On Serving Two MastersThere
are so many similarities between the Messiah message o-f two horses and the
current monetary situation. It all boils down to one lesson and that lesson
seems to be getting farther away as we travel in time from the Crucifixion.
In modern times we speak of foreign deficits, deficit spending, trade
imbalance, overextended credit, inflation and many other terms too many to
list. All of these terms are related to the idea that it takes a complex
structure of money to survive. Any person would have a hard time explaining
life without succor. It does take money in one form or another to purchase
food to live. At least that is the way it appears. Beyond that all money
goes towards material goods or services related to life enhancement. Here we
are back to the Messiahs message that the birds and lilies are taken care of
by God and worrying about what we shall eat or how we shall dress has been
long surpassed.
On one hand we have some sects and religious orders who spend and inordinate
amount of time concentrating on which foods to eat and which to ignore. Each
dogma has its own philosophy and quotes scripture for its own end. All
cannot be right. Scripture is explicit in implying that we are NOT TO WORRY
about such things, as God will provide for us.
Extreme examples of this sort of obsession with food and dress are:
1. Not using herbal tinctures for curative properties because they contain
alcohol.
Alcoholism is a distinct problem in this world. Bodies become tolerant to
its calming property, thereby making it an addictive compound yet taken in
moderation, it is innocuous. All things in moderation.
2. No eating of meat. In Judaism pork is dis-allowed. In many western sects,
all meats are discourage because they enhance chances for cancer etal.
All things in moderation. Man has been eating meat for millenniums. Indeed
it has been "proven" that certain cancers and diseases of the blood are
enhanced by intake of meat and its byproducts. No person wants cancer, yet
it seems no person wants to die. Why should death be a fear? IF we truly
believe the Messiahs words then we should have no concern for cancer.
Certainly we do not rush towards death, yet we should not be afraid of it
either. Notwithstanding the prior, instances of cancer are not as high as we
would believe. European and eastern peoples eat meats in lower quantities
than those of us in the west and their instance of cancer is lower, yet they
do eat meat. There is no scriptural reference which forbids carnivore meals.
We are back again to the edict not to worry about our food!
The body is the earthly temple of the Spirit. It is our responsibility to
respect the body but not to worship it. Ultimately the body is carbon based
and returns to dust and other earthly material while our Spirit survives. We
must respect the body until the Spirit acknowledges its own existence. At
that time, in similar respects to John the Baptist and Christ, one shall
increase while the other decrease.
In all money matters such as those of the world bank and the stock market,
an earthly attempt is made to control minds in non—Spiritual matters. We may
two masters. We may not ride two horses. While it takes money to
survive the earthly life. It is not our God. All matters of money have
become completely out of hand while we have let our compassion for
those needy to take a back seat. Rich earthly wealth takes form by the
wish of the people. Money longer exists except as a concept and that concept
is changeable from digital existence in a computerized bank, to a state of
the
art compact disk. We may see the paycheck but visualize many forms of
material possession. This obsession with many forms of money detracts from
our Spirit. It is there in our soul that we have compassion for the truly
needy and those in mental and physical pain. To be sympathetic to others is
the food of the Spirit. Anything else is to ride the horse of manna. This
goes beyond any laws of thermodynamics. This goes contrary to the Word of
God.
In the times of the Messiah he told us Caesars' picture was on the coin...so
"Render under Caesar what is Caesars'." What is on today's money? An Eagle.
The word God. Some hay. A few presidents! Who do we give this money to? This
money comes from the bodies of government of our nation. This is not our
measure of wealth. Our measure of wealth is in how great is our Spirit. Give
freely of yourselves and all the rest shall follow. Money is paper and
metal; nothing else. It is not a way to keep score. Living life simply
without "technology or progress" is the path to a greater Spirit. Living
life for the sake of paper and metal is for the enhancement of the body.
It is important to remember this in all things. Hate the sin. Love the
sinner. And do not judge what is sin and which is not, yet be aware of
Spiritual needs of others. If we are compassionate towards others, then we
enhance the Spirit of all lives by obeying Moses Commandment.. "Love thy
neighbor as thyself!"
To heal the body is one matter. To heal the mind of its obsession with money
and related matters is also explicit in the Messiahs example in Gospels.
When a young man asked how he may see the kingdom of heaven the Messiah
said, "Sell all you have. Give the money to the poor and follow me!" The
young man balked, as he worshipped money and his possessions, rationalizing
that his father had slaved for years to pass them on to him. In our
"following" of the Messiahs example, the message is that we must throw off
the chains of materialism and follow the Spirit. |