Hope and trials

 Hope and trials

In the greatest sense of "newpersonhood" I must give thanks to God and the Christian theme outside the narrow belief system of denominations that bicker and reject one another on a variety of arbitrary interpretations.  This is not to signal superiority on my part.  Rather, that all religion, religio (linking back) actually arrives at a unification of all comers to a very simple belief. Thus many interpret the speaking of the prophets or their holy book as an exclusionary device rather than an inclusive one.  There are many potential self gratifying reasons for this phenomena. To view one selves members of a small but chosen group that has the only true path to heaven or to gods ear, is quite congratulatory and certainly safer. Many of these  groups are living and dying for metaphors unfortunately. Despite these diaspora  of belief, anyone can find among them many persons that tend toward unification rather than schism.They know it and yet live as a sort of subversive .... living that subtle but inclusive theme " John 3:16 -17 For god so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not parish but have everlasting life.  For God sent not his son into the world not to condemn the world, but through him the world might be saved.  ALL INCLUSIVE! To believe in him does not mean to worship him and exclude others,.. but to act as he did, in his stead, as a sentinel of forgiveness to all the world. It says in the gospel of Thomas (a gospel rejected by Christians, Protestant and Catholic alike) The kingdom of heaven is spread upon all the earth and men do not see it. This transformation like its predecessor (The Ten Commandments ) is the new paradigm that civilizes man in steps of greater and greater transcendence.  Thus we have an Old and New testament. We first were lifted above barbarianism.  Once this achievement to civil organization was achieved, it was replaced by the individual personal human idea of cosmic consciousness. A loving of all the world, for you and the other are One.  Statements of this intention by Christ are obvious.  No greater love hath this but a man lay down his life for a friend.   Or, even more direct: A new commandment I give unto you: That you love one another even as I have loved you, that ye also love one another Matthew 5:44.. But I say to you love your enemies; bless them that curse you. Do good to them that hate you and pray for them that despite fully use you and persecute you. These Ideals appear as a Sisyphean task. It is a mystery that can not be fully understood yet by all. I do not see how this unifies and stabilizes a society.  It appears to weaken the initiates.  No one has yet seen its power, yet,  but through the example of Jesus Christ whose compassion has transformed history.  What might an army of such ideals affect the world?  It is hard to know given the abuses nurtured by the Catholic church during its times of corruption and colonial usurpation of freedom of belief among native inhabitants.  Christianity has gone through so many abuses, distortions and perversions that it seems that one can only hope to do ones best to represent what earlier civilizations had already preserved as virtue.  We can only try to tend toward the light.  Our own United States founding fathers saw fit to put freedom expression above all in so far as that expression did not infringe ( that is in the sense of (harm) not offense) on the same freedom among all others.  Our reading of this right has gone somewhat askew in recent times to mean: we cant offend someone.  I think we have every right to offend because being offended is in the hands of the person taking offense. We do not have the right to harm or obstruct another's free expression.  This is not the same as offending someone.  I'm sorry if someone doesn't like my opinion even if it is repulsive to them.  But this is not the same as harm or obstruction.  Any one who doesn't like whats on channel 8 or 12 can just change the channel.  In any case, I would hope that tolerance of others life styles and choice of self expression would and should include sensitivity, however sensitivity is not part of the law.  Nor should it be.