It’s often stated in the Christian denomination as well as other religions that, if you have a relationship with God, Allah, Buddha, you will live forever in paradise, or in a state of nirvana, or perpetually reside in the presence of the Almighty. In other words, establish a bond with the Creator, during your life and you will go to heaven when you die. If you do not have that spiritual bond, at the time of your demise, you go to Hades or purgatory, and will face an eternal disconnection from the “Light.”
If you haven’t noticed, over the past couple of decades, religious institutions, ministers, and other members of the clergy, have sort of backed off preaching about the fire and brimstone, everlasting punishment. The majority of citizens of the world are beginning to realize that the biblical depiction of eternal damnation is just a bit too far fetched to comprehend. Therefore, it’s now being depicted as a permanent separation from God. You may also have noticed in the past 20-30 years the church has collectively and conveniently steered clear of Michael Angelo’s version of a “blonde hair, blue-eyed” Jesus. As Christianity surreptitiously changes with the times, most religious edifices have removed those antiquated pictures of Jesus and have simply transformed to pictures and/or statues of the cross.
The debate on whether Jesus was Black or White is moot when you consider the fact that the argument could surround an idea. A concept, over the last two millennium, that has taken on a life of its own. If you are of the millions who subscribe to a belief in the existence of this particular Messiah, you would have to consider the existence of several others as well. Here’s a list of a few that were written about in some form, centuries before Jesus:
Horus (3000 BC) Attis (1200 BC) Mithra (1200 BC) Krishna (900 BC) Dionysus (500 BC)
There are a plethora of other mythical characters who supposedly healed the sick, raised the dead, walked on water, transfigured on a mount, traveled with 12 disciples, miracle birth, tragic death, resurrected from the dead, ascending into heaven, and after 3 days, emerged from the grave.
If you can logically apostatize the aforementioned myths, then common sense would suggest you dismiss the latter. However, common sense has never stood up against the bible, and unfortunately, it never will, at least not in this particular lifetime.
But I digress. We all have a connection to our Creator. It’s just like your child has a connection to you; a biological bond that can never be broken under any circumstances. Most religions agree on the fact that we are made in the image of God. That of course, is a spiritual image based on energy. Energy can never be destroyed; it moves into form (birth), through form (life), and out of form (physical death), but always IS. Energy never dies, it simply changes form.
Our life cycles are very similar to water. In a cold, thunderous storm, water often forms into hail; in a blizzard, water becomes snowflakes that flutter to the ground. In both scenarios, water solidifies into an icy or nearly solid form, but once it hits the ground and melts, it turns back into water. Water evaporates into moisture in the air and travels back up into the atmosphere and repeats the cycle over and over again. So, water changes form, but its essence, or spirit, remains the same.
Our energy changes form when we leave the physical world, but our spirit remains the same. In other words, we continue to exist.
Because we are energy and made in the image of our Creator, the relationship we have with our Maker is never severed. Whether we choose to acknowledge this affiliation is not necessarily a concern for God. It’s tantamount to a Mother who unconditionally loves her grown child, from a distance. Her son may rarely call, he may be too busy to say hello, but that does not diminish a mother’s love for her son, nor does it sever the biological connection they have. If a mother possessed the power to ‘punish’ her son simply because he stopped acknowledging her, she would not do it. If mom won’t do this to her beloved son, why would the loving Creator of the Universe abandon us if we refuse to recognize our spiritual association.
Certainly God wants us to nurture our spiritual relationship with her, because doing so helps us to navigate this earthly terrain, but she would not castigate us in any way, shape, or form. Our actions create the consequences we face, good or bad. A tragedy, or mishap in our lives, does not originate from God. Ninety-nine times out of one-hundred, our missteps emanate directly from our transgressions, either in this life, or a previous incarnation.
The words “punish” and “damnation” are not a part of God’s nature. These harsh words, in a religious sense, were created by man because of Man’s greed and his evil desire to control and manipulate the minds of the masses. And he has done a masterful job in duping the majority, primarily because of fear; fear of death, and the fear of some sort of eternal punishment. Why do you think the description of Hell is so horrific? To control your mind and scare the crap out of you into giving your 10% to the church. That’s 10% off the top, before taxes. In other words, you can pay your way into Heaven.
When it comes to tithing, Christian apologist will say, this is not my word, this is the word of God, it’s in the Bible. Sure, it’s there, but it’s certainly not because our Creator placed it there, nor was it “divinely inspired.” Man’s greed and duplicity is what inspired this particular verse (and several others):
Deuteronomy 14:22-23: You must set aside a tithe of your crops-one-tenth of all the crops you harvest each year. 23: Bring this tithe to the designated place of worship-the place the LORD your God chooses for his name to be honored-and eat it there in his presence. This applies to your tithes of grain, new wine, olive oil, and the firstborn males of your flocks and herds. Doing this will teach you always to fear the LORD your God.
The Fear of God is another man-made scare tactic. It’s not possible to love someone and fear him simultaneously. Does the battered wife love her physically abusive husband? When he forces her to be intimate with him, does she love him? Or does she fear him?
Once again, Christian apologists will say, “it’s not written to mean an actual ‘fear’ of God, but to fear the “wrath of God.” OK people, the definition of Wrath is, “violent or unrestrained anger; fury; rage. So tell me, what’s the difference in fearing God, and fearing God’s wrath? There is no difference. The wife who is afraid of her abusive husband certainly fears his wrath, does she not? Hate and fear are the antithesis of Love. God is LOVE. Pure, unadulterated, unconditional love! To love someone, and hate him at the same time, is like being hot and cold; it’s being up and down simultaneously; it’s being the literal color of black and white synchronously; in other words, it’s impossible.
When a person is eulogized, especially in the Christian faith, eulogizers make the attempt to bridge the gap of whatever shortcomings the deceased had. This is done to appease those in attendance. The public aggrandizement is not necessary because there is never a gap. God’s love and grace may have been ignored by the person who transitioned, but he was never separated from his Creator.
All of us, when we make the transition from this dimension to the next will be welcomed into the loving arms of our Creator. Sure, most of us have work to do; most of us will have karmic issues to deal with, and we will certainly reap what we have sown, but the lessons to be learned from our mistakes do not come via a conflagration of pain and suffering, at least not in the spiritual realm.