Over the last decade, there have been many people around the world who have started to "think" about their spirituality. Many have left the churches from all of the faiths, including, Christianity, the Islamic faith, Hindu and many other faiths. Many have joined such religions. And many that have remained in their faiths, are looking deeper into themselves of what spirituality is and or what is their belief in something greater. And there are some who are simply searching for another way of truly being spiritual.
What has caused this exploration into the higher spirituality of oneself and in search of truth and of God? Before I get to the children... who, through their eyes offer much wisdom and hope for mankind... if mankind will truly listen... Let's first explore some of the possible reasons of mankinds spiritual quest in these troubled times.
In the early 1990's, the impulse for this higher spirituality fueled the "historical Jesus" debates as liberal scholars questioned the historical accuracy of the New Testament and whittled down the remaining books of the Gospel down to a few verses to them that yes, Jesus performed healings, but no to his Resurrection. What was causing this questioning? Ancient texts that were tarred by the early church fathers in 350 A.D. as heresy. What are these ancient texts?
The Christian Gospels in question are, The Gospel of Peter, Gospel of Mary, The Acts of John, The Homilies Of Clement, The Gospel of Truth, The Gospels Of Thomas, ( yes, doubting Thomas ).
In addition, the discovery of the 46 scriptures dug up near Nag Hammadi in Eqypt, The Dead Sea Scrolls of the Essenses changed the views of early christianity with the books of, "The War Between The Sons Of Light and Darkness", and several scriptures detailing how Jesus lived with the Essenses for seven years before returning to Jerusalem.
One of the earliest Christian faiths was the Gnostic faith. This faith was an adaption of Greek philosophy. Christian Gnostics believed that our troubled world and deteriorating bodies were created by an inferior and maligned deity or God, but that at that last instance before birth, a higher, better God inserted in each of us a spark of spiritual truth and light of his divinity, and that if we could attain enough knowledge to conquer our delusional attachment to material reality, we could then free our higher spiritual self to our real Father in Heaven in a better place. And that Christ was the so called alarm clock that awoke this spiritual awakening, however, much of humanity remained deaf to the truth within.
Then came the Ebonites, they were the early jews in Jerusalem. Then came the Macrionites. They were the opposite of the Ebonites, eliminating all references of Judaism from their Christian teachings. Then came the Thomasines in early christianity after Christ. Their basic tenets were that all of humanity shares divinity. Jesus taught to rediscover that divinity within all of us and to live it daily. Understanding that was more important that just believing in his atoning sacrifice on the cross. The Thomasines hierachy. Instead, they taught freedom of personal expression, an openness to the role of women and taught there was no need for guilt in ones life if one truly believed in the teachings of Christ.
Now before and inbetween all these periods and afterwards, you have the Islamic, Hindu, and Buddhist faiths emerging worldwide. Did you know that Peter travelled to eastern Asia where he taught the early christian teachings and where many of the eastern faiths began to emerge from?
Did you know that in Christianity, the Islamic faith, Hindu and other faiths that Abraham in the bible is the early father of all of these faiths? Abraham is stated as the father in each of these different religious faiths. Interesting isn't it? Did you know that all of these faiths teach of the garden, the great flood, Noah and many other events of both the old and new testaments?
So, if this is true, then where and when did all these different faiths, Christianity, Islam, Hindu, Buddhist separate from the one living God they all believed in and went their separate ways? It occurred because of MEN calling themselves prophets, who supposedly were messengers from God. Moses was one, Mohammed was another. Messangers of what is my question, because did they really clear up things so man could live in true spirituality of God? I don't think so, here is why.
What is interesting is that if one studies both the natural history of mankind along side the religious history of mankind, one finds that every war through the ages was caused by this one main controlling evil as I call it, POWER. Power to conquer lands to acquire more lands and riches. Power to place oneself as KING of a nation or empire, whether it be the Christian or Islamic faith. The power to enforce one particular spiritual religion upon the masses of another and in some instances, no spirituality at all. That was the major reason for the creation of the Anglican Church in England and the King James Bible because the Catholic Empire was gaining to much POWER and WEALTH in the world, but more importantly, it was taking away the POWER of a KING. It all had to do with the ego of POWER within man. It had NOTHING to do with spiritual truth of God. And that lust for POWER is still the driving force today and it has not only bred the "evil" in man, but has caused all of the "evil" in the world since creation until the present time. Examples are men like Hitler, Hussein, Amin, Osama Bin Laden and any man that has placed himself above his fellow man and tried to call himself God or wanted to be treated as God with servitude from the masses. And if they did not serve, then they were tortured and killed, or if they did not "believe" as they did, then they were "demons" and had to be killed. What has been forgotten is that only GOD has the right to judge, no mortal man on earth has that right.
The continuous onslaught of the killing of mankind's spirituality throughout the ages I believe has finally caused an "awakening of the soul", that there is something much greater and truthful than what "spiritual religious men", have been abusing for their own POWER, greed and lust of the materiality of this world. This I believe has caused the countless numbers of souls that are now, In Search Of God.
Mankind has been hypocritical and a liar in their faiths. They do not "live" what they learn or "preach". However, today, it appears that those that are "living" their religion are either killing their fellow man or trying to "judge" or make their fellow man believe as they do. There are only two very simple laws from God that all have forgotten and they are, "Treat your fellow man as you would want to be treated, " and "Love thy fellow man as thyself." And it is those two very simple laws that I believe that have been awakening the souls of humanity and are bringing about the "truth" of God. If those two very simple laws were truly lived in the world today by all faiths in the world, just imagine the peace and the garden that would exist on earth today.
So, until mankind of all faiths can reach this spiritual truth, then to me all faiths that proclaim to be of God, whether they be Christian, Islamic, Hindu or Buddhist are hypocrites to their faiths. They are no better than those who sold trinkets in the temple. They are an abomination to God.
On the Barbara Walters ABC special, Where Is Heaven", that aired on December 20, I noticed something that "clicked" for the very first time. The program showed evangelical youths in the U.S. waving their arms and shouting words of faith and also youths in various Islamic countries basically doing the same thing. If you take a good look at these young people, they are for one, very impressionable and can be easily manipulated. Young teenagers are looking for something, because many from both sides of this religious fence were not raised properly. Many of these teenagers in the U.S. who have found "religion" come from broken homes and or have had serious challenges in their lives as young people. Many of the Islamic youths are orphans due to war over the last fifty years in that region of the world.
Evangelical teenagers are taught that unless you are born again and accept Christ as your savior you will go to hell. Islamic youths are taught from a very young age that Islam is only true religion and death to all western cultures and if they die a martyr they will have 72 virgins waiting for them in heaven. By the way, the 72 virgins is NOT is the Koran. It is something that radical Islamic groups have taught young men and women to bring them into the fold as terrorists.
Is there any wonder why there is so judgemental attitudes thus creating hatred among people who are suppose to be children of God.
Through the years, I have studied every religious faith and teaching known to man since the dawn of ages. What I have come to realize is that children are truly the "spiritual truth" of God. As the old saying states, "Through the mouth of a child shall much be revealed," I am going to close this column with a column I wrote in 1999. It says it all, please see the truth in what these children express.
When I was growing up, a Lakota Sioux medicine woman recited this passage to me, "and the children shall lead them". Sound familiar from a bible passage? Through the years, this passage has become ever so true to me. Here's why.
One of the most joyous things that I do is visit children in children's hospitals from time to time. These are children that are terminally ill and are between the ages of 6 and 16. It is through their truly remarkable and innocent eyes of how they see the world that I too have grown spiritually to see the world in its' simplistic truths. Many of the truths are not pleasant to admit. That is because mankind (adults), would have to see something within themselves that they truly do not want to see and CHANGE. These children somehow see these truths and untruths so easily though.
These children know they do not have much time on this earth. I believe it is this that somehow elevates their whole being to a higher state of consciousness, of pure spirituality where we should all be at. What I mean is this.
These children have asked me questions that we as adults should be asking ourselves everyday. We should be more than just asking ourselves, we should be doing something to correct them. The children have usually been told that I am a writer and I believe this opens up the doors so to speak. This is why I believe they are so open with me. I've also been told by people that for some reason I have a special gift of getting children to open up and talk about things. The following is a list of the most common questions that I've been asked by these children.
Why do people kill one another?
Why do people hit one another?
Why do people call people of other colors by other names?
Why are there children going hungry in the world?
Why do men in uniforms kill children?
Why do white people hate black people so much?
Why do black people hate white people so much?
Why doesn't everyone just speak one language, English so we can understand one another better?
Why are people from other countries sneaking into our country?
Why are people put to death for crimes?
Why do other kids make fun of other kids if they aren't wearing fancy clothes?
Why do kids make fun of other kids if they look different or aren't smart?
Why do kids call kids other names like, geek or nut?
How come my parents wouldn't let me be friends with a friend because my parents don't like the other kids parents?
How come the President got away with lieing? - That's what my parents say he did.
Why do other countries hate us so much?
Why are their starving children in the world?
Why don't people care bout the oceans, trees, the forests?
Why do they make cars that put out gas that kill things and make us sick?
The water is my town is so bad we have to boil it. Is the water bad all over?
Will the air one day be so bad we won't be able to breathe?
Why do other people kill their friends at work?
Why does my parents usually come home from work with a headache and all stressed out?
My parents say the world is going to hell? Is that true?
Why do my parents always fight over money?
How come my parents never tell me they love me, but always yell at me for doing something wrong?
Why are people afraid of dieing?
Is there a heaven? Is there a hell? Is there a devil? Is there a fire that I will be put into when I die if Jesus hasn't saved me?
Why do people hurt people by saying bad things about them?
Why do I have this illness? Why can't they find a cure for it?
Why don't people just love everybody and go around and just give everybody a big hug?
Why do the Arabs and the Jews kill one another? Don't they each believe in God? If they do, then they shouldn't be killing one another.
What I have found amazing from among all these children in their questions is simple. If you look at the questions, all mostly center around negativity. Negativity dealing with anger, hatred, fear, lying, death. Love on the otherhand is a central issue for them. What they are simply saying is, why does mankind go around doing all these bad things to one another instead of just simply loving one another? They are also asking simple questions out of their concern as guardians for Mother Earth, that we as adults should be asking. Why are we cutting down the rain forests? Are we that stupid not to see that we are diminishing our oxygen supply? Why do we call people of other color, names that are negative in tone? Why are we letting innocent children being killed and murdered in countries? And the list goes on and on.
Why are we adults not caring about the right things? These dieing children see the truth for what it is. Is it time for us adults to take a cold hard look within ourselves and honestly answer these questions within ourselves? Why is it so hard for us adults to do this? These children have so easily and beautifully displayed what we should already believe in and be doing.
This Christmas can mark the begining of a new spirituality for mankind. It is an opportunity for mankind to embark or a new glorious spiritual awakening with love or... continue to embrace the same negative paths man has taken the last 5,000 years. Will mankind make the changes that will help heal the many problems that mankind faces? I believe so. However, I believe... the healing changes will only come about once mankind has begun to see the world as these children see it and as adults all around the world we effect this spiritual awakening of these simple truths.
If these children who know they are dieing can provide the simple answers, then we as intelligent adults should know also. What do I think is the difference between us adults and these children that are dieing? I believe it has to do with heart. Each one of these children I have spoken to over the years have shown their heart. Have our hearts as adults been so hardened that we have forgotten these simple precepts and truths within us? This has nothing to do with any specific religion or faith. God is God, regardless if one is a Christian, a Buddist, a Islamic, or whatever. It simply has to do with what is truly...a simple right or wrong.
People of any faith or religion are hyprocrites if they do not "live" what they believe in. If you talk the talk, you must walk the walk. Like I said though, I believe people have lost heart. They've lost heart because of what we have allowed the world to become. We've allowed those negatives to slowly creep into our daily lives so that now they seem a normal part of daily living. Nothing is normal about the millions of homeless we have in this country. It is not normal to have hundreds of thousands of people going to bed hungry in this country, the richest on earth. It is not normal for rich wealthy nations to let thousands of people in other countries go hungry. It is not normal to allow corruption to flourish and allow our elected officials to participate in this corruption without punishment. If mankind truly is God loving... then mankind needs to learn to live by the goldren rule. Love thy neighbor as thyself. And all this killing over religion. Please, does God, regardless of what religion or faith... whether it is Christian, Muslim, Islamic, Buddist, do any of us have a God that thinks that killing people is okay to do? I don't believe so. And if you think it is okay, then you are deluding yourself and are nothing more than a hypocritical liar that justifies the killing of people for the sake of a religion, you are doing so for your own selfish justifications. There is Karma and God does not condone killing of any type for any reason!
Corruption is destroying much in our lives. For example, a recent government report estimates that nearly one-third of our nations water supply has been polluted with dangerous cancer causing chemicals. The heavy use of commercial fertilizers for farming has leeched into underground water supplies. How much longer are we going to stop lieing to ourselves. It is not normal to allow politicians to remain in office that are only self-serving. Must I go on, I think you get the picture.
This Christmas may I ask you this? Instead of worrying about what you're going to buy Mom, Dad, Brother, Sister, and all those on your shopping list, would you stop a minute and reflect on where you are in your life. Would you think about how blessed you are and how others are not. And last, think about how you can do things differently in the next year how you can make things better in this world. I don't mean to sound as if l am coming off like a self-righteous I'm gonna tell ya what's wrong with you speech. I am simply trying to share with you something that I've learned to be truth. That is... and a child shall lead them. Could that passage also mean that it could be our own inner child within us that also knows the truth.
And for doing something this year, for Christmas... maybe instead of buying all those gifts for everyone, donate just one half of the amount you would spend on each person in their name to a charity in your area that feeds and houses the homeless or some similar charity you feel worthwhile. Go out to an animal shelter and adopt a homeless pet as well. Mankind has forgotten that we are the keepers of our animals, we are to protect and care for them. Start charities in your areas to help the homeless, the hungry and to setup no kill animal shelters.
The main thing is that you will have chosen to make a difference in making this world a better place to live in. And by the way, don't stop with just donating this Christmas to a charity. Get envolved and make a difference throughout the year!
I hope that mankind in the coming months embarks on a glorious spiritual re-birth. A re-birth simply in the sense of knowing that we all can truly make a difference to make this earth a better place to live in. If mankind is ever going to fulfill the glory and beauty of our creation that God made us in his image, then we as children of God must not only talk the talk, but walk in the light of what we preach and proclaim. It is actually very simple. The passage, "treat your fellow man as you would like to be treated," means to love our fellow man not hate him. I believe there is still hope for mankind.
Each year, I like to share the following poem that I wrote a few years ago. I hope that it gives you something special to think about. I dedicate this column and this poem in hopes of bringing lasting peace and harmony among mankind.
"A Special Journey"
by David Lawrence Dewey © February, 1993
All rights reserved
My life is a special journey,
Between my God and Me,
I chose not always the path he sets before me,
Those of joy, pain and sometimes sorrow.
Not until the last songbird sings its last song,
And the doves of peace cease to fly,
Will God pull down the curtain before heaven,
And explain the reasons why.
Until that day arrives,
I will be one with Him,
For in Him, I have found my light, my peace, his love within,
And without that, I would certainly be no more.
~ ~ David Lawrence Dewey
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