond mortal existance. But he
must keep me alive if he expects me to do any useful work and I've promised much labor.
It will take much longer than a mortal lifetime to accomplish everything, but there is a job
available for someone to do. You may think that I'm being very selfish, I serve my own
interests alone, but this is not true. I am my own man, the master of my own fate, I choose
my own path and I choose the long difficult road. But I do not walk alone into the sunset, the
Ancient Dragon will walk beside me. That is the companion I want most, but more are
welcome. The title of Heavenly Father is an eternal career decision really, anyone may chose
that path for themselves, it is difficult but rewarding. Or we can choose the path of the child if
we have not yet come to our own maturity. Citizenship within the Kingdom of Heaven on
Planet Earth comes with some responsibility you see. But you don't really care for the world
as much as I do, I know. You may very well choose to follow the Lord Jesus wherever he is
leading you, if you do it does not concern me.

May God bless and keep you and all those you care about,
Kenneth R Hopper.

Current Events JAN2010

I have received the decision of the SSA judge concerning my Disability application, my case has been denied. In the findings of the judge I am able to perform unskilled labor as a bussboy or janitorial work. I have a Circadian rhythm sleep disorder and suffer from some mild sleep apnea. The Circadian rhythm disorder means that my sleep schedule drifts, this is not an uncommon condition when you don't have a fixed daily schedule. The sleep apnea means that I stop breathing during sleep, in most cases this affects the quality of sleep and may impact heart health. The sleep apnea is treated with a C-PAP machine, you have to wear a breathing mask at night and the machine blows positive air pressure into your mouth so that you keep breathing. My best friend says he uses the machine and it makes a huge difference for him, as to being well rested from a night's sleep. But I was uncomfortable with the machine and it kept me from falling asleep, which resulted in far less sleep instead of more quality sleep. Since I have effectively refused medical treatment for the sleeping disorders, those complaints have been discounted by the judge.

I've always had trouble falling to sleep and one symptom of bi-polar mania is insomnia, which i do suffer from even with the medication treatment. I don't believe that the quality of sleep suffers much from the apnea, as I do generally feel rested after a good sleep. But I never know when I'll get a solid 6-8 hours of sleep, its not uncommon for me to rest in bed sleepless for several hours before actually falling asleep. The doctor who diagnosed the sleep apnea suggested that I try taking melatonin at bedtime to help me falling asleep, he indicated the drug is available over-the-counter. I have yet to try that.

I have a daily soda habit and consume large amounts of caffienated drinks daily. Sodas are slightly acidic and promote tooth decay, the habit has claimed all my teeth, I now have to use full-dentures. The use of caffiene as a form of self-medication is quite common, and I'm accustomed to it; I don't think it prevents me from sleeping. It's mostly the manic thinking and worrying that prevents me from falling to sleep, hard to quiet the mind; sometimes i have to pray for sleep and this seems to help. Or a hot shower may sometimes help to break the train of thoughts. Recently my father accompanied me to a psychiatric office meeting and made a few complaints. He mentioned my soda habit, and of course the doctor wrote that down into my permanent medical record; he advised me to limit the caffiene intake to two cans of Mt. Dew per day. Mt. Dew is my favorite drink, but of course there are other non-caffienated sodas available that I do like. In any event I don't think I have a hope for appealing my disability case to re-emphasize the sleep disorder.

According to my psychiatrist my bi-polar symptoms are in remission effectively treated by the medications, which I do take daily. In my opinion this statement is not entirely accurate, but I do feel grateful for the recent advances in medical science that have made these meds available. My mood and behaviour is fairly well moderated by artifical means, I think this gives me a clear advantage in life. The meds have kept me out of the hospital, over the past 8 years I've only been hospitalized once for depression and suicidal thinking.

I enjoy above average intelligence and a great capacity for rational thought. I have also been blessed with a romatic heart and imagination. It's very easy for us to succumb to fantasy, some fantasies are very appealing if they make us appear more important than we really are. I have at times past been justifiably accused of being out-of-touch with Reality. And a great deal of my past behaviour has been very self-destructive. These days I like to believe that I've learned something from my past experiences, and outgrown the self-destructive behaviours. My recollection of past events is fairly decent, and this provides me with a stable platform to stand on. Solid ground depends upon personal experience, and my own personal experiences have been extra-ordinary. I'm more in touch with my own sense of Reality these days than ever before, and it is admitedly an uncommon Reality that I do see from my own point-of-view.

My time is quite valuable to me, even though I have never collected a fee for my ability to make a decision. I think most educated people would agree that it takes hard work and study in order to be well-informed and to have a good opinion. Most of my personal time is occupied by entertainment and games, I enjoy spending it and it inspires me. I used to spend quite a bit of time reading fiction and non-fiction, or in front of the television; but these days most of my time is spent in front of the PC. When i do spend time in front of the TV its either documentaries or movies, I don't watch much of the serialized programming (dramas and sitcoms, or reality programming). All this time spent on games has taught me a few lessons I consider to be of great value. Most of these games I play are complete virtual world's populated by real people, each world has it's own set of rules and generally there is some kind of functional economy. I've managed to do very well at the MMORPG games, and the sense of success you can have from earning acomplishments in a game is very real.
I do well and enjoy my time, I socialize while i work at the game, but I've rarely been a high-ranked player. I don't play competitively, and I'm not particularly dedicated or knowledgeable as a player in these online communities.

And the thing I've learned from it all; is that in the very best of all possible games, participation alone constitutes a winning condition! The only measure of success is that we have enjoyed our time spent playing. And while some games may be ranked, for the game to continue on indefinately you can't declare a winner. As soon as someone wins, the game is over; but instead of having one winner you have ever higher levels of accomplishment to reach. And the Great Game of Life is very much like the best of all possible games. If all the players may be ranked in terms of material wealth, then clearly I'd be near the very bottom of the ranks. But the game CAN be ranked in so many different ways thats its hard to say where we stand exactly. If we just ranked the Great Game of Life in terms of success, then I'd be near the very top with many peers. All those men and women throughout human history who have made some personal contribution which best serves the welfare of all people, should be dearly loved, and we often feel proud of these people. Much good work has been accomplished in the world to make it a more comfortable habitat, and we have good reason to feel some pride in ourselves. But of course many crimes have been commited, and for this we have good reason to feel some shame.

I've labored in the world for about 47 years now, and i found my great cause in life around the age of 19. By the age of 19 I had realized that my success depends upon the success of others. This principle is very easily understood, if we are surrounded by happy and successful people then we are more likely to enjoy life ourselves. Self-interest is a neccessary condition to our continued survival; but still its very easy to see that the Universe itself is much larger than ourselves. Occassionally people have been willing to make a great personal sacrifice for the greater good, up to and including the sacrifice of life itself. We each decide what it is that serves the greater good, and we decide what best serves our own interests. To see Reality for what it is and Know the difference between good and evil does not come automatically to us, its something that we have to work for. We try to anticipate consequences and limit the risks in life. But the Universe is really quite remarkable in that Information is ALWAYS preserved, nothing can ever be entirely lost or forgotten, there are no real risks. Absolutely everything that has ever been destroyed is recoverable within the realm of manifestation. Once a thing has been done, it can never be un-done, it becomes part of what I like to call 'The Absolute Truth'. Every historical event is truth, whatever the people have believed they have truely believed. Every human experience is genuine experience and witnessed by God and Heaven; therefore it becomes a part of the indelible truth.

Despite the ruling of the SSA judge, I am unconvinced of my ability to hold down gainful employment. The rules and criteria that SSA uses to make a determination has cracks, and many people are methodically swept into those cracks in our system of government. I am gratefully retired in comfort, and I've done enough to be deserving of this rest. I have suffered enough in life and do not deserve more suffering; to make an effort to return to work now would only be the cause of more suffering. However I'm retired in debt; when it comes to food and shelter my father will pay all the bills, I have no need to worry about such things. My father will not pay the debt of child support in my behalf. And I also have a sizable debt with the SSA concerning the overpayment of past benefits, which I have told my father NOT to pay.

Therefore I consider it very likely that I will be called to court to stand before another judge. The debt of child support will be paid in full eventually as I consider it true that my father will leave me with some inheirtance. If he's unwilling to pay now, I'll use his money to pay later. It may not satisfy the judge if I say that my ex-wife must be patient, the court may want to impose a deadline for payment upon me. They may say that I can not retire in debt and therefore must return to work at risk of punishment. But I will make my stand in that courtroom, at the very best the court may impose temporary conditions upon my life. If I refuse to make the effort to work the judge may very well think me dishonorable, and likely have a great many people in agreement with that assesment. But i'm unconvinced that I or anyone else deserves punishment. It's simply not among our God given Rights to make demands upon the time and attention of our peers, to demand that someone else makes the neccessary sacrifice. We have no right to demand labor be done in our behalf nor for the greater good, unless the other pary also has the right to decline. And if a man is to be rewarded for his work, he should know in advance what that reward will be, then he can make a rational choice weighing the advantages against the cost.

As I have said, I do believe in something larger than myself, and I have already made a personal commitment to serve one Great Cause. Being a compasionate soul I choose to serve the greater good, but I get to decide what is good for the children of humanity. And if that service involves some personal sacrifice, I am willing to make that sacrifice. If I must endure unending torment, then I trust God will have to make me live long enough to endure it. And that would be a very small and personal victory over mortality at the very least. But the greater victory is to win the faithful and true companionship of the Ancient Dragon. I have long imagined that the great Villan's reward and the Buried Treasure within the parable of Christ are one and the same thing. It would seem to be entirely selfish to purchase the world for a personal property and proclaim thyself the Landlord here. But that's what it supposedly takes to claim the world's buried treasure. The long expected Anti-Christ is supposed to be a great deceiver, and he will have to decieve men into believeing they have no personal property rights of their own. Even the flesh and bone is NOT a rightful property of ours but a property of the Earth itself. And how many people will be content to give up their share of manifestation for a belief in some unmanifest Heavenly Kingdom?

Moses was a kind of King who evidently won support from the powers of Heaven; but clearly he loved his own people more than he loved anyone else. And its considered to be true that Jesus was a King with the support of the powers of Heaven, but even he show some preference between people. Jesus was an exceptional King in that he did not give preference to his own people but instead identified with all those people who should be considered meek. But now the King of all Kings has the unenviable task of claiming the whole of humanity without showing preference for National origin or even for good works. He must love the criminals the same as the saints and be the good Father. A Father who will judge his children and propose no punishment but one reward and the same reward for all men. Because the Lord Christ asks for forgiveness, and in the same breath proclaim that men are ill-behaved due to some lack of knowledge. Perhaps the people deserve an education, but none need suffer anything more than a little anguish over their own limitations. If we had the time and the patience to wait, humanity could be left to pursue it's own truth. But the continued survival of this species is at risk if we do nothing to arrest the bad behaviour. And the viability of Planet Earth is at risk in ways that we are powerless to do anthing about; although we also pose some threat to the viability of the planet. Only the powers of Heaven can set things right and reform the world, no human technology can change the course of planets or extend the life of a star. But this Earth is the world of the promised ressurection, so it must survive forever so that Humanity will always have a home among the stars of creation.