I of the Eye

Posted by Jill Warner in Current Event Editorials.

The Episcopalian church known as the Anglican Communion is on the precipice of a highly publicized split over the subject of homosexuality. As with any conflict there are two sides, in this case the conservatives adhere to the belief that homosexuality is a sin and on the other side is the belief that it is not a sin. These polarizing ideas are the source of what looks like an inevitable split in the Anglican Communion and is the source of much discussion and disagreement on this blog in the past. The teaching of Jesus transcends either end of the spectrum. His message is for everyone, regardless of your religious beliefs, heritage, or sexual orientation. The ultimate sin is to keep anyone from the Truth that Jesus represents based on any belief, past action, or identity. Everyone is welcome to sit at the table with Jesus and drink the eternal wine of Truth.

Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.” (John 8:34) In a recent Washington Post interview Pastor Tim Keller describes sin as “Building your identity on anything besides God.” Sin is identification with the temporary. This is a beautiful description of your ego, which by its very nature identifies with the temporary. Identification with yourself as a body is the primordial sin. Ego is the belief that you are your body. Your identity as heterosexual or homosexual is identification with the body, which is temporary and has little to do with the Truth of who you are, which is eternal. Ego is the slave world of the body. If you identify with your body you are a slave to your body and all of the desires of your body. Jesus is the voice of freedom that calls you out of the slave world of the ego. In spite of this Truth, the Anglican Communion is split over the issue of homosexuality. How can this on going conflict give you a deeper understanding of the teaching of Jesus Christ?

Humanity Unites Brilliance

Posted by Jill Warner in Current Event Editorials.

Jesus says, “Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12)

Wisdom Rock Foundation is happy to introduce you to an unprecedented possibility for global transformation! Charlie Stuart Gay, Founder of Humanity Unites Brilliance (HUB), had a dream that non-profit organizations as well as individuals from around the world could unite to end poverty forever. Imagine a world that was completely free from poverty. Imagine that it was not just a dream, but that there was a practical way to make it happen. Even more radical, imagine that you could actually receive abundance for yourself while you are giving sustainable assistance to impoverished people around the world. You might be thinking that this is simply not possible, but when you find out what Charlie’s unique idea is, you will know that it is simply brilliant!

To see our new web page for more information about this exciting new opportunity for global giving click this link or select the HUB tab!

Spiritual Crisis

Posted by Jill Warner in Current Event Editorials.

War is the face of an inner conflict that every human being experiences. It lives in the inner conversation that says ‘I am right and you are wrong’ or the idea ‘Us versus them’ or ‘My way is the only way.’ This internal conversation is an invisible war of thought, which leads to fear, self-hatred, conflict, judgment, and prejudice. Inner conflict is the source of all war and all wars create wounds that are both seen and unseen. The modern word for the unseen wounds of war is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder better known as PTSD. Fundamentally, PTSD represents a spiritual crisis or the inability for a soldier to resolve the moral conflict between the nature of war, which is to kill and destroy, and the nature of faith, which is to love and uplift. In the June issue of Sun magazine there is a thought provoking article entitled Like Wandering Ghosts, which is an interview with Dr. Edward Tick who specializes in the treatment of PTSD. After several years working with veterans who suffer from PTSD, Dr. Tick has recognized that stress disorder does not accurately define the true nature of PTSD. Dr. Tick explains, “My best understanding of what we call PTSD is it is an identity disorder and soul wound that has its source in moral trauma. It is also a social disorder arising from the broken relationship between our veterans and society.” This broken relationship is the primary reason why it is almost impossible for veterans to heal their invisible wounds. Veterans have a hard time re-integrating back into society, simply because the civilian society has no tangible way of knowing the horror of war or the spiritual crisis it creates. Society sends them off to fight, but does little to welcome them home, leaving soldiers who are returning from their long and painful journey to bear the burden of their experience on their own.

Jesus cries out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34) As Jesus was dieing on the cross he experienced a moment of intense suffering far greater than the physical pain he was enduring. His fear that God abandoned him reveals a spiritual crisis of a magnitude that is difficult to comprehend. All soldiers experience intense fear in combat and moments when they feel abandoned not only by God, but abandoned by the society that sent them to war in the first place. Dr. Tick explains, “Veterans in the U.S. have been honored only why they are serving, to keep the patriotic fervor up, but not when the war is over.” He continues, “Instead of having a parade and going shopping, we could use our veteran’s holidays as an occasion for storytelling. Open churches and temples and synagogues and mosques and community centers and libraries across the country, and invite the veterans to tell their stories. Purification ceremonies and storytelling events are also important opportunities for the community to speak to veterans and take some of the burden of guilt off of them and declare our oneness with them: ‘You killed in our name, because we ordered you to, so we take responsibility for it to.’ On memorial day, May 26, 2008, The Welcome Home Project of Ashland Oregon, did exactly that by inviting the entire community to gather together to listen to veterans stories of war. What unfolded that night was truly a miraculous meeting of mind and heart that opened the door of healing for the veterans and their families as well as the community who had the courage to help carry the burden of their stories. How can the spiritual crisis known as PTSD and the heart wrenching stories of war teach you about the incredible depth and compassion of Jesus and his infinite teaching of Light?

Global Awakening

Posted by Jill Warner in Current Event Editorials.

Generosity is the word that best describes multi-millionaire Oprah Winfrey. She is recognized globally as both a philanthropist as well as a great humanitarian. She has touched the lives of millions through her television program, magazine, satellite radio program, YouTube channel, and now more recently her online spiritual program. Yet in spite of her positive image she is currently under attack by many Christians for her recent web class that took a deep look at Eckhart Tole’s new book: A New Earth – Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose. The audience for this unprecedented online global class of awakening zoomed to over 2 million people and many more will be exposed to this enlightening teaching in the summer class that is scheduled to begin this June. What is it about the New Earth webcast that has so many Christians upset?

Jesus says, “And what I say to you I say to all: Stay Awake!” (Mark 13:37) Jesus warns of false prophets that can mislead you and asks that you stay awake or remain vigilant in your faith. A commercial is circulating around the internet raising the concern that Oprah is a false prophet who is teaching new age doctrine that misleads and confuses Christians. It also raises the concern that Oprah has denied that Jesus is the only way to God. There is no question that Oprah believes that there are multiple ways of being in the world and acknowledges there are multiple religions, religious beliefs, and non-religious beliefs that all have the power to reveal the omniscient presence of God. Both Eckhart and Oprah are offering you an opportunity to expand your awareness into a greater consciousness, but does this more expanded perspective represent a false teaching or does it simply represent another opportunity to understand the infinite depth of what Jesus teaches? How can Oprah and this controversial new program help you deepen your understanding of the teaching of Jesus Christ?

Charter of Compassion

Posted by Jill Warner in Current Event Editorials.

Jesus says, “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”(Matthew 7:12)

The was a time long long ago when the entire world was connected as one giant land mass known as Pangea.  Jehane Noujaim dreamed that the entire world would once again be united in a virtual land mass, which she called Pangea Day. Last November in the blog post entitled Transformation we all discussed her vision as well as her provocative movie Control Room, which earned her the Ted Prize and an opportunity to share her wish with the world. Jehane’s wish was there would be a day devoted to bringing the world together using the media of film, in the hopes that people around the world might begin to understand that regardless of our different cultures and religious beliefs we are all more alike than we are different.  Last Saturday, May 10th 2008, her wish came true and her dream of Pangea Day became a reality.  The films shown around the world reflect the full range of human emotion revealing the common glue that holds us all together in an invisible bond of love. (Please visit www.pangeaday.org to see this amazing array of movies). Karen Armstrong was a speaker at Pangea Day who also has a very big wish for the world.  Karen is a world renown theologian who has studied in depth the common thread of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, and how faith shapes world history and is a force that drives current events. She has written over 20 books on the subject and perhaps even more interestingly, she was a nun for seven years before she left her convent to become the recognized author that she is today. 

Jesus says, “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”(Matthew 7:12)  Karen’s wish is that people around the world, regardless of religious or non-religious beliefs, embrace what she calls the Charter of Compassion built on the principle of the Golden rule – do unto others as you would have them do unto you. In her extensive study she has discovered that at the core of every religion is the fundamental principle of the golden rule, but she also recognized that religion has been hijacked and used throughout the world as a platform for extremism, judgment, and violence.  The pervasive idea is that Religion is about belief, but Karen recognized that the original meaning of belief was to love or hold dear not the generally accepted idea that belief means to adhere to a set of principles or doctrine.  Karen asks, “If religion is not about believing, what is it about?”  What is religion really about and how can this question provide you with an even deeper understanding of the teaching of Jesus?

Eternal Life

Posted by Jill Warner in Current Event Editorials.

Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” (John 8:51)

It is hard to imagine the destruction left in the wake of the cyclone that slammed into the coast of Burma several days ago.  The death toll has climbed to an estimated 22,000 with over 41,000 people missing who are believed to be dead.  The global community is in the process of mobilizing to send much needed food, supplies, and water, but conditions on the ground as well as the Burma military resistance to foreign aid has stymied efforts to get aid to the most devastated areas.  The impact on the global food supply is unknown at this time, but it is anticipated that it will have severe impact on the global shortage of rice and other produce.  It is easy to be overwhelmed by such heartbreaking news.  The sudden death of someone you love is simply devastating and people throughout Burma are experiencing a profound heartbreak beyond all concept of heartbreak. Yet, in the midst of the unbelievable devastation, you are given a rare opportunity to see that which is eternal – eternal life.

Some Jewish men ask Jesus, “Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets who died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” Jesus answers, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ But you have not known him.  I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” To this they ask, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus replies, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” (John 8:52-58) Everyone who is born into this world lives for a time and dies. Death is an uncomfortable subject that is often avoided, but meeting death has the power to awaken your consciousness to eternal life. What did Jesus mean when he says ‘before Abraham was, I am’? How can the heartbreak of this unfathomable devastation in Burma help you to understand the teaching of Jesus on an even deeper level? 

Imagine

Posted by Jill Warner in Current Event Editorials.

Jesus says, “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world— to bear witness to the truth.” (John 18:37)

Many years ago I had an awesome dream. I had a dream that a message of light could move around the world awakening the global consciousness to a Great Light. I had a dream that this message could open your heart to a deeper understanding of who you really are at the core of your being. Yes, I had a dream that one day you could see the light that you are and in this recognition, it would be natural as breathing for you to love everyone as yourself. Imagine waking up to the infinite light that is shining deep within you right now. How would it feel if you knew that you really are this great light? How open and compassionate would you be? Imagine your heart being so open that you love everyone, even your enemies. Yes, I had a dream that you could wake up from the limitations imposed by your own mind to a deeper realization – that you really are the Light of the World! Jesus has this very same dream. This is not the Jesus of dogma, or the limiting ideas presented as the Jesus of Christianity, but this is the infinite Light of Jesus Christ, which has the power to open your heart to Love beyond any concept of Love, Grace beyond any concept of Grace, and Peace beyond any concept of Peace. This is eternal Freedom. Many many years ago I had a dream that the transcendent message of Jesus could inspire and uplift you and everyone around the world regardless of religious beliefs. Yes, I had a dream, not as an egoic idea of creating world peace, or converting you to Christianity, or some grandiose plan to save the world, all it takes is one look at the world to realize that egoic lust for power, selfishness, and greed is killing people as well as the planet who sustains all of us. No, my purpose is simply to remind you that Jesus stands in eternity pointing directly to the Great Light that you are. It is this Great Light that contains the power to open your heart to the love and compassion of your true nature!

Jesus says, “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world— to bear witness to the truth.” (John 18:37) If you follow the gaze of Jesus you will see the Truth that he came here to illuminate. It is a Truth so profound it contains the Grace that can free you from the bondage of suffering and uplift you to the realization that who you are at the core is a love so pristine, so beautiful, that it has the power to make you weep with joy. This Truth is easily overlooked simply because it is so close to you, closer than your breath, but once you recognized this hidden Truth a joy that defies labels of any kind naturally arises within you. As Jesus illuminates, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11) This is mind falling into heart. Last week the mind of American Idol fell into its heart through the voice of a very talented young artist named Jason Castro. Jason sang Somewhere Over the Rainbow with such profound love that he transformed this beloved song into a song of transcendence, a song of hope, and a song that reveals that dreams really do come true. David Archuleta embodied this same spirit of hope when he sang the famous John Lennon song - Imagine. How can the magnificent voices of Jason Castro and David Archuleta open your heart to the transcendent message of Jesus Christ?