Dennis on "Stardust"

Let's face it, THE reason anyone gets involved with Theology, Bibles, Churches, Torahs and Synagogues or Korans and Mosques is because just below the surface of EVERYONE is the fear and concerns about not living, but dying.  We are the only sentient beings on the planet that know we will die sooner or later.  Chewie my hilarious Shih Tzu has no sense or her yet to be announced passing so lives the carefree life of a dog unconcerned about attending church or holy day services or being absolutely sure of ending up in the absolutely true only Church of God under the only true leader on earth.  Christianity has that kind of pressure behind it, at least in the Churches of God, Splits, Splinters and Slivers.

The other pressure is to become perfect or mature as our heavenly Father is perfect or mature but I can't deal with that either.  I have a looooooooooooooooong way to go and always did.

Billions of human being have come and gone to date.  But as long as it is not us, no problem.  They no doubt thought the same way back in their time.  When I see a picture from the 19th century of crowds of people in Times Square or during the depression, my first thought is, "they are all dead."  That picture is a slice in time that has come and gone.  All pictures are that way.  I know the answer to my youthful question or musing over what would happen to the Worldwide Church of God when Herbert Armstrong or "even" Garner Ted and others were DEAD?  I never for a moment thought any of us were going to live and be the exclusively changed in a any moment or twinkling.  I am too Dutch and too practical for that.  What was the chance?  Zero mostly!

My lovely, kind, generous, compulsive, small world dear mom died a few months back.  I have her cremains right over >>>>>>>>>>>.  All that she was is now reduced to star dust again from which we all sprang.  As Physicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson notes.  "None of us would exist if stars had not had the courtesy to puke up their guts into the universe and provide us with all that became us."  I like that.  I don't mind going back to being stardust someday.  I like it better than getting planted in an expensive box in a concrete vault in a boring place wearing a suit and tie!  Blech! It's easier to think of mom as Star Dust again and more philosophically correct.  I suppose if we buried the dead so they could nourish the earth I might feel better about that but we don't.  

Pause....Ok, back.  My sister just called and said my dad has gone into the confusion and angry stage, he is 97, but had a nice talk last night with his own mom and dad who came to visit him.  He wanted to know why his room was purple. It is not uncommon for those entering their last days to have such conversations with their long dead parents or grandparents, or even children. It is common.  My mom talked to her father just before she passed.  Somehow that is encouraging and seems unconnected with them being in good or bad places.  He also threw the wastebasket thru a window so I know he wants out.  Sigh...   You can live too long in our culture I suppose.  I really love my dad and will miss him....  Both my parents were very nice editions of Stardust highly organized and conscious of itself. 

Anyway...in the bigger picture, all this COG leader bluster about being an Apostle, a Prophet or of all crazy things, an Elijah to come yet some more or a Joshua the Dumb Ass Fake High Priest of 2013 is all related to our knowledge that our lives are limited in scope and have an expiration date.  All religion, sane and insane stems from this knowing.  The Wonderful World Tomorrow helped me cope with the not as Wonderful World Today.  The Kingdom of God raised my hopes and lowered my fears while living in the Kingdoms of Men.   

I'd like to share some thoughts on death and dying that are not grounded in religion or hoping something is true but having no actual proof of it being true.  Proof to one is mere belief and wishful thinking to others.  Faith, in my actual experience is what we have before the facts change it once again.  

I really love the perspective in this commentary on dying. I include just the introduction to interest those interested in such things and where to read the rest of it following.

Stardust

Part I: Meditations on a Cemetery

I have always wanted, when I die, to be cremated rather than buried. The living, not the dead, are the ones who have need of the space and resources that would otherwise be used for a burial ground. On the other hand, if there are to be graveyards, this is how they should be – a good place to be at peace, to be alone with one’s thoughts, and to remember. They are, after all, for the sake of the living and not the deceased.

It is a warm, peaceful summer afternoon. Serried rows of headstones rise from the expansive green lawns, interspersed with flowers and hedges; great trees shade the graves at their feet in musty reddish-green and cool dappled gold. Other than the soft chirping of crickets in the grass and the gentle rustle of the wind, drowsy in the late afternoon sun, it is still and silent, creating the impression that this is a place separate from the world. 

Most of the graves are plain white headstones engraved with the names of those who lie buried there. Some are polished granite or marble markers, the letters carved in them as sharp as if chiseled yesterday, while others are softer limestone, their inscriptions weathered and dimmed by time. Among the headstones is the occasional tall white mausoleum; some are freestanding, their sides clad in ivy, while others are built into hillsides. Some of the older graves are covered in beds of moss, while a few – I notice one or two – are freshly dug, plots of raw earth in the peaceful green. Where the land rolls, worn stone steps lead up from the winding main path to enable visitors to walk among the gravestones.

Small, colorful flags ripple in the wind at the head of each veteran’s grave. I note in amazement how many there are, and I am reminded that blood is the eternal price of liberty. While most other people have engraved headstones, many of the veterans have only small, flat metal plaques set into the earth, paid for, I presume, by the government for their service. It seems strange, and yet somehow fitting, that they should have such humble memorials. 

In this place, with thoughts of transience uppermost on my mind, I inevitably reflect on the words of others who once pondered the same things. At such times, I think of the question posed by a long-ago psalmist – “What is man, that thou art mindful of him?” – or the Buddhist who meditated on the crematory smoke arising from Toribeyama. Walking through a cemetery, one is forcefully reminded, above all else, of the fragility of human life.

 We tend to take for granted that our lives will continue indefinitely; rarely do we think about how we all – you yourself, everyone you know, everyone you love or care about – will grow old and, one day, will die. Through familiarity, we begin to believe the people, places and situations that surround us to be permanent. It is a natural and human tendency, and a habit difficult to break – difficult, that is, unless one is confronted inescapably with the truth of our own mortality. A quiet walk in a cemetery will accomplish that....

It is rather long so you can find the rest of it here:  http://www.patheos.com/blogs/daylightatheism/essays/stardust/

At 63 and with my Dutch heritage , parents who lived into their upper 90's and aunts and uncles who lived to 99 or the one who still lives at over 100, I am a bit panicked.  lol.  In their world they worked where Kodak and Bausch and Lomb actually made good on their retirements.  We'll just leave it at that.    The last time I was in Rochester to visit dad I stopped at Mount Hope Cemetery which has amazing grave sites.  Some headstones are 40 feet high and their are whole streets of Mausoleums which are creepy and beautiful. I stumbled upon Frederick Douglas's grave which I had not idea was in Rochester.  I found one that said "Bausch" on it and wondered where Lomb was if this was "The" Bausch.  Low and behold....Lomb's mausoleum was right next to it!  Together in life. Together in death.  Same street!

Maybe it was just a coincidence...

At any rate, so many if not all of the current COG gurus and goofballs are selling hope.  They are doing what religion is meant to do but I think they do it very badly in their case.  All kidding aside, it is obscene that a Gerald Flurry sees himself in the Bible as "That Prophet" and then proceeds to stick his theologically ignorant nose into everyone's business.  Ron Weinland, who followed me after I left Ohio has been the same kind of arrogant and deluded minister since way back.  It just got worse and ended badly.  His hope is hopeless and also ignorant of actual theology as actually presented in the Bible.  And what can we say more of Dave Pack who now epitomizes both theology and title taking gone nuts.  In my world the more one needs titles , the less of a genuine human being and servant to all one can actually be.  Any man who sees himself spoken of in the Bible in these days is one to be avoided.  It is not so and all 25 proofs aside, Dave is not any Joshua the High Priest of Haggai nor was HWA any Elijah to come or Zerubbabel.  That is just nuts and over reaching if there ever was any.  It would be merely silly if it wasn't actually dangerous to your spiritual, financial and emotional health. 

Gotta go...Doing chair massage for the employees of a local health food store this morning.  If I ever rubbed any of you the wrong way...or do..come see me now... :)

Let me leave you with my favorite and to the point short overview of in just what way we are stardust.  In my next life, if there is one, I want to reincarnate as Dr. Neil Degrasse Tyson.  This knowledge in our time bring tears to my eyes and absolute wonder, far more than anything any minister could ever deliver.  Do yourself a favor and watch two short sermons that are 100% true and deeply encouraging no matter who you are or where in life you reside along the very thin line we call the times of our lives. 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D05ej8u-gU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtWB90bVUO8

Certainly better by far than the long winded and self serving sermons of a Ron Weinland-Dave Pack or Gerald Flurry.  These men are also stardust but currently with excessive amounts of hot air and baloney mixed in my humble and yet experienced opinion.

Contact Dennis at  DennisCDiehl@aol.com

Joe on: "Beware of the Troopers"

The most dysfunctional people in any organization, and this includes those in the Churches of God, are not necessarily outwardly evil, or criminal.  People like Dave Pack or Gerald Flurry and a whole host of minor COG sociopaths who rule with one man, unaccountable authority, indeed are evil and are sociopaths.  However, these men would be impotent without the help of the most dangerous people alive. This person, for the sake of this article, will be called “The Trooper”.  Without Troopers , sociopaths would be powerless and without arms and legs.

Troopers are the kind of  person killed all the Jews who died during the holocaust. He was the one who killed all the innocent civilians on both sides of World War II and all other wars. He dropped The Bomb on Hiroshima and he flew aircraft into the World Trade Centers. Troopers never question, they simply follow orders.

The Trooper will kill. The Trooper is not necessarily strong or intelligent, although he can be both. The Trooper has no conscience, or if he does have one, he does not use it. The Trooper simply just believes. He believes unconditionally.  Facts that contradict The Trooper’s beliefs are considered false by definition. The Trooper has a weakness for sociopathic monsters. The Trooper follows orders and has never heard an order he will not try to obey. The Trooper dominates, and uses force to ensure that others cannot do as they please. The Trooper believes what he does to be glorious and is the utmost in respectable duty.

The Trooper is self-replicating. His actions lead to the creation of other Troopers. He is particularly bolstered by unconditional praise and small tokens of gratitude from the sociopath, often a person who do not know him or anything specifically he has done.

To be successful in stopping Troopers, it is important to know what things can cause a normal person to become a Trooper. Sociopathic monsters, like a Flury or Pack, who are found in their lofty spiritual  positions, need Troopers to be their henchmen. For this reason, they use the resources of control, guilt, extortion and falsely self- attributed Godly authority,  to attempt to turn normal people into Troopers. Their propaganda makes becoming a Trooper sound righteous, adventurous and glorious. The false religious leader will claim to provide valuable training and teaching to normal people that become Troopers, and also claim that becoming a Trooper will give one discipline and direction, and most importantly, glory and love from God.

A person who is looking for specialness from God, relief from guilt, glory or adventure is at risk of becoming a Trooper. If someone you know is looking at, or considering ANY church that is ran by an unaccountable, unelected leader, talk to them. Let them know that it is not glorious to be a henchman for a sociopathic monster.

If your loved one needs discipline or direction, show them how to polish their shoes. Have them do some pushups. Have them sleep on a cot. Show them that one does not have to join a cult to love God and to do his will and study his word. 
God can love them without the sociopathic intermediary. Your loved one might be looking for camaraderie. Don’t be afraid to show them the love you have for them. Do things together. Demonstrate how fulfilling it is to spend time with one’s family and friends. Remind them that you love them and want them to remain close to you and safe, and not in some cult becoming human fuel for a mad man.

Talk to your loved one about self-respect and self-reliance and that one can have a personal relationship with his Savior without the intermediation of a man or a cult. Assure them that as friends or family you will stick together and ensure each other’s spiritual well-being. Explain to them that someone with their motivation and the willingness to sacrifice that they have can find a way to provide service to God, others, themselves and their family, and that they won’t have to sacrifice their self-respect and self image to a sociopath to do it.

The task is not easy, but working together, with love and perseverance we can prevail. Sociopathic church monsters will still exist, but they will be impotent and easily managed , once the liberty of Christ Jesus is understood, and that all can come to the throne of God, and can be reconciled to him, without need of any human being.

The veil has indeed been ripped. The sociopath wants to deny its importance as it is the secret to destroying him. Remember this always in faith.

Joe Moeller
Cody, WY