Rebellion

Rebellion

Yup, I am calling for a rebellion.  I know most of you won’t read this, or until its finish, but if only one does and acts within his or her circle of faith, regardless of denomination, then I have done my job for the day.

My particular faith, a faith that is the child of the Jewish faith, it is a season of repentance.  But if you examine the word way back when it was translated, it came from the Greek word in the New Testament, the word translated as 'repentance' is the Greek word μετάνοια (metanoia), "after/behind one's mind", which is a compound word of the preposition 'meta' (after, with), and the verb 'noeo' (to perceive, to think, the result of perceiving or observing).  Μεταμέλεια – English translated as metanoia meaning repentance, contrition, regrets, compunction, penitence, and transformation.

It is transformation that I am after.

It truly blew my mind when a so called Christian denomination allowed a congregation to establish a church for ‘whites’ only two months ago in Minnesota, going so far as to defeat a lawsuit, supported by another so called conservative judge, that it was ‘their right’.

It is certain that they believe it is their right and will to exclude everyone does not like them.

I am certain that it is not God’s will.

We cannot undo the heinous crimes of the people of our respective faiths.  Crimes often committed or covered up by those in charge.  Mine in particular has a particularly gory history of violating rule number five and killing millions over almost two millennia in the name of God and until the late twentieth century persecuted the faith of our Master, a Jew - Judaism , and recent one of the worst of all sins, pedophilia.  

I often thought our faith, beginning with Constantine’s attempts to make it the religion of the world, quickly took on the habits of the Pharisees in the earthly days of my Master.  With laws, rules and regulations they laid heavy burdens on the faithful without doing a single thing to help them lift those burdens, instead seeking places of power thinking it was glory.  It was not.  It was ego and greed.

My faith continues this practice though the internet now exposes their flaws and the unnecessary and often prejudice burdens they lay on their flock quickly, in days, not hundreds or thousands of years.

My Master came with a very short but powerful message, combining the laws given to Moses and making it very simple.

Love God.  Love your neighbor.  And your neighbor is anyone on earth, regardless of religion, race, gender and sexual orientation to name a few.

We have not completed this law given to us by the Word of the Creator.  In fact we continue to violate it.  We isolate and reject people not like us.  We condemn some and judge many.  We still kill in His name.

There is only One Judge.

So I call upon all of us to follow the leads of our respective founders of the main religions, east and west.

Mine said He came not to follow abolish the law of Moses, but to adhere to its every letter.  He simply combines the first three of the ten into Love your God, and the last seven into love your neighbor.

Pretty simple.

I was lucky that I was born into a family of Franciscan’s, followers of Francis, still one of the greatest people to walk the earth (almost a thousand years ago).  Materialism is shunned, poverty is embraced, and the needs of the people in greater needs The Priority.  Enhancing that was a complex, extensive, and deep Irish ancestry – the people who saved civilization in the dark age of medieval times.

So I call upon all, to follow and act the words of their original leader, whether this be The Prophet, Moses and my Master and their common ground belief that we are all of the same God and Hindus who recognize three principal gods: Brahma, who creates the universe, Vishnu, who preserves the universe and Shiva, who destroys the universe and the Buddha. Followers of Buddhism don't acknowledge a supreme god or deity. They instead focus on achieving enlightenment—a state of inner peace and wisdom. When followers reach this spiritual echelon, they're said to have experienced nirvana. The religion's founder, Buddha, is considered an extraordinary man, but not a god.

We can change the world regardless of our faith or denomination.  Each and every one of us by embracing the true teachings of our Founder, not the desecration by those in charge in their adding laws decided by men not God (yes, it was mostly men to blame).

One of my favorite jokes about our Creator is that he started out with one law, obedience to him.  We failed him and so in His mercy He gave us guidance through Moses with the ten most important ‘rules’ which the people of Moses faith turned into six hundred laws followed by their child, Christianity who added two thousand canon laws even after their Creator came to earth and simplified everything by saying…

Love the Lord your God with everything that is you and love your neighbor not only as you would love yourself but even greater than you would love yourself.

Come and join this rebellion, regardless of your beliefs.

Be a true child of God.  Put others before yourself and do whatever is possible for you to create a world where everyone is accepted as the child of God that they are.

Strive relentlessly to help those in greater need, those who are persecuted for the color of their skin, their beliefs or their sexual orientation.

Seek the wisdom of your Creator.  Act as if you are doing His will not yours.

And His will is that we act like Him, do what He says, not what man says…

For we are created in the Image and Likeness of Him.

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