when you come to a fork in the road
take it

Yogi Berra

emanations from God
we are
joy reflected upon itself

heaven abounds
but our illusions blind

whispers in a cave
more felt than heard
cave whispers...

the "bread", body of Christ
sustains us all by divine intervention
if only, we have an open heart

by non-doing
the silent witness
opens a portal thru which
spirit enters the world

a world filled with spirit
is an earthly paradise

our materialist point of view
eliminates divine and metaphysical
basis of moral order, instead
we are bound by a secular concern
with social and economic welfare

modern Christianity is made more appealing
by the promise of economic prosperity
as "other worldliness" fades
into the background

how "inconvenient" Christ is
with his rantings
about not being of this world

"I pray not for the world
but for them which thou
hast given me...
While I was in the world
I kept them in thy name...
they are not of the world
even as I am not of the world."
John 17:9-16

in early christian history
followers dedicated themselves
to living the spiritual life
even a three year preparation
for baptism:
vigils, fasting and training in prayers

of more importance
they were not prepared to compromise
with the growing worldliness of the church

what we now have
is a "watered-down" version of Christianity
perhaps, we need to re-discover, uncover
Christian values

in regards to Original Sin
the doctrine that we are redeemed
saved by Jesus Christ
is a cop-out

we too must assume
personal accountability
bear our own cross
as did Jesus

"If any man will come after me
let him deny himself
and take up his cross daily
and follow me"
Luke 9: 23

life is nothing, more or less
than learning how to love
dissolving past patterns
which bind us

Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount:
"Love your enemies"
Matthew 5

tangible joy
that i know you to be
extend your touch
to hearts grown cold
break down barriers
boundaries
forces that isolate
let go ego, let go

in silence i sit
a living sacrifice
in a world gone mad
with trivial pursuit

what good is suffering
without redemption
we all suffer but how many of us
lay claim to redemption

accept suffering, begin redemption

there is no linear journey
to paradise
we are already in it
surrounded by it
we must only, awaken
there is nothing for us "to do"
all is done, complete and waiting

all beauty, all joy
beckons us
all is just as it should be

only ego blocks reception, perception
of the divine
thus, the need for "self-destruction"

God rules the world, sublime
no reason for ego to create
creation already is
but for us to receive, experience

Heart informing mind?
isn't that what happens
when we "fall" in love
and thus "second thoughts"
cold feet

as mind is not familiar
at least consciously
with the ways of Heart

...been thinking
(and trying to practice)
the phrase "Christ be with you"
to give real meaning to it
we would have to literally
keep it in mind 24/7

"Christ be with you" requires
a closer connection
between heart and mind
maybe, even a reversal

where heart is dominant
where the heart informs the mind
establishes priorities, relationships
(ego let go)
where mind is subservient
as it should be

there is a boy, a man
whose fate is set, assured
his is good fortune
he need not worry or have remorse

should not our lives
be a living sacrifice
a full-time awareness
of the Christ
isn't that what testimony is


or is that just pablum
we feed to babes

"Why do you not understand my speech?"
John 9: 14

to voluntarily accept sacrifice
of earthly joys, pleasures
opens the way for the Holy Spirit

to vicariously take on others' pain
and torments
is also an invitation to the Holy Spirit

one is not really denying himself
rather, storing up heavenly treasures

make a deposit, today!

Sacrifice should come from the depths
of our hearts
voluntarily accepting
gladly
knowing that self-denial
alleviates a portion of suffering
in the world...
as it creates a portal
thru which the Holy Spirit enters

Osama Obama
a man of the times
an AK-47 in one hand
and a bible in the other

body of christ
feed the world

should we eat, overeat
till we are full
or shouldn't we spare some room
for the "bread" of Christ

should we not sacrifice
a little fullness
for those in the world
who hunger die of starvation

or maybe you don't believe
that such a sacrifice
would be effective

body, bread that Christ broke
feed the world

i serve my time
do my penitence
lawyer, doctor, Indian Chief
no matter
its all sacrifice

The Kingdom of Heaven
is at hand
but because of our un-belief
we are unready (to receive)
Matthew 22: 8-14

"Take, eat this is my body...
Drink ye all of this
For this is my blood of the new testament
which is shed for many for the remission
of sins"
Matthew 26: 26-28

if we were mindful
of the Spiritual essence
which we call food
would obesity be a problem
would starvation haunt our
conscience

I 'oft wonder
what the loaves and fishes
that Christ fed the masses
at the Sermon on the Mount
tasted like

were they imbued with divine culinary
was every bit and morsel
savored
and did the leftovers
return to their "natural state"

is present-day bodily sustenance
not of the same essence
yet we fail to detect its divinity
so diverted are we
by material illusion

The Spiritual Foundation
that feeds the world
like those bread and fishes
is limitless, spiritual

when we begin to believe in
accept
our public personas as real
we lose touch with our
Original Innocence, our true identity

We come under the illusion
that what goes down in the world
is true, real, substantive.

but true substance
is Spiritual
its only when we die
to our social constructs, cultural projections
that we arrive at TRUTH

Have you tasted pear shutney
lately
in my mind
pear shutney is the best
shutney available
have you tasted pear shutney, lately?

"Its only after
we've lost everything
that we are free
to do anything"
Chuck Palahnuk

Joy in movement induces following
I CHING

"For whosoever exalted himself
shall be abased
and he that humbleth himself
shall be exalted."
LUKE 14:13

"Take heed,
and beware of covetousness
for a man's life consits
not in the abundance of things
which he possesseth."
Luke 12:15

"If any man will come after me,
let him deny himself,
and take up his cross daily,
and follow me"
Luke 9:23

"Simon, seest thou this woman?
I entered into thine house,
thou gavest me no water for my feet;
but she hath washed my feet with tears
and wiped them with the hairs of her head.

Thou gavest me no kiss
but this woman since the time I came in
hath not ceased to kiss my feet...

Wherefore I say unto thee
Her sins, which are many
are forgiven,
for she loved much:

but to him to whom
little is forgiven,
the same loveth little."
Luke 7:40-47

"Blessed be ye poor
for your's is the kingdom of God...
Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you..
But woe unto the rich!
for you have received your consolation

and pray for him which deceitfully
use you...

and him that taketh away
your cloak
forbid not to take thy coat also."
Luke 6:20-29

"I love, love my BMW"
if you love the things of this world
you are of the world
and you have, already, your reward
you are not of Christ
as, he was not of this world

neither are his followers
of this world
people of this world
will not be saved from the second death

"And the soldiers likewise demanded of him,
saying. And what shall we do?
And he said unto them.
Do violence to no man."
Luke 3:14

I saw "my baby"
on tv today
she was barefoot and starving
halfway around the world
"my baby" needs only $8 a month
to survive
here i sit with $100 shoes
and too fat for my pants:

"Inasmuch as you have done it
unto one of the least of these
my brerthren you have done it to me"
Matthew 25: 40

"...I was an hungered
and you gave me no meat:
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink
I was a stranger and ye took me not in.
naked and you clothed me not:
sick and in prison and ye visited me not."
Matthew 25:40-43

earth is like a sandtrap
a detour
an exercise in focusing
on true substance
amidst myriad illusions

a magic wand i hold
which is my heart
it leaps with joy
at the sight and sound of you
my beloved son

since when has Christianity
been a smorgasbord of half-truths
since day one, most likely:

"why do you not understand
my speech?"
John9:14