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In God's Eyes
Lecture by Lenny Feldsott
It is my wish today to bring each
of you a gift of greater understanding and of loving self. It is the
loving and acceptance of self that leads to the peace of mind, body and
spirit we all seek. While I might not touch upon the specific issues
you may wrestle with, the lesson here is that in Gods eyes, you are as
you should be, perfect in all ways!
A friend of mine recently asked me
what I thought God thought about homosexuality. I told him I didn't
think it really made a difference. He noted to me that throughout the
bible, which I personally am totally unfamiliar with, Jesus never once,
mentioned homosexuality; it was like it was a non-issue. It was this
friends question and remark that inspired me to sit down with Spirit
and write this lecture for you. I call it In God's Eyes.
While homosexuality has nothing to
do with the religion of Spiritualism, as all are welcome within these
walls, it still rings true that silence can be hurtful because it can
allow people to continue with misguided teachings of the past.
Spiritualism is a religion that
does not set boundaries or limits on anyone for any reason. The color
of your skin, former religious teachings, sexual orientation, physical
health or abilities, education, socio-economical status, and so on, are
all non-issues in Gods eyes. These are also areas where people think
that there are limits on them that could include or exclude them from
heaven. The truth of the matter is that the Infinite loves us all. It
is the acceptance of yourself that is truly paramount in raising your
consciousness to new and greater heights. I found love, acceptance and
understanding in the religion of Spiritualism because there were no
limits or restrictions placed on me. I am free to be who and what I am
without exception. I do not need to live in fear of anything except
fear itself, because God loves me, no matter what, and God loves you
too!
This morning I would like to talk
to you about the God of my understanding and what that God may think
about you. It would be difficult to discuss God and this issue without
also talking about heaven and hell.
I, like most of you, grew up with a
very conventional religious background. I have to admit here that I did
not put much energy or effort into my spiritual or religious growth,
but the end result of the little I did learn was that there was a God,
and a heaven and a hell. Now somewhere along the way I must have missed
getting the detail about this person and those places because I still
had no idea who God was, where heaven and hell were, and what happened
to us after we died. I think it was left vague on purpose so I could
draw my own frightening conclusions.
The image I conjured up of God was
that he was huge in stature, sitting on a throne in robes and a jeweled
crown floating around somewhere up in heaven. It was sort of a court
like setting where we mortals, upon dying, were brought for Him to
dispense judgment as to who goes to heaven and who goes to hell. The
good people, those following "normal" lives in accordance with their
religious teachings went to heaven. Everyone else went to hell.
Now my rather naïve,
or perhaps ignorant picture of heaven was that it was up in the clouds,
white robed angels were flying around with little hand harps playing
angelic music. We mortals lucky enough to be sent there were just
kicking back, floating around on a comfortable cloud, listening to the
music.
The bad people were sent down below
to hell. The worse you were, the closer to the fire and heat you went.
Now I tell you I did take some solace in the fact that I was sure I
would know a lot of people in hell as most of my friends lived outside
the box along with me.
I grew up in a conventional,
liberal, Jewish home and had a very difficult time buying into all
this. If hell was below, what was it actually below, except of course
heaven, which was above, and what was it above? I just did not
understand where these places were. Was God truly some huge superior
being spending his days holding court, making judgments on how we
performed? I really didn't think so, and I just could not find any
reasonable answers to the serious questions I had about all this.
Perhaps the fear of eternal
damnation, without the prospect of reformation, kept many people in the
flock of conventional religions. It actually had the opposite effect on
me, and, drove me away from the church.
As a result of my unanswered
questions regarding the above matters I went through most of my life
claiming to be an agnostic. An agnostic is a person who holds that the
existence of the ultimate cause, as God, and the essential nature of
things are unknown and unknowable, or that human knowledge is limited
to experience. HUMAN KNOWLEDTGE IS LIMITED TO EXPERIENCE. Now I believe
that really says the motivation behind everything is selfishness.
While it is true there were
underlying fears somewhere deep in my psyche that should there be a
God, heaven and hell, I would be sentenced to an eternal life of fire
and brimstone. It still did not motivate or inspire me to believe in
what the church presented.
Now I must stop here and tell you
that it has never ceased to amaze me over the years the horrible things
man has done in the name of God and the bible. The Reverend Jim Jones
and the murder of hundreds of his followers in Guyana is one of the
more horrific that comes to my mind. The homosexual also demonstrates
an outstanding example of religion and the bible being the
justification for hate and persecution. The ordination of an openly gay
Bishop in the Episcopal Church has so divided the church it threatens
to split it.
Now I ask you. Is this a bad man
because of who he loves? Will God judge him as some sort of threat or
abomination because he loves a consenting adult of the same sex? I
guess there are those who think so. Me, I was not sure during my
agnostic days. It was not until my Spiritual Awakening and a new and
greater understanding of Infinite Spirit that I finally received the
answers I sought.
It was truly by the grace of God
that I experienced a validated gift from Spirit, which opened my door
to an incredible communication with the Spirit World. This
communication led to the introduction to God, the most amazing lessons
on life, and the resolution of unfinished business with each of my
relatives in spirit, resulting in the cleansing of my soul. It was a
wondrous two months of working through painful issues and coming to
terms and peace with who and what I am.
What was it that I learned that
could so change my life? It was that God was not a being sitting in
robes, but an infinitely intelligent energy behind all things, animate
and inanimate. It was that we are Spirit first and forevermore. And, it
was that we make our own heaven and hell based on how we conduct
ourselves and treat others. It is having to look back, with an
increased sense of sensitivity, at the legacy we leave behind. It is
being elevated and uplifted by the love and kind thoughts of our
friends, family and loved ones that makes our heaven, and, it is the
pain that we may have caused those same people, or others, that makes
our hell.
This exciting revelation of taking
responsibility for our own actions allowed me to accept myself as I am,
without fear of reprisal, and with the knowledge that God will love me,
no matter what!
So now I can understand that many
controversial issues religion presented were actually non-issues. For
example, how could looking back at loving and making love with anyone
be anything but uplifting? How could the color of my skin, the bouncing
of a check, or the use of illegal drugs cause eternal disfavor in Gods
eyes? It can't if you believe as I do. God doesn't care about these
issues. Being happy, serving, treating others as you would have them
treat you, being a good person, not wasting the planets resources,
loving yourself, and raising your consciousness to new and greater
heights is what the God of my understanding is about. And God cares
about you. If God were the ocean and you took a cup of water from that
ocean, wouldn't a part of God still be in that cup? In much the same
way, you are a piece of that God source. It is right there within you
to call upon through prayer and thought any time you need it.
Spiritualism teaches many wondrous
and joyous lessons. One of the lessons I take comfort in knowing is the
8th Declaration of Principles, which states that, "We affirm that the
doorway to reformation is never closed against any soul, here or
hereafter." It allows me to try my best, but not expect myself to be
perfect! It lets me know even if I make mistakes and have to look back
at painful experiences left behind, I will have an opportunity to make
that right. I will not have to spend the rest of my eternity in
emotional pain and turmoil. I, like you, will be given the opportunity
to change. Why, because God loves us that much. We will not have to
spend our eternity frying in some fiery hell because we made mistakes.
We are all the children of God, a piece of the source. Would Infinitely
Intelligent Energy leave a soul so unfinished? I don't think so.
While it is difficult for finite
minds to grasp the concept of Infinite, I find nature the best example
of God's wisdom. If you stop and see just how perfect all things are
within nature, even to the extent of evolving, when necessary, you get
an idea of just how perfect we truly are.
Remember too you are special
because of all of who and what and where you are, not just the parts of
you. Your presence here is special. Your experiences make you special
and they are actions that participate in the flow of all things in the
universe. Exclude just one item, one thought, one experience, or one
moment and the universe would experience chaos. You do make a
difference. The message here is that no one and no thing are
dispensable. It also means that all of the parts are significant and
have a great meaning in your world and mine. If any one thing were to
be omitted in your world, I would feel it in mine and so would the rest
of the universe.
I thank you for your attention and
leave wishing to impart the knowledge that the Infinite blesses you all
with His presence within, your body and soul.
God bless you all!
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