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If
we are ever to "realize" the "Kingdom of Heaven"
that the Radical Jesus talked about ... we must first get off our knees
... turn from the teachings that tell us that "Heaven" is
somewhere outside of us ... and truly begin to understand what a
wondrous creation we are. There are those who will never
understand this in this life-time.
This week
in California, not too far from where I live, a man killed his mother,
his wife, his three children and himself. In the mental state that
he was in, he stated that he wanted to leave this world for the heaven
beyond. But, there is no heaven beyond ... there is only Life
Eternal ... and though we may escape the physical world ... we will
definitely remain in the consciousness that we have created through our
accepted beliefs and concepts about Life ... and we will move into this
next experience on the Other Side ... with the same experiences ...
until we change our consciousness. There is no God on the Other
Side waiting to forgive us ... or punish us ... and Jesus. Buddha nor
Krishna is not going to "magically" change anything for us
either ... the spiritually minded genius, Jesus, already gave us the
most highly enlightened awareness of where the Kingdom of Heaven is ...
"not lo here, or lo there ... it is within." The belief
that Heaven is somewhere, out there ... is just another way of
separating us from God ... as we believe that Heaven is a destination
... then we believe that God is there ... rather than Present ... in
scripture we can read that He is "closer to us than breathing"
... God is not out there ... and neither is Heaven.
The recently released
movie, "Kingdom of Heaven" is a fictionalized story of the
Crusades ... it is not as fictionalized as Gibson's "Passion of the
Christ" ... but it is fiction nonetheless. The Crusades were
began and perpetuated by the religious .... Popes of the Catholic Church
... who wanted to have power over the Muslims ... they could not rest in
peace ... not here and probably not on the Other Side either ... without
annihilating those they called the "infidels" ... those who
did not have the same misguided religious beliefs as themselves.
They promised the soldiers who charged into battle at their command that
they would meet heaven on the other side ... but in Truth ... they only
met the Other Side ... with the same consciousness.
This
belief in a Heaven out-there has "caused" more violence
against others and against ourselves than almost any other falsely-held
belief. The belief that we are separated from Heaven ... also
creates the belief that we are separate from each other.
"Separation" can create an inability to feel compassion
towards others. I was watching a "news show" and a
reporter stated that most American women do not have strong feelings
about the war in Iraq ... because it seems so distant to them. It
is not distant to the women; the mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts
and wives of the over 1600 soldiers who have been killed or the
thousands who have been wounded. This "seeming distance" is
lack of compassion and caring ... and lacks the expression of Divine
Love. I immediately rejected the statement as un-true. I
believe there is a deep compassion for the people involved in this war
... but it is not so easily expressed in our current culture ... due to
the fact that for many ... this is an unseemly war ... a war without a
clear justification ... or honest mission ... and I believe that ....
just like the Crusades ... distancing ourselves from it will separate us
more and more if we are not diligent in expressing the compassion that
is our nature ... both men and women.
Compassion
is inherent within us ... for it is part of the Nature of God ... and
God In-dwells us. Compassion means to "stand with" ...
not to sympathize ... we can "stand with" our soldiers and
their loved ones in our prayers ... and our prayers are powerful when
they are filled with the strength and love of the Divine. As we
read in scripture, "I have loved you with an ever-lasting
Love" ... this "Infinite I" is within everyone of us ...
and seeks Its expression through us ... now and forever.
And
So It Is!
Maximum Love,
Rev.
Hank Bates
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