Fw: Short Poem "My God"

My God

My God is laughing and loving,

All knowing and wise,

Guides my thoughts drawing the dove wing,

Helps painting blue skies.

My God is there when I need him,

He's caring and kind,

Teaching gardening prune and trim,

Peace of mind therein.

My God is found in all nature,

Balanced it must be,

Though Man may increase in stature,

God is last decree.

(Yolanda Martin © 2010)

(reply to one who questioned my assigning a maxculine gender in the above poem...

LOL you inserted the question mark in He?s or did Dr E .... I myself pondered that after I wrote it, and wondering myself why I assigned a masculine gender. Perhaps because of the paternal Father relationship in my life and of course the Lord’s Prayer ..... “My Father which art is heaven....” being so instilled in my mind and being since early childhood .... and for many generations God has been viewed as a masculine rather than feminine gender and of course human since he made us in his likeness so states the Bible .... The artistic world is filled with religious paintings depicting him being masculine and also the Vatican. in Rome. It is very difficult to overcome religious training imprinted at an early age and reinforced in all of our religious organizations ... At the senior center I visit, the Lord’s Prayer is recited by all before they serve our lunch. The atheists and others who choose not to recite because it is not their belief simply stand but remain silent out of respect for the center’s leadership and perhaps they use that time to reflect on their own spirituality.

Perhaps it is more important to focus on the physical realities and consequences of self actualized relationship to God (or your own alternate philosophy theological concepts) as experienced and practiced in your life, living testimonial, and how it influences your social interactions with others. My God is ethereal, not corporeal. )

Universalist and Major Religions population counts as of 2007

In the world, the population count is

6,697,254,041 - 2008
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators and the web site http://www.wholesomewords.org/missions/greatc.html 

Major Religions of the World (mid-2007)²

Christians Total	2,199,817,400
1. Roman Catholics	1,121,516,000
2. Independents*	433,096,000
3. Protestants	381,811,000
4. Orthodox	233,146,000
5. Anglicans	82,586,000
Muslims	1,387,454,500
Hindus	875,726,000
Chinese universists	385,621,500
Buddhists	385,609,000
Sikhs	22,927,500
Jews	14,956,000

*This term denotes members of Christian churches and networks that regard themselves as postdenominationalist and neo-apostolic and thus independent of historic, mainstream, organized, institutionalized, confessional, denominationalist Christianity.

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So looking at above stats, 1,056,309,000 are Christians but not Roman Catholics Christians.... I wonder the trend? over the last 10 years (and if projections can validly be made)? I was surprised by the large number of Muslims in the world.

Interestingly 5,324,449,500 = the number counted populated in the major religions in the world but the world population count is LOL=6,697,254,041 so the number of those not counted in the above religion distribution is 1,372,804,541 (or 20.5%) of the total world population who have their own convictions and spirituality expressed privately and not in the above role call list.

There also seems to be much confusion about the meaning(s) Universalists denotes/connotes, and some are equating it to Unitarian Universalism ... I believe the 2 are not the same.

My view of being a Universalist is the same as Gandhi's and the Hindu with modern China nuances. I also believe any future progress of today's world religions must be downward compatible (meaning must not repudiate or diminish previous history religion's status) and at the same time provide for satisfying the needs of future requirements, facilitating spiritual enlightenment and growth both individually and collectively in the world.

Hindu.... Universalism denotes the ideology that all religions are true and therefore worthy of toleration and respect. Veneration for all other religions was articulated by Gandhi:

and China....

http://www.springerlink.com/content/0u2287x315138673/Universalism can be defined as the belief in the universal application of certain knowledge, world-views and value-views. Universalism has often been confused with Occident-centrism, due to the fact that the latter was used to justify the former, which confused the content of a thought with the social condition that gave rise to the thought.

My definition of Universalist is that it is a global macro and not a local one sustaining and assisting individual spiritual evolvement of self and the society in which they live.  It is not possible to have spiritual growth piecemeal.... it necessarily involves the whole person. Today, persons function well in a global context via Google, the Internet, the personal computers, smart phones, and other technology for communication and enterprise.

The Universalist is the only religion all inclusive of other persons' choice to believe (their innate right and not just man made government provisional right), and Universalist includes the 20.5% not affiliated with the listed world religions. The essence of Universalist belief is the individual's right to choose and define their deity/divinity or none for as it is written in the Bible, God said "Thou Mayst"..  those are the 2 most important words in the bible. (Deuteronomy Chapter XXX verse 20 .... That thou mayst love the Lord, thy God, and that thou mayst obey his voice, and that thou mayst cleave unto him, (for he is thy life and the length of thy days) bible source website http://books.google.com/books?id=OT9bAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA1-PA61&lpg=RA1-PA61&dq=thou+mayst+choose+good+over+evil&source=bl&ots=xY-rU6785p&sig=U9XB-E3nWLxlI-JyYQU1bVBNnrI&hl=en&ei=IRbgTIGcIIfCsAPE_YzuCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CDYQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=thou%20mayst%20choose%20good%20over%20evil&f=false 

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Yoli Poli,

Pudding and Pie,

Maybe Holy,

Telling no lie.

Yoli Poli,


Screaming did Die,

Holy Moli,

Laughing on High....

.....“Souli Yoli,

Laying so Still,

Go Ye Holy,

Knowing you Will”.

(YMM)

Concept, Religion and Freedom to Worship versus Religious Freedom.

 

Thinking about an upcoming debate which is already SOLD OUT

Wed 11/17-- 7:00 P.M.--"Is Religion a Force for Good or Evil?" Debate between Michael Shermer (of the Skeptics Society) and Dinesh D'Souza at Grand Canyon University, 3300 W. Camelback, on Wednesday, November 17th at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are free, but you must get them online or by phone.  Go to:  http://www.gcu.edu/debate/rsvp.php to order and print your tickets. Public Event. Susan Sackett

while also pondering the nuances of yesterdays ThIMK discussion topic distinguishing religion being a concept versus religion being an idea, a theological application (resulting in a particular specific religion and set of beliefs which a group of people share and practice in common), I now write this post to help clarify in my mind and perhaps those of the readers' the difference between the concepts religious freedom and freedom to worship. First some prerequisite reading http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/constitution/4074-obama-retreats-from-qreligious-freedomq-to-qfreedom-of-worshipq is useful to include here before I attempt to conclude with my thoughts about the subject.

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The wisdom of the Founding Fathers of the American Republic was such that the preservation of religious liberty was enunciated in the first clause of the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The application of those 16 words has often been a matter of debate, but the preservation of freedom of religion has been understood as numbered among the fundamental liberties of free people living under the U.S. Constitution.

Now, however, a shift in terminology by President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton is being interpreted by some observers as heralding a threat to this constitutionally guaranteed right.

Earlier this year, Ashley Samelson, international programs director for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, wrote for First Things that the Obama administration was abandoning the traditional wording of "religious freedom" to the far narrower terminology of "freedom of worship." As Samelson wrote her February 22 First Things article:

"Freedom of worship" first appeared in a high profile speech in Obama's remarks at the memorial for the victims of the Fort Hood shooting last November, a few months after his Cairo speech. Speaking to the crowd gathered to commemorate the victims, President Obama said, "We're a nation that guarantees the freedom to worship as one chooses." Given the religious tension that marked the tragic incident, it was not an insignificant event at which to unveil a new way of referring to our First Freedom.

The shift in terminology, though subtle, is very significant, because it can justifiably be interpreted to imply that religious freedom is restricted to the rites conducted in places of worship if only "freedom of worship" is being upheld. "Religious freedom" is a much broader concept, extending to the expression of one's beliefs in many areas of life. Again, in the words of Samelson:

To anyone who closely follows prominent discussion of religious freedom in the diplomatic and political arena, this linguistic shift is troubling.

The reason is simple. Any person of faith knows that religious exercise is about a lot more than freedom of worship. It's about the right to dress according to one's religious dictates, to preach openly, to evangelize, to engage in the public square. Everyone knows that religious Jews keep kosher, religious Quakers don't go to war, and religious Muslim women wear headscarves—yet "freedom of worship" would protect none of these acts of faith.

Those who would limit religious practice to the cathedral and the home are the very same people who would strip the public square of any religious presence. They are working to tear down roadside memorial crosses built to commemorate fallen state troopers in Utah, to strip "Under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance, and they recently stopped a protester from entering an art gallery because she wore a pro-life pin

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Religious Freedom would include the right to voice and express dissent. It means freedom to criticize without reprisal any other specific religion's omissions, faults and threats publicly and openly, but religious freedom would also mean one must not harass another with their proselytizing, promoting their own beliefs, nor shall anyone force any religion upon another. One should be free to choose their religion and beliefs including denying same. Religious freedom is freedom from suppression, oppression, and impression however subtle it may occur.

Freedom to Worship is the right to choose to worship or not as one chooses.  No one should be forced to worship according to another's schedule, place, or group of people.  They may choose their manner of worship and its frequency.

 

 

Is Religion a Concept?

I believe Religion is a concept, realized by man since the beginning of civilization.  However, it fails the definition of being a true concept in that a concept is something defined as being generally understood to represent the same abstract thought, and to be true for many different persons in the world regardless of the language word used to denote/connote it. So Religion, instead of being a true concept, is more an idea and philosophy (theology) application of the original concept when early man human beings first began contemplating death, and perhaps  felt their soul or part of them would continue to an after life existence, or they had a direct spiritual experience imparting to them their religious thoughts to be acted upon. I wonder if it were the contemplation of their inevitable mortal death, or the need to control the events around them during their life (such as the rain dances, medicine men, and fertility rituals of the Native American Indian). Religion, as a concept, is a product of man's evolution and is a sign of his development of abstract reasoning and higher consciousness intellectual/mental functioning.

 

Religions (earlier known to man as Mythology/Myths), are all social organizations, and as such are man's inventions for conforming groups of people to socially acceptable, actively advocated morals, ethics, and behavior with respect to what it believes is the higher authority.  Native American Indian tribes were distinguished one from another by their spiritual beliefs, practices, dances, and burial customs.  Judaism has extensive rites, rituals, and customs for burying their dead, probably more so that any other religion we know of. It is what happens after death that defines most religions on earth.  Whether or not government is an extension of a religion or vice versa or totally separate is yet another variable of the many religions (social organizations) within the country they exist.  Russian, China, and other governments realized that churches are detrimental because churches organize large numbers of people for particular causes and religious movements could be detrimental or even consider subversive to the state.

The Bible states "Where two or more are gathered in my name, there will I (God) be also."

Fortunately, in America we are guaranteed the right to free assembly, but it and just like the other Bill of Rights may be in jeopardy without constant vigilance to insure they are honored fully and violators effectively corrected from eroding the Bill of Rights, an important cornerstone of our government.

Hitler, Religion, and War

Psychologically and character formative, the early childhood religious teachings have life long lasting effects...

 

As an altar boy in the Catholic church, he was actively involved and participating in the Catholic religion in his youth. "Hitler renounced the faith of his childhood though he continued to utilize Christian imagery and vocabulary in his speeches and books. "

 

Perhaps he learned via the Catholic church how to communicate to the masses, to motivate, conform, and program their minds to fulfill his movement's mission, no matter how deviant from sanity it was? He might have perceived the hierarchy and power of the Catholic church as something within his power to emulate and did so with hubris glorifying himself instead of God and his laws?  He might have learned superficial dogmatic doctrine, to practice rote rights and rituals rather than learning true agape love or necessity of developing his spiritual growth according to God's teachings? 

 

So much of the Catholic church is façade, frozen fresco, elaborate edifices and iconic images rather than truly focusing on democratically developing one's own inner enlightenment and spiritual growth; spiritual growth must be achieved individually, the self responds to innate motivation to develop social morals and ethics positively rather than negatively. One can be taught, but it useless effort unless the lesson is learned.  It requires earnest effort to learn what is being taught. It is useless to merely possess intelligence, you must use it. Similarly you can attend church and hear the sermon, but unless you listen and actively process and assimilate in your mind what you hear you might as well not have bothered to go unless it was merely for hypocritical show.  Many churches of all religions have those who are there merely for show (hypocrites); but even so bless them anyway and gratefully accept their helpful support of their church hoping they will come the next time earnestly desiring to draw closer to God and be faithful.

 

I believe also that Hitler's experiences as a soldier in World War I deadened part of his soul and shattered what remained; he expressed himself as an artist by focusing on ruined buildings and landmarks, but he never painted persons or people. His subjects were buildings, always empty of life perhaps like his soul was now, an empty shell as a result of traumatic experiences witnessed and practiced being a soldier during the cruelties of war.  Maybe his soldier training and front line duty like a grenade blew out his mind leaving only burned, distorted fragments of his early training in religion. He was unable to rekindle, even with his art and paintings, the necessary ability to communicate within his heart and his soul's pathway to God's for help when asked, but instead his damaged self dialed the devil with his questing mind who took his soul for the call. He fell into bad company and the rest is regrettable history. 

OWNER = GOD

God = Owner ....

Ownership of

a deep hole in time

that connects both Heaven and Hell

through which we,

the tenants travel,

choosing our resorts,

tourists collecting souvenirs,

treasures for our souls,

we transact our deeds.

************************************ (Yolanda Martin)

The following poem was written and copyrighted by
Eddie Harrison, D.C. – © 7/5/79 26.0

Midst No-Thing

Midst no time, in center of no place,

a Primordial Vastness ... No Thing ...

then Nightless Void turns upon Itself.

From Sleepless Deep a Giant stirs ...

Universal Spirit occupying

no space in a dimensionless period

explodes and expands to all that is.

Child of the Primordial slowly emerges

to perilous journey through corporeal realms

evolving and voyaging back to Primal Center.

Fair Child, to suffer so sad a fate.

Fair Prince, Thy identity unknown and

hidden from Thine eyes by seemingly

solid and seductive forms of matter.

Look within, Sweet Soul, through Thy heart.

Delve deep and perceive, beyond the tangible,

fine ethereal motions of some Truth at work,

within and without, so infinite and subtle

your finite mind cannot comprehend.

Through many experiences with Life,

learn to gently peel-away the sad and

tarnished mantle of mortal mind and body.

Soar Free from attachment to sensual pleasures,

rise-up to sacred and exalted ecstasies

... and beyond what is ... to What is Not.

Return with heart unstained to the

pure and radiant being of the Primordial One

that streams from all, to all, and no-where,

throughout Thy inner/outer nature.

Awake! Be Conscious!

Know who You are!

Beyond space, beyond time,

and dimensions afar!

Growing Old .... Current Events ...

Current events on TV always happen to someone else.  I welcome the current events and politics now unfolding in which improvement is being made in our social systems, health systems, and educational institutions. On yesterday evening was news that roadways are going to be improved by making changes in signs and other traffic control so that elderly drivers will find it easier to travel by car longer.Also,  It is always welcome news to hear when we can bring home troops from a foreign conflicts and war zones. Life is good when we can keep our lives productive, happy and well. But what if.......

 

My sister's husband suddenly became an invalid .... and several of my friends now have invalid husbands to care for .... (good that the husband is receiving love and care when he loses his normal functioning, but bad for the one who must now not only care for herself but her husband also). 

 

Understanding this hardship others must cope with when their loved ones now depend on them 24 hours a day, or until either spouse realizes they must be moved to a nursing home, or worse case, accept finality their loss ending their long marriage together, I feel and understand their sadness, their daily problems adjusting/adapting. I am most grateful that I am spared this ordeal in life. 

 

I took care of my elderly Mother and that was difficult enough.

 

The flip side is that single elderly persons must arrange for their own care as they lose function and normalcy. The lucky ones have children or intimate close friends who help them with love and support.  Moving to an assisted living care facility is the choice made by some. Others, presented with uncertainty, and faced with life change generally not well planned or prepared for, sometimes suddenly without warning, must have others decide for them what is to be done. Some commit suicide when their situation is perceived to be hopeless and terminal. Some just manage to survive in their homes pecking away at their computer like myself in this Yahoo group trying to stay mentally alert, happy, and as well as is to be expected while aging.

 

Friends and caring neighbors are the greatest asset in senior living for all the imaginable cases. To be cut off, isolated, and all alone is frightening, but growing old and infirm in addition is an unbearable sentence to serve.