COGWA Has Dramatic Feast Attendance

The Church of God a Worldwide Association released Feast attendance numbers this week.  They had worldwide, 9,500 people in attendance.  If those numbers are correct then they certainly took a major number of UCG members with them.  Which then leads to the question, "Is everything as rosy in UCGland as they are letting on?"

Having over 6,500 members attend your first Feast is pretty dramatic to say the least.  More members live outside the United States than reside in it.  US COG members are getting sick of all the infighting going on and are leaving the various COGs in droves.  Foreign congregations who tend to be isolated from all the political crap of the US ministries tend to be stronger in their commitment.

We also had a very strong international attendance during the Feast this year. You may not be aware of this, but about 40 percent of our total Church attendance resides outside the United States…The Feast of Tabernacles and Last Great Day capped off an extraordinary year for us…Our highest actual attendance on a holy day in the U.S. this year was 5,002. By including a very conservative estimate of two people per connection for the Webcasts during the Feast of Tabernacles, we calculate that COGWA had a total attendance of around 5,300 in the U.S. and close to 9,500 worldwide.

Bitter Armstrongites Giddy With Delight That Kids Will Be Without Toys This Christmas

Never let it be said that Armstrongites can't be arrogant, merciless buffoons.   The legalistic trumpet tooters on Yahoo are giddy with delight that the Air Force has canceled a long held tradition of raising toys for poor and homeless children around the world. It seems a grumpy Cadet felt it was discriminatory to other religions to be doing this so he complained and the the PC correct officers complied.  So now no toys will be collected for Samaritans Purse to distribute.

Armstrongite thinking  happens like this:  

"How dare anyone give toys to homeless kids on one of the most vile and pagan nights of the year!  Those kids don't deserve anything that is connected to the celebration of the most vile pagan days on earth (after Halloween and Easter, of course).  

We should be sending them, "the Plain Truth about Christmas" booklets and "Pagan Holidays" so that they can learn the truth!  

We need to tell them that God is going to spank them for their parents sins.  They need to know their parents are lairs and sinners and will most likely be put in concentration camps or die from pestilence, famine and war.  So what good would those toys be in the long run!  

They need to know the truth we have so they can become miserable, sour, bitter people just like us!"

More people around the world hear the Jesus story on Christmas and Easter than will EVER hear it from an Armstrongite cult!  That is not hard to understand since Armstrongism does not discuss Jesus unless it is to mock him as a graceite or an effeminate fag that talks about love, love, love all the time as he coddles sweet little lambs in his arms while the wind blows through his luxurious hair. That is the 'jesus' Armstrongism knows.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/air-force-academy-backtracks-on-christmas-toy-dr\
ive-because-its-too-christian/

This is good. Christmas after all is not biblical and is pagan.

Of course the Sunday worshipers have their knicker bockers in a wad over this
and as usual are blaming Jews.

And what is it with them Sunday worshipers when they say 'oh poor little kids
won't get nothing for christmas, it's going to be so sad'? I'm like please,

don't them kids get any toys or anything during the rest of the year.

Mr. Blogger, I know you are reading everything that is being posted. I don't
care. Just so you know, I want to make it very clear that I despise your Sunday worshiping cult. Not necessarily any one individual person who is in the Sunday worshiping cult but the system itself and its leaders who perpetrate the lies of the Sunday worshiping cult.

Dear Sour, Bitter, HWA Worshiper:  There are 6-7 people that regularly forward me the idiocy of you and a couple of your minions.  All I can say is THANKS for providing such humorous fodder to let the world know how sick Armstrongism has become!  Perhaps if you would talk about Jesus, grace, salvation and redemption no one would be bothering you.  But NOOOOOOOOOOO, you are more concerned about asinine conspiracy theories, how you can dump more irrelevant laws on fellow believers, or discussing Oprah naked in a mikva'ot. I mean, what the hell????????

I would love to know why you pick and choose what laws you want to keep and what laws you don't.  It is impossible to keep all 613 laws.  You do not do them all, never have done them all and NEVER will!   To say otherwise will make you a liar like Rod Meredith who claims he has never committed a major sin since baptism.

PS:  I would never have even bothered to post this information, but because of your bitter provocation, I obliged you. Now don't you feel like a fool?  I am also going to go out an buy a bunch of toys and take them to the Marine Corp Toy Drive this year in your honor.  I will be putting your name on them as the donor so that you can bask at home in the glory that you actually did something worthwhile for humanity for once in your life.  Merry Christmas Darling!

$1,000 A Month Get's You Into This COG Inner Sanctum

Would you really want to join this splinter cult?  Is any COG worth this kind of haranguing and spittle flying?  Nothing surprises me any more as these spiritual deviates continue to come out of the woodwork.  You need to be able  to give 1,000 dollars a month to belong. That is after you have a SKYPE conversation with the ministurd so he can determine if you are qualified and a genuine Armstrongite.

Once more, THE LIVING JESUS CHRIST HAS MOVED TO PUT HIS CHURCH BACK ON HIS TRACK! And I know there will be a great blessing arising from this!

Very soon now, I am going to begin work on a new website around our new
domain name, leaving the old website up for the time being during the transition at the old location and url.

I will probably be using Wordpress for this ENTIRELY NEW WEBSITE, and, one of the advantages of using Wordpress is that we can easily create a public
area of the website and a private, member's only area, which is password
protected to each member's password.

Simply put, what this means is that we will now be able to have an "outer
area" of our new website to PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE WORLD, giving the public the resources they need to repent of their sins and come to God's
way of life.

However, ONLY UPON MEETING CERTAIN CRITERIA WILL THEY BE INVITED TO JOIN THE SPECIAL MEMBER'S ONLY AREA, where we will be archiving Sabbath and Holy Day services and Bible studies, as well as more mature literature for those who have made the commitment of their lives to God and this Work.

So, from that point on, most Bible studies, sermons, meaty articles and
booklets, etc., will be accessible to our MEMBERS ONLY, as IT SHOULD BE,
while leaving the preaching of the Gospel in the public part of the website.

FINALLY, THE LIVING JESUS CHRIST IS MOVING SWIFTLY NOW TO PUT HIS CHURCH TOTALLY BACK ON HIS TRACK, RE-INSTITUTING MANY WISE DECISIONS MR. ARMSTRONG MADE IN THE PAST!

For those of you who are presently giving tithes and offerings to this Work, you will be automatically issued with your website member's password to access the member's area, which will include services and Bible studies.

If you ARE NOT A CONTRIBUTOR TO THIS WORK, THAT PROVES THAT YOU LACK COMMITMENT TO THIS WORK, AND REFUSE TO HELP US TO GROW AND PROSPER.

Frankly, this is NOT a Godly attitude, and shows that you lack the vision
to see where God is working, and are not willing to contribute to the
preaching of the Gospel and the maintenance of the church and Work, and
therefore you SHOULD NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THE MEATIER MATERIALS THAT ARE RESERVED FOR THOSE WHO ARE MEMBERS AND THEREFORE COMMITTED TO THIS WORK OF GOD!

So, UNLESS you are a regular contributor to this Work, YOU WILL NO LONG3R HAVE ACCESS TO BIBLE STUDIES, SERMONS, AND SERVICES OF A MEATIER NATURE, but you will still have access to the more general Gospel message until you reach the point where you would like to commit yourself to this Work.

However, MONEY WILL NOT BUY YOUR WAY IN EITHER, as, over the years, there were many co-workers who sent in offerings but still did not yet attend church for one reason or another.

What this means is that for ALL NEW PEOPLE, ONCE THIS POLICY IS PUT INTO PLACE, I WILL NEED TO HAVE AT LEAST ONE PERSONAL COUNSELING SESSION WITH YOU VIA PHONE OR SKYPE BEFORE YOU ARE INVITED TO ATTEND OUR VIRTUAL CHURCH, just as in the old days the local minister had to visit your home at least once before giving you details so that you could attend church.

Frankly, this policy has worked well for the church over the years, but, as it began to break down because CERTAIN MEN THOUGHT THEY HAD A BETTER
IDEA ON HOW TO CONDUCT THE WORK THAN MR. ARMSTRONG DID, the church began its long slide into a Laodicean attitude and condition.

WE ARE DETERMINED TO BRING BACK THE ZEAL OF THE EARLY CHURCH, and, as such, we need to be fellowshipping with OTHER CONVERTED PEOPLE ON A REGULAR BASIS, WITHOUT HAVING WORLDLY PEOPLE MIXED IN TO MAKE A DISTRACTION.

Also, we need to begin receiving AT LEAST $1000 per month to make this
Work expand and prosper, and if we don't get to this very small amount
really soon, we may have to make drastic cuts in the websites and other
services within a short period of time.

Now I eagerly await the hell fire and brimstone that this ministurd will call down upon me. Death and destruction await me in the next week or so.  If we have a huge earthquake in Southern CA next week you will know I was the cause of it..........................

God is Ready to Send His Death Angels Out on the Highways and Byways

You rebellious back sliding Laodiceans in the Church of God  had better heed this Feast sermon, otherwise God is going to be really, really pissed and track you down!

Oops, the Feast is over and God did not track anyone down.  So we have another failure for a minister.  Another false prophet.  Another liar.

Brethren, we stand right now at a major crossroads in the Work of God.
God is giving the Laodiceans ONE FINAL CHANCE TO REPENT of their ways, OR, God will be sending out His angels into the highways and byways to find those who will eat of His Spiritual Feast and will ACTUALLY DO WHAT HE SAYS instead of simply paying lipservice to it while going about their own
personal business like the sinners of this evil world!

What good does it do to HEAR ABOUT GOD'S KINGDOM IF YOU AREN'T GOING TO BE THERE?

Today I discuss the greatness and grandeur of God's Kingdom, and give His
people a stern warning that if they want to be there they had better repent.

I'm sorry, brethren, that this is not a "feel good" message. Rather, it hits you straight between the eyes and tells you what you NEED TO HEAR RIGHT NOW!

With ever escalating curses descending upon our nations like a waterfall, DO YOU WANT TO SUFFER THE SAME FATE AS THE PEOPLE OF THIS WORLD, OR DO YOU WANT GOD'S PROTECTION, AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY, DO YOU WANT TO BE A KING AND A PRIEST IN THE WORLD TOMORROW? OR, WOULD YOU RATHER BE THRUST OUT WHERE THERE IS WEEPING AND GNASHING OF TEETH?

God sets before His people today life and death, blessing and cursing, and HE COMMANDS YOU TO CHOOSE LIFE -- but, WILL YOU?

God is sick and tired of the Laodicean attitude most of you are in. He is not going to wait on you any longer or listen to your lame excuses. He is angry and if you have not repented by the time this Feast is over, I see EVERY INDICATION THAT HE WILL SEND HIS ANGELS OUT INTO THE WORLD TO BRING
PEOPLE INTO THE CHURCH WHO WILL LISTEN AND WHO WILL TAKE HEED AND WHO WILL TAKE ACTION.

Don't you just love it when these egotistical fools spit, shout and use all CAPS!  I can just see the spittle flying as those jowls shake!

The crackpot goes on:

IF YOU WILL NOT REPENT, I AM HERE TO TELL YOU TODAY THAT HE WILL SOON TURN HIS BACK ON YOU AND BUILD HIS CHURCH WITH ALL NEW PEOPLE IF HE HAS TO.

Then after all the jowl flapping,  pissed off Pastor John lovingly closes with this:

I pray that you have a spiritually uplifting and rewarding Feast and that
you will be there with us in God's soon coming Kingdom.

John

God Created The Internet for the Church of God's "gospel" Message

I bet Al Gore is really pissed at hearing that God is the one who created the Internet!  God created it expressly for spreading the gospel.

Never mind that HWA and Meredith used to crow that the printing press was designed by God expressly for HWA's message and that airplanes were designed expressly for the  gospel message to  be taken to world leaders.  Those are all passe and useless now that God has invented the Internet.

1,900 years of darkness and gloom as the gospel was lost somewhere in the world waiting to be found by HWA in Oregon.  You would think God could keep better track of his important things like "the Gospel."  Just sayin......I can lose my car keys rather easily, but lose the Gospel?

Yes, the Internet has proven to be a valuable tool.  But not necessarily like the originators thought it would be used.  Instead of rapid distribution of scientific knowledge and is now the greatest source of porn in the universe.  Yep, God's Internet is used more for porn viewing that anything else.  LCG members look at it, PCG members look at it, and COG members as a whole look at porn just as often as the rest of humanity does.  Why else would that coworker at LCG HQ get red in the face as you enter his office. You notice that rapid hand movement as he clicks on a new screen. 50 cents he was not reading Rod's latest sermon!

Anyway, back to the importance of God's creative juices that were used to create the Internet.

Here is how one COG cult  preacher views it all:

Internet the most spectacular door ever opened for the Gospel!

And I want to jump ahead here just a moment and point out that Jesus Christ has now opened what I consider to be the greatest, most spectacular opportunity for fulfilling our commission since the
flood!

And that is the Internet!!! The Internet is the most gigantic door
ever made available to mankind for the preaching of the Gospel! Its
power is mind-bogglinng! Let me say here that I believe God is
absolutely 100% intimately involved with every last infinitessimal
detail of His creation, and THE INTERNET IS NOT AN ACCIDENT!! It is a communications medium which was planned for and placed here by God at this end time for the express purpose of preaching the Gospel! It is a bona-fide miracle!

It's free and no man can shut it!

There has never been a medium like this. First of all, it drops in
our lap the prospect of FREE worldwide publishing! Right now this article has the potential to reach an estimated fifty million people online worldwide! And there is no cost of advertizing! There is no
astronomical bill for radio or television time! There are no printing
costs! There are no postage fees! I say it again, it is a miracle!!

God created the Internet for the Gospel

I am absolutely convinced that this is a massive door that Jesus
Christ has swung open on an unsuspecting world to get His final
warning message out to a suicidal planet!! And if Jesus Himself has
unlocked this door, then NO MAN CAN SHUT IT!! It will only be shut when Jesus Himself decides to shut it, and then no man will be able to open it!! So we can look to the Philadelphian letter and take courage in the fact that it is God Himself who has opened this door! No man can shut it on us, so we can walk through it with courage and confidence!

Isn't this great to know?  I think the truth of the matter is, that God created the Church of God for our entertainment purposes and nothing more!  :

Police Intervene in UCG/COGWA Cattle Wars

Just before the annual Church of God Festival that portrays the millennial peace that the world will be dwelling in, UCG and COGWA went to battle over stolen cattle.

Victor Kubic started it off on October 5, when he announced that cattle that his organization had given to UCG brethren in Zambia had been rustled in September by "former friends and acquaintances" of the "victim-farmers."  That was double speak that  Church of God a Worldwide Association members were stealing UCG cattle.

 The unhappy report that we received and verified related that these cattle were forcibly taken away by former friends or acquaintances of these victim-farmers. These former friends now belong to a Church of God fellowship largely comprised of former members and former ministers of the UCG. It is also our understanding from this report that the leader(s) of that fellowship refuse to intervene to stop the theft of these cattle by their members, nor have they condemned the actions that their members are taking.

More can be found here: Zambia COG Members Stealing Cattle from UCG Members

Then Church of God a Worldwide Association swiftly hit back with a broadside calling Victor a liar.

It is disappointing that I am being drawn away from necessary preparation for the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles to respond to the public message which you have disseminated on the Internet and among God’s people. Based on the level of upset and division you are causing within the Body of Christ, you leave me with little choice but to personally respond to your false claims and set the record straight. This is an open letter, and it may be shared with others. While I would normally try to avoid a public response to false allegations such as these, it is necessary to give an answer to your outrageous charges. 

The entire letter can be read here:  Zambia COGWA Calls Out Kubic For False Allegations 

Then the COGWA minister kind of went AWOL and no communication happened with him. (He was probably at the Feast)  The Zambia UCG members went to the police and finally got them to act.  The Police ordered some of the cows to be returned.

Kubic had the following up on his site about this:

Updated October 10, 2011
GREAT NEWS!!  In one of the areas where the cattle given by LifeNets "Pass on the Gift" program was taken, the police ordered that four head of cattle be returned  to owners immediately without conditions.  We have not heard yet from the other area which is some distance away.  We are appalled by the false stories circulating minimizing the huge consequences on poor people.  We are leaving for the Fall Festival in Estonia in a few moments, but wanted to get this update to you.  After the Festival, we will have written reports exact detailing all that happened.  We thank you for your prayers and are thankful for the redemption.

Updated October 14, 2011

Police have ordered that ALL LifeNets cattle that were stolen must be returned. We are just going to wait until after the FOT for the matter to be resolved. Thank you for your prayers to protect our beneficiaries' livelihoods!

Cattle rustling timeline on Kubic's site: Rustling of Members' Cattle in Zambia

I guess none of us should be surprised at this normal behavior between COG groups.  There has been bitterness and acrimonious behavior between all COG's as they have split and split and split over the last 70 some years.  There are well over 600 some splinter groups from the original mother church, "The Radio Church of God."  None have ever worked together in harmony or made any attempt to.  Each considers itself to be "the one true church." and all others are imposter's and heretics.  HWA got that bad behavior ball rolling when he started arguing with COG7Day. With labels like, "they are Sardis," "they are blinded to the truth," "they have turned their back on the truth," etc, the present COG has followed suit and have thrown that wedge up between themselves and others.


Armstrongism has made it standard practice to mock Christianity for it's many different churches, yet Armstrongism is just as fractured and probably WORSE than mainstream Christianity.  At least a broad majority of Christian churches work together in all kinds of ways.  They may not believe the same in different minor areas, but will still work together as brothers and sisters towards a common goal. But not so in Armstrongism.  Accusations fly, bitterness rules the day.  Families are destroyed, marriages broken and friendships destroyed.  Even the right-wing evangelicals hatred of liberals pales in comparison with the Armstrongite acrimony that exists.


With that sad legacy that stains Armstrongism it is no wonder that people are leaving all the splinter groups.  Church attendance is dropping in all COG's.  Flurry's group is down 4,000 from last years Feast.  LCG's is down from last year.  UCG is dramatically down due to the split. 


Armstrongism has no future.  It's various cult leaders are aging out and will be dying off. The youth are leaving in droves. That is certainly some legacy to leave behind.
 

See What Happens WhenYou Mess With "God's" People!

Click to enlarge and enjoy

I don't know who Mary is, but I saw her comment tonight on the COG Halloween Mythology entry.  Her comment brought out the rabid legalists here in all their bitterness.  I have copied one of the posts below just to show how warped their thinking really is:

Mary, or whatever your real name is, you are one disturbed individual who may be in need of some serious psychiatric help. For someone to take posts from a private forum and then put them on a blog out of context for whatever your sick purposes are, is just downright evil. You talk about your pagan Jesus (the real Jesus kept the laws of God and the sabbath and holy days)and grace and all that love, love, love, you are really going to need God's grace for your hateful doings. Perhaps you should read the book of Esther to see what happens to people who mess with God's people. God does look after His own

Pagan Jesus?????  Grace?????  Love, love, love?????  Your bitterness betrays you.

Messing with "God's people"?  Where?  Who are they?

Will Meredith Do The Right Thing?

Harold Camping, has been publicly humiliated twice for predicting the start of the endtimes.   Countless loyal members sold belongings and gave their money to the church.  Children's education and futures were destroyed because of their cultish parents.  Jobs were lost, homes were lost, friendships broken and marriages destroyed.

So where have we heard that all before? 1936, 1938, 1946, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1986, 2014, 2017, 2021.....????  Armstrognism has been one failed prophecy after another.  Herbert Armstrong's teachings, Rod Meredith and Ronnie Wienalnd are currently the three biggest fraudulent end times hucksters out there.  Liars all.

 There is one difference in Camping compared to Meredith and Wienland.  Camping has admitted he was wrong and has resigned.  Meredith admits no wrong because he has never committed a major sin since baptism, so how can he be wrong?  Weinland is, well........Weinland.  A total failure and false prophet..  A lying man  and a lying wife.  The Two Witless Witnesses!  What do the Armstrongites find fascinating about this idiot?


Because he admits his failures he is resigning.  Now the question we need to ask Rod Meredith is, "When can we expect your resignation?"

The Daily Mail reports:

The California radio preacher made a name for himself and Family Radio by claiming the world would end on May 21 - then again on October 21.

Now he has decided to resign, apologising for leading his followers astray and admitting that he finds the whole thing rather ‘embarrassing’.

Mr Camping added that he was wrong to say earlier this year that people who did not believe May 21 was the rapture date were not saved by God.

‘I should not have said that and I apologise for that,’ he said, adding that people should not feel they have been ‘abandoned by God’.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2056215/Doomsday-prophet-Harold-Camping-resigns-apologises-failed-predictions-months.html#ixzz1cWO6lrfV

Capable of Acts of Violence?

I have been called many things over the last 20 years by those who worship the ground HWA walked on.  I have had threats to kill me by cutting my head off with a sword.  I have had groups of cult members pray that God strike me dead with the most painful of diseases.  Weinerdude Weinland has cursed me. I have been cursed 5 years a row that I would be struck dead on Passover night.  As usual, they have all been proven to be liars and fools.

Tonight I had a new accusation leveled against me.  It seems a couple of grumpy people in Yahoo did not like seeing their foolish comments "leaked" and had this to say:

He could possibly be a very dangerous individual - someone who could be capable of committing acts of violence against those who believe in the sabbath, holy days, and other things that go against what he believes.

I really laughed at that foolishness!  How little they know that I am the exact opposite of that and have always been.  I enjoy life too much to even consider such a thing.

The above comments just is further proof on how deranged Armstrongism is in the thinking of some people.  It has always promoted the myth that those who leave the church or abandon HWA's teachings are agents of Satan and incapable of redemption.  In fact the opposite seems to be the case. Almost all people I know that have left Armstrongism are now kinder and more compassionate towards fellow human beings.

I however have never seen more evil and hate filled people as some of the die-hard legalists are.  They are the ones constantly spitting and cursing at those who disagree with them.  The world is going to hell and they are giddy with delight.  They want to see people punished, tortured or to die of pestilence and war. When they walk into the same room you are in it is like they suck the air out of it.


Seventy years of documented failed prophecies and false teaching still have not deterred the die hard legalists from following these con-men.

All these people need to do is stop making stupid predictions, uttering false prophecies, and promoting endless absurd speculations, then the world world leave them alone.  Until that time happens, they will continue to be held accountable for their damaging and false words.

Dennis On: "Thou Shalt Not Kill"

"Thou Shalt Not Kill"

Truly the Most Meaningless Commandment Ever Written

One of the shortest and most simple of the Ten Commandments is "You shall not kill." Pretty simple. "You shall not kill." Any questions?


Well of course there are questions. Even Dirty Harry said "some people need killin'." Killing is what the religions of "the Book" do best when push comes to shove. Both say "You shall not kill," and yet both kill, often and with great enthusiasm at times. Actually all religions that have exclusive ownership of the Deity's truth are killers when they run out of ideas of just how to logically explain the Good News and spread it. What "You shall not kill," tends to mean is "each other," but that also proves, in fact, to be a joke.


The entire Old Testament is filled with the exploits of a god that demands that these special people "do not kill," and yet do nothing but kill all those that get in the way of them and their God. If your last name ended in "kites or ites," you were pretty much going to get annihilated sooner or later by the people of the God who said, "You shall not kill." If you were the wives, daughters, sons and babies of the same, you also had had it...oh and your animals too.


I know Christians, I guess that's what they call themselves, who say that we just need to kill all Islamics and turn Iraq and Iran into a smoking parking lot, for Jesus. These people really do have shit for brains when it comes to discerning the spirituality of their religious heroes. They sing Onward Christian soldiers far too often and with way too much enthusiasm. I hate that hymn. I do love the verse that says "Like a mighty army moves the church of God; Brothers, we are treading where the saints have trod. We are not divided, all one body we, One in hope and doctrine, one in charity." The fact is that "the Church" is far from not divided and they are about as one in hope and doctrine as the Taliban and Hari Krishnas. I'd say than the Baptists and the Taliban, but they are way too much alike in hope and doctrine. Maybe that's why they can't seem to get a grip on this "You shall not kill" thing.


When Moses went up onto Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments (Exodus 19:20), he left the Israelites for forty days and forty nights (Exodus 24:18). The Israelites feared that he would not return, and asked Aaron to make gods for them (Exodus 32:1). The Bible does not note Aaron's opinion of this request, merely that he complied, and gathered up the Israelites' golden earrings. (The reason they had so much gold was because "Thou Shalt Not Steal" was still a few weeks away.) He melted them and constructed the golden calf.  The calf came to mind and was worshiped because this was the time in history when Taurus the Bull was the sign of the zodiac that dominated the Spring Equinox. Religions tend to worship the animal that occupied this sign in terms of astro-theology. This would be around 2000 BC when Taurus was passing out of this position due to the procession of the equinoxes and Aries the Lamb was taking it's place. At any rate, Aaron makes an altar and they all have a party. Bad move.


God decides to kill the people, even though He just wrote "You shall not kill" with his own finger. Moses begged him to rethink this position. (Exodus 32:11); the Lord relented. Moses went down from the mountain, but upon seeing the calf, he too became angry. He threw down the tablets upon which God's law had been written, and broke them. Moses then burnt the golden calf in the fire, ground it to powder, scattered it on water, and forced the Israelites to drink it. After a bit of an interview with Aaron, Moses had "every man slay his neighbor and in that day about 3000 perished." He then picked up the Ten Commandments I suppose and told them "You shall not kill." Go figure.


Great stuff! Moses is standing there with the words "You shall not kill," in his arms and what happens? He goes ballistic, puts the tablets down and no doubt thinks, "we'll discuss this later," and orders the slaughter of 3000 or so people who were afraid after over a month, the man had gotten lost, died or went back to Egypt and forgot to mention it. To make it more personal, "every man was to slay his neighbor." Sure, easy enough.


It doesn't take a rocket scientist, as they say, to see why Fundamentalist Christians, Zionist Devotees and governments that swear they trust in God, get their ideas about what exactly "You shall not kill" means in practical fact. Here are several examples of how "You shall not kill" works.


Kill all who do not listen to their priests. Great idea! Even if they are wrong, no one is going to mention it.

"Anyone arrogant enough to reject the verdict of the judge or of the priest who represents the LORD your God must be put to death. Such evil must be purged from Israel." (Deuteronomy 17:12 NLT)

Kill Witches, which today means environmentalists, Wiccans and those who go to church by sitting on rocks in rivers and in the mountains to think quietly about what life means to them.

"You should not let a sorceress live." (Exodus 22:17 NAB)

Of course, Kill Homosexuals.

"If a man lies with a male as with a women, both of them shall be put to death for their abominable deed; they have forfeited their lives." (Leviticus 20:13 NAB)

Kill the nice lady who is a Fortuneteller. That's the job of the Priests and male Prophets.

"A man or a woman who acts as a medium or fortuneteller shall be put to death by stoning; they have no one but themselves to blame for their death." (Leviticus 20:27 NAB)

Kill the kids who get a bit too angry with issues unresolved. Abraham taking Isaac up to sacrifice him without discussing it comes to mind.

"Whoever strikes his father or mother shall be put to death. (Exodus 21:15 NAB)

Kill the kids who don't hit the folks, but verbally respond inappropriately. The lamp going out thing is not mom and dad sayin' "night, night" as we might think.

"If one curses his father or mother, his lamp will go out at the coming of darkness." (Proverbs 20:20 NAB)

Death for Adultery. Please keep in mind here, the issue is taking a man's property, not romance.

"If a man commits adultery with another man's wife, both the man and the woman must be put to death. (Leviticus 20:10 NLT)

And for hormone flushed teens and single people, Death for Fornication. Prominent teens are a great example to others.

"A priest's daughter who loses her honor by committing fornication and thereby dishonors her father also, shall be burned to death." (Leviticus 21:9 NAB)

Death to Followers of Other Religions, which would be most of the planet. Notice, there are other gods in this context, but the jealous god won't tolerate it.

"Whoever sacrifices to any god, except the Lord alone, shall be doomed." (Exodus 22:19 NAB)
Kill Nonbelievers, which again would be most humans.

"They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul; and everyone who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman." (2 Chronicles 15:12-13 NAB)

Kill False Prophets, which would have included Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel if you asked the right questions.

"If a man still prophesies, his parents, father and mother, shall say to him, "You shall not live, because you have spoken a lie in the name of the Lord." When he prophesies, his parents, father and mother, shall thrust him through." (Zechariah 13:3 NAB)

Kill the Entire Town if One Person Worships Another God

"...you must attack that town and completely destroy all its inhabitants, as well as all the livestock. Then you must pile all the plunder in the middle of the street and burn it. Put the entire town to the torch as a burnt offering to the LORD your God." Deuteronomy 13:13-19.

Kill Women Who Are Not Virgins On Their Wedding Night. Oi, How do they figure out who is and who isn't and who collects this information?

"But if this charge is true, and evidence of the girls virginity is not found, they shall bring the girl to the entrance of her fathers house and there her townsman shall stone her to death... (Deuteronomy 22:20-21 NAB)

Kill Followers of Other Religions especially if they are you beloved partner or intimate friend.

"If your own full brother, or your son or daughter, or your beloved wife, or you intimate friend, entices you secretly to serve other gods...kill him... (Deuteronomy 13:7-12 NAB)

Kill Anyone, but Levites, who Approaches the Tabernacle

"...Whenever the Tabernacle is moved, the Levites will take it down and set it up again. Anyone else who goes too near the Tabernacle will be executed.' (Numbers 1:48-51 NLT)

Kill People for Working on the Sabbath. No wonder attendance is down.

"...Work six days only, but the seventh day must be a day of total rest. I repeat: Because the LORD considers it a holy day, anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to death.' (Exodus 31:12-15 NLT)

Don't even thing of being curious or wonder if what you are told is true. (How long does it take 50,000 men to look into the ark?

"And he smote of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of Jehovah, he smote of the people seventy men, `and' fifty thousand men... (1Samuel 6:19-20 ASV)

Kill Sons of Sinners. Seems a bit unfair to me, but what do I know. This could make certain government types nervous.

"Make ready to slaughter his sons for the guilt of their fathers; Lest they rise and posses the earth, and fill the breadth of the world with tyrants. (Isaiah 14:21 NAB)

Kill Men, Women, and Children, which is an oft repeated command.

"Then I heard the LORD say to the other men, "Follow him through the city and kill everyone  whose forehead is not marked. Show no mercy; have no pity! Kill them all - old and young, girls and women and little children." (Ezekiel 9:5-7 NLT)

Generally mean killing. Be sure to kill the kids so the parents can die seeing it happen.

"Anyone who is captured will be run through with a sword. Their little children will be dashed to death right before their eyes. Their homes will be sacked and their wives raped by the attacking hordes. For I will stir up the Medes against Babylon, and no amount of silver or gold will buy them off. The attacking armies will shoot down the young people with arrows. They will have no mercy on helpless babies and will show no compassion for the children. (Isaiah 13:15-18 NLT)

Makes you wonder about those folks that demand the Ten Commandments be displayed in the State House doesn't it?


Why is it that Judaism and Christianity in particular trumpet their great laws and rules for good living, such as we think we find in the Ten Commandments, and are the worst killers on the planet at times? Why are there a hundred exceptions to the simple truth of "You shall not kill," to where it is a meaningless law? Why has the Christian church murdered and slaughtered it's way into the hearts of good Christians everywhere and somehow it's ok both historically and to this very day? I'd say it has a lot to do with thinking that somehow all of the above examples are still the way to go and how God still wishes things to be. Frankly it's what you get when you mix the new wine in the old wineskin, but they don't seem to find that a reason to stop dong it. Killing others is a pure power ploy on the part of the perverted, it seems to me.


In many ways, the Ten Commandments are not as deeply spiritual truths as some would make them out to be. The reason one is not allowed to worship other gods is because this God is apparently a jealous one and won't tolerate the worship of other gods. Notice it doesn't say there aren't any, it just says worship of them is not tolerated by this jealous God. Jealousy implies competition.


Rules about killing seemed to mean "each other," as noted. Rules about coveting seemed to include women as the property of another man you should not covet and the reason you don't commit adultery. It's not about love. The other woman was property, like the ox and ass. You don't take your neighbors property, well your Israelite neighbor's at least.


Rules about stealing went unheeded wholesale in plundering defeated nations and often it was the young virgins "that had never known a man," that were part of the booty, however the heck you figure that out, don't ask. Israelite men, who no doubt grew weary of killing the good looking women, finally had the laws of killing amended such that if they found a virgin they liked and wanted to play with, they could spare her and enjoy after a thirty day mourning period for her parents that, no doubt, were killed before her eyes. So see, rules can change too. Well we see that in our own government that makes one set of rules for the masses and then exceptions for themselves.


But back to this killing thing. Why does it not mean what it says to the two major spiritualities, so called, that claim ownership of the rules?


For the most part it seems that killing is ok when it is defensive killing. The problem is that in the eye of the killers, all killing is defensive. Killing seems to be ok when a person or a country feels "threatened." Actually there are no "attackers" on the entire planet earth, only "defenders," as noted by Neil Donald Walsh. Everyone who attacks someone is merely defending something and that makes it ok. Whatever "you shall not kill" was supposed to mean, it has no meaning in practical fact or practice.

Personally, much of the injunctions to kill "men, women, children and all their cattle" seems to issue forth mostly from the prophets, who seem to me to have symptoms similar to schizophrenia and rank narcissism for the Lord. I have written elsewhere on the topic of asking whether much of what passes for religious belief and devotion on the part of those that want to extend the Old Testament ways of governing to other, might in fact be mental illness disguised under the garb of devote religion. Actually I believe it often is, including some of the most kill oriented leaders, under "God", in the Bible, both Old and New Testaments. Maybe it's time to declare modern religion to be "Non-Prophet."

Is there a time to kill others? I suppose so. Solomon thought so. But killing seems to be what you do when you run out of other ideas like talking, discussing, tolerating and remembering that all people don't view things the same way as others. Everyone has different experiences and just happens to grow up where they grow up, no one having asked them permission to have it be as it is.


Palestinians kill because they are being pushed out. Israelis kill because they are being pushed at. Iraqis kill because they are being over run and taken advantage of, and Americans kill because they are told it is to protect our freedoms and keep them from coming "over here." Some Christian types kill because you or I won't believe their tall tales about how close they are in touch with the true Church or ways of the true Deity and how out of whack our particular ideas are to theirs.


Close down all religious reactions and motives for a month and see how peaceful the front page reads and how much less anguish, crying and shock over the deaths of loved ones occurs. Just a thought. God save me from your followers, as they say. Makes me nervous to think we have those in government who think there is a bridge between the Bible and religion and secular government instead of a wall. It's SEPARATION of Church and State and Freedom of ALL religion, not just the chosen ones.


Whatever "You shall not kill" means to Christians and those of the "the Book," it really means nothing discernible in the real world of religion. Something is really sick about how devotees interpret their spirituality. Perhaps it's only about power and control of others after all. "He who kills the first one, has obviously run out of sane ideas."


"You shall not kill." Perhaps we need to either practice it and not just recite it, or get a new text with a bit fewer repulsive examples of how it is to be administered.


The Commandment has NO meaning in the real world of politics or religion in fact.

Dennis C. Diehl
DenniscDiehl@aol.com

Armstrongism's Fascination With Conspiracy Theories

There has always been a sub-segment of Armstrongism that has been wrapped up in conspiracy theories and speculations.  The Church always thought the Roman Catholic Church and the Masons were corrupting everything. The Worldwide Church of God published articles criticizing the Mason's yet there were members who were Masons over the years, and purportedly a couple of leading evangelists.

The Protocols of Zion was passed around Pasadena by many of the hard-line followers of Armstrongism.  Others bought into the "mark of the beast" as being "bar codes."

There were Jewish conspiracies. There were Catholic conspiracies. The Illuminati. Disciples of Gary North. Belief  in the Spear of Destiny, Pyramidology, New World Order. The Jews were conspiring with the Jesuits to destroy Christianity.

Yet through all of this, these people thought they were the most loyal members of the church.  They clung to the law and demanded that everyone else do the same things they were.  They were the stalwart members of the Church who remain to make sure that the conspiracies of Satan to destroy the Church would never be forgotten.

Fringe groups always attract an odd sort of fringe believers.  These people are looking for hidden secret truth that further enhances their worship experience.  This hidden knowledge, known only to a select few sets them further apart from the Called Out believers as the true remnant.  These are also the same people who believe that they, and they alone are the true holders of the "faith once delivered" by Herbert W Armstrong.  They maintain the "pure truth" and use all their means to make sure that those coming up after them are brought to that truth.  Many of these people still remain in Grace Communion because they feel that God had called them to the truth in that organization(WCG/RCG) and that they cannot leave.  They remain to quietly and subversively continue to spread the teaching of Herbert Armstrong and the"restored true religion" to all they come into contact with - without rising the ire of GCI top brass.

On several COG related groups recently there have been all kinds of posts about the Vision of Fatima, there is one last pope to come, lots of articles on German Nazi mythology and paganism, articles on the secrets behind Masonic lodge architecture in Washington DC, and much, much more.  Many of these people are followers of Art Bell, World News Daily and The Raiders News Network.  They also buy into all of Dan Brown's books as legitimate sources of symbolism and history.

Why are people so fascinated with conspiracy theories?  Scientific American has this to say about conspiracy theories:

Why do people believe in highly improbable conspiracies? In previous columns I have provided partial answers, citing patternicity (the tendency to find meaningful patterns in random noise) and agenticity (the bent to believe the world is controlled by invisible intentional agents). Conspiracy theories connect the dots of random events into meaningful patterns and then infuse those patterns with intentional agency. Add to those propensities the confirmation bias (which seeks and finds confirmatory evidence for what we already believe) and the hindsight bias (which tailors after-the-fact explanations to what we already know happened), and we have the foundation for conspiratorial cognition.

To see this amazing 'truth' that captivates so many Armstrongites check this out. The Raiders News Network

Robert Thiel: The World is Impressed With My ‘Prophetic Certainty’

God's greatest living prophet in the Living Church of God (Sorry Spanky, It's NOT you) wants you to know that his predictions are CERTAIN!  They are fact and will happen according to his interpretation.  Meredith must be mightily impressed to have such a distinguished prophet in his midst.  Or might he be little ticked that Prophet Bob is getting  more attention than he is.  Since all of Meredith's predictions have failed will it be the same for Prophet Bob?  I think we all know the answer to that one!

CGOM’s 2012 & Arab Spring ‘Prophetic Caution’; COGwriter’s ‘Prophetic Certainty’

The Bible is absolutely clear that the world cannot end on December 21, 2012.  The Great Tribulation itself cannot start before 2015 and I really do not believe that it is at all likely to start prior to 2016.

Of course, there is much more that is certain about 2012, the King of the South, and many other prophetic events.  Those who have not done so, may wish to read my book  2012 and the Rise of the Secret Sect as world events have already aligned with at least 17 Bible-based predictions that the book contains.

As we appear to be in the time that Jesus referred to as “the beginning of sorrows” (Matthew 24:5-8), this is a good time to pay attention to the “sure word of prophecy” (2 Peter 1:19, KJV), that my book  2012 and the Rise of the Secret Sect attempts to convey and lay out in a manner that many have said that they have been able to benefit from.

For those of you who may wish to see what the late night radio personality Erksine thought of the book, here are a couple of things he wrote about it:

Dr. Bob Thiel has published scores of articles and received numerous awards for his research. His latest book 2012: and the Rise of the Secret Sect is an astonishing revelation of ancient prophecies and their relevance today.  It was TERRIFIC reading the book. It’s the BEST I’ve seen on 2012.  Dr. Thiel REALLY does his research. Also, the photos in the book his wife took are exquisite.

The fact that world events have aligned with many predictions in the book was impressive to him. My primary focus in that book on what would likely happen during the years 2012 through 2020. But of course, for many of the events to occur, other world events need to align themselves for them to come to pass.  Many outside the Church of God are impressed when they learn that world events have aligned with so many prophecies we have explained.

COG Halloween Mythology

No one ever said Armstrongites were not creative in their thinking!  Eating mice for Halloween?  I feel so left out all these years!

Is Isaiah a reference to the ancient pagan festival now called halloween with a
different spin on it where the kids go trick or treating?

Isaiah 66:17 Those who sanctify and purify themselves to enter the groves, imitating one in the center, eating the flesh of the swine, the reptile, and the mouse, shall one and all come to an end - declares the Lord. For I know their deeds and purposes.

 --------

The church has never stated that. In the histories, when Jeroboam (I think) set up a golden calf in the north in Israel, it's been said that was at Halloween time. In any case, it was a different time than FoT, which it was made to replace.

--------

I've also heard that this particular holiday was moved from May 1 and that originally it was a remembrance of the dead when Noah & family came out  of the Ark. Imagine how they must have felt, knowing every other living soul was dead... This is how dead became associated with the day. Perhaps.

26 Steps To The New Jerusalem

The Church of God has always felt it knew best just about everything on the Bible and it's interpretation. So it's no wonder we have myriads of splinter groups with ever imaginable leader spitting out his interpretations as "The Truth."

The Church of Malm is no different.  Apostle Malm has laid down in "26 steps"on exactly how the endtime will soon be happening.  Perhaps we should all do like the WCG instructed in the early 70's when it had Church members print out a time table of events leading up to our departure to Petra by 1972.  My mother had this mounted in the kitchen cupboard and marked the months off as we got t closer and closer tot he end.

Since Apostle Malm is God's only true messenger these days maybe we need to heed his words.

So for your edification here are the sequence of 26 things that WILL happen before the end:

A step by step list of main events.

1 A Middle East war is expected to set the conditions for a peace agreement.

2 The war in heaven will precede the Abomination being set up Dan 12, which IS the false prophet  (this is the first seal of Revelation).

3 A peace deal will be reached; allowing for a declaration of peace and safety very near the time that the abomination goes to the Holy Place, 1 Thes 5:3. There may or may not be a seven year treaty with the Jews, Palestinians and Vatican. There will NOT be 3 1/2 years of peace (this is a non biblical tradition of Protesant origin). War will begin AS SOON AS peace is declared.

4 He (the abomination; false prophet) will call for and bring about a revival of the Holy Roman Empire during a 75 day period.

5 The two prophets of God will begin their work.

6 Jerusalem will be surrounded by armies; probably peacekeepers to enforce the agreement.

7 The zealously faithful and obedient will flee into the wilderness; arriving at the time that the abomination visits the Holy Place.

8 The false prophet will travel to the Holy Place at the same time as no 7, or immediately before.

9 This will trigger violence which results in the occupation of the city by these European peace keepers.

10 Israel will not give up Jerusalem without a fight and all Judea will be subjugated.

11 The US will enter the conflict in support of Israel and will be defeated but not totally destroyed and probably not occupied; just brought to her knees.

12 Europe will be supreme for about 2-3 years.

13 Europe will attack the Asian nations of Russia China ect.

14 Asia will absorb the attack and move into Europe destroying it.

15 The beast and false prophet (abomination) will move to Jerusalem to make their last stand.

16 The two prophets will be killed 3 1/2 days later the resurrection will take place

.17 The Asian armies will move south toward Jerusalem and camp at Miggedo, the Wedding Feast of the Lamb will take place in heaven; and the seven last plagues will be poured out; during the 45 days between the resurrection and the end of the 1,335 days. See the Wedding Feast article at the main site; and also the article on the 1,290 and the 1,335 days.

18 The Asian armies will attack Jerusalem and take half of the city.

19 Christ will come WITH his saints and put down all factions.

20 The beast and false prophet will be killed at the end of the 1,335 days of Dan 12.

21 God’s spirit will be poured out on all flesh, establishing his kingdom on a Feast of Pentecost.

22 There will be 1,000 years of peace; completing a 7,000 year plan for the firstfruits.

23 Satan will be released for a short time and then removed forever.

24 Then the 7,000 year plan for the main harvest will begin; and the Feast of the Ingathering of Nations or the Feast of Tabernacles will bring all repentant humanity into the family of God.

25 After the seven thousand years of the Feast of Tabernacles, the surface of the earth and all wickedness will be destroyed and cleansed by fire.

26 The New Jerusalem will come down from heaven, the Father will come to be with his Christ and his saints; and an eternal future of peace and harmony will bring an endless increase of God’s Kingdom throughout the universe.

Dennis On: We're All a Little Haunted...Or Alot!

We're All a Little Haunted...Or Alot!

 

 

Whether one likes or agrees with the term or concept, we all have that little ghost in the machine that comes out when the addiction to keeping up with this or other blogs having to do with the experience of the Wild World Church of God needs to feed or process itself.  Eckhart Tolle calls it the "Pain Body" and that term works fine for me.  I certainly see it in myself and know when it wants to feed.

 

It's the pain body in us all the gets cheeky, critical, sarcastic, tell it to me one more time or yells, "shut the hell up!"  It's the pain body that challenges and tells the stories of the past with more anger and more bitterness in them than ever.  Its the pain body that wants to feed on every topic that comes up like an addiction.  If you don't believe me, drop commenting here on this blog about anything that comes up.  See if you can.  Or if you merely lurk here and have you're own "this is my story and this is MY belief" blog and can feed the pain body there, try dropping the need to do that.  Mostly it won't work. 

 

I dropped Face Book a few weeks back.  So far so good.  I realized that most of the friends there were merely electronic ones and I'd never really interact with them in any real life.  Did I want to know or need to know when they got up, or what they had for dessert?  Did I really feel that posting this or that would help anyone much?  No, it didn't.  The only comments I got on FB was when I showed a pic of Chewy the Shih Tzu or told a story about  how hilarious she is.  Politics?  Religion?  Great You-tube video on the universe or some positive way to think or be...not much. There were people keeping track of me for their own sense of something, but those people never actually talked to me or communicated, and so I put an end to it.  Everything in me wants to go back!  Part of me needs to feed on it!  At least I managed to avoid getting suckered by and time wasted playing Farmville!!!  I did have to laugh when a friend got really pissed at everyone because they no one would help her "build a barn."   The barn did not exist in space and time.  The anger towards friends falsely so called was real as were the angry comments directed towards them for not helping.  It was rather sad.  I wrote her and mentioned that she's really angry at real friends over a really imaginary barn.  She got mad at me for bringing that up.  

 

Farmville was where her painbody played.

 

Banned HWA is where my painbody plays.   I also am grateful for when I can keep that ghost under control as Banned HWA also allows me to process the experience and share a bigger view of the Bible and the story that I have allowed myself to study since. However, I have also seen that sharing a bigger view of Bible Origins, errancy issues, astro-theological realities of the book, the politics of the New Testament and how Peter, James , John and Paul all got along (not) are not topics pain bodies care much about. 

 

I will always have an interest in theology no matter my personal view or practice of it.  I want to know what I did not know about it all.

 

So here for your consideration and perhaps for a little introspection is the best definition of the Pain Body I can find.  I do appreciate the teachings of Eckhart Tolle.  Others I know do not and that's ok.  Tolle emphasises living in the now which is really the only moment we really have.  The past is where our anger and depression lie and the future provides us with plenty of anxiety.  We might notice that the COGs live more in the future with everything "soon," "just around the corner,"  "3-5,"  and "we are living in the last days,"  I figure at my age, I'm living in the last days no matter if we all are or not.  My last days..."   Perhaps we hurt ourselves as much by foaming about the past and about "my story," as they do by living in some eternal anticipation that may just disappoint and find them going to the grave like the billions before them.    I'm just sayin...

 

For your consideration. This just seems right to me...

 

"There is such a thing as old emotional pain living inside you. It is an accumulation of painful life experience that was not fully faced and accepted in the moment it arose. It leaves behind an energy form of emotional pain. It comes together with other energy forms from other instances, and so after some years you have a "painbody," an energy entity consisting of old emotion.

It lives in human beings, and it is the emotional aspect of egoic consciousness. When the ego is amplified by the emotion of the painbody, the ego has enormous strength still -- particularly at those times. It requires very great presence so that you can be there as the space also for your painbody, when it arises.

That is everybody's job here -- to be there, to recognize the painbody when it shifts from dormant to active, when something triggers a very strong emotional reaction. At that moment, when it does take over your mind, the internal dialogue, which is dysfunctional at the best of times, now becomes the voice of the painbody talking to you internally. Everything it says is deeply colored by the old, painful emotion of the painbody. Every interpretation, everything it says, every judgment about your life, about other people, about a situation you are in, will be totally distorted by the old emotional pain.

If you are not there as the space for it, you are identified with the painbody and you believe every negative thought that it is telling you. If you are alone, the painbody will feed on every negative thought that arises, and get more energy. That's why it's become active -- after it does that for a while, you can't stop thinking, at night, or whenever it is. The painbody is feeding, and after a few hours, it's had enough. You feel a little depleted. And then it happens again a few weeks later, or few days later.

The painbody would feel even better if it could feed on somebody else's reaction. Your partner would be a favorite person. And it will, if there is somebody around, or family situations. Our pain bodies love families. And it will just provoke this person, your partner or whoever it is. The painbody knows exactly what the thing is that will trigger a negative response. Then it says the thing that is going to really hurt you. And of course, if you are not absolutely present in that moment, then immediately you will react. And the painbody loves it! Give me more drama, please!

Both painbodies are now awake, and feeding on each other. Then, a few hours later, or the next day, the painbodies no longer need it. They are full, they have replenished themselves. And you can look at each other and say, "What was that all about?" In some cases, you may not even remember how it all started. This huge drama started somewhere, and then one thing led to another. Wasn't it the same two weeks ago?

 

Can we be present and see if next time we can catch it at its early stage, so that we don't get drawn in totally?

 

Can we both endeavor to be present for each other, and for ourselves?

 

See if we can see the first signs of the painbody -- either in ourselves, or in the other. Immediately realize it, be the space for it, and if possible -- even voice it to your partner and say "My painbody got triggered when you said that."

 

Often, little situations trigger enormous reactions. Be there, present for it. Your partner will find it easier to see it in you, and you will find it easier to see it in them. Whether or not you can tell your partner that his or her painbody has become activated depends on the degree to which your partner has already been taken over by it. If you catch it at a very early stage, then some remnant of Consciousness will still be there in your partner and that remnant will be hearing you when you say, "Could that be your painbody?" It has to be phrased very carefully. You may want to add, "Do you remember our agreement?"

 

If there is still a remnant of Consciousness then that will be listening to you, and your partner will be able to be there as the space for his or her painbody. If there is no remnant of Consciousness in your partner, you will be talking to the painbody, and the painbody does not like to hear about the painbody. Of course, it will deny any such thing. "My painbody? Look at yours!"

So, what do you do? Can I be the space for that? While the partner is there, be the space for that. When you are the space for something, it does not necessarily mean that you have to stay there. You can be the space, and then remove yourself. Self observation - this is why being in the body is an important part of this. Feel the inner body as often as you can. When an old emotion arises, it will be easier to be present as it arises.

If you are present, the painbody cannot feed anymore on your thoughts, or on other people's reactions. You can simply observe it, and be the witness, be the space for it. Then gradually, its energy will decrease. "

Living in Presence : An Evening With Eckhart Tolle

Dennis C. Diehl
DenniscDiehl@aol.com