I Am My Own Savior – Don Hanley’s blog #37

This was the longest dream involving Mary that I have had. I was talking about what I thought about children and what people needed to truly follow Jesus’s teachings. So, I’ll continue . . .

“Now, John, you were saying that when you wanted people to remember your time with Jesus, you didn’t want to lecture them but to get them to feel what Jesus wanted them to experience, remember, and change how they lived. Is that correct?”

“Yes. I had seen too many Jews mouthing what Moses and the Prophets said and then go about their lives and being as greedy, fearful, and hurtful as they were before they ever heard the words and stories.”

Still looking serene but listening closely, Mary said, “I remember Jesus, as a boy, saying that too often people just eat the menu and fail to see and enjoy the banquet. He meant the banquet our Father had created for us – including our ability to create, inspire, love, and connect with others. Joseph and I realized that our son was teaching us many things while we were teaching him how to survive. So, John, please go on about what exactly was and is, Jesus’s teachings as you see it, or perhaps, experience it.”

“Remember, Mary, when I first met you and Joseph?” Mary nodded, and he said, “Well when I entered your house, I immediately felt overwhelmingly warm and safe. I had been freezingly cold and entered a comfortably warm room. I was with Jesus, and when we left your house, I mentioned to him what I experienced, and he said, ‘John, that is what I have been talking about; I want everyone in the world – even those not yet born, that they have the power within themselves to feel what you just felt. And that power or force within them was from when they were conceived –they arrived in their mother’s womb. The embryonic baby does not know this and must learn this – first in the safe environs of the cocoon or womb and then as a newborn baby. That is why every mother must be protected and cared for in a delicate and secure way so she can pass it on to her infant. And it usually takes a few years for each one to realize, deep in our minds and hearts, that we are one with everyone and everything in creation. We are one – with, we are not alone in this world – ever.”  

“Thank you, John. I felt this same warmth and comfort when I first met Mary in my dreams. My mother wanted to pass on this warmth to me, but I was her ninth live birth, and the doctor who delivered me said to Mom, ‘Well, Maggie, here’s another mouth to feed.’ My oldest sister, who was there, told me that the doctor said that with very little compassion, and mom continued to bleed and that it took three hours to save her life. So, I guess she didn’t have much power or energy to radiate love into me.” I knew I wasn’t explaining what happened well, but I stopped talking. I continue to wonder if my mother’s inability to be as warm and loving toward me as she would have liked had made me less able to be as loving a person as I would like to be. I didn’t share that thought with Mary and John.

Mary pondered what John and I had said and gave both a warm smile and these words, “Thank both of you for telling me these things. I now know more precisely what my son was trying to do. I still cannot grasp why the Romans believed they must kill him.”

She shook her head, and I was disappointed that I just vanished . . . 

Hopefully, you are still nurturing and opening your heart, not just eating the menu. 

Ah, The Adult Jesus – Don Hanley’s blog #36

This time, I returned to the dream quickly, which I greatly appreciated.

I sat back in my chair and looked at Mary and John and then said, “I don’t know why I left you so quickly, but anyway, I’m back, and John, I’m very interested in what you began saying about what Jesus believed about children and, well, about everyone has the power to love and become enlightened just as Jesus was. Please tell me more.”

He looked at Mary and said, “Please, Mary, please tell Don what you told me about Jesus’s reflections on children.” He paused momentarily and then added, “You know, Mary, I think it is so sad that you were and are not able to teach in public about your thoughts and experiences. You have more wisdom in your little finger than the rabbis have in their collective minds.”

Mary began, “Thank you, John, but I don’t regret my role; I just think it is not time for me and women to speak in public.” She turned to me and said, “Well, Don, I’ll begin by sharing a very moving experience when I witnessed Jesus in his teens. As he often did, he was with a small group of children and looked at each. Then, he placed his left hand on a large rock near him as he sat in a circle with the children. He raised and lowered his pinkie finger and said, ‘Would you all do this? Raise and lower your littlest finger.’ They all did, and he asked, ‘Now tell me how we can do this? I can’t see any strings or hands or anything helping my finger go up and down. So, how do I do it?’ Several children said they didn’t know; one said God did it, and another said there was an invisible rope that each of us used. A pretty six-year-old named Sara added, “I think we all have the kind of energy that we have at our command so that we can move our muscles whenever we want to just by thinking about it.” They all waited for Jesus to answer, and he let them wait a while and then said, ‘Thank you, Sara, you are correct. In a way, God made us so that all we need to do is think about it, and the muscles in our hands and fingers move the way we want them to. Isn’t that wonderful?’ Then he put his hands together in prayer and said, ‘Thank you, Yahweh, for creating us in such a wonderful way.’ And they all repeated his words and actions.”

Mary had been awed by the scene and showed it in her glowing smile as she repeated it for me. She continued, “Often after he had been with a group of children, he would share some of his ideas about children and humans with Joseph and me. That day, he told us that we all were blessed, even as children, with a wonderful ability to realize how we are connected in a kind of love, force, power, or grace. I don’t think there are any words to describe it. What do you think, John? And Don, what do the wise men of your century say about children's possible ability and wisdom?” Mary exhaled and sat back in her chair. 

 John replied, “First, I believe Jesus often contradicted the wise men of our time. I’m not sure, but I believe we were taught that we were just puppets of Yahweh and His angels and were only doing what we were taught. Our job was to obey what our parents and teachers told us to think and to do. Now, Don, has that changed over all these years, and in what ways in your 21^st century?” 

I thought the first chance I got, I’d get with a bunch of kindergartners and preschoolers, do what Jesus did, and see how they reacted. I told John and Mary, “I believe that for far too long, it was believed that children came into the world as blank slates – that is, with empty minds that need to be filled up with the facts about life and the world and that is the responsibility of schools to provide these ‘facts.’ 

Religious schools were set up to ensure that Jesus’s teachings, laws, and devotions from the Bible were drilled into children's minds. What you said about what Jesus taught is just now being explored. I think I am one of those pushing to have all teachers and schools become places that nurture children's inborn ideas and giftedness. I think that our invitation to open our minds and hearts is often as quiet and soft as our own heartbeat and. . . ” and darned if I didn’t disappear again. Now, please . . . 

Continue to open your mind, nurture your heart, and study, but don’t eat the menu. 

Now Two Ghost Boys – Don Hanley’s blog #35

Every evening before I crawl into bed, I hope to have a vivid dream of Mary and her flowers. And this night, I do have one!

I’m standing in Mary’s flower garden and see her talking with a rather handsome fellow dressed in the dusty white robe common for both men and women in Galilee. Mary looks at me and says, “Oh, Don, so good to see you. I thought maybe you had forgotten me.”

She looked over at the fellow sitting in My chair. And I thought how presumptuous of me to call the chair mine, but I guess he did not see me for some reason, as Mary said, “Oh John, I guess you don’t see my other guest, Don, of the 21st Century. John, would you please take a chair out of my house and let him sit in that chair?”

Oh, so this is the apostle, John. I think there are three “Johns” in the New Testament. I hope he is the gospel writer and letters  that are written under his name. I want to talk to him about them. John went into the house and brought back a kitchen chair. I guess he saw me now, for he said, “Ah, you are the ghost fellow that Mary tells me you visit with her and tell outlandish historical stories about her and her son, Jesus.”

“I would like to believe they are outlandish stories, but they are true stories that I personally have heard. One in particular is that Jesus was, and is, the one and only Son of the true God. Mary tells me that Jesus never saw himself that way. There is a complete book, or I should say, a set of books believers call the New Testament of Sacred Scriptures or Bible. You, John, have one book, The Gospel of John, about Jesus. You say that Jesus is the Light of the World, and many things seem to support the idea that Jesus was and is one with God the Father. Did the printers or publishers get it wrong?”

Mary had put a hand over her mouth, and John looked a bit puzzled and, after a short pause, said, “What do you mean ‘printer’ and ‘publisher’? And you speak Aramaic very well. Do people in your time speak Aramaic?”

I chuckled and relaxed as I began to see how our language differences make understanding each other difficult, even if whatever angel translates my English into Aramaic and John and Mary’s Aramaic into English. Wanting to make contact, I said, “My country is called ‘the United States of America,’ and the language most of us speak is called English. I have no idea who or how my words are getting translated into Aramaic and yours into English, but I am very glad it is happening. Oh, and I enjoy the way you describe Jesus’s message of light, love, and hope, but I don’t personally believe Jesus is the one and only son of God. I believe He wants us to live our lives in such a way so that we are, or at least act like we are, all sons and daughters of God.” John smiled and nodded, and I continued, “On printers and publishers, I guess you would just say those who passed on your stories and that maybe, at times, they added some ideas or words to the stories when they told it, and those whom they told it to, do the same. Could that be true?” He nodded.

Mary took her hand away from her mouth and exhaled a sigh of relief.  I think Mary was afraid that I might offend John, so she said, “John, I’m sure Don would very much like to hear about your experiences with the adult Jesus – especially his journey to the East.  And I would like to hear more about that myself. You did accompany him there, did you not?”

“Yes, Mary, I did, but first, I want to answer Don’s question about whether Jesus was the only Son of Yahweh.” I was relieved that John seemed relaxed as he said, “Don, first, you need to remove the ‘only’ from what you say. Jesus also told us that we, too, are Sons of God." He looked over at Mary and added, "and daughters of God. I agree with what you just said about living like we are reflecting the power or force of God our Father – just as Jesus did when he was here with us physically. In telling my stories and experiences with Jesus, I should follow the ancient Jewish spiritual storytellers and enhance, and sometimes even exaggerate, what I say so that people will hear it and remember what I say. Jesus does not want us to be like him but to realize , deep down, that we too have the power and ability to be lovingly kind, enchanted, enlightened, and as connected with others as he is. He does not want us to mimic him but to be in touch with our true selves. And on my storytelling, I think if you were to tell the story of your dreams about meeting and talking with Mary, wouldn’t you tell it so that it would be exciting and memorable?“ I nodded and John continued, "I hope I will have time to tell you that Jesus thought that every person, even children, are having many free-floating thoughts about the universe and he thought that our Jewish religion put too much emphasis on just learning and repeating what Moses and other teachers believed, rather than learning  how to be with all creation." 

I was very interested in what he was saying but my dream ended and I disappeared, so...

Keep in touch with and nurture your heart, glance at the menu, and enjoy the banquet.

Now I'm a Ghost – Don Hanley’s blog #34

I’m glad that I’m back to dreaming about talking with Mary, and just as I sat down in my usual chair in her flower garden, she said:

“Well, Don, I am glad you returned to visit me. Now, I want to tell you that I, too, had a dream. In that dream, I visited with my son’s youngest companion, John.  I told him about you and your visits in my dream, and he was very interested. He asked me to ask you as clearly as possible, what you wanted to know about Jesus – my son and his friends. So, Don, tell me, as best you can, what you want to know.” She chuckled a little and added, “And you know what he called you?”

I shook my head, and she went on, “Ghost boy. Isn’t that funny?”

“It is funny as you tell it, Mary. If it were anyone else, it would be insulting.” She smiled and shook her head. I went on, “I guess my basic question is this: From what I have read and studied in what we call the New Testament in the Bible, Jesus wanted everyone to know that the God of us all, or Yahweh, has created us with the power or force to be lovingly kind, understanding, and connected to all creatures in the universe, especially other humans. And, now, in my home century of 2024 AD – we used to believe that stood for Anno Domine or Year of Our Lord – and Christians of all denominations have hated and even killed millions of other Believers and non-Christians. Did Jesus say or teach anything to justify that kind of behavior?” I did my best to look at Mary in a way that was beseeching her not to be offended by my question.

The serenity in  her countenance indicated that she was not offended but was, maybe, as puzzled as I was. After several minutes, she said, “I remember Jesus telling Joseph and me that Moses included in his 10 Commandments, ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ But that our fellow Jews disobeyed Yahweh and did kill others, even fellow Jews. It seems that only that it is only now that the might and fear of the Romans has stopped a great deal o the killing. Even hating and creating fear is a form of killing the human spirit or soul. Jesus also mentioned that changing humans’ habitual ways of doing things takes a long time and even centuries. He often stated that Our Father could not stop humans from doing destructive things without destroying our ability to choose and to create. I will do my best to think of other answers and talk with John about it the next time I see him – in person or my adventurous dreams.”

"I would also like to know whether Jesus ever said anything about him being the Messiah or having any kind of special relationship with Yahweh?" 

"No he did not, and I'll ask John about that the next time I talk with him. And I want you to know I enjoy your visits even if you don't bring up questions about Jesus." I told her that I felt the same way - I just enjoyed being in her presence even if it only was in my dreams. And I remember a twentieth century song that had a line like that. - 'I'll see you in my dreams.' Mary suddenly looked rather startled like she had seen something in the sky and said, "Maybe this will help, when he returned from the east he mentioned that there was a fellow named Buddha who talked about all of creation was connected and that we all must learn to realize, deep down in our being, that we are one with every other person. And I remember him saying he could not understand why Romans and others can kill and enslave other humans. He had shaken his head and looked quite puzzled and saddened by the thought. Does that help?" I nodded and wondered about what Jesus had experienced in India.

I wanted to know more about what the boy Jesus thought about when he was very young, but just then, I flew or somehow disappeared . . . Now, please.

Nurture your heart, ponder this menu, and then enjoy your banquet.

The Velveteen Rabbit – Don Hanley’s blog #33

I somehow brought one of my favorite books, The Velveteen Rabbit, by Margery Williams, into my meeting with Mary. I read a few lines of it to Mary because I’m sure she didn’t read English. Here are the lines I chose that I thought stated what Mary had said about Jesus teaching that we are all one, even when we grow old and shabby, like me.

“Weeks passed, and the little Rabbit grew old and shabby, but the Boy loved him just as much. He loved him so hard that he loved all his whiskers off, and the pink lining to his ears turned grey, and his brown spots faded. He even began to lose his shape, and he scarcely looked like a rabbit anymore except to the boy. He was always beautiful to him, and that was all the little Rabbit cared about. He didn’t mind how he looked to other people because the nursery magic had made him Real, and when you are Real, shabbiness doesn’t matter.

One day, the boy became ill and had to leave the little Rabbit. Then, another miracle happened, and the loveliest fairy in the whole world visited the Rabbit and told him that she would make him Real.

’Wasn’t I Real before?’ asked the little Rabbit.

‘You were Real to the Boy,’ the Fairy said, ‘because the little boy loved you. Now you shall be Real to everyone.’ And just before the Fairy left, she said, ‘For once you are Real, you are Real Forever.’

I noticed there were tears in Mary’s eyes, and through her tears, she said, “Oh, Don, that is lovely. Thank you for reading that to me. I think Jesus would love it. And you know, I wish I had heard those lines the last time I was with Peter and John and all my son’s special friends after he was murdered. I believe that Jesus wanted every person to be Real through love."

Jesus was Real to Joseph and me and then to those closest to him, but now, his spirit could make him Real to everyone.” Before I could say anything, I left Mary thoughtfully sitting in Nazareth. 

And now . . .

Nurture your heart, ponder this menu, and continue being REAL!

I Dream of Mary – Don Hanley’s blog #31

Ah, and my dream continues, only this time, I’m wearing a red and black plaid shirt.

Mary smiled and said, “Well, Don, I’m glad you returned to see me. You asked me about my son, Jesus, and what he was like as a boy, correct?”

I nodded, and she continued, “And I’m still interested in some things you’ve heard about him over the years, right? If I remember correctly, you said centuries, not years, right?” I nodded again, and Mary didn’t give me time to respond before she added, “You made me think back to the many times Jesus talked with Joseph and me about the Jewish heroes of history. Joseph was always interested in it and encouraged our son. Jesus learned to read very early, and I remember him commenting on the first book of the Sacred Scriptures.

‘Mother and Father,’ he would say, ‘This is funny; this book says that God created everything, even us people, in six days.’ He chuckled and said, ‘And he created light, and then, days later, he created the sun. Isn’t that funny?’

“Joseph and I had never thought of that, and we laughed with him. Jesus made us think about the Word of God in an entirely new way. Do people in the future still read the Sacred Word?”

Mary looked at me in a way that indicated that she wanted to know the answer.

I said, “Oh. We call it the Bible or Sacred Scriptures. Some think God Himself wrote it and whispered to the human writer who wrote it down in Hebrew. Do you speak Hebrew?”

“I understand it, but I do not speak it very well. Jesus spoke Hebrew and even read it when he was about five years old – about the same time he read Aramaic. Joseph and other village people were amazed.” Mary shook her head as if she were still amazed.

I had many questions about Scripture that I wanted to discuss with her, but I was more interested in what she had to say about Jesus himself.

“Many people believe that Jesus was, and is, the one and only Son of God. What do you say to that – or would you say to them?”

She looked at the sky, laughed delightfully, and said, “You know, Don, you are talking to a Jewish mother. We all think our sons are the sons of God, you know.” She continued to laugh. "But you mean that they believe that my Jesus was the Son of God – that he was, and you said ‘is,’ the Son of God or, as the Scriptures say, Yahweh. And you know, Yahweh means, ‘I am who I am.’ I heard that when I was listening to men talking when I was a child - that we cannot know the true nature of God. You know, Jesus told both Joseph and me that, after our first trip to Jerusalem. We never found out how he learned that. Oh, imagine for a moment that if God were Jesus’s father, that would mean that God impregnated me.” She sat back, held her stomach with both hands, and laughed heartily.

I hated to interrupt her laughter, but I had to say, “The belief was, and most often is, that God just created a Godman in you, and this was called a ‘virgin birth.’”

Mary looked at me with a mischievous grin and said, “So your believers take all the fun out of it, is that right?”  I nodded and told her that most believers still do, and they call her the Virgin Mother of God.

Again, she burst out laughing and, through tears, pointed at her little house and said, “And does this look like the house a mother of God would live in?”

I nodded and muttered, “I think most still do.”

Regretfully, I woke up. I still hope you continue to . . . 

Nurture your heart and do not eat the menus, even this one.

As For Worshiping – Don Hanley’s blog #32

Love – Not Worship – My Friend

I’m already sleeping too much, and now, with my Mary dreams, I enjoy sleeping even more. So, I'm back sitting in Mary’s flower garden – in the same chair Joseph built some years ago.

“You know, my young, old man, I look forward to your visits. I somehow believe you are doing your best to tell me how admirers of my son, Jesus, saw him over many centuries, but I still find it hard to believe. So, anyway, my friend, tell me a few more of your strange stories.”

“First, I’m happy that you are finding me believable, but if I had visited you in what we call the Middle Ages and told others about my visit with you, I would have been burned at the stake.”

Mary looked at me, first with astonishment and then with horror. She covered her mouth with a hand and muttered, “Oh, dear, why in the world would they do that?”

“Because no one, if they are true believers in Jesus, should ever even think of talking with His mother. Evil spirits must possess that person.”

Mary began to laugh, and through her guffaws, she said, “Now, you surely are joking with me, are you not?”

“I wish I were joking, but I’m not. In those years, you were worshipped, and they even built one of the most beautiful temples in the world in a city named Paris. They named it ‘Our Lady’ or ‘Notre Dame.’

Mary looked so alarmed that I feared she would faint and fall out of the chair.

“Oh, Mary, I do not want to hurt or frighten you. What can I do for you?”

“Oh, I don’t know. How did they go so wrong about my Jesus and me?”

“I honestly don’t know. I think they thought they were honoring both you and Jesus.” I shook my head as if to shake some answer in there."

“Don’t they know that Jesus did not want to be glorified in any way? He just wanted everyone to know that Yahweh created them and that they can love and be kind to themselves and one another.”

I wanted to answer her, but I left her sitting there. So, all I could do was to…

Nurture my heart, glance at the biblical menu again, and not eat it.