Letters to Smitty

Letters to Smitty

First, thank you for doing this for me because I feel so good right now.  It seems to me that I wasn't there for the whole process but as time went by afterword, I began to notice some things.

Most important of these was the absence of a feeling of heaviness in my chest and the tingling in my fingers seemed less (although part of that has to be diabetic neuropathy--which won't go away) some of it had to be Philip's desire to take hold of things he could no longer physically grasp.  I slept like a baby Thursday night and woke up refreshed on Friday.

Throughout the day on Friday I began to remember things from the session that were not clear to me at the time.  I remembered "seeing" Philip's accident.  What I "saw" was the sun setting and Philip riding fast to get home before dark.  He didn't just fall off the horse.  In my mind's eye I saw his horse step into some sort of hole in the ground, which caused the animal to trip and Philip to go flying over it's head.  Philip landed on his head and broke his neck.  He was in darkness but no pain.  My guess is that he slowly suffocated.

But the more I thought about it, I just couldn't understand why he didn't see the light and go into it.  I've read many books on NDE's including some by Brian Weiss.  I also believe we live many lifetimes and recognize the light of death.  Perhaps the darkness fooled him into thinking he had just fallen asleep but it was 74 years before he saw my light.  That's a long time to be floating around in a dark void.  I felt a little sad for him then.  Maybe he attached to someone before me but it didn't work out?

I slept equally as well on Friday night.  (I enjoyed the Tricker/Treaters) before I went to sleep.  There were more than we've ever had before here in Florida---I had to turn out the light because we ran out of candy!  Saturday I began remembering some things from my childhood.  I remember that I only liked playing with boys (I guess you could say I was a bit of a tom-boy).  When I was 9 I received a bicycle (24 incher) and from the time I got it almost until I finished High School, I pretended it was my horse and I was a cowboy---not a cowgirl but a cowboy.

I'm from a small town in Ohio and I rode my horse all over that town (market, library, park etc., etc.)  I had girl friends but until I was in HS I preferred being with boys--being "one of the boys".  I never thought there was anything wrong with that--I still don't.  But now I think I understand it better.  Philip was happier with male companions and being one with them even if he didn't quite understand what was going on.

He's been with me almost my whole life.....now, he's where he should be and I'm trying to figure out what part of what I know is me and what part was him. 

Just today (Sunday), I was thinking about my chronic bronchitis.  I have always attributed it to my father being a heavy smoker--I'm still sure that was part of it.  But, while I don't think Philip intended me any harm--perhaps his hanging around in my chest contributed in some way.  I didn't really expect so many things to surface like this but I think it's helping me to figure out how this experience changed my life.  I think my guides are bringing some of these things up so I can figure it all out.  I'll let you know what happens...Love you, Joyce

"And when you pray....."  (Matt 6:5)

Here's the thing with AD....Christians were in charge of the world and decided for everyone else that the Calendar should be based on what they claimed was the birth of the Christ.  Most scholars reject that arbitrary date as well as it's association with the Jewish founder of a new religion.  Christians choose to remain arbitrary rather than to call the current date CE (Common Era) and BCE (Before the Common Era).  The most radical religion has been Christianity, forcing people to convert, killing people who didn't agree with the teachings of the religion, and claiming the world for Christ.  None of it was pretty and their claims of persecution are tiny in comparison---except for when they persecuted their own.  Once the Original Church began to break into smaller denominations, the persecution began in earnest!  The main reason so many Christians came here for religious freedom was because they were being persecuted in their own countries by Christian denominations that had power over what they could believe, how they could pray and any number of differences (ie The Puritans).  So, if you think you are different in wanting control over this country's belief system---SURPRISE, you are just following in your ancestors' belief in the Christian right to control everything from government to what denominations would be allowed.  And your persecutions began with the Jews, just didn't stop there.   What did Jesus say about praying in ANY way in public places?  Don't know?   I can tell you and you can look it up:  Matt:6:5  "And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites because they love to stand and pray in PUBLIC places so that they may be seen by others.  Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.  But, whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you."  Please note that Jesus does not tell you to pray to him or in his name---but he tells you to pray to God who is the Father of all men...this includes Jews, Muslims, other Christians you don't agree with and all people---but you do not have the right to impose your prayers or the way you pray on ANYONE.  If there is going to be prayer in public, it should be silent prayer so that all can pray in the way they choose!

Is the Civil War Still Raging

Is the Civil War still Raging?

 As a student of history, it's suddenly become very clear what the animosity between some of the southern leadership and the government may be...it's because there is a silent modifier to "government" that explains everything.  That modifier is Yankee.  Oh, I know the Civil War was a long time ago but many southerners have not forgotten anything.  Those with a big problem with "the government" are not using the silent modifier because it would make them look a little crazy but I'm sure that's it.  I'm reading a very interesting book about the Civil War and the war actually continued for a long time after the cease fire.  The defeat left a bitter taste especially in the wealthy who financed the war and lost literally everything including their ability to build back up (without free labor).  The "Yankee government" could be defeated in other ways and so they began to try to undermine every attempt to integrate the south with its new way of life.  The state that made the greatest strides in defeating the Yankee government was Mississippi, with the help of the Klan.  The Klan was the preferred instrument in keeping "the proper order" in the south---no slave would ever really be "freed" as long as they could undermine everything the "Yankee government" tried to accomplish.  The Klan was the "shadow" army, still fighting Yankee occupation.  The Klan was the shadow government in many states and was very welcome by those who believed they had every right to insurrection and no right to accept defeat!  The Klan only lost it's hold as we all moved into the future and many whites had no taste for pursuing the false goals set by individuals who only desired to fight a war that was lost many years ago...blacks as well as white preferred to forget the "power" of this group of guerilla fighters.  We now have at least one state flying the Confederate flag over it's state house.  So we need to remember that  many southerners called the war, "The War of Northern Aggression"--and for many today, there really is no ONE government, there is only the "Yankee government" and them.  What we're really fighting here is something that never died, the ghost of a southern government that has no intention of complying with the "Yankee Government".  I think it's worth thinking about...especially in light of the Tea Party trying to organize it's own Southern Revolution.

Second Amendment....for the southern slave owners?

Second Amendment....for the southern slave owners?

While there may be some truth to that, I think that it is more likely a reference back to one of the powers of Congress (in Article 1, Section 8) which states:  "To provide for calling forth the Militia (for 3 purposes) to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions."  I'm sure southern states were concerned about slave uprisings (although it is not clear to me why that would be considering how they were treated--see 12 Years A Slave).  If those southern militias were used for anything it would more likely have been to capture run away slaves.  So they had to put in the 2nd Amendment for slave owners?  The whole United States needed to be able to call up well-armed and well-trained militias for the reasons stated in Article 1, Section 8.  I think what the states did with their militias when they weren't called upon by Congress was their business and if they wanted to send them out to round up run away slaves...that was their prerogative.

 I do understand why whites might have feared an organized slave rebellion since there were more of them than there were of whites, and whites understood how poorly they treated their "animals"!

Face the truth. Using the 2nd Amendment to maintain a gun culture was never the founders' intent. The 2nd Amendment is there to Amend a section of Article 1, Section 8. No provision was made on how the militias of the states would be armed when called upon by Congress to take care of 3 specific issues: To Execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel invasions. Citizen Militias had to always be ready if Congress called upon them. The 2nd Amendment is obsolete because we now have a fully funded military force for Congress to call up when needed. That is what amendments do...they fill in the blanks left when the Constitution was written. If the Constitution had been complete when signed, we would not have 27 Amendments. The desire to retain arms refers back to something more sinister....the failed attempt by many states to overcome the Union by seceding from it. I believe the trouble stirred up now has more to do with insurrection than with the right to own weapons---we have that without the need of an Amendment to guarantee it. The many states have the right to require registration and licensing of weapons just as they do with cars. People who disagree with that are trying to overcome the government of the United States. Period. So let this futile argument be ended, here and now and let us agree that we are stronger together than fighting among ourselves!

Are you with me?

Why the USA is no longer "the greatest" country in the world






Are you with me?

Religion's Experience of God:

 

  I would say that the big three are based on "books" written by men under the claim of being inspired by god.  I don't judge anyone's beliefs about god since I understand them to be experience based.  I think we can agree that human beings do not experience anything in the same way.  Like the poem, "The Elephant and the Blind Men".....each touches a different part and describes what he feels: ie. one touches the side and says the elephant is like a wall.  The "holy books" of religion are descriptions of human experiences of the intangible force we call "god".  My own life experiences have taught me to trust my internal experience over anyone else's experience.  And while I may find verses in the holy books that reinforce my experience, I don't need a religion or it's holy book to define me or mine.  There is a verse in the Christian bible (Letters of John) which helps me tell others about my experience and that is:  "God is love, and he (she) who abides in love abides in God and God in him (her)"   I believe that these books as you said so clearly were written for men by men.  I think religions and their practices give men the assurance that their experience is real.  I think women, in general, experience on an intuitive level (why there are so many women among the religious mystics) and why the rubrics etc., invented by men hold little attraction for women.  Many years ago, the idea of "god is dead" presented a real problem (I believe) for the traditional believer of any religion.  It wasn't so much that god was dead but that god needs to be described by the experiences of many people through time.  God is an evolving concept so those religious people who deny evolution are denying (in my opinion) the presence of god at the heart of the universe.  It's a concept that is no longer rigid or fixed and that can be experienced by any of us without making it a challenge to anyone's beliefs.  Find god or not....it doesn't matter.  What matters is how you live your life inside the reality of your experience.

When politicians are consistently lying to the American People (and yes I know they all lie at some time or the other).  It is up to people like you, reporting on the facts and what is true and what isn't to make sure we know who is lying.  Why?  Have you ever heard of a little thing called Propaganda?  Propaganda would never achieve the perfection of deception without the "press".  "Repeating a lie or many lies over and over until they are believed" is the DEFINITION of Propaganda.  And the best way for that to happen is with the assistance of all forms of what we call "the press".  Mr. Bush's lies are a perfect example...he may have led the country down the garden path, but he couldn't have done it without all of you.  I remember a few who tried to make it clear that there were some problems with his administrations "stories" but not enough of you took the time to INVESTIGATE.  And I think we are right in holding you all accountable for allowing the American people to be PROPAGANDIZED!

Are you with us Chuck Todd?

Child of the 60's

You might find this surprising...I don't!  I am definitely a child of the 60's according to a test I took online:

You are a liberal minded, progressive, and caring person. You believe in love. You appreciate the dynamic days of the 1960s, when people truly wanted to change the world. You believe in justice and equality for all. You can't rest until everyone in the world is treated fairly. You are willing to stand firm for what you believe in, even if no one else is standing with you.

Religious Persecution

Religions of all kinds have been the basis for wars, some against others and at times wars WITH each other. Do I believe people should suffer because they are of one religion or another---I do not, but religion itself is the source of persecution that many have not forgotten and so on it goes. I wonder what would happen if people decided they did not need religion, that they did not need to be organized to follow the teachings of god, already written on their hearts, that they did not need to build churches or mosques or temples or condemn others because they did not participate in the TRUE religion's practices and beliefs? What would happen? I know, the world would finally be at peace because true believers everywhere would recognize the truth in the other that they sought to condemn solely because of their religion. The Muslims you see today are the PICTURE of Christians 600+ years ago. And all true believers believe in the proof of the "Martyr's death" described by Greek philosophers before the time of Christ. The prized believer of any religion is the martyr willing to give his or her life for what they believe and of course the others are happy to oblige them! It's an endless tale of suffering and woe with rewards deferred until after death. Without the need of religions to dominate the world scene what would we have---PEACE, finally peace. So don't tell me about persecution when I know that Christians, Muslims and Jews all look upon it as the PROOF of their righteousness. I was part of the Christian religion until I finally figured out that I didn't need it or the problems it was continually causing for ITSELF. My studies brought me to the truth and indeed the truth has set me free. Many of the teachings of Rabbi Jesus of Nazareth are good for your soul if you follow them rather than try to harangue others with the teachings ABOUT Jesus, which seem to be more important to many Christians I know today. How does it make you feel about your faith that many of your brothers and sisters in faith are dying daily, supposedly just because of what they believe. Does it make you feel better about your faith? Does it make you think that you are a member of the true faith and those doing the killing are monsters? This is the story of religions throughout history---killing those who are not of the true faith in god...go back as far as you can and you will see that this is the real truth about religion and persecution and maybe you will start to understand that you don't need religion to be in touch with god or to live a good life.