Bible Reading: Psalm 131(132)14-18

While thinking about the suffering of Haiti and preparing for a Bible commentary, I opened to this passage.

"Sion will be my resting place forever; in her will I dwell, for I prefer her. I will bless her with abundant provision, her poor I will fill with bread. Her priests I will clothe with salvation, and her faithful ones shall shout merrily for joy. In her will I make a horn to spout forth for David; I will place a lamp for my anointed. His enemies I will clothe with shame, but upon him my crown shall shine."


These are actual words spoken by God to King David, the pact where God promises that King David's descendants will always rule in Sion. You need to understand that God is always speaking of the present time and also the future, so there is the "here and now" meaning to King David and the Israelites, but also the "here and now" for their spiritual heirs and descendants. Thus Christians, such as those in Haiti, who are suffering today from the woes of the world can take some comfort in knowing that The Almighty God will never leave them, so long as they do not leave Him. Sion is now the spiritual Sion, the heavenly Jerusalem, which since Jesus Christ is no longer a physical place but the place of global faith in God.

Rather than turning their back on God, I see the Haitians seeing Him with even greater clarity since the earthquake tragedy. Those who honor the pact with God, sworn by King David, will find that God never leaves them.

In the Bible the horn often symbolizes power and authority, as the King and the priests use it to make the great sound. But it also represents the cornucopia, the outflowing of abundance and goodness. The horn that spouts forth for David is not of noise but of the arrival of Jesus Christ. The more that one puts one's faith in God and in Jesus Christ alone, the more that the goodness that only Christ can bring will flow forth from that horn.

Worldly well being ultimately depends on human rationality, righteousness, charity and neighbor-first priorities... all of which are very much needed in the chaos that has delayed for an unacceptable amount of time the delivery of goods and assistance in rescuing to the Haitians. The more that everyone embraces the pact, so that not only those who suffer turn their faces to Jesus Christ in hope and solace, but also those who are empowered with worldly means to help them, the more that the horn with overflow with what is needed to live, but also with eternal life and righteousness. Honoring the pact with God is the job of not just those who suffer, but also those who do have what they need, and more. I hope that Haiti softens and converts the hard and arrogant hearts of many bureaucrats, aristocrats, politicians, and professional "do-gooders," such as NGO's.

When one does not turn one's own hands and feet over to Jesus Christ on an ongoing day to day basis, one stumbles over one's own bureaucratic and selfish thinking (even when "doing good") when disaster strikes. That is because one is not truly prepared to drop everything and let Jesus be Lord. How can one find a way around shipping and airport obstacles, and fallen concrete, on the first day, if one does not have hands already open in anticipation of the need?

I hope this helps.

Building on previous post, more re loving God

Here are a few more thoughts, building on my previous posting about vocations.

One of the reasons that God sent Jesus Christ was to bring God’s love to humans, in person. One of the afflictions of the age during which Jesus was born was that the Israelites had lost much of their love of God. By love of God, I mean the personal relationship of love dialogue, as I described in my previous posting in this blog.

I know that many of you assume that a personal love of God is something that really did not exist in the Old Testament times, but you would be wrong. I can explain this in several ways. One is to point out the obvious love of God that is expressed in books such as the Psalms, the Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, Wisdom, and Isaiah and in many other places. You can distinguish the fervor of love from the feelings of fear of God. So many of the faithful did indeed feel a fervor of personal love for God, although it was not the focus of the law and obligations for worship as documented in the scripture. You have to read between the lines a little bit to understand where the authors are swept away in the grandeur of God, and in appeal to him for justice, or fear of his wrath, from the contemplations of the wonders of his work and also their sense of personal love for him.

Second, love tended to be expressed in parent and child terms during those times. There really is no way to describe to modern humans exactly the love between a father and his first born son, for example. So much of the personal love dialogue that I speak of is cloaked in the depth of love that a father and first born son have for each other, rather than ardent friendship, shepherd, and consoler that Jesus brought in person. So you have to remember that love for God was just as personal and ardent during Old Testament times, but tended to be expressed and felt in much more of the treasured father-first born son as it was back then. In fact, readings for the Mass from this week indicate times when God is frustrated with the hypocrisy of their ritual worship of him while at the same time sinning. It is not that the sinning “makes God mad” so he “doesn’t care about the sacrifices,” but rather, when one sins one does not love God. Sin is the expression of not-love of God. So you have to understand that from “God’s point of view,” when one sins one is acting in a way that is not indicating love of God. Trust me, people did not obey God just because he cracked the whip and threatened them with punishment or hell. Many, MANY people in Old Testament times had a fervent personal love relationship with God, but it was perceived as something that did not have to be preserved in scripture as a special point. The many allusions to father-first born son love was really the way the people of that time felt, in its nearest equivalent, their personal love relationship and dialogue with God. It has wrongly been portrayed as a time of when fear wrung obedience out of the people, but as I said, the fervent and personal love of God is evident but in a much more subtle way throughout the Old Testament.

A third point to make is that when Jesus was born there were many “distractions” from a person’s love relationship with God, much as today. The Roman occupation, the secular temptations and the corruption of the money changers and much of the priesthood were all interferences between the faithful and their personal love relationship with God. Some of it was understandable, as they kept “waiting” for God to “do something,” in the miraculous fashion to impact the political or military situation. Impatiently tapping one’s foot at God expecting an army of angry angels to whoop the butts of the Romans is not exactly conducive to the love and adoration of God, and this had a very corrosive effect on the faith of the Israelites and the fervent love of God that their forefathers had. So this is another reason that in the beauty and, to humans, mystery of God’s perfect plan, he sent “his Son.” The people still well understood the father-first born son devotion that was culturally historic, as I describe above, and so remained relevant and a way to make God again “accessible.” Through Jesus God opened that door to re-personalize the mutual love that had been blocked and corroded by the dire condition of the Israelites. This is why you can read in the Gospel that thousands responded over and over to the obvious “magnification” of God’s love onto the people through Jesus. Jesus allowed the people to overcome the corrosive times, the cynicism, and the oppression of pagan conquerors, plus their own priests’ corruption, and once again connect to God using a love metaphor that they understood of father and first born son. Jesus never had to declare God his Father to the flock who listened to him, or that he is the Son, for this love metaphor to work. You see, Jesus was acting as the loved “agent” of God, just as the first born son would for his father in family business or work. Jesus explained God to the people, demonstrated his obvious love and obedience to God in all things, and magnified his love for God so that the people could see through unspoken example. This is why people did not run around trying to worship Jesus himself on the spot. When people left one of Jesus’ “sermons,” they left feeling more fervent love for God.

This is why it is perfectly alright to love Jesus with one’s whole heart and soul, and to focus one’s love on him. However, it is not being one hundred percent true to either Jesus’ intentions or what he actually accomplished when he was here on earth to have the love “stop at Jesus” and not extend through to God. If one truly wants to imitate those who heard Jesus in person and who believed, then you must come away from an encounter with Jesus loving him, yes, but recognizing that your love is really extending through Jesus to loving God, and feeling his love in return, himself. I do worry very much about this pious generation and the parts of Christianity who have forgotten this, or never realized it. Why is it that people, even as Jesus performed incredible miracles, did not throw themselves at his feet in organized worship on the spot? Because, obviously, it was their faith in God and love of God that was refreshed and restored, and that is exactly what Jesus wanted. Jesus came in order to be the Savior and the Messiah, but this does not mean that he was not “bringing God” to the people, but only himself. I often repeat how Pope Benedict XVI wisely phrased it in his book “Jesus of Nazareth,” that he, Jesus, “brought us God.” When the son represents the father, and is his agent, for the Israelites (and many cultures of the land, including what would become the Muslim people), the son speaks for the father, and has the authority “as if the father himself is there.” But that does not mean that the son wants people to only “deal with him” and forget about the father and his authority. Jesus made God, the Father, more accessible, restoring the love dialogue between the people and God, and between the individual and God. And then he died, resurrected and “returned to the Father.” If you want to imitate “how the Church really was” “in Jesus’ time” then one must understand that exposure to Jesus resulted in more fervent and personal love of God himself.

I hope that you find this helpful. It is a source of great concern for me, especially regarding Christians who are outside of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church in its liturgy retains more of the continuity of devotion to God and this is why I am not quite as worried about those within the Church as I am for those outside of it. Here is a practical example of how to reflect on what I mean. How often does one feel an experience of loving God very deeply in gratitude for sending Jesus, compared to how often one focuses all of one's love on Jesus? I'm not talking quantity here, but giving you an exercise to see if you are truly "loving God through Jesus" or if you have stopped feeling the "follow through" through Jesus all the way to God, and thus do not really contemplate your love for God and fully extend and receive the dialogue in return from God in his fullness.

Where the Muslim Prophet foretold in the Bible

Some Muslims incorrectly believe that when Jesus said an advocate would come that he was referring to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Jesus was actually referring to the Holy Spirit, and that is clear when one reads those passages of the Bible because Jesus explains that he is sending someone to comfort the Apostles and disciples. This was achieved on Pentecost when the Holy Spirit arrived to infuse the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Apostles and the disciples.

However, there is no reason to be unsympathetic to the Muslim desire to point to a place in the Bible that foretells the Prophet (PBUH) because their instincts in this are correct. There is a place, a very honorable place, where the Prophet (PBUH) is foretold. This is in the Book of Isaiah.

By way of background the Book of Isaiah recounts the activities and visions of the prophet Isaiah, who lived in the second half of the eighth century BC when the Northern Kingdom of Israel was under attack by Assyria and the army of Sennacherih drew up to the actual walls of Jerusalem. Isaiah received his call to prophetic office in the Temple of Jerusalem and he describes in his Book his divine summons by God in person. He is considered by Christians to be the greatest of the Old Testament prophets because he received directly from God the prophecies regarding the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Catholics read very frequently from the Book of Isaiah as part of the celebration of Mass services. He is one of my favorites for this reason and also because his great humility demonstrated that even the most holy of men must purify themselves before being in the presence of God. That passage of his Book I have written about before because it demonstrates the Biblical source for the concept of purgatory.

The 66 chapters of the Book of Isaiah are therefore filled with enormous theological and spiritual content. And it is in this Book that if one is observant one can spot the reference to the Prophet (PBUH). In this section of scripture Isaiah is receiving from God word and vision about the upcoming fall of Babylon. One needs to understand that the Old Testament prophets tended to receive from God direct factual information about current or pending events (such as the fall of Babylon), but mixed within these prophecies are references to great salvation events to come.

Chapter 21: 6-9

For thus says my Lord to me: Go, station a watchman, let him tell what he sees. If he sees a chariot, a pair of horses, someone riding an ass, someone riding a camel, then let him pay heed, very close heed. The the watchman cried, "On the watchtower, O my Lord, I stand constantly by day; and I stay at my post through all the watches of the night. Here he comes now: a single chariot, a pair of horses; he calls out and says, 'Fallen, fallen is Babylon, and all the images of her gods are smashed to the ground."

The rest of the chapter and the chapter after describe specific "current events" prophecies for the Jewish refugees in Arabia, Jerusalem, Sobna and Eliaciim, and Tyre and Sidon. After those sections Isaiah then receives general apocalyptic prophecy from God.

So the passage that I reference above is self contained. Therefore you have to notice that the Lord tells him that a "watchman" would need to watch for four arrivals to closely heed. The first two, the chariot and the pair of horses, occurs in the near term and represent the fall of Babylon, which indeed happened. We know that this is the historical Babylon that falls because it is the polytheistic pagan worshipping Babylon that falls because "all the images of her gods are smashed to the ground." God, however, gives no further information about the third and fourth arrivals "someone riding an ass, someone riding a camel."

All Christians with any knowledge of their faith immediately recognize who is foretold by "someone riding as ass," because that is one of the great prophecies that is fulfilled about Jesus Christ.

St. John 12: 12-15

Now the next day, the great crowd which had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of palms and went forth to meet him. And they cried out, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the king of Israel!" And Jesus found a young ass and sat upon it, as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Sion; behold, thy king comes, sitting upon the colt of an ass.

St. Luke 19: 29-34

And it came to pass, when he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that he sent two of his disciples, saying "Go into the village opposite; on entering it you will find a colt of an ass tied, upon which no man ever yet sat; loosen it and bring it. And if anyone ask you, 'Why are you loosing it? you shall answer him thus, 'Because the Lord has need of it.'" And they who were sent went away and found the colt standing, even as he had told them. and as they were loosing the colt, its owners said to them, "Why are you loosing the colt?" And they replied, "Because the Lord has need of it."

So you can see very clearly that the third event, "someone riding an ass," is fulfilled in the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem for the final time. This event is celebrated in the Catholic liturgy as "Palm Sunday."

And so we are left with the fourth arrival to watch for, no further reference of which is made in the Bible, being "someone riding a camel." That is the Biblical foretelling by God to Isaiah of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Now, Christians do not need to overreact to this with worry that this has some implication for their Christian faith. It does not, and you can be assured of this because there are many events prophesied by Isaiah from God that are not representing changes in theology. That's what many Christians need to understand. The Bible is a history (both of events and of the "faith family") and not every word has to be milked to find some hidden meaning or advantage to act upon. This is why God says "a WATCHMAN." God is saying, watch for these events, for they are significant. Obviously each event must be interpreted in its own reality as it unfolds.

For example, Babylon is the fall of a city, a pagan city. Jesus is the Messiah. Each event "stands on its own" as it unfolded; they are not part of a 1-2-3... set of steps where each event is dependent on the previous. A watchman observes many travelers come and go, but each one is not necessarily connected to the previous or following visitor. God is very precise when he presents prophesy to his prophets. He uses words and images that are precise and appropriate to their meaning.

(By the way, I'm being harassed on the computer. That's why this blog posting is going up in fits and starts, has different colors and so forth. When I want to correct errors suddenly my response time gets "hung" and I'm unable to get back in to do my spiritual direction work. This is typical of the s*** that I've had to put up with for years).

Now, to try to get back to decency and matters of faith.

God tells humans through his prophets when to take action and when to watch. I can't put it much simpler than that. No matter how complicated the prophecy, the Prophets were always told by God and understood when an action must be taken (to tell the people about the Law, such as Moses, or to remind people not to sin and warn of consequences) and when just to watch but know that something is important. This section is an example of that. Knowing about the fall of Babylon does not mean that Isaiah or anyone else could run out and do something about it. It's told in prophecy so that the faithful have courage and faith knowing that justice will be rendered at some point or another. It's not their business to run out and try to hasten the fall of Babylon on God's behalf, for example. Likewise they are told to watch for someone who arrives on an ass. That doesn't mean that the people should test every newcomer to see if he is the person that God foretold. It turns out that Jesus arrived about 700 years after this prophecy. Only when the significance of the event on its own standing unfolds are the people to go "Ah, that is the meaning of the prophecy." They are not to run around looking for someone important to ride an ass. They would have wasted 700 years and raised false prophets if they did so. This is why God says that they should be like a "watchman" for these events. God does not give instructions to act.

Therefore when Isaiah is told by God that the "watchman" should take note of "someone riding a camel" then this is an example of where the prophecy will be recognized only after the fact. The event must unfold and then those who are wise look back into the scriptures and now understand. This is the process that Jesus himself taught to the Apostles and disciples. He showed many examples and told them that he will prophesy to them, they won't understand or believe, and then after the event they will go "Ah" with understanding. Prophesy is to be watched for in its own fulfillment in its own time.

So why does God even bother to give people prophesy if they are not to "act" or "take advantage of it" after "interpreting" it? The first reason is to validate that it is indeed God who is giving a prophesy to one of his authentic chosen prophets. Many throughout salvation history have pretended to be prophets. God gives prophesy, sometimes very cryptically, in order that people will not be able to imitate him or his prophets and mislead the people. Who could think of the Messiah arriving in Jerusalem on an ass seven hundred years later? This is unarguable proof when God's prophets prophesy in such as cryptic and strange way and then behold, when that prophesy is long forgotten it is fulfilled unlooked for and unmanipulated. So the first reason that God gives people prophesy at all is so that they can know they are hearing and studying "the genuine article" of prophet when it is fulfilled, often centuries after the prophet has gone to his reward in heaven.

The second reason is to strengthen and increase faith. Prophesy allows people, especially those who are suffering, to put salvation history in context and have stronger belief. The truly faithful who suffered in Babylon, for example, would take comfort in knowing that God will allow Babylon to fall, and their God to triumph over the pagan idolatry, even if that is for their future generations of grandchildren to enjoy in life. Again, prophesy from God is not meant to be "decoded" and "manipulated" or artificially "fulfilled" by humans. It backfires like you cannot believe when that is attempted. God is not giving a formula, for example, saying "Oh, to move forward in the salvation game someone important must ride an ass somewhere and a watchman notices." Of course not! God is saying, "Watch and wait for someone who is riding an ass" and let them "pay heed," "very close heed." The people who cheered Jesus as he entered Jerusalem were not flipping pages of their handy dandy prophet guide and thus cheer Jesus because he arrived on an ass. It is years later that the Apostles and disciples fully comprehend the linkage between the prophesy and the event that unfolded. Jesus, of course, knew fully well because he is the one who requested an ass to arrive on to Jerusalem. Jesus fulfilled the prophecies by his actions with full knowledge of them and their implications.

So it is for authenticity and for faith that God provides prophesy. Therefore God was alerting people to heed "someone who rides a camel." God was making a statement of authenticity and membership in the salvation and faith family regarding this "someone." Camels are animals of the desert, and Arabia was well known in those times, obviously. So it is not the animal in particular but the fact that someone will be seen by the "watchman" and will be heeded. This is the Prophet Muhammad who would be "someone who rides a camel" around one thousand and four hundred years after Isaiah received this prophesy from God.

It is only well after the event that those who are the "watchman" (those who study and heed the scripture and the word of God) can understand how an event has unfolded that is the fulfillment of a prophesy by one of God's true prophets. So I am not surprised that few people understand that this "someone" in the Book of Isaiah is God's prophesy to legitimize that the "someone who rides a camel" is an authentic part of the faith history and God's plan for humanity and salvation. God makes this clear by showing Isaiah the fulfillment of the chariot and two horsemen as being part of the strengthening of faith over the long term, not the arrival of a literal person or persons who are "someones" in faith history. So Isaiah is able to see and record that the first two "arrivals" are "observed" as being representative of the fall of Babylon and of their pagan idols, even though the events have not taken place yet. In other words, God gives him "specifics" that the chariot and the two riders indicate the fall of Babylon. God does not give Isaiah the "specifics" about the "someone riding an ass" or the "someone riding a camel." Isaiah is, however, given plenty more specifics about the details of prophesy of the coming of the Messiah Jesus Christ. The "someone riding a camel" is to be heeded as being authentic in the Abrahamic family of salvation history, but is not part of the Jesus Christ set of events or a successor to Jesus Christ. God is mentioning the "someone riding a camel" so that once the events transpire around this person, people who doubt and wonder can look back and see, "Ah yes, this is God's will. This person is part of the fabric and substance of God's works."

I hope that you find this helpful. It is very important to validate that the Muslims are correct to seek a linkage of authenticity in the Bible, and that is where it is (along with, of course, the rest of the shared Adam to Abraham faith history and their knowledge of Jews and Christians). It is likewise important that in dialogue they understand the specifics of what Jesus promised regarding the helper and comforter, and that this is the Holy Spirit who continues the work of Jesus through the Apostles and disciples, and not a literal person. So validation of the Islamic part of the one true God's salvation history is important, but it is important that we all be pointing to the same correct prophesy. The other important lesson here is that God gives instructions, laws and rituals for people to act upon, not prophesies. Prophesies are to be awaited at God's all knowing will and pleasure and not to be decoded and manipulated like some inside trading commodity or, just as bad, underestimated by humans, who cannot begin to imagine what God's plans and will are in full. Like I said, no one could have envisioned either the time or the form of Jesus Christ as the Messiah, and no one could have envisioned either the time or the form of God's revelation to the Prophet (PBUH). When people try to "decode" prophecy they always come up with an incredibly simple, cheap and thin version of what their limited minds can imagine that "God would do." It is an insult to God as well as being misleading of the faithful to think that any human, no matter how "smart" or "imaginative" could think of what God means in advance of a prophecy's fulfillment. As a scientific example, just to help understand this, what human given a paper and pencil and asked to imagine how life works would ever have thought of DNA? It is the same with God's prophecy of what is to come. No humans can imagine it; they can only hinder achieving the fullness of its intended goodness by misattributed and manipulating mundane events "on God's behalf." That is really horrible and it must never be done, ever again. There has been far too much of it and it has had ruinous consequences. It's as moronic as if after this prophecy people immediately ran around breeding extra asses to be sure that the "someone" would arrive. Thank GOD that the prophets and fathers, the Apostles and the disciples were pure of heart and such thoughts would never have occurred to them or to the people of those times. They could mistake someone as the Messiah or a prophet, but they did not run around trying to manipulate words and events of the holy book. Not only would that never have occurred to them but they would be stricken with dread at the thought, since they never mixed themselves up as being divine "players." It is essential that all people stop with this mindset immediately.

What is worse than a monster among humans?

A robot, a human who has made of himself a totally artificial form of life and theology is worse than a monster. When one disconnects the basic principles of humanity there is nothing through which God can make his appeal for the person's salvation. Judas was "savable" if he had turned to God for forgiveness. Even Hitler could have been "savable" if he realized his delusion and turned to God before the end. But a robot can be told to his face that all he has to do to be saved by God is to become "real," to be human and acknowledge his failure, no matter how heinous the past sins or crimes, and that robot will still reject the facts that would give him salvation. When a human creates a robotic existence for himself and those around him he has removed the wiring through which God can make his appeal. The robot believes that he alone understands what is "really" going on and will defy God's appeal and God's timetable for the matters of the universe. A human monster still has the wiring to potentially bow his knee to the stronger power of God. The robot has unplugged that circuitry not only for himself but for others who support his artificial world. It is the most terrible and saddest thing I have ever seen. Those of you who participate in that robotic world are as much to blame as the "head" robot him or her self because you are unplugging God's grace and God's timetable from each other, including the children. This is part of what Jesus meant when he warned that sins against the Holy Ghost are unforgivable. Jesus was warning that those sins were essentially unplugging the capacity for salvation both for yourself and for others who follow or enable your example. It's not the same as "hanging up the phone" on God during a time of spiritual darkness, genuine unbelief or despair. It is far worse because it is removing the circuitry for the calls from God to even be made, for yourself and for your larger community of puppets, enablers and followers. To see people do this kills me in spirit far worse than anything physical or emotional that people have done, and continue to do, to torment me personally. Hell has infinite capacity and it is being filled with new members by the hour of those who promoted or benefited from this reduction of human capacity to communicate with God to robotry and disconnect. Plenty of "nice" people who deliberately disconnect from God go to hell along with the obviously depraved and wicked.

In the Gospel Jesus tells the story of the rich man named Lazarus (not the friend of Jesus who was raised from the dead) who went to hell because every day he passed by a starving man at the city gate. Lazarus wanted to warn his brothers still alive about the reality of hell, but that is not possible. Notice that Lazarus is in hell because of that one man he did not care about to stop and feed. Lazarus could very well have been an upright citizen and giver of alms in the rest of his life for all you know, because Jesus does not say and only refers to that one particular starving man whose wounds were even licked by dogs until he died. It is because Lazarus refused to feed THAT man, who GOD put there in his plain sight that Lazarus ended up in hell. Lazarus could well have given a big fat charity donation in his every day life but he refused to minister to the person GOD wanted him to help. Lazarus might even have been a "good family man" and "patron of the arts." But he refused to help the suffering man who was right in front of him that God counted on Lazarus to help. And so "good guys" end up in hell if they disconnect from the communication with God and pursue their artificial life. This is the horror and the reality that the dead and placed in hell Lazarus wanted to communicate to his still living brothers but cound not because there is no communication between hell and earth. This is one of the most important lessons that Jesus teaches and far from reaching people many, and you know who you are, have made a fake and plastic life around refusing to go where God wishes you to go and helping those that God wishes you to help. You worship your own sick pagan timetable instead of answering the RIGHT NOW for the HIM or HER of God. What has happened to the roboticizing of humanity is worse than any individual monstrous person or event that I know of throughout human history.

Fondness for Morihei Ueshiba

He was a truly enlightened man. I've long admired him. April 26 is the anniversary of his passing. He founded Aikido, the martial art, based on his intense and authentic enlightenments from God.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morihei_Ueshiba

Bible reading reminder to consider the source

I continue to be disturbed by the distortion and skewing by some of the Gospel and the Epistles. Annoyed would be another word to describe how I feel about it, very annoyed. Not because it is an innocent misunderstanding but because this skewing I refer to is a rerun of humans succumbing to the same old temptations and sin time after time after time.

I'm going to provide a real simple guide for you who have difficulty in this area. When reading the Bible, especially areas that are divine teaching and prophesy, slow down enough to notice who is actually providing the information, whether it is God himself, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, or one of the angels. While all knowledge comes from God the topics and their treatment vary by who is the source because they all serve different priorities from God.

Now I love St. Paul more than anyone (the real St. Paul, not the imaginary one). He, like Peter, John, Andrew, the two James, Jude and so forth, was an incredible and remarkable man. I wish that people could know the real St. Paul. Having said that I have to point out to all of you Christians who are totally obsessed with his writings that you must remember that his source was resurrected Jesus. Resurrected Jesus had a set of priorities that serve God but are not representative of every one of God's infinite priorities. Remember that Jesus ascended to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit to guide the apostles and disciples in understanding God's priorities for them. Saul, as he was at the time, was not there, as he was persecuting Christians. So Jesus could not send the Holy Spirit to him, Jesus had to appear himself. Jesus also continued to inspire and instruct him in a "catch up" mode. So remember that while Peter and the others were instructed by the living Jesus Christ, Paul was guided by the resurrected Christ. So the topics that Paul wrote and the perspectives he had would be a combination of his already existing formidable piety as a Jew and his knowledge of the Torah, overlaid by where he was instructed and inspired by the resurrected Christ.

Contrast this to St. John the Baptist who was not so much instructed by Jesus but the one who came before him to prepare the way, who knew him as family and for a while as colleagues on parallel roads. But St. John also had another remarkable experience. He heard the voice of God himself, and observed the Holy Spirit, during the Baptism of Jesus Christ. St. John the Baptist actually heard God himself speak. Neither St. Paul nor any of companions of Jesus, the Apostles and disciples, actually saw or heard God the way that St. John the Baptist did. If it had been God's will that St. John the Baptist ever wrote a gospel or epistle it would have had a different tone and emphasis, while still being divinely inspired and accurate, because he heard God himself while in the physical presence of Jesus, so God spoke separately from Jesus, AND John the Baptist saw the Holy Spirit in a visible form. You can imagine that if it had been God's will that John the Baptist wrote a gospel or epistle he would have spent much priority on pondering the three. So I mention this hypothetical so that you can bear in mind that while everything in the Bible is divinely inspired and its integrity protected, you have to ponder who is instructing and speaking when you read what the holy humans are writing.

So the point I want to make is that St. Paul received spirit and instruction from the resurrected Christ. The Apostles and disciples received spirit and instruction from the living Jesus, the resurrected Jesus during the time he was still on earth, and then the Holy Spirit. None of them were instructed directly by God.

So how can you focus on what St. Paul writes with an emphasis over those who heard directly from God, namely the Fathers and the Prophets? Let me give you three examples: Abraham, Moses and King David. Abraham conversed with God in the form of his dreams and also was host to the Angel of God face to face. Abraham knew God himself so well that he knew his very voice. Moses not only was instructed and led by God but he heard him, saw his cloud, and was permitted to see the back of God passing by. Moses met in God's physical presence and was actually transformed in his body as it glowed with heavenly white light reflected from God being with God himself in his presence. Both of these men would have had topics of learning and communion with God that reflected God's own "in person" priorities. So when you read what Abraham, Moses and others who directly communed with God himself, you must make note that they are hearing first hand what God's priorities are for them and for the faithful. These are not "time stamped" memos that are no longer "in force" or "valid!" Just because Jesus brought the New Covenant does not mean that God's direct instructions and points of priorities no longer exist! For example, God's wrath is real and should not be ignored except at one's gravest peril. Just because Jesus did not spend a lot of his time discussing God's wrath does not mean that God's wrath no longer exists! Rather than being "out of date" Jesus quoted extensively from what we now call the Old Testament and Jesus assumes that an intelligent, pious and God fearing attitude already exists in those around him. Jesus would not need to waste his precious time on earth reminding people of God's righteous wrath (though he did make sure to mention it enough that people understood the causes of God's wrath better and clearly). But just because St. Paul focuses on the priorities as inspired in him by the resurrected Christ does not mean that St. Paul's "memos" supersede the body and meaning of dialogue and communion with God that already exists. St. Paul would be horrified to no end if he realized that some people latch onto what he wrote as the "be all and end all" of divine instruction. St. Paul would be even more horrified if he realized that people memorized every word he wrote but ignored actual speech by Jesus Christ himself.

This brings me to King David. David was loved by God like no other, yet they did not directly speak the way that Abraham and Moses spoke to God. Yet because David was totally God's David was able to hear God's very words through those around him who oracled on his behalf with God, but also David heard God in his heart. Other prophets heard God in their minds, in their dreams, or his actual speech or that of his angels. David actually "heard" God through a language unique to their relationship, which was in his heart. This is why David was such a formidable prophet, seeing through the ages to the coming of Jesus Christ, and the author of many of the Psalms. Not only that but David was the only one who could negotiate his own punishment face to face to God when he sinned. When David sinned by doing an inventory of his wealth and holdings without permission from God, David did atonement like nobody's business and actually negotiated with God when allowed to select his punishment. So when you read about David and David's writings if you want to really understand God and the legacy of David, you must remember this relationship as I explained it. Do any of the writings of St. Paul merit being categorized as "more important" than the legacy of David? Of course not.

You must be awake when you read the Bible! You must not be fishing and cherry picking for only what you want to hear and for positions you want to defend. You must recognize that you are privileged to "overhear" the communion between God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit and those they speak with or guide and pay attention to the priorities of the divine source. God's not going to be filling Moses' head full of End of Times information when he is trying to create the Kingdom of the Israelites out of a bunch of wandering sinning ex-slaves! Likewise Jesus is not going to spend time talking about hell and the wrath of God when the people around him were filled with false teachings and End of Times hysteria. Jesus assumes that, with his reminders, that people are smart and pious enough to understand the justice of God, the wrath of God and the reality of heaven and hell for individuals upon their death. (And he emphasized that several times when speaking of being good to children, and in the episode of Lazarus in heaven and the rich man in hell). Likewise the other prophets did not have to hear about the Beatitudes hundreds of years in advance while they were being crushed by Babylon! When the Israelites were being crushed in large part because of their stiff necked sins, did God not have to send prophets that emphasize why they are in that boat and how to rebuild rather than bring an early introduction of the teachings that Jesus would bring to humanity? But does that mean that what God taught during those times is no longer of importance because after all, now some people have the "selected sayings of Jesus Christ and St. Paul?"

I hope this helps. If you really are listening to me this should enrich your Bible reading and understanding many fold.

A fine book by Brian Welch (formerly of Korn)

I read the entire book by Brian "Head" Welch today, "Save Me From Myself." It's a great memoir and extremely moving. I can't say I'm surprised by his description of life as a heavy metal celebrity, since I know what goes on, but his candor is to be commended at the terrible price that is paid through addiction. His explanation that God can and does cure people of all addictions is truly inspiring and anyone who needs any encouragement ought to read this book. This book is a real gift and I'm grateful that he has given his witness and testimony, and I know that people who need help will receive it from reading this fine book. I feel like I know him and hope many good things for him going forward. I think as time goes on he will feel more discernment about how much God is really "hands on" directing his day to day, and settle down into a much more comfortable vibe that is not hypersensitive. God is always there, and the Holy Spirit dwells within, but he's not a micro manager *wink*. Talent and decision making comes from the person him or her self more that people who are newly given over to God realize. The difference is that they can make decisions and pursue their art from the firm foundation of love and grace by God. God is not making the decisions so much as he is providing the stage, the platform, to safely and sanely make decisions. I'm a laid back Catholic and I find the non denominational brothers and sisters are sometimes hyper sensitive to detailed communication with God *smile*. With time, like a loved spouse, one keeps company with God in lots of companionable silence and not the feeling that there must be tons of two way words and messages. God provides the space for decision making and living one's life, and is not so much a "Chinese or pizza?" kind of guy!

Reading the Bible and spending time in prayer keep the channels open and clear and allows the grace to flow. When the great saints had decisions to make (and there is great benefit in reading about the saints and their lives) they would pray, but rarely did they get explicit instructions from God. What they did receive was the openness to suggestion of the Holy Spirit, and the confidence that they could discern the good from the not so good. So when deciding, for example, where to build a monastery, the prayerful saints would let the Holy Spirit guide their feet, but not necessarily receive the road map and blueprint *wink*. God shows that there rarely is "only one answer" ... for example if a saint built a monastery in one location and it thrives, this does not mean that if he had chosen another location it would have failed. When one walks with God through the Holy Spirit one can discern and select on one's own among the many good choices and avoid the many bad choices. I love Brian's intensity and desire to communicate so frequently and in such detail with the Lord. I'm just saying that it is an extra pressure that not even the saints put upon themselves. For example, while speaking in tongues is a Biblical event it was a very rare event. Again, like I said, I'm a laid back life long Catholic and most of us see it more as that companionable silence highlighted by rich prayer life and scripture reading during the Mass. Anyway, if I was breaking bread with Brian, this is what I would counsel him if we were chatting. As it is, I highly recommend this book, both for one's own reading and also as a gift. It's an important book for being both inspirational and also cautionary of what many people face in the media machine... and how God is the answer and no addiction needs to be the final act... and despair does not need to live in anyone's heart, the Holy Spirit can push that despair and depression right out of anyone who lets the Spirit within.