The Dust Has Settled

       Now that the dust has settled, now that the Christ has risen and the world draws back into the life it has carved out for itself. Let’s reflect back on what has just happened. For the events that have just been completed, tortured, died, descended, risen, ascended, these are the events that evolve Christianity distinctly from Judaism.

       The torture and death was a deliberate act of cruelty of man against man. The result of a power struggle where on one side it was the power of man over man and on the other side it was the power of God with man. Yes you read that correctly, God with man, not God over man.

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       God has been trying to be partners with man since the beginning of time. From one covenant to another to again another we, humanity, keep rejecting God’s attempts to be one with another. We, humanity, keep rejecting God as if we have all the answers, all the common sense, all the power to control all things. We, humanity, born from the breath of God, still think we are superior to God. And for our efforts we keep fighting each other because after all “we” know best.

       The other three, (descended, risen, ascended) are Christ putting his full and complete trust into the hands of his Father. “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit”. (Luke 23; 46b) Our Christ didn’t descend into hell, rise from the grave or ascend into heaven by his own power. He knew it was by his Father’s hand he would be manifested as the Son of God and returned home to sit at his side. Full and Complete trust in his Father.

       And yet we, humanity, continue on our path, OUR PATH! Not the one God asks of us, but instead the one that we, in all our narcissism, carve out for ourselves. It may be true we know what we want better than anyone. But do we really know what we need better than anyone, or anything?

       And so we continue fighting, killing, raping, aborting, and dividing each other in new and horrible ways. We look to our governments to solve the issues of the poor instead of looking at ourselves to simply help as we can. As we can individually and through our churches, synagogues, temples, mosques, and congregations of all types.

       The dust has settled. God has again, reached out to us. Our relationship with our God is, as is, our relationship with each other. How’s your relationship?

Scripture is from the NABRE

by David E. Gonzales

Porno, no, no.

             Porn, in print or film, is a stimulant and as any stimulant it can become a substance for addiction. In the case of child porn, which I consider the most grievous and disdainful act of sexual expression, the injury to children must not be tolerated to any extent. In the Bible Jesus states that, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea”. (Mat, 18; 6) This teaching is as clear as it gets. To me, child porn is a clear example of distancing ourselves from our God, Spirit, or Higher Power. This is also a clear example of not living a spiritual life. This type of sexual behavior is not in the context of love that our God has taught us. This is not the love of charity, of taking care of one another; it is a destructive action, one taken out of the context of reality.

As does any stimulant, it excites the senses and makes us feel good. At least for a short time, that is as long as the drug or stimulant is in force for the mind and/or body react accordingly. One of the problems with these kinds of artificial stimulants is that they distort reality. It is this distortion of reality that can create a world that has been normalized to the abuser. The abuse becomes the standard by which they live their lives. Whether the addiction is drugs, alcohol, or sex, the addicted will be able to justify their actions based on the strength of their perceived need. In this case the addiction is sex, each person, men and women alike, will find a way to satisfy their particular exaggerated perception of their sexual desire.

            There is most notably the abuse to the unwilling participant in printed or video porn. The exploited children, women and men are the victims of abuse. By engaging in the porn industry, print, film, computer sites, or graphic-illustrations, you are contributing to the continue abuse of this group. No industry can exist without profitability, and right now the porn industry is as profitable as any that exists.

            If you are engaged in this type of visual or physical behavior, or know someone who is, please check out, http://saa-recovery.org

Scripture citing is from the NABRE

by David E.Gonzales