Crash and Burn

Savage Garden says, "If you need to crash, then crash and burn you're not alone" and "You will breathe again." I think that the All wishes we all knew this. We forget it all too often. We do think we're alone in this high stakes game called Life.

I especially enjoy the inset text floating throughout the video; it gives an extra dimension to the lyrics. The kids and I watched this video together today and since they took Sign Language as an elective this year they thought it was pretty cool that the last part was done by signing.

Big Love does exist all around us and inside us.

Oath Keepers.org

On Friday, June 22nd of 2012 St. Louis, MO residents were warned that the military would be on the streets as part of a 'training mission.' Why in the world would they not do this 'practice' on their own base, in their own residential areas? Military bases DO have residential areas. 

I don't want to be desensitized to seeing military vehicles on the street. I want to be afraid. Why? Because that fear will tell me that something is truly wrong! But if we're desensitized to seeing our military on the street then we will become more accustomed to martial law. And if they were rounding up and making arrests of members of a subversive cabal like some people have said then NAME THEM! Don't fly them to Guantanamo in the dark; let us see these people and understand what good our military is doing- if it is doing good, because heaven knows that we could use some good news right about now. If it is rounding up ordinary citizens for protesting then we need to shed light on that, too.

When it becomes a crime for people to protest and/or carry arms then it is obviously time for us to stand up and renew our commitment to protect our freedoms. We cannot inch along slowly toward the demolition of our Constitution. We have to wake up.

Visit OathKeepers.org to read about the outstanding citizens (In the Testimonials section)who do indeed see the forest for the trees in this sweltering and dismal political climate. Read their Ten Orders We Will NOT Obey. I encourage you to get involved with this organization and spread the word about it.

There is hope! Per their website: 

Oath Keepers: What We Are

Oath Keepers is an association of currently serving military, veterans, and peace officers who will fulfill the oath we swore to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, so help us God.

Our oath is to the Constitution, not to the politicians, and we will not obey unconstitutional (and thus illegal) and immoral orders, such as orders to disarm the American people or to place them under martial law and deprive them of their ancient right to jury trial.

We Oath Keepers have drawn a line in the sand. We will not “just follow orders."

Our motto is “Not on our watch!”

If you, the American people, are forced to once again fight for your liberty in another American Revolution, you will not be alone. We will stand with you.

There is at this time a debate within the ranks of the military regarding their oath. Some mistakenly believe they must follow any order the President issues. But you can rest assured that many others in the military do understand that their loyalty is to the Constitution, and understand what that means. 

The mission of Oath Keepers is to vastly increase their numbers. We are in a battle for the hearts and minds of our own troops. To win that battle, Oath Keepers will use written and video testimony of active duty military, veterans (especially combat vets), and peace officers to reach, teach, and inspire our brothers in arms in the military and police to fulfill their oaths and stand as guardians of the Republic.

If you are currently in the military, are a veteran, or are a peace officer, please submit your written and/or video testimony on your oath, so you can help us win that battle for hearts and minds. Your submission may be anonymous.

Guardians of the Republic, fulfill your oath. Join us.

What We Are Not

We are Not advocating or promoting the overthrow of any government whether local, state or national. We want our governments to return to the Constitutional Republic which the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution defined and instituted.

We are Not advocating or promoting violence towards any organization, group or person.
We are determined to Keep our Oath to support and defend the Constitution.


We are not advocating or promoting the removal of any person from his or her elected office.
We want all elected persons to live up to their Oath to "support and defend the Constitution" as it is written or to leave of their own volition.

We are not advocating or promoting that anyone in the Judicial Branch be removed or replaced.
We want the Justices in the Judicial Branch to follow the Constitution as written without interpretation.

We are not advocating or promoting any particular form of government other than the Constitutional Republic which the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution defined and instituted.

We are not advocating or promoting the rewriting of the Constitution nor are we asking for an Amendment thereto. We are insisting on the Constitution being Enforced as it is written.

We are Not advocating or promoting any act or acts of aggression against any organization or person for any reason including, but not limited to; race, religion, national origin, political affiliation, gender or sexual orientation.

We hope for a return to a Constitutional Republic free from fear and hatred. We hate only tyranny.

We are Oath Sworn Americans who want the Constitution returned to its legal and rightful place, intact, as the ultimate Law of the Land.

Who am I? - Seth answers

More commentary from Seth; this time on what it means to be an individual human being and experiencing physical pain. My comments are below.

The Nature of the Psyche: Its Human Expression

A Seth Book by: Jane Roberts

Page 110

When you ask: "Who am I?" you are trying to read yourself as if you were a simple sentence already written. Instead, you write yourself as you go along. The sentence that you recognize is the only one of many probable variations. You and no other choose which experiences you want to actualize. You do this as spontaneously as you speak words. You take it for granted that a sentence begun will be finished. You are in the midst of speaking yourself. The speaking, which is your life, seems to happen by itself, since you are not aware of keeping yourself alive. Your heart beats whether or not you understand anatomy.

You read yourself in too-narrow terms. Much of the pain connected with serious illness and death results because you have no faith in your own continuing reality. You fight pain because you have not learned to transcend it, or rather to use it. You do not trust the natural consciousness of the body, so that when its end nears- and such an end is inevitable- you do not trust the signals that the body gives, that are meant to free you.

Certain kinds of pain automatically eject consciousness from the body. Such pain cannot be verbalized, for it is a mixture of pain and pleasure, a tearing free, and it automatically brings about an almost exhilarating release of consciousness. Such pain is also very brief. Under your present system, however, drugs are usually administered, in which case pain is somewhat minimized but prolonged- not triggering the natural release mechanisms.

If you read your selves adjacently, you would build up confidence in the body, and in those cooperative consciousnesses that form it. You would have an intimate awareness of the body's healing processes also. You would not fear death as annihilation, and would feel your own consciousness gently disentangle itself from those others that so graciously couched it.

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I think there is an alternate side to this which Seth does not speak about: voluntary pain for certain gain. Why do we sometimes feel the urge to fast or curb ourselves from doing certain activities? Or why do we put ourselves in situations or do things which cause us so much physical pain? What do we learn from the experience?

Could it be that just as pain we did not intend to feel causes us to feel(or not) distance from the divine, we also consciously move toward physical pain to release ourselves from the stupor of everyday life so that we CAN feel closer to the divine? "Yeah you bleed just to know you're alive," writes the Goo Goo Dolls. Appropriate don't you think,  that in this day and age we are more likely to willingly cause ourselves pain than we are to experience the occasional accidental agony?

Our Path is Not Narrow!

A fellow gnostic has lamented lately that he feels a little unnerved he has not been able to put the proper 'label' on his faith. He feels adrift, in a way; watching other religious people around him classifying their beliefs in nice, neat pre-packaged ways is disturbing when he feels like there really isn't a classification for his beliefs. In the end he states that during his father's failing health and death he came to a few realizations about himself:

"The first is, I am not a Christian. Not in any traditional sense.  The good thing is all those old grudges were healed through my experiences with good kindly Christians during his sickness and death.  I know there are closed minded and psycho people who claim to be Christians, but I don't blame the whole religion for them.  I know many are not that way.  So why I am I not a Christian?   My God is bigger.  My God has so many describers.....many not biblical in the least.  God to me is Mother, Father, Lover but also friend, nature, Goddess, Shakti, Sophia, Krishna, Jesus, Kali, the tree in my front yard, the rolling plains, sunset, land my spouse.  My faith story is not limited to the Biblical characters whether from the Bible or Nag Hammadi. I find spiritual meaning in myth, in life, in experiences, and in my relationship with others.  My scriptures could be a poem, nature or any holy book.  Some might argue that this is their Christian faith (Many liberal or emergent Christians might say that)  In that case I might be a Christian by such a broad definition, but I know that most Christianity would not. 

I do believe and love God/the Divine.  She is the Goddess to me.. the maiden, mother, and crone associated with nature, the elements and the moon.  He is the God...utterly masculine and silent, revealing his mysteries in silence.  He is also Jesus who loved the outcasts.  He is Krishna the playful and wise one.  She is Mother Mary who welcomes us all  to be held within her embrace.  She is Kali who would sever us from our weaker natures.  God is nature, and an awareness that is beyond any anthropomorphizing or personification found in all things. 

So what does this mean?  For me, it means I can rest confident in my love and faith of God.  I can talk God and Jesus with the Christians.  I can speak of the Goddess and God with Wiccans.  I can speak of Brahman with the Hindus and the way of Nature with the Taoists and Pantheists. 

This time of my final days with my father, being visited by good Christians caused me to reflect.  I love their peace.  I love their foundation and solidness in their faith.  I envy belonging to the dominant religion that would never cause me to somehow self-doubt my right to believe the way I do.  But my understanding and experience of the Divine is broader and more encompassing.  My morality less constricted while remaining ethical and virtuous. 

This is why I am a Universalist.  This is why I am a Priest of this God.  The Universalist Church of the Sacred Path constantly challenges me to expand and reflect.  I am thankful for that, even when it is not comfortable."

My comment to the Green Monk in his blog post is really something I want to say to all gnostics everywhere:

I empathize. When we look at all the literal 'trappings' of Christianity it becomes a burden on our heart. It saddens us to look at it but on two fronts: we're somewhat jealous that at least they have a way of quantifying and qualifying their every move and every word as being just and holy or unjust and profane. But also it saddens us because we do understand how tightly they have tethered themselves to this world.

The All isn't a burden but a blessing for us to see and feel and experience.

Gnosis is so vast that only the expansive label of 'gnosticism' seems to fit because gnosis itself is as big and complex as the universe we inhabit.

Your Church of the Sacred Path is blessed to have you in it, brother. I know the path is wide and gives us much room to wander but I know also that when comparing yourself and your faith to the literalist faiths of Christianity then gnosis can feel like you're swimming in an ocean with no land in sight. Literalist Christians and others of literalist faiths have boundaries they've set for themselves. Good for them, if that is what they require currently. But you are free, brother. You are free to fly as high as you can imagine. Stay away from that cage and you'll be blessed a thousand times over.

Burkas, Women, and Guns

http://news.yahoo.com/mob-attacks-women-egypt-anti-sex-assault-rally-212911011.html

Women trying to demonstrate that they're fed up with being sexually assaulted on a daily basis .... are assaulted. Wow. The irony here is profound. 

They did have a group of men surrounding them for protection but that eventually broke down and all hell broke loose.

My question is this: what would have happened if when the protective barrier was broken the women pulled out automatic weapons and began firing at their attackers?  What would happen if women were armed?

Just for one month I'd love to see every woman in that region mysteriously disappear. Just 'poof!' a sort of Rapture type occurrence. Send these women on vacation someplace really nice. They deserve it.

Men: "Oh no! Where did all our women go? It must be a conspiracy! Hey, Spain, you seen our women? Greece? Russia? Germany? Hey, guys. This isn't funny anymore!"

What do you think the men would do? Who would they take their frustrations out on? Who would cook and clean and listen to them whine? 

Interesting to imagine these scenarios. 

Modern Detachment-- The Eyes Have It

While watching some music today in YouTube I caught an intriguing bit of advertisement and recorded it with my camera. You've probably seen it on TV or like I have, on YouTube. Please forgive the initial blurriness of the firsts few seconds, it does get more clear I assure you. I was trying to find the right angle to catch the text at the bottom of the screen under the two actors.

So in this ad we see a father and son finding a way to communicate their deep thoughts:

Long distance? Short distance? When you read what it is they're texting to one another it really doesn't matter according to the company who makes the phones. 

Now I am all for texting. Sheesh, my husband and I use texting to literally IM one another all day while he's at work. (Thank the All for unlimited plans.) Did the cat do something stupid? Yup, I send him a picture text message. And yes, that's him over there snortgiggling in his cubicle at seeing his little Princess get her claws stuck on a toy and running around like an idiot with it attached to her. Ask him what he wants for desert: me in something skimpy or how about s'mores? I love s'mores! With Nutella. Yummm!... ..... anyway. You get it. We love texting. 

My problem with this advertising is that it exhibits a classic case of modern detachment. This is hardly a new phenomenon but I feel it is increasing in its prevalence within our society. Technology makes it seem inevitable that we will grow more detached from one another. Technology makes it possible for us to go about our day without ever facing someone or really needing to look at them for more than a split second to get our business concluded. Where is the human connection? Where has it gone? No wonder so many of us are antidepressants- it's a depressing world! We're lonely and starved for real communication.

In my post about forcing gnosis I told you about a very simple exercise you can use to reconnect with people. After seeing this ad I think it needs more discussion. 

Making eye contact with anyone who passes within two yards of you and giving them an acknowledging nod, what could be easier? Now how about saying, "hello!" If you don't get any response from the person hold your ground and keep your smile intact even as you pass by one another. That smile and friendly salutation didn't really cost you anything did it? And once you are out of the immediate vicinity of the person you tried to connect with, pause for a moment and reflect: how did you feel when you smiled? Were you uplifted? Did you feel like you were a part of them for a moment? Did you feel that divine connection which says, "HEY! You're part of me and I care about you. Let me show you that someone is thinking about you right now even if you're busy and you don't have time for more than a quick hello."

What you'll find through this exercise is that you get so much more out of it than you ever expected while also brightening someone else's day. When was the last time someone smiled at that person? You can never tell. It could have been the day from hell for them and you simply taking a moment to smile and meet their gaze in a friendly manner may have lifted their spirits from a pit of despair.

Gnosis is Big Love and we have to start somewhere. Baby steps. Build your confidence and someone elses while spreading a little love. 

Gospel of Truth- Calling Those Who Have Knowledge

Blog Author's Note: In The Gnostic Bible section in the side-column you'll see the names of several books. This blog post is a continuation of a series on The Gospel of Truth. This collection of gnostic wisdom is a meaty, stick-to-your-bones, meditative kind of literature. It is not light religious cuisine. 

In several online sources for the text I have found a very common problem- headings, or rather a lack thereof. The interpretations are all the same, however they do not possess the subject headings of the printed version in the Gnostic Bible. I am keeping the subject headings provided in the printed version as it is easier to ... digest, if you will.  Without the headings it all runs together in a mish-mashed heap.

Because the Gospel of Truth is such heavy reading I prefer to keep the headings and separate the book out into easier-to-swallow type chapters. Each chapter or section is never very long but the use of sectional headings is important when searching for topic matter. Also, if one attempts to read the book as one long tract they will end up with a migraine to end all migraines. I do not advise doing it. But if you do, have some mercy on yourself and keep a heavily caffeinated drink nearby or at least some Tylenol. It is best to enjoy the book as a fine sipping wine-- in very small doses.

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The Father Calling Those Who Have Knowledge

Those whose name he knew first were called last, so that the one who has knowledge is he whose name the Father has pronounced. For he whose name has not been spoken is ignorant. Indeed, how shall one hear if his name has not been uttered? For he who remains ignorant until the end is a creature of forgetfulness and will perish with it. If this is not so, why have these wretches no name, why do they have no sound? Hence, if one has knowledge, he is from above. If he is called, he hears, he replies, and he turns toward him who called him and he ascends to him and he knows what he is called. Since he has knowledge, he does the will of him who called him. He desires to please him and he finds rest. He receives a certain name. He who thus is going to have knowledge knows whence he came and whither he is going. He knows it as a person who, having become intoxicated, has turned from his drunkenness and having come to himself, has restored what is his own. 

He has turned many from error. He went before them to their own places, from which they departed when they erred because of the depth of him who surrounds every place, whereas there is nothing which surrounds him. It was a great wonder that they were in the Father without knowing him and that they were able to leave on their own, since they were not able to contain him and know him in whom they were, for indeed his will had not come forth from him. For he revealed it as a knowledge with which all its emanations agree, namely, the knowledge of the living book which he revealed to the Aeons at last as his letters, displaying to them that these are not merely vowels nor consonants, so that one may read them and think of something void of meaning; on the contrary, they are letters which convey the truth. They are pronounced only when they are known. Each letter is a perfect truth like a perfect book, for they are letters written by the hand of the unity, since the Father wrote them for the Aeons, so that they by means of his letters might come to know the Father. 

The Father's Son Is Jesus Of Utmost Sweetness

While his wisdom mediates on the logos,

and since his teaching expresses it,

his knowledge has been revealed.

His honor is a crown upon it.

Since his joy agrees with it,

his glory exalted it.

It has revealed his image.

It has obtained his rest.

His love took bodily form around it.

His trust embraced it.

Thus the logos of the Father goes forth into the All, being the fruit of his heart and expression of his will. It supports the All. It chooses and also takes the form of the All, purifying it, and causing it to return to the Father and to the Mother, Jesus of the utmost sweetness. The Father opens his bosom, but his bosom is the Holy Spirit. He reveals his hidden self which is his son, so that through the compassion of the Father the Aeons may know him, end their wearying search for the Father and rest themselves in him, knowing that this is rest. After he had filled what was incomplete, he did away with form. The form of it is the world, that which it served.

For where there is envy and strife, there is an incompleteness; but where there is unity, there is completeness. Since this incompleteness came about because they did not know the Father, so when they know the Father, incompleteness, from that moment on, will cease to exist. As one's ignorance disappears when he gains knowledge, and as darkness disappears when light appears, so also incompleteness is eliminated by completeness. Certainly, from that moment on, form is no longer manifest, but will be dissolved in fusion with unity. For now their works lie scattered. In time unity will make the spaces complete. By means of unity each one will understand itself. By means of knowledge it will purify itself of diversity with a view towards unity, devouring matter within itself like fire and darkness by light, death by life.

Forcing Gnosis

A friend has expressed for some time now frustration in trying to keep to a certain practice to find enlightenment. To force gnosis is like trying to force a brick through the eye of a needle. I don't think we're hardwired to accept the daily grind on top of a completely open connection to the divine 24/7. We're too distracted by our responsibilities, family and friends... FOOD! Our body needs sustenance and by gosh we have to work for a living.

Keeping a spiritual calendar seems to inhibit some people's growth. Mandatory time set aside or scheduled ...eh. It's not very organic feeling after a while. And so we find excuse after excuse and emergency after emergency to delay or reschedule our 'practice.' How do you practice for life, exactly? In my experience gnosis comes in fits and starts, droughts-a-plenty when everyday responsibilities have to be taken care of, and a torrential flood has to be harnessed when we are calm and open to possibilities.

So what is a contemplative person to do? Do we become nuns and monks? Do we throw ourselves out on the streets and live in an even more precarious place? Viktor Frankle has a few sage words in Man's Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy:

"What is called self-actualization is, and must remain, the unintended effect of self-transcendence; it is ruinous and self-defeating to make it the target of intention. And what is true of self-actualization also holds for identity and happiness. It is the very "pursuit of happiness" that obviates happiness. The more we make it a target, the more widely we miss.

It may now have become clear that a concept such as self-actualization, or self-realization, is not a sufficient ground for a motivational theory. This is mainly due to the fact that self-actualization, like power and pleasure, also belong to the class of phenomena which can only be obtained as a side effect and are thwarted precisely to the degree to which they are made a matter of direct intention. Self-actualization is a good thing; however, I maintain that man can only actualize himself to the extent to which he fulfills meaning. Then self-actualization occurs spontaneously; it is contravened when it is made an end in itself...

We have to beware of the tendency to deal with values in terms of the mere self-expression of man himself... If the meaning that is waiting to be fulfilled by man were nothing but a mere expression of self, or no more than a projection of his wishful thinking, it would immediately lose its demanding and challenging character; it could no longer call man forth or summon him.... I think the meaning of our existence is not invented by ourselves, but rather detected."

Alright, so if gnosis can't be forced and only detected then how do we go about detecting it? How do we sniff this thing out? How do we call it out from wherever we think it's hiding from us? It's not like a dog who'll come hither with a little doggy treat and a "Here boy! Here ya go! Come get some treats and a scratch behind the ears."

Gnosis is more like a sneaky feline hiding under your bed reaching out to swat your ankles every once in a while. You jump in shock, turn around, and yell at... no one? And yet you still sense the cat in the room. You know beyond the shadow of a doubt that it is there. Otherwise you wouldn't keep tip toeing past the bed, right? And in the deepest part of your soul you wouldn't be reaching out to it asking for more information. Heck, if you didn't know it was there you wouldn't be asking about it!!

Human life is rough. Most of the time we don't know which ends is up and which end is down. So what do we do about this? How do we sort out these emotions concerning what we Want and what we Need in order to lead a learning life? I say a learning life instead of a good life because  we don't become wise without stepping in a few mud puddles or even crashing head first into a few walls. We learn by making mistakes; trying things out to see how they feel to us. How do we make progress, to climb up out of the well of frustration we feel we're always in?

I believe that fear holds us back as well as ignorance. It's like being told that there are no monsters under the bed and yet we continue to watch scary movies which scare the crap out of us. I can also equate this to reading literalist holy books with the mindset of Fear(of God) leading to Redemption. And so mentally we live life in fear, huddled with our blankets covering our heads(and hearts). 'If I can't see it then it can't see me,' type mentality. Or worse yet, 'if I am scared of everything then I've got all the bases covered.' But if you're truly reaching out for something good what must you do to overcome this fear? The answer is to read, listen, and relax.

First, I got over my fear of being exposed to the pathogen of anything not accepted by a literalist faith church. (This took years. It did not happen overnight.) I actively sought out books which they condemned. My curiosity has not led me astray yet. When you read the texts which a literalist considers evil then it gives you a new perspective on the people who say that these ideas are bad. When you realize that you don't have to have faith in something unseen but that you can truly BELIEVE in something you KNOW is real(gnosis) and have daily experiences with him(the good god/pleroma/the All, etc is not silent. He's a chatterbox, actually) then the literalist argument turn to dust and you're left with the truth.

Here are a few activities I've participated in which have brought me peace and helped develop a closer relationship with the good god:

• Yoga: it forces your brain to shut up and opens your heart to possibilities. We store stress in our bodies like we store energy from the food we eat. To find peace you must find calm. Yoga is detoxifying, confidence building, and creates a calm place in your heart to retreat to when the world becomes too much. www.yogajournal.com is a wonderful resource. Their articles are fantastic. Start with baby steps and you'll really surprise yourself!
• Meditation: there are several methods. Meditation on the very cusp of sleep seems to work the best in the beginning for most. The more relaxed you are the easier it is to find that quiet spot in your mind. Make sure you keep a notebook and pen handy. Breathe naturally and slowly and don't be freaked out by the light shows and nonsensical seeming dramas going on in your head. It's simply your consciousness waking up; like jump starting a dead battery on a car. Just relax and enjoy the sound of your own heart beat. If you start with yoga and then try to meditate at a different time that day, don't be surprised if during your 'dutiful lotus position meditation' you suddenly feel the urge to get up and stretch your body into a yoga position(asana) with your eyes still closed. Go with it. You'll find that you're letting yourself dive deeper into your consciousness by the movements. Your mind will still with your body's movements. Go with your instincts. If you feel the urge to lay in Child Pose during a portion of your meditation and then some modified version of Downward Dog... go with it! There are no rules written in stone for finding a place of peace-- however you will find a great deal of success to be had by trying out some suggestions by people through the ages who have struggled with the same struggles you are. You don't have to sit still in order to meditate.
• Reading: definitely! Dig deep into philosophy, the arts, and comparative religion books. If you're truly struggling then grab a philosophy 101 book. See a person or topic of interest? Research them! Dig deeper and wander around to your heart's content.
• Painting: Color is powerful to the human psyche. Let go. Don't paint between the lines- make your OWN lines! Or better yet, don't let lines exist. Let the color flow.
• Write: keep a dream journal. Also, keep track of your process and progression by giving yourself a small writing assignment on topics as they come to mind. Some beginning topics can be "what I think about ____this____ religion or philosophy" and you can move on to other philosophies and schools of thought. Really though, any religion IS a school of thought. It has structure and confines; it is a school. You've got your mascots(crucifixes, Star of David, a moon and star, etc), your cheerleaders(clergy), and then you've got your students(parishioners). Can you stay within the confines of the school? Do you want to? What do you get out of it? Do you live in fear or do you live in love? You can also write reviews of books you've read and try to put into words your feelings about their ideas.

Gnosis isn't a school of thought, though. It's a process and a path. It rips the roof off the schoolhouse of literalism and turns the walls into dust. There are so many sects of gnosticism that one would think wars would have broken out though so many millenia. No, no wars and no Crusades of any sort. Gnostics don't kill non-gnostics. 

Gnosis is inclusive, not exclusive, unlike literalist religions or the confines of philosophies. Gnostics everywhere realize that we are all in various states of awakening and that we must respect that process in one another in order to respect that in our self. To expect change is to live your life to the fullest and that is what the good god wants for us- to live and learn.

So it's vitally important that you learn about the differences between various world religions and philosophies. The more educated you are the more information will naturally flow to you from the All. Connections will be made which you couldn't have expected. You'll think you visited a library in your dreams. Guess what? You did!

No question is left unanswered, even the big ones. He wants you to learn. He wants you to not live in ignorance but instead to live in love. To live in love you have to learn about love itself. This requires study. So consider yourself a student in the school of love. This does not mean you will never cry again. This simply means that you will learn to dissect this experience we call life and not take it for granted; to live IN THE MOMENT with our heart wide open to possibilities. We have the potential to learn so much from one another but if we can't even look each other in the eye then there is a lot of learning lost and thus, a lot of love lost.  

A simple exercise in love can be resolving to look everyone you walk past today in the eye and give them an acknowledging nod and smile. Gauge their reaction. Keep a mental tally of who smiles back at you and who does not. You'll learn quite a bit about our society today with just this one simply action.

Irenaeus wrote Against Heresies trying to rein in his flock of Christians for control of an empire. He repeatedly states, "they have not examined the Gospels..." thus creating a circular argument that leads NOWHERE. No one is wiser. No one knows any more about life or death than what is supposedly in those hand selected Gospels. The clergy hold the door handle to Heaven and Jehovah help you if you don't pay your tithe or eat the sacramental bread.

The answer is so easy. You already know it. You've always known it! It's there, right there inside that bright spark you hold dear: your conscience. It speaks to us every day. But the Eternal Truth is not so easily seen or heard when we have blinders on with the so-called reality we see every day around us. So we must study, pray, and listen. And then we learn how to love.