Category: Christianity

There are a number of people beginning the awakening process. This is a painful process of deconstruction of old belief systems. The story your parents, church, or society have told you begin to fall apart. It is helpful to know this is normal for those awakening from the Matrix.

There are four stages of faith. First is simplicity, here everything is right or wrong. The main motive is about being right. The world seems simple, there is us who are good and them that are evil.

The second stage is complexity. The clarity has blurred, and the focus is now on success and failure. The world is divided between winners and losers, and we are the winners. There is also an increasing independence. Doubt is a problem to be solved.

The third stage is perplexity. Honesty opens one up to the complexities of the faith. One begins to see their own bias, and begin facing inconvenient truths. Black and white has blended into shades of gray. Life has now become a quest for the true and the real, with an appreciation for mystery. Critical thinking becomes a vital skill. Doubt is now a virtue, not a problem. It is the doorway to truth.

The fourth stage is harmony. To reach an integral spirituality that is holistic and balanced is the goal. But the journey is long and painful. The interconnected nature of reality is realized, compassion and humility become actualized in one’s life. Knowledge about becomes knowledge of. Doubt is seen as a necessary part of life, living, and spiritual growth. There is an openness to mystery. Not everything can or should be explained.

The vast majority of Christians do not grow beyond simplicity. They are not ready to be unplugged from society’s programming. They are content to live in the dream world of illusion. Likewise, they are unconscious, automated people living out their lives in oblivion. The lights are on, but nobody is home.

Complexity is the first step towards perplexity. Jesus said, “Whoever seeks shouldn’t stop until they find. When they find, they’ll be disturbed. When they’re disturbed, they’ll be amazed, and reign over the All” (GTh 2). Or to rephrase a saying of Christ’s, “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you very uncomfortable.” But there is always pain before a child is born.

Refernces
Brian D, McLaren, Faith After Doubt: Why Your Beliefs Stopped Working and What To Do About It, New York: Essentiaks, 2021.

“Whoever belittles another lacks sense, but an intelligent person remains silent.” (Prov. 11:12)

“One who spares words is knowledgeable; one who is cool in spirit has understanding. Even fools who keep silent are considered wise; when they close their lips, they are deemed intelligent” (Prov. 17:27-28)

“To watch over mouth and tongue is to keep out of trouble.” (Prov. 21:23)

“Keep silence for the most part, and speak only when you must, and then briefly.” —Epictetus

“Speak only if it improves upon the silence.” —Mahatma Gandhi

“Once you’ve matured, you realize silence is more powerful than proving a point.” —Unknown

“Silence is the best answer for all questions. Smiling is the best reaction to all situations.” —Unknown

“LAW 4: Always Say Less Than Necessary. When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common you appear, and the less in control. Even if you are saying something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended, and sphinxlike. Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less. The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish.” ―Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power

“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt.” —Maurice Switzer

“He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words.” —Elbert Hubbard

“When you have nothing to say, say nothing.” —Charles Caleb Colton

“We have two ears and one mouth, therefore we should listen twice as much as we speak.” —Zeno

“You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts.” —Khalil Gibran, The Prophet

“The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear.” —Ram Dass

“All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” —Blaise Pascal

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3:18).

Most Christians don’t understand grace. Grace is not unmerited favor. You can’t grow in unmerited favor, you either have it or you don’t.

Grace is the special influence of God upon a person.. You can grow in the special influence of God in your life. The more you surrender to God, the more you die to self, the more God fills your life.

You cannot reap a harvest if you don’t plant seeds. And the seeds won’t grow if you don’t water them. But if you plant and water the seeds, they will grow and produce fruit.

The seeds are your resolutions, the water is the spiritual disciplines, and the fruit is the result in one’s life in the form of thoughts, words, and deeds. The sun is God’s grace, it is his influence that works in and with you, enabling you to live a holy life.

God’s grace is already given, it is in the very presence of God as the Ground of Being. We are God’s offspring, our existence is a donation of God’s Being to us. Therefore, all we do, we do with the rays of divine influence all around us.

God’s grace is like the sun. As the sun hardens the clay but softens wax. So too does God’s grace hardens the selfish heart but softens the loving heart. When we resist the divine influence, we harden our hearts against God. When we surrender to the divine influence, we are saved. For we are saved by grace, not by the self-centered works.

You are born alone, and you die alone. Yet, how we fight against this reality.

Before you begin a deeper walk with God, know that that walk will be a lonely one. The closer you get to God, the further you’ll be from people.

Leonard Ravenhill said it well:

Great eagles fly alone; great lions hunt alone; great souls walk alone-alone with God. Such loneliness is hard to endure, and impossible to enjoy unless God accompanies them. Prophets are lone men; they walk alone, pray alone and God makes them alone.

This is the oldest creed of Christianity. It is recorded in the first epistle of Paul to the Corinthians (15:3-8).

• For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the [Jewish] scriptures
• And that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the [Jewish] scriptures
• And that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
• Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.
• Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
• Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.