Mary is AGAST to Learn About Hitler – Don Hanley’s blog #49

When I’m struggling to stay awake, I do a lot of reading and writing; I enjoy being asleep and visiting with Mary, John, Ruth, Luke, and everyone who comes into our dream world. So, I was happy to return to my dreamy little town of Nazareth a few years after Jesus’s execution.

Again, Mary greeted me warmly, and after I sat in ‘my’ chair, Mary asked, “Well, Don, when you are awake back in the 21st century, what do you do all day? You can’t be doing much physically if you are as frail there as you appear here with us, so what do you do to keep out of mischief?” She chuckled, and Luke and John joined her.

“Well, I do a lot of reading and some writing. I've written a few books since I retired from counseling and teaching. I am writing a novel I’m calling School of St. Smiles, about what I hope will become the kind of schools we’ll have in the future.

I thought of you, Mary when I came up with the title because your smile inspires me to live more fully and lovingly.” She acknowledged me with that smile. I went on, “The book I’m currently reading is a fictional story about two young and intelligent American women before and during the Second World War.  I tried to explain 19th and 20th-century politics and got many questioning faces. So, I returned to the book I was reading and said, “It is based on true happenings here on earth and starts around the time I was born in 1933. What I found most discouraging is that at that time, nine out of ten German people professed to be Christians, and yet they allowed a fellow named Hitler to become the emperor of Germany. Germany is a large country, about a thousand miles north of Judea. In only a few years, under orders from Hitler, the people there amassed a war machine that killed at least six million Jews and other people he, and his fellow henchmen declared undesirables simply because of the color of their skin or ethnic background or any other reason Hitler declared were undesirable. Some real loving Christians were added to the list of undesirables, and they were executed as well. I think that Hitler would even make a Roman emperor look nice.”

Mary turned white, and I feared she would faint as I talked about all this. She, John, Luke, and Ruth were shocked into silence for several minutes. Finally, Mary took a deep breath and murmured, “You said that most of these Germans who followed or obeyed Hitler called themselves ‘Christians’? How in the world could they dare to say that? Did they know what Jesus taught and what they needed to do if they truly wanted to be his followers?”

I looked at all four of my shocked friends and said, “I don’t know, but I do know that throughout history, most people follow men who come across as strong leaders who they believe will help them be safe and may even become prosperous. And I think that schools too often explicitly tell students to be quiet, sit still, do what they are told, and think only what the teacher tells them to think. That, to me, is indoctrination and not education. Tell me what you think about what Jesus would say about that.”

Luke was the first one to respond, “Jesus always told us to explore what we hear from learned people thoroughly and to compare what we hear from as many sources as possible and also listen to our own heart, and then follow our best and most life-giving ideas and then make a tentative decision as best we can. Our decision must be tentative but not absolute nor unchangeable.” John added, “Luke, that is a real mouthful, and I agree that it reflects what Jesus wanted and what we all must do to have a loving, creative, and peaceful world. again I'll declare that Jesus never said anything that he thought was absolutely to believe and to do and that is to believe and to become loving people. And that we all have the power within us to do that!” So it is not even important to even know who Jesus is or was." 

I loved what Luke and John said, and I wanted to hear more, but darn it, I vanished from the group – so . . .

Please open your heart, follow Luke’s and John's words, but don't just listen to them but live them.

SAVORING THE POWER TO BE WITH - Don Hanley’s blog #48

For days, I reflected on the nature of love as my trio of friends in Nazareth talked about it. I thought of some people, both men and women, who I believed lived that kind of love. I also wondered how well I had lived it. Thinking about this prompted me to meet Mary and her visitors in another vivid dream. This time, the trio seemed quite excited that Paul had awakened. Joshua, Ruth, and Julie stayed home and ensured Paul was okay.

Again, Mary greeted me warmly, “Welcome, our 21^st. Century friend. Luke told us that Ruth and Joshua’s visitor, Paul, has awakened and is amazed at how well he feels emotionally. He is having a hard time realizing that he has been in a coma for three weeks or so. I was telling her that I was certain that he, in his entire life, had never experienced the kind of loving care that she, Joshua, and Julie have given him. She was about to argue with me when you showed up.”

“And I’ll bet you are right, Mary. And I'm beginning to believe that he is receiving the kind of love that Jesus wanted everyone on earth to express to everyone. I hope this fellow, Paul, begins to tell people about that rather than persecuting those who know how to love. What do you think, John and Luke?”

“It’s too soon to tell.” Luke added, “Physically, he will take several more days to heal sufficiently to get out of bed and do more time than it takes to go to the latrine. He is muttering about how wonderfully kind you and Joshua are to him.”

John added, “And, Don, I’m glad that you have recognized that Ruth and Joshua’s love is exactly what Jesus told us about and insisting that we all have the power to be so kind. We need to open our hearts and express it rather than be cruel, envious, and all the other ways that hinder us from being peaceful, creative, and gifted folks. Were you teaching this as a priest in your younger years?”

“I would like to say ‘Yes,’ but I was told about it, but I was not taught how to help others and be self-accepting. I think I was taught to be a kind of Christian Pharisee - spouting all kinds of so-called spiritual laws and ‘shoulds’ that everyone must do and keep if they wanted to get to heaven and be with the Father.”

The last time I was here, Ruth was kind enough to say that she experienced me as a lovingly kind person. I responded, “I can only say that being with Mary, John, Luke, and her has helped me to become more loving and kind. It is something that I believe we must experience, as John says, and not something that is taught like a language or doctrine.”

And with those ‘wise’ words, I vanished again; so, please . . .

Be the kind of person who radiates love and kindness and does not read the menus but enjoys the banquet of life.

LIFE AND LOVE AND MIRACLES – Don Hanley’s blog #47

I was glad to be back in my dreamland and be with Mary, John, and Luke. Luke had told Ruth and Joshua that he would let them know when his surgeon friend could perform the surgery on Julie’s lip. They had gone back home before our dreamy night meeting.

Mary, as usual, greeted me warmly and said, “Well, my dreamy world traveler, now you have two companions of my son. So, ask if Luke agrees with what John has told us. about my son and his mission.” I responded, “It is always you, I come back to see. Your radiance is so comforting that I would be comfortable just being with you and not saying a word.” She gave me a wonderfully beautiful smile.

“So, enough, you two.” John interrupted, feigning irritation, “So, Luke, for Don’s benefit, tell him about Jesus, the miracle worker, and what you think his mission was and is and how we are to follow him.”

“Well, Don, from what John has told me, your world of twenty centuries from now has millions of what you, or they, call themselves Christians or followers of Jesus. Many of these folks believe that all they need to do is tell the world that they believe that Jesus is their Savior and follow all the rules of behavior that he gave us apostles to make known to everybody on our earth Then, if they did this, they would go to heaven and be with God the Father. Is that correct?” Luke stopped and looked at me with the wise look of a master teacher.

“Wow, you have condensed what many call Salvation History into very plain words. The largest bunch of these Christians, called Catholics, and most other groups of Christians also believe that we must be baptized with water as a believer pours water over our heads – usually when we are babies. Most believe this must happen, or we can never be with God the Father.”

John looked startled, “Don, you never mentioned this before. That sounds, oh, ah, maybe a bit harsh or even insane. Jesus never, ever mentioned any ritual, wet or dry, that was an absolute necessity to be with the Father when we die. He did let John, the Baptizer, perform his ritual on him. He did this to give John credence, but he never ever said this was a requirement for everyone who followed him. The only requirement is that we become loving people – which is the one big challenge we all have. And we have this power at the moment we are born. Love, as Jesus tells us, it the spirit or energy of Yahweh and it must be nurtured by those who have discovered it and radiate it. It is more than just being kind.”

Luke looked at John and then at me and asked, “Who, may I ask, added restrictions, and are there many other requirements like it among your twentieth-century ‘Christians’”?

“I would sincerely like to say ‘no,’ but that would not be true. A person must also be in the ‘state of grace’ or believe they are ‘saved’ or ‘called by the Lord.' As John and Mary know, I was once a Catholic priest, and I was supposed to have the God-given power to forgive sins – if they were confessed to me and promised me, as God’s representative on earth, not to commit those sins again.”

Luke, or John, I can’t remember which, asked, “And who made you God’s representative?”

“Supposedly, the traditional leaders of the Catholic church. Other groups of Christians also had similar requirements that they believe came down through their traditions and ‘callings.’” I didn’t want to get into theological debates, so I mentioned that most believers wanted to do the right thing and to be ‘saved’ so they would ‘go to heaven.’

 Both guys and Mary shook their heads in disbelief.  Luke said, “I was near him the last three years of his life, and I never heard Jesus ever suggesting any absolute beliefs or special things other than loving one another, did you, John?” John shook his head, as did Mary.

I asked Luke and John to tell me what Love meant to them and Jesus... and before they could answer, ... I left the dream. Please . . .

Keep opening and nurturing your heart and joining others in studying the menus and then enjoying the banquet with them.

GOD, NOR JESUS, Micro-Manages Our Lives or Our World - Don Hanley's blog #46+

In my ‘walk-around’ world, not the dream world I visit with Mary, the mother of Jesus, and her friends in Nazareth, I am quite concerned and even worried about the so-called followers of Jesus and other so-called religious people. I hope to bring up my concerns to the wonderful folks in Nazareth and perhaps get some ideas from them.

And this evening, my vivid dreams landed me in Mary’s flower garden with John, Luke, and Ruth. John was getting used to fetching a chair so I could use ‘my’ chair. Mary, as usual, greeted me warmly and said, “Well, my old and young friend, you look a bit worried. What is it that makes you so heavy-hearted?”

“I’m so glad you asked, and I want to get some ideas from all of you about what to tell the so-called Christians in my time about how to help themselves and others.

Here’s the situation: Several million Christians believe that they must follow their religious leaders who believe that God, our Father, demands that we do exactly as they, the leaders, believe that we must do exactly what Jesus dictates, or we will be punished by God now and in our lives after death. One of the dictates is that we must not interfere with a zygote, fetus, or embryo that a pregnant woman is carrying, and some even believe that a woman must not use any means to prevent her from becoming pregnant in the first place. They even quote the bible and Jesus on this. I personally do not believe that Jesus wants us to bring more children into the world than we can care for. Now, what are your opinions on this?

They all looked puzzled, concerned, serious, and bewildered. Mary looked at her three friends and back at me, saying, “First, Don, that is a completely strange question. Here in our time, most women, more often must work hard to become pregnant and then keep a baby healthy enough to reach adulthood. Joseph and I wanted to have more than one child, but even having some fun trying, I never became pregnant after Jesus. How many times did your mother become pregnant? And how many lived to become adults, Don?

“My mom had twelve pregnancies and ten children. I was number nine, and two died in childhood, so eight lived to be adults.”

All four looked aghast at me, and Mary put a hand over her mouth, shook her head, and said, “Oh my goodness. How did she do that, and how did your family afford food and a home for all of you?

“Not well, we became quite poor and barely survived as everyone had to work as soon as they were old enough to do something useful. Both of our parents’ health failed by the time the three youngest children came along.” I never knew whether mom and dad knew how babies were conceived. Some priests and ministers say God blessed our family, and others say God cursed us. So?

John seemed as stunned as Mary and said, “Was that common when you were born, and is it still common for people to have that many children?”  Before I could answer, he added, “A rabbi told me that some couples have eight or more pregnancies in hopes that two or three will live to become adults. So, survival now is far more important than prevention. Again, I’ll stress that Jesus repeatedly said that we must love one another, and that meant doing what was life-giving for all concerned. I don’t believe he thought that Yahweh was, in any way, a puppeteer creating and managing our lives. And Jesus did not dictate absolute 'shoulds' Yahweh wanted to be live-giving co-creators. So, please inform your fellow Christians to love one another, be life-giving, and work to choose positive, loving leaders.”

Ruth added, “I hope too that many of your leaders are women because we have a better built-in ability to love and to bring love to others.” Mary clapped and nodded. And I started to respond,,, and left again. Please watch a very good documentary on Prime - BAD FAITH

Think of what kind of world we need and how to be loving in it. Don’t eat the menu; enjoy the banquet.

What About All Those Miracles? - Don Hanley’s blog #45

I was glad to be back in my dreamland with Mary and John. Now, I’m wondering who I’ll get to meet this time. I seemed to have stayed in my dream, and I was surprised to meet Joshua, Ruth’s husband, and their beautiful little girl, Julie. Julie was attractive like her parents, but her face was marred by a cleft palate. Ruth was also with them and told me that Luke was watching Paul if he woke up or needed to be moved.

Mary smiled and said, “Welcome back, my new and very old friend. I want to introduce you to two of my favorite neighbors and friends, Joshua, Ruth’s husband, and their beautiful daughter Julie.”

I hobbled over and shook both of their hands. It was so nice to have Julie’s tiny hands in mine.” I’m so glad to meet you and Julie; you are as pretty as your mom.” She smiled, and Joshua told me she was just two years and two months old.

“I’m glad to meet you, Joshua. I hear you knew Jesus from the time you were a little boy. How old was Jesus when you first met him?”

He looked at Mary and said, “I think he would have been around ten, don’t you think, Mary?”

“I would guess that would have been about right. It was before Joseph, and I took him on a trip to Jerusalem because I remember you telling us after you learned that the so-called wise men there were astounded at his questions and even answers about Yahweh. You said, ‘They should come to Nazareth and spend a few days with Jesus. They would learn far more than they know now.’” Both she and Joshua chuckled.

Mary looked at me and added, “Joshua followed Jesus around.” She looked at Joshua and continued, “I think you were his most consistent student and helper, don’t you?”

I just had to ask Mary and Joshua, “If Jesus was still walking among us today, would he have helped Julie with her lip?” John and Luke looked at me like I was some idiot, and Mary, being more kind and polite, simply smiled.

After an uncomfortable pause, John answered, “You’ve been exposed to too many tales about Jesus that mistakenly describe Jesus as some magical miracle worker rather than the enlightened messenger who had good news for all people. And again, let me tell you that he repeatedly told us, his disciples, after being asked to perform a miracle for someone. “If I am gifted enough to perform these kinds of miracles, I would be sitting all day somewhere performing healings, and people would be waiting in long lines. I would not be able to do what I have been sent to do, which is to enlighten people about their own miraculous powers - given by our Father when he created us and has remained hidden for too many even now. All creation is a miracle – especially humans.” 

John continued to say that Jesus was present when a few people began to ‘see’ more clearly the true meaning of life. And often they told everyone, ‘I had been ‘blind’ but now could ‘see.’ And a few other experiences like that." I asked him about the wedding feast where Jesus turned the water into wine. John chuckled and told me that there was a rich wine maker and grower in attendance that day and he was notoriously stingy. When Mary told Jesus that they were almost out of wine, Jesus asked the rich wine maker if he could share some of his wine. The man was so moved by Jesus's reequest and concern, he sent a servant to his home to bring back more wine. Those of us who knew the man, called it a miracle. It would not have seemed worthy of note, if we had simply said, "Jesus asked a rich fellow to share some wine, but calling it a 'miracle' made it notable. 

Later Luke told us he had a physician and friend in Jerusalem did have the training to be able to operate on Julie's lip, and he would talk to him when he was back in the capital.

Of course, this discussion on miracles helped me understand  more clearly the nature of Jesus and his mission. I sighed a deep sigh of relief and … disappeared. So, now, please …

Nurture and open your heart, study the menus and begin or continue to enjoy the banquet.

Please find the time to go to Amazon Books, search for Don Hanley’s books, and buy one (or more).

Still Waiting for Paul and Meeting Luke - Don Hanley’s blog #44

I was very pleased that I came right back to the dream with Mary, John, and Ruth. The last time I had learned that Paul of Tarsus, the fellow who had been persecuting the Jews, especially those who had become followers of Jesus. He was now in a coma and right here in Nazareth. I was still in ‘my’ chair in Mary’s flower garden, and John explained Paul’s letter in his horse’s saddle bag.

After Mary gave me her warm welcome-back greeting, John said, “I do believe this man in Joshua and Ruth’s house is the fellow who has been sending some Jews, who are devoted to Jesus, to jail and even condemning them and ordering them to be beaten. I know both John and Ruth knew Jesus well and that he even helped Joshua, Ruth’s husband, build latrines here in Nazareth. And I’m sure Jesus would approve of them helping care for Paul after his accident. Jesus often said, ‘Love one another and even your enemies.’

Ruth added, “Of course, Jesus would have approved of our helping this fellow. We did not know at first what he had done to those who followed Jesus, but even if we had, we would have taken care of him. Don, Mary, and John tell me that you, twenty-one hundred years before now, still believe in Jesus. So, I would you ask such a question?”

“I am still working to understand Jesus’s true nature and mission.  Most of those we call Christians in the 21^st century believe Jesus was God and man – fully God and fully man.” I talked directly to Ruth but kept glancing at both Mary and John. So, even before I began dreaming about being with Mary and John, I tended to think that Jesus was fully human and was so very enlightened that he was one with God the Father. And, as I read the Gospels or other accounts of those who had been with Jesus before he was executed, I thought of him as one of us humans but far more enlightened and working to help us become more fully one with him and our Father.”

Mary nodded, indicting she agreed with me, and then added, “Now I am concerned that this Paul fellow will be troublesome when he wakes up.

Ruth said, “He is still breathing evenly but not moving except when Joshua and I move him to prevent bed sores.”

Just then, a man on a horse rode up near us. John jumped up and said, “This is Luke, my fellow apostle, and I’m guessing he is the one you mentioned when you read Paul’s letter years later.” He walked over just as Luke dismounted. They gave each other a warm hug and greeting. I was curious to know why he was here and had a horse, as I was sure Luke was not a Roman citizen. Luke cleared that up rather quickly after he and I were introduced; he informed us that he had been drafted to be King Harod’s palace physician, and one of his perks was having a horse, and again, I vanished.

Continue opening and nurturing your heart, avoiding eating the menu, and enjoying the banquet.