Entries by HostWorks
The Holy Decade
By Gard Jameson
With near 400,000 dead in America of a virulent pandemic, with the hottest sequence of years on record behind us, with deep fault lines of racial injustice clearly exposed, with a wide crack in the foundations of democracy evident, 2020 was a year of revelation! Revelation of what?
Consider the following: We know that our health rests upon the wellbeing of all; as goes the part so goes the whole. I have often said: “the State of Nevada will never be better than the state of our children.” As well, we are increasingly aware that the human footprint is having catastrophic effects upon the environment. We are also waking up to the significance of racial trauma and how deeply embedded racism is in our national and global culture. And, we are clearly sensing that our democracy is only as strong as the individuals who support it.
As the prophets of Israel declared: there is a reckoning for immoral behavior. The sage of Greece, Heraclitus proclaimed: “character is destiny.” A friend, Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp, the Chief Rabbi of Holland, has declared that the next ten years shall be “The Holy Decade.” In the decade before us there is important reparation work to be done.
Human survival requires reflection and change
By Gard Jameson
Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020 | 2 a.m.
Seventy-five years ago today, the American bomber Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on an unsuspecting city. Within a matter of seconds, steel girders evaporated and a city disappeared, with more than 140,000 killed.
Today, COVID-19 has within a few months killed more than 160,000 unsuspecting Americans. Lives have evaporated and communities are being devastated.
What might we learn from the juxtaposition of these two events? Hiroshima and COVID-19 have caused a deep shift in our awareness of our relationship to one another and to the planet. Both have been devastating forces of nature, suggesting that we are not as in control as we might suspect. Both suggest that deep humility, a yearning for integrity, kindness and sincerity are more appropriate than ever.
Just as when the Twin Towers came down, it is a time to take a step back and listen to what is being spoken to humanity.
According to the American Museum of Natural History, climate change threatens to cause the largest extinction of species that the planet has ever known. There have been five mass extinction events, the largest being the Permian extinction, 252 million years ago, in which over 90% of all species were extinguished, the most recent being the Cretaceous extinction, in which the dinosaurs were wiped out, along with 75% of all species.
The Untold Story of Jesus
Jesus comes to life in this fascinating modern biography excerpted from The Urantia Book. Many of these historical stories are familiar to readers of the New Testament but dozens are new, including the missing years not found in the Bible. Here you discover Jesus presented as never before, both as divine Son and human hero whose matchless life inspires, comforts, and transforms you.
It is beautifully written in modern, page-turning prose and complemented with 106 paintings from 35 renowned artists, including 42 originally commissioned works you will see for the first time. The paintings run the gamut of fine art celebrating the life of Christ, both classic and modern. These artists poured their souls into these portraits of higher spiritual reality. Our deep appreciation and humble gratitude go out to each one of them.
These paintings illustrate Jesus’ life journey from his humble birth and childhood to adolescence and manhood; from private to public ministry and on to his death, resurrection, and ascension. The artwork celebrates his diverse life as son, father-brother, carpenter, boat designer and builder, tutor, translator, caravan conductor, teacher, healer, minister, and friend. No one knows what Jesus looked like, but these artists painted their soulful interpretations to spark our imagination of these scenes from the Master’s life.
Hearing from God
This article struck a chord with me, and maybe it will with you, too. It’s called: I’m a Christian but I don’t talk like one. Neither should you by Craig Gross. The title’s a little confusing, but what this author is saying is that instead of always citing scripture or other sacred writings, we should learn to discern when we are hearing from Jesus – either within our own inner life, or from other people. I will blog about this below, but here’s a snip or two from the article:
“When you pray and ask God to reveal something to you or ask God to show you something and then you get a feeling in your gut or what I would call “spirit” that gives you clear direction or something specific, I believe that is God speaking to you.
“Jesus works and speaks through people, starting from the very beginning of time. What makes you think it’s not how He still works?”
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Establishing a relationship
I wish I had a dollar for the number of times I have asked God to help me out with a problem or an issue in my life, and the next day or the next hour or the next week, I’ll be either reading something or I’ll overhear a snippet of a conversation and…there’s the answer I was seeking!
Come to Jesus through love, not fear
By MaryJo – A Pilgrim Ponders
I saw this article today and decided to make a blog about it: 4 Ways That Christians Respond to the Heavy Truth That Jesus is the Only Way to Heaven by Josh Daffern. Heavy truth? This Christian injunction can cause a lot of heavy confusion for some people. But, is it true? Christians often point to this scripture and use it as a cudgel to scare people into coming to Jesus. In my blog below, I’d like to clear up the confusion that this causes to anyone, using enlightened Urantia Book teachings. But first, here’s a snip from the article:
“Jesus is the only way to God, Jesus is God, if you believe in Jesus you shall not perish. But if you don’t place your trust in Jesus, then you will perish. Jesus talks about this eternal perishing as hell, hades or eternal fire.”
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Coming to Jesus
I have never really had a problem coming to Jesus; from an early age, I was thoroughly immersed in Christian belief through the Catholic Church. But, after seeing the fear and distaste that this brings up in some people – a fear and distaste born of being told by someone that you can’t have salvation without believing in Jesus – I started questioning whether this is something that Jesus would really want us to teach to others.
The Beauty of God
By MaryJo – A Pilgrim Ponders
The truth, beauty, and goodness of God
In The Urantia Book, we learn that three of the attributes of God are: Truth, Beauty, and Goodness. And we discover that the three attributes work together: If something is true, it is also good and beautiful; if it is good, it is also true and beautiful; and if it is beautiful, it is also true and good.
0:1.17 Divinity is creature comprehensible as truth, beauty, and goodness; correlated in personality as love, mercy, and ministry; disclosed on impersonal levels as justice, power, and sovereignty.
2:7.11 All truth—material, philosophic, or spiritual—is both beautiful and good. All real beauty—material art or spiritual symmetry—is both true and good. All genuine goodness—whether personal morality, social equity, or divine ministry—is equally true and beautiful. Health, sanity, and happiness are integrations of truth, beauty, and goodness as they are blended in human experience. Such levels of efficient living come about through the unification of energy systems, idea systems, and spirit systems.
Today, I want to talk about the beauty that is God. I want to talk about how the beauty of God seems to exist just for the sake of existing. Sometimes, this is just overwhelming to me.
Jesus and Spiritual Liberty
By MaryJo – A Pilgrim Ponders
Jesus often spoke of spiritual liberty, or spiritual freedom. He spoke of setting the captives free. This article: 5 freedoms only Jesus can give by Alex McFarland talks about the Christian idea of freedoms that were supposedly won because of Jesus death through the so-called atonement. In my blog below, I want to discuss the ideas of spirirual freedom that Jesus promised throughout his LIFE, and that are available to all who enter the kingdom. But here’s the five things that the article discusses:
“It is significant to reflect on the freedoms we have through Jesus Christ. His hard-won victory on the cross gives us these five liberties:
- Freedom from guilt that all inherit
- Freedom from sinful deeds we personally commit
- Freedom within ourselves over personal struggles
- Freedom from judgment that is ultimately coming
- Freedom to face eternity, and our soul’s final destiny”
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I take some issue with some of the five freedoms that are discussed in this article above, but it’s really not my place to call out my Christian brethren for what they believe. Nevertheless, having been brought up in a church that was bloated with rules and regulations – a church that preached my inherent sinfulness – a church that blamed me and my sins (and God) for Jesus’ terrible death…well, I have to say that discovering The Urantia Book and the true teachings of Jesus was a truly liberating experience.
Thoughts on Holy Week
By MaryJo – A Pilgrim Ponders
Ordinarily, this blog begins with a snippet from an article in the Christian press. I get ideas from certain articles; I like to comment on them using Urantia Book teachings. But at Easter, it is very depressing to find article after article about the atonement – how Jesus was a sacrifice for our terrible sins, and the sins of Adam. And, how God demanded this sacrifice. So, this Easter Week, I am making a blog that I hope will speak to all articles of that sort. They are just my personal musings, but I hope you can stick with me and see how The Urantia Book’s teachings about Jesus can really alter one’s perceptions of what’s real – and for the better!
The draw of Holy Week
Holy Week is a big deal for most Christian people, including me. I count myself in that group, although I am not really a Christian. My religion has evolved since I found The Urantia Book, and so, I now consider myself a “Jesusonian.” I particularly like this characterization of the job of the Jesusonian:
195:10.5 In winning souls for the Master, it is not the first mile of compulsion, duty, or convention that will transform man and his world, but rather the second mile of free service and liberty-loving devotion that betokens the Jesusonian reaching forth to grasp his brother in love and sweep him on under spiritual guidance toward the higher and divine goal of mortal existence.
