SIN

It is impossible not to sin as long as we live in duality. Breathing is a sin - sin is not an act of some sort as is popularly believed. Sin is a conscious environment that is produced by "eating" from the tree  that knows, judges and discerns good from evil. 

The scripture says, "The strength of sin is THE LAW." (1 Corinthians 15:53b) This is difficult to comprehend because as egoist beings we are action oriented. We need to discern good from evil in order to survive in this environment. HOWEVER, Jesus told us mysteries on how to transcend the age - this mode of ascension is against the ego! 

The ego must willingly "die" like the pattern of the cross, so that we might be made alive to a totally different mode of being. The ego surrenders its role as a master of being and instead becomes a servant of the Divine. 

This action of the ego in subservience to the Divine will produce another environment. 

Many people misunderstand the woman caught in adultery whom Jesus forgave and told to go "sin no more." The adulterous woman is us. It is the feminine aspect of humanity that has joined herself to many other lovers down throughout the ages. This is an admonition to stop intercourse with duality and enter into union as a bride yields to her groom. A mystery indeed.

Is scripture history? Yes. There very well may have been a woman caught in adultery. Is scripture mystery? Mystery? Absolutely. We must lift our eyes to see...

The Pain of Disenfranchisement

 

The Pain of Disenfranchisement

Those transitioning out from religious fundamentalism most often experience one painful thing in common - the loss of friendships formed within the system. As it turns out I was somewhat naive when I began my transition out as I thought I could maintain my friendships even though I now held differing beliefs. I put my excited and evolving heart out there repeatedly, and watched in dismay as many friends dismissed themselves from me.

The first 20 years of my life I was raised within evangelical fundamentalism. Then from age 20-30 I was unchurched while I married and had my children. Not until I re-engaged churchianity in our move to the South did schism and division within religion become more evident. Moving to Birmingham, Alabama the first question we were asked is, What church do you belong to? We were sized up immediately and saw that because we were non-church goers (initially) we were not embraced. Only after we joined two different churches did we receive invitations to socialize. Oddly enough we were sized up by both churches - one church was liberal and the other conservative. Our beliefs and voting practices were scrutinized.

Moving to Texas offered much of the same. Relationships formed within our charismatic church seemed strong. For almost a decade we cultivated many friendships and we held leadership positions within our church. Then I began to experience many supernatural episodes outside the normal order of things that were largely frowned upon within fundamentalism. It was then that I began to wonder about the fear and dogma that characterized fundamentalism - I had embraced fear-based theology throughout my life and even taught it during my tenure in leadership. Because of these supernatural events I was spiritually expanding however I was chastised by leadership and people began to talk badly about me to the point of being untruthful.

My foundation shifted rapidly as I experienced disenfranchisement. I could see that as I questioned basic tenets of fundamentalism - heaven, hell, satan etc. that many friendships became unstable. For some, when I questioned fundamentalist dogma it was as if I was personally threatening their own eternal security. 

I came to realize that the foundation of my evangelical faith formed within a lifetime of religion was failing. I was no longer subject to the continual threat of hell and separation especially when the relationships that supported those tenets ultimately failed. Fear-based theology was no longer a continuum in my consciousness. I wasn’t afraid of the Jehovic tyrant of the Old Testament anymore but began to embrace the Father that Jesus talked about so lovingly. 

I write about these things now in hope that the pain I have suffered over the past 13 years abates. I hope that those within fundamentalism will take a look at their intolerant, divisive behavior and begin to emulate the non judgmental nature of the Savior that they hold in such high esteem. The age of identifying with Old Testament consciousness (fear) is passing. 

My editors wrote this of my upcoming book: “These messages are not only timely at this stage of human evolution, but also necessary to help the millions out there who struggle to incorporate outdated and ineffective interpretations of religion in a society that no longer wishes to support fear and judgment within their spiritual practices.”

Jesus offered to us a different way of thinking and behaving. This way is largely ignored by those that claim to follow him; instead, they favor Old Testament practices that reflect the age of fear and law. The time has come to see and understand what it was that Jesus brought to the Earth. It is freedom from duality - knowing and eating from the "tree" (a type of consciousness) that judges between good and evil. 

The behavior that has characterized the consciousness of the planet for the last several thousand years has been well suited for this passing age but such practices will not support the age to come. Hence, the need for a “Savior.” Jesus came to loose the bonds that enslave the mind and hearts of the human being to religions; religions that seek to restrict this burgeoning consciousness that bares the nature of the Christ. He said [of the religious systems when they sought to silence and to kill him], “If they do this to me do you not think they will do it to you?”

We are so slammed by doctrines of original sin and that we are sinners that we ignore the edict from Jesus that says, “Be perfect, even as my Father is perfect.” And this perfection does not come from consciousness that self flagellates. It comes from death to the old self, death to the ego that is fear-based and continually judges according to the law. The ego must bear the old nature, much like the donkey bore Jesus - to death. Ah, but resurrection is just around the corner as the ego descends into the ground as master of the physical body but resurrects a servant to the Emanuel, the Christ that is - the being that bears the image of both God and man.

Excerpt From Escaping Christianity; Finding Christ

Excerpt from my book titled, Escaping Christianity; Finding Christ

In fundamentalism, through repetitive programming, I was focused on fear and literalism. Not unlike most fundamentalists, I became more of a Pharisee, loving rules and rituals rather than loving mankind. My ego-centric self needed to be right rather than righteous. These are hard statements for Christians to swallow indeed. I know it was for me. Coming out was a torrid process for me and spanned years of heartache and confusion. I was fighting for the return of my critical judgement as I waded through decades of piled high, dogmatic poo...

But as hard as it was for me to understand this, I see now that religious systems are for some, absolutely necessary. Human consciousness evolves both individually and collectively and for some, religious structures are beneficial while their individual consciousness is in need of rules, regulations and boundaries. Fledgling consciousness is like children that are in need of parental guidance (Galatians 4). All of our individual experiences benefit the whole of consciousness in some way. For some there is a need to experience restriction until Christ is formed within the whole of mankind - like a pearl within an oyster, closed tightly until the time of opening. Before I understood this valuable truth, I tried to convince others to leave the system as I did. I was like a cage fighter only my opponent was the cage itself. I felt battered and beaten by trying to dismantle the religious system from the inside out as I tried so hard to get those still within it to come out. I now understand that people will remain within restraint as long as they need to, that although a pearl is formed in one, the process is ongoing in another. My problem is that I was still programmed to proselytize.

I have met the devil and he is me...

"I have met the devil and he is me..."

Jesus was tempted "in every way" that we are - including the ego. What was he asked during the temptation? Was he not asked things that are egoist? The answer is of course, yes. In the Garden of Gethsemane he declared, "Nevertheless, not my will, but thy will" thereby giving us a clue of the internal struggle within himself. 

Yes, the serpent in the Garden is the egoist aspect within all me and cursed we are eating the dust of our mortal condition... continually.

I served as an exorcist for 10 years and cast more demons out of people than I can count. We saw incredible miracles. But Jesus said this: If I by the finger of God cast our demons then surely the kingdom is at hand." That tells me that demons have no place in the age to come or kingdom if you will. They are a non issue. They ceased to manifest around me when my consciousness shifted and I realized that all things are happening externally until we lift our eyes and see that the grand story is the internal workings of the human being, endowed with the spark or seed of the Divine.

"I have met the devil and he is me." I used to scoff at this statement because of all of the proof that I wielded through my vast experience. It is a leap in consciousness to perceive all as metaphor but even the scriptures say that "these things happened to them as allegory FOR YOU upon whom the end of the age has come." Surely the end of the age of perceiving external devils and gods has come. Christ in you, bro. He, the anointed one, is you. The human being has been impregnated with the Divine, the corporate Mary that has been overshadowed is the human race. We alone bear the Christ within and will bring this babe to birth albeit at the precarious mouth of the dragon, or unbelieving mankind. 

Jesus appeared on the earth to show us the path of transcendence our egoist condition. It is the ego that perceives similarities and differences, light and dark, right and wrong, good and evil. When we partake of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil...., there is. This world is perpetuated by such comparisons. The refusal to believe in our divine identity is a display of the belief in duality. We are not, and never have been separated from the Divine, only in consciousness is there perceived separation and shame.

Resist not Evil - Resist the Devil

This is a recent reply to an email I received about the exhortation from Jesus not to resist evil and the paradoxical scripture that says resist the devil...

There are those who are called to a place of non resistance. I have written of a friend that admonished me recently - she said the following:
Barbara you cannot tell me there is no hell for I have been there. You cannot tell me there is no devil for I have stood before him.

My reply was this: "These things will appear externally as long as we need them to."

My understanding is this. The whole of the Bible is written or at least interpreted from an historical perspective albeit revealing an internal and mystical reality.

The devil we are to resist is the ego within ourselves - the one who sits as the son of perdition making himself to be like God. It is this devil that appears externally until the creature understands that the Biblical accounts show a reflection of man's own nature. As humans, we need an external foe to place blame upon. It is hard for the ego to come to the realization that it is in fact the adversary of the burgeoning Christ that is being birthed within.

We all must come to the point of our own crucifixion where our humanity intersects our divinity and the life of ego as master of the mind and body relinquishes its role in favor as one that becomes servant of the Divine. This is the donkey as it bears the Christ to Calvary. It is likewise the white steed of the Book of Revelation as it undergoes transformation from master of earthly burdens to valiant servant of the risen Christ (in you, the hope of glory).

It is through this path, and this path only that the body is raised from mortal to immortal. Jesus modeled this path and stated that it was the only way to the Father - the progenitor, the source of all. It is not a reward for raising a hand or walking an aisle and is not preferential to Christians. This is a hard thing for Christians to understand that their religion is not the panacea that they espouse - yet another indicator of the ego at large within our consciousness.

Many warm regards,

Barbara