- The prophet Joel offers more than the promise of peace to a contrite people. He begins with the vision of classical Biblical famine where the locust is king in all of its monstrous evolutionary forms. To me (Joel was not the 1st to use that powerful insect symbol) the prophet's imagery illustrates the spiritual development of mankind towards his mystical beginnings. When all is stripped away and men stand afraid, tottering at the brink, looking down into the void, he is now free to dream, prophecy, and is indeed ready to be saved. He (or she) will in turn be ready and willing, armed with the capabilities to save their earthly home and its godly essence. Go back to God! Take everyone and everything relevant (to you) with you even if you must stare into the nothingness which mankind without our Creator has managed to sanctify. Joel's vision of Salvation is clear. God is in you. Use His power – His creative power to heal yourselves and this earthly plane. We are all subject to different slaveries. With God's help to develop our inner strength, we can cast away our chains. Sometimes, we have the feeling that it is the chains that keep us from falling when in actuality, they keep us from FLYING. (I sure went off on a tangent with that question! I couldn't help myself.)
- When the mystic declares that he is in the world but not a part of the world- that is the Christian's journey – strangers in a foreign land. We all have our obligations to secularism but inside of ourselves, we will discover a path of re-creation: the journey back to Paradise( but then again- perhaps it's always been there.)
- My challenge is self-discipline. Meditation (I'm a highly distractible person) step by step (through all of my impatience) I may be able to achieve that coveted meditative state. I now live in a large, extended family- a much beloved family but privacy went by the wayside the minute we all moved in together. My adult son, his wife and children have had to put up with my rudimentary Christian studies while they pursue their varied spiritual paths. We do not argue about religion even when Asatru (heathen Germanic faith) and Jesus clash. I have learned and they have learned. I also have to try to remember what it was like to be a struggling young parent with teenagers. These experiences are good for all of us but our adjustment to each other's "everything" is on-going. Meditation? There is no closet to hide in and we are down to one family car (can't hide in there either). I laugh at the thought of finding "alone-time" in the family vehicle when teenagers, dogs and cats are probably in there trying to get away from each other and ME! It just will never happen. If I had the discipline, I would be meditating right now. It is something I look forward to. I'll try again in a few weeks when things calm down.
********************************************
As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials. As an ordained minister with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning, I've enjoyed watching the continual growth of the seminary.
