Human beings have always yearned to peek into the future. Instead of heeding Yogi Berra’s advice that “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” we wish to know which fork will most satisfy our insatiable appetites. Instead of faith we need to know.
In ancient times, the Greek Oracle of Delphi was the place to go to get rid of doubt. Inscribed in bold letters on the temple was the Oracle's secret for all to see and most to ignore “Know Thyself.” Oracles are not primarily a means to gain insight into the future; rather they are systems designed to teach the truth about one’s own nature. Divining the future is merely a by-product of a much more profound journey into awareness.
ASPEN, COLORADO (Post Time News)—The Aspen Club and Spa knew its benefit for three embryonic stem-cell pioneers was going to be big.
But the party--and the money raised--turned out to be even bigger than expected.
Club officials are reporting the 30th Anniversary club benefit for Amanda Boxtel, Leah Roland, and Casie Burtard--three young woman heading to India for embryonic stem-cell research--raised more that $100,000, with more than $12,000 raised in the auction of a Labrador puppy.
Recently, the movie The Golden Compass (adapted from Philip Pullman’s bestselling children’s book of the same name) has been under some fire from the Catholic League and Christians for allegedly promoting atheism and “killing the church.” Some are calling for the movie to be boycotted in theaters. This news came to me in an email I received a few weeks ago. The email was originally penned by a Dr. Bryan Cutshall, a pastor from St. Louis, Mo. The email not only made me laugh out loud, but also, gasp in disbelief at their concerns.
Today’s Best-of Congames radio broadcast was devoted to religion—a call from a Lutheran listener who spoke as articulately on religion as ever I’ve heard a person speak, and I’ve heard many. (My apologies I do not remember his name, for he certainly merits recognition in this post.)
During the call, Michael asserted that to be a U.S. President, a candidate must declare a devotion to Jesus Christ. The conversation turned to the religious beliefs of the founding fathers, and then to the beliefs of Benjamin Franklin. The caller claimed Franklin was agnostic. Michael questioned this and said he’d have to consult Walter Isaacson’s Benjamin Franklin: An American Life.
Global Warming/Climate Change - I believe that I am a reasonably intelligent, articulate, pragmatic, down-to-earth and fair-minded free thinker. I am relatively open-minded and I endeavor to see all sides of an issue before I form my own opinion, hopefully based on something resembling objective truth. I also have an outlook on life that is at least quasi-metaphysical as well as spiritual in nature. That said, I believe that I have a perspective that is unique in many ways.Before I get on to commenting on the alleged “doomsday” scenario, I want to get right out front with my own personal view of how we should take care of our planet: We should remember that we are actually just “guests” here on this planet and should act like it. In Rosicrucian philosophy, no one can actually own anything on this planet; we just have the use of things while we are here. In much the same fashion that most well-mannered people USUALLY act way better when they’re in someone else’s house than when they are at home, so we should strive to live in balance and harmony with Mother Earth, Mother Nature or The Planet, whichever you may prefer to call it. This is the most ethical thing for us to do as well as being the most pro-survival for ourselves. Any platitudes about “saving the planet” are virtually irrelevant as the planet will survive and heal itself over time whatever we deign to throw at it - it is OUR survival that is at risk if we muck things up here.
Why a great number of Aspenites really need to be MORE selfish - Ever since I have been in this valley, I have periodically seen articles, editorials and/or letters to the editor in one or more of the local newspapers on the subject of the arrogance, rudeness, obnoxiousness, etc. of many of the locals and/or the ones who are locals part of the year - the ones with second or even third homes in Aspen. I believe that Michael even talked on-air about the war between the locals and the elites a few times over the past few months. It's pretty obvious that there are many people in the area that have an attitude of: ME, ME, ME, ME FIRST or in other words, very self-centered or even selfish.
Pause here for inevitable Biblical reference: "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Matthew 19:24
So here's my thinking: the entrance to Aspen is literally the eye of the needle. Why else would we routinely refer to this place as "Paradise" and remind each other that we are truly in heaven. But I'm going a step further by saying Aspen is literally the "kingdom of heaven," and that those of us who pass through the eye of the needle, for whatever reason, have to be considered rich beyond all reason in a Paradise not of our own making.
In continuing with the previous post, it definitely is obvious to me that the powers that be in the universe even put up contingency plans to make sure that we do pass on when it is our time to go.
It is indeed my feeling that we are all spiritual beings sent here for what we can glean from experiencing life on this mundane plane to help us evolve as beings. Kathryn Preston and many others have proffered the idea that we pick out our own situation before we come here. In Kathryn's example, a being felt that she needed to work some more on humility and asked another "friend" to incarnate with her to be her abuser to help her out with the lessons on humility. This whole thing seems a bit ironic considering the human adage of "You can't choose your parents". Apparently, you can and DO!
Personally, I cannot vouch for the idea of picking our own situations nor can I deny that it might happen. Whether we pick our own or have them assigned to us, I do have a sense that we are definitely here for a reason and we have an overwhelming need to accomplish that reason.
I watched Christopher Hitchens debate Dinesh D’Souza last weekend on the subject of “Is Christianity the Problem” (of "what?" is anybody’s guess; the answer "everything" is likely the premise). You can see this debate on Youtube. The video lags behind the audio, but if you can get over that irritation, it’s worth at least a listen.
