Among those who consider themselves clergy, there seems to be two lines of thought on this subject.  There are those who consider it a subject "too hot to handle," and those who don't seem to talk about very much else.  Please note that I am not limiting the scope to any particular kind of clergy.  In the meantime, it is a subject that we're forced to deal with every day.  If you don't see a poster for some cause, there will be the annual charity drive at work.  And if it isn't the annual fund drive at work, there's the commercial on TV about a hungry child you can sponsor in some far-off land.  And if it isn't a TV commercial, someone will ask for "change" the next time you go downtown.  And as if that isn't enough, there's always the possibility that someone you know will be knocking on your door with either a tale of woe or some great venture for you to invest in.  And we still haven't mentioned the folks who go to church and have a plate passed at them, have we?Meanwhile, you and your family have legitimate needs.  And if you gave in to all of the pitches you hear and see, you might find yourself in a situation in which you're doing without lunch so that someone else can have beer with their lunch!  And that's not fair.And then there's the question of attitude.  Actually, it's a question of more than one attitude.  Those who give with the expectation of reward might be disappointed.  And that's a shame, because nature abhors a vacuum.  What goes out will have its place taken, but you've got to give karma some room to maneuver.  And there's the other expectation: the expectation of those who are receiving the charity.   That can wear things down.And no wonder some consider the subject of charity "too hot to handle", especially in a religious context.And maybe that's why I decided that I needed to say something about charity.  It's not like I can get away with avoiding it!Blessed Be!

Most countries celebrate Labor Day, or have an equivalent holiday.  When it is celebrated depends on the country and its traditions.  In the United States, Labor Day is celebrated on the first Monday of September.Labor Day is a secular holiday.  It is not a religious holiday, although some faiths hold services and some have special prayers to be said or hymns to be sung on Labor Day (or the nearest Sunday/ Sabbath).  But that does not mean that there isn't something of the Divine to find in Labor Day.  In fact, Labor Day can teach one of the most important spiritual and theological lessons which we all need to learn.We all labor, and almost all of us at some time in our lives will be doing the kind of labor honored on Labor Day.  It doesn't matter if you're the president of some manufacturing company, or the janitor on the factory floor - it's labor.  And there, in that point I just made, is the kernel of a theological point worth recognizing.And Labor Day is when we honor the labor done by ourselves and others.  And that, combined with the previous point, leads us to a morality issue.  Morality, you question?  Yes, especially if you understand what authentic morality actually is.And from there, you can see what might be one of the nastier issues facing us today.And you'll see how there can be a very powerful spiritual and theological lesson found in a secular holiday.Blessed Be!

Officer Paul Stephens of the San Marcos, Texas Police Department has been spending most of the past week experiencing the enforcement of a law more powerful than any law which he might be called upon to enforce.  He has been experiencing the enforcement of The Threefold Law.  The Threefold Law is one that most of us are very familiar with: Whatever you do, for good or for evil, returns to you threefold.  Officer Paul Stephens pulled over a motorist for speeding.  As a former police officer myself, I appreciate the situation in which Officer Stephens found himself.  When he found the situation was that a couple was trying to get their seriously ill dog to an emergency vetrinary clinic because the dog's life was in danger, his response was "It's a dog, relax, you can get another one."My personal guess is that if Officer Paul Stephens has any form of a law enforcement career left after his becoming internationally famous for that remark (captured for posterity on his dashboard video camera), nothing that he can accomplish will be able to overshadow his remark to the desperate parent of a loving poodle who had a medical emergency.And here is where we can see how this can apply to us.  Admittedly, Officer Stephens was recruited out of the same human race as the rest of us.And so, let's see what we might be able to see in this incident that can be four our own learning.  It's hard to tell if Officer Stephens or his bosses learned anything, but that does not stop us from being able to learn from it.Blessed Be!

Let me invite you to a web site which is full of some of the greatest information you'll find anywhere: http://www.universalgnostic.com/.  And on the front page, you'll find two of the most exciting!  I'll leave "The Heiroglyphic Monad" for another time.  Right now, I'd like to talk about "The Severn Sermons Of The Dead" by Basalides of Alexandria, as translated by Carl Gustav Jung.  These seven sermons deal with a great deal, but more than anything else, it is perhaps one of the best sets of writings dealing with what many of us know as either the Law Of Polarities or the Law Of Opposites.  Most books, including some very good ones which have probably been recommended to you, mention that such a law exists, and gives mention to the obvious fact that there are polarities.  This work goes the additional step and tells us how to work with them and deal with them.Believe it or not, some spiritual paths do not really address balance or polarities except in a black-and-white of way, kind of like "good guys" and "bad guys" in an old cowboy movie in which the "good guy" always wore a white hat and didn't cuss, and the "bad guy" looked like he needed a bath.  And no wonder some of their followers encounter spiritual frustration - it's impossible to be "good enough."Well, here is a different approach, making use of balance.  I can't recommend  "The Severn Sermons Of The Dead" enough, and I'm using this episode to introduce them to you.  They were an eye-opener for me, that is certain!  Enjoy this, and have fun with it!Blessed Be!

A Bible verse which some Christians hate?  How can that be?Well, to begin with, it might well be the most well-corroborated verse in the Christians' entire Bible!  It's just about verbatim in three of the four gospels, and it makes reference back to the Old Testament.If you read just a wee bit more than the single verse, you will see that this was the verse which Yeshua uttered which got him into really big, bad doo-doo!  He might have irritated and angered the powers-that-were in his day until then.  But that was what caused them to decide that he had to go!There is a definition of ministry which goes: "comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable."  We will do well to remember that in the light of what this verse tells us.Depending on who you are, it is either a promise, or it is a threat.  It is either a reassurance which gives you comfort, or it is so scary that it is spine-chilling.Many have avoided the subject, but many more simply try to dodge the thought that it might still be an issue.  The act of repeating the same action and expecting different results is a popular definition of insanity.  By that definition, an establishment which has the same issues about itself as the establishment which it replaced but does not expect to be replaced - by that definition that establishment is insane!  But that is the aspect of it that is a threat to many.And the promise?  There might be something there that could be the clue to build something more wonderful that we can imagine!Blessed Be!

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