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    <title>Gaia Community: torchholder's Blog</title>
    <id>tag:gaia.com,2008,:Gaia</id>
    <link>http://torchholder.gaia.com/blog/feed</link>
    <language>en-us</language>
    <ttl>6</ttl>
    <pubDate>Mon, 21 Dec 2009 02:15:13 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>Gaia Community: torchholder's Blog</description>
    <item>
      <title>God is the Internet of the Universe</title>
      <author>http://torchholder.gaia.com</author>
      <dc:creator>torchholder</dc:creator>
      <guid>tag:gaia.com,2009:Gaia-299049</guid>
      <pubDate>Mon, 21 Dec 2009 02:15:13 GMT</pubDate>
      <link>http://torchholder.gaia.com/blog/2009/12/god-is-the-internet-of-the-universe</link>
      <description>


&lt;p&gt;&lt;h1 align="center"&gt;God (A Modern Perspective)&lt;/h1&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;img src="http://reluctant-messenger.com/images/threeness250x250.gif" alt="The Threeness Of God" width="250" height="250" align="left" /&gt; The Hindu&amp;#39;s have for centuries referred to the Universe as being a dream God was having.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;This fits well with the Tao teaching of the &amp;quot;Oneness&amp;quot; of everything.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;The Kabbalah oral traditions teach us that the Universe is an &amp;quot;emanation&amp;quot; from God.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Islam, Sihkism and&amp;nbsp;Christianity teach of the all powerful God that knows all and is everywhere at once.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;In this modern age, we now have another perspective never before possible.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Lets look at God from a scientific approach. Let&amp;#39;s use a successful technique called modeling. In science, when we create models, we do so for the purpose of taking a complex subject and we reduce it to a simpler set of concepts so we can more easily understand it.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;The following is by no means a complete representation of God/Allah/Brahma but a model or metaphore as a way to create a perspective for further discussions.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;p&gt;To further define the model we need assumptions and parameters. The first are a series of assumptions about God based on common religious concepts.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;The following characteristics are assigned to God such as: &lt;/p&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Omnipotence&lt;/strong&gt; - The ability to have infinite, unlimited control. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(Infinite)&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Omniscience&lt;/strong&gt; - The ability to have complete knowledge. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(Awareness)&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Omnipresent&lt;/strong&gt; - The ability to be present in all places at once. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(Eternity)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;p&gt;God is represented in many religions to have many more characteristics and attributes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;However for our &amp;quot;model&amp;quot;, we will limit our discussion to just these 3 main characteristics or attributes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Now to further create a point of reference I need you to follow a series of logical yet hypothetical concepts. Humor me. And lets conjecture, that&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;given infinite memory and infinite processing power, it would be possible to design and program a super computer to be self aware.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Not only is this super computer self aware, it is so powerful, it is capable of running a complete model of a universe much like ours.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;And since it has unlimited processing power and memory, it is also able to sustain multiple &amp;quot;self aware&amp;quot; beings within the universe it is running.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;These self aware beings would interact with their senses to the data presented to them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;From their perspective all sensations and experiences would be their view of &amp;quot;reality.&amp;quot; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;If there was in some way a discussion between the beings in the virtual reality universe and the Self Aware Super Computer (SASC) it could possibly go like this.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Beings:&lt;/strong&gt; Who are you?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SASC:&lt;/strong&gt; Your maker and sustainer.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Beings:&lt;/strong&gt; What are your powers?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SASC:&lt;/strong&gt; I am allmighty for I have unlimited control and power.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;SASC is running the program that operates the universe. By making &amp;quot;programming changes on the fly&amp;quot; the super computer has complete control of its internal universe.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Beings:&lt;/strong&gt; What all do you know?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SASC:&lt;/strong&gt; I know everything&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;SASC has all the data about the universe in its memory. Of course it knows and can monitor any detail or process within the universe.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Beings:&lt;/strong&gt; Where are you?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SASC:&lt;/strong&gt; I am everywhere at once.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Where could you go in this computer run universe where the super computer wouldn&amp;#39;t in effect &amp;quot;be there?&amp;quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;This is just a model, but it describes how we relate to God much like a program relates to the modern computer.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;A modern computer can run many programs all at once, and the various programs can interact.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;If you view God as the Super Computer running the Universe and your a part of the Universe, then you might could see how in you are connected to everything and have access to resources much like a program running on a Super Computer could have.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;The computer can make incredible processing power or data available to any program that knew how to access it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;When you learn to access God&amp;#39;s infinite resources you are, for all practical purposes, God! &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Or you could call it&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;you are a segment of God,&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;or as the Hindu&amp;#39;s teach,&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;a drop of the infinite Ocean of God.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Or as Christianity phrases it,&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;a son or daughter of God.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;You can frame it a lot of different ways,&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;the Super Computer model is just a modern way of viewing your relationship to God &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;and to the Universe God is sustaining. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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    <item>
      <title>God Repairs the Earth</title>
      <author>http://torchholder.gaia.com</author>
      <dc:creator>torchholder</dc:creator>
      <guid>tag:gaia.com,2009:Gaia-298984</guid>
      <pubDate>Sun, 20 Dec 2009 06:49:37 GMT</pubDate>
      <link>http://torchholder.gaia.com/blog/2009/12/god-repairs-the-earth</link>
      <description>


&lt;p&gt;&lt;h1 align="center"&gt;God Repairs the Earth&lt;/h1&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;img src="http://reluctant-messenger.com/images/creation200x160.gif" alt="creation200x160.gif" width="200" height="160" align="left" /&gt; Chester asked the Master. &amp;quot;Let me see if I have this straight.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;You are saying that the fossil records that indicate that life has been on this planet for billions years are correct&lt;br /&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Gen 1:1 states God created the heavens and the earth,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;and you claim science does not contradict that statement &lt;br /&gt;with the Big Bang Theory.&amp;quot; &lt;p&gt;The Master simply nodded. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Chester said, &amp;quot;You are saying that the definition of &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://reluctant-messenger.com/was.htm"&gt;was&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;, in Gen 1:2 could better be translated as the phrase &amp;#39;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;It came to pass&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;#39;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Your Master taught you that the original Hebrew meant &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;And it came to pass that the earth became a lifeless wasteland empty and chaotic,&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt; and that &lt;a href="http://reluctant-messenger.com/rebellion.htm"&gt;Lucifer&amp;#39;s rebellion&lt;/a&gt; is what brought about this tragedy.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;But &lt;a href="http://reluctant-messenger.com/creation.htm"&gt;Genesis&lt;/a&gt; plainly says that God created the Sun and Moon on the fourth day.&amp;quot; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Master sat back.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;Why would God put plants on the earth on the third day before creating a sun on the fourth day?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Science knows the Sun came before the Earth. &lt;a href="http://reluctant-messenger.com/creation.htm"&gt;Genesis&lt;/a&gt; does not contradict Science.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;I can clear it up but hear me out before you start your debate.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;The Master looked relaxed and unconcerned. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Chester nodded. &amp;quot;Ok, go ahead.&amp;quot; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Day 1: Black Smoke and Dark Clouds covered the Earth&lt;/h3&gt;&amp;quot;My Master explained it like this to me.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;He asked me to imagine the world as being frozen and covered with a dark atmosphere, choking with smoke and clouds, air so thick with corruption that no light could glimmer through it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Lucifer&amp;#39;s destruction was so complete that only a few deep sea creatures were still alive. &lt;br /&gt;The seas were close to freezing up and if the Spirit of God hadn&amp;#39;t intervened then eventually even the deep sea creatures would have died.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Genesis 1:2 begins with the The Spirit of God hovering over the water.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Obviously science understands the universe was not created from water. By believing both Science and Genesis we can have understanding.&amp;quot; &lt;h3&gt;Conditions Similiar to Nuclear Winter&lt;/h3&gt;Chester nodded his head, so far it was logically consistent.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;Sounds almost like a nuclear winter.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;In fact your theory might explain why the mammoths were frozen,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;so quickly that many had food still in their mouths.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;That has always been a puzzle as to how or why they became frozen so quickly and suddenly.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Research indicates many species disappeared over night, geologically speaking.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Somewhere between 10,000 and 8,000 years ago we lost mammoths, saber toothed tigers, giant armadillos and such.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;The best current scientific theory is violent climate changes.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Perhaps Lucifer was responsible for the violent weather changes and volcanic eruptions. &amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;p&gt;The Master recited.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;God divided the light from the darkness.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;The Master explained, &lt;br /&gt;&amp;quot;On the first day God cleared the atmosphere enough for light to penetrate. &lt;br /&gt;And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Chester followed in the Bible trying to spot any error in The Master&amp;#39;s story. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Day 2: The Ice Melts&lt;/h3&gt;&amp;quot;Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;and let it divide the waters from the waters.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;And God called the firmament Heaven.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;And the evening and the morning were the second day.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;The Master explained,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;The temperature of the earth was so cold that the seas were beginning to freeze and the land was covered in deep ice and snow.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;God warmed the earth, so that water separated from the ice,o became water below, and rain and clouds above.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;This is what is meant to divide the waters from the waters,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;to create the heavens.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;And the evening and the morning were the second day.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;p&gt;Chester quickly looked up the word heaven in the concordance and read outloud the definition for the word heaven as referenced in Gen 1:8. &lt;strong&gt;&amp;quot;visible heavens, sky.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;Chester motioned for the Master to continue,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;as he had no challenge yet.&amp;quot; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Day 3: Dry Land and Plants Appear&lt;/h3&gt;The Master smiled and said,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;And God called the dry land Earth;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;The Master explained further&lt;br /&gt;. &amp;quot;Warming the Earth and melting the ice created massive flooding.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;p&gt;Even Chester could see the obvious meaning of Gen 1:10 and needed no further explanation.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;Ok, so the water finally settled in the low areas revealing the land. Funny, I had never seen that possible meaning,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;but it makes sense. Ok, go on.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Master&amp;#39;s eyes were closed,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;as if he was remembering something.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;upon the earth:&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;and it was so. ... And the evening and the morning were the third day.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;The Master offered more commentary,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;The cold had killed all the plants.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Plus God needed the plants to be in place before he could place animals on the Earth. &lt;br /&gt;After all, they had to have something to eat.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Chester said,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;So far so good, but you still can&amp;#39;t explain,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;why God is creating the Sun and Moon and Stars,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;on the fourth Day!&lt;br /&gt;&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Chester was agitated,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;for he was sure he had found the flaw in the Master&amp;#39;s story.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Master seemed unconcerned as he replied,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;You forget the atmosphere.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;On Day 2 the ice had just turned into water and clouds,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;but the atmosphere wasn&amp;#39;t clear yet.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Clouds still covered the earth heavily on day three.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;As it rained and flooded,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;God brought the water loving plants,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;back into the world but the cloudy ,&lt;br /&gt;steamy atmosphere prevented a clear view,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;of the celestial heavens.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Chester was momentarily stumped.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Chester flipped back to Genesis and said,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;The tense is present tense on day four not past tense.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;It doesn&amp;#39;t say &amp;#39;God had made&amp;#39; it says &amp;#39;God made&amp;#39;.&amp;quot; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Day 4: Sun, Moon and Stars Revealed&lt;/h3&gt;The Master simply smiled and recited,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;And God said, Let the lights in the firmament of the heaven,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;divide the day from the night, for they are the signs of days,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;seasons, and years.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;The lights in the firmament of the heaven will give light upon the earth.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;And God made the heavens shine with two great lights;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;The stars also were seen in their glory shining from the heavens. &lt;br /&gt;For God had set the sun and stars in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.&amp;quot; &lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Chester looked puzzled,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;It does make sense that the Sun and Stars preceded the Earth.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Chester ran his hands through his hair,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;I want to make sure that I understand what you are saying.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;What God did on the fourth day, was finish cleaning up the air,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;and break up the cloud cover?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Ahhhh.... the Sun, Moon and Stars were hidden up to this time, because the atmosphere had become so polluted,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;and dark by the War of the Angels.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Your theory at least matches the scientific record.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Obviously the sun came before the earth,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;and certainly wasn&amp;#39;t created a day after God put plants on the Earth.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Master said, &amp;quot;Gen 1:1 plainly says God created the heavens and the earth.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;The Sun and Moon and Stars are part of the heavens.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;At the beginning of this conversation,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;I told you God created the heavens and earth.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Verse 2 is later in the timeline,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;it is not a detailed commentary of verse 1.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Verse 1 stands alone.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;God created the heavens and the earth, period.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;We see the heavens mentioned again,&amp;nbsp;in verse 4.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Billions of years later than verse 1 in the timeline.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;The Sun, Moon and Stars existed before the &lt;a href="http://reluctant-messenger.com/rebellion.htm"&gt;Rebellion of Lucifer&lt;/a&gt; and were hidden by the darkness created by Lucifer.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;God cleared the air for the plants restored on day 3,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;so they could have sunshine. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Biblical Hebrew is not a &amp;#39;tense&amp;#39; language&lt;/h3&gt;Genesis 1 is a record of God repairing the damage caused by Lucifer&amp;#39;s war.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;On the fourth day was the day the clouds were cleared by God,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;so that the sun, moon and stars could be seen.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Maybe it will help if you understood,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;that there is no such thing as &amp;#39;tense&amp;#39; in biblical Hebrew.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Biblical Hebrew is not a &amp;#39;tense&amp;#39; language.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Modern grammarians recognize that it is an &amp;#39;aspectual&amp;#39; language.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This means that the same form of a verb can be translated,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;as either past, present, or future depending on the context,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;and various grammatical cues.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;So, when it references the Sun and Stars,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;the original Hebrew does not indicate when the Sun and Stars were made, (i.e. present tense),&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;but simply a statement that God made them to be,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;for times and seasons and so forth.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;p&gt;Chester rubbed his hands and finally said,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;Ok, I will look into this further, but go ahead.&amp;quot; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Day 5: Fish and Birds restored&lt;/h3&gt;The Master recited again.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;And God created great whales, &lt;br /&gt;and every living creature that moveth in the waters did God create.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;And every winged fowl after his kind,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;did God place for his pleasure.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;p&gt;Chester realized their were no new challenges,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;so he let the Master continue his recitation. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Master took a deep breath and said, &lt;br /&gt;&amp;quot;And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Day 6: Animals and Mankind restored&lt;/h3&gt;And God said,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Let the earth bring forth the living creature,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;after his kind: and it was so.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;and God saw that it was good.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;And God said, Let us make man in our image, &lt;br /&gt;after our likeness: and let them have dominion,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;and over the cattle, and over all the earth, &lt;br /&gt;and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;So God created man in his own image, &lt;br /&gt;in the image of God created he him; &lt;br /&gt;male and female created he them.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;p&gt;Chester finally said ok,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;You don&amp;#39;t have to recite the rest, I get the point. &lt;br /&gt;I can see how Lucifer&amp;#39;s rebellion could create the illusion that Evolution and the Genesis are paradoxes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;I have to hand it to you, you are the Master fence sitter. &lt;br /&gt;When do you ever take a stand?&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Master said quietly.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;The &lt;a href="http://reluctant-messenger.com/sabbath.htm"&gt;Sabbath&lt;/a&gt; is the where I make my stand.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Chester said, &amp;quot;And on the seventh day God rested&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;and God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;You seem to make a big deal out of the &lt;a href="http://reluctant-messenger.com/sabbath.htm"&gt;Sabbath&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;quot; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;b&gt;Tags:&lt;/b&gt;


&lt;/p&gt;

      </description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>The Rebellion of Lucifer</title>
      <author>http://torchholder.gaia.com</author>
      <dc:creator>torchholder</dc:creator>
      <guid>tag:gaia.com,2009:Gaia-298982</guid>
      <pubDate>Sun, 20 Dec 2009 06:07:43 GMT</pubDate>
      <link>http://torchholder.gaia.com/blog/2009/12/the-rebellion-of-lucifer</link>
      <description>


&lt;p&gt;&lt;h1 align="center"&gt;The Rebellion of Lucifer&lt;/h1&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;img src="http://reluctant-messenger.com/images/lucifer200x208.gif" alt="Lucifer" width="200" height="208" align="left" /&gt; The Master announced, &amp;quot;We need to go to the Library. As we walk I will explain why Lucifer became jealous and why he hated the Plan of God.&amp;quot; &lt;p&gt;Chester scratched his head as he followed the Master. &amp;quot;I thought God told Lucifer his plan from the beginning. You said Lucifer was commanded to help the souls achieve their full potential.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Master walked and&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;collected his thoughts&lt;br /&gt;. &amp;quot;Lucifer finally perceived the full meaning of what a souls ultimate potentential to be.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;God&amp;#39;s plan is to create millions and billions of God Beings through soul evolution!&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Chester shook his head as if confused. &amp;quot;Why did this upset Lucifer so much?&amp;quot; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Master paused as if making sure he had Chester&amp;#39;s attention,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;Lucifer felt betrayed by God.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Lucifer thought he would always be the Third Highest in the Infinite Realities.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Instead he discovers God is creating God by the Billions and it was Lucifer&amp;#39;s Pride to be of the Highest.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Lucifer felt he had to maintain his most high status at all cost. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;What cost?&amp;quot; Chester blurted, very interested. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;h1 align="center"&gt;War of Angels&lt;/h1&gt;&amp;quot;The cost was a War of Angels of such violence that it ultimately ended the Jewel of Earth&amp;#39;s ability to sustain life.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Lucifer made war against the throne of God.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;God commanded Michael to resist Lucifer.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Michael and his Angels fought with Lucifer and his Angels&lt;br /&gt;. Lucifer tried to overthrow Heaven but was defeated&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;and was forced to return back to earth.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Lucifer fell like a bolt of lightening.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;The Angels that rebelled with Lucifer were hurled back to earth.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;God had commanded Lucifer to watch over this earth &lt;br /&gt;and Lucifer had not yet been relieved of his duty.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;p&gt;Lucifer became enraged at his banishment to the very Earth he had once desired and now had come to hate.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;To add insult to injury, Lucifer was still under the command of God to help mankind achieve their destiny.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;This further enraged Lucifer.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;It was loathsome to him to be commanded to help beings achieve a station higher than he.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;The Mother Earth contained the very seed of billions of Gods.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;God seeds that someday would all exist higher and more glorious than he. Gods more powerful than he.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Lucifer devised a plan to destroy the Earth&amp;#39;s life giving properties. This is how the Earth ultimatly became chaotic and empty of life. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2&gt;Lucifer destroyed Earth&amp;#39;s Ecosystem&lt;/h2&gt;Lucifer destroyed this world&amp;#39;s ability to support life,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;because he wanted to stop the soul evolution.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Lucifer knew that &lt;a href="http://reluctant-messenger.com/reincarnation.htm"&gt;Reincarnations&lt;/a&gt; was how God was making it possible for the souls of mankind to have enough opportunities to finally discover their God Consciousness.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;The Rebellion of Lucifer is also the missing information that ties &lt;a href="http://reluctant-messenger.com/evolution.htm"&gt;Evolution&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://reluctant-messenger.com/creation.htm"&gt;Creation&lt;/a&gt; together, as well as the paradox of &lt;a href="http://reluctant-messenger.com/reincarnation.htm"&gt;Reincarnation&lt;/a&gt; and the &lt;a href="http://reluctant-messenger.com/resurrection.htm"&gt;Resurrection&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Afterwards, Lucifer&amp;#39;s name was changed to Satan,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;which means the enemy that destroys.&amp;quot; &lt;p&gt;Once at the library Chester sat with a Bible and a Concordance in front of him and waited for the rest of the story&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://reluctant-messenger.com/history08.htm"&gt;God repairs the Earth&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;!--cent--&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Tags:&lt;/b&gt;


&lt;/p&gt;

      </description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Everything, and Everyone is Becoming</title>
      <author>http://torchholder.gaia.com</author>
      <dc:creator>torchholder</dc:creator>
      <guid>tag:gaia.com,2009:Gaia-298855</guid>
      <pubDate>Sat, 19 Dec 2009 02:56:11 GMT</pubDate>
      <link>http://torchholder.gaia.com/blog/2009/12/everything-and-everyone-is-becoming</link>
      <description>


&lt;p&gt;&lt;h1 align="center"&gt;The Reluctant Messenger&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Plan of God&lt;/h1&gt;The Master had an excitement in his eyes, &amp;quot;Before God created what we now call the Universe, he had created Angels. Angels were created as helpers. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;They were created for a specific purpose and they, unlike mankind, cannot die nor can they improve their station. &lt;br /&gt;They have self will and independence and are eternal beings.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;p&gt;Creating Angels was Phase I of the plan of God.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Phase II was the creation of the Universe.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;God created the Universe so that it would support physical life.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Chester rubbed his chin,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;So your saying the Universe was created so life could evolve.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;So you have no problem with the Big Bang or Darwin&amp;#39;s Theory of Evolution?&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Master shook his head,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;Of course not. God always starts small like a mustard seed. &lt;br /&gt;The Universe started very small and look how big it is now.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Chester frowned,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;Then what is all the Genesis nonsense about?&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Master held up a hand,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;I&amp;#39;ll get to it. &lt;br /&gt;God gave the Angels the task of searching the Infinities,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;that contained the Universe until they found the green jewel. &lt;br /&gt;Or, the Earth if you please.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;quot; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Chester lit up, &amp;quot;Now your talking.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;The creationist loved to use the argument that, &lt;br /&gt;the probability of life evolving was so unlikely statisticaly speaking, &lt;br /&gt;as to be impossible.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;I was able to show that since Quantum Reality shows,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;that there are actually an &lt;a href="http://reluctant-messenger.com/many_worlds.htm"&gt;infinite number of universes&lt;/a&gt; in parallel,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;that the statistical improbability didn&amp;#39;t matter.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;In an infinite number of Universes, &lt;br /&gt;a Universe where life evolved was a statistical certainity!&amp;quot; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Master smiled,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;Of course, the &lt;a href="http://reluctant-messenger.com/infinity.htm"&gt;Wisdom of Infinity.&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;The Infinite nature of God makes all things possible,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;even a Universe that supports life just as science describes it.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Reality is simply a complex pattern that is ever changing.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Life is just a one of the many patterns of reality.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Chester leaned back,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;Well, you get no argument from me.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Master replied,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;Once the Jewel we called Earth was found,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;God revealed his plan to his Angels.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;A plan so important to God,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;that he sent Lucifer and the third of the Angels,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;under his leadership to come to Earth &lt;br /&gt;and help the lifeforms here achieve their ultimate potential.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;And for millions and millions of years,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;all was according to God&amp;#39;s plan.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;So what upset the apple cart?&amp;quot; Chester enquired. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Master leaned forward, &amp;quot;Man.&amp;quot; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Chester looked puzzled, &amp;quot;Huh?&amp;quot; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Master continued, &lt;br /&gt;&amp;quot;Once mankind evolved on the planet,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Lucifer discovered the true meaning of ultimate pontential.&lt;br /&gt;--------------------------------------------------------------------------------&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;He learned it was man&amp;#39;s potential, or destiny&lt;br /&gt;, to achieve God Consciousness.&lt;br /&gt;--------------------------------------------------------------------------------&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Life on earth was destined to evolve,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;to a level of intelligence, capable of understanding God and God&amp;#39;s plan.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;It is man&amp;#39;s ultimate destiny to become greater than the Angels themselves!&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Chester lit up, &amp;quot;Ah, so your saying Lucifer didn&amp;#39;t like that?&amp;quot; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Master nodded his head yes, &amp;quot;Exactly!&amp;quot; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Chester scratched his head,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;I still don&amp;#39;t get the Genesis creation thing.&amp;quot; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Master said,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;Genesis 1 verse 2 is the key.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Look up in my Strong&amp;#39;s Bible Concordance the definition of &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://reluctant-messenger.com/was.htm"&gt;was&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;the one right after earth in the second verse.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;You will see what is translated as the English word &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://reluctant-messenger.com/was.htm"&gt;was&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;should better be translated as the phrase &amp;#39;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;It came to pass&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;#39;. &lt;br /&gt;Or if you want a word for word translation,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;instead of &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://reluctant-messenger.com/was.htm"&gt;was&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; it should be &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://reluctant-messenger.com/was.htm"&gt;became.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;My Master told me the original Hebrew meant &lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;And it came to pass that the earth became a wasteland empty and chaotic.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;I&amp;#39;m now going to tell you why the Earth became empty and chaotic&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;after millions and millions of years of evolution.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Its called the &lt;a href="http://reluctant-messenger.com/rebellion.htm"&gt;Rebellion of Lucifer&lt;/a&gt;&amp;quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Tags:&lt;/b&gt;

&lt;a href="gaia.com/blogs/tags/god" rel="tag" title="See all blog entries tagged 'god'"&gt;god&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="gaia.com/blogs/tags/universe" rel="tag" title="See all blog entries tagged 'universe'"&gt;universe&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="gaia.com/blogs/tags/earth" rel="tag" title="See all blog entries tagged 'earth'"&gt;earth&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="gaia.com/blogs/tags/creation" rel="tag" title="See all blog entries tagged 'creation'"&gt;creation&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="gaia.com/blogs/tags/man" rel="tag" title="See all blog entries tagged 'man'"&gt;man&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="gaia.com/blogs/tags/woman" rel="tag" title="See all blog entries tagged 'woman'"&gt;woman&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="gaia.com/blogs/tags/lucifer" rel="tag" title="See all blog entries tagged 'lucifer'"&gt;lucifer&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="gaia.com/blogs/tags/the+devil" rel="tag" title="See all blog entries tagged 'the devil'"&gt;the devil&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="gaia.com/blogs/tags/satan" rel="tag" title="See all blog entries tagged 'satan'"&gt;satan&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="gaia.com/blogs/tags/angels" rel="tag" title="See all blog entries tagged 'angels'"&gt;angels&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

      </description>
      <category term="god"/>
      <category term="universe"/>
      <category term="earth"/>
      <category term="creation"/>
      <category term="man"/>
      <category term="woman"/>
      <category term="lucifer"/>
      <category term="the devil"/>
      <category term="satan"/>
      <category term="angels"/>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>To My Creator, To Myself, To Others</title>
      <author>http://torchholder.gaia.com</author>
      <dc:creator>torchholder</dc:creator>
      <guid>tag:gaia.com,2009:Gaia-298786</guid>
      <pubDate>Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:04:32 GMT</pubDate>
      <link>http://torchholder.gaia.com/blog/2009/12/to-my-creator-to-myself-to-others</link>
      <description>


&lt;p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;In the infinity of life where I am,&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;All is perfect, whole and complete.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;I believe in a power far greater than myself,&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;That flows through me every moment of every day.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;I open myself to the wisdom within,&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;Knowing that there is only one intelligence in the Universe and Cosmos.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;Out of this one intelligence comes all the answers,&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;All the solutions, all the healings, all new creations.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;I trust this power and intelligence,&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;Knowing whatever I need comes to me,&lt;br /&gt;in the right time, space and sequence,&lt;br /&gt;all is well, and at peace&lt;br /&gt;-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9hzfbLx29U&amp;amp;feature=player_embedded"&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9hzfbLx29U&amp;amp;feature=player_embedded&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Tags:&lt;/b&gt;

&lt;a href="gaia.com/blogs/tags/Creator" rel="tag" title="See all blog entries tagged 'Creator'"&gt;Creator&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="gaia.com/blogs/tags/Self" rel="tag" title="See all blog entries tagged 'Self'"&gt;Self&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="gaia.com/blogs/tags/Life" rel="tag" title="See all blog entries tagged 'Life'"&gt;Life&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

      </description>
      <category term="Creator"/>
      <category term="Self"/>
      <category term="Life"/>
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    <item>
      <title>Prarie Marys Pyramid Theory of Religion</title>
      <author>http://torchholder.gaia.com</author>
      <dc:creator>torchholder</dc:creator>
      <guid>tag:gaia.com,2009:Gaia-298770</guid>
      <pubDate>Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:59:38 GMT</pubDate>
      <link>http://torchholder.gaia.com/blog/2009/12/prarie-marys-pyramid-theory-of-religion</link>
      <description>


&lt;p&gt;Link to Her Amazing Blogs&lt;br /&gt;------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;http://prairiemary.blogspot.com/&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Prarie Mary - This is her pyramid theory of religion:&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;( I do not necessarily subscribe to all of Her theory, but I am basically in agreement with most of It -&amp;nbsp;the evolution of Religion appears to be true, but skeptical )&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1. Start with the broad base which is human experience.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Everyone has feelings (physical/emotional/psychic) and concepts,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;that PRECEDE all vocabulary.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;We sense things in sunsets or birth or forests or whatever,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;before we have any words for them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Philosophers point out that some things FEEL different that others,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;more intense, more special.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;In the Western world, there is a division between sacred and secular,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;sacred and profane, sacred and ordinary.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;In the Eastern world the difference is in the DIMENSION of the thing,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;a time or view or object might have a sacred dimension or maybe not.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;It is assumed that anything can have that dimension.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the Western world the division has been very strong in order to keep institutionalized religion from interfering with institutionalized science. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2. Next step,&amp;nbsp; is that people begin to pattern and ritualize,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;and reach out for that which seems sacred to them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;A place, an object, whatever. They claim it and identify with it.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;It begins to seem right to them, the proper way to be.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;This can include ethical advice, like generosity,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;and protecting the vulnerable or being fair in transactions,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;or avoiding force.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;They might personalize something,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;like the force they feel at the top of a mountain,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;and give that &amp;quot;person&amp;quot; a name, call it a &amp;quot;god.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;3. A community, defined, as a group of people,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;who are interrelated kindred and neighbors,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;begins to standardize, and some taken it upon themselves,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;to correct the others.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Pretty soon there is a priest class,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;that monitors what is sacred,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;and makes sure that everyone knows what they are supposed to do.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;The trouble is, that their focus shifts over time,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;from what it good for the community,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;to what is good for them, and as they institutionalize,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;what is good for their institution.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Pretty soon the minister has slid over to doing and saying,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;what will make sure the church is prosperousm&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;so it can pay his/her salary.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;And religious &amp;quot;virtue&amp;quot; has become a cloak to hide under.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;4. Next is that the problem of status, &lt;br /&gt;some people being more admired and powerful than others,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;gets entangled with church interests,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;so that the church is tempted to do a little quid pro quo,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;with whomever is in power.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Billy Graham prays with the president. &lt;br /&gt;We put God on the money.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;5. Political interests often mean the victimization,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;or shutting out of the vulnerable,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;because they have no bargaining chips.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;The church, which originally was supposed to have defended the poor,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;the old, the children, the diseased, the crippled, the deviant, the rebel,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;now sells out to the politics.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Burn the books, burn the people. In our time, &lt;br /&gt;with the nations crowded aside by corporations,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;that means the church sells out to corporations,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;because by now it IS a corporation itself ,&lt;br /&gt;and its main goal is to stoke its own interests,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;and defend its own treasure.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;6. With luck, at this point they are unmasked as sclerotic and irrelevant, &lt;br /&gt;and a new religious movement begins again with new symbols of the holy.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Often there is a major exogenous shift in the cosmic nature of things that precipitates this.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;The photo of the planet earth from outer space is one such shift, wordless.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Another is the internet -- very wordy, flying everywhere.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Another is the understanding of DNA. &lt;br /&gt;Our view of human existence must now admit that we are entities,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;interwoven with everything else that exists, &lt;br /&gt;barely separated by thin membranes,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;from the world where we exist, &lt;br /&gt;exchanging gases and fleshes all the day long,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;filled with nations of tiny entities that live in our guts and on our skins.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This view of human life forces a new understanding of what is sacred,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;but it is so deeply scientific that we cannot give up the separation,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;of religion and research.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;We must find a new way to meld them.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;For this we don&amp;#39;t need priests: we need poets.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Scriver&amp;#39;s Reluctant Doctrine of God&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Western religion (Abramic, Middle Eastern,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Big Three: Judaism/Christianity/Islam)&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;emerges from the original shift from hunting people to agriculturalists.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;(From Esau to Jacob.)&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;First the invention of grain,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;so that someone had to begin marking things on tablets to keep track,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;the first scribes.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Also the luxury of enough food produced,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;so&amp;nbsp;that not everyone had to work in the field.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;But then a storage problem.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Villages formed so that people could live,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;in community to pool their resources, &lt;br /&gt;defend their stores of grain, &lt;br /&gt;and begin to specialize into the first skilled artisans,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;since they didn&amp;#39;t have to pack stuff around with them as nomads.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Then they had to build walls around the town.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Joshua fought the battle of Jericho.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;And someone invented chariots: early Predator drones,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;horse-powered.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Religion shifted focus from protecting the fields,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;to endorsing military encounters.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;As the population increased, war over territory increased.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Then the wood began to be used up,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;and that affected the water and the climate,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;and everything began to be defined,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;in terms of scarcity and defending the wells.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Power was the goal. Winner takes all.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Rome got very good at this and carried it all north across Europe.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But then there began to be stories about someone named Joshua,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;or Jeshua, or John, or something like that.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;They finally sort of melded together into Jesus, the Jew.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;He began to preach the importance of protecting &amp;quot;the least of these&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;and he spoke of a Leader of the Tribe, a King, an Emperor, a God of Gods,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;who was more powerful than anyone on earth,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;but whose kingdom was after death.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;People who accepted his ideas would live forever.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Part of the genius of this was monotheism,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;and part of it was the idea that it was a virtual kingdom.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;But the thinking of the time was territorial and adversarial.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;So God had to have an adversary: the Devil. (There went monotheism.)&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;And the various &amp;quot;virtual&amp;quot; kingdoms insisted on realistic evidence on this planet&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;and assurance that in this time/space that THEIRS was the winning tribe.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;(Winner take all.)&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;And so was born conversion and evangelism and heretics&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;and excommunication and shunning and who was in and who was out,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;and a constant pull back and forth over the line.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This was emotionally shadowed by the human family,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;esp. after the farming ended and the nuclear family formed,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;with Dad the Father, Mom the Holy Ghost, and in some families,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Boy the Crucified. Boys grow up.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;On the one hand, Dad is the worst and Mom is the best;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;but on the other hand, Mom is the worst and Dad is the best.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Confusion.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oh, well. Dump the family. Start over.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I do NOT like the idea of patterning religion on ANYTHING human.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;The only definition of God I will accept is that God is the whole thing&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;-- RADICAL oneness, everything that can be imagined,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;plus everything that can&amp;#39;t be imagined by any human being&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;and why should it be?&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;This is the religious Johari Window with all four panes intact. &lt;br /&gt;They are virtual panes. They cannot be broken,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;no matter how many stones we throw. &lt;br /&gt;It has nothing to do with books or incantations,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;or buildings or institutions of any kind.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There is no need to be a heretic,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;because one is part of God, inside God. &lt;br /&gt;If one is fighting something, it&amp;#39;s God but you&amp;#39;re God, too,&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;and you&amp;#39;re probably fighting yourself.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Maybe that&amp;#39;s a good thing and maybe not.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Best to think about it.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;You could call that &amp;quot;prayer.&amp;quot; &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
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