Sunday Stream (183) ~ The Endless Wait

[mtmynd]

The Endless Wait

"But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father … ye know not when the time is." - Mark 13:32-33

Despite this declaration, people throughout current Biblical history have convinced followers to believe that they, the prognosticators themselves, know exactly when Jesus will return to Earth and make everything good forever... even dig up all the dead, billions and billions of dead Christians throughout Christian history will leave their graves and funnel along with all the other believers into a stream upwards into the vast cosmos. Okay, that is not specifically stated (I don't think) in the New Testament, but there is evidence that many, many people have envisioned this 'return of Jesus' to be exactly a given date and even an exact hour... and did so so convincingly that their followers gave up all their worldly possessions, had what they thought would be their last worldly meal and waited for that one exact date and hour, their eyes riveted to the skies in hope of seeing the descent (return) of their Jesus in glorious light that only the true believers could see. None of these people were ever right... not one.

Did the Bible lie to these believers? No. The Bible does not specify any dates, any times whatsoever. The quote is very clear: nobody, no angels, not even Jesus himself knows. Why?

It's important to understand, if one wants to know the answer to absorb this quote again... note it is written in Mark (above) that "no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son"... meaning Jesus himself knows not the answer. Why would so many people think otherwise? Preposterous that anyone would think they know the exact date and hour this phenomenon would occur. Why?

"And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:

Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." - Luke 17:20-21

The Kingdom of God is within you. Not outside you or me or them, but within you, within me, within everyone of us. This 'Kingdom of God" does not exclude anyone. If it did, we would not exist. "The Kingdom of God" is 100% spiritual. There is no geographical location where this Kingdom resides. It is within you. It is spiritual, meaning there is no matter to it.

This "Kingdom" is heaven... bliss to behold... this "Kingdom" is nirvana... the spiritual state of unity of all things... this "Kingdom" is the absolute, the Alpha-Omega, without beginning without ending. And it is within every living life form.

But knowing this does not give us automatic access to the "Kingdom of God." We still have no clue as to when the Christ will come. ('Christ' is a Greek word which means anointed [with realization] or enlightened). When this enlightenment comes, nobody knows. Enlightenment is a great mystery. It is not exclusive to any one religious belief or practice. Like the Kingdom within, (but yet another poetic way of saying 'God-Realization'), 'enlightenment' is pure spirituality, without religions or philosophies, it encompasses all things but abides to no thing. If this pure spirituality sided with one view and exclude another, it would have to forsake it's purity... an impossibility.

It's sad that the religions of the world have become so locked in to a specific-theology that waivers not in their paths.. so rigid in their beliefs that one must lose their own authenticity to become part of any one particular religious system. It does not speak well for their priests, their preachers, their rabbis or imams. It is precisely these individuals that should know better. But it is their words, these very folks that do not allow anything beyond the inflexible belief systems of their particular religion. In so doing, they have converted millions of people that have fully trusted these heads of religions to speak the truth. Today two major religions, Christianity and Islam, cannot trust one another... view each other with suspicion and dis-trust. These two religions, both of which are made up of individuals with the same "Kingdom of God" within them, denying their religion's decry for peace and compassion.

These same leaders of religions, for the most part, are not deceiving the adherents but are only passing on what they have been conditioned to practice as the right path. But if any one of them, regardless of belief, stepped outside their own restraints and viewed the reality, saw the truth of what their sermons have done to the human race, they would in all likelihood be ashamed... saddened by their rigidity to their own paths. They may not admit it... and probably would not admit it. That is the biggest problem right there - unable to admit to being wrong. This is an admittance to something they've done for years and finding it was wrong. They don't want to do that. They'd rather start wars, lie and deceive the populace, cheat and steal from their people to defend their actions, even knowing that they are wrong.

Hypocrites. Just keep convincing the followers and themselves that sometime, somewhere, someplace a gigantic light will descend from the skies above and remove all the sins we all have committed to both ourselves and others... thereby cleansing the world we have built of all the chaos and evil we ourselves have allowed. And the self-deceit continues... in search of something outside our Self to solve all our problems. That type of search is the endless wait.


cecil
10.12.08

Picture of the Week:

Psychedelic Ashville
[a corner of time]

[mnaz]

Excellent read, my friend! (Though it sent a shiver or two down my spine). I went to one of those white-bread suburban megachurches in my youth, and the whole Rapture thing was drilled into me constantly, mercilessly, like a bad dream. We had to watch a movie about it, showing how cars crashed when they suddenly had no drivers and the whole bit! Yes. Christ will come back. Well, what if Christ never left? Yes, the Great God coming down from the sky, to "take away everything, and make everybody feel high", as Marley put it. Who is this Great Christian God coming down outta the sky? What happens then? Is it the Rapture, or is it more like Hiroshima? Yes, Lord of Lords, King of Kings, the One True God of the Universe, all-powerful, all-knowing. Heck, not even all the Churches of Christ believe in the One-True God-- eg. the Mormons. But I like the Mormon shtick because you can actually become God-- with your own galaxy and everything-- if you play your cards right (ie.. multiple wives, per Joe Smith, etc.), and you don't go straight to hell for non-belief-- you go into some sort of holding cell-- but you've lost your chance at being God at that point, or at least the better seats up there in the clouds...

God, religion fascinates and horrifies me.

I see I'm rambling again. Apologies.

[Arcadia]

Beckett was a genius on that!

well, here there are people that are expecting to talk to extraterrestrials this 14 of october. Everyone can believe what they want or need, I guess. In my caso, my great challenge is remain on the ground without crashing!

thanks for the stream, Cecil!!!!!!!
saludos,

Arcadia

[mtmynd]

Thx, mnazzer... but I apologize for sending a shiver or two down your spine. I've heard that 'the rapture' is not firmly written about in the Bible... that the idea is more modern, per se, than the old books.

Whether it is or not makes little difference apparently to those faithful that believe in such an event as a true possibility, so firmly held is their faith. Much like the legend of King Arthur and all the stories that have gone along with that one story. The rapture is something that got totally out of the hands of the writers who had written about such an event.

It'd be a decent Stream some day, I think... this Rapture thing.

... y Arcadia, amiga mia! Yo sabo nada de Beckett. Samuel Beckett is who you are referring to..? (I just googled the name ) Sounds like a writer I'd enjoy reading... Gracias!

Watch out for those extraterrestrials this 14 of october... and be sure to bring a camera! jaja! Do these people piensan this will happen in Rosario? Curious... why this date... do you know?

[mnaz]

yeah Cec, it's the concretization of Christian metaphors, treating them as if they were actual historic facts, that gets the Church all twisted up in knots and all that End-of-Days psychodrama and angst. "Christ" is more a spiritual state of being Christ-like-- generous and loving, the "golden rule", etc. "Anti-christ", which is only referenced twice in the Bible (and not in Revelation), should be thought of as simply the opposite of Christ-like, and not some literal "agent-of-Satan" charismatic individual who will come to power and lead the world into a literal Armageddon. Fundy Christian churches devise all of these bizarrely complex, logic-challenged, and disturbing theologies to fit their agendas, and some of that thinking can be dangerous and downright anti-Christ! Ha. Sells a lot of books though!

As for that "Kingdom of God is within you" verse in Luke. I didn't realize that idea was articulated in the New Testament. Sounds very gnostic...

Beckett, eh? Fits in with this discussion about waiting, I suppose. Didn't he write Waiting for Godot?...

[mtmynd]

mnaz: "Christ" is more a spiritual state of being Christ-like-- generous and loving, the "golden rule", etc..."

Exactly. But we shouldn't forget 'enlightened' in that list - the state of wakefulness.

"Anti-christ", which is only referenced twice in the Bible (and not in Revelation), should be thought of as simply the opposite of Christ-like, and not some literal "agent-of-Satan" charismatic individual who will come to power and lead the world into a literal Armageddon."

Interesting, the twice referenced thing... as much as I've heard that term throughout the years I would've have thought there would be many more times.

So many over-exaggerations used in Christianity, and probably some other religions, that it really bothers me a great deal when I think about it. These over-blown concepts actually belittles religions. O well!

Thx, Mark...

[Arcadia]

cecil: from what I heard is some kind of south-hemisphere bussiness, but here is cloudy, anyway!!

mnaz: yeah! it´s one of the most exasperating books I´ve ever read!, try it!!!!

[mnaz]

Yes, enlightenment. Encompasses things but abides to no thing. Like one of Joe Campbell's (scorned) platitudes.. something like, "Survival is the second law. The first is that you and the other are one"-- somewhat analogous to ascension through chakras.. from the more survival-oriented chakras (pelvic area), up through the heart chakra, etc. "The Christ" corresponds more to a pure spirituality, as you describe it, as opposed to any particular messianic embodiment. But as we know, The Church tends to get hung up on physical embodiments and partitions of spiritual realizations and ideas. It seems all too often The Church can stand at odds with its own enlightened genesis, and become more of a barrier than a pathway to spiritual realization.

Arcadia... Yes, I will! Beckett's writing interests me somewhat. That short poem I wrote a few weeks ago about "recording my eyes with a microphone", and "stop the tape at the punchline" was partially inspired by one of his plays..