Our Father Who Art In Heaven!

What do we understand by this first sentence of the Prayer given by Jesus to His Disciples? Is it an invocation or just a form of address to open up the prayer?

Such easy views of course are held by many today and is responsible for the way this all important prayer is said or rather "rattled off".

Through these words however, the Son of God teaches us how we have to approach God. The state of our being before we dare to come before the Most High shall be one of total humility and a solemn desire to give our self to Him without reserve.When we say "Our Father Who Art In Heaven!" it shall be a sacred vow! A vow to serve and obey God as a child and submit humbly to all His ordinances. Apart from being an acknowledgement of God's Omniscience, it is synonymous to giving the Almighty all the rights a father has over a child and a plea that He treats us as a father has to treat his children. We thereby also make a pledge to listen and obey God as a child!

Bearing all these in mind,may we be more genuine from now on especially when we wish to approach our Maker.In the next entries we will examine the other parts of the Lord's Prayer in the Light of Truth!

Understanding Our Neighbours

Our neighbours include those around us as spouse, parent, child, sibling, relative or friend.Many are quite happy with their neighbours but quite a number also have many concerns. There could be disharmony, lack of respect and at times deep resentment between neighbours.

So how are we to navigate the waters of these relationships? Most of these neighbours we may not be able to easily avoid.Can we really understand them? Why are we placed in a relationship with these people? Is it by accident?

In Nature we decipher that like attracts like! Birds of the same feather flock together.Particular types of vegetation congregate in different regions of the world.Amongst humans we notice that families have particular traits and people with similar behavioural types or habits tend to get along. Can we not take this further and realise that what holds true in these cases also hold true for the special relationships we have?

There is indeed a Law that governs all of these: the Law of the Attraction of homogeneous species. It ensures that like attracts like. Therefore, in all simplicity, our neighbours are just like us and only a reflection of what we are deep inside.Those traits we find most disturbing in the other person,is within us, yes, even to a higher degree!

Let us take this as a hint, so that in every conflict we do not seek to blame the other person but first of all look inwards to make amends starting with our self. When we change ourselves for the better, we will also be able to change our surroundings! We will also have gained one other useful thing, a deep understanding of our neighbour and a willingness to love them just the way they are, which is a sure way of helping them to also make a change and improve themselves.

All things bright and beautiful

I recall this morning a hymn we used to sing as young children in primary school. It goes like this:

All things bright and beautiful;
All creatures great and small;
All things wise and wonderful;
The Lord God made them all...

Let us today unite in giving fervent thanks to the Eternal One Whose wisdom rules the world. Great is the Maker of all things Who has provided everything needed to bring creation into existence and maintain it. All our progress as "modern man" derives from the use of materials already made available to us by Nature. No human being can create a grain of sand or anything for that matter without finding all the components from what is already on ground.

Little really is man to think of himself and his mundane issues.

Let us therefore turn our inner gaze upwards, think of God and give honour, adoration and praise to He that gave us life out of His immeasurable love! We should also resolve from now on to give thanks in our deeds by working towards the welfare of our fellow man.

The Plague of much talk

Many of us indulge in talking much.We can talk from morning till evening. More than three quarters of what is said are actually of no particular use.We feel like hearing the sound of our own voice,talk to keep good company, malign or gossip about other people especially when they are not present,or just talk for the sake of talking!

Can these be of any benefit to us? NO. Is talk free? NO. Are there consequences for much talk? CERTAINLY there are and many too!

Since humanity has lost its sense of decency the bad habit of much talk has developed into a plague that now oppresses us.We are consequently under the leadership of great talkers who deceive us when we are about to make purchases, vote for political office holders and even lead us as spiritual highwaymen unto wrong paths when it is a matter of the most important issue of all- our spiritual ascent.

Talkers need to reflect. How do you feel after indulging in your "important" habit? Can you not see how heavy and unsettled you feel afterwards? Can we not try the power contained in silence for only one day to see the difference between a life of loquaciousness and that of dignified silence?

We should remind ourselves of the great words LET YOUR YES BE YES AND YOUR NO BE NO. The ability to form words is like other abilities bestowed on us a great gift from our Maker. We cannot afford the consequences of trifling with such a gift. Consequences include reaping sadness and depression, getting confused , lacking in focus and some even at the extreme lose their minds.

Silence on the other hand allows us to listen within,keep our thoughts pure, gather spiritual strength necessary for our ascent, and more easily attain the goals of peace and happiness.

Are we able to resist temptations?

Some think that they are already programmed to fall for temptations or that they are created naturally weak as not to be able to withstand temptations.I have even heard a line from a scene in a film that says something to the effect that the best way to resist temptation is to fall for it!

Can these views be correct?

We can be tempted - yes.Lucifer can inflict anybody with inner struggles that in its intensity can be likened to a battle!We can be deceived, cajoled and tricked to tread the path that should never be attempted. We can be presented with fanciful propositions that appear quite harmless. Behind all these also stands our flesh and its weaknesses.

However as human beings we have been endowed by our Creator with an inner core - the human spirit. This spirit is our real self.It has its origin in the Kingdom of God. It is pure, without guile and with its perceptive capacities will only choose that which is right.Man only has to follow the ways chosen by his spirit also called the inner voice and nothing wrong can ever develop.Our flesh may wish to follow the broad and easy road offered by temptations; it lies with man however to resist this, and let his spirit lead the way.The flesh after all is meant to serve the spirit and help it carry out its wishes on this planet.

Where however, we give dominion to the flesh, it usurps the throne and yes can become a master and an unscrupulous master it can be, robbing man of all nobility and degrading him to the level of an animal and regrettably and judging by present day happenings even below the level of any animal.This slave master drives its servants to acts of greed, avarice, sordid sensuality,murders and other irritable behaviour.

May we be imbued with strength from above to resist temptations from out of the darkness. May we be able once again to listen within to our inner voice and do only what is right in the sight of our Lord God. Amen.

The story of the two thieves

At Calvary on that momentous Friday afternoon, two thieves were crucified along with the Holy One. Most are familiar with this story of the unrepentant and the sober thief. One said to Christ, are you not the Son of God? Deliver yourself and us too! The other rebuked the loquacious one and admitted that they are indeed paying dearly for their misdeeds while Jesus was innocent, he went further to ask that Christ remember him in His Kingdom. Let's label them the wise and foolish thieves.

We stand to learn a lot from this event. It appears the two of them know something about the reputation of Jesus as miracle worker. Do they really? The foolish thief believed that Jesus can do the unnatural - suddenly coming down physically from the cross to which his body was firmly nailed unaided and extending the same "miracle" to him too. It can also be said that his remarks smacked of a challenge to Jesus-do it if you are indeed the Son of God. Veiled under that is - if you don't perform, then you are not!

The wise thief on the other hand recognised humbly that he was in the wrong and was paying back for his wrongful behaviour. He did not stay back and watch the foolish thief get away with his rudeness but told him off. He did not demand any quick fix to his problem or seek a temporary earthly advantage. (e.g possible release from his pains on the cross just like the expectation of the foolish thief) Instead he longed for the Heavenly Kingdom reminding one of that admonition - seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven and all the rest will be added unto you.

In the end, the foolish thief got no visible advantage while the wise thief got a firm promise of a place in paradise! One can decide the path to follow. The path of those who make self serving earthly demands and expect arbitrary actions from the Creator, or the path of repentance that pleads humbly for God's forgiveness and strength for spiritual ascent.May we have the strength to take the right path of seeking at all times what is really of true benefit to us.

What are Miracles?

Miracles are generally believed to be occurrences that happen out of the ordinary. They are supposed to be the stuff that make up tales of the unexpected.Some extremists will only use this word to describe happenings that are naturally impossible. They assume that when the impossible happens then a miracle has occurred.But such thoughts are mere imaginations because the fact that the event occurred already is proof that such occurrence is possible!

Many believers in God imagine that miracles are things that happen outside the Laws of Nature.They think it is something brought about arbitrarily by the Almighty in order to demonstrate His omnipotence. Such miracles however are anything but Divine and indeed do not exist! One does not give honour to God by blindly believing that He acts arbitrarily!

Divine Activity is always logical, perfect, consistent, and without faults or gaps. Miracles happen in the usual way but the only difference is that the process of development, which according to earthly conceptions should take a longer time, occurs with such immense rapidity,speed and concentrated power! Miracles also occur when diseases which man regards as incurable are healed. This does not mean that the Natural Laws are overturned but it only shows the deficiencies of present human knowledge. In any case, miracles will never occur outside or contrary to God's firmly established Laws of Nature!

When Christ performed miracles that are quite beyond man's ability this does not justify the thought that He did not need to follow His Father's Will resting in the Laws of Nature, that He reached out beyond them. Even with miracles He acted in complete accordance with the Laws of God, and not arbitrarily!He only proved thereby that He worked in Divine Power, not in spiritual power,and naturally the effects also far surpassed what is possible to men.

We should give thanks to our Creator when here and there He endows some human beings with special powers which they can use for the benefit of suffering humanity.

Our attitude to wealth

Should someone who seeks spiritual gain shun earthly possessions? Is money by itself evil? Must one take the vow of poverty in order to be pleasing to our Creator? Are the rich condemned just on account of their worldly acquisitions?Well, what should be our attitude towards wealth?

These are pertinent questions in this world of the modern man who proudly proclaim himself as "practical". On the other extreme are also the others who shun earthly possessions and consider it irrelevant for those striving towards the ideal.

Of course it will be foolhardy to throw away ones wealth as soon as one starts the upwards journey. Man is free to enjoy all that is proffered through the Grace of God. He should however not cling to the idea that the accumulation of wealth should form the basis of his entire existence. That kind of attitude will be a distraction from his higher goal of spiritual ascent.

In this age of the materialists, those striving for spiritual goals will do well not to shun earthly possessions which is the main weapon in the hands of their unscrupulous adversaries!

It is good to know that earthly possessions are made through the Will of God. True believers are to take care however, that the comforts of such things do not lull them to sleep.

We are to make sound use of wealth or any special gifts entrusted to us by our Lord.

What is Faith?

Does it mean having the Name of the Almighty on our lips all the time? Do we exhibit faith by praying and believing that our Creator can do just anything, thus acting arbitrarily in order to fulfil our wishes which most of the time are self serving? Many may also be under the delusion that being a member of a religious group confers on them the title of "the faithfuls".

Faith is none of these!

Faith in all simplicity is the absorption of Divine Messages and making them a part and parcel of daily living. The Lord speaks to us in His Holy Word and also through His creation. Everything bears witness to Him and how we are to conduct ourselves in order to be pleasing to Him. As soon as man is able to come to terms with the Laws of God and swing with them,all his intuitions, thoughts and deeds will unite in joyful affirmation of God. Faith therefore is not only being convinced of the Laws of God and professing this loudly and hanging it out as a mask but this conviction must become deed. Conviction becomes a deed when it translates to visible actions. In this case, every breathe one takes reflects the fact that one is living in accordance with the Will of the Most High.

May we be blessed with faith - true and living faith!