Current Events – In The Spirit of Truth

Battle for america’s soul: Wisconsin’s April 6 election

Joe Biden inaugurated his presidency with a bold intention: restore the soul of America.

If the spirit is ailing nationally, it’s code blue in the bellweather Badger State.

Citing Harvard’s Electoral Integrity Project that measures the health of democracies around the world, Wisconsin’s democracy on a scale of 1 to 100 scored a 3—“the lowest in the world”—said author David Daley in a recent public radio interview.

“Wisconsin’s state government is less responsive to its citizens than authoritarian states like Venezuela, which scored a 14.” Wisconsin’s extreme gerrymandered “lines have provided a firewall against politics, against the public will,” said Daley.

Spiritual renewal

Ideally, spiritual renewal happens in hearts and minds—with ideas, pens, and ballot boxes. Wisconsin’s next renewal opportunity comes on April 6 when we choose our new State Superintendent of Schools.

That position hardly seems important—unless seen in strategic context.

Make no mistake: the spirit of America is not just sick, it’s been poisoned.

Fascist Conservatives are out of the closet and openly walking the Halls of Congress, calling for and participating in attempted political assassinations. They’re using the same toxic playbook as genocidal mass murderer Adolph Hitler, with neo-Nazis, and other hate groups.

Attacking education is an old-time strategic move.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/09/us/capitol-hill-insurrection-extremist-flags-soh/index.html

According to historians, political scientists, and communication scholars in The Disinformation Age(Social Science Research Council, Cambridge University Press, 2021) this is part of “decades-long efforts by political and business interests to undermine authoritative institutions, including parties, elections, public agencies, science, independent journalism, and civil society.”

Fascist Conservatives goal: re-write the Constitution

“While the nation has been transfixed by the daily tweets of President Trump, the Koch network has quietly lined up authorizations from state legislatures to convene the first national constitutional convention since the Constitution was drafted,” wrote Nancy MacLean, William H. Chafe Professor of History and Public Policy at Duke University. “Common Cause has called the effort ‘the most serious threat to our democracy flying completely under the radar.’”

The poisoning of Wisconsin’s body politic began decades ago with nasty rhetoric, demonizing teachers. Then our former governor, Scott Walker, whose campaign slogan was “Spread the Pain”—a clearly fascist goal—decimated teachers unions, claiming school choice to be a superior educational system.

Suppose School Choice is much better, which some studies suggest. Where’s Conservatives’ plan to duplicate what’s working, and improve education for all Wisconsin children? Where’s the plan to fix our ailing infrastructure, health care system—any improvement for all the people?

As Gary Hart once said, “Where’s the beef?”

There is no beef—no Conservative plan to improve anything.

The goal of Fascist Conservatives is to tear down, to destroy, and to decimate public institutions — especially education.

Why?

Because they can’t let people know that “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world,” as Nelson Mandela said.

Education is key to freedom, growth, and progress — and that is a direct threat to Fascist Conservatives whose playbook is control and enslavement through fear and hatred. It’s the same old reason authoritarian “slave legislatures” 200+ years ago barred slaves from learning to read.

“To read and write tends to excite dissatisfaction in their minds and to produce insurrection and rebellion,” wrote William Jay to Congress in 1835 about laws banning education of Black slaves. “Slave legislatures…enslave the minds of their victims; and we have surely no reason to hope that their souls are regarded with more compassion.”

https://archive.org/details/aninquiryintoch05jaygoog/page/n142/mode/2up?q=rebellion Page 136

Questions to start the process

Questioning authority is a time-honored American tradition. Questioning and then listening for the inner answer is also the path to spiritual restoration.

Mr. Biden posed a restorative question: “What are the common objects we, as Americans, love?….Opportunity, Security. Liberty. Dignity. Respect. Honor. And yes, the Truth.”

As an Orthodox Christian, truth is absolutely the path to freedom. As my priest, retired Rev. Fr. Bill Olnhausen reminds us God is a spirit of Truth, while “Satan is “‘the father of lies’, the Destroyer, and all lies are destructive.”

Like Abraham Lincoln, Mr. Biden also quoted scripture to identify unity as our core essence — that a house divided cannot stand.

Remembering the United States of America

To restore the spirit, review, meditate, and journal on each word’s meaning and symbolism in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag:

Republic: our form of government in which power is vested in the people and their trusted representatives. (How are relationships of trust created? How can trust be restored?)
Indivisible: cannot be divided. (Are the costs and consequences of divorce worth it?)
Liberty: freedom to do as you choose. (Are you free to choose your responses?)
Justice: fair treatment. (What do you think is fair?)
Thirteen (13) stripes of the flag for the courage of the founding colonies who declared independence and fought for freedom.
Stars for each of the United States—all equal, originally 13, now 50.
Blue field behind the stars representing vigilance, perseverance, and justice.
White for the values of the purity and innocence—how all children are born into the world, needing love and protection.
Red for valor, bravery, and strength to stand up for what is right and what is good for all. Also, as in red-blooded Americans —that which is common in all our diversity.

Another key aspect of the spirit of America worth meditating on is a powerful virtue Greeks call philotimo, which means to be a devoted, loyal friend and lover of honor and duty. Philotimo is central to our Judeo-Christian Fifth Commandment ethos to love and honor family — the foundation of all functional societies. Philotimo was most profoundedly demonstrated during World War II. Check out this excellent short video (14:36) with many famous people explaining the concept, which deserves to come into the English language.

The Greek Secret of Philotimo (14 min) — https://youtu.be/vyOIgzVKLT4

To restore the spirit of America, we need to do two things:

1) Make choices that glorify, enhance, magnify, and expand upon these values — opportunity, security, liberty, dignity, respect, honor, truth, unity, equality, perseverance, justice, purity, innocence, valor, bravery, strength, what is right, what is good, commonality within diversity, and philotimo.

2) Reject that which diminishes them. Such as slavery and other forms of fascism.

Recognizing Fascist Conservatism

Fascist Conservatism opposes American values as it seeks to enslave. Stir up mistrust. Create confusion. Stoke fear. Provoke anger. Encite violence. Divide into warring factions. Manipulate people to break laws, commit acts of violence, destroy property, kill, and worse.

The end goal of Fascist Conservatives: abolition of representative democracy—which is hanging on by a thread in Wisconsin.

Fascist Conservatives promote the opposite of philotimo: disregard for truth, honor, love, integrity, and family pride.

Fascist Conservatives demonize teachers, public schools, and education. They claim that deregulated, profit-driven industries and free market forces are more trustworthy to deliver great quality at low prices, than government. They manipulate messages and point fingers, promoting destruction of representative government as superior service to taxpayers.

Friends down in Texas: how’s that working out?

Perhaps at no time in history is there a greater need for educated, intelligent citizenry, able to keep up with the blinding speed of advancements in science, expanding understanding of how the natural world works, appreciating advances in medical science. We need as many hands on deck as possible, educated, trusting in each other, to help us survive and thrive through these genuine crises we are facing. Not fake crises.

The final questions

My dear conservative friends about whom I care and know to be decent people who value education: Which side of this battle for the soul of America will you be on?

Will you choose leaders who value education, decency, philotimo, truth, freedom, hope, rolling up sleeves, burying hatchets, working together for the good of all, educating all, rising above the political fray, pulling together in the same direction?

Or will you choose to side with Fascist Conservative loyalists eager to break faith with our ancestors who fought fascism in WWII, tear down the Constitution, and replace it with a Fascist Conservative autocracy?

Your choice will most impact the youngest generations alive today — our children and grandchildren. They will inherit the mess the world is in right now.

Will our children see adults grow up and act like adults? Will they see us all calm down, cool off, shake hands? Will they see us grab the rope to pull together behind wise visionary leaders who care about them? Will they see examples of true servant leaders who speak kindly, value safety, and who love them?

Will the children see us choose effective strategists, analysts, visionaries, thinkers, creators, artists, writers, team builders, team leaders, and executives, who prioritize children and all people of all ages?

Endorsing candidate: Jill Underly

Jill Underly is the candidate I support for Wisconsin State Superintendent of Schools on April 6. Explore her qualifications, see her speak at https://underlyforwi.com/about/ and VOTE!

Let’s start getting our dismal score back up into at least the double digits.

Self plagiarism: an unsustainable and ridiculous legal concept

If I write a beautiful sentence in a poem and then use it in a novel, or if I publish an article on my blog and re-publish it on social media, it is a ridiculous idea that I could be committing the crime of “self plagiarism.”

“Self-plagiarism,” explained Robert Cruetz, “is also known as ‘reuse,’ ‘recycling fraud,’ or ‘duplicate publication,’ and consists of a person re-purposing their own written material without providing proper attribution by citing the original content.”

The legal concept of “self-plagiarism” is contrary to the order of the universe, unnatural, and therefore inherently flawed. Think of genetic code as a type of writing. A rule prohibiting “self plagiarism”” would have derailed evolution from its earliest beginnings and planet Earth would still be a hot dead rock without an atmosphere or arable soil.

All life has borrowed “writing” from the prior generation in order to both survive and to thrive in the process of adding to it, improving upon it.

Here it seems to me that the spirit of the law against plagiarism has been lost. The spirit of plagiarism laws was to protect the livelihood of the original author. The ability of the author to support their life their family. Think about that.

Self-plagiarism is ridiculous and foolish legalistic concept.

I hereby confess this is a repost, self-plagiarism, from my original writing on LinkedIn.

Oprah on The Daily Show

Great interview with Oprah on her new book, THE PATH MADE CLEAR!

I love how Oprah answered Trevor’s question: what did she find to be the common denominator to those who have found their path to success in life? We find the path when people ask themselves “what is the truest, highest expression of myself as a human being?” When people find clarity, and focus on their heart’s desire, what they want most deeply and passionately, the path appears. The book is on my “must read” my list.

https://youtu.be/G_kMOVS1qY8

Lyme Disease Awareness Presentations

May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month and all are invited to attend a free presentation: A Wisconsin Family’s Lyme Journey: A Case For Hope. Laurel Kashinn is a local writer and mother seeking to share her and her family’s experience with Lyme disease following their daughter’s successful treatment. Besides her family’s story, she includes in her presentation:

+ Facts about ticks and the many diseases they can carry

+ Finding peace in the war zone over Lyme disease; how not to become a casualty

+ Resources and natural solutions: how to connect with wellbeing and stay healthy

She will present her story at Cedarburg Public Library, Wednesday, May 8, Noon-1 pm, Facebook live and Zoom online on Wednesday, May 15 at noon, and at the USS Liberty Memorial Grafton Public Library, Wednesday, May 22, from Noon-1 pm.

After navigating the healthcare system, doing extensive research, and helping her daughter who became so sick she was bedridden and had to be homeschooled for the 8th grade, Kashinn has become a wellness advocate, and seeks to share what she has learned. Hers is a message of hope and empowerment.

To learn more or for a link to the Facebook Live Zoom presentation, contact Kashinn at Laurel@BeeJoyful.org or call (262) 376-7777.

Ten outside-the-box campaign reform ideas

President-elect Trump is outside the box in just about every thing he does. Good, bad, or horrendous, the fact is, we’re living in unprecedented times. It’s time we all get out of our respective boxes and think very differently.

With a mis-leader who campaigned on breaking rules, we need lots of brainstorms to find outside-the-box responses and solutions.

I’d like to start with campaign reform ideas. Not just campaign finance reform– but the entire campaign process.

It’s not just global temperatures setting record highs. As of two weeks post election, the 2016 presidential campaign season is estimated to have cost in the neighborhood of $6.6 billion.

Campaign spending has skyrocketed faster and higher than the cost of healthcare, GDP, and income, as Time Magazine reported. Unprecedented in American history.

Courtesy, Time Magazine.

From the letter to the Spirit of the Law

Let’s look at the spirit of the law—it’s overall purpose and intent.

The founders of the United States designed a system to prevent corruption by preventing consolidation of power.

Lots of people today are saying we should eliminate the electoral college. But what happened this year is an anomaly and result of decades of gradually degradation of checks and balances on power.

A hundred years ago, there were no primaries.

If we eliminate the electoral college now, that will truly be the end of our democracy and morph straight into tyranny, just as Plato predicted. If its not already too late. But that’s another discussion.

The intention–the spirit of our U.S. election process–was to serve as a means of sourcing, vetting, and then electing good, qualified candidates for leadership.

That’s what an election in a representative democracy is supposed to do.

I’m certainly not saying it’s doing that now. Nor has it in years.

But would you not agree – that is supposed to be the function and purpose of our democratic process?

In non-Democratic societies where the voice of the people is suppressed, elections are purely a sham, just for show.

How do we find good, qualified candidates, and unity, as in the UNITED States of America,

Did $6.6B put people to work, and strategically help grow our economy?

Did it invest in our future—our children? Did it care for our veterans and elderly? Did it help repair our crumbling national park facilities, clean up lead in our pipes or Superfund sites, or rebuild our ailing bridges, electrical grid, or wifi infrastructure? How about hiring a tutor to help us with our infrastracture grades — we currently score as a dismal D+.

InfrastructureReportCard.org — Used courtesy of http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/

Or did $6.6B help out the growing number of states struggling with budget crises of their own?

How can we improve two things:

1) the sourcing and vetting of candidates for elections, plus

2;) reduce the amount of money spent. Or use the money spent more wisely, more fairly, and more equitably?

An aside: Want to stop all the protests? Treat the monkeys fairly. Really. Even monkeys will tell you that, as this 2:36 TED Talk excerpt shows.

In light of all these ideas questions in our brainstorming session, here are some election reform ideas I’ve come up with, for 2020.

Ten Outside-the-Box Election Reform Ideas

1) Election Spending Tax (EST). Every candidate and PAC gets charged a tax, dollar-for-dollar, equal to what they spend on producing and buying space in the media. (Sorry mass corporate media, after this year’s election, you deserve to lose ad revenue.) We earmark that EST money for the states, reinstating that back-in-the-good-old-days idea from President Nixon called revenue sharing, to reduce local property taxes.

That $6.6 billion would provide $132M to each state. In Wisconsin, that would amount to $284,483 to each of our 464 school districts. Households in my district of 1,135 students would receive a property tax credit of between $150 to $250 per student.

If corporations really are people, and money equals political speech, then is it not fair that corporations should pay a tax on that privilege? I think a $250 stipend to every student in the country, for the privilege of “speaking” out to influence our elections, would be fair.

2) Set up Sister Districts. Years ago there used to be an organization called Wisconsin-Nicaragua Partners, which instituted this idea. Communities in Wisconsin “adopted” communities in Nicaragua. There were cultural exchanges and charitable giving. So why not do the same for our schools? Here in Wisconsin, there are a number of very wealthy suburbs. How about each of the wealthy school districts “adopt” a Sister District that’s not so wealthy. There could be cultural exchanges with potluck joint PTA meetings, fundraisers, mentor programs, and charitable giving. Let the wealthy district lend a helping hand to give the poorer district’s kids a hand up–not a hand out. Take them under the wing, lovingly, and teach them how to fly.

OK. This wasn’t a campaign reform idea. See what happens when you get outside the box? Other ideas happen.

3) Waive the tax for any low-budget videos featuring talking heads only–the candidate just speaking to voters, on camera, without high-priced, slick ad agencies. Prior to the 1960s, for nearly 200 years, that’s how all our candidates spoke–just facing the audience. Use technology to level the playing field for all challengers.

4) Shorten the election season to 6 months–90 days each for primary and general.

5) Limit terms of office by leveling the playing field for challengers. Establish a dedicated public broadcasting station, mirrored on cable, online, and published to YouTube, and give all candidates free equal airtime on that channel. (I don’t support arbitrarily term limits without including a clear method of recruiting new qualified candidates chosen by the people. Think we’ve had puppet candidates now? Who will feed the mill of new candidates if we arbitrarily set term limits on members of Congress?)

6) Here’s an idea aimed at getting better quality leaders, who are more responsive to the people, and happier voters. For any federal election to be valid, require there to be at least 66% voter turnout in the general election. If there’s lackluster candidates and less than that turn out to vote, the encumbent admin goes into overtime, and a new primary election in 3 months followed by new general election 3 months after that–all new candidates required.

All salaries in Congress are frozen 2x the length of the overtime.

Maximum 2 overtime election attempts. After 3 strikes, if no worthy candidates can be drafted, the country reverts back to being a British colony, and all federal politicians are immediately subject to forfeiture of all worldy possessions including their homes and cars, requiring them to live homeless and start over from scratch–the penalty for dereliction of duty.

7) Change the constitution to make our election days fall on a Saturday instead of a weekday. It would be a really simple, 1-word edit. Change second Thursday to second Saturday. Thanks to Bernie for this idea.

8) Automatically register all voters whenever people turn 18, and when they relocate. Another idea inspired by Bernie.

9) Hello. This is the 21st century. Create an online voting system.

10) Require all candidates to have a public LinkedIn profile. Let them compete on their actual qualifications for office, and let them make the case publicly, on LinkedIn. That’s what all the recruiters are using these days.

So there’s my brainstorm of an idea. What do you think?

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Laurel Kashinn is a certified ghostwriter, resume writer, Orthodox Christian, student of A Course In Miracles, and mom living and writing in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.

Breathe. Nothing has changed but you.

Our dearly beloveds, breathe. Have no fear. Everything happens for a reason. Judas long ago played his part. There is only one Savior. There is only one spark of Precious Life, given this world which we all miraculously share, only One Animating Spirit, One Unifying Field, throughout all time space, that beats our hearts, energizes subatomic particles, Unites us all. Only one.

What reason for darkness and for evil? Evil is a teacher. What is the lesson our young child ancestors gifted us with, when they tasted of the Forbidden Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil? What lesson learned by those who looked Evil right in the face–Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Victor Frankl, Mahatma Gandhi, and our beloved Jesus of Nazareth. What did evil teach all of them?

Peace. Is. A. Choice. Peace is an INSIDE job. Peace is not out there. It’s not in Washington or books of law, written by men.

The law of peace is written in our hearts, in our DNA.

Peace is not ever going to come from guns or locks or walls.

Peace is not, never was, never will be–out there in the World, separate from us.

The politicians over and over and over again promise us change.

If we want real change, we must BE it. If we want true and everlasting peace, we must CHOOSE it.

Right here. Right now. One day at a time.

Our dearly beloveds, breathe. Everything happens for a reason.

10 ways the government works for us

Today on Facebook someone commented that “most people cannot remember a time when the government worked for us instead of against us.”

I was moved by this idea to write about the concepts of government, perception, optimism, and consciousness. Mostly I wondered, don’t people remember and keep the words of Abraham Lincoln, and the founding fathers? That ours is a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people?” And how can people not see all the good things the government does for us?

To me, seeing the good things our government does is a lot like the ability to perceive God. How could someone not see evidence of God everywhere? I see evidence of both a good God and a good government everywhere.

To me, seeing good is like seeing a lot of things that are there, but we’re not aware of. It is a matter of wanting to see something, putting yourself in the right place, at the right time, and tuning your attention appropriately.

For example, we don’t often see bats in the summer, at least in Wisconsin. But there are quite a few around. If I want to really see them, I discovered there’s a roost in an old building next to the Grafton Public library where I used to work. Go to the parking lot at dusk any night all summer long, and see hundreds of bats coming out of their roost at night. It’s quite spectacular. Another example is looking through a microscope to see tiny lifeforms, invisible to the naked eye. Or using a telescope at night to see details on the surface of the moon we just can’t perceive without help.

Or even just becoming aware or conscious of something you never noticed before, can help you see it. For example, before I test drove and then bought a Honda CRV, I had never seen one before. But after I became aware of them—amazingly—I saw them everywhere!

We also have to engage our will to see things, too. We have to want to see things. One can look at a partially-filled glass and call it half empty, or half full. We make such choices. And it is purely a matter of choice.

So for those who say the government does nothing for us, really? Is that true? Or is it that you’re just not perceiving things correctly?

I decided to started a list of things I can see that government does for me. Below are just 10 things I can think of off the top of my head.

My ability to read, do math, have understanding of lots of subjects—all courtesy of the fine education I received at Wauwatosa Public Schools and the University of Wisconsin system. I had an excellent education in public schools: primary, secondary, and college
The Internet. Public academic institutions attempting to share information developed the first internet.
My favorite radio station I listen to daily, which is WUWM-FM. If not for FCC regulations, turning on a radio station would be a mass of noise.
Traveling safely on the roads. From speed limits to stop signs, rules of the road and police officers, I might have crashed and died long ago
My ability to worship freely—and in a building exempt from taxes. Our government guarantees my freedom to worship — something we take for granted in this country.
A clean healthy home and yard thanks to garbage pickup. Imagine if there were no garbage trucks to pick up our waste. It would get pretty smelly and we’d get pretty sick.
A safe house that doesn’t fall apart on me. Thanks to building codes, permits, licenses, and inspectors—and people cooperating with them all—our homes don’t fall apart in the wind and keep us dry in the rain.
Mail delivery. Wish it was still the Pony Express sometimes (I just love horses) but I’m very grateful for the ability to send and receive mail.
Roads kept paved and clean of snow, ice, leaves, trash, and dead animals (imagine the graveyard our highways would be if no one ever picked up roadkill!)
Laws that make it very easy to start a small business and that reduce my tax overhead. Think we’ve got red tape? You should hear how much harder it is in other countries. A friend from Germany heightened my consciousness to how easy we have it here. Again, half full, or half empty?

Anything you can add to this list, of things government does for us?

Stories and Spiritual Athletics

Stories are so powerful, particularly the stories of people who led exemplary or extraordinary lives. One of the uncounted things I love about Orthodoxy is it’s edifying and illustrated storytelling. As part of every service, every day of the year, we tell stories and show pictures, yes from the Bible, AND from exemplars from throughout history. Exemplars who guide from the other side. Like athletes with mentors, Orthodox are spiritual athletes who look to the blessed saints for counsel and inspiration.

I also love that we tell not only HIStory but HERstory as well–we lovingly remember and revere women’s holy stories, too.

In the lifelong pursuit of ever striving to attain Theosis, success stories are edifying. We learn ways to build our own spiritual muscles. Studying those who overcame barbs and stings and snares and hurdles of difficult life journeys–of the soul’s longing for holiness–teaches strategies to apply to win our own game.

The Fifth Sunday of Lent is set aside for the telling of the miraculous story of the Holy Mother Mary of Egypt, as recorded by eyewitness St. Zossima. Some stories are worthy of a feast, and this is one. Clearly she was a victim of child sexual abuse and suffered greatly. As Victor Frankl’s story taught, in enduring the horrors of Nazi concentration camps, the choices we make, the thoughts we think, create the meaning of life. The meaning makes life. Story is life. In every moment we have this powerful gift. No one can take from us the divine gift.

Here is her story. In reading her story, may you find edification as well.

http://www.antiochian.org/stmaryofegypt

Dark force attractions, procrastination, and the heart-brain path to God

What a headline for this post, hey? Bear with me on this one…

A friend of mine of Facebook recently posted a series of very joy-filled messages to his friends, sharing his recent Chrismation into the ancient Holy Orthodox church. He is a very kind-hearted and bright person, and received dozens and dozens of OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA posts from friends congratulating him, being supportive.

This morning, on Holy Saturday, he posted a negative complaint of utter frustration with his own family, who apparently do not understand his journey, and have not been very supportive.

This is so very typical. I know that after I was Chrismated in 1999, I had a similar experience. I had been “high” on my newfound faith, my new discovery of the power of prayer, in love with God and my new church family, when I started having a series of very dark and frightening dreams, almost to the point of nightmare. Also, I suddenly experienced a major break in a relationship with a very beloved in-law family member, which threw me into a state of deep anxiety, self-doubt, anger and depression.

For my friend, for this to happen to him, now, during Holy Week, particularly, is very common. Priests, monks and laypeople engaged in dedicated spiritual practice will confirm that negativity always arises much moreso during Holy Week than at any other time. Every year on Palm Sunday, Fr. Bill reminds us of this in his sermon and shares his strategy of how to be on guard for it. He simply refuses to argue, be critical, or pass any judgment about anyone or anything during Holy Week. Period. If something negative or disturbing comes up, he uses procrastination and puts off dealing with it until Bright Week, after Pascha. He says that invariably, whatever the issue was, it dissolves into nothing by the next week.

Finally, a good use for procrastination! Maybe it could be used all the time! Any time anyone says something negative or you are tempted to get angry or pass judgment or you’re having fears or negative thoughts — just procrastinate. Put off the judgment, the fear, the worry, the concern, to next week.

I’m going to try this!

The reason excess negativity arises during Holy Week, and after blessed events like a Chrismation when we’re most prayerful, filled with light and love and hope, is because the enemy is attracted to the light. Yes, folks, there is an an enemy. He’s been very crafty this past century, getting people to think he’s a myth. What a great strategy for an enemy, hey? The fact is, the enemy is real, he lives in the dark, he has since the very beginning, and he’s always wanting more company, down there in the dark. Maybe the darkness is like a vacuum. This world is in darkness, we were born into. We’ve been mucking around in it our whole lives. And when we finally step out, into the light, maybe we pull some of that darkness along with us. Or the hole we leave behind gets filled and explodes out after us. And it does seem to have a certain kind of magnetism, that wants to drag us back into the depths of anger, depression, anxiety, uncertainty, fear and other muck that is the darkness. That makes sense to me, as to how it works.

It is said in our faith that the Sacraments are the best way to cleanse us of these negative energies, and I have experienced that to be true.

I, too, have many dear friends and relatives who are hardcore atheists, or claim to be Christian but follow an avowed anti-Christian leader (Ayn Rand), or who are in the space in which I used to be. For decades I harbored grievances against organized religion for centuries of abuse and injustice to innocent men, women and children. I was particularly upset about the genocide of indigenous peoples–the wonton destruction of entire cultures which were peaceful and innocent. Today, a lot of people are very upset by the revelation of years of sexual abuse of children within the structure of one of the world’s major religions. It is completely understandable, and a good thing, to be outraged about that!

What I didn’t understand before I stepped out of the darkness and into the light is that God didn’t do these terrible things to man, through religion. Man did this to man. Religion is like anything – it can be wielded for good, or for evil. To condemn religion is like forbidding the use of cars because people die on the freeway in accidents. Or forbidding people from going swimming because some people drown. Or saying we should have no more corporations because some harm people. (I do draw the line on this analogy to guns. This does not apply because guns are designed for no other purpose than to kill or harm. If guns were built with auto-correction to NOT be lethal, but to only hit extremities, and with safeties that identified the trained user and would be disabled if say, a child picked it up–then I’d reconsider.)

Religion is not the problem. Mankind’s behavior is the problem. In fact, God’s been trying to help us out of this for millennia. He’s sent umpteen saints and messengers. He came down himself to teach us. He dictated an entire Course In Miracles for us to get it. And still many of us are not getting it!

This culture we are in is ruled by dark side in a multitude of ways, primarily by false egoic identification with form. We’ve come to identify with *things*, losing sight of who we really are, made in the image and likeness of God. Our culture doesn’t support that teaching anymore; on the contrary, it teaches us that we are weak and vulnerable and need to live in fear. That stokes the ego big time.

What I’ve come to realize is that for people to turn, to see the light, what is needed is an experience of something bigger than them, that touches their hearts. Be it a near-death experience, the birth of a child, or something breathtakingly beautiful in nature that God created. Something that diminishes the ego enough for it to get out of the way, and allow the heart to see and to hear, with that inner vision.

That is what what I always pray for people, is for God to touch their hearts that they may see Him. When talking to such friends, I try to get them to just consider the possibility of having an experience like that. For example, musicians can hear harmonies and tones and chords that others cannot, because their ears have been trained. For those with untrained ears, they cannot hear those things; yet that does not mean they do not exist, simply because the untrained ear cannot hear it. If you start to study music, your perceptions change. You perceive sound in new ways. You perceive things you never could perceive before. This is how it is to find God. It is all about, as Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain said, tuning yourself to the channel of God, like dialing in a radio station. This is why A Course In Miracles includes 365 daily lessons on perception.

God is not an irrational blind belief, which is how many atheists perceive us who are pious. God exists whether we believe in him or not. He does not need us to believe in Him. He does not even need us to worship him. He simply loves us and wants us to find our way home. The worship is for our benefit, not his. Religous practice never was and is not now supposed to be forced on anyone. One of our greatest gifts, which He could have but has never taken back, is our free will. The only way to find our way home is to adjust our perceptions, to tune our hearts, to His frequency, because we want to. This is what ascetical practice is for. This is what the church and its traditions of fasting, prayer and the sacraments are all about — helping us get tuned properly.

Science is just now discovering that the heart contains neurological tissue on par with the brain.The heart is not just a pump–it is a sensory organ and a brain, processing information it receives from the world. This is good news, because God can only be experienced through the heart-brain, not the head-brain. More and more people, through the pursuit of science, will begin to experience His presence. I believe that to be true. To hear, feel, see, and get to know God, it takes training and practice, just like anything else. The Orthodox have preserved, in Christianity, the ascetical practices the best.

The Orthodox have also retained the translation of Christ’s teaching, at the last supper. To paraphrase the Greek, for which there is no English equivalent, partaking of the sacrament of the bread and wine, of the Eurcharist Supper, is the way He told us to “call him back” to us. It is much more than simply “remembering” him. This is why the Eucharist in the Divine Liturgy every Sunday is the highlight of an Orthodox Christian’s life, and why every Divine Liturgy is like a little Holy Week and Pascha, or Easter service. He actually comes into the bread and wine, he becomes, again, a sacrifice, so that we may be healed or our negative afflictions, and live in the light.

So, if you’re having a great day, don’t be surpised when seeming “bad things happen.” Stay in the light, don’t get sucked in, by simply procrastinating on it. And remember that the path God is through the heart, not the head.

Was that too convoluted?

Angels and the Fullness of Faith

Have you ever seen your guardian angel? I heard mine once, clear as a bell, and it saved my life.

I was in my car, driving home from work a little past 5, northbound through downtown Milwaukee on I-43. Traffic was moving well, about 45-50 mph. Radio on, thoughts random, I was in the middle lane and had just passed through the old courthouse tunnel when all of a sudden I heard a voice say “Laurel! Get in the left lane NOW!” The voice was loud, clear, imperative. “OK,” I said reflexively, did a quick over-the-shoulder check and swung into the left lane — just as a huge piece of metal on the back the truck I had been following fell off and bounced into the road, right where I had been. It was huge. Would have gone right through my windshield. Talk about chills up my spine! On the drive home, I was in shock, said “thank you” repeatedly, and have told this story countless times in the years since. I am still grateful–both for being saved, and for the chance to hear my angel’s voice.

That saving voice confirmed what I’d felt since early childhood. Guardian angels are real, and I am blessed with one.

Discovering Orthodoxy many years later, I love its breadth, depth and inclusivity, cherishing with great deliberation and heart not only all of mankind and all created beings and matter here on earth, but also that which is beyond space and time. Angels grace every Divine Liturgy, where they are quoted and thanked, their presence visible to all in icons and palpable to some occasionally with prickles on the back of the neck. Prayers to our guardian angels are part of every little red pocket prayer book. And so are parties in their honor. How cool is that?

Every year on November 8 the Holy Orthodox Church celebrates the Synaxis of the Supreme Commanders Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, and of the other bodiless and heavenly orders, the Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Powers, Authorities, Principalities, Archangels and Angels.

Some Orthodox prayers sung in their honor:

Troparion of the Angels, Tone 4
Supreme Leaders of the Heavenly Hosts, we implore you that by your prayers you will encircle us, unworthy as we are, with the protection of the wings of your immaterial glory and guard us who fall down before you and fervently cry: deliver us from dangers, for you are the commanders of the powers above.
Another Troparion of the Angels, Tone 1
Let us praise Cherubim, Seraphim, Thrones, Powers, Authorities and Principalities, Dominions, Archangels and Angels, for they are the Bodiless ministers of the Unoriginate Trinity and revealers of incomprehensible mysteries. Glory to Him Who has given you being; glory to Him Who has given you light; glory to Him Who is praised by you in thrice-holy hymns.
Kontakion of the Angels, Tone 2
Supreme Leaders of God’s armies and ministers of the divine glory, princes of the bodiless Angels and guides of men, ask what is good for us and great mercy, as Supreme Leaders of the Bodiless Hosts.
Exaposteilarion of the Feast, Tone 2
O Archangel Michael whose countenance is like lightning, gleaming in an ineffable manner with the illuminations of the Trinity, of exceeding divine brilliancy, thou dost traverse the whole creation like lightning, fulfilling the divine command, watching over, preserving, and sheltering those who joyfully laud thee.

For a summary of Orthodox teachings on angels see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=–KyZronQes

We must always remember that we have choices at every turn, and whatever we do, in open or in secret, we do in the presence of our guardian angel. Of that, I am convinced! According to Orthodox teaching, each of us have been assigned a guardian angel. But it is possible to drive it away by our actions. I’m sure glad I didn’t dishonor or discourage mine, years ago.

Let me know if you’ve ever had an encounter with your guardian angel.

By the holy intercessions of Your Angels, O God, have mercy upon us. Amen.