Reading Scripture

[Tony Bristow-Stagg]

Would you tell that to a dying person? "You are only dying because you're not trying hard enough to implement your spiritual capacities"?

The scriptures tell us there are two deaths, one we will all face, one we can overcome.

Revelation 20:6

“Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.”

One can be Dead while in this life.

Jesus said to a man that wanted to do worldly things before following Christ, let the Dead bury the Dead.

This world is but a blink in time, a life to be born, to love, to serve each other and God and then pass on to the life to come, to be flesh never again.

Regards Tony

 

[Cino]

This world is but a blink in time, a life to be born, to love, to serve each other and God ...

So, back to my question: Would you, as part of your service to your fellow human beings and your God, say to a person dying of an incurable disease that they could live (in either sense, physical or spiritual), if only they did the right spiritual activations?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this, rather than John's. He's not here, but we are.

I'm asking because I've seen this kind of situation a few times close up. I'm truly interested in your take.

 

[PricelessPearl]

So, back to my question: Would you, as part of your service to your fellow human beings and your God, say to a person dying of an incurable disease that they could live (in either sense, physical or spiritual), if only they did the right spiritual activations?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this, rather than John's. He's not here, but we are.

I'm asking because I've seen this kind of situation a few times close up. I'm truly interested in your take.

Hi Cino, you weren’t asking me, and I have yet to reply to a message Tone sent me, however, I don’t think he talking about physical death, but spiritual.

I think death in scripture can mean a few things but primarily speaks to separation from God or one’s divine nature.

I don’t believe we ever die. We can’t. Scripturally speaking, we are born dead (or asleep).

 

[Tony Bristow-Stagg]

So, back to my question: Would you, as part of your service to your fellow human beings and your God, say to a person dying of an incurable disease that they could live (in either sense, physical or spiritual), if only they did the right spiritual activations?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this, rather than John's. He's not here, but we are.

I'm asking because I've seen this kind of situation a few times close up. I'm truly interested in your take.

Hypothetical situations are as numerous as there are people and how they will pass on.

Service to Humanity includes sharing the writings that offer there is life to come. If a person is open to those writings, we would share them.

In the past I have offerd those writings to my sister who died of cancer , she chose her path and I did not try to change her mindset.

I have offered those writings to my Uncle who also passed away with cancer, I do not know what he chose to consider before he passed on, It was not for me to change how he saw life.

I have now had many Baha'i friends pass on, they all moved on in their understanding of what was written and what they were asked to do in this life. We can only be with them and help them cope with what they face in this life.

I have worked 3 years in an old age home and watched many wither away and die, to all those thoughts were offered, but that went no further than what they wanted to hear, I did offered to them all, that there was life to come.

In all that there was far to much I mentioned.

Regards Tony

 

[Cino]

I think death in scripture can mean a few things but primarily speaks to separation from God or one’s divine nature.

I don’t believe we ever die. We can’t. Scripturally speaking, we are born dead (or asleep).

Understood, and if you refer back to what I wrote, you'll notice I asked about the spiritual sense as well as the physical.

What's your take, then? Would you tell a person dying of an incurable condition, essentially, "You're going to be dead soon, both physically and spiritually, unless you perform these spiritual practices?

 

[Cino]

In all that there was far to much I mentioned.

To the contrary, thank you for that, I actually want to see more of you and how you live and practice your faith.

 

[Tony Bristow-Stagg]

Understood, and if you refer back to what I wrote, you'll notice I asked about the spiritual sense as well as the physical.

What's your take, then? Would you tell a person dying of an incurable condition, essentially, "You're going to be dead soon, both physically and spiritually, unless you perform these spiritual practices?

The Key to that question for a Baha'i is that Baha'u'llah says never exault yourself above another, as no one knows what their faith will be on their death bed.

"How often hath a sinner, at the hour of death, attained to the essence of faith, and, quaffing the immortal draught, hath taken his flight unto the celestial Concourse. And how often hath a devout believer, at the hour of his soul’s ascension, been so changed as to fall into the nethermost fire." Baha’u’llah, The Book of Certitude, p. 194.

That says to me that no person knows another's heart.

This passage of the Bab expands upon this theme.

"For if it [my soul] departeth while Thou art pleased with me, then I shall be free from every concern or anxiety; but if it abandoneth me while Thou art displeased with me, then, even had I wrought every good deed, none would be of any avail, and had I earned every honor and glory, none would serve to exalt me." Selections from the Writings of the Bab, pp. 187-188.

This teaches us humility, we can only do our best and it is God's Mercy we all live under.

Of course, there is also passages that lighten that burden of soul.

" Know thou, of a truth, that if the soul of man hath walked in the ways of God, it will, assuredly, return and be gathered to the glory of the Beloved." Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 161.

Life after death is a massive topic in itself, many writings have been offered.

Regards Tony

 

[PricelessPearl]

Understood, and if you refer back to what I wrote, you'll notice I asked about the spiritual sense as well as the physical.

What's your take, then? Would you tell a person dying of an incurable condition, essentially, "You're going to be dead soon, both physically and spiritually, unless you perform these spiritual practices?

Happy Easter.

If a person was dying and asked for my beliefs on the matter, I would tell them that they cannot die, that they are Spirit. We aren’t our bodies.

But to continue on this thread. I believe that we are responsible for everything that happens to us. We are the source and substance of all that is in our personal world. We are consciousness and what appears in our world is a reflection of what goes on in our mind (much of which happens on an unconscious or subconscious level. We are driven by subconsciousness.)

The story of the centurion with the paralyzed servant that Jesus heals, for me, teaches about this- in Matthew. (I am using “you” here but it’s not you personally, I’m speaking in general.) You are the centurion, you are the servant and you are Jesus Christ. You are he who is under authority of the world (or serves Cesar - the centurion) and your mind and energies are directed towards carrying out that authority (tell those under your authority what to do). The ill servant is your ability to serve you. To employ your mind or imagination in a way that is free from the dictates of the world (facts, information, customs, traditions, dictates of what’s happening on a daily basis, news feeds, the job, etc). Jesus who is your higher self, the second born or Lord from above, your I Am, your consciousness or imagination, has authority over all. This recognition or awareness is what heals the servant. It’s not a story about a man who has tremendous faith and a servant, it’s a picture of a consciousness. It says that the centurion wasn’t worthy to have Jesus enter his house because the divine mind or mind of Christ has nothing to do with the carnal mind. One is corruption the other incorruption.

So in the verse that follows,Jesus enters Peter’s house and his wife and his wife’s sick mother are there and Jesus heals the mother, and she gets up and serves them. Again, each character is you. Peter is that one who knows who you really are (who the true Master of the house is) is the Christ, the Son of the Living God - this awareness is our rock, our foundation. The mother is your consciousness, or Mother God, that is now able to serve you or bring forth what you want to be and do (and not Cesar). Or, we can now use our minds and imagination freely, consciously - which is our power - the power of Christ- instead of being driven by the world.

I’ll stop. I better get going.