The societal rejection of the Absolute ONE
or any other label you prefer to hang on the supreme consciousness/creator.
The image is of White Dzambala the dragon rider, or “rides dragon” the Buddhist equivalent of Elijah. He is set for war, riding a shape shifting dragon, has his war lances and military insignia along with the yak tail soaked in the blood of cosmic enemies. It was painted around 1700.
In Christianity there is a prayer called the Lord’s Prayer. For my own purposes I have modified it to align with my path and my relationship with Cosmos. I will share that later in this post and my reasons for the modification. The prayer goes like this: Heavenly Father, holy is your name, thy will be done here on earth as it is in heaven. Give me this day my daily bread, and forgive me of my trespasses as I have forgiven others. Deliver me from evil and lead me not into temptation. You are the power and glory for ever and ever. Amen or something along those lines.
First do not get hung up an a name/label for God, father, YHWH, etc., choose your own that you are comfortable with and go with it.
What I really want to get into here is the daily bread concept. Please bare with me as I do not have my library here, gave it all away many years ago, so going with memory. All of the Lord’s Prayer is based upon Old Testament scriptures. In the Old testament there are a few lines about this daily bread concept. It goes something like this. Just give me my daily bread each day, not so little that I must do things that will dishonor both of us, God and my self, like stealing and do not give me so much that I think that my riches are my god and I forsake you.
The so called intellectuals in the west have for decades called a relationship with god a myth or a crutch and only those that are unenlightened need it. There is no god or creator and be smart and disregard those notions.
Farmers are not intellectuals, they realize that their prosperity is in conjunction with their efforts and what God provides like rain and sun shine in the proper order. They have a different mindset. Ivory tower people, city folks have for the most part rejected god and the supposed crutch that is called religion.
People have this tendency to listen to rich people, revering them only because they are rich and therefore they must be smart. Who really will listen to a poor man? We chase after riches, ego things, being one or two up from the Jones’s. We are happy for our neighbors only if they do not exceed us in trappings and accomplishments. Should they fall from grace, we avoid them and do not lend a helping hand, tisk, tisk, too bad for them.
Back in the 80s there was this person that I knew, met him through a girl’s youth softball league that I was helping. We would go golfing once a month, he belonged to a country club and that was cool, as I did not. He had a business and was in the millionaire class, I had a business and I was in the single dollar class. Something happened and he suddenly lost everything. He was surprised that he lost all of his rich friends, and it came down to just me and we golfed on the municipal courses instead of the country club course. I helped him as I could. It was an eye opener for him. I will attest that the grass was just as green on the muni course as the country club and the sand traps were just as sandy. The attitude of people was different.
During the war on poverty, conditions for societal help, that money that gets forked over to folks was dependent upon there being no father in the household. What a very bad idea. Breaking up families, removing fathers, splintering of society just for money.
In the Bible, book of Ephesians chapter 3 there is a prayer that Paul presents for the Ephesians. (NIV)“ for this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth 19 of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. “
That beginning is hard to comprehend. I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. Wow what does that mean??? every family in heaven and on earth derives its name from the father. You have to look at the original Greek to get an understanding; the literal translation of the Greek word used here for family is best understood that family equals the father holds it. Or fatherhold. So the family derives its name from the father in heaven in that, it is the father that holds a family together; family equals fatherhold. So break up the family, remove the father and you will have nothing but problems; and so it has happened.
A Cosmic conscious society, the family, and god centered thought has been under attack for a long time. It has been taken apart piece by piece and replaced with lies.
I do not like long posts and I could go on and on with this, but like people to read and come away with something useful.
Now to how I have modified this prayer to suit my path.
“My father in heaven holy is you name, thy will be done here on earth and in my life as it is in heaven. Give me this day more than my daily bread so that I may help others with the excess. Forgive me of my misdeeds, as I indeed have forgiven those that have trespassed against me. Lead me not in to temptation, and deliver me from evil. Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit in me so that I will see clearly to help others and shine a light that illuminates your love for all of creation.”
Here I ask that God’s will would be done in my life, that I will accomplish all that he has set out for me, as this is most important, that a light would shine from me, that I would be a candle that shines brightly, illuminating the WAY along the PATH that leads others to a close relationship with God. Then as the time approaches and it is approaching, that I will carry the physical/mystical fight against those that will destroy everything that the Cosmos has placed here for us to enjoy.
In closing, do not get hung up on labels, develop a relationship with what ever label you like that does not have unwanted baggage. Unfortunately there has been far too much pounding of salvation and exclusiveness attached to so called religions. YHWH is inclusive, not exclusive. Get included. Then watch what the Cosmos does for you, little things and big things alike. Give thanks for all.
Beautiful post, David.
I so agree, families have been, continue to be, under attack. Just as the very idea or belief in God has been as well.
I separate out religion from God/Source/Universe because over time they too, have tended to become polluted politically. (The Vatican as clear example) But religion or not, the inclusion of a Source as life-giving, intelligent, loving and responsive and that we are in relationship to and with, at all times - VS not, is like the difference between being in the ocean on a boat or being in the ocean on your own. Exhausting just thinking about it.
Thank you.
I’ve rejected religious notions all my life, yet, I’m drawn to the grand intelligence of the universe and I call that god so I’m not sure where that puts me. I’ve experienced things that I can only call supernatural and can feel the god in things and I believe in miracles and lately, I’ve looked at religious text as though it has been written in code- something for us to crack to fully be able to grasp. And I can never reject your Lord’s Prayer and I do believe in its power because you have invested energy into its belief. After all, thoughts, words, and even more so, actions, are powerful prayers. Thanks for this wonderful reminder to be true in both spirit and action. As far as giving to the needy, yes, but giving should be relocalised, none of this church or government charity infrastructure. We can give better when in relationship with the receiver.