CHALKBOARD REVELATIONS ON WHEN WE DIE? - Don Hanley’s blog #77

One of my daughters gave me a book for Christmas called A Year to Live. The subtitle is How to Live This Year as If It Were Your Last. I’m unsure if she is worried about my health or just hopeful that I’ll be ready (and not holding anyone back) to go wherever people go. I recently read an article about a small group of “parapsychologists” at a university in Virginia who study people, usually young children, who seem to ‘remember’ living a past life.

I smiled as I remembered my first year as a priest. I was asked to teach religion daily to students in grades five through eight at our parochial school. I wanted to engage the students in our studies, but I couldn’t get the fifth and sixth graders to discuss anything; they were too used to sitting still in their chairs and being told to learn all the absolute truths that I, the wise and loving messenger from God, would share with them. Even then, I was convinced I was a phony, not as wise or loving as they believed.

The seventh graders were a different story. Four or five girls wanted to discuss everything. One day, I shared with them the traditional beliefs I had learned through folklore, seminary classes, and other sources—when we die, we are judged to ensure we are ‘cleansed’ of the stains of mortal sins. If I or anyone had sinned and hadn’t gone to Confession with a ‘holy’ priest, then I, or we, would go to hell.

When I finished, a cheeky girl named Carol asked if she could use the chalkboard (the whiteboard had yet to arrive). I said, "Sure." She approached the board, picked up a piece of chalk, and drew two circles on the left side of the very wide board.

She wrote Joe over one circle and Jack over the other. “I call on Joe because he was a very good Joe. He loved his wife and children and was kind to everyone.” Then, she drew a wobbly line upward and over to the right side of the board, creating a circle near the top as high as she could reach. She returned to the left side and made a downward wobbly line to the bottom of the board, saying, “I named this one Jack because he was mean and stubborn like a bad mule—he was a Jackass.” She drew a short line through Joe’s lifeline and said, “Then Good Joe commits a mortal sin, and before he can go to Confession, he dies and goes to hell.” She drew another line for Joe plunging to hell. “According to our teacher here,” she pointed at me, then returned to the left side of the board, making a series of marks along Jack’s lifeline, and continued, “Now Jackass is a very sinful fellow heading right down to hell, but then realizing how sinful he has been, he goes to Confession; or is dunked by some preacher or declares himself as a believer in Jesus, and bingo.” She drew a straight line up to heaven and added, “And, by golly, Jackass is no longer an ass; he is in heaven."

Then she looks at me in a defiant way and says, "Now, if you say that's how God operates, Father Don, I’m not believing another word you say!” Carol turned up her nose and proudly marched back to her desk. I told her I wouldn't say that (even though, I had been very close.) and I clapped, and the rest of the class joined me. That was one of my earliest steps towards doubting the rigid teachings of my Catholic faith.

Wanting to hear John and Mary’s thoughts on all this, I recounted that eye-opening day from sixty years ago. First, they laughed, then Mary cried, saying, “Don, that is so sad. Jesus never, ever wanted people to be afraid of dying and being with the Father. We are all born with the ability to be kind, compassionate, and joyfully loving. And yes, we are ‘sinful,’ meaning we are unfinished as created beings and will stumble and fail as we journey through life, but for the love of God our Father, we are never disconnected from Him.”

John added, “Both Mary and I heard Jesus say as he hung from that cursed cross, ‘Father, into Your hands, I commend my Spirit.’ Those are the only words Jesus spoke about the nature of life after death. So, dear Don, please dismiss any thoughts about a horrible judgment regarding not being with God, Our Father. I’m sure it will be pure bliss.” Mary agreed, stating, “I concur with John.” And with those happy thoughts, I disappeared again. Now . . .

Find a blissful place in your mind and heart, dismiss the menus of doom, and partake in the banquet.

EATING THE MENUS AND NOT THE ‘FOOD’ – Don Hanley’s blog #76

I find myself reflecting on something I find very sad, and that is that people keep eating their adopted, or inherited, menus rather than leaving the menus and enjoying tasting the contents of the menu and then turning their back on the banquet because they find some of it too tough to chew and digest. So, too many find condemning someone else’s menu and fighting, or even killing, them or simply ignoring them and segregating them so that they do not have to deal with them. An example would be a couple, or maybe more, who dislike my religious or spiritual ideas and thus excommunicate me from their ‘world.’ They don’t even realize that they are also ignoring their menu of religious thinking.

It had been several days since I visited Mary and ‘my Nazareth family,’ and I hoped to talk with them sometime soon. My visits were weird; sometimes, it seemed that just thinking about them became a request and was followed by an evening visit. Other times, I had nothing to do with it and found myself sitting in Mary’s flower garden. Anyway, I’m glad I have them as my somewhat frequent spiritual companions. This evening, I found Mary with John, Ruth, Joshua, Julie, and the baby whose name I can’t remember. I don’t think he’ll ever remember me anyway, so.

After I raised my question about living according to Jesus' teachings, John mentioned that Jesus was also concerned about this. For instance, he felt deep sorrow for Judas Iscariot. He feared that Judas did not truly understand, especially regarding His teachings on love, compassion, patience, and all the other virtues of being a loving person. Mary asked, “John, do you know anything about Judas’s parents, especially his mother?”

“I never met either of his parents, but I’m sure they were not kind and nurturing like you, Ruth, and Joshua. He did share enough of his childhood experiences for me to know that.”

I asked, “John, did Jesus say anything about teaching someone to become a loving person?”

“The best way was to hear the message of God is Love and have the teacher or messenger be a loving person. And, of course, the student must be open to learning how to be connected and be with others. Our Father’s energy or power is present in every person, and he or she needs to be in touch with it. The message, or ‘menu’ as you call it. It can be taught, and again, by someone living it. Accepting the divine energy must be deep enough so that the student or receiver is not led away by some false leader who pretends to know what is best for everyone. You mentioned a leader in your century who led millions of people in Germany, I think you called it, who did exactly the opposite of what Jesus taught. Jesus would not condemn him, but he would have done everything possible to enlighten him. As far as I know, he never encountered such a mean-spirited person.”

John hesitated and added, “I think my fellow Apostle, Peter, has gone to Rome to see if the Emperor would end his army’s cruelty and the empire’s slavery.”

I asked, “John, did Jesus ever mention slavery to you?”

“Not directly, but he did condemn cruelty, and I am sure that slavery fits into the category of cruelty - even if the slave owner is kind, it takes away the ability of the enslaved man or woman to choose a way of life that is more life-giving and creative.”

I replied, “John, you just said, ‘life-giving.’ I like that and I use that a lot to determine whether an action or word is ‘good’ or ‘bad’.

I was happy to know that I had helped my new ‘family’ expand their vocabulary, and with that, I disappeared.

Now open your mind and heart, glance at this menu, and enjoy your banquet of life!

SCHOOL OF A THOUSAND SMILES - Don Hanley’s blog #78

Weekly, I see reports about how an increasing number of American teens and even pre-teens are committing suicide and being clinically anxious and depressed. And I often hear, “What in hell is wrong with these kids? Kids have never had it so good; they have everything they want.” Many articles want to see more mental health services available for these children and young people—many blame adolescents' time in front of their computers and being addicted to social media outlets.

No one seems to realize or even mention the emotional vacuum and inhumane these kids are living in these days. Even if it is nice, an empty house can still be cruel if there are few or only part-time caring people with and for them. Too many kids are saying, often silently, “Who gives a damn about me?”

I was sharing my concerns with my Nazarene cohort, and after telling them a bit about our big schools and how they are set up, I told them how I thought we should make our schools havens for warmth, compassion, and creativity. I told them that my ideal school has these characteristics:

1.    All school personnel are KIND and love children – from principals, teachers, and other school staff, including janitors. 

2.   All schools are Kindergarten through 12^th grades. We are too age-segregated now and need to be integrated. Even retired people help out.

3.    All classes are around 20 students and will be seated in circles rather than rows.

4.   Students will all have laptop computers and can be involved in discussing study topics – teachers are facilitators, not ‘fact givers,’ as students have ‘facts’ available on their computers and smartphones.

5.    Every student will be part of a 10-person cohort with a trained facilitator who will help them learn to care for themselves and one another.

This cohort will stay together with the same ‘tator’ (facilitator)) for four years and continue for four years with a new one. The cohort meets for 2 hours each week.                                      

6.   Each school day begins with all students, teachers, and other school personnel singing and dancing for 20 to 30 minutes each morning. Parents may join in.

7.    The primary concern for administrators is keeping students home when sick.

John nodded and said, “Wow, that sounds like a very positive and kind place to be with others. Each school would have about 250 students. That’s more than all the people of all ages here in Nazareth. And what is holding it back? It sounds like a wonderful plan.” Mary, Ruth, and Joshua all nodded.

“First is the centuries-old belief in an educational philosophy that is built on the idea that children must be ‘made’ to learn and even forced, with punishment, if necessary.”

Mary immediately spoke up, “I totally disagree with that philosophy, and your children should be thankful for such an opportunity. Jesus thought that all children everywhere wanted to learn and just needed to be taught to read, write, and do mathematics. He also thought that the Roman rulers and even the Jewish semi-rulers wanted them to remain ignorant so they would be subservient. Do your upper class still want your children to be ignorant?”

“They say that they do not, but they  just want to learn ideas and principles to help them be hard workers.”

John asked, “And do the places where they work treat them well?” I told him that some employers did and some did not and that it depended a lot on how many needed jobs at any one time. And with that, I vanished … Now, please.

Continue to open your heart and mind, study many menus, and then choose to enjoy the banquet of life.

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT IN 2025– Don Hanley’s blog #74

I continued to think about the problem of evil and God. I had given up believing that God created physical evil, like floods, to punish people for being sinners, but I continued to wonder why God created such a fragile world for us to live in. I hoped to talk to Mary and John about this.

After leaving my Nazarene family, I learned they continued discussing evil – punishment and natural disasters. John shared with me that Jesus did not consider floods, earthquakes, tornados, and other natural disasters as being God’s creation. He said that Jesus did not believe the planet was too fragile. He said that Jesus never discussed the cosmology of the universe at all. He said these things happened because all created entities are finite, fragile, and therefore breakable.

John waited for Joshua to join us and for Julie, Ruth and the baby to leave us and go into the house. He then shared that he  had known evil personally as his brother was murdered by the Romans. Mary, Joshua and I responded in the only way we felt were appropriate – a loving silence and our presence.  The only 'sin' James had committed was to criticize the Roman officers of being harsh. John continued that he believed that God did not stop us from being mean and murderous, but we can avoid being evil in our actions by following our friend Jesus and continued to make the decision to be life-giving and loving rather than, in any way, being hurtful or destructive toward other people and to Yahweh's beautiful creation. 

Joshua said, "The Paul that woke up in our house after being in that coma for weeks, didn't seem to be the kind of person who could even stand around and watch someone being stoned to death. Do you two know what I mean?"

John shook his head as if he was working to shake an answer into his brain. He thoughtfully said, "Joshua, you and Ruth exudes the kind of warmth and compassion that Jesus often talked about and lived and Paul felt your love, even when he was in that coma. So, I think he found a link between his very active brain and his heart while he was with you."

I jumped in, "And, Joshua, I agree with John. And now, from what I observed being around Paul those days, is that he learned how to be fully human when he was in your home."

"But neither Ruth nor I couldn't even come close to being as smart as Paul is. I know he intimidated me. How could I be teaching him anything?" Joshua looked totally mystified.

"Jesus, as I understand him, put a great deal of emphasis on knowing with the heart and enabling the mind/brain to understand Yahweh, and people, and even in some ways the animals on being deeply connected with Yahweh and all of creation." John paused and looked at me and asked, "Don, do you teach this and do those who live in your century, believe or follow Jesus, believe this?"

"I would like to say that they all do but, to be honest, I think that it is only a minority who do. Many others mouth the words but have not nurtured their brains and their hearts to be and stay connected in such a way, and be strong enough, not to follow others who are forceful leaders who only desire to have power over others." And with this I vanished, so...

 Continue to nurture your brain and heart connection and notice the many menus but don't eat them - just enjoy the banquet.