The person I work for is extremely interested in Sodom ...
sans the `y' ... and recently I brought him a television show,
Nova I think, on the topic. There seems to be some evidence that indeed, Sodom was destroyed by
fire, by volcano, or some such `heavenly disaster.' Today, we think that science has
cleaned the slate on such matters, and
clarified the stuporstition of the Biblical accounts (OT or NT). Has it?
Perhaps what is revealed about ancient sites just underscores the Biblical accounts. Science has also
apparently done away with the necessity for `God' ... and while I do know that
no such fiction as the `personal god' of the various religions [esp. the
Abrahamics] exists, I also know that to say
`God is dead' is just plain ignorant. Either we
do have awareness of the Divine, meaning PROOF ... or we do
NOT - and most folks, if they are honest, are somewhere in between.
That means that we are
agnostic, and should ease up with this whole
atheism kick. But of course, it is
one thing to BELIEVE, and is another, as some will tell you, to
KNOW. This is the difference between having
seen Switzerland, either from the plane window - or by walking around there ... and having only seen it on a map, or heard tell of it, say -
from someone who has lived there.
Notice that
sight is not the only sense we use to verify things, and to be technical, not everyone reading this EVEN KNOWS that Switzerland exists. You DON'T KNOW, I assure you, any more than you know about Timbuktu. We simply have
beliefs, and we have
eyewitness testimonies, and we put all that stuff together, and accept - rationally enough - that such places are as real as America, or Britain, or Africa. Oh wait - have you
been to Africa?
I have. So I know it's there. But I sure as hell haven't ever seen those other two places,
Switzerland and Timbuktu. They MUST be pure myth!
Ha! Since when,
I would ask my fellow fans of Joseph Campbell - since WHEN did Myth become synonymous with
falsehood or untruth? What baloney!
Of course the New Testament account is partially history, partially
mythology, yet both parts are valid, both parts carry meaning, and message. One does not toss out
mythology simply because it is difficult to decipher the significance of a portion of the Myth, and one should - likewise - refuse to toss out
history simply because WE PERSONALLY do not have access to all of the evidence.
A living being survived the Roswell crash and was returned to his people some years later, but not before
the United States [military, mostly] were able to communicate with him, learn from him, and of course,
vice versa. But do any of you KNOW this? Do you really
know it, or do you simply choose to believe, or disbelieve? It's understandable, either way, but technically there is
far, far more evidence for what I have just said, than for the existence of Buddha, Sri Krishna, Jesus, or Abraham Lincoln, combined. Part of this results from the
proximity of the event, to us, in history. Part of it - rests elsewhere.
But notice, as I just posted on another thread, that
our assumptions shape our beliefs, and even
what we will accept as `evidence' - tremendously. Most folks can't even admit that much, let alone how swayed they are, and have been, by various factors (some obviously personal, others only so
by extension, or indirectly - but usually, all of these factors being very MOVING, to us personally, in one way or another, else -
why the influence?) ...
So, consider that. Belief is
not equal to knowledge, or even to understanding. And
lo! Even to
know a thing, does not turn out to mean that we
perfectly understand it, for often enough there is but
more research necessary once we begin to grasp that a thing is `really true.'
Sure Jesus lived. And
sure the Gospel account gives us a
pattern for the Story, and does relate to us
historical facts ... to a certain degree of accuracy. But from there,
mythos and mysticism take over. And rightly so. If we are not jaded, prejudiced and
deaf to the facts, we ourselves may discover the Meaning behind the Man, as well as
His Message.
But notice how grossly history, and human desire, human fear/xenophobia, and good old human
recalcitrance has manipulated the facts, along with that
meaning and message, since the times of Jesus. Simply put,
the Christ will have a different significance to each person reading these words. And if weren't the case, I'd be greatly concerned. I might even suspect that we are - a planet of
robots, rather than human beings. But this does not mean I am a total
relativist, a subjectivist, accepting only that
"each person has a take on things, and that this is completely right for him/her, with no OBJECTIVE Truth being available, as a result." What utter, complete, cooked-up NONSENSE.
Of course there is
a Truth, and if you want it, ask JESUS HIMSELF. If you, personally, or someone you know
cannot do this ... I recommend preparing yourself - even if it requires several lifetimes - so that YOU CAN. And if you have no
wherewithal to do JUST THAT, then why the hell does it matter?
Why bother getting worked up about something, or even weighing in on a discussion, just because
you have the academic interest? Clearly, what is required - by any of us, to know the truth of MOST matters
spiritual - is more than AN ACADEMIC, passing & fleeting INTEREST. But this is precisely where 95% of
seekers meet with a brick wall, eventually and inevitably. You must decide, for and of yourself, "what it is worth, to you." And I can tell you, from memory, that I have been seeking some of these truths
for seven incarnations or more - and at least 3500 years.
Just for the record, that's a good ways
back into the Age of Aries, and it's damn sure a lot
longer than Jesus has been around ... unless we want to include Joshua, High Priest,
and Joshua, Son of Nun, these being his two earlier incarnations. And no, I have
no recollection of having met him, or having been present in those circumstances, even though my own incarnations
may have overlapped. What's it matter? The point is, I am
predisposed, you might say, to considering all of this from another point of view, with another set of
a priori information, or conclusions, than some of the folks who will look at the possibilities. But how far will you get, if you are
sticking to so-and-so's account, rather than your OWN?
Go ahead, and do as
the Wisdom instructs us not to. Just
throw out the baby with the bathwater, and assume that - because you do
not even believe in rebirth - what I suggest CANNOT be correct. And you see, while
it may be perfectly understandable that you do such, it does not - in the slightest - make it
correct. I gain nothing, if I try to
twist your arm. Why should I care?
On the other hand, if you simply ask: WHAT IS THE TRUTH? And if you
stick to your guns, pursuing it across whatever `distance' is required, I can assure you
from experience, the Journey may not be
easy, but it will be WORTH IT. Mine is far, FAR from over. But I know the Truth of all I say. And even if, when, I make errors,
I do so with the peace of mind that at least I speak from the Heart, and do so
with as much direct, firsthand accuracy, testimony and experience as I myself can muster, or merit. That is to say,
I tell it the way I know it ... and to discount my testimony, you must AT LEAST be able to experience what I experience (from your own, personal point of view), and have GROUNDS for disproving it.
So far, I know of no one here who can do that. No one here. This is
perhaps true, even while dozens, HUNDREDS of people I have met
can walk the proverbial mile in my shoes, if indeed
they have not already. Others, still, can know ANY thing about me, about YOU, about
ANY THING ... if they simply turn their
proverbial attention to it. And I have met a few people like this. ONLY - a few. But even of these, there are
more. And that much, I also know.
Why do we complicate things? Perhaps, because we can. But why do we
insist on making a short journey a
long one? Perhaps for the same reason, but also perhaps
because somewhere, somehow, deep inside, we fear that if we are not careful, the `Journey' will suddenly, or too soon, be over. And to this concern, I do relate. But I can also assure you, even if your
allotment of human incarnations is not likely to last more than say,
another five, or fifteen lives, something which we ourselves can always *shorten* if we like (or even delay, with horrible consequences, if we insist) ... still, it will be as clear as day to all of us, long before our
last lifetime on this planet, that the TRUE Journey is
just beginning.
We ARE Immortal, already, but we are also - as we will discover - ETERNAL Beings,
co-equal with God Himself ... and the greatest BLASPHEMY of all is to
worship a man, ANY man, instead of to place our Faith in the FORMLESS DEITY. That Deity, while
Transcendent, appeared in every
Great Saint and Sage, from time immemorial. Buddha
certainly demonstrated this. And it was
Christ Jesus who showed us that God, yes that SAME DEITY as the Cathlicks love to point to as
being Transcendent ... Jesus proved that God can ALSO BE
IMMANENT. Either we are searching for, and I hope finding - on our OWN - the PROOF of
both God Transcendent, *AND* God Immanent, or else, I'm afraid we
have missed the proverbial mark.
Scorpio is
Saturn, Lord Kronos, testing His Children ... that they may
pass those tests and, Saggitarian-like,
shoot an arrow STRAIGHT toward the Goal. As we hit, rather than
miss, our spiritual mark, we take Initiation in CAPRICORN. As the
mountain goat, we quickly
scale the heights, as much - and I mean
much of Humanity will do in the Age which follows Aquarius. Notice the
difference in the direction of the Greater Wheel. For the truth is, we ourselves are progressing - through Initiation in Capricorn - into
Aquarian Discipleship which is possible to the *masses* in the PRESENT AGE AND SIGN, even as
the Christ demonstrated WORLD SERVICE to us, 2100 years ago, in the LAST SIGN of the Zodiac (for Him, on the Greater Wheel), in Pisces.
Until this
simple logic can be studied, understood and applied (which is possible for every single person reading this,
including me! lol) - until then ... we remain
academically interested, yet not quite committed, to our Goal(s). The greater mission is no less than Liberation, and for
every Son of God, who is also a Son of Man. Put these things together, or else suffer the lack of an
incomplete mosaic, a partial tapestry, a fragmented awareness.
No one forces us, THANK GOODNESS. But no one -
not even God - waits forever. Does our Planet,
this beautiful, blue-green and LIVING ORB -
LOOK LIKE it can, or will,
or wants to wait, for all 7, or 60 billion of us,
to get with the proverbial Program (the Plan, God's Plan, for Evolution)? I don't think so, but then,
I'm biased - and heavily so.
I know what I asked in the OP. I still have the same question, for everyone. It is poignant,
for me, as I have yet to fully answer it, myself. If I had, I'd be
`there' by now.
But no, it's
not just about Communion, even though Communion is a damn-good
first step. This has less to do with the
Sacrament of Catholicism, or of
Christian liturgical ritual, than some think it does. Nor is it about Whitley Streiber, even if we may gain a bit or a piece from that investigation. What IS Communion,
with God, WITH Christ?
And indeed, IF you could
ask these questions (ANY of yours), DIRECT, what do you suppose you
might ask ... and what do you suppose the answers,
might be?
Such is far, far more important that getting lost in
wondering - just which pieces are historical, which are symbolic, and which are a little bit of both.
Most of that, if I'm not mistaken, can and WILL be cleaned up, cleared up,
by these very men, these beings, as they Reappear to us in
physical substance. Most of us - I can almost guarantee - WILL live to see and witness this. The question we might ask is:
What *part* do *I* wish to play, in it all?
Maybe not a new question ...
but one we can keep working on, every single day.
Namaskar
