social development

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The Eclipse

There are many functions and messages of the Eclipse. When examined, they can seem more simple than we believed, in a “Of course! It’s so obvious now” kind of way.

One of the more spiritual purposes of the Eclipse is for us have the message to have faith and trust that Light still exists when all around seems dark. The Light has not diminished, just because times seem dark.

One of the more emotional messages of the Eclipse is – with familiarity and effort to discover, explore and understand, we can grow to no longer fear those things which we feared when we did not discover, explore and understand.

One of the more physical messages of the Eclipse, is – the heavens hold wonders which we have yet to see, but each of the wonders which heaven has for us will be shared with us in time on this planet.

One of the more mental/intellectual messages of the Eclipse is – even with an intellectual understanding of how things work, these events still inspire awe.

There are many levels to an event like this. Even though it is a normal event – the sun always casts a shadow on the far side of the moon, even if the shadow only goes out into space – that which is normal or ordinary is still a function of God and the heavens – even if is is so common as to be taken for granted or go unnoticed.

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How Not to Be An Activist

Christ, Gandhi and Martin Luther King all demonstrated non-violent activism. They lived lives giving themselves human rights, as well as others, and then living those human rights. Others have tried to take these human rights away, but no one can take away our living of our human rights. We can only throw them away ourselves.

We have to remember that no matter what we fix out in the world – the external world – external to what is within our hearts and minds – that if we do not change ourselves, as well – what is within ourselves – healing that which needs healing, facing the challenges of changing our own self – we will create the exact same problematic world that we live in today. With no change within ourselves, there will be no real change in humanity’s creation of the world.  That which is within is reflected externally.

We can war with each other placing ourselves on either side of the battle, with all efforts still being “to go to war”. We simply tell ourselves that we’re righteous and the other side is in the wrong. This is how war is created. Both sides consider themselves righteous. Both sides consider the other side to be ignorant.  When violence is chosen by both sides – violence of deeds and words – there is no difference in the violence either side inflicts upon the other side whether it’s a violence of deeds or a violence of words. If we ignore the need for the inner change within our own self, we are part of the problem, regardless of which side we’re on and regardless of what changes we seek in the external world.

This may not be the popular view of our world. The popular view is addiction to violence and conflict – where conflict and war are acceptable.

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“As souls, we have the freewill choice to choose any and all life options – to stop, turnaround, run away, hide, freeze, get lost, shrink, and say ‘no’, or at any time, we can choose to get back up whenever we fall flat on our face, and renew our feelings and determination to never give up on our seeking Oneness with God.” (The Rainbow Cards, ©, 2017, Jodie Senkyrik)

“He who is determined enough to succeed, will never fail.” Og Mandino.

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Suicide

Sadness and grief permeate all facets of suicide. The human experiences of those who commit suicide and the human experiences of those who are left behind contain all manners of sorrow and pain before, during and after it is done. From the spiritual side of life, there is another consideration – an  opportunity to grow as a soul is lost.

Many humans will discuss the subject of suicide and condemn the act. Many say it’s not a problem at all.  Many say that it is an unforgivable sin. Many say that the person goes to hell for committing suicide. Many people say many things about what others do or don’t do leading up to or afterwards.

But, God does not take instruction from mankind. Like so many other things, our experience on the other side is very much based on our beliefs on this side. The standards we set for others are the standards we must be judged by – to some degree.  Our own judgment of ourselves (and others) gives us the most difficult challenges.  The point being that God determines what God’s perspective and stance on something is.

In the process of soul growth – regarding the expansion and evolution of the consciousness of an individual spirit inhabiting or not inhabiting a body – we are afforded many opportunities to learn of our relationships to God, to each other and to ourselves. Suicide, like many other things of this type in life, (murder, drug addiction, etc) prevents or stops particular opportunities for the soul to face certain necessary challenges.  But in the eternity of Infinite time, something else is the case.  Remember, God’s ways are not man’s ways.

First, suicide, like so many other experiences, is a personal choice. How we treat others is a choice. How we treat God is a choice. How we treat ourselves is a choice.  And many times in life, under countless circumstances, we fall short in the immediate moment in having the people or the tools to help us when we need help the most.  This means that all human beings at some point in life, are the ones who are the voices crying out in the wilderness “God, please help!”

When suicide is chosen and acted out, very little of our personal pain, challenges and lessons change for us, the soul(s) experiencing. Challenges don’t go away. Suffering doesn’t go away. If nothing, through suicide, we learn a lesson in what it is that drives human beings to commit suicide.  In other words, “Now we know why people choose suicide.  We now know how deep into despair and other emotions people can go which lead to this choice and act.

However, is the connection to others on Earth who may have been helpful, the opportunity to ask someone in the Earth for help when faced with these choices and experiences does go away, but only for a while. Each opportunity to continue learning in the Earth of the issues at hand does go away, but only for a while.

And, learning as a whole, does not go away. God does not abandon the soul experiencing suicide.  Starting over at some point in the future and eventually facing and overcoming the same challenges, returns to us. While we will one day be required to rebalance/resolve/heal/clean up our exact same issues with regards to the people who had been in our physical life, the fact that “God loves a soul who is willing to start over” (Edgar Cayce) means that we are not abandoned in our soul growth after an act of suicide. It will just take longer… and we won’t readily have the opportunities to return to address these factors and issues.  It also means we don’t escape from learning a “particular lesson”.  God’s ways are not man’s ways, and God does not abandon any soul/individual.  AND we have Eternity to walk our path of learning.

As souls, we have much to learn. As human beings, we have much to learn in the extreme. One of these things to learn is that while many think and wish it to be, suicide isn’t the escape people think it is. There is no escape from the soul work we have for us to become the companions of the Infinite Loving Consciousness or the issues, circumstances, and challenges that we must eventually and one day address/rebalance/resolve/heal/repair or will face.  And while in the Earth, we are called to practice the inner soul work of helping each one that calls out in the wilderness, “Help!”

As human beings we have many experiences that can lead us to the despair and pain making us think that suicide is the only door open to us. So many of us, if not all of us, must face this perspective that we have potentially within us. One thing to remember, (when the time comes for each of us to answer this question for ourselves,) is that we are not designed to go through life alone. We are designed to need one another.  The need for one another can be said to have been built into our “spiritual DNA” – the very energy/essence of our existence.  It is Truth that we are all in this boat together whether we believe it or not. We are teammates, whether we believe it or not. We can make it through these experiences by connecting to our teammates, relying on others to help us, and one day in turn, maybe our helping another teammate.

Another thing to remember, is that Christ can truly be thought of as one of our best friends. (We will always have this one best friend.)  When we face the challenges that we will face, we can reach out to our best friend(s) – the friend who is most able to understand and have room for us in their heart.  We can also reach out to any teammates who are “in the boat rowing along side of us (any human whom we find to reach out to.)

While we may argue this point, it really is true – God designed us to need one another. Problems arise when we try to ignore this need.  Problems can be healed and resolved when we understand and act on this need.

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“We aren’t meant to go it alone.  God designed us to need one another.” (The Rainbow Cards, ©, 1996 – 2023, Jodie Senkyrik)

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“Hatred is Not Justice”

(The title is a quote from the book, “Nosso Lar” by Francisco Cândido Xavier.  It is translated from Portuguese to English in the book, “Astral City”. )

There are many people in the world right now, who currently say that their hatred leads them to bring justice.  We see and hear many people all over the world saying that their hatred brings justice.  But, all sane people know that their saying this, doesn’t make it true.  Yet, frustratingly, like the others, all of us still have times when we grasp hold of the idea thinking that with our hatred, we can enact justice.

But, hatred is not justice.  When we catch ourselves and step back – stepping back from our own hatred, which we can do, albeit asking God’s help to do this – we can acknowledge that the words of the title statement are true words.

In the moments of hatred rising, why do we take hold of the idea that hatred might bring justice?  More often, it is because of our suffering.  We may believe that to be rid of the pain of hatred as well as the suffering of others or our own being attacked by our human brothers and sisters, we must act out of hatred in return, calling it justice.

But, hatred is not justice.  God’s gift to us is not hatred.  In that vein, we may wonder, ‘then what do we do with criminals and terrorist’s?’

There are many things we can do.  We start with God.  Our prayers, our meditations, our acts from the heart – all of these are where we start.  In addition, as the human race, throughout human history, we also have progressed on a path of developing laws designed to govern behavior.  This evolutionary path is not finished.  We are not at the end of evolving lawfully or socially.   Our efforts to walk a higher road has led humans to strive to design laws and create consequences to breaking those laws according to ever higher principles of honest justice.

For us as individuals, we can take a look at our self.  We can choose to let the statement live in our own behaviors and choices. This can help us as individuals to choose a different behavior towards the people in our lives and the people who we only know about on TV.  We can choose to hold onto the principle that hatred is not justice, and then look for ways to make it real in our day-to-day lives, activities and relationships.

When we choose to remember that hatred is not justice, we can also act from this awareness towards those who think that their hatred is their source of justice.  When we act from hatred, we don’t always realize that our hatred is the same as others’ hatred.  We may deny our hatred, and they do, too.  We may justify our hatred, but so do they.  In the end, where is the difference in hatreds?

There are too many examples in the news, every day, of when people act from the belief that their hatred is different – their hatred is righteous – their hatred is justified – their hatred is a gift from God.  No one religion holds the monopoly on these acts of hatred – every philosophy and religion has people who have acted believing hatred (whether in large ways or small ways) is their way to justice.

But, hatred is not justice.  We will evolve beyond hatred, learning this, if we remember one day at a time, that justice does exist, even though we may never, in our own minds and our own paradigms, understand fully how it could be.  We can evolve beyond hatred, with God’s help.  We can evolve beyond hatred through our prayers, our meditations, one day at a time, through our efforts on each day that we remember God and God’s Infinite and unending Love for each of us.

God will never give up on teaching us – “hatred is not justice” – that God is the Justice we seek, in addition to God being Infinite Understanding, Infinite Patience, Infinite Kindness, Infinite Love, Infinite Forgiveness, Infinite Peace, Infinite Mercy and more.

These are God’s true gifts to us.

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“What would you want heaven to be like?  Are you creating that in your heart and mind, right now?  Are you helping to create that for others in the world?” (The Rainbow Cards, ©, 2006-2017, Jodie Senkyrik)

“It is best that we don’t believe everything we hear about someone.  It is also best that we don’t believe everything we say about someone.” (The Rainbow Cards, ©, 2006-2017, Jodie Senkyrik)

“For us to release ourselves from prison, we must release everyone else, as well. For us to release ourselves from karma, we must release everyone else from the karma we assign to them and expect them to go through, as well. Mercy and Forgiveness are the keys.  We cannot move on, when our hands are holding on to the chains we place on others.” (The Rainbow Cards, ©, 2006-2017, Jodie Senkyrik)

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External vs. Internal

Trump has removed Bannon from the NSC, and Nunes has recused himself from the investigation into possible collusion between Trump and Russia. What do you think? N.F.

The question for me isn’t what are those other people doing. The question I ask myself each day is “What can I do today, to help?” Whether it’s pray and meditate, act with respect and kindness towards others, consider my role of supporting groups I believe help, recycling, or doing that one thing that only one person can do, I ask myself, what can I, one person, do today? This is what each individual has the capacity for, because all things that are accomplished are accomplished by individuals doing that which they can do as an individual – with individuals cooperating with each other – to bring about large events.

Sitting in the silence of this question, when put out to the Infinite Consciousness of God, I can get many answers – not all at once – and certainly not coming through the “lightening and thunder.” But, for me, my main answer is be true to myself – to my own heart, what I value, what I care about, what concerns me, what I try to affect by being one person adding my effort to other “one persons”.

We can contribute to the change in the world, in our nation, in our community and in our own family, by changing ourselves, by putting forth effort, and by recognizing that we can affect our own life and maybe the life of someone we contact.  Like the story of the boy who kept throwing beached starfish back in the water, when another person pointed out there were hundreds and thousands out of the water – “My effort matters to the one that is helped by that one act.”

From what I see psychically, everything is happening for a reason, but the big picture and understanding of why it happens this way, is as big as the Universe and all of Evolution through all time. Our prayers and meditation help to bring about higher guidance, and higher levels of healing. The effort we put forth is an act of creation of a new world – one built with what we do as an individual, today.

Finally, with regards to all the destruction that also happens – this too shall pass. Hence why the specific maneuvering in the government and external world doesn’t matter as much as the changes we make happen within our own hearts and minds.

If we want focus on the people in government to help bring about a better world, first, we need to look to the Spirit of God that lives within our own hearts and within our own efforts.  God’s help and guidance is stronger for those we pray for, but God will never take away a soul’s freewill to choose their actions for themselves.  If we see people’s actions as being harmful, then instead of judging, condemning and criticizing, be a person who instead prays for those who are lost in their desire to harm.  Remember, if all we are is a person who condemns and criticizes, but doesn’t pray to do something to help bring real change, then all we are is an empty noisemaker.

Thank you for contributing to this blog.  God bless you.

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“If we could fully realize that every experience we create for ourselves and others is experienced not just by our immediate surroundings, but by all life in our area, in our planet, in this universe and in all the infinite universes, as well, would it affect what we decided to create for others to experience?” (The Rainbow Cards, ©, 2014, by Jodie Senkyrik)

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That Worthwhile Deep Within

If you’re wondering what effect government actions will have in the long term, you don’t really need to wait and see. You also don’t need to hang your hopes on promises. We can look at the human race all around the world – not just in the United States – and see the pushback that is happening from people who don’t want human, social and spiritual evolution to occur. The pushback is happening in the form of attempts to revert back to previous states of consciousness and previous states of life.  Peace and cooperation  – not chaos – are products of God’s presence and guidance.  Christ never taught chaos, He taught better things than this.

There are issues and “sicknesses” deep within so many human consciousnesses in the Earth. In fact, one can easily say that we all have issues and illnesses within us. For all of us, these are coming to the surface, becoming visible and even being pseudo-supported by some. The racial, religious, and cultural prejudices all around the world that are now more visible than ever before, are a major part of that which is coming to the surface, having been repressed and buried deep within before now.

There are many that, if possible, would like that these “sicknesses” never came to the surface – that one could hold onto them throughout all time. There are many that think that it is right and just to hate a different culture. There are many that think the only way to have peace and harmony is if everyone is the same – starting with the same skin color, then religious beliefs, then political party, then this, then that. To some degree, no one is completely immune to these thoughts and feelings.

Of course, that argument comes from declaring that love is not the center of our existence and therefore not the center of spiritual law. For some, Love is only an emotion that has little power for healing.

The truth is all of us are the same, and all of us are different. We are the same in that we all – in fact all of life – are spirits of the One God. We are all spirit beings. All life is first a spirit being. All life! That means from the smallest thing that exists to the largest thing that exists – we’re all spirit first.

We are different in that the Infinite Consciousness of God creates Infinitely and not finitely. Infinite Consciousness has created Infinite Possibilities, Infinite forms, Infinite manifestations of Spirit and has given spirits in these Infinite manifestations freewill.

When we choose the path of healing our own issues and illnesses within us, we make a more open path for healing for those that follow us or who may be in our lives.  We open to our own Infinite possibilities, because we open to a greater presence of the Infinite Consciousness.  This changes the status quo within ourselves and within our own environment.

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Difficult times are ahead. It will be easy to hate – as easy as it comes. It is one of the easiest things to look down upon, to dismiss, to diminish, and to disrespect. It is as easy as it comes to consider others to be less than worthy of respect from us, less than worthy of being afforded dignity and less than worthy of human kindness from us.

It is difficult – it takes sometimes dogged, persistent effort to do that which is worthwhile – to show respect – to show human kindness – to recognize that every soul is equally worthy of all human rights and all compassion and consideration. It is difficult to change the deepest part of our own souls, because we then have to let go of benefits that we think we gained through countless lifetimes and years of being prejudiced and condemning – putting ourselves above others – pushing others down beneath us.

For some of us, it will be impossible to change, because some of us will consider ourselves alone in the world, and having only our own prejudice and contempt of others as our companions. But, with God – the Infinite Consciousness of God, all things are possible. With God, all things can be accomplished. With God, our deepest fears and selfishness, our deepest disregard and contempt for any others can indeed be changed. With God, we can open to the truth that all others are our brothers and sisters in God’s Infinite Consciousness and Spirit for each of us has that Spirit of Oneness within our very being – giving us our very existence – uniting us all at our very core of our self.

With the Infinite Consciousness of God, we are one, and we will find our way out of our selfishness and our illusion of being alone.  As human beings, we can find our way back to being in the Family of Man.  As souls, we can find our way back to being enveloped in Infinite Peace and united again with the Infinite Love of our Infinite Source of Life.

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“Sorrow, suffering and despair are appropriate things to feel when we feel disconnected from God. Pity the person who has lost their connection to God and cares nothing at all about it.” (The Rainbow Cards, ©, 1995-2017, Jodie Senkyrik)

“If we really want to know if Someone is Real.  We need only sincerely ask to meet with that Someone.  ‘Seek and ye shall find.’ ”  (The Rainbow Cards, ©, 2017, Jodie Senkyrik)

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Be Inspired ! !

Yes, even if we’re feeling discouraged about the politics in the U.S., now is a good time to get up in the morning with hope in our hearts.  Why, because now is a wonderful opportunity to do something specific.

Instead of being discouraged, angry and bitter, look for someone or something that you feel is inspiring.  These exist everywhere.  Look for topics.  Look for speakers.  Look for actions – all of which are inspiring to you.  All of these are happening.  We can see them on the Internet, in society, on Youtube, on Facebook, and many other places.

The energy we feel when we look for inspiration is a recognition that our hope is a hope for very real results.  Inspiration is the belief that there is a force of accomplishment in our planet which we can connect to and ride – like a surfer on a wave.  This wave of inspiration raises us up.  This energy of inspiration – of being inspired – of listening to someone or watching something that is inspiring – is a force that spreads – strengthening the heart of individuals all over the place.  Then, in turn, helping us to act in whatever way we find is best.

When we seek inspiration, we find inspiration. There are people in the world that are inspiring.  There are stories people share that inspire others.  There are speakers that inspire people.  When we join with these others, we feel the VERY REAL energy of being able to accomplish what we seek to accomplish.

Sure, we may get tired and weary, discouraged and feel despair sometimes.  After all, we are human beings.  But, we can also breath in strength, and as Og Mandino wrote in his book, “The Greatest Salesman in the World”, “He who is determined enough to succeed, will never fail.”  Who among us is advocating ‘giving up’ on anything that we know is worthwhile to pursue?

As the inspiration grows within one’s own heart and mind, let it also be turned within, to inspire us to accept and forgive, be patient and let go of judgment.  Let this inspiration also guide us inwardly to seek within our heart who to forgive and who to show mercy towards.  Let this energy inspire us to have compassion.  Let it inspire us to have fortitude to stay the course – to be patient – to have mercy towards others – to show charity when the need exists, and to seek out and learn wisdom.  Let this inspiration motivate us to give of our time or money or cooperation or energy or muscle to help join with others wherever we find ourselves – to cooperate in lifting up humanity, or our nation, or our community or our small group, or our family and friends.  Let this inspiration motivate us to show love to all the living beings around us – to give of our heart and mind.

Remember the Dr. Seuss cartoon story of the Who of Whoville?  When the Grinch stole their Christmas decorations, Christmas still happened within the hearts and minds of all the people of Whoville.  Did you feel good when you saw that part?  Was it because inspiration (Christmas), courage, fortitude, persistence, dedication, joy, community, friendship, joining together – all of these still exist within our hearts and are not based on external events?

If any of us need inspiration, look at historical events which are devastating.  Then look at how we respond to these devastating events.  People come together to persevere, to show courage, to rebuild, to give inspiration for those who are discouraged or suffering – to help people stand back up in the face of adversity.

Let whatever words from others that help to lift you up be hung as your banner and flag.  For me, I’ve always liked, “He or She, who is determined enough to succeed will never fail” and “Let God decide what is possible.” and “There will never be a day that we can stop hatred and violence in the world by opposing it using hatred and violence.” and many of the others in the Rainbow Cards.  I think of that for all individuals.  And when one person joins with another one person, and then another one person, and on and on, strength grows for us as a unified group.

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If your counter-argument to what is above is that it’s hard to be inspired when one gets beat-up, spit upon, whipped, pushed around, kicked, and nailed up on a cross to die, then you’re absolutely right.  And yet, with God, all things are possible – even resurrection.

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“It is irrelevant whether we can or cannot do something.  What matters is if we’re willing or not willing in our heart.  It is the one who is not willing, who cannot.  It is the one who is willing, who can.” (The Rainbow Cards, ©, 2000-2016, Jodie Senkyrik)

“The greater issue is not whether we save the world from evil.
The greater issue is whether we become evil while we think we’re saving the world.” (The Rainbow Cards, ©, 2016, Jodie Senkyrik)

 

 

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Why do Extraterrestrials Not Let Themselves Be Known?

The argument has been made that “If extraterrestrials existed, they would let themselves be known”.  While this argument can be popular among many, it lacks an understanding of the factors involved and therefore doesn’t give insight into the reason why they don’t. In turn, this argument usually seeks to dismiss any discussion or anyone who looks to go beyond the box of one’s beliefs.

Look at the Earth today, with the current number of nations and the different types of governments. As a whole, look at the conflicts we have between countries. Then look at the conflicts we have within each individual country’s borders. We have many different ideologies that lead to disagreements, and conflicts. We have wars based on selfish efforts to overpower others for one’s own agenda. We have many organizations and groups that have their own agendas based on affecting others’ lives according to the most powerful groups decisions. This is the very real situation on the whole Earth.

No country, government or group is immune to this or free from some nations, groups or factions displaying this behavior or other efforts made to gain control or have power over someone else. As long as there are individuals and governments who seek their own agendas over the good of all, this will happen. We are very aware of this here in the U.S. since we’ve seen it play out in our own society.

Take a look at the technological leaps we’ve made in the last 100 years. We’ve gained nuclear power, computer technology, cellular phones, and the list goes on almost forever. None of these have “saved” mankind of been made to be free from the agendas of those who greedily seek financial or political power over others. Instead technology still also gets used to serve the quest for greater power and more deadly weapons.  We can see examples where the hunger for more power and weapons grows still.

In addition, the craving for energy sources is great as well. We have over 7 billion people on the planet and will have 8 billion in a decade. We’ll move towards 9 billion after that. Looking down the road, our energy needs will be way more that they are today.  The effort to get that energy to sell to consumers will be greater, also.

What do you think will happen when another (albeit, FRIENDLY) civilization comes forth that has technology and energy sources far more useful or powerful than our own?

In general, each country, each nation, each governing body, each corporation, each industry will be clambering for the technology and energy sources. On the whole, with current human thinking, the clamor and acquisition for the best technology means making the most money. With current human thinking, the race to get the energy sources ET’s have won’t bring different people’s into cooperation, but rather, more likely into more fighting.  That is what is happening now. The level of technology and energy which non-Earth civilizations would bring – would trigger even greater conflict and even worse wars, because the fighting for these would continue.  After all, wars have been the ways for many to accomplish getting what one wants, in the past.   The motto, “Use what works.” is still alive on this planet.

Right now, the effort to get the technology and energy wouldn’t unite humans. Look at what nuclear capability brought. It did not unite peoples. Look at what computer technology has brought. There are still great imbalances among the different nations of the world – and how to disseminate and control that technology. Look at oil, electricity and the like. The struggle among humans for power over others still goes on even with the advances in technology and energy.

Those that are from other planets, or rather, those with benevolent intentions from other planets, don’t seek to get in the middle of the conflicts we have here on Earth. They know that their technologies and energies could lead to even greater conflict with the tug-o-wars that would happen. Governments would demand their share of technologies in the name of “keeping the balance of power” with many going to war to maintain this balance. Even greater wars than we’ve ever had, could happen.

Greater technologies will never be what saves humankind from our self and our own selfishness. We have much evolution to go through, yet.  We can only be that which, and who, we are.  Currently, all across the planet, we are still the humans that we are.

The day is coming that people from other planets make their presence known publicly. But, today, the human race as a whole is not where we need to be in order to avoid making a conflictual situation even worse.

No benevolent race of beings wants their arrival to destroy the people they come to “visit”. The human race, with its conflictual behaviors, and examples in history of the human drive to conquer rather than coexist, plus today’s examples of abusive behaviors to life here on Earth – and our not having the full collective will to stop the abuse – all point to this time in our lives not being when they should make themselves known.

Until that day comes, they may make themselves known to individuals or to small groups. They may make themselves known in secret. They may make themselves known as rumors and half-believed stories. They may make themselves known in ways that only a few believe are real. But, much has to happen among the human race before they make themselves known publicly to all people and all nations as visitors from another star system.

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“Pray for All Life.” (The Rainbow Cards, 1996, ©, Jodie Senkyrik)

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The Fear and Violence part of the 3rd Chakra

We can look at the world and see violence happening all over the place. We can also look at the world and feel the fear which is within people all over the place. And both violence and fear seemingly grow, and seemingly grow and seemingly grow.

The 3rd Chakra Connection

The spiritual consciousness 3rd Chakra is connected to the physical Adrenaline Gland. This particular Chakra part of the whole consciousness activates the Adrenaline Gland. We all know what adrenaline is. We all feel it when we’re pumped up for an athletic event or the latest roller coaster ride, or a scary movie, or a James Bond movie or an X-men movie or Deadpool Movie or a war movie or any number of all the other movies which are designed, written, and purposed to give an adrenaline thrill ride. It is the “fight or flight” experience.  It is meant to be associated with personal power.  (Even reading this last paragraph brings back memories of these activities and triggers adrenaline.)

It is the adrenaline experience that fuels many actions including violence – the “fight” part of the coin. This is the thirst for blood – the rush of adrenaline that comes with violence.  Many seek this.  Fear is also the adrenaline experience – the “flight” part of the experience. We either “run like everything the other way” or we fight.  Many seek this, also.  Fight or flight are both the 2 sides of one coin.

Currently, in our world, our reaction to violence is to bring forth more violence, because the original violence triggers fear within us, and through our response of violence, we’re trying to no longer be afraid via overpowering the original fear and violence.

Put another way, in our world, our reaction to this type of 3rd Chakra experience is to bring forth more of these types of 3rd Chakra experiences, because the original 3rd Chakra experience triggers another 3rd Chakra experience within us, and through our responding with this type of 3rd Chakra experience we’re trying to no longer have these types of 3rd Chakra experiences by trying to overpower the original 3rd Chakra experience with another 3rd Chakra experience.

Do you kind of get where the problem is with fear and violence – fight or flight?

Einstein once said, “We can’t solve a problem at the level at which it was created.” We can’t solve the cycle of violence and fear – a type of 3rd Chakra cycle of experiences – by bringing forth more violence and fear – more of the same types of 3rd Chakra experiences.

Options for Something Different

However, we can step out of the cycles of these 3rd Chakra experiences with two different changes in consciousness.

The 2nd option for change is to move our awareness up to the 4th Chakra and begin practicing 4th Chakra experiences whenever we are aware that we are responding to our life situations, circumstances, and experiences with adrenaline.  It’s not always easy to do, because this act requires self-awareness.  The self-awareness also needs to include the knowledge and awareness of the difference between 3rd and 4th Chakra experiences.  This takes practice – months of practice added to years of practice added to one’s life path full of practicing.

This is a process of observing one’s self.  It is also referred to “stepping aside and watching one’s self pass by.”  Many times we can recall memories of our experiences easier, and this gives us the chance to “observe” how we reacted in the past.  It also can become possible then to remember the present and our current responses happening in the ‘now’ moment.

The 4th Chakra’s center of response can move us to much different responses.  It also can move us to many different choices available to us.  None of the choices are “to not feel the 3rd Chakra” or “to feel nothing at all”.  The 4th Chakra isn’t about “feeling nothing”.

Quite the opposite – the 4th Chakra is about feeling more than only what the 3rd Chakra offered.  The 4th Chakra, the heart Chakra, is the Chakra centered on Love and the many different forms which love can take.  Love can take many forms – compassion, mercy, forgiveness, patience, understanding, tolerance, etc.

In this topic, Love can come forth from the 4th Chakra in the form of compassion and understanding.  This is the 1st option which I skipped over previously.  The 1st change to the 3rd Chakra experiences from moving our response into the 4th Chakra is the compassion and understanding of the 3rd Chakra experiences of fight or flight – the compassion and understanding of the experiencing of fear and violence and why we experience these.

A transformation can take place by moving our responses into the 4th Chakra.  As human beings, holding on to our compassion, we can begin to understand just how difficult and confusing it is to be a human being.  We can understand what human beings go through to struggle and live on this planet.  We can understand how our thinking styles, our ways of responding to experiences, and our chosen ways of believing can be so difficult to step out of, that it is any wonder that we’re able to find peace at all.

Being a human being is hard.  We try to latch onto some way of living that may possibly lead us to something better.  But, as human beings we can only do the best we can.  Sometimes, we can only do the best we can at doing the best we can.  Hence why responding from the 4th Chakra can be so important and helpful.  It is from our heart that we offer compassion for the struggles of life that people face.  It is from our heart that we find patience to extend to someone else who needs just that.  It is from our heart that we find it within ourselves to live in some form of peace with others, allowing all the different ways of being human to try to coexist.

It is from our heart that we can transform the experience of fear and violence to one of compassion and understanding which in turn, can lead to acceptance and tolerance.  Love is possible, when we move our consciousness from our adrenaline experiences to our heart – the center of love experiences and all the different forms that love could manifest.

As humans and spirits, we are all our Chakras and all our experiences – the sum total of all experiences we’ve ever had, plus the sum of all our potential possibilities for the future.  That’s a lot, so, no experience or response we’ve ever had, is not “not part of us”.  Nor should they be.

But, we have choices that we can make.  We are more than automatic responses of fear and violence.  We can make choices of healing and learning.  We can make choices of compassion and understanding.  We can make choices of growing in our awareness of our self and our being a human being.  These choices can help us heal our self, our relationship, our communities, and even, our world.  “With God, all is possible” no longer are just fancy words, but can become a new way of living.

The transformation of the 3rd Chakra by moving into the 4th, is a transformation of fear and violence to one of learning, understanding, compassion, and patience.   In turn, these can also lead to mercy, forgiveness, and a healing of our Family of Man.

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“Never underestimate the Infinite possibilities of the Infinite Consciousness of God bringing forth Infinite Love.  Infinite things can happen.”  (The Rainbow Cards, ©, 2016, Jodie Senkyrik)

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The Prejudice We Don’t Know

Everyone knows prejudice – what it is – that it exists – that it contributes to the pain and suffering of human beings.   During our own lives and in our past, we’ve seen prejudice be at the core of oppression, suffering, and the killing of people.  We see it without trying to find it.

Like a ball, it has many sides.  Contrary to some beliefs, understanding prejudice is not a black and white understanding – either knowing it or not knowing it.  Recognizing prejudice is not a black and white experience – either seeing it or not seeing it.  Human prejudice is as visible and invisible as the human psyche and spirit permits.

This is partly because very few know how to cleanse themselves of prejudice.

This is because the real issue is never whether we are prejudiced or not.  As difficult as it is to read this statement, it is true.  The real issue is different.  The real issue is how do we cleanse ourselves of prejudice.

Imagine if God, in His/Her ability for Infinite Possibilities, one day when we woke up, had turned us from what we are in this world into another race or the opposite gender, or a different religion or sexual orientation or different nationality, an opposite or different… anything – than who and what we are right now – all while we stayed aware of all of this transformation.  In one moment, we went from one identity and paradigm of who we are to an opposite in the next moment.  Impossible, but not for God – since “it just happened.”

How would we feel being aware of who we were one moment and then being aware that we’re no longer who we were but we’re now the opposite?  Would we welcome it?  Would we dread it?  Would we be glad?  Would we be sad or devastated?

The real issue mentioned above is whether we could then be honest with ourselves, because we would come face to face with our true feelings, thoughts and attitudes of the “other” that is now our self.  Our feelings and attitudes would give our self away.

Within the awareness, within the body, within the mind or within everything of this opposite that we now are – would we feel it is a punishment? or would we feel it is a release from a prison?  or a prison sentence?  The next question becomes “Why?”  Why would we be glad? or sad?  Why would we feel it is a punishment? Why would we feel it is a release from a prison? or a prison sentence?

And there are other questions.  Are we now that which we had blamed, looked down on, hated or targeted?  Have we become someone who we would want to be?  Or are we someone who we would dread to be?

Targets

Ultimately, the question is ‘Have we ever thought, felt or acted against another person or group?  It is this person or group, who we thought, felt, or acted against that is our target.  Targeting anyone or any group is what prejudice is about.

Only when we take the journey of working on ourselves within, striving to have no one anywhere as our target – only then, do we strive to work to cleanse ourselves from prejudice of any kind- and cleanse ourselves from our judging another person or group who is not that which we individually are.

Who among us can claim we have cleansed ourselves completely of prejudice?  and then become the opposite of what we are – with no qualms or shame, or worry, with no gladness, no sadness and then go on to recognize that we are both the previous self and the opposite of our self – and both of these are our self.  Ultimately, in being prejudiced, we are only prejudiced, and have targeted, (and seek to limit, blame or hate) our own self.

Not being prejudiced is a journey of letting go of judgment of ourselves as much as it is letting go of judgment of others.  It is a journey of discovering that every one is our self, and our own self is everyone – including the ones we currently target, judge or hate.

If we choose to strive to cleanse ourselves from targeting anyone, we also strive to accept and welcome everyone as our own self and our own self as everyone – more importantly, we will have traveled a journey that leads us to accept our whole Self -that Self who contains all the opposites within one person even though the surface doesn’t show it, yet.

Is this possible to do for human beings?  As Christ said, “With God, ALL THINGS are possible.” even traveling a journey of discovering as individuals, who we really are.  With that discovery, hopefully being that we are all one another and therefore, we are all One.

Is this hard to understand? Sure, but cleansing prejudice is only done with effort to understand more things and greater things about people, than that amount we understand so far.  This takes effort and striving.

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Changing away from prejudice is a journey of “a thousand days.”  However, on a day to day basis – taking one day at a time – it is a light switch.  It is a light switch when we realize that we targeted someone yesterday, and we can choose to not target them on this day – today – not target another person or group of people through our words, our actions or our thoughts – today.

We can turn our journey into “1000 light switches” when we take our journey one day at a time, and choose only on this day, today – with each “today” which we are given – to target no person or group of people whatsoever based on that which identifies them beyond their own character.

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There was a movie made in 1970 called “Watermelon Man” which covered the experience of waking up as “a different man.”

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“The things we can do, are the things we’re willing to do.  The things we can’t do, are the things we’re not willing to do.”  (The Rainbow Cards, ©, 2016-2018, Jodie Senkyrik)

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Beware of Ignorance

Take a look at the world we live in. In looking at the world, look at what human beings’ pursuit of education has offered the world.  At the same time, look at what people’s lack of the pursuit of education – ignorance – has offered the world.  Which state of the mind has offered the best and which has offered the worst for mankind?

There are many that will criticize both – and in doing so, seek to justify their own position.  One might easily argue that it is education that created the atomic bomb and put the whole world in jeopardy.  One might easily argue that it is education that created weapons of destruction, which led to terrorism.  One might equally argue that this or that particular ignorance is the cause of this or that failure in the world.

But, it is ignorance that makes all these arguments.  It is ignorance that takes education and shapes it into tools to serve ignorance.  It is the ignorance in people that look at technology and think different technologies are either good or bad, instead of seeing that deeper within people’s hearts and minds that use technology lies the motivation for how technology is used – for good or for bad.  It is also ignorance that says that this or that shortfall is the cause of a certain problem that the world faces.

The greater ignorance of which I speak is the ignorance of all of humanity being one family.  I speak of the ignorance that we are all brothers and sisters.  This ignorance leads people to further their beliefs of separation based on subjective measurements – like where a person was born, or what color skin a person has, or what religion a person chooses.

While some may think these factors are important, they simply are looking at the surface measurements – which change as rapidly as time.  The boundaries of countries have changed throughout time and will continue, for all countries – all – in time.  The differences of the pigment colors in the skin are superficial, at best, and comparable to what size feet a person has, at worst.  Can you imagine if we chose our cultures and groups based on the size of a person’s foot?  or whether they have freckles? or if they’re left handed or right? or if they gesture with their hands when they talk?  In addition, the use of religious beliefs to separate different groups of people totally defeats the purpose of religious beliefs, which have been meant to help unify people, and not separate people.  Many people who have educated themselves on many religions see the vast number of similarities of religious principles.  The people who haven’t, see much less – the surface.

Education leads a person to examine deeper than the surface.  Ignorance leads a person to believe only what they see or experience on the surface.   Education takes work.  Ignorance is easy.  This is why we find it so easy to choose ignorance.

We all think that we choose education, because we’ve been to school.  Yet, schools aren’t exactly known to teach only truth – more often it is what is accepted in that particular moment in time.  To see this, we only need to compare what specifically was taught in schools 500 years ago, and what is specifically taught in schools, today.  Then looking further, compare what is specifically taught today, to what will be taught in schools 500 years from now.  (Don’t be fooled by the argument of ignorance saying, “We don’t know what will be taught in schools 500 years from now.” Anyone who looks deeper than the surface can come up with some understanding of what the future holds by looking at how education evolves and progresses.)

Beware of Ignorance.  We all have ignorance of some type within us.  All of us.  There is only one way to move away from ignorance – to continue to look deeper into all things – including our own hearts, minds and souls – educating ourselves throughout our entire lives – learning more about our own humanness, our own self, each other, what life is really meant to be about, how to enrich our own minds and hearts, how to interact in the Earth in better ways, how to love, forgive and join with others, how to move beyond our own chosen prison bars, and how to expand ourselves and the planet we live on.

The alternative is ignorance of ourselves, of our own hearts, our own minds, our own souls and our world – hearts, minds, souls and a world which, with ignorance, will shrink and eventually die from a starvation of life and growth.

To continue to learn requires choosing to learn more.  Learning requires informing ourselves and seeking out that which is beyond our current “paradigm” of understanding.  To learn and grow requires seeking beyond the surface of what we think is both true and false to test the validity of our beliefs. To fear to go beyond our own beliefs leads to ignorance.

Everyone is inspired, enlivened, and enriched by something.  Find what inspires, enlivens and enriches.  It will lead to knowing one’s self in ever deeper ways.

“Know Thyself.”

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Knowing One’s True Self

“My question is pertaining to knowing one’s true self and truth. How do we know we are making the right decisions and being true to ourselves and not just making a wrong, selfish decision? God is telling us things all the time, but how do I know which voice It is? The one that says “be true to yourself and go for what you are feeling right now ( this feeling overwhelms me)” or the one that says “are you sure you want to do this, the grass may not be greener on the other side, and people will get hurt in the process?” Its like a battle. How do I know the right way to go? Which voice is right?” M.

How do we know?  Through practice, practice, practice, practice and more practice. Life is not just a process of learning what God wants of us. It is a process of learning about our own self, in addition to common sense, understanding, and wisdom (eventually), and even with all this, learning that mistakes can be learning opportunities, also.

Think of this process, even this life as a “school-like” opportunity, not a tight-rope that one has to get perfect or else lose everything. This is why Christ is recognized as a teacher rather than a judge, jury and executioner. He is a gentle yet persistent teacher.

Our life is more like a school that gives us many, many opportunities to learn about how to live our lives with love from our hearts and what we’ve learned in our minds.

Some advice I encourage is:

  • Continue to practice having an open mind and an open heart. God can fill both of these.
  • Continue to practice the Fruits of the Spirit – like kindness, patience, mercy, forgiveness and more. God comes into this world in those moments that these are expressed.
  • When praying and meditating, pray for sincerity in one’s prayers.
  • And another: it helps to regularly ask ourselves, “Am I willing to learn, to love, to live, and to practice? Am I willing?”

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“If you can’t decide between the left hand choice and the right hand choice, then throw them both out and pick from the third hand.” The Rainbow Cards, ©, 1993, Jodie Senkyrik

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To Know Oneself

Over and over and over, we give ourselves messages from ourselves.  We talk to ourselves in our minds.  We think to ourselves.  We assure ourselves.  We comfort ourselves. We chastise ourselves.  We criticize ourselves.  We are instant messaging ourselves all the time – telling ourselves all kinds of things about the world and ourselves throughout the day.  We communicate more with ourselves than any other being in existence – all happening in all the different levels of our minds.

And we’re always honest with ourselves, right?  The one person who we would think would be honest with ourselves would be our self, right?  There’s no question that what we tell ourselves is always the truth, right?

Not really, and that’s putting it mildly, isn’t it.

In all honesty, we’re just as likely to be dishonest with ourselves as we are with anyone else.  In fact, sometimes it’s easier, isn’t it. Many times, since we’re the one who judges whether it’s okay to lie about something, we are mostly okay when we lie even to ourselves.  Aren’t we.  We do it so often, that we often don’t know the truth when we hear it, or say it.  Isn’t that true?  We have a version in our minds which we say is true, and which we tell ourselves is the absolute truth, and which we would swear to in front of any other person who asks, right?

That “truth” that we call “truth” to ourselves – we know that very well.  That’s the version of truth that we’ve worked out inside ourselves to be called “true.”  In our subconscious and in our day-to-day consciousness, we go about our day deciding what is going to be the truth and what isn’t.  Isn’t that so – not always consciously, but then sometimes consciously, right?

And how does this serve us?

It serves us by not requiring us to feel all the feelings and emotions which go along with acknowledging the actual truth.  Many times the actual truth that we don’t acknowledge comes connected to sadness and sorrow, grief and disappointment, anger and bitterness, hatred and aggravation – feelings we don’t want to be experiencing or acknowledge.

It also serves us by giving us a different view of who we think we are – or a view of how far we think we’ve grown on this spiritual path or in any way whatsoever.  Sometimes, subconsciously, these are factors that we think may determine whether we get loved or not.  After all, everyone wants to be loved, and maybe the “better people” are the ones that get loved.  And if I’m a “better people”, I should then be loved, too.  Right?

The actual truth doesn’t come with all of these aspects and factors all the time, but still, the actual truth that we want to not be true, many times does in truth come with heavy, painful, and disturbing feelings and acknowledgments as well as those subconscious messages which we tell ourselves related to being loved in the world, (a formidable source of motivation, since after all, everyone wants to be loved.)

Yet, this actual truth can come forward within us, but only if we allow it and only if we allow the emotions to come, also.  It can knock on the door, but it comes in only when we open the door and welcome it in.

This actual truth often comes with an assessment of ourselves.  It sometimes points out how we need to change something within ourselves or how we may have acted inappropriately in how we related to someone.  It can come with regret or sorrow, shame, guilt or embarrassment.  Or it can come with a chance to heal.

There are times that we can really benefit from knowing the actual truth.  There are times that we can heal when the actual truth is acknowledged.  Counseling helps that process.  Talk therapy helps a person find their way to clean out their closet filled with all kinds of stuff that we fill closets with.  Yet, that’s only one way of many ways to figure out the truth within ourselves, though.

Sometimes, it helps to just be willing to accept the actual truth, regardless of what comes with it.  “Willingness” to allow the actual truth to come forward is the single strongest quality that helps it come forward.

Yes, we can lie to ourselves about being willing.  We can tell ourselves that we want the actual truth, and then not be willing to open the door for it.  Sincerity is a big key, but then sincerity includes willingness and comes with one of the deeper forms of honesty, doesn’t it.

What has helped me many times is to pray to God – “God, help me be honest with myself.”  If I’m really wanting honesty and truth, who better to ask for help to gain honesty and truth.  When we’re truly sincere about working to be more honest with ourselves, it’s best to start with the one who can actually help make that goal a reality.  When we pray for God to help us be honest with ourselves, we are “standing in front of the face of God.”  We are placing ourselves in front of the face of the One who knows Truth about ourselves, about our thoughts, our feelings, our actions, our behaviors, our pain, our suffering, our shame, our guilt, our disappointments, our grief, our hopes, our dreams, our loves, our hates, our healing, our needs, our crying out in the wilderness, our courage and our fear – our whole selves – our deepest parts of ourselves and our shallowest parts of ourselves – our honesty and our lies.  It’s not that easy to do, but again, all we need to be is “willing” in order to move forward.

“God, help me be honest with myself” is a gentle prayer, but can be an effective one if what we seek is the real truth about ourselves and our lives, and to be honest with that real truth about ourselves and our lives.

It’s a challenging “row to hoe”, and what I describe here is in no way the whole truth and nothing but the truth, because I don’t have a lock on ‘Truth’.  But the effort we make to dig for the truth – to dig for being honest with ourselves – pays off with a greater understanding and knowledge of ourselves, and to know our self, honestly and truthfully, is an ever greater thing to know.  “There’s gold in them thar hills” – or in this case – the priceless jewels of who we are await us when we come to know ourselves.  Getting to know our self is one of the greatest things in all existence.  When we do this, we then come to understand more of our relationships with God, with others and very importantly, our relationship with ourselves.

Surprising, but true.

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Self-sufficiency and Cooperation

(This article responds to comments from the previous article.)

Self-sufficiency is a worthwhile tool, but not exactly what we  think it is. In some things, it is helpful and can move us forward, but in others, it can be harmful and move us backward. While it is an ideal that can provide some benefits, the axiom is true – no man (person) is an island. In the same way, no family can be an island. We live in a world where we strive to join together and cooperate with each other. Almost everything we have in our lives is a result of both family member and non-family member cooperation to build our society, our community, our nation, or our world. To say that the opposite is good – self-sufficiency – the more the better – and reliance on others is a bad thing that we need to get away from is to not acknowledge that all things in life have come from cooperation between one person and another. Cooperation is the working with and relying on others to contribute what they can to a task.

If we thought we were islands unto ourselves, even on farms, first we would have to acknowledge that our tractors, vehicles and tools were made by other people who joined together to make them, our fuel was refined by other people cooperating, our seeds and animals may have come from cooperating individuals, our education is provided by other cooperating people, our understanding of math, science, the world, how things work, how things can be fixed have been provided by cooperation with other people, our medical needs are provided by other people who joined together, law enforcement, the task of fire response, and our religious and spiritual understanding came from people who have been cooperating to develop them. Books, machines, our dwellings, our learning, our …. everything comes from cooperation amongst family or non-family people. Show me anything that has progressed humankind further and I’ll show you where cooperation among people coming together to form groups to accomplish tasks was a part of that. So, self-sufficiency is only one “tool” and not a “savior” of sorts.

Even to send a message that the people in government are not trustworthy – which is why many say self-sufficiency is necessary – is to deny the fact that many, many people go into public service with the belief in their hearts that they can help or they can try to make a difference. In general, these are not shallow people, but people like you and I who see a need, see a potential avenue to help, and then want to try to help. How many times have any of us thought, “I know I could do a better job than that if I was in that job”?  Well, they are the ones who try to do that ‘better job’.  This belief in our hearts doesn’t just disappear the 1st day in office. In general, they try hard to hold onto that belief and ideal as they maneuver through the mine fields of all the people pulling on them. Psychically, I can see cooperation among many people who are elected, in order to try to do some good. I can see decent people, like us, that try to do what they believe can help. Not everyone succeeds, but enough people, hold onto their hope to help – with their efforts sometimes hidden to public scrutiny – in order to say that it is not true that “government is not to be trusted”, because “government” is just people – trying. Psychically, I don’t see a lot of prayers being said for them to maneuver through their mine fields full of challenges and temptations. If any group of people needs our supportive prayers, these people could certainly benefit from our prayers to help support their resolve to serve and to strengthen the courage of their convictions. But, how many people pray for those they look down upon and disdain – elected officials?  There are very few prayers coming from the people who criticize and condemn them.

I won’t discuss whether there are good or bad people involved in government service, because there are good and bad people involved in every aspect of life. There is even good and bad – both – in every single individual on this planet. In addition, the beneficial things in life that have helped further societies’ helpful development and evolution have come with ever greater cooperation among people as part of the tools bringing forth that development and evolution.

No “blanket” view or “stereotypical” view or “black and white” view or “condemning” view is going to offer the truth of the situation or with people. These views are going to be very easy and popular to take on, though. Yet, seeing both sides, or a deeper and balanced view takes willingness to do just that, and then effort and change. We tend to not want to see the truth of other people – the humanness within all people – because we sometimes want to vent our frustration and find easy targets of blame – like political figures. But, the truth is nowhere around when we base our beliefs on seeing people of one group or one position or one anything as being who is to blame, and therefore not worthy of prayers that help them. Nor is the truth around when we decide that only one way of living is worthwhile.

Life is cooperation, as much as anything else. The whole world is at our level of development and evolution because of cooperation throughout the ages, and the whole human race knows that better things can happen and more people can be helped when cooperation happens. If you’re wondering if you’ve ever been helped, because you couldn’t do something by yourself, I would ask anyone who reads this, were you helped to be born? Were you helped by others to grow up as a baby, adolescent, child, teenager and as an adult? Were you only helped by your family? or child care personnel? or teachers? or friends? Police? shopkeepers? barbers? elected officials? service people? Ministers? Priests? Doctors? Firemen?  Bus drivers?  Engineers?  Mechanics?  Architects?  Can you count how many people have helped you in some way, large or small, directly and indirectly, throughout your entire life? With all that help, can we really say ‘Self-sufficiency” is what we think it is?  or isolate any effort or group to condemn?

Right now, there are 7 billion people cooperating on this planet in the task of being alive together trying to live a life while still trying to support the freewill of every soul. Even with the pain and suffering being inflicted by some – very few, now, want to ever again cooperate to bring the taking away of freewill based on who a person is or was born being. We’re working to find ways to cooperate with accepting living on this planet while building lives we believe are better. 7 billion souls believe it’s worth the effort to try to be on the planet right now.  Some of that effort finds that relying only on ourselves – self-sufficiency – does indeed help in some areas of our lives – but that self-sufficiency alone – could never be the only answer.  The paradox is we can only have self-sufficiency within the paradigm of cooperation and joining with others.

We have been designed by God to need one another and for a purpose.  All of this is designed to be part of the path back to the awareness and cooperation within our relationship with God.

For those of us who seek to contribute something to the human race, or “to help make this world of people a better place when we leave it than when we came in,” we also try to find ways to cooperate with our spiritual essence in order to find ways to add something worthwhile to this world.

Ultimately, when we learn how important it is to cooperate in all our relationships, because we are not islands at any level, we may then learn how important it is to cooperate with God inside the relationship we have with God, Him/Herself directly. In learning how to do this, we can find that cooperating with humankind is, in fact, cooperating with God. Cooperating with God is, in fact, cooperating with humankind – whether it’s done with one person, a hundred, or 7 billion.

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“Go deeper.  Look deeper.  Examine deeper.  The deeper we pursue, the more truth we discover.” (The Rainbow Cards, ©, 2015, Jodie Senkyrik)

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“For Religious Reasons”

The phrase “For religious reasons” (or “protection”) is getting used by many. We hear of decisions and behaviors, and then hear these acts are done “for religious reasons.”

Christ tells of a story related to this and related to His comment, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”, when asked “Who is our neighbor?”

Luke 10:30 – And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,

34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.

36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves?

37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

The Samaritan didn’t act “for religious reasons” but showed mercy. The priest and Levite who passed the injured guy by, in effect were demonstrating actions taken “for religious reasons,” and chose not to help him.

Christ’s life wasn’t what it was “for religious reasons”. Christ’s life wasn’t about honoring “the religion”, or acting “for religious reasons”. His decisions and actions were regardless of “the religious reasons” because God (the source of mercy, forgiveness, Loving kindness, and understanding) is beyond religions. Religions are simply established ways of believing, which mankind has assembled together in hopes of learning ever more.

We humans go to war for religious reasons, and have done so for centuries if not millennium. Mankind has innumerable examples throughout recorded history of the willingness to kill one another for religious reasons. ISIL kills for religious reasons.

For centuries and millennium, people have been acting against one another “for religious reasons”. When we decide to act to separate ourselves from an act of good will or mercy, and instead act to protect our own sense of our religious beliefs, we are placing our own sense of our self before our neighbor’s well being. No one has ever been heard saying, “for reasons of compassion and oneness, I’m going to distance myself from helping another human being.”

When we decide to act “for religious reasons”, we’re not necessarily acting for the best reasons, sometimes we’re acting for the worst reasons as if we were to say, “God, it’s more important for me to go to heaven than for me to help someone else.” Religions are not higher than loving kindness, or patience, or understanding. Religions are not greater than God. Religions are meant to help us to come to know God.

We have even made religion a god, if that is possible to do. We have made our beliefs into our God – holding our beliefs to be more important than oneness and mercy towards our neighbor. Christ’s message all along has been that our Oneness with God is paramount and our Oneness with one another (our neighbor) is even more important than our beliefs.

By saying, ‘I’m choosing this for religious reasons,’ we’re not saying, ‘I’m doing this for forgiveness reasons.’ It’s not the same. I’ve never heard anyone who said “for religious reasons” also say, “I’m doing this for patience reasons, or reasons of loving kindness, or reasons of compassion or brotherhood.”

The actions of the Samaritan spoke loudly, “I’m doing this for reasons of compassion.”

Jesus chose to live his entire life, not “for religious reasons” but “for reasons of God’s Love”.

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“For some, Love is what they talk.  For others, though, Love is how they walk.” (The Rainbow Cards, ©, 2009-2014, Jodie Senkyrik)

“Here is a good prayer: ‘Lord, help me be good soil.’ ” (The Rainbow Cards, ©, 2014, Jodie Senkyrik)

“We cannot heal our consciousness by harming someone else’s.” (The Rainbow Cards, ©, 2009-2015, Jodie Senkyrik)