"You, a mere human being, are going to tell US how to live like a god?! Them's fightin' words!" Not only are those "fightin' words"; they COULD get one killed! No, seriously, they got my Grandfather killed! My Grandfather, in a previous lifetime, was the One known as Jesus, who was the Christ, or Messiah to the Jews. All exclamations of "Bullshit!" aside, one immediate objection might be, "Jesus never told His disciples how to live like gods!" Did He not, though? When He told them they would do GREATER things than He ever did, what do you suppose He was telling them?! I'm sure those good, Jewish disciples were all thinking, "How are we, mere men & women, supposed to do greater things than the One who calls Himself the Son of God?" To be truthful, Jesus never did outright say, "I AM the Son of God", but He called the God of the Hebrews His Father more than a few times & He DID say, on one occasion, "Before Abraham was, I AM!" Previously, I attempted to elucidate what my exalted Grandfather meant when He uttered those enigmatic words ( 'Greater Works' ), so without going into that again, I will endeavor to explain how I understand that Jesus, rather than proclaiming Himself the Savior of Humanity, was instead telling them how to live like gods.
My favorite saying of His, in so many words, is, "Treat others as you yourself would like to be treated". This sounds dangerously similar to "Love your neighbor as yourself"! I have treated this phrase previously as well, as the Universal Truth it is. It just goes to reason that if we do not first love ourselves, we will treat ourselves accordingly & thus we will treat our neighbor similarly because we do not love them. As a short disclaimer here, let me make crystal clear that the overwhelming majority of what is called 'love' today, in particular, 'romantic love', is nothing more & nothing less than LUST! "How can I say that with such vehemence?" Better yet; "WHY?" First, "WHY?" 'Modern Love', as they often call it, more often than not, is very conditional, based on feelings! "I'm just not 'in love' with you anymore!" "WHY?" Why would someone once 'in love' with someone else, not be so anymore?" The short answer, of course, is that it wasn't Love in the first place! "Okay, I see where you're going with this; you're gonna tell me it's Lust, right?!" Right; you weren't 'in love', you were overcome by lust! Before this gets all sexualized, understand that, "No", it's NOT always about sexual intercourse! It ( 'lust' ) can mean something as simple as, "I don't want to be alone anymore!" to "I'm a meat & potatoes man". To get back to the question of being 'in love'; the reason someone isn't 'in love ( lust )' anymore is because it's based on feelings. Feelings change!
This is not to say, though, that Love does not exist! Love is not based on feelings; humanly speaking, Love is a choice. "But", someone might ask, "doesn't that mean one can choose NOT to love another? And furthermore, might one not CHOOSE differently, from moment to moment, day to day, etc., based on how they FEEL at any given moment?" Again, "Love is NOT based on feelings"! If one bases their choice, their actions on feelings, it is NOT Love; it is Lust! "You say "Lust" like it's a bad thing!" Well, yes; that's what programming does; it tells us, "This is good, That is bad!" Personal experience, however, tells us, that while this may be good for one person, it is bad for another. This may not be the best example, but corn may be good for one, but for another, with corn allergies, like my best friend, it is very bad! ( Not that the corn we eat today is really 'good' for ANYBODY ) Anyway; back to "Lust": "is it good or bad?" Like the feelings it is based upon; it is really neither good nor bad, it simply is. It's a hunger, really, a "want", based, again, on programming: our culture, our society, even religion to some extent, teaches us that we have "needs", desires that need to be fulfilled, but really, it's only Lust. We only think we want ( 'lack' ) it because we are taught that we lack it, but we HAVE everything we need; we ARE everything we need!
We are NEVER truly alone! Personally speaking, "yes", we might find ourselves alone, without anyone else around ( often on purpose ); this is our choice. Whatever the reason we are 'alone', it stems from our choices, whether we elected not to shower for days at a time, because we allowed our B.S. ( Belief System ) to get in the way, or because we feel that "people suck", so we distance ourselves from most forms of human contact. ( Sadly; it could also be because our spouse has been taken from us, for whatever reason - in such a case, I have nothing more to say ) "These reasons obviously do not form a comprehensive list, but you get the idea!" However, "as above, so below", "We are NEVER truly alone!" The reason I say this with such authority is that, we are always surrounded by "a cloud of witnesses"! Sure, one might escape the gaze of another human, but call It 'God' or the Universe, there is NOTHING we can do to escape the 'All Seeing Eye'!
"Cloud of Witnesses"? Call it the Ancestors, call it the Akashic Field, call it the Spirit World, nothing we ever say or do ( even what we think? ) goes unnoticed, or for that matter, passes without consequence. "Don't worry; I say this to remind mySELF maybe most of all!" The Author of the Letter to the Hebrews uses the same phrase near the end of that letter ( 12:1 ), in much the same way.
At this juncture, some of my readers are probably thinking something like, "I thought he was going to tell us how to live like gods?! He hasn't even explained how Jesus was teaching His disciples that!" Well, I guess I say all that to say this. I realize I've said this before, but "Life is all about Choice!" We make choices every day, some greater, some lesser, both in scope & in consequence. The Choices we make affect, not only us, but the lives of those around us! My readers are probably more or less familiar with the saying that "when a butterfly flaps its wings in Africa, there are thunderstorms in Florida": that may be a bit of a stretch ( ? ), but the point is fairly clear. What happens in one part of the world will likely affect another, though a world apart. Look at what is going on over in the Middle East, for instance! Ukraine? So many other hotspots around the world where the good ole U.S. of A. has stuck Her nose where it didn't belong! The point here is, that the Powers That Be have chosen, for selfish reasons of their own, to involve US in these affairs, which actually DO concern US! Part of the Problem, the Issue as I see it, is that WE, collectively speaking, have forgotten, not only Who & What WE are, but the fact that "as above, so below", what we do, or neglect to do, affects the world around us, which in turn affects, to whatever extent, The Greater Picture, the World at Large, like Ripples in a Pond!
It is thus our Ability to Choose, our ResponsAbility, if you will, that makes us Gods, the Masters of our own Destiny! "But some things just HAPPEN!", one might argue. For one thing, things do not just happen! For two, yes, sometimes things DO happen that are out of our control, but our reaction IS something we get to choose. "Hell, what if we all chose NOT to react, but instead ACTED in Love?!" What if we chose to manifest Love, even though everyone around us was reacting to all the bullshit, seeking "an eye for an eye". A Wise Man once said, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind". Maybe that's why the overwhelming majority have forgotten Who they are; they have been blinded to the fact that they are killing, not just each other, but themselves & their future as well!
"Well, you STILL haven't told us how to LIVE like gods!" Haven't I? "What do you think it means to live like a god?" If your answer is akin to what we read about in the Greek myths, you might be well on your way to understanding how to live like a god, as long as you take them for the metaphors they are! I recently watched the Netflix Limited Series 'Kaos'; if you haven't seen it, I recommend it, if only because it shows how NOT to live like, or as gods. 'Kaos' takes place in modern-day Crete & basically portrays the Greek Gods as they would typically behave in this modern, technical age. The point I'm making here is that to live like a god/God, one needs to live with Intention, to take responsAbility for their OWN life, not hoping vainly for Divine Intervention from some outside Source, as in most ancient myths!
The question foremost in the minds of some of my readers, as we approach the end of this post,mightbe something to the effect of, "Why does he say that Jesus was teaching us how to live like gods/Gods"? Rather than being the genesis of a new religion ( Christianity? ), Jesus showed His first century disciples how they could become like Him, how they could be ( in fact, WERE ) their own Saviors! For instance, He told the woman who formerly had an issue [ of blood ], "your faith has made you well." ( Mark 5:34 ) Yes, for the most part, He said, "Believe in me and.................", but He also told Mary, "Do not cling to me.........." ( John 20:17 ) In some sense, Jesus DID introduce, not so much a new religion, but a new WAY of BEing religious. His brother James ( my great uncle ) explained this in his biblical letter. ( James 1:25-27 ) Jesus told His disciples & through the Universal Truth in Scripture, tells US that it is NOT by institutionalizing our religion, by externalizing it, that it proves true, but that by internalizing it & thus manifesting it, we prove its worth, which is "more than apples of gold!"
My readers must judge for themselves if I have sufficiently proven, both that Jesus actually came to show us how to live like gods & whether I have myself explained to your relative satisfaction how we are to live like gods/Gods, or whether I have simply further muddied the waters. Either way, I intend, by this short remonstrance, to bring to all our minds ( "hearts" ) Remembrance; Remembrance, not only of Who & What We are, but Why We are here! "How shall We then live?" As Gods ourselves, or as sheep in need of a Shepherd?
Namaste' & Blessed be!
Sage Charles
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