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Life Giver

sandpainting
We are here to create … I do it with words … but we all create … if nothing else, we create our lives each and every day as soon as we get out of bed.
I once had a mystical experience when I was quite young and on the road.
That experience forms my writing … it forms me … I spoke with God … once upon a time …
I swear this is all true. This is an abbreviated version of what happened on that magical, mystical night.
I was hitchin’ from LA to Miami. Along about sundown, a blue pickup truck picked me up on Old Highway 90. One thing led to another and the next thing I knew, I was spending the night with a young Apache Indian. His name was Jimmy.
After his grandmother fed me, we walked out into the desert and sat down on a small rise. Jimmy talked of Geronimo, as I listened with my eyes closed.
Then things grew quiet.
It seemed like many minutes from the time Jimmy stopped talking until the time I realized there was no more to come. Actually, it was probably only a few seconds. Once I realized the story of Geronimo was finished, I was hesitant to open my eyes; I did not want to break the spell. Though, eventually, I did open my eyes and looked right into the face of God!
It was the stars! While Jimmy was talking, the sun had traveled to the other side of the world and the stars had come out. Never had I seen anything like it. For three hundred and sixty degrees the stars touched the horizon. No light impeded their brilliance. There were no buildings to block my view of that wondrous sight. There was just as much starlight as there was black sky. I felt as though I could reach out and touch them, they seemed that close. I could see how Ptolemy believed the earth was encapsulated within crystalline spheres. In the dry desert air, the stars did indeed look as though they were made of fine, delicate crystal. I saw the Great Bear, and Polaris—the only star that does not move. Orion seemed as though he could lower his arm and smite me with his club. I was in the midst of searching for other constellations when Jimmy broke my reverie. He said, “It is time.”
As I sat up, Jimmy handed me a wooden bowl; he had one just like it. We each held our bowls with two hands in front of us, about chest high. I was told the potion would help me go within, to commune with the Old Ones. Jimmy said, “It is my hope to speak with Life Giver at times like this, but it has not happened yet. Although I have been trying for many years. I am told by the older men to be patient. That Life Giver will speak to me when I am ready to hear what he says.”
Jimmy reached his bowl towards me, as in a toast. I did the same. Then we drank whatever that concoction was. (Hey, I was young and open to anything.)
He said that we would not speak again until morning. He would continue facing west, and that I should face north. I walked ninety degrees around the rise to Jimmy’s right, sat down, and awaited whatever was to come. It was starting to get a little cool, and I thought it would have been nice if I had had the forethought to bring a jacket. In an effort to keep warm, I brought my knees up to my chest, folded my arms about them, and rested my chin on my knees.
Time started to stretch out. A second felt like a minute. After a while, I noticed I wasn’t cold any longer. I unfolded myself and lay back to look up at the stars. As I said, time was playing tricks on me. I don’t know how long it was before I heard The Voice. At first I thought it was Jimmy, but when I looked in his direction, he was staring off into the western sky, oblivious of me and his surroundings. Then I heard it again. It was in my head.
Aloud I said, “Are you calling me?”
“There is no need to use your vocal cords … think … and I will hear you.”
For some reason, this all seemed perfectly natural. As though I spoke with disembodied entities every day.
My first … or if you want to be technical about it … my second question was, “Who are you?”
I swear this is what I heard:
“I have many names, and have had many other names in the past. I am known to your friend Jimmy as Life Giver. I am known to you and your culture as God. Some refer to me as Jehovah. I am called Allah and Krishna by others. Some call me The Tao, or The Way.”
I don’t know why, but, for some reason, it did not seem strange that I was having a conversation with God.
“If you are who you say you are, why do you speak with me when Jimmy has been trying to speak with you for years?”
“I have been with Jimmy all those years, and more, waiting for him to notice me. I am with my children—all my children—always. I am never not with you.”sandpainting
NOTE: To cut down on the prose, I offer a transcript of my conversation with the entity, which I have come to believe was indeed who It claimed to be: Life Giver. Before you make up your mind, read the transcript in its entirety … then decide.
ME: It just doesn’t seem fair that I’m here speaking with you when it should be Jimmy instead.
LG: Jimmy and I do speak, all the time, but not in this way.
ME: Have you come to teach me some great truth?
LG: You have nothing to learn. None of my children have anything to learn. You only have to remember.
ME: Remember? Remember what?
LG: Who you are, and where you come from.
ME: Now I’m getting confused. Aren’t you God?
LG: We are God. Some refer to me as All That Is, which is more descriptive of the truth. There is only ONE. We are both a part of that ONE. This planet’s first religion was The Law of One. In a time long forgotten, man knew from whence he came. That is what I mean when I said you have only to remember.
ME: So, why can I experience you and Jimmy can’t.?
LG: As I have stated, Jimmy, you, and all of humanity experience me every day.
ME: What I mean is why am I talking to you tonight, and Jimmy is not?
LG: How do you know he is not speaking with me now as you are?
ME: Well, I guess I don’t. I reckon God can carry on more than one conversation at a time.
LG: You reckon?
ME: I didn’t know God had a sense of humor.
LG: I have what you have, you have what I have. We are ONE.
ME: I guess I was pretty lucky when Jimmy picked me up this afternoon, or else I wouldn’t be here speaking with God.
LG: It was no accident that Jimmy offered you a ride and a place to sleep. Jimmy and I arranged it while he slept last night. We spoke in his dreams. Though he has consciously forgotten our talk, he has remembered it subconsciously.
ME: Then why am I here?
LG: Do you mean why are you here tonight, or why are you here on the planet Earth?
ME: Both … I guess.
LG: You, and everyone else extant on the physical plane, are here because you want to be here. You, personally, are here tonight because I have a message for you, and this was the only way to make sure you heard it.
ME: Before you give me the message, may I ask just one more question?
LG: You may ask as many as you wish.
ME: What is the meaning of life?
LG: The meaning of life, the reason you, and all our brethren on this planet and on all the other planets in other star systems, is to choose. Making choices is the reason for life. The choices you make are the way I express myself. When a life is completed, the experiences you bring back to me are a gift. A gift from a loving child who has volunteered to endure the hardships of the physical plane in order that its parent may BE.
ME: What if we make the wrong choices?
LG: You cannot make a wrong choice. Whatever you choose will eventually lead to evolution, and over time evolution creates balance as part of the nature of existence.
ME: Even if we make a choice based on hate?
LG: Remember this: Ultimately, there is only Love. All so-called negative emotions—hate, anger, jealousy, greed, just to a mention a few—stem from fear. The only way to combat fear is Love. Love always wins out over fear.
ME: WOW!
LG: WOW, indeed.
ME: You said you had a message for me?
LG: Yes, you are planning on going home. You, of course, may do anything of your choosing. However, you came to the Earth to teach. Some of those you have agreed to teach will miss their lessons if you go home now.
ME: I thought you said we have nothing to learn, we only have to remember.
LG: The lessons help you to remember. As a song will bring back memories of the time you first heard it, the lessons you, and all teachers, impart, help those involved to remember.
ME: I’m just a kid, how can I teach anyone anything?
LG: First of all, you are as old as I am, we existed before time began. Secondly, you teach by example. Some will learn from you after seeing you for only a moment, others will have learned their lessons after many months with you. As you, in turn, will learn your lessons from others you will encounter.
ME: You say I have a choice?
LG: Of course you do.
ME: Okay, as long as it’s my choice. I don’t like to be pressured, even by God. When will I know when it’s time to go home?
LG: I will tell you.
ME: Sounds like a plan.
LG: Yes, it does. It is almost daybreak. It would be better if you left without disturbing to Jimmy. He is speaking to his inner self.
ME: Well … good-bye.
LG: I am always with you.
I got my carcass up, looked over at Jimmy, and mentally said good-bye. I walked the few hundred yards to his house, picked up my gear, and walked into a new day.
Three years later, I finally made it home.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RZPMVP5
 

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Creation Myth

godEvery culture has a creation myth. Ours is that the world was created in six days and the first humans were Adam and Eve. The Apache Indians have Changing Woman who was impregnated by the sun and gave birth to Nayé Nazghane, Slayer Of Monsters. The Norse people have Odin and Ymir … the Ancient Greeks, Gaia. But I would like to tell you guys how we really got here, and why. If you like, you may call this Andrew’s creation myth.

Long, long ago, in a place of no time and no space, existed an entity. As far as The Entity knew, It just was, and always had been. Before the universe we inhabit existed, before time existed, before space existed, It was. Within The Entity were the powers of creativity and It knew of their existence, but the ways to produce them were unknown to It. The entity existed in a State of Being, but without a means to find an expression for that Being.

We were within Its dreams, and while still within Its dreams, It gave us consciousness. The Entity felt pressure from us, the conscious but still only probable selves who found ourselves in a God’s dream. To release us would give us actuality, but it would also mean losing a portion of Its consciousness—a portion of Itself. With love and longing, It let us go. We exploded in a flash of creation. We were free!

god-lvWe were still in a place of no time and no space. Therefore, we created time and space. We created our universe and many other universes and dimensions. But I will speak only of the universe that we inhabit.

We populated what we had created with a portion of ourselves. We created the stars and the planets. Because we existed in a place of no time, the eons upon eons that it took for the cosmic dust to congeal into stars and the planets to cool, was less than a day to us.

To paraphrase the Bible, we looked upon what we had created and saw that it was good. However, we were not done with our creating; after all, that is why we separated from our brother—we are the expression of Its Being.

Once the planets had cooled enough to support life, we created their ecosystems and injected portion of ourselves into it. We started the process of life.god-ll

After countless millenniums, the life forms on the various planets were at a stage of development that we could dwell in them and experience the physical realm. Because we are of this star system, of the planet known as Earth, I will speak of the events that took place here, although similar things took place on other planets, in other star systems.

Once we had life up and running, we would inject ourselves into the various animal life forms to feel the sensations known only on the physical plane. The warmth of the star upon the bodies of those we inhabited, to run through the tall grass, to feel the caress of wind would thrill us to no end. Sometimes we would reside in a giant tree and experience its being for hundreds of years. Time meant nothing to us. We were gods. But, over time, we stayed on the physical plane for longer and longer periods; we did not leave to go back to our place of no time. We did not go home. We had eaten of the forbidden fruit.

Because time meant nothing to us ... because we tarried too long in the bodies that we had brought into existence, some of us soon found that we could not extricate ourselves when so desired. We were stuck in the physical. This was the fall of mankind as metaphorically described in the first chapter of Genesis. In a time long forgotten, we became mired on this planet as though we had stepped into quicksand.

The portion of us who stayed in our place of no time came to the rescue of those who could not return. They tweaked the DNA of an animal that today is known as Neanderthal Man. After many, many generations, what was once an animal was ready to house those stuck in the physical. From then on, we would inhabit only that creature. We had created human beings.

Thus started the process of returning home. The entity that gave us existence loves all that we have created down to the least. It celebrates the dearness and uniqueness of each consciousness. It is triumphant and joyful at each development, of each individual. It revels and takes joy in the slightest creative act of each of us.

Each life we live is a step closer to home. Each life—when completed—is a gift to our brother, our creator. Our experiences allow It to BE. Our creative acts, as I’ve said, are the expression of Its Being. Genesis states we were made in our creator’s image. Yes, we were. We are creators also. It’s what we do.

We cannot help but create. We create every moment of our existence. We create music, we create stories and call them books, or movies, or perhaps songs. We create art … we create while at our daily jobs. We create fine meals and not-so-fine meals. We create love and we create hate. Every choice we make during every day of our lives is an act of creation. Choosing to turn on your computer was an act of creation, as was your choice to read this blog post.

god-vWe are all a part of the entity we call God, not apart from It. We have no choice but to create. It is in our being. So, as long as we are creating, why not create a better world starting with that little corner of the world that we each inhabit? You’d be surprised. All those little acts of creation add up, and the next thing you know, you’ve created a universe—a universe of love.

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The Gates of Hell

Hell

THROUGH ME THE WAY INTO THE WOEFUL CITY,

THROUGH ME THE WAY INTO THE ETERNAL PAIN,

THROUGH ME THE WAY AMONG THE LOST PEOPLE,

JUSTICE MOVED MY MAKER ON HIGH,

DIVINE POWER MADE ME AND SUPREME WISDOM AND PRIMAL LOVE;

BEFORE ME NOTHING WAS CREATED BUT ETERNAL THINGS

AND I ENDURE ETERNALLY

ABANDON EVERY HOPE, YE THAT ENTER. --- Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy

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A Conversation with Jesus

Old Man

I was hanging out the other night at the Tiki Hut, minding my own business, when a voice behind me said, “Hey man, what’s up?”

I should first explain that the Tiki Hut is an edifice here at the marina where I live. The denizens of the marina congregate there on occasion to commune with one another. I, on the other hand, avoid it like the plague. It’s not that I don’t like people, it’s just that I don’t like being around people, but that evening I had the place to myself.

I turned around, and standing there was this dude I had never seen before, although he did look kind of familiar.

“Hello,” I said in response. I was a little perturbed at having my solitude interrupted, but decided not to be rude. “Are you new here?” I asked in a friendly manner.

“Somewhat.”

I mentally shrugged. I didn’t care one way or the other, I was being polite. Well, I had done my part and started to head back to my boat. I had a six-pack of cold beers waiting for me and I thought it about time I paid it some attention.

“Want a beer?”

It was the dude. He was holding a plastic grocery bag that I had not noticed before. It definitely had the outline of a six-pack in it. Figuring the guy might be lonely and thinking I might as well do my Christian duty, I said, “Sure, why not?” I would have a beer and we’d shoot the shit and then I’d get the hell out of there. I reckoned I could put up with him for the time it would take to drink one beer.

He reached into the bag and came out with two bottles of my favorite beer. Things were looking up. He did the honors of popping the caps and we both took a long pull of that cold, good-tasting beverage.

“So,” I said, “you moving in?”

“I’m thinking about it. I wanted to get a feel for the place first. Do you like living here?”

“It’s okay. As long as you pay your rent on time they leave you alone.”

I’ll not bore you with the rest of the mundane conversation. That first beer led to a second and then a third. I was starting to warm up to the guy by the fourth. Then it dawned on me. We both had had four beers, but we started out with only a six-pack. When I mentioned that fact, I was told, “No, you must be mistaken. There were two in the bag.”

Another mental shrug on my part.

As I popped the cap on my fifth beer, he asked me, “So, what do you think of the state the world is in?”

If I had been asked that question on the first or second or even the third beer, I would have bolted. I don’t get into conversations like that. Truth be known, I generally don’t get into conversations at all. I live alone and I like it that way. I don’t have to please anyone and I sure as hell don’t have to answer stupid questions. But . . . I was on my fifth beer and the guy was buying. So, what the hell?

“It depends on what world you are talking about. My little world is doing just fine. I eat every day. And when it rains, I’m dry. What more could a man ask for?”

He nodded, but said nothing. So fueled by Guinness Stout, I went on.

“Now, if you’re asking about the world in general, I would have to say that for the majority of the people in it, the place is a shit-hole. Wouldn’t you say so?”

“I would say that the vast majority of the people on this planet are living the lives that they want to live.”

Now the guy was pissing me off. Being of Irish descent and having four and a half Guinnesses in me got me on my soap box.

“Do you believe in God?” I asked with a drunken sneer.

“I have heard of Him, but I don’t know if I believe in Him.”

“Well, if God is real how can he let the suffering go on? How can he allow a baby to get cancer? How can the son-of-a-bitch let the world get into the mess that it is in today?”

“Good questions, my friend. Very good questions.”

“Don’t patronize me, and hand me another goddamn beer.” I was in rare form.

When I had been placated with my sixth beer (who’s counting?), my new-found friend went on.

“Many people feel as you do. They use the same argument. ‘If there is a God, how can He allow the suffering?’ I think the answer is that there is no God. There is only the Oneness. There is only us. Perhaps we are God. And if we are God, how could we allow ourselves to suffer?”

That was it for me. Free beer or not, I was out of there. The guy was crazy. But first I would finish my beer . . . just to be polite.

Then he went on.

“It’s a shame that we don’t believe in reincarnation because that would explain many things. If reincarnation was for real that would mean souls exist before birth. It might even mean that we choose our lives. That life is not a crap shoot.”

I was thinking, “You’re a crap shoot!”

“Do you know that physicists have proven, mathematically at least, that there is no such thing as time and that we are living in a hologram? And if so, then what does anything matter? Look at it this way. We live in a dimension known as time-space. You cannot have one without the other. You cannot have time without space and you cannot have space without time. Right?”

“If you say so. How about another beer?” We were now into the third six-pack that wasn’t there. But what the fuck?

“Think of it this way. Time-space is a manifestation of the physical plane. Off the physical plane, there is no time-space by definition. Correct?”

“Please stop asking me to confirm what you are saying. I’ll admit it makes sense . . . so far. So, I’ll sit here and listen to you as long as that magic bag keeps popping out Guinnesses.”

“Okay. Now visualize this. If you were to look into a dimension of time-space from a dimension of non-time-space, meaning a non-physical universe, what would you see?”

“Your momma!”

He smiled at me with such forbearance that I felt ashamed at having made such a flippant remark. And I sobered up instantly. “I’m sorry I said that. Please go on.”

“I take no offense and I assure you, ‘my momma’ takes no offense.”

I pushed my half-finished beer aside and waited. He didn’t seem drunk, yet he had had as many beers as me. He took another deep swallow of his Guinness and continued.

“What you would see is all time happening at once. That is what you would see. Now, here’s my point. If all time happens at once and we are living in a hologram—a false reality if you will. And if we pre-exist before we are born, and if we know the lives we are going to live, and if there is no time, which means the duration of our lives are as one-millionth of the time it takes to blink an eye, then how are we harmed?”

A good question to which I had no answer. But I had to ask, “Who the hell are you?”

“I’ve been known by many names over many lives. My time on the time-space plane is over. I just come to visit once in a while because that’s what I do. I am a teacher. Sometimes to the multitudes, sometimes to just one lonely man thinking of drinking a beer. In my last incarnation, I was known as Jesus Bar Joseph, or Jesus, Son of Joseph. In parting, let me say this. There is no God. There is only the Oneness and we are all fragments of that Oneness, playing out our existence. Working our way back to the Oneness where we will be reunited. There is no hell and there is no heaven. There is no loss, there is only us. Peace be with you, my friend.”

Then he glowed with such brilliance, and the brilliance was filled with love. So much love that I cried.

Then he was gone. He had disappeared into thin air right in front of me!

Now I sit here pondering his words. If we are all One, then hiding from my neighbors might not be such a smart thing. I think I’ll invite that nice young couple who live a few boats over for a Sunday brunch. If I can make it through that, perhaps I’ll visit the Tiki Hut a little more often. You never know who you might meet there.

http://andrewjoyce76.com

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Jesus

Jesus

Jesus H. Friggin’ Christ!

Why do you people always put the “H” in there? I don’t mind the friggin’, but my middle name was not Harvey or Howie. In fact, my name was Jesus Bar Joseph (Jesus, Son of Joseph).

I need to set a few things straight, if I may. Are you ready?

One, I am no more the son of God than you are. Well, let me rephrase that. We all come from the Father; we are brothers and sisters.

The other thing I want to say is that I did not walk upon this planet to die for your sins. There is no sin. There is only love and fear. I came to show you the path back to our Father. I was once known as Lao-tuz, as Sri Krishna, as Siddhartha Guatama and of course, Jesus Bar Joseph.

Let’s talk about Love and Fear.

First fear: When men speak in my name and say that other men are wicked, that they will go to hell because of who they are . . . that is fear speaking. If someone is different from you, that does not make them wicked. If someone wants to love another person of their own sex, that does not condemn them to hell. I did not come to Earth to set rules for my brothers and sisters to live by. I came to show you the way. I had a very simple message. Love one another. Pretty goddamn simple, right? So how did my simple message get so fucked up?

The short answer is Fear. Men made rules, invented theology . . . started churches.

There is no need to Fear. Our Father will give us our daily bread. Our Father will protect us from harm. We cannot be harmed because we are not our physical body. Yes, we inhabit a physical body for a short while, but that is not us. That is not who we are. We are a part of the Father . . .  and God cannot be harmed. So there in no need to Fear anything.

And then there is love. That was my message. Love does not command one to do anything. Love does not tell one how to live. Love is Love. Simple.

We will all reunite with the Father. There is no hell . . . there is no heaven . . . there is  only Love. There is only the Tao (the path back to being God). We are fragments cast off from the Father to experience Being so that he may BE. So that we may BE.

We have to get over the fear. Only then we will find Love. Only then we will we reunite with our Father.

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Cold Water

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If we pollute our air, if we poison our water how will we live? How will our children live? Kill our mother earth, how will we survive?

To some it does not matter. All that matters to these souls is that profit is made; that money is deposited into an account.

The road shines bright . . . can you see the light? It shows the path . . .  the path that Jesus, Buddha, Lao Tzu, Gandhi and Mohammad tried to lead us down.

Another old soul that tried to show us the way was Henry Thoreau. His message was “simplify.”

Why do we need so many physical accoutrements?  Why do mothers have to work and not take care of their young ones?  Is it to buy things not needed and when bought put in a storage facility after tiring of the thing bought?

We here in America have so many unneeded material possessions we have to pay a monthly fee to house them for us. There is a storage business on almost every corner in America.

This is only a short missive to throw cold water on your worldview. Live your life … enjoy the sunrise … look to what God had wrought. As long as you eat daily … as long as you are dry when it rains … as long as you love and are loved … what more is needed? All we need is love … to give and to receive … all else will follow.

As my friend Little White Dove would say, “Many blessings upon you.”

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A Time Has to Come (With Apologies to Blodwyn Pig)

Dear Lord please let this trial pass. A time has come to change. If you lift this burden from me I’ll never kill again. I thought I was doing your work. I thought sinners had no place on this earth. Now that I am a sinner myself, I now know that I should not have done what I did in Your name.

A man has to change. Some things around me keep moving, some things keep the same. If You will remove this dark cloud from over me I will do right until I lay myself down at my judgment. I got no more in me to fight the good fight.

I entered this town three days ago and proceeded to dispatch the sinner who called himself Boyd. But after, as he lay in the street and his wife and children gathered round him, I thought for the first time that I may be doing wrong.

I am now scheduled for the scaffold at first light. Oh, please. oh please my Lord I do not want to die. Like the sea and the tide I kept moving. Now I am to go the way of all those I have killed. As I’ve said, a time has to come when a man will change and take the road that will clear a troubled mind. Oh Lord help me stand up and face what I have done.

Yes, my time has come. Thank you my Lord for showing me the way. This day I will be with you in heaven.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywyUAFLu5V