LOVE IS DOING WHAT IS MOST LIFE-GIVING - Don Hanley’s blog #50

I was disappointed that our 21^st-century pope, Francis I, still refuses to announce that the official Catholic teaching on homosexual behavior was not a sin as long as it was life-giving to both participants, just as sexual intercourse between consenting marriage partners or even non-married couples, is not sinful but can be life-giving. Of course, this would mean a celebration of gay marriages. When I met with them, I wanted to check this out with John and Luke. And it wasn’t long before I again joined them in my dreamland.

I was surprised to see Mary, John, Luke, and a new fellow leaning back into a wheeled cart being pushed into place by Joshua between John and Mary. John brought out the extra chairs. I assumed that our new cart-bound guest was Paul. Mary confirmed it, saying, “Well, Don, you now get to meet Ruth and Joshua’s house guest, Paul of Tarsus.”

Paul held his hand, smiled, and said, “Good to meet you, Don. I’ve heard a bit about you and am glad to see you. Ruth said you were a fine person like Joshua and Jesus’s two apostles. I think that is quite a compliment.”

I nodded and replied, “Yes, it is. I’m told that you have received wonderfully positive care from Ruth and Joshua and are now even feeling emotionally stronger than before your accident.” Paul smiled, and I added, “Is that true?”

“Definitely! It has been a life-changing experience for me. I suppose you’ve heard about my sorrowful past in which I was persecuting Jews who were following Jesus?” I nodded, and he nodded toward Mary and said, “I am so ashamed of my terrible actions. As a Pharisee, I believed I was doing the will of our Father, Yahweh, and now, having experienced the love of these people here, I am certain that closing my own heart and following a set of rules and actions just because people have been doing so for hundreds of years, is so very wrong. And everyone here has been so wonderfully forgiving; I am determined to become a better and more loving person and be one with them.” He looked up at the sky, folded his hands, and exhaled. We all clapped, and Paul smiled.

John picked up on Paul’s fine little speech and said, “Now, we need to help as many people as possible experience what we and you have experienced. Now, you, Paul, have had much time to think about all this. Do you have any ideas about how we can make that happen?”

“I’m glad you asked because I have given this much thought. It seems that we must continue to be like Jesus was before he was executed. I believe he was executed because the Jewish elders, the Pharisees like me, and Sadducees, as well as the Romans, thought Jesus’s teachings of love and non-violence would undermine their authority. We need to convince them that we in no way want to hurt or take over their positions but to help them be more just, kind, and helpful. Rather than force people to do things, show them what to do and help them do it. It will take much patience, acceptance, and compassion, but I think we can do it. Don, how have we, the Christians, done these few years – according to historians?” Paul sounded more like a teacher or official than a patient helper or like Luke and John.

“From what I can tell, many of the early Christians did quite well,” . . . and before I could say more, I left the dream, please . . .

Nurture your heart, reflect on your lovability, and then study the menus and enjoy the banquet of life.    AND PLEASE COMMENT

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.

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.