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Who Are the Gods?

January 18, 2024 / / 0 Comments

I have often said that English was a terribly unclear language to translate the Bible into. Now English is not bad at everything but it seems to have some unique weaknesses in the fields of theology and philosophy where I think Greek, German, and Latin manage better. I say this because of all the poor translations that I have found in the Bible in the translations from the original Greek and Hebrew.

As yet another example I offer the word “love” which is so often used by the writers of the New Testament who wrote in Greek. In Greek there are 8 different words for love and each of those words is simply translated as “love” in English. There is eros – sexual love; philia – brotherly love (as in Philadelphia); agape – unconditional/sacrificial love; storge – familial love; mania – obsessive love; pragma – love through obligation or duty – such as love of country; philautia – is self-love; and there is ludus (ok, this is Latin/Roman but some translations are translated from the old Latin texts instead of the Greek or Hebrew,) – ludus speaks of playful or non-commital love and can include courtship and flirting. Rarely, do pastors and parishioners seem to bother with a full explanation of what the original passage meant (see more here: 8 Greek Words For Different Types Of Love | Dictionary.com ). In addition, koinonia which is a state of fellowship, community, or partnership can also be spoken of as love.

Also, there is shalom, shalom is simply translated as “peace” in English from the Hebrew. However, shalom actually means a state where the entire earth is in a state of mutually supportive and fulfilling relationships – this includes our relationship to the environment, each other, our animals, the animals of the wild, relationships between nations, businesses, and anything else that you can imagine under creation. Cornelius Plantinga brings this out very well in his excellent book Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be; A Breviary of Sin,. Yet, in your Bible shalom is translated as “peace.” Shaqat, which means to be quiet or undisturbed. In some bibles this is describes as peace or peaceful. For other translations of shalom in the bible see: The True Meaning of Shalom // Defining Shalom — FIRM Israel

I have already spoken of the frivolities of translation that go with “diakonos” depending on whether someone is a man or a woman [for more on this see: What is a Good Bible? – ofNaturesGod.com ] and the mistranslation of the word for murder ratsahk/mut as “kill” in most versions of the ten commandments. For further discussion on the ten commandments you can see: Why is “You shall not murder” in the Ten Commandments? | GotQuestions.org and You Can Kill, But Not Murder: The Case for the Ten Commandments – The Dennis Prager Show

This did not include harag – which can also be translated as kill but means to slaughter, murder, or to slaughter the enemy after the battle.

Let’s talk about the plural Elohim. Many ministers will buy off this word as saying it along with the statement “Let’s make man in our image.” is simply referring to God as the Trinity. Others will just say it is the angels (from the Greek Angelos which means “messenger” and is used for nearly all of the different servants of God in heaven that are often mentioned by name or species in the Bible.) Yet Elohim really is more accurately the court of the gods. El means “god” and “him” refers to a race or a people. Elohim represents the entire heavenly court including the various children of God who were the gods of the nations of the Earth (such as the Prince of Persia.) You will remember the Ten Commandments says “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Repeatedly the Bible says that God is the God of gods whom they all have to answer to and that he is God Most High. All of these are unnecessary distinctions if there are no other real gods.

I always find it fascinating when people say they believe in the Bible exactly as written make all kinds of exceptions for things that don’t fit their theology or lack of belief in ghosts or spirits, or their belief in other gods, or lack of belief in demonic possession or magic all of which are taken seriously in the Bible.

In the book of Job, it mentions the divine court at the beginning where these heavenly beings are all assembled, and the Satan comes before God to accuse Job. The Bible also mentions some of these gods mated with the “daughters of men” and begat the Nephilim in the Bible and god was not pleased.

This is all a very complex concept and I can see why most pastors and teachers take the easy way out because many parishioners ask because they want comfort and reassurance not knowledge.

When I had rejected God (long story that but it was after I had been a counterintelligence agent and seen some dark things.) I studied the religions of the world, analyzing them as an investigator or intelligence agent to see if I could find any truth in them. (You would rightly find it significant that after I did this study I became a pastor of the United Methodist Church – before I decided they had turned from the Biblical message and were indulging in heresy.)

In the Greek and Roman pagan religion we have hints of a supreme being the gods must obey. For just one example Jupiter/Zeus has his lightning bolts. He can strike where he will with the first, to do more he needs the concensus of the major gods, to launch the final lightning bolt he needs the agreement of some force greater than the gods of Olympus. This force is unexplained and many assume it is the fates but the fates are named and this force is not. Like the example I will offer next you have to dig pretty deep into Greek texts to find this out but it is there.

In Norse mythology there is a force that goes beyond simple destiny that the Gods are subject to. It is a deep and mysterious force that was there when the gods were born and will be there after they die in Ragnarok to preside over the rise of the new gods. In this aspect, the tree Yggdrasil which shelters the new gods during ragnarok and connects all the universe together bears, in some texts, an interesting similarity to the Holy Spirit. The Well of Wisdom is at the base of Yggdrasil just as Wisdom (which was there at the beginning of the world with God) is a trait of the Holy Spirit. This force too, is not clearly defined (although Yggdrasil is more clearly defined.)

Let’s look at a good teaching that explains this further. I cannot give you an embedded video because Youtube has it as age restricted. Apparently, children cannot understand it. Personally, I think children understand so much that their parents would be uncomfortable if they knew. Anyway, here are two links to the same video: The Unseen Realm (youtube.com)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HV2CUWcKMa8

Another interesting post on this is from a different perspective where Metatron examines the words around the name of God from a literary standpoint – Metatron is a highly competent scholar on ancient studies and several languages from a secular standpoint: The Truth About The Biblically Accurate Name of God (youtube.com)

WHAT IS YOUR WORLDVIEW? Part 1

December 17, 2023 / / 0 Comments

What is a worldview? Surveys of Americans have shown that as many as 80% of Americans do not have a coherent worldview that they make decisions from. They make their decisions based “on the moment.” For this reason, they can be manipulated by algorithms and speakers quite easily as their beliefs are buffeted this way and that by a barrage of images and posts. A coherent worldview can help keep you on course in your life, or to find a course if you had none before. A theologian once said every moment of every day with everything we do or say we either choose God or we choose Not-God. I think we do ourselves a dis-service when we try to put our spirituality and God in a box that we only look at when we participate in ritual, prayer, or worship. This post by Sister Elizabeth addresses that issue. This is Rivan Elan (or Pastor Daniel depending on where you first came across me,) and I am pleased to bring you this post by Sister Elizabeth addresses this issue. [Please be aware there is an administrative note at the end about this site and issues we’ve had.]

Now I give you Sister Elizabeth:

Good day, gentle folks. Are you enjoying the slow down of this time of year in the Northern Hemisphere? Or are you enjoying the sunshine of summer in the Southern Hemisphere?


I have been thinking about the separation of church and state recently. I agree and disagree with this. I agree that countries don’t need a state church, but individuals should let their beliefs regarding God/the Divine/the Universe influence their choices on a daily basis. Yes, even in the political ring.


Before some of you get up in arms about my last statement, let me ask you to think about this. We have laws, correct? Laws try to direct the community in a certain direction that best benefits the community, in some peoples’ interest. Not everyone agrees with this direction, but usually most of us will follow it. Letting your religious beliefs influence your decisions is similar. Not everyone will agree you.


Having a coherent worldview where your theology (thoughts about God/the Divine/the Universe), your philosophy, and your actions work together is a very beneficial thing. Why? Well, let me give you an example from my personal experience. When I was in my 20s, I was passionately opposed to abortion except in necessary cases. I would become emotional during discussions of this topic and was not able to contribute much information. This was because I FELT that abortion was wrong, but had no other reasoning behind my position.


Now that I am older and have done more research and learned more about the topic, I am at peace with my opposition to abortion. I have found doctors who believe life begins at conception. A TV personality and their partner were using a surrogate to have a baby. They were allowed to watch the insemination of the egg. Once that was completed, the doctor asked them what they wanted to know about their baby. The doctor told them he could tell them the baby’s gender, eye color, hair color, etc. because the baby’s DNA was set at the moment of conception. Science is truly amazing when done right.


This ability to determine the child’s traits within minutes after conception reminds me of one of my favorite verses in ancient scriptures:

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.


I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.


My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.


Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

The Book of Psalms, Chapter 139, Verses 13-16

The journey to a coherent worldview is not an overnight one. Rather, it is one that continues throughout your life. Mine started as a child. When I would wake up in the night with sleep paralysis at age 4 or so, I would turn to Jesus. I just knew I could trust Jesus to help me move again. Jesus continues to teach me even today.

Throughout the rest of my childhood, I had many people that helped shape my worldview including my grandparents, aunts, cousins, teachers, pastors, and friends. Upon reaching college, my studies in physics and astronomy were essential to rounding out my worldview. After receiving my bachelor’s degree, I entered a United Methodist seminary for a master’s degree. This also expanded my worldview, sometimes in ways I really shouldn’t have gone!

I have continued to learn since my college days. Through reading, current events, and discussions with my husband and friends, I have learned to put what I believe into words. I have found that saying things out loud helps me to hear where I have inconsistencies. My husband often reads his posts to me to help him express his thoughts more clearly as he forms his work. In the Book of Proverbs there is a verse that says “as iron sharpens iron so does one wit sharpen another.” So, through discussion my husband and I grow together and by discussing with friends and others we continue to grow as well.

The writing of my final paper called a Credo (Latin for I believe), really helped to solidify my views on the Divine, but not necessarily in ways the seminary wanted. By sitting down and writing it I formed a coherent world view that has served me well. Now when I have experiences or I am faced with questions, I can address them rationally and purposefully. My Credo continues to crystallize each year as I have new experiences and I learn more.

But the biggest factor in pulling together my worldview is taking time, alone and in the quiet, to think about all you know and believe. During these times of silence, I meditate and journal my thoughts. I take walks and observe nature. Sometimes I listen to music and color. (Yes, I love my coloring books; bringing color to a plain page!) Once a week I have adoration where I go sit in the church for an hour to pray and be with God. Church is one of the places that I feel closest to the Divine and sometimes I like to just be there without the busy-ness of worship.

All this Worldview stuff is not as scary as it sounds. You can simply take a blank piece of paper and just start writing. No topic is needed. One time I was angry and I just started writing about my anger. When I read over what I wrote, I found out that I was very angry with my Mom, which was not what I expected to find. Reading over what you write can help you look for patterns in your writing as well as words or phrases that stand out to you. Do you find yourself writing about the same person over and over again? Maybe you should sit with that situation for a bit to see if you can learn more. You can even keep such writings in a book to form a journal that you can review when you want to remember where you’ve been and who you are. That can help you decide where you are going.

The foundation of my worldview came from writing my Credo in seminary. It now carries throughout my worldview. Everything I do and the decisions I make stem from this one theme. Even what I buy now is formed within this theme giving everything in my life place and purpose. Later in Worldview Part Two, I will discuss this theme and how it became important to everything I do. I mentioned it briefly earlier in this discussion.

Can you figure out what it might be?

Since this is a discussion, what are your thoughts on having a coherent worldview? How might you expand or strengthen your own beliefs? What do you do to seek the Divine and to remember who you are? Please feel free to discuss this in the comments below and remember Theology just means thinking about God. Until next time, gentle folks.

~ Sister Elizabeth

[We have been offline for some time and been locked out of the site for a variety of reasons. We continue to struggle financially as our sites are not monetized and do not pay for themselves. We were locked out of our sites due to an inability to pay as I was unable to work due to my disability acting up. When we came back the site had been disconnected from our domain name and no one knows why. I do know that our sites are constantly under cyber attack and we are told that it is by an unusually high number of attacks. It may have been due to some attack that the site became disconnected. However, we were able to get everything back up and we are hoping that we can get support for the site so we can get some site security. Recently, we obtained our SSL certificate to ensure readers that the site itself is safe and malware free so that is one less worry for all of us. Thank you for being patient and staying with us through these difficulties. – Rivan Elan / Pastor Daniel

A Prophesy or Warning

November 16, 2022 / / 2 Comments

I have hesitated to post this. For over a month every time I do Lectio Divina I have received the same message through the Biblical passages I have read and prayed over. Lectio has always had a special place for me and it is one of the spiritual disciplines I use to get closer to God. It became clear to me that I was getting a message for the world and not just one for my own edification. I tried to avoid it but it kept coming up over and over again. Every session of Lectio continued on this theme until I finally came to believe that until I write it out for others I will not be able to move on in my spiritual walk. I have found that God can even be more stubborn than I am…that is saying something.

I told my wife about what was happening during my Lectio. “I have tried different Bibles because I was beginning to think that mine was just opening up in the same areas because of the way the Bibles have worn. Although, I don’t like to dwell on these “judgment” passages.” But no matter which Bible I used, we have lots, and the results were the same. “Here,” my wife said, “use my Bible, I just bought it and it hasn’t been used yet.” I opened it up and read the passages that follow.

First, a word for those who don’t understand Lectio. I used to teach this in my churches and at religious retreats and still have the materials I wrote for the Order of St. Luke retreat we held at the Seminary.

The idea of Lectio is ancient and has roots in earliest Christianity and possibly even back to ancient Israel. Lectio is on a similar principle to the Benedictine saying of “Ora et Labora” that the monastic life was a balance of Prayer and Work. In Lectio, there are the words “Lectio et Actio” which means “Reading and Action.” As it was first explained to me I was told that even if you don’t believe God speaks to you, you are using the Bible to guide your life, which can’t be all bad. However, I have been doing Lectio since I was a teen and it has been spot on so many times that I cannot believe it is anything but a spiritual exercise and communication with the Divine.

In Lectio, you pray and center yourself in the presence of God. You ask for God’s guidance and open the Bible prayerfully and begin reading where your eyes first fall. You read until a passage “jumps out” at you. Or you can pick a passage that is important to you and use Lectio to deepen your understanding of scripture.

Step One – Lectio – This is the Initial Reading. What does this passage say to readers?

Step Two – Meditatio – This is the second reading of the same passage. What does this passage say to you? What parts or words stand out?

Step Three – Oratio – This is the third reading. What part stands out specifically? What is it saying to you in your own life and what would you say to God in response?

Step Four – Contemplatio – This is a deep meditation on the scripture you have read. What is God saying? Bring together all of the thoughts prior so that you let the passage speak to you through you mind, your heart, and a message for your life.

Step Four – Actio- What does this say about how I should be living my life? What am I to do?

Before, I received what I thought were messages for specific people rather than myself. This is the first time in Actio that I believed that I had a message for the world; a message I am not sure how to spread but I am posting it here and leaving the rest to God.

This is what the Divine Presence said to me during Lectio. And I feel I need to share it. I find it disturbing. I have had this affliction of the Lord speaking to me for most of my life and although I tried to run from him you cannot run from God. It is a difficult thing to do what God wants you to do and I have often found his speaking to me to be burdensome and have turned away from time to time. These gifts of knowledge and discernment, and others can be a trial. But the gift of preaching was always a pleasure. I passed this on to Father Dean before publishing this to get yet another opinion. He agreed this was not a message for me but for the nation, if not the world.

I firmly believe that God raised this nation up to be a city on a hill and a light to the nations and there are many today who seek to extinguish this light. But more than that this light was Given to the Western Nations. Through them, an unprecedented level of learning and wealth has come into the world. The principles of the United States Republic came from the teachings of Rome, and the best minds of Europe and America but it is fully in the best of the Western Tradition which is built on the idea that the World was created by the Divine Presence and therefore it has value and each individual is special as a child of the Living God. It seems the west has turned its back on its foundations and simply embraced materialism…how is that going for you?

I started SabersEdge.Online and ofNaturesGod.com because God has directed me to and he is more persistent than I am stubborn. I pray before each blog post and he often wakes me in the wee hours of the morning where we share Lectio Divina and prayer and then I write what he has put upon my heart.

He has impressed upon me that our society has turned against God and our heritage of the greatest culture in the world has been betrayed. God raised up a culture that wove the philosophy of Greece and Rome, the Wisdom of Egypt, and the Word of the Lord so tightly together that it is difficult to distinguish one from another. We are now in a culture war that is also a spiritual battle for the soul of a nation and a world.

We come to the Church because we cannot serve God alone. I believe that we need a worship home, spiritual disciplines, and community to sustain us. Just as the Army has not and never will be an “Army of One” it is a community with a purpose. I believe we all must join a community of likeminded people for as the founders of America said, “If we don’t hang together we will certainly hang separately.”

Here is the Word the Lord has shared with me concerning the Nations for today:

Thus says the LORD concerning this people: Truly they have loved to wander, they have not restrained their feet; therefore the LORD does not accept them, now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins.

The LORD said to me: Do not pray for the welfare of this people. Although I hear their cry, and although they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I do not accept them; but by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence I consume them.

“Then I said: “Ah, LORD GOD! Here are the prophets saying to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you true peace in this place.’” And the LORD said to me: The prophets are prophesying lies in my name; I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds. Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name though I did not send them, and who say, “Sword and famine shall not come to this land”: by sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed. And the people to whom they prophesy shall be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword. There shall be no one to bury them – themselves, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. For I will pour out their wickedness upon them. You shall say to them this word: Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease, for the virgin daughter – my people – is struck down with a crushing blow, with a very grievous would. If I go into the field, look – those killed by the sword! And if I enter the city, look – those sick with famine! For both prophet and priest ply their trade throughout the land, and have no knowledge.”

Then my eyes fell to the reading at the beginning of Chapter 15 where it said:

“Then the LORD said to me; Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go! And when they say to you, “Where shall we go?” you shall say to them. Thus says the LORD:

“Those destined for pestilence for pestilence, and those destined for the sword, to the sword; those destined for famine, to famine, and those destined for captivity, to captivity.

“And I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, says the LORD: the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the air and the wild animals of the earth to devour and destroy. I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what King Manasseh son of Hezekiah of Judah did in Jerusalem…”

skip….[ Please understand. I cannot explain why the skips or how I know what I read was from God but I know just as I know the parts where he was speaking to us today rather than Jeremiah speaking to Judah. I is very hard to talk to someone about how God communicates directly to someone it has never happened to. However, once you admit it to others people will come to your privately and you will find it is much more common than our society beleives.]

“You have rejected me, says the LORD, you are going backward; so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you – I am weary of relenting. I have winnowed them with a winnowing fork in the gates of the land; I have bereaved them, I have destroyed my people; they did not turn from their ways. The widows became more numerous than the sand of the seas; I have brought against the mothers of youths a destroyer at noonday..”

then relevance continued at verse 13:

“Your wealth and your treasure I will give as plunder, without price, for all your sins, throughout all your territory. I will make you serve you enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.”

and continued here:

“Therefore thus says the LORD: If you turn back, I will take you back, and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall serve as my mouth. It is they who will turn to you, not you who will turn to them. And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze, they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you to save and deliver you, says the LORD. I will deliver out of the hand of the wicked, and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.”

Chapter 16:17 –

“For my eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from my presence, nor is their iniquity concealed from my sight. And I will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and have filled my inheritance with their abominations….[17:3b] You wealth and all your treasures I will give for spoil as the price of your sin throughout all your territory. By your own act you shall lose the heritage that I gave you, and I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.”

Verbum domini.

There was more. But it is not for me to share. The above is what is key and what I was told to share.

I give this to you because I feel I should. I don’t know why precisely. You are free to share this with any that you feel led to share it with but I ask you do so prayerfully and in consultation with God. If God shares a word with you for me please share it with me, in turn. You can write me at PO Box 433, Leavenworth, KS 66048 or at SabersEdge.Online@gmail.com

At a funeral recently, during the silence of Prayer, God said to me, “Do not hate people because they have been decieved.”

But at what point do those who are deceived become complicit in the destruction of God’s vision of justice and freedom that he raised up in this nation? This is something that I still struggle with and on this, God has remained silent.

Life Is About Balance – Supplements for Health and Equilibrium

August 31, 2022 / / 0 Comments

BALANCE IS THE KEY TO LIFE – WHAT SUPPLEMENTS DO DOCTORS TAKE TO RESTORE OUR BODIES EQUILIBRIUM?

The Wisdom of the ancients regularly talked about balance. The Greek philosophers spoke of the Golden Mean and living life in balance, the Biblical wisdom literature speaks of balance in life and living, as do the Vedas, Tao, and many other ancient sources. It would seem that every society has recognized this Life-Truth…except ours. One of the ways our society has lost its balanced is our food and medicines.

This ancient wisdom included “magic” like potions such as willow-bark tea which was brewed in Ancient times and the Middle Ages to fight aches and pains. It was only in the latter part of the last century that science finally “discovered” that this “magic witch’s brew” produced acetylsalicylic acid which is the chemical composition of what our pharmaceutical companies market as “aspirin.” I have watched with amusement as our governments spent millions of dollars to prove radical knowledge such as “when you have a cold chicken soup is good for you.” The knowledge that society has known for centuries that we have only embraced in my lifetime because “science” has proved it. It’s not funny anymore.

There is a big difference between believing what science has proven is true than believing that nothing is true unless science has proved it. The latter view has characterized our society, turning away from knowledge proven over thousands of years of practice until we can “re-prove” it in scientific experimentation.

Our modern society and governments continue to be at war with nature and natural processes and today as I write even more articles are popping onto my screen about our government bureaucracy closing down Amish farms and other natural food production denying us healthy options and defending the great monopolies of food mega-corporations rather than allowing us freedom of choice to live and eat as we choose. This is not new and if we don’t act quickly and decisively we will lose the option to seek our own food. And it is not the laws that are closing these down (although it is “law-enforcement” doing it.) Instead, they are enforcing regulations written by bureaucrats with an agenda that is un-elected, and untouchable in our current government system. If you explore their membership you will find the leadership of our government bureaus and agencies are largely a collection of corporate shills and people hoping to retire to a higher paying corporate job restricting our options and over-regulating everything from our food to what kind of light bulbs we use. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) leadership looks like a who’s who of corporate executives from big pharma and mega-corporations that control the majority of our food supply. Is it any wonder that they are closing down natural foods?

The research of these corporations have revealed that to meet their profit-based goals cannot be met if even 14% of us eat natural food. Is it any wonder that our government, manipulated by corporations, is cracking down on natural foods not only in the US but throughout Europe? This has gotten out of hand and neither party stands effectively against it because both parties are funded by these same corporations that are controlling our bureaucracies.

One of the things that has lost its balance is our nutrition. In today’s society 80% or more of our food is over-processed, filled with preservatives, and factory produced. Even natural foods have suffered a massive decrease in nutritional value as we have turned to fertilizers instead of the traditional view of crop rotation and the periodic renewal of minerals in the soil produced by flooding and the natural processes of creation. I will share with you the supplements that doctors and scientists agree are necessary in our “modern” world to help restore our health.

I have always endeavored to augment my food supply with my garden and also draw on natural foods purchased directly from local farms in my area. It is not as convenient but it is better. Recently, I noticed a difference as I cooked with both farm fresh – free range chicken eggs bought at the Farmer’s Market and using “farm fresh” eggs from the supermarkets in the same meal. As I made quesadillas for breakfast I noticed that the eggs from the farm had thicker, healthier shells than those from the supermarket. That has to be an indicator of the health of the chickens.

We know that the big restaurants and “exclusive” suppliers of the rich buy up the best foods and meats and give us what is left over. When I was a pastor in a small country church I had parishioners who brought me bags of meat. They said, “This is just to help you out pastor. I know you don’t make much. I apologize, it is our old meat that we had from last year’s fall slaughter. It’s been in our freezer for a year but we need to make room for the meat this year as we thin the herd before winter hits.” What he called “old,” “tough,” meat was much much better and tastier than what we were buying in the store. It was then I realized that the meat in the supermarkets was the inferior to what we could have if we raised our own or bought directly from farmers/ranchers.

The truth is that our modern society has spent the last 150 years at war with natural law believing, incorrectly, that humanity was not a part of nature. Finally, science is starting to prove that hubris is wrong. The world is an organic whole and we are part of that whole – although the society we have built lives completely cut off from it. [ See also: https://sabersedge.online/the-world-built-in-the-last-150-years-is-broken]

Because of that, we have to reconnect with the natural balance for our health to combat the proliferation of inflammatory diseases, mental health, and so many things that are produced by an imbalance not only in our society but within our bodies.

Scientists and doctors were asked what supplements they would take to combat the imbalance encountered by most people eating modern products. Granted, if you eat right you don’t need supplements, but I would venture to say that you probably don’t eat right – and even if you are trying to you are hampered by over-farming, over-processed, and industrialized food production that is not good for us, not good for animals or nature, and a problematic in so many ways.

The most common recommendation from doctors and scientists seems to be Zinc and Vitamin C, but Vitamin D, Turmeric, Omega 3 Fatty Acids, Probiotics, and Pre-biotics are also included in surveys of doctors and scientists about what they and their families take.

supplements scientists and doctors take –

zinc – was regularly taken by my mother-in-law who was a nurse and has been recommended by more doctors that I can list here as one of the best supplements you can take to help your immune system. It also helps balance many aspects of your health.

Vitamin C – is a powerful antioxidant, boosts immunity, and is required for the biosyntheses of collagen, neurotransmitters, and our metabolization of protein. It benefits our hair, skin, cell repair and health, tissues, muscles, gums, and even brain health. It has even been called a super vitamin.

turmeric – anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, healing and repairing intestinal skin, liver function, moods, etc. – an experiment found that turmeric/black pepper combo can boost other valuable food benefits by 2000 percent. Can increase stem cells and telomeres – but only if you don’t take too much. Indians take one teaspoon a day with a touch of pepper – scientists were amazed at the low instance of cancers and other ailments in these traditional communities.

Vitamin D – Anyone north of Atlanta in North America doesn’t get enough sunlight to naturally develop enough Vitamin D from sunlight. Promotes immunity and blood balance. When you get your blood tested you want it between 50-80 nano-grams per milliliter; then take 1000, 2000, to 4000 to keep it there, depending on where you live and your lifestyle. Sheep get vitamin D from licking each other, we can eat organ meats or other food, lick each other, or sheep, or we could take supplements.

Probiotics – modern food processing sterilizes food of both harmful and helpful bacteria “bugs.” But the truth is we need these bugs to help with digestion and the natural processes in our bodies. Without “good” bugs in our bodies, we would die because they work with us and not against us. Modern over-processed, mass-produced food destroys this balance by killing all bugs both good and bad. If you must consume these industrialized foods then you need to take probiotics and since industrialized production accounts for so much of our support it’s probably good for everyone. As I write this we see the trend of the last decade continue as the Biden Administration and Government Bureaucracies in the Western World continue their war against nature and natural foods by shutting down Amish Farms in the US and across the pond then restricting European Farmers. If you can take colonizing probiotics you don’t need to take them constantly but if you take modern medications that interfere with internal bugs then you probably need to renew them regularly. Others need to take them periodically.

Pre-biotics – help coat your intestines and internal tissues with a coating that protects it from all the hazards we face day to day and imbalances resulting from eating too much of any one thing or the wrong things for the season that we were in. Traditional societies have their food tied to the cycles of nature and naturally consume the right foods in the right seasons to help their own gut health and bodies nutrients. Our modern society strips many of the pro-biotic and pre-biotic resources from our processed foods.

DoTerra includes a probiotic and pre-probiotic that are essential for health in my opinion and they have definitely made a difference in my life. These Pre-biotics help coat your gut and innards to protect you:

https://www.doterra.com/US/en/create-cart/retail?OwnerID=3208777&salesOrg=USOTG&35160001=1&60209480=1

FISH OILS – Fish oils contain Omega 3 fatty acids and it has long been known that traditional diets of Meditteranean, Pacific Islands, and other coastal communities have a natural health that those dwelling inland often miss. It has been traced to fish oils – as traditional coastal communities have a larger part of their diet containing fish with fatty oils. The lipids and good fats are important for your heart function, brain function, mental health, cognitive health, anti-inflammatory benefits, your skin, and your blood health and they are very different from the Omega 6 fatty acids (that are not so good for you) and that are contained in our processed cooking oils. (I do most of the cooking in my house and I use Olive Oil and natural fat from bacon and meats we drain off our food when cooking. It worked for my parents and grandparents and it works for us. As Sam, the Cooking Guy says on YouTube, “Fat is flavor.”) Dr. John Douillard who runs the LifeSpa website says that in the past 40 years the ratio of our consumption has gone from a one-to-one ratio and balance of the two to a 20-to-one ratio of Omega 6 over the healthy Omega 3’s.

Balance is the key to health and, according to the Wisdom of the ancients is the key to nearly everything but our modern society is imbalanced in almost everything it does. If it finds something healthy it pursues it to extremes that make it unhealthy (like its efforts to purge bacteria in industrialized food and filling it with artificial preservatives to make it last, also destroying the good bacteria that we need for health.

The key is making a balance between the good and the bad and to maintain the Golden Mean in our life, exercise, and food consumption. Because we don’t do well at maintaining this mean and because our government seems to be at war with natural food producers our health will get worse and worse and we will be more dependent on supplements – which by coincidence are produced by those same mega-corporations that are behind the annihilation of our natural food choices. Is this a coincidence?

Ayurvedic Knowledge and Wisdom are discussed here and in SabersEdge.Online

These Life-Truths/Natural Laws/Wisdom are a unity of both intelligence and intuition, science and revelation, tradition and modern thought that recognizes the universe as being a coherent unity. A universe in the deepest sense of the word. Wisdom is universal and ancient and reflected in every ancient society throughout the world whether it is drawn from the Bible (Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Sirach), ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian sages, the Viking Havamal, the wisdom of Tao, Confucius, Greaco-Roman Philosophers, and Tibetan Monks. All this wisdom is remarkably similar and the message is substantially the same. It is past time we reconnect with the Ancient Wisdom and a more natural way of living. Not to go back but to truly be able to go forward in a healthy and vibrant future.

https://lifespa.com/herbs-supplements/supplements-scientists-recommend/

A Time For Prayer and Meditation

August 10, 2022 / / 2 Comments

Prayer and Meditation, Orienting our Hearts and Minds to the Divine

When we think of prayer many of us think of Christian prayers that are either written out or extemporaneous. I believe both are valuable. But every religion has prayer and meditation. It is an act of striving to communicate with our deepest selves as well as the Living Force, the Ground of All Being, the Source of All Life. Every religion from the Far East to Rome to the Bible Belt of the Midwest has references in their scriptures to ‘prayers rising like incense‘ as well as to the importance of meditation. I hope you will join your intentional prayers, meditations, and light to ours by keeping the prayer list from ofNaturesGod.com in your heart and mind.

Join Our Community & Prayer List

In this blog, I will give a very brief introduction to prayer and the importance of having a regular time of prayer as part of our Spiritual Discipline and practice. In future blogs, we continue a brief series focusing on prayer and how to “listen with the ears of our heart.” Then we will look at Centering and Mediation. However, because of the nature of blogs, we will only be able to scratch the surface here but we will go into much more detail, for those who are interested and join the ofNaturesGod community through Patreon. We cannot do that here unless that was all that we did here and there is much for us to discuss and many facets of our spiritual lives to cover here.

Indeed most religions have practices that include lighting candles and/or incense during a time of prayer and meditation. This symbolizes that the prayers rise to heaven even as the smoke rises from the candle or the incense. Although I am clear about the Divine Presence is everywhere about us and within us, and that it is the presence in which we live move, and have our being I still light a candle and incense on my home altar each morning. I do that not for God. Not to appease some Divine overlord or make an offering to keep him from smiting me. I do it out of love to help orient my thoughts and my actions for the day to the Divine Presence. As I go about my morning and day seeing the candle or incense burning reminds me of where my heart draws its strength from and that we are not alone. As I light them I say a quick prayer to the Trinitarian Presence as I understand it:

Queen of Heaven,* Lord of Light, Eternal Holy One be with me and guide me this day, strengthen and guide me as I go about my business, and defend and sustain me against all trials.

(or something similar).

For many, prayers of this sort coupled with a quick prayer at bed, rising, and/or before and after meals is the extent of their prayer life. It was the extent of mine when I was a child. My life changed when I was 12 and had my first religious experience and my heart turned more to God. I would like to say I have served th Lord of Life faithfully since but my spiritual life has been ups and downs rising to the gates of heaven and wallowing in the muck of swamps that were largely of my own design.

I want to talk to you about taking your spiritual life deeper.

First, you must understand that we are creatures of habit. Because we are physical creatures ritual is important and has a powerful effect on our spiritual life. That is one thing I like about Catholic services. They are deep in ritual. However, because we are physical creatures we run the risk of going about these rituals habitually without thought and without engaging our hearts or emotions in the actions. Rituals practiced in this way are worse than useless. I say they are worse because following these rituals of prayer or whatever we may do, even attendance at Mass or Worship and service to the poor IF they are done without engaging our hearts, or if they are done as a slave seeking to avoid the master’s punishment, they can give us the illusion that we are doing something “spiritual” and that we are right with God when we are not. However, if we perform the ritual as a way of moving our hearts and consciousness toward the Divine Source they are very powerful. Scott Cunningham, a Wiccan, to be sure has described Wiccan Ritual as Prayer with props. These rituals are powerful as a way to give our body something to do as our mind and heart orient upon the Divine. Similarly, I found that praying the Catholic Rosary sometimes “got my mind out of the way” so my heart could pray directly to my Creator. The Bible says when we are distressed sometimes the Spirit intercedes for us with “sighs to deep for words.” Indeed, it was reading his books on Wicca that made me realize he had directed his heart to that Creative Force that controls and created the universe. A Force that I knew, among other names, as Yahweh or Elohim.

It is possible to “go through the motions” and never orient your heart to this Divine Source. To just do the ritual with your body and mouth while your mind and soul go elsewhere and worry about grocery lists, your project at work, what to feed the kids, or any of billions of questions we could consider instead of touching the Source of Life. Jesus said, many will come to me on that day (when they die and on the day of judgment) and say “Lord Lord!” in joyful greeting and he will say, “Get away from me you doers of iniquity! I never knew you!” Unfortunately, I think many who attend our churches, as well as many who don’t, may be in that group who are rejected. In other words many who follow rituals or religious practices but never engage their hearts or enter into a living interacting relationship with the Divine may believe they are being spiritual because they are doing the right “things” but its like turning on a lightswitch that has no power to it. You can flip the switch all you want – you may do the right thing but the light will not come into your life. You need to complete the circuit and activate the power. The power of our heart, our intention, the emotion and not just of our mind.

I often qoute a diddy that Fr. Hoolighan, an Irish Catholic, once shared with me:

Mr. Business went to church; he never missed a Sunday; But Mr. Business went to hell; For what he did on Monday.

Saint Benedict told us the most important aspect of prayer was not speaking but learning to listen with the ears of our heart. How do we do that? While I will go into more detail in future blogs this question of how do we live, breathe, and pray in the prescence of the Divine is vital to all of us? We will cover that two blogposts from now and go into even more detail in our community. Indeed, that is one of the things I created the ofNaturesGod Patreon community to help with but I will strive to help everyone here in a general way, as I am able: www.Patreon.com/ofNaturesGod

Because we are creatures of habit if we can resist doing things habitually. Doing them without thinking and without engaging our heart or intention and keep our whole existence focused on the Divine then the rituals can actually help us get in touch with our Creator, that Creative Force that brought forth life and ordered all creation.

Time of Prayer and Meditation

If we have and keep a regular time of prayer and meditation our body orients its internal clock toward the Ground of All Being. If you create such a regular habit and you miss your time of prayer and meditation you are likely to have your subconscious remind you, “Aren’t we usually praying or meditating about now?” Similarly, when we enter our regular time with this Living Force, our body, our consciousness, and our soul all naturally orient toward the Source of All Life because doing so has become a living ritual. If we get it into the “habit” of doing so at a particular time our body and consciousness adjust. This does not preclude us from doing so at other times as well for the Divine Presence is always with us. But because we are physical creatures having a regular time in which we are not interrupted, when we consciously turn our hearts toward that Presence in which we live, move, and have our being, is very valuable to us for our spiritual development, our health, our balance, and our resilience in life.

I learned from one of the Saints of the Church to put up a sign to salesmen and people who come to our door (or maybe even to tell family members,) that you are in a time of prayer and not to be disturbed.

“Please Be Quiet and Do Not Knock on the door. I am at my regular prayer time and I will not answer. Please come back later.”

A note like this or something similar can reduce your interruptions. Shut off your phone and shut off the notifications on your computer or go where you cannot hear them to ensure that your full heart and attention can be oriented toward the Divine Presence. If you are distracted by noises outside play soft music without words (that is important because words will distract you – even if they are holy songs.)

I was in deep in prayer and struggling with an issue that I had not talked to anyone but my wife about. My prayer time had actually become kind of a time where I was arguing with God and telling the Creator of the Universe that He/She/It had made a mistake and that I was really not the person to do the job that I felt the Lord of LIfe was pushing me to do. (Yes, I will argue with anyone.) During that time I had a knock on the door! Didn’t they read the note? I usually ignore it but something made me answer this time.

“May I help you?”

“Hi, you probably don’t remember me. My sister brought me with her to your church once last year to listen to your preach and we met briefly after church.”

“Yes, I do actually remember you. How can I help you.”

“Well, I don’t know what you believe about Christianity. I know people have different ways of thinking…”

“Yes,” it was clear to me whatever it was was difficult for her so I thought I needed to say something to help her get out what she was trying to get out.

“Well, I was praying and God told me I need to come here and tell you something. May I tell you his message so God will leave me alone and I can get back to my regular prayers?”

“I think I know what you mean,” I smiled. “Yes, you may tell me what message God has for me.”

“God told me to tell you: ‘You need to accept the power that God wants to give you.’ Does that make any sense to you?”

“Why yes, it does. In fact, I was just arguing with God about that very thing when you knocked. I guess I need to listen and obey instead of arguing. I think God would like me to tell you, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’ That was a very important message to me. Thank you.”

She left and I never saw her again.

But I will never seriously entertain anyone who tries to tell me that the Creator, the Universe, the Ground of All Being, the Source of Life, the very Presence in which we live move and have our being doesn’t care about us and doesn’t interact with us. My entire life is an experience to the contrary and I would say if yours has not been it is not because God doesn’t care about you but perhaps it’s because you are too busy or self-absorbed to hear the Divine Force which may speaking in that still small voice heard by the prophet Elijah in the Old Testament. Quietly speaking, and waiting for you to slow down, be still, and listen.

If you haven’t experienced that, if no one has ever taught you to listen with the ears of your heart, follow me here or join me on Patreon and I will help you learn to listen with the ears of your heart so that we may all grow close to the Source of Life.

[Watch for the upcoming blogs on A Place of Prayer and Listening With The Ears of Your Heart.]

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