A few thoughts after the sermon at church today

If you haven't talked to me in a while, you may be really surprised by my recent posts this year. Yes, my faith came back, although my beliefs aren't quite what they were when I was a Christian before. I'm not sure I'd say I'm strictly Christian either, because I now believe that all religions at their core are basically saying the same things. Anyway, I still go to a Methodist church, because I like the music, the people are great, and it's part of my heritage. 

The message today was about freedom, based on Galatians 5 (The Fruits of the Spirit). 

13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[b] 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[c] you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

The question posed was:

"Is freedom a gift that we cherish, or an entitlement we exploit?"

Oof, think on that for a minute. 

Jesus showed us a better way to live, but it's not a requirement. He didn't take away our freedom to choose how we want to live our lives individually, as governments and dictators have done throughout history, but he did show us what's possible when you choose to follow in his footsteps. Think of all those miracles - and he says in John 14:12:

12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

Whether or not we want to experience the transformative power of God's unconditional love is entirely up to us. As the spiritually-minded people might say - we can choose to stay at a low vibration (trapping ourselves in the vicious cycle of hatred, jealousy, fear, etc.), or we can strive to be at a high vibration (love, forgiveness, generosity, etc.). 

Speaking more on what spiritual, new-agey people have been saying recently...Earth is ascending into a new phase, and there's a split in humanity happening over the course of several decades, starting around now. As I understand it, those souls who are awakened and attuned to the higher vibrations will move along with Earth into the higher dimension/vibration?, and those who are determined to remain at a low vibration will split off and eventually end up somewhere else after they live out their lives here, because Earth won't be habitable for souls at that level. Wow, I did a horrible job describing that. Oh well, listen to enough of these people who do channeling, and you'll understand what I'm talking about.

If you think of it in terms of the many worlds theory, every thought creates more possibilities, and every action creates alternate realities. It's up to us to decide which reality to make our own, so if we spend all our time in those low vibrational worlds, guess where we'll end up? Isn't that pretty much what manifestation is?

Is anybody interested in talking about this stuff? Nick tolerates me talking about these things with him, but I don't think he's that into it, and I'd love to be able to talk in depth with someone about this stuff. I have trouble articulating certain ideas (as this post clearly shows), and it would just be nice to have someone to talk to who understands a little about what I'm trying to say.

Also...should we be worried about the tsunami that's been predicted to happen near Japan on July 5th (our July 4th)? I'm gonna live my life and go to work as normal, but as multiple people have said stuff about it, alluding to things happening along the western coasts of the Americas as well, I'm giving it a side-eye. Hope the coasts will be OK (because I'll be on one of them). 😬

Most likely it will be like Y2K and the Mayan calendar...much ado about nothing. 

Imagine...create

Imagine the world you want to live in - what does it look like?

I want to live closer to nature, but without having to go live in a cabin in the woods (although that does sound fun, temporarily). 

I want to be able to walk or bike to my nearest grocery store in less than 10 minutes by myself, without worrying about getting run over by a truck, or harassed by a stranger.

I want everyone to have the means or resources to get the medical/mental help they need to participate in society, hold a job, and afford a place to live, and form relationships and communities where people support each other. Nobody can do it all on their own - we need each other.

I want small farms to exist in every community. Wouldn't it be great to have a neighborhood chicken coop? Fresh eggs just a walk away. Cities used to have large "commons" (I'm thinking specifically of Boston) where livestock could graze. I miss animals - I should find out where the nearest farm is that allows visitors. Can nature be allowed to weave itself into city life? I just don't see developed land ever going back to nature in a city environment, as the land is worth too much, which is unfortunate. Maybe vertical gardening is the way to go.

Can we solve the rapid commuting/transportation issue in a clean way, working with the earth instead of against it? I think about transportation a lot. I love having a car, as it allows me to go just about anywhere at any time, but I hate driving through congested areas, and then trying to find parking in a packed lot with 20 other cars circling. Cities used to have robust streetcar systems, which were largely replaced by ever-expanding freeways, and lots of cars. Sucks to be a person without a car on the west coast! Yeah, public transit exists in the city, but it's so slow, I wouldn't use it unless I had no other choice. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to hop on a train that runs along the same freeway you drive to work? If the commute time was comparable, I'd do it to avoid the risk of getting in a car accident (haven't had one yet...knock on wood). There are some days when it seems like there's something in the air with the number of crazy drivers I encounter.

I want to live in a world that runs on renewable, abundant clean energy. There has to be a way, right? A way that doesn't also have the potential to completely destroy the planet?

So yeah, that's the beginning of my list. There's a lot more to add later. What are some little steps that we could take to make our ideas a reality? I suppose for the first thing on my list - the very least I could do is make a point to go on more nature hikes, and maybe buy a plant for our balcony (and learn how to not kill it). And visit a local farm with cute animals!