A New Story for a New World: Post III; Atonement 2

Moving on with post three of this series, let me remind you of the genesis of this project. Frank Spencer of KedgeForward challenged, invited as many as would be willing, to blog a new story for a new world. His hope was that the collective story would begin to frame a new way of being and thinking in the twenty-first century.

I have been blogging about how personal mysticism and atonement fit into the new story…at least, my new story. I look at atonement as at-one-ment, i.e., being at one with the source of all that is, God the Father. I think it will be beneficial for me to look at the way the “old story” viewed atonement and contrast that with the way I see it today.

I grew up among fundamentalist Protestants and was introduced to the penal substitutionary theory of atonement for much of my life. Simply put, it posits that mankind fell through Adam and Eve, and that Jesus paid the penalty for the fall and all sin. As I advanced theologically, I began to adopt the Christus Victor theory of the atonement which, basically acknowledges the divine conflict between good and evil that holds humans captive, and looked to Christ as the victor or liberator. Now however, I do not accept either one and look at it a little differently.

The phenomenon that has been called sin by the church is really a condition that is the result of greed. The ego, the alone separate self…the self separated from awareness of the divine connection, is subject to death. Death through the survival instinct brings about the condition of greed. Further reasoning, the knowledge of good and evil, brings the ability to judge into existence and, humans can judge between right and wrong. The problem is that the survival instinct breeds greed. Individuals that are unaware of their eternalness or at the very least not sure about it, feel alone separated from the source of all that is, God the Father. In reality at a deep subconscious level, they judge themselves as inferior and try to avoid it by dwelling on the past or hoping for the future…but never really address the present moment, the place where eternity resides. Outwardly, they judge themselves right and others wrong. In this way, the knowledge of good and evil and mortality work together to create human suffering via separated egos.

So then, Jesus had perfect faith in the source of all that is, Father God. He was able to set aside his ego/self because he was connected by faith to the source. The bible states that he was the first born of many brothers and sisters. He was the first born, the first human that was certain of his eternal connectedness to the Father. He was so sure of this fact that he could completely lay his ego aside even to the point of willingness to die. His death and resurrection demonstrated his eternalness. He realized that he was at-one with God. He was the pattern that would allow us to set our egos aside and believe in our eternalness. Though faith in his story we can have that same faith in our connection to the source of all that is, God the Father. 

Don’t forget to check out the other blogs in this project and if you blog, take up the challenge yourself and share your new story for a new world.

A New Story for a New World: Part Two; Atonement 1

I think that it was fitting that I began this series with a post about do-it-yourself-mysticism because it implies that we jointly and severally, are able to receive creative ways to look at things from the source, the mind at large…i.e., the spiritual eternal oneness. In the past, and especially within Judeo Christian tradition, this has been referred to as revelation. It is a connection with something outside ones self that brings clarity of thought and purpose to the story. It allows the story to be reframed and retooled to be a benefit to a specific situation or occasion. Thus, the scripture as we Christians know it, was as Luther stated, occasional. While I am not trying to be bold and say that I think that I or anyone else is writing scripture, I would argue that the Apostle Paul et. al., did not think that they were writing scripture either…although there is an obscure passage in 2Peter that suggests that they were but, that is more than likely a reflective comment made by some well meaning editor many years distant from Peter.

I want to get back to the point at hand but the previous digression was/is important for framing the ideas to be set forth. The word atonement is rich, perhaps smothered in connotation from the “old story.” It shall be my purpose in this series of posts to create a bridge between Christianity and its view of “a new earth” and Eckhart Tolle’s. Hopefully there will be a connection or a synthesis that will allow a meaningful dialogue of interested parties and so, I hope for a rich reaction, interaction that is made possible so readily in the social media setting. In other words, I think that atonement is an important part of one’s relationship with the source, the mind at large, God, The Father. I list all of these because I think that a more inclusive way of story telling is absolutely critical to synthesis. It will allow diverse belief systems to dialogue and perhaps find common ground that is the experience of all people and will lead toward a “new world” new earth kind of thinking.

Atonement….at-one-ment, being one with the source, God, is “the” necessary ingredient for a personal relationship with deity. In fact, I would argue that it is impossible to have a relationship of any kind with the source without this at-one-ment. It implies a reconciliation between a person and the eternal. In traditional Christian doctrine, the atonement, is the remedy for the fall. I would like to try to create a word at this point and label the fall as the atmanyment, (at-many-ment.) It is the birth of the ego which separates one from the source. Any of you who are students of Tolle recognize this quite readily. In reality the fall is aloneness awareness.

Now in Christian thought, Jesus of Nazareth is the source of at-one-ment. He is the reconciler, that bridges the aloneness and brings one into the realized awareness of being atoned, at one with God. I am going to divide this into digestible chunks as I go along. My first purpose is to demonstrate that there is potential for a common description of how this story can be made a part of our new story for a new world.

Next time, I will begin to look at the historical view of atonement, how it formed the old story and will try to weave ways in which we can see it as a fresh story that will help our spiritual development. I have already run over on this one…I try to keep my posts at the 500 word essay limit. Don’t forget to keep watching the other blogs in this project. KedgeForward, Zoecarnate, Transmillenial Blog and, The Sensual Jesus.

A New Story for A New World: Part One; “do-it-yourself-mysticism”

I got this idea from the KedgeForward Blog and Frank Spencer. It’s a great idea and fits in quite well with my goals here on the Freedom Blog. Simply put, Frank is encouraging and challenging as many as will participate to begin to create a new story for a new world. This assumes the obvious. The old story is tired and spent. It is told in yesterday’s language with yesterday’s ideas and quite frankly, it lacks relevance for us today. I know that is what I have experienced in the past as I tried to live out and practice my faith in community. I have shifted, changed course and, am heading to previously unexplored vistas. Well, that is not entirely true…in the earlier college days and for me, that was quite a while ago, I explored these vistas to a degree but without a focus on my personal relationship with Jesus and the Father. Let me state right from the beginning… I have a personal relationship with Jesus and the Father but, do to the old story narrative, and connotation, you will find that my meaning is different than the classic evangelical meaning but, in the ways that are important, it is the same.

So anyway…let me move forward with the sub title/theme, “do-it-yourself-mysticism.” Let me state plainly in the new story context, mysticism is for everyone that wants to develop it. In the old story, it is often relegated to the elders and those that have been given the public approval for spirituality but, I have found over a relatively long life that mysticism has always been something that I could practice if and when I chose to. By mysticism, I mean to partake of the divine nature or to be one with the source of all that is. It means to participate in supernatural healing and deliverance from the snarls and snags of life. While others, influenced by the old story say that one must be prayed up, confessed up and all other kinds of ups, I have found that the source of all that is…Father God, is accessible to all, at all times if we but believe. There have been so many times that I have witnessed the power of God move in and on my behalf when if the truth was known, the elders of the old story would have said it was impossible.

So then, the new story for the new world must emphasize this fact. It is an empirical fact as I can testify of its efficacious reality. It works in the midst of meditation and many other things frowned upon by those married to the old story and the old world. The new story will be far more inclusive than the old story. The new story will unite where the old story divides. But, the new story cannot evolve without a willingness to embrace new ideas……..I hope that the language I have chosen will alert my evangelical friends to the fact that I am still a staunch believer in Jesus…..and that my new age friends will be less afraid of the term Jesus and Father God, and allow old connotations to melt away. You can see other post on this topic at the following blogs: Kedge Forward, Zoecarnate, The Sensual Jesus and, the Transmillenial Blog.

While you are at it check out this video; Frank Spencer

Holosync, The Power of Now, the Law of Attraction, and Christian Faith.

Looking at the big picture spiritually, there is a way in which all of the above title aspects fit together very well. My wife and I just began the Holosync Program from CenterPoint Research. Essentially, this program uses tones to bring about a deep meditative state. I must admit that after just a few sessions, I am inclined to sing the praises of holosync’s effectiveness. I have never found an easier way to meditate and it produces a deep relaxing state. It is explained in the material that the tones themselves bring about the meditative state. I began to try some experimentation as I use the holosync program and the results are amazing in my view.

Here’s what I have begun to experiment with. During my time of meditation, I make audible affirmations that coincide with the ideas of The Power of Now, A New Earth and the Law of Attraction. I use the meditative state to become aware of me the observer, that is the self that can be aware of the connection to the source in the present moment. I literally become aware of my connectedness to all that is during this time. It is an “I and the Father are one” kind of moment. Likewise, I become acutely aware of the nowness of all time, or to put it another way, of the fact that in reality the only time that exists is the present moment. There is a grand lucidity in all of this that makes me realize that this can be a perfect time of creativity in my thought processes. The affirmations state the positive aspects of what I have in the now. It is more real than the experience outside of the meditative state and, it is the place where I can call into existence or attract those positive aspects that I am seeking.

I speak to health issues, financial issues, business and success issues as I dwell in the meditative state created by the holosync CD. Interestingly enough, I am beginning to be far more comfortable with my Christianity, that is, my relationship with Christ and the Father as I am in this process. It is an integration of the parts of a whole. My faith in Christ is not separate from all of the present moments and when I acknowledge the now, the connection to the source, I realize that it is a connection to the Father.

I have been freaking out some of my evangelical friends and they fear for me…afraid that I am dipping into demonic or satanic practices. This could not be farther from the truth. Actually, in the beginning there was a slight anxiety that I could feel in combining holosync with my faith, but then, I began to remember biblical phrases like “perfect love casts out all fear” and I realized that this is just another vehicle for bringing me into the presence of God. The power and effectiveness of this comes from being able to bring the aspects of the Law of Attraction into this time of great connectedness to the source of all that is. I hope that as time goes on, I will be able to express this in a vocabulary that will really communicate what I mean. I will keep you posted so keep tuning in.

Thinking and Feeling the Combination for Success

I watched The Secret again last evening. One of the main focuses that I saw running through out the entire video was that it is not enough to just think about your success. You must feel it at the core of your being. Thoughts and feelings must work together to create the great reality you deserve. In the west especially, we are taught and conditioned to be thinking people. If the truth is told, we have established an unwritten law that feelings are bad and should be avoided. We should be rational and think things clearly. But, as Tolle so succinctly points out, the ego has kidnapped the thought process to be focused on non real issues aimed at egoic survival. We think of the past and the future and rarely think about the now, the present moment. We fear the present moment and often see it as our enemy or a means to a future end. It makes sense then to me that ,the visualization (attracting) that we do must be in the present and it must involve both thought and feelings. It must be focused in the present moment. We must see the possession of what we desire now. We must realize that time is not really existent in the eternal nature of absolute spiritual reality.

This will allow us to think about the fact that we have this success (whatever it is, car, home, money) now, and it must be linked to the good feelings that are caused by the realization of this fact. We must visualize the thing that we are attracting to be a reality right now and we must then acknowledge how it makes us feel. The feeling will be joyous and peaceful. One thing that I am finding in writing this is that it is difficult to put into writing a spiritual awareness. I just spoke with my wife while writing and she said that the reason is that we, humanity, are on the verge of awakening. It is only in the now that one can be the observer of the self. In the present moment you can be set apart from your ego and view all of your thoughts and feelings in an objective way. This is the place where you should do your visualization and affirmation, seeing it as a present, now moment and then allowing you the observer to think and feel about the thing you are attracting. This will greatly strengthen the attraction.

Awareness is just the first step on this journey to becoming completely conscious and a participant with the source in the creation process. It is an important step and I think that the combination of thought and feeling will make the law of attraction work for you.