I truly don't believe that God told executioners to go out and kill everybody, all men, women, and children, spare only those righteous folk who were able to see the moral depravity of all those "other" people! Didn't God say, "Thou shalt not kill," and mean it?
And the LORD said to him ("the man dressed in linen"), "Pass through the city, ...and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it."
And to the others he said in my hearing "Pass through the city after him and strike. Your eye shall not spare and you shall show no pity. Kill old men outright, young men and maidens., little children and women, but touch no one on whom is the mark, And begin at my sanctuary..... Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. Go out... My eye will not spare, not will I have pity. I will bring their deeds upon their heads."
And behold, the man clothed in linen, with the writing case at his waist brought back word, saying, "I have done as you commanded me. " (Ezekiel 9:3-11)
Don't attribute to God what is NOT God.
So... what is origin of the God that wipes out, annihilates the "sinners," the oppressor that the OT explains with an angry, vengeful, genocidal God?
I experience a very real voice within that undermines, is destructive in explicit and subtle ways, e.g. "Throw the baby out the window - no put her in the oven." "You are not good enough." "Stab her." "Eat ALL the cake." "Drive into the on-coming traffic," "You are worthless, a fake." "Jump off the bridge." "Take a drink of that red wine" (remember I'm an alcoholic). "Cheat on your husband." "Tell her she is a loser." "Get revenge." "Stay in bed all day and forever." "Pray he is assassinated."
Do these voices mean I qualify for medication or are they evidence of a power that is not God and not under my control? The voice is Jung's "shadow," AA's "disease," Christianity's "Satan," Jesus's "the devil," "the evil one," new age's "negative thoughts" or "negative energy." This voice in sobriety used to TERRIFY me but no longer does, unless I start to listen to and believe its insanity (at times it still does get me alone and seduced into its lies). As the terror was removed through self reflection, prayer, mediation, and service the frequency, intensity, and duration of the "visits" has lessened considerably, too.
Before I got sober and had an experience of a loving Higher Power through living the steps, I could not "watch' thoughts or emotions objectively; until I experienced clarity about the dis-ease of alcoholism and the mental torture it both generates and medicates with alcohol, I couldn't tell the difference between God and Not-God.
That confusion is the same mistake I see in the Old Testament, lack of clarity - attributing to God what is not God.
When I'm not in alignment with the Realm of Spirit, I'm in the Realm of Insanity. The Book of Leviticus records the Lord's communication to the Moses about the strict rules governing the ways in which the people of Israel are to re-align themselves and stay in alignment with God. Here is an example:.
1 The Lord called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying,
2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When any one of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of livestock from the herd or from the flock.
3 “If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. He shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the Lord.
4 He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.
5 Then he shall kill the bull before the Lord, and Aaron's sons the priests shall bring the blood and throw the blood against the sides of the altar that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
6 Then he shall flay the burnt offering and cut it into pieces,
7 and the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire.
8 And Aaron's sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, the head, and the fat, on the wood that is on the fire on the altar;
9 but its entrails and its legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall burn all of it on the altar, as a burnt offering, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. (Leviticus 1:1-9)
This is all about atonement, at-one-ment. It is a description of the rules and regulations for remaining in "the sunlight of the spirit." This is what the people of Israel did to show their obedience to God. The bull was important to the people of Israel. It's offering demonstrated their trust in the Provider, the God of the Universe.
Today, the terms are simple, user-friendly, and based on spiritual principles: the 12 steps, especially prayer and meditation. Rather than "bull without blemish," those of us living the 12 steps might be asked to forego going to a movie to work with a sponsee or go to a meeting. Rather than going shopping, we might need to write inventory or help out a friend in need. Rather than waking up and watching the news or going to the gym, we start our days with prayer and meditation.
There are terms, not for God's love, which is unconditional, but for a life lived in conscious contact, in the refuge, in the consciousness of God, free and often conscious of the power of Not-God.
What I love about AA is that we live in the truth of the co-existence of both greater powers each day, God and the malady. I am not a subject any more of the Mad Realm of the dis-ease because my days are occupied in listening to direction from my loving Employer who keeps me busy with the steps, carrying the message to others who suffer, and service to the larger community, LIFE!! There is a loving Power deeper than my discomfort, my emotions (both positive and negative), deeper than our beautiful hard-wiring to blink, to drink, to breath, to eat, to make love, to sing, to cry, to despair, to puff up.
The sun is blocked... and I realize I'm cold - in a shadow.
NOT-god is not love.
God is love.
And the LORD said to him ("the man dressed in linen"), "Pass through the city, ...and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it."
And to the others he said in my hearing "Pass through the city after him and strike. Your eye shall not spare and you shall show no pity. Kill old men outright, young men and maidens., little children and women, but touch no one on whom is the mark, And begin at my sanctuary..... Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. Go out... My eye will not spare, not will I have pity. I will bring their deeds upon their heads."
And behold, the man clothed in linen, with the writing case at his waist brought back word, saying, "I have done as you commanded me. " (Ezekiel 9:3-11)
Don't attribute to God what is NOT God.
So... what is origin of the God that wipes out, annihilates the "sinners," the oppressor that the OT explains with an angry, vengeful, genocidal God?
I experience a very real voice within that undermines, is destructive in explicit and subtle ways, e.g. "Throw the baby out the window - no put her in the oven." "You are not good enough." "Stab her." "Eat ALL the cake." "Drive into the on-coming traffic," "You are worthless, a fake." "Jump off the bridge." "Take a drink of that red wine" (remember I'm an alcoholic). "Cheat on your husband." "Tell her she is a loser." "Get revenge." "Stay in bed all day and forever." "Pray he is assassinated."
Do these voices mean I qualify for medication or are they evidence of a power that is not God and not under my control? The voice is Jung's "shadow," AA's "disease," Christianity's "Satan," Jesus's "the devil," "the evil one," new age's "negative thoughts" or "negative energy." This voice in sobriety used to TERRIFY me but no longer does, unless I start to listen to and believe its insanity (at times it still does get me alone and seduced into its lies). As the terror was removed through self reflection, prayer, mediation, and service the frequency, intensity, and duration of the "visits" has lessened considerably, too.
Before I got sober and had an experience of a loving Higher Power through living the steps, I could not "watch' thoughts or emotions objectively; until I experienced clarity about the dis-ease of alcoholism and the mental torture it both generates and medicates with alcohol, I couldn't tell the difference between God and Not-God.
That confusion is the same mistake I see in the Old Testament, lack of clarity - attributing to God what is not God.
When I'm not in alignment with the Realm of Spirit, I'm in the Realm of Insanity. The Book of Leviticus records the Lord's communication to the Moses about the strict rules governing the ways in which the people of Israel are to re-align themselves and stay in alignment with God. Here is an example:.
1 The Lord called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying,
2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When any one of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of livestock from the herd or from the flock.
3 “If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. He shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the Lord.
4 He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.
5 Then he shall kill the bull before the Lord, and Aaron's sons the priests shall bring the blood and throw the blood against the sides of the altar that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
6 Then he shall flay the burnt offering and cut it into pieces,
7 and the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire.
8 And Aaron's sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, the head, and the fat, on the wood that is on the fire on the altar;
9 but its entrails and its legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall burn all of it on the altar, as a burnt offering, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. (Leviticus 1:1-9)
This is all about atonement, at-one-ment. It is a description of the rules and regulations for remaining in "the sunlight of the spirit." This is what the people of Israel did to show their obedience to God. The bull was important to the people of Israel. It's offering demonstrated their trust in the Provider, the God of the Universe.
Today, the terms are simple, user-friendly, and based on spiritual principles: the 12 steps, especially prayer and meditation. Rather than "bull without blemish," those of us living the 12 steps might be asked to forego going to a movie to work with a sponsee or go to a meeting. Rather than going shopping, we might need to write inventory or help out a friend in need. Rather than waking up and watching the news or going to the gym, we start our days with prayer and meditation.
There are terms, not for God's love, which is unconditional, but for a life lived in conscious contact, in the refuge, in the consciousness of God, free and often conscious of the power of Not-God.
What I love about AA is that we live in the truth of the co-existence of both greater powers each day, God and the malady. I am not a subject any more of the Mad Realm of the dis-ease because my days are occupied in listening to direction from my loving Employer who keeps me busy with the steps, carrying the message to others who suffer, and service to the larger community, LIFE!! There is a loving Power deeper than my discomfort, my emotions (both positive and negative), deeper than our beautiful hard-wiring to blink, to drink, to breath, to eat, to make love, to sing, to cry, to despair, to puff up.
The sun is blocked... and I realize I'm cold - in a shadow.
NOT-god is not love.
God is love.
"God created man and man returned the favor." - Ray B's grandfather