“Conservatism facilitates the greatest expression of human greed. It takes legislation in a society to promote adequate care for the destitute dispossessed and infirm as the human heart is  ultimately selfish. The UK Government is quickly dismantling legislation and all help so there will be little or no safety net. It will take billions to redress the damage done”  (Paul Stokes)

Hi,

We are all made from dust clouds in the firmament and that from stars-and then it goes on, the planets and so on….and of a Truth, the Universe was made from the unseen, so the unseen has made me………..!

Cheers…….

a silver blue planet

hanging as if by a thread

in the star-lit firmament,

turning, turning slowly and comfortable

yet on it’s surface, there reigns sadness and confusion among its inhabitants

Long lost, those who were destined for greater things

they mourn the torn, the born

for reconciliation and beauty that was promised

yet reconciliation is theirs to be had

the Creator mourns for the torn, the born and stretches His hand out across the Abyss…………

Hi,

Life is a combination of up’s and down’s, and I wonder how we treat the things that would trip us up in life?  Human beings as God’s Creation have a vast capacity to overcome.  There are those who have overcome immense difficulties in life to become ‘warriors’.  With everything ‘plain-sailing’ for we have lost the art of learning.  It has been said that we only learn through our mistakes, which I believe is true.  Churchhill commented on one of his Generals that he was like a ‘Iron Peg in Ice’-that is almost immovable.  Life is to be overcome-not for it to overcome us!

This Volcano for me adds that ‘variation’ in life-that ‘spontaneous thing’ that can beautiful or tiresome or death for some.  Nonetheless, how we look at this can be negative or positive-you could look at the death side and claim all is not lost or the Life side (Which also my Christian beliefs hold true) and say there is always something of beauty and positivity to be found.  I have lost friends, had immediate family members incur brain damage, have had tragedy personally, but I can always see the positive in life.

It depends on what we ‘look‘ at what we ‘see‘.  When we are taught to ‘see’ the best-suddenly it dawns on us that without difficulty their is no growth, no change, no modification of personally damaging behaviour etc.

Therefore to me, Volcano’s, hard things, penniless (I’ve been there) nature threatening and non-threatening or sheer beauty bring that spontaneity to life which brings that fun element or that depth of understanding which brings a richness and depth and joy.  Music quite specifically expresses that for me in a neat way-it is without words and therefore cannot be tainted by words which carry so much evil at times.  It can express goodness, Peace, joy, as well as great tragedies etc. I have written the Classical work ‘STORM’ as my first experiment into the expressing this ‘Torment’ side of Nature in weather.

Once again I hear the Ash Dust Cloud begin to bring that ‘British moan’ out in people-a lot of us have never had it so good!

I approach the above question from a Christian point of view-I am one!  Soon after Jesus, and Apostle/Disciples, I believe Christianity took a slide and lost it’s core values that Jesus had outlined and became watered down and weak.  Looking for support from the structures of man, rather than living the ‘Spiritual life’, they started to become almost superstitious in their ways.  This always happens if we lose that vital living relationship with Jesus.  The ‘Church’ began to lose its Power, and substituted  externals to lean on rather than the inner life.  The then leaders in following centuries, started to mix their Living Faith with rituals and observations of seasons etc not advocated by Jesus such as using Alters or Incense or even appointing a figurehead.  The idea of having a Pope began to come about, and the beginnings of worship with alters, Incense and a whole structure of activities under the banner of ‘Church’.  A Figurehead was elected called ‘the Pope’ in replacement for Jesus-the “Head of the Church”-literally “called out ones”.  Further, the mechanism of ‘Church’ became ingrained as the way forward, the majority of which is just not in the New Testament-except the one thing-’Breaking of Bread’-at a meal.

This state of affairs continued into Roman times where Emperors continued to rule in Rome-Constantine being one.  He had the ‘brilliant’ idea of integrating the state and the ‘Church’.  Far far away from what Jesus taught-we then had joint rule by worldly leaders and ‘men of the ‘church’-a complete contradiction-because people really seeking God in ‘Truth’, had a structure presented to them, far away from what Jesus or the Apostle Paul understood and taught.

Jump again to Medieval times, where Pagan feasts abounded, and the ‘Church’ again looking to get followers or at least align itself for identification with worldly matters, were looking to Christianize feasts and events.  They turned their attention to Yuletide or other events with a view perhaps to Evangelize-and the 24th (Norwegian)/25th came on the Horizon.  The details are not so important, but the fact is that this date was ‘Christianized’ and became established as celebration of Christ’s birth.  The actual historical date is more October/November.

Herein lies the problem.  It’s not near Christ’s birth, and also there are far more important issues to look at-true Spiritual Life does not need birthdays and times and seasons to be celebrated, but is more to do with a living internal relationship with a risen Jesus!  I celebrate everyday the fact that the Godhead stooped down to human (my level) in the face of Jesus, and called us/me a ‘Friend’ (if we do His Will)!  The bible even tells us that-that we dont need to “observe times and seasons as some do”-yet we ‘write that off’ so easily and DO observe times and Seasons, and dont mention it, as we would have to change our ‘whole way of doing things’!

How far away we wander from the center of things on the ‘Christian landscape’-no wonder its called Christendom! Its a vast land where you can hide from Jesus and His teaching-the central meaning of it all, and Christmas is just another good hiding place!  Some may be perceptive enough to sort the wood from the trees, but there is a whole weight of rules and regulations out there (exactly what Jesus warned against-and harshly), put on people by man and not God, that prevents many a true soul from hearing the truth.

I believe there is no problem in using Christmas for a good family time which is what I do-but please separate the true from the false.