Yesterdays Vatican announcement concerning 'rooting out' of fraudulent visionaries is not just another step in Benedict's campaign to rein in rambunctious elements of Catholicism. In as much as it has opened the Church to more ridicule, and painted a picture of Benedict as an illiterate believer in silly debunked medieval myth, it was a dangerous step for him to take.
It completely undercuts his 'faith grounded in reason' commentary, and his carefully styled persona of highly cultured benign intellectual professor. This new initiative never needed to be publicised. Catholicism is a highly secretive hierarchical structure which could easily have kept this in house. So why do it? Before I get into my reasons for why I think Benedict took this self destructive step, I offer the following thread from another of my NCR Cafe family.
Dennis is an impassioned advocate for the People of God as a model of Church, and equally impassioned about how the current model can not possibly reflect the Church Jesus may or may not have intended to start. The following is an extract of a longer reflection, but is really timely in the aspects I will hi light below. The bold sections indicate some of my suspicions concerning the coming guidelines for visionaries.
Protect the faith, retreat to the basics (interpreted as dogma or as biblical literalism, simply and rigidly held and enforced); ostracize and demean the intellectual independents; exclude the seekers and the searchers; sanctify compliance; resurrect and idolize the symbols and trappings of the age of obeisance; redefine dialogue as negotiation; redefine terms of convenience like natural “law” to absolute; reintroduce fear as a teaching instrument (excommunication/dismemberment or “left behind”) for high and low; reward medievalism (plenary indulgences “advertised” for the year of St. Paul). These are the tactics, the politics, the strategies of fear, of dislike, of desperation - retreat behind the walls that are crumbling in the deception of strength and in the vain hope that the cavalry will come
What has all this to do with Christmas? I almost forgot. Over the season, I thought often about Mary. A teenager vulnerable in so many ways, pregnant by someone other than her husband, away from home about to give birth for the first time without medical or experienced family or community support, most likely without much more than a penny to her name; at the mercy of strangers, weather and so on and so on.... So small, having so little, being so insignificant yet burdened by and acceding to “voices” who challenged her to be the mother of someone who would be so significant that she couldn't imagine. I have no idea what she might have or have not comprehended about her son and the more immediate political/religious swirl that they would be embroiled into within weeks of giving birth. Is she our exemplar? Is she the Church's exemplar?
Did she flee into the temple or find a fortress or crawl into a hole; did she ring herself with guards, did she even lock the door? Did she insist that the “voices” protect her privacy, keep strangers away and guard her from whatever? Quite the contrary they blabbed it to anyone who was up and about that night and she welcomed these as well as real strangers who, we are led to believe, might have been Arabic? Was she so certain, so absolute in her son, her role, her significance her responsibility that she defined the events and directed their playing out? Did she define the terms of the strangers access to the child (other than maybe “don't wake the baby”)? Maybe the story is embellished but it seems to me that she remained open, offered herself and her Son, as Jesus would ultimately offer Himself, in the fullness, the simplicity and the realism, the potential of His message, His person and the perversity as well as the goodness of his community, of his history. She taught Him well.
Dear God, I love that woman. (Me too, Dennis)
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When I was reading through Dennis's post the first time, I couldn't help myself from thinking about the consequences which would have ensued for Mary, had she been subjected to the Vatican's new guidelines. She would have been in big trouble for not controlling the 'voices' who surrounded her, making her an instant fraud. Instead of being visited by Magi bearing gifts who refused to do Herod's bidding, it would have been exorcists and temple priests visiting to do precisely Herod's bidding.
And poor Jesus, even He was unable to shut up the people he healed, or stop inner dimensional things from happening around Him, and a great deal of what he taught would not pass the doctrinal and dogmatic mustard demanded by the Vatican. He was after all, crucified for blasphemy. The only thing that would be different for Him now, is the public crucifixion part. Modern zealots prefer the assassination route. His resurrection, now that might become big news, as most of His disciples would probably have cameras on their cell phones. It would be hard for the Vatican to deal with that kind of publicity.
All joking and sarcastic speculation aside, see Huffington Post, the guidelines may indicate something else about Vatican fears. There are some very important things going on in scientific disciplines which have some serious consequences for Catholic theology and our understanding of human consciousness and the universe we live in.
The first is the concept of observer effect in quantum physics. This states that the behavior of sub atomic particles will reflect the observer's point of reference. To put it simply, the observer observes what he/she expects. This seems to imply that intentional thought impacts the organization of matter at the quantum level. In a very real sense we do create our reality. It is not all about a creator God who sits up somewhere pulling all the strings. We seem to be string pullers ourselves. This does not support notions of our powerlessness in the face of sin.
The second concept comes from String Theory, which theorizes that our universe may be entangled with up to 11 other universes. In this theory, those universes may also contain other sentient life forms whose consciousness is not necessarily expressed in the three dimensional matter of our experience. Can anyone read angels here? I keep going back to the first time Michael actually spoke to me. He defined himself not as an angel, but as a non organic sentient being. He was the one who forced me into attempting to gain what limited understanding I have of string theory. (OOPS, I have now admitted violating the education clause in the new guidelines.)
Michael's insistence on upgrading my understanding of quantum theory had another point. If it's true our universe is entangled with others, the reverse is also true. They are entangled with ours and have a vested interest in upgrading our understanding of our own consciousness and it's impact on the much greater creation. It's why they have been communicating with all kinds of human spiritualities in all kinds of manifestations for a long long time. (See Nativity of Jesus.)
The third concept which may also cause some angst in the Vatican, is the work of Masamura Emoto. Work I have mentioned more than once. His work seems to show the power of love on the quantum level. This is not romantic love, which is essentially selfish in nature and biologically driven, but the love Christ taught, which is unconditional and ego less. This love is driven from a maturing spirituality/consciousness and is subsequently felt in a bilogical sense. In this love, consciousness drives the biological expression, not the other way around.
Masmura Emoto's work plainly shows this process of consciousness driving molecular organization. Romantic love is more or less a product of molecular organization driving conscious perception. Until the Church processes these understandings, John Paul's Theology of the Body is mixing apples and oranges and calling it natural law. For instance, in my thinking, celibacy is not a gift from God, it's a product of maturing in consciousness and spirituality. (OOPS, I just failed the dogma/doctrine test. OK this isn't the first time.)
The kind of love Jesus spoke about has real power to effect real change. It orders matter to a higher level of organization and beauty. It's God's gift to creation and the life blood on which it operates. Exactly what Jesus taught. Love, freely chosen, makes the world go where God wants it too (the Kingdom come), not obedience. Exactly what Jesus meant when He spoke about the spirit of the law taking precedence over the letter of the law. Obedience is about the Newtonian reality, unconditional love is about the quantum reality.
Finally, messages from other dimensions are not about validating specific religious doctrine, they are about moving mankind forward in conciousness and awareness, in knowledge about just how innerconnected we are with ourselves and other universes. Michael once told me the thing which is most unique about Earth is that we were placed in a material matrix in which we can freely choose to be driven by our percieved reality and biology, or we can choose to work the Newtonian reality the other way around, letting our sentient conciousness create our reality from the quantum level.
This last is where mankind is being guided. If we get there, the change in the over all quantum picture will be vast. Earth really is important, and not because God got pissed at us because we messed up with our free choice. It's important because it's about concsious sentient beings discovering the vastness of God and His plan, and freely choosing to further it. Mary got this, it's why I love her.
As I was reading your post, and pondering Benedicts "reign", I couldnt help but notice similarities between his actions now, and the actions of Hitler in Nazi Germany 70 years ago. I have often wondered how much his time in the Nazi youth would shape his actions today. From what I am seeing now, it would appear to be quite a bit.
ReplyDeleteBook bannings, excommunications of critics, teacher persecutions, manipulating elections ... all have the earmark of Naziism.
Opus Dei, Neochatechumenal Way, and Legionnaires of Christ ... modern versions of brown shirts, ss and ghestapo?
I wonder if his attacks against the gay culture and women are not modern day versions of Hitlers villification of the Jews.
Are the Magisterial Authorities a modern day version of the Hitler elite?
If we really do a thorough examination of his reign will we find even more similarities? Are we looking at a modern day Religious Nazi party being formed?
To expound on one of your comments:
ReplyDelete--- For instance, in my thinking,
--- celibacy is not a gift from
--- God, it's a product of maturing in consciousness and spirituality.
I see it a bit differently The full equation is being able to have sex as frequently or infrequently as one chooses to have it without it becoming an obsession, without it becoming a religious fixation, with it being just what it is, a simple sharing, an expression of the moment that may or may not lead to conception, etc. … that is my concept of how any activity can be recognized as the product of maturing consciousness and spirituality.
Something to remember in the Quantum world, what the pope wants is irrelevant. What the pope does is irrelevant. The RCC is dying, rotting from the inside out, much like Goldie Hawn was doing in "Death Becomes Her". Still talking, but all of the pieces starting to decay and break.
Last fall we passed critical mass of enlightenment.
Have you noticed the increased speed of change, the increased intensity, the increasing tendancy of the old to collapse in on itself, without much outside help?
The erratic behavior of the vatican and the pope are reflections of this shift. They are the actions of desperate men desperately attempting to hang on to what they know, desperately afraid of change. Every action they take explodes back on them. The exodus from the RCC is growing rather alarmingly (for them). The more they try to control it, the more mistakes they make, the more they drive people away.
Look for Benedict, in the very near future to say something really stupid and cause the radical islamic functions to declare a jihad against the vatican, not the catholic church per se, but the vatican specifically. Also, look for the pope to really piss off the western democracies and see him become the one "excommunicated".
Have you noticed how the vatican resembles the cat hanging on the the end of the rope with both claws?
Women priest is growing. Demand for their gifts far exceeds their ability to provide. Alternative services both within and outside of the RCC are sprouting up almost weekly now.
Have you noticed the changes in the natural world around us? Weather? Animals? Animal Behaviors?
Have you noticed the body changes that are happening? The major ones? The subtle ones? Example: I am almost totally vegetarian (not vegan yet) now. Cabinets that used to be full of "meat"-helpers are now full of jars of beans, rices, and other whole foods. It is a change that just happened, and I wasnt consciously trying to do it. (Now, if I could just figure out how to stop the production of natural gas ... :-0)
There are those whose place is to contend with those in authority to assist in the manifestation of change, there are others whose place is to step back and create spaces, manifesting the quantum potentials of change into existence.
How powerfully can we manifest change now? Sunday, I decided I wanted a turtle shell for a project and created the potential. Somewhere in 2000 acres was a turtle shell. I literally walked a 1/2 mile straight line right directly to it.
Someone said "Our worst fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure." The truth is that we ARE powerful beyond measure, and that is what Quantum is showing us. As more of us become more comfortable in RESPONSIBLY expressing and manifesting that power, the small minority that are afraid to change, that want to hold on to the old ways, simply cease to be.
Jesus said "these things you shall do and more". Anyone for more?
Colleen hope you can hear the amen section from the Midwest Heartland. . .so agree with your perspective and summing up. . .
ReplyDeleteCarl, I've noticed a lot of the changes you mention. Speaking of weather, it's sort amazing to think my area of Montana is supposed to be warmer than the deep south today. Not that we haven't had our share of sub zero weather this year.
ReplyDeleteIn your take on sexual expression, I think you left one important notion out. That's the notion of exploitation. No one has a right to exploit another human being for the 'simple pleasure' of sex. What may be a simple pleasure for males is not so simple for women.
Even if one is taking birth control, it's not infallible, and it does have hormonal effects.
I'm not trying to come off like a reactionary puritanical sexual prude, but I am pointing out the fact that 'simple sex' for women is not exactly true, unless one has had a hysterectomy.
Beyond the biological issues, there are also energy entanglement issues. Sex is not just an exchange of body fluids, it's also a doorway to another's soul energy. To me this is the key lesson of the pedophile crisis. These victims were exploited at the soul level more so than the physical level. It's why they have so much trouble healing.
There is something odd about the weather at "Glacier" National Park being milder than the weather in the heart of america. Brrrr.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read your response I was stunned. I have been fixed for so long that birth control is not even in my personal consciousness regarding sex. STD's definitely, but not birth control. As I thought about what you wrote, I realized that when sex for procreation ceased to be a possiblity, sex for domination ceased to be an issue, sex for manipulation and control ceased to be an issue, etc ... sex became simply a great joy to share with another. The concept of exploiting another person does not fit in my paradigm of sharing. For me and my partner it truly is about sharing, and in sharing, all of the other "stuff" disappears.
I recognize that all of the issue you mention are issues that exist, and valid concerns that need to be effectively addressed. Expecially, the gothic mentality the vatican is still attempting to pander on the laity, a mentality that is designed to insure that sex continues to be exploitative and destructive.
reactionary puritanical prude? no!
a passionate, gently soul who really cares, and is committed to making a difference - yes.
todays word is "extba"
--- extba, extba, BE all about it
It really is about being about it, not just reading about it.