The following is from the appendix of the book "Thou Art That," by Joseph Campbell (edited by Eugene C. Kennedy). The excerpt is from an article by Eugene that appeared in the New York Times, Easter Sunday, 1979, entitled; "Earthrise--The Dawning of a New Spiritual Awareness."
Kennedy: If Heaven and Earth were divided, so too were the body and soul, nature and supernature, flesh and spirit. The universe was ordered in a hierarchical fashion and so too were the churches.
Campbell: This divided model allowed us to think that there was a spiritual order, separate or divided from our own experience. Think of how we spoke about things according to the old model. Everything was seen from earthbound eyes. The sun rose and set. Joshua stopped both the sun and moon to have time to finish a slaughter. With the moon walk, the religious myth that sustained these notions could no longer be held. With our view of earthrise, we could see that the earth and heavens were no longer divided but that the earth is in the heavens. There is no division and all the theological notions based on the distinction between the heavens and the earth collapse with that realization. There is unity in the universe and a unity in our experience. We can no longer look for a spiritual order outside of our own experience.
I have been suggesting this was the case for 3 and 1/2 years. (more than 340 posts) And though I'm reluctant name-dropping, I invoked Joseph Campbell because I feel a real sense of urgency. If you've been following the on-going political campaign(s) in America, perhaps you share my alarm. It is time to remember what you have forgotten. I can't teach you anything you don't already know, all I can do is help you remember. So remember!
Saturday, February 6, 2016
Friday, February 5, 2016
Saturday, January 30, 2016
Pimp Daddy
Abram was renamed Abraham (Genesis 17:5) by God because, "...thou shall be a father of many nations." What kind of guy did the Almighty choose to multiply so that his descendants would be, "as the stars in the heaven, and as the sand which is on the sea shore?" (Genesis 22:17) A cowardly, craven, POS (see; urban dictionary) that was ready, willing, and able, to pimp out his wife to save his own skin, that's who. Take a look at Genesis Chapter 12 if you don't believe me.
Heading south from Canaan into Egypt due to famine, Abram says to his wife Sarai; (verse 12-15) "...when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it might be well with ME for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee. And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair. The princes also of Pharaoh saw her and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house."
Abram receives "...sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels" for her sake." (verse 16) This means in payment. I (Pharaoh) get the woman, you get all of the above. But God threatens Pharaoh in a dream with, "great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife." Pharaoh naturally goes to Abram and asks what kind of game he is playing ("what is this thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was your wife?"-verse 18) and boots him out of the country. No mention of the Pharaoh demanding all-of-the-above, back.
Apparently this scam worked so well that God and recently christened Abraham (see above) run it again. Chapter 20 reveals Abraham sojourning south toward Gerar. Here the same scenario unfolds with King Abimelech. He takes Sarah (renamed at Genesis 17:15) because Abraham tells him she is his sister. Another dream, (this time though, death is threatened--verse 3) and another bewildered royal asking, "what sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?" (verse 10) Abraham offers up the same pathetic story: "they will slay me for my wife's sake." (verse 11) Naturally, such integrity must be rewarded, so we read in verse 14; "And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants and women servants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife." Abimelech actually throws in an additional thousand pieces of silver, so that, "thus she was reproved." (verse 16)
A good father teaches his son a trade, and Abraham isn't any exception. Chapter 26 of Genesis has his son Isaac use the same old con game on the ultra gullible Abimelech. Same story line, (Rebekah is his sister; verse 7) same rational, (fear for his own life) same [implied] results. (see verse 12 and 13 after Abimelech's speech, verse 10 and 11) We can rest assured, however, that in each case the propriety of Sarah and Rebekah was preserved--no matter that the most powerful man in each region had been played for a fool. God set things right by threatening the innocent with "plagues" or "death" if they didn't restore the here-to-for unknown wife to their despicable husbands. And be sure to kick in a bundle of goodies for the deception.
Of course these accounts are preposterous. God as depicted (all-powerful) could have easily prevented the lustful eye and action of Pharaoh or King. But for some reason it is allowed--and the stories indicate it was for ill-gotten gains. The innocent are duped so our man of God gets rich. I guess the truth is, like Baby Powder in the movie "How High," we can claim: "I'm gonna tell you something, this pimpin' I got in my blood, it came from a family tree. My granddaddy was a pimp. My great-great-great granddaddy was a pimp. I'm talking about pimpin' since been pimpin' since been pimpin'! It's in my blood."
Heading south from Canaan into Egypt due to famine, Abram says to his wife Sarai; (verse 12-15) "...when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it might be well with ME for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee. And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair. The princes also of Pharaoh saw her and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house."
Abram receives "...sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels" for her sake." (verse 16) This means in payment. I (Pharaoh) get the woman, you get all of the above. But God threatens Pharaoh in a dream with, "great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife." Pharaoh naturally goes to Abram and asks what kind of game he is playing ("what is this thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was your wife?"-verse 18) and boots him out of the country. No mention of the Pharaoh demanding all-of-the-above, back.
Apparently this scam worked so well that God and recently christened Abraham (see above) run it again. Chapter 20 reveals Abraham sojourning south toward Gerar. Here the same scenario unfolds with King Abimelech. He takes Sarah (renamed at Genesis 17:15) because Abraham tells him she is his sister. Another dream, (this time though, death is threatened--verse 3) and another bewildered royal asking, "what sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?" (verse 10) Abraham offers up the same pathetic story: "they will slay me for my wife's sake." (verse 11) Naturally, such integrity must be rewarded, so we read in verse 14; "And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants and women servants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife." Abimelech actually throws in an additional thousand pieces of silver, so that, "thus she was reproved." (verse 16)
A good father teaches his son a trade, and Abraham isn't any exception. Chapter 26 of Genesis has his son Isaac use the same old con game on the ultra gullible Abimelech. Same story line, (Rebekah is his sister; verse 7) same rational, (fear for his own life) same [implied] results. (see verse 12 and 13 after Abimelech's speech, verse 10 and 11) We can rest assured, however, that in each case the propriety of Sarah and Rebekah was preserved--no matter that the most powerful man in each region had been played for a fool. God set things right by threatening the innocent with "plagues" or "death" if they didn't restore the here-to-for unknown wife to their despicable husbands. And be sure to kick in a bundle of goodies for the deception.
Of course these accounts are preposterous. God as depicted (all-powerful) could have easily prevented the lustful eye and action of Pharaoh or King. But for some reason it is allowed--and the stories indicate it was for ill-gotten gains. The innocent are duped so our man of God gets rich. I guess the truth is, like Baby Powder in the movie "How High," we can claim: "I'm gonna tell you something, this pimpin' I got in my blood, it came from a family tree. My granddaddy was a pimp. My great-great-great granddaddy was a pimp. I'm talking about pimpin' since been pimpin' since been pimpin'! It's in my blood."
Thursday, January 21, 2016
Pax Vobiscum
If you enjoy the day, forget the way, whether you make up or break up; peace be with you.
If it's all too much, no where near enough, if you get to the top or crash when you drop; peace be with you.
If you won the girl, lost the job, saw it through to the end or started all over again; peace be with you.
If you enjoy the hustle or don't move a muscle; peace be with you.
If you fly off in a rage or meet to engage; peace be with you.
If you're down on your luck and don't give a fuck; peace be with you.
If you think you're forgotten or badly begotten; peace be with you.
If you are living in sin or reborn again; peace be with you.
Wherever you go and whatever you do, know that regardless, I'm there for you.
Signed, God
If you enjoy the hustle or don't move a muscle; peace be with you.
If you fly off in a rage or meet to engage; peace be with you.
If you're down on your luck and don't give a fuck; peace be with you.
If you think you're forgotten or badly begotten; peace be with you.
If you are living in sin or reborn again; peace be with you.
Wherever you go and whatever you do, know that regardless, I'm there for you.
Signed, God
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
The Fall
Has there ever been a bigger crock of shit than the idea of original sin? That because the first man and woman (Adam and Eve) ate of the Tree of Knowledge (Good and Evil), they were not only banished from Paradise, but humanity as a whole was forever enslaved by a sinful nature? Give me a break! Lets go to the text and find out what really happened.
Genesis 2 verse 16 and 17; And the Lord God commanded the man saying, "Of every tree in the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.
So they did and God exiled them from the garden. But reading Genesis 3:22 and 23 tells the true motivation God had for banishing them: "Then the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever--therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken."
There is a troubling inconsistency here. God said man could eat of every tree except the tree of good and evil. Why should eating from the 'tree of life' be problematic? Why didn't God want us to "live forever?" Wasn't the idea that we were going to live forever already tacitly implied, so long as we didn't eat from the tree of good and evil? God seems worried that we might actually become 'like one of Us.' Isn't that the WHOLE purpose of life? Be sinless, become godlike, and thereby obtain the Kingdom of God forever and ever? As to, 'the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die,' is just another example where you can't take the Bible literally. (so don't)
The lunacy continues with the flood story (Genesis chapter 6 and 7) where God wipes out humanity with the exception of Noah and his family. What, exactly, was the point? If man now carries "original sin," what good did it do to eradicate them? And why such a standard of perfection if one third of the angels in heaven (higher than man [Hebrews 2:7] and BASKING in the glory of God) rebelled against Him? (Revelations 12:4-9) Didn't the angels have an unbelievable advantage, yet they fell as well?
Here's the caveat--the escape hatch for God. Free will. He gave man and the angels "free will." So we made our bed and have to sleep in it. Nonsense! Adam and Eve had NO CONCEPT of good and evil in the first place. (inside joke, first place: Eden) They didn't know UNTIL they ate of the tree of knowledge of GOOD and EVIL that they were doing something evil. If you tell a child that it is wrong to eat a cookie before dinner, but the child doesn't KNOW right from wrong, how do you condemn him for eating the cookie? It's absurd. The text collapses in on it's own fallacy. It really came down to God enforcing a--don't do it because I said so--ultimatum, which totally invalidates the idea of "free will."
Bottom line? You aren't inherently bad--quite the contrary. God loves you. You get to experience Him through interaction with Life. However that manifests itself, God will continue to love you. Above all, make that your fall back position.
Genesis 2 verse 16 and 17; And the Lord God commanded the man saying, "Of every tree in the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.
So they did and God exiled them from the garden. But reading Genesis 3:22 and 23 tells the true motivation God had for banishing them: "Then the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever--therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken."
There is a troubling inconsistency here. God said man could eat of every tree except the tree of good and evil. Why should eating from the 'tree of life' be problematic? Why didn't God want us to "live forever?" Wasn't the idea that we were going to live forever already tacitly implied, so long as we didn't eat from the tree of good and evil? God seems worried that we might actually become 'like one of Us.' Isn't that the WHOLE purpose of life? Be sinless, become godlike, and thereby obtain the Kingdom of God forever and ever? As to, 'the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die,' is just another example where you can't take the Bible literally. (so don't)
The lunacy continues with the flood story (Genesis chapter 6 and 7) where God wipes out humanity with the exception of Noah and his family. What, exactly, was the point? If man now carries "original sin," what good did it do to eradicate them? And why such a standard of perfection if one third of the angels in heaven (higher than man [Hebrews 2:7] and BASKING in the glory of God) rebelled against Him? (Revelations 12:4-9) Didn't the angels have an unbelievable advantage, yet they fell as well?
Here's the caveat--the escape hatch for God. Free will. He gave man and the angels "free will." So we made our bed and have to sleep in it. Nonsense! Adam and Eve had NO CONCEPT of good and evil in the first place. (inside joke, first place: Eden) They didn't know UNTIL they ate of the tree of knowledge of GOOD and EVIL that they were doing something evil. If you tell a child that it is wrong to eat a cookie before dinner, but the child doesn't KNOW right from wrong, how do you condemn him for eating the cookie? It's absurd. The text collapses in on it's own fallacy. It really came down to God enforcing a--don't do it because I said so--ultimatum, which totally invalidates the idea of "free will."
Bottom line? You aren't inherently bad--quite the contrary. God loves you. You get to experience Him through interaction with Life. However that manifests itself, God will continue to love you. Above all, make that your fall back position.
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Complexity
Well, thanks so very much Pat. If, as you suggest, the Old Testament is untrustworthy, that nullifies the New Testament as well. What is there left to believe in?
The simplest answer I have is, you. The belief that God will interact with you on a personal level. That your current understanding of God is so restrictive it renders the concept meaningless--other than the level of fear utilized (punishment for all eternity; hell) to keep you from running amok.
The harder answer is, understanding complexity. I am going to try and provide an example. Lets look at the possibility of arranging three numbers, 1-2-3. (to make it easier, I am going to use the letters in my name; P-A-T) There are six possible combinations. (123 pat--231 atp--312 tpa--321 tap--213 apt--132 pta) But if I were to use seven numbers, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 (my full name, P-A-T-R-I-C-K) how many combinations would there be? You probably don't know and most likely don't have any idea how to figure it out. But if I provided you a formula, you could arrive at the answer quickly. (Solution: 1 x 2 x 3 = 6; 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 5 x 6 x 7 = 5040) There are 5040 different combinations to arranging 7 numbers or (in this case) letters. Going from the combinations of the word PAT to PATRICK, is like going from the Bible to a true understanding of God. There is an exponential aspect to comprehending the Deity.
That said, I have provided a formula to simplify the complexities involved. (Gift--Gratitude--God) But the formula isn't the answer, it is only the means of arriving at the answer. The subtleties, nuances, and variations, are yours and yours alone. Your journey entails a series of revelations to different aspects of the Deity. Your interpretation of those aspects determines your well-being. Your well-being is contingent on you understanding the nature of your existence (why am I here). The reason you are here is to experience God. That you don't like, appreciate, or embrace those aspects of God you are currently experiencing, is an entirely different question than the realization that you are. As to the reasons why you are experiencing what you are, is specific to you--and can't be answered in a post intended for a general audience. However, if you feel as though you need specifics, you can e-mail me at wpgrogan@aol.com.
The simplest answer I have is, you. The belief that God will interact with you on a personal level. That your current understanding of God is so restrictive it renders the concept meaningless--other than the level of fear utilized (punishment for all eternity; hell) to keep you from running amok.
The harder answer is, understanding complexity. I am going to try and provide an example. Lets look at the possibility of arranging three numbers, 1-2-3. (to make it easier, I am going to use the letters in my name; P-A-T) There are six possible combinations. (123 pat--231 atp--312 tpa--321 tap--213 apt--132 pta) But if I were to use seven numbers, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 (my full name, P-A-T-R-I-C-K) how many combinations would there be? You probably don't know and most likely don't have any idea how to figure it out. But if I provided you a formula, you could arrive at the answer quickly. (Solution: 1 x 2 x 3 = 6; 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 5 x 6 x 7 = 5040) There are 5040 different combinations to arranging 7 numbers or (in this case) letters. Going from the combinations of the word PAT to PATRICK, is like going from the Bible to a true understanding of God. There is an exponential aspect to comprehending the Deity.
That said, I have provided a formula to simplify the complexities involved. (Gift--Gratitude--God) But the formula isn't the answer, it is only the means of arriving at the answer. The subtleties, nuances, and variations, are yours and yours alone. Your journey entails a series of revelations to different aspects of the Deity. Your interpretation of those aspects determines your well-being. Your well-being is contingent on you understanding the nature of your existence (why am I here). The reason you are here is to experience God. That you don't like, appreciate, or embrace those aspects of God you are currently experiencing, is an entirely different question than the realization that you are. As to the reasons why you are experiencing what you are, is specific to you--and can't be answered in a post intended for a general audience. However, if you feel as though you need specifics, you can e-mail me at wpgrogan@aol.com.
Monday, January 11, 2016
Elucidate
If ever there was a key to unraveling Old Testament scripture, it is the Cyrus Cylinder. Comparing passages in 2nd Chronicles, Ezra, Isaiah, and Daniel, to what the cylinder actually states, we can see how the Jews took reality and recast it to glorify their tribal god. One example of what the cylinder says versus the Biblical rendition: Cylinder: "Marduk, the great lord, bestowed on me as my destiny the great magnanimity of one who loves Babylon, and I every day sought him out in awe." Isaiah 45:1 "Thus saith the Lord to his anointed (messiah), to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him..."
The formula in the Old Testament (indeed, everywhere in Mesopotamia) was victory is caused by the power of the deity, whereas defeat came by way of defective, unfaithful humans. Reading (1st or 2nd) Kings or Chronicles, the formula becomes downright tedious. It is like the boss who takes personal credit for any successful project, but vehemently denounces his staff when things are delayed or messed up. Anyone like working for that type of boss? Then why would you have him as your God?
The formula in the Old Testament (indeed, everywhere in Mesopotamia) was victory is caused by the power of the deity, whereas defeat came by way of defective, unfaithful humans. Reading (1st or 2nd) Kings or Chronicles, the formula becomes downright tedious. It is like the boss who takes personal credit for any successful project, but vehemently denounces his staff when things are delayed or messed up. Anyone like working for that type of boss? Then why would you have him as your God?
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