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After his death, someone
proclaimed that Jesus died for our sins.
Further, we were told that his death meant that all
those who believed in him would be forgiven their sins.
After all, how can you not forgive others their prior
ignorance, or the misunderstandings and myths they were taught
to believe in by teachers and loved ones who didn’t know any
better themselves?
But if you
really want to know why Jesus died, I will tell you it
was the consciousness of the time and place in which he
lived — a consciousness he rejected.
It was a state of consciousness perpetuated by fear and
silence in the face of corruption and injustice that kept all
people of his time in spiritual poverty.
That state of
consciousness still exists today, right here, right now.
A consciousness that silently proclaims… live by and
accept my rules and reality… or suffer the consequences.
The sin for
which he died was the sin of succumbing to, or making choices
that perpetuate, one’s subservience to undeserved power,
hypocrisy, and injustice — the sin, if you will, of denying
yourself the right to be yourself.
The story of Jesus
speaks for itself, eloquently in fact, as to what his life was
about. As blatant
and clear as his message was, it is all but lost in the ruins
of what others teach in his name.
His life was about changing the state of consciousness
he rejected. It
was about freedom — something he was willing to die for, and
did die for… the freedom to hear the truth, to speak the
truth, and the freedom to live the truth as one understands it
to be… the freedom to be yourself and to fulfill the
responsibilities that come with freedom… including having
the humility to know and/or to think you know something,
without forcing others to believe as you do; for all people
have an equal right to hold and express their truth as long as
they don’t impose that truth on anyone else.
You are free if you are not afraid to be who you are;
and free if you are not afraid to let others be who they
are… providing neither you, nor they, are forcibly engaged
in trying to change or enslave anyone else.
Freedom comes with responsibilities.
Jesus saw
injustice and hypocrisy and named it for what it was…
despite knowing that he would be persecuted for doing so.
Most of his followers, and everyone else, watched in silence as
he was carted away and hung on a cross for the crime of
demonstrating how to live in freedom.
He encouraged
others not to be enslaved by the consciousness of their times
— not to cower in fear as they lived their lives in the
shadow of despotic rule. Jesus’
message is that you will never know freedom until and unless
you are willing to strive for it, and maybe sometimes die for
it. He also talked
about what it means to live in freedom… to live honorably,
faithful to your ideals, while having compassion and respect
for the dignity of others, without hypocrisy — for that is
where following the truth will lead you… if you follow it
with integrity.
Bringing this
message into the present, it is as applicable today as it was
in his time. We
live in a country a bit more sophisticated than the one he
lived in and yet the consciousness in many ways is the same.
Our country has all the trappings of empire.
Our troops are stationed in many far off lands.
Our wars are conducted to bring back the spoils we find
in foreign places. We
have betrayed, preyed upon, and persecuted the weak and defenseless in each
hemisphere on earth. Those
who resist are threatened with destruction.
Anyone who stands in our way is called traitor,
communist, insurgent, or terrorist… depending on the
occasion or circumstance.
Despite all this, we are told by our leaders that we
are the salt of the earth.
That everything we do is for the good of others.
It is a lie.
If Jesus
lived today he might be called any one of those derogatory
epithets, even though he would not lift a finger in violence
against anyone. Governments
lie; the truth is a casualty of greed.
We have a
Constitution that proclaims freedom for all, with many rights
guaranteed, and yet we have seen that those rights can be altered or taken away by powerful men whenever
they think their interests require it, guarantees
notwithstanding. Armies
are deployed and the bulk of riches flow back to the powers
that be as if that were the natural order of things.
We send our children to school and lie to them about
how things work here… teaching them that the way things work
here is natural, right, and good. We
are careful not to advertise how things really work here.
Of course many of us don't know how things really work
here because we don't want to know.
Periodically,
ordinary working folk will come to acquire more wealth than
those in high places think is necessary.
That’s when laws are changed, rules are bent,
standards relaxed… and before you know it those citizens
find themselves poorer than they were just a short time ago.
Those responsible make sure the media convinces these
victims that what happened to them remains
a mystery, an anomaly — a natural but improbable perfect
storm occurrence. Perhaps
the rules were too lax… mistakes were made, someone must
have been asleep at the switch… whatever it was, "don’t
worry folks, now that we understand it, we won’t let it
happen again. You’re
safe now. Let’s
just put all that behind us and move on."
And yet, when
all is said and done… when we do move on… what is lost is
lost and not returned… at least not to them.
Someone here or there might be held up as the culprit
who allowed this to happen.
And the People might even complain.
But soon enough they’ll all go back to work — more indebted, vulnerable, insecure and poorer than they were
before. In a
generation or two when their grandchildren acquire a bit of
wealth just as they once did, the process will repeat itself.
Only the circumstances will be just a little different.
And yet when the dust settles the result will be the
same… great amounts of wealth will have been transferred
from the weak and powerless to the powerful privileged few.
This is how sophisticated tyranny works.
Instead of chains and slavery, the debt that then hangs
around your neck is the only evidence you have that you’ve
been had… you’ve lost something even more valuable than
wealth, but you just can’t put your finger on it… maybe you
were the one asleep at the switch.
We are told
that in our society everyone is equal.
But those who come awake and open their eyes eventually
see… Yes—everyone is equal, but some are a bit more equal
than others. Corporations
struggle for success or survival in the marketplace and yet some are too
big to be allowed to fail. Our
courts are active, lawyers and prosecutors are in abundance, our jails are
teeming and yet some criminals
are too important to prosecute.
We are told that some of the freedoms we once held sacred make us too vulnerable to
retain… after all, "the Constitution is not a suicide
pact… is it?"
If Jesus were
here today he would tell us… “If you want to know what
freedom is, read the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.
Strive for and adhere honorably to these truths and you
will know what to do, what to believe in, to achieve your freedom.”
Those in
power will tell you that those rights are already yours…
even though they who tell you this are the very hypocrites
plotting to make sure those rights never will be...
yours.
Jesus didn't
go to church. Jesus
never told you he wanted to be worshipped.
Jesus never told you that if you pray to him, that one day he will come back and
save you.
What he said
was, “I will show you what freedom is and how to win it
for yourself. Believe
in me, follow my example and freedom will be yours.
Do not kill. Do
not cheat, judge, or persecute others.
Do unto them as you would have them do unto you.
Do not sacrifice your truth.
Live in freedom. Pay
your taxes so that your government can function honorably as
it should. But do
not give away or let anyone take what is rightfully yours, for
that is God’s gift to you and yours to have forever.
Learn to live without fear, in spite of fear.
Honor your country by giving your country its due;
honor God by giving God His due, which is to say, live your
freedom and your truth. My life is my teaching.
I will die that you might live… if you believe what I
tell you and in
what I stand for.”
Maybe he
didn’t use these exact words, but this, in essence, is what he said.
His life and how he lived it was his message.
Those few who followed in his footsteps often ended up
as he did. That’s
why so few follow in his footsteps.
The truth
is, to change the consciousness, it probably isn’t necessary
to sacrifice your life as he did.
One person alone cannot change the consciousness.
But one person can follow the path and help lead the way.
And everyone who takes the path… adds weight to
that side of the scale until one day a critical mass is
achieved, the scale tilts, and the consciousness shifts in a
new direction. Anyone
who strives to live honorably, stands up or speaks out for justice, adds their
example and understanding to the consciousness until eventually the consciousness shifts in the direction of
justice.
Sometimes the
risk of doing so is more or less dangerous than at other
times, but every act of courage makes a difference.
Many died to secure the freedoms we thought we had won
once and for all. Now
we know there is no “once and for all.”
We have to be vigilant… we have to water the flowers
every day and pull the weeds when they show up where
they don’t belong. If
we don’t rid ourselves of the weeds, eventually they will
take over the whole garden.
And every day we postpone the difficult task of getting
rid of the weeds, makes it that much harder to get
rid of them when we finally get to it.
Make no
mistake… those who lust after money and power will not
willingly give up trying to take from you what is rightfully
yours.
They will
hold onto their money and power with all their strength.
Many would rather you starve and/or die, than modify their attitude
or goals to allow you to live in freedom too.
They will lie to you.
They will cheat you.
They will persecute those who get in their way.
They will call you traitor, or terrorist; they will
slander your name with their lies.
They will diminish your efforts any way they can; they
will tell half truths to undermine what you stand for and what
you have to say. And
if they cannot scuttle you with slander, they will try to buy
you off. And if
they can’t buy you off they will buy off the people you have
chosen to represent you. All
their skill and power will be focused on marginalizing your
power, your hopes, your aspirations, and the aspirations you
have for your children. And
if all that fails they will threaten you, persecute you,
incarcerate you, torture you, kill you, telling their hired
mercenaries that it is right, proper, and noble to get rid of
you… for you are not a patriot, not one of ‘them’.
In order to
win your freedom, one day you might have to put your life on
the line… because they will stop at nothing if you threaten
their ambitions. Look
around the world… where did all the dead and mutilated
bodies come from. After
all these centuries, why can't we demonstrate any more wisdom
than this?
Many people
in America don’t know they have already lost much of their
freedom. They
think that as long as other people can be imprisoned, tortured
and held without trial it has nothing to do with them… and even if criminals in high places are allowed to get away with
murder… "well, it’s none of my business… they didn’t
murder anyone I know."
Many of us
have been bought off with the spoils of Empire… a car, a
digital TV, an i-Phone, or whatever.
Too much to lose to fight a little hypocrisy.
"If I fight, I could lose everything.
Better I should keep my mouth shut."
Of course, you don't have to fight... you could just try
to be satisfied living within your means, maintaining your
integrity in how you work, how you
relate to others, and how you express your citizenship.
The reality
is, if you won’t defend the rights of others, one day there
will be no one left to defend your rights when they come to
take the rest of yours away.
You know this is true, but still… “I have my job
you know, and my car, and my computer, and my TV, and my rent,
and my life. Why
should I risk all that for people I don’t even know or care
about?”
Well,
Jesus never told you to go to church and pray for him to come back and save you from your
fate, although it is understandable why you do it.
And, I suppose that when the time comes, if you go to your
place of worship not just on Sunday, but every day, instead of
going to work, until you
either starve to death or win your freedom… well, that
might work.
For
their paid mercenaries might one day get the picture and begin
to understand that by making war on you, who want only to be
free, they will be making war on their own hopes and dreams as
well. Maybe in
that moment of awareness they will put their guns down or turn
them around and point them at the real enemy.
Still, how will you ever win back your freedom if, like
sheep, you are not even aware of what you’ve lost in the first
place?
If
Jesus showed up one day would he recognize his teachings in
you? Would you
recognize him, based on how you think he would express
himself?
We say we
love our children and yet we send them off to war to fight and
kill and die, telling ourselves and them that they are
fighting so that we might live in freedom… even when the
battle they are asked to fight makes no sense at all.
When we find it that easy to send our children into
wars that should never be fought, that should be a clue that
something is wrong.
For if we
truly loved our children, we would not send them to kill and
die; but instead we would put our own lives on the line.
We would say “over my dead body will you take
my child to kill and die so that you can steal from others
what is not yours or mine to have.”
Maybe many of
us would have to pay a heavy price or die before we would win
our children’s freedom.
Do we have the will, the wisdom, or the courage to do
what we ask our children to do in the name of freedom?
Jesus told us
how to be. He talked the talk, and walked the walk.
His life was his teaching.
Too bad we turned his simplicity into an endless
complicated liturgy… that we might be distracted from the
truth and the responsibility of courageously seeking the truth
so that we might live it.
Most who
claim they follow him, don’t really.
They never had his commitment, his determination, the
conviction of his love. Some
become the demagogues who to this day twist and rearrange his
message to suit their own interests.
Some people volunteer their children into becoming
Christian soldiers. Go
to battle, lust for war, believe in lies, pray to God to help
you kill some invented enemy before that enemy kills you.
It takes a lot of skill at twisting words and
meanings to attribute such an agenda to Jesus.
But there are
those who really do try to follow his teachings. There is hope
yet.
Why don’t
we teach our children the wisdom of those brave souls that
came before — like Jesus — who died that we might live in
freedom, or lived and worked that we might have the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights… to help us understand what
justice means… and to help us know what to believe and strive for.
If Jesus were
here today, I don't think he would not admonish you to read the Bible.
I think he would tell you to read The Universal Declaration of
Human Rights… He
would suggest, as starters, that you come into alignment with
the words and the spirit embodied in that Declaration.
Love the
truth, seek the truth. For
one day, the truth shall set you free.
Those who
call the Bible the holy book have divided themselves into
various communities all claiming to worship Jesus.
He never wanted to be worshipped.
All he wanted was to teach and for us to learn… how
to be honest, decent, courageous, loving, human
beings.
The Universal
Declaration of Human Rights is a roadmap for encouraging all
of humanity to become one community bound together by common
values that celebrate freedom, decency, respect and love.
Jesus would point you in that direction if he had the
chance... it's a good reference for learning how to
behave towards one another.
Maybe you should read it while you still have the
chance.
As for the
United Nations, which sponsored the Declaration... today it is an organization that doesn't and
can't work as it was intended. Neither does our
government. Both institutions can be improved only through the work
and dedication of honorable citizens who have a vision,
intention, and commitment for achieving universal peace and
justice.
God is real, not a myth. God is closer to you
than your own breath.
Anyway,
this is how I
see it.
________________
God and the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
On
Citizenship
How
I See It
On
Following Orders
On
Work
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