Good Morning everyone … Last Sunday we touched on a few things that I wanted to continue with this week … First of all we talked about that “spirit” of intolerance in not just Christian circles, but other Faith systems as well … I received an e-mail that said maybe I was a bit harsh on those who have come before us because I was not there during their lifetimes … And I really started thinking maybe I was tilting at windmills - I mean the Inquisition was a long time ago, as were the Witch hunts that were church sponsored and well this is the 21st Century and on and on …

Then I picked up a copy of The National Enquirer and what should I see ??? Baptist leader condemns Oprah, yeah you heard me, Oprah … It seems that Rev. James Smith, editor of the Florida Baptist Witness has decided Oprah is a modern day pied piper leading millions to hell and eternal damnation - Miss Winfrey is a Heretic, an Infidel and in the not to distant past she would have been arrested and put to death for her hellish thoughts and teachings … Let me read some of this fella's thoughts for you …

What is so striking is that this kind of thinking still exists … He can't say we disagree, rather he condemns her to hell and all of her followers because they don't share his view of things, his idea of an “inerrant Bible” that should be taken literally as God's words, even when they don't make sense or seem very one sided … Just as a sideline to this, what was the “heretical teaching” Miss Oprah was disseminating ??? It was Marianne Williamson's “A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of 'A Course In Miracles'” … So I guess you can figure where “we” fit into Reverend Smith's big picture …

Now I am bringing this up for two reasons, one to show that what I believe is the True “Spirit of Anti Christ” is alive and well even in our day and age and two to further illustrate just how wrong we have been about what “Sin” and “Repentance” really is …

Also this past week we talked about what the True meaning of the words or expression's “Sin” and “Repentance” were … We went back to very original Aramaic and looked … You know that is the real beauty of Aramaic, because it is not some long lost language that we must guess at its meanings - rather it is a language that is still spoken today and as such it is easy to research the meaning of just what did He say …

I think if your looking for what would be a wonderful example of a Teaching about Sin and Repentance, the story about the woman caught in adultery is just about perfect … On top of that, this story shows conclusively that yes, Bible stories most definitely can be influenced by the time and place of their writing, and by the one doing the writing so we have to be careful when reading them …

So let's start with a quick reading of this account from the Gospel of John … Can you see that something is horribly amiss with this story ??? There is something glaringly wrong - anyone see it ??? Yes, where is the MAN ??? They say she was caught in the very “Act” of adultery so where is the man ??? Could it be because of the low place women in general were held back then ??? Did the story make the cut because it showed women in a “lesser” role than men ??? Could it be because the “Church” of that time, and to day too, was very Patriarchal and there was no room for a Feminine aspect of the Divine … Who knows, and that is really not today's topic, but it something I think you should ponder …

Ok, back to Sin and Repentance - to understand “SIN” we must first really understand it's meaning … What did the word SIN mean when our Lord spoke of it … Well in Aramaic the word for Sin means “falling short of your ability” or “not working at your highest level” or “failing to see and or act on your talent” … In other words say a runner back then knew he had a big race coming up and instead of practicing and conditioning himself, he went out with his buddies, did 5 skins of wine and partied all night … Then come race day, he places in 10th place … I mean he was a great athlete and should have won 1st, but he squandered his abilities and therefore he “sinned” by failing to achieve at his highest level … And we can come up with hundreds of examples of how each of us “sins” every day … How may different ways we fail to see our importance and value in God's eyes and fail to live up to His calling for us …

And how would this person “repent” of his sin ??? Simple, he would tell his supporters, “hey I know I let you and myself down, I am going to really push myself from now on and really try as hard as I can to be a winner, to use the talents God has given me” … A rededication to being the best he can … That is what the terms “Sin” and “Repentance” mean in Aramaic and that is exactly what He was trying to tell us …

Let's go back again the adulterous woman … The Scripture has the Lord writing in the sand or dirt … I think that what He was writing was pretty simple - First He says literally, “Well who among you has not fallen short of what God made him or her to be ???” … Then it says He wrote some more and I think He was writing every time her accusers had been with her because one by one they all dropped their rocks and went away … With out saying another word He disperses this crowd of one sided, self righteous church folk and is left with the woman they all had used in the past …

Then you have the Lords words to her … The Scripture version records Him saying “Then neither do I condemn thee, go your way and sin no more” but that interpretation really sells it short, and does not accurately reflect the true meaning of the Aramaic … Using the true meaning of the words it would read more like “Well it looks like those who were accusing you have gone away … So rise and clean yourself up … I did not Create you to lie in the dust or be a man's toy - I Created you to be a part of the Creative Force in this world, the Holy Grail, the bearer of life … Don't ever sell yourself short like this again, see your Dignity and Self Worth from now on” … To me at least the whole story takes on a completely different feel than what I grew up with … Suddenly we see a very Loving and Understanding God who is determined to show each person their Self Worth, no matter of their station in life, and no matter how many times they have fallen short of their potential …

I have found that by running some of our Lord's Teachings through this Aramaic Filter an amazing thing happens - suddenly we are not striving after something very “metaphysical” or “mystical” but rather we are “Spot On” in our search to better our selves, our minds and our planet … Suddenly being “right” is less important than being a “part” … Suddenly it becomes clear at least to me that we can all be right if we are following, if we are being true to our callings … Think for a moment about what the Story of the Prodigal Son would mean when read this way … Or the Samaritan Women at the Well …

It becomes clearer to me that what we today are claiming to be discovering is really nothing new, but rather are the very things our Lord was trying to get across to us 2000 years ago … It is the very same Truth that the Q Christians, the Esscenes, the Gnostics - all the early Mystical Church were trying to pass on to us … Our “New Age Thought” is exactly what He was teaching about when He spoke of the Kingdom of God already being here, of it existing within your very self …

And I really feel that this incredible reluctance to explore, to learn and to grow is the Spirit that works against us - that hinders and limits us … I find it amazing that so few make any effort to go back to say the original Aramaic to be sure they have it right … So many are so content on just accepting the status quo - “well that is what they have said it said so I believe it” …

Our Planet is changing, as are the Spiritual Realities around us … This kind of exclusiveness, this kind of beaten down mindset has hopefully just about run it's course … It is time for us to see that in the past, the very definition of Sin ensured we would continue to “live in sin” … By convincing ourselves of our unworthiness, of our debased and deprived nature - by piling on the guilt and shame of ourselves and stressing our predisposition to everything evil we were in fact doing two things …

First, we were continuing our enslavement to a church system based on the “Temple Model” … We were convincing ourselves of the need of a “middle man” that could then decide if we were going to be allowed to be a part of God's big happy family … We were making God just like one of us … And if we disagreed with that, well then we were heretics and were taken out back and burned … And secondly, as odd as it may sound were we actually continuing to Sin … You see when you deny your own Self Worth in God's eyes, when you lose your Self Esteem because you see nothing good in yourself, Sinning is exactly what your doing … You are falling way short of your talent, of your ability, of your Higher Calling … You are becoming just like the poor woman who thought of herself as just some thing to be used for men's pleasure and enjoyment … You become a thing instead of a Creation … You lose sight of your Divine Heritage …

I think we all could do well by taking the Word's of our Lord to the woman lying in the dirt to heart … All of us fall short of our intended goals, all of us from time to time miss the mark in many areas of our lives - yet that is not what He wants us dwelling on, or fixated on … Much like the young butterfly struggling to free itself from it's chrysalis, so to must we struggle to achieve and learn … The more we stay focused on what wrong with us, we will continue to not see what is Right with us … We will continue in this demonic dance of guilt, shame, failure and hopelessness … However the more we can take responsibility for our actions, take responsibility for our happiness, the more we can then see what He has been trying to get through to us for these 1000's of years … And what so many of these so called “New Age” Teachers are trying to say … We are ALL a part of the Divine Family of Earth - We are ALL Children of the same God - The Kingdom of God is in fact already here, it is within each and every one of us …

So this next week, keep in mind the Lord's words to that victim of low self esteem 2000 years ago - “See you have missed the mark, but don't dwell on it … Rededicate yourself to succeeding and get up quickly … You see it is not the falling that is the worst, it is your staying on the ground that limits and enslaves you”

Namaste' …