Month: March 2020

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The Bigger Picture

March 17, 2020 Joseph Dewey

The Bigger Picture

Question: Are the plans of God and the higher lives which guide us truly frustrated now and then just as the plans of us mortals are?

The answer is yes and no.

Let us use the Law of Correspondences and examine how control over situations occur with us and extend it to the kingdoms above.

Ron takes his child Ricky to the park and places him in the playground and tells him he can play there for two hours, but must not leave the play area.

Now as Ricky happily plays on the slides, swings and other equipment placed there for him he feels free as a bird. It seems that he has complete freedom as he proceeds from one playful experience to another. Then in the distance he spots an ice cream truck giving away free samples. He immediately drops all his play and runs toward the truck leaving the playground.

His father spots him, runs and grabs him and takes him back to the playground with a scolding for breaking the rules. Ricky cries and says he wants some ice cream, but Ron tells him that he cannot have any because he disobeyed his instructions.

Ricky is upset for a while but then settles down in a sandbox with a goal to make a castle. His Father tells him he only has a hour left so he needs to make the best of it.

Ricky wants to make a nice castle and he thinks he can finish it in time, but soon the hour is past and the castle remains unfinished. The father says it is time to go. Ricky pleads with his Father to let him stay fifteen more minutes so he can finish.

Ron tells him that he would be happy to but his boss has demanded that he meet him in the office, and he has to be there in a few minutes.

“Tell your boss to take a hike,” says Ricky.

But Ron explains that he must go or he could lose his job.

As they leave Ricky turns around and sadly looks at his unfinished castle already disintegrating in the breeze.

Ron drops his boy off at home ands heads to the office to help his boss, Justin. After finishing up he says:

“You know, I come in on weekends when you need me and often stay late without pay on regular work days. Now I have a favor to ask of you. We would like to buy a new house, but to make the payments I need an increase in pay. What’s the possibility of getting a ten percent increase?”

“I’d be happy to oblige you,” said Justin, but I do not have authority to give a raise that big. I’ll have to talk to Roger, my boss, about it.

This gives us the general idea. Now let us correspond it to humanity as a whole and the higher kingdoms.

Humanity is like the child playing in the playground. We make our goals and achieve some and miss some. It often appears that we have the free will to proceed with any plan we desire, but now and then we break the rules and nature or some fatherly force puts us in our place.

The kingdom above us, the hierarchy of Masters, is like the Father. They give us guidance and make us aware of the existing rules. But like the father they also have their own goals and the success of many of these is contingent on their boss which is the next kingdom up, or Shamballa. Then, of course there are lives of higher authority still that must be considered by even by the highest earthly authority.

As we look at the sphere of influence of the bosses and the father and the child in our parable, we can see that each has their sphere of influence where they can make definite decisions that can be carried out, but others that may be questionable. The child has definite power to decide and play on the swings, but it is questionable as to whether he would have time to finish his sand castle.

The father has definite power to take his child to the park for two hours, but as to whether he will have power to buy the house will be dependent to some extent on authority higher than himself.

Even so, a Master may give a mortal an assignment within his sphere of power and if we do our part the end will be sure.

Then there are other times that a Master may be carrying out purpose from his own higher authority and power within his own hands has to operate within the perimeters of a higher decision.

Let us suppose that The Planetary Logos makes a decision that war must cease and there must be a rest on earth from pain and destruction within a hundred years from now.

The Masters become aware of this decision and see that one of two things will happen. (1) Humanity will learn to live in peace and bring this about or (2) Humanity will not learn the lesson so there will be great destruction which will force humanity to allow the earth to rest.

The Masters like alternative number one much better so they work with humanity in this direction in the hope of bringing peace and negating alternative number two. It is not a sure thing that humanity can be successfully guided in the right direction, but it is a sure thing that the decision for the earth to rest will be carried out one way or another.

Certain advances in the evolution of humanity have been decreed and if we get lazy and do not do our part then painful experience will befall the earth forcing us to move ahead.

Let us assume that Pope John Paul I was expected to play a major role in preparing for the return of Christ, but this part of the plan was frustrated because he was killed after only 33 days in office. Does this mean that all is lost? No. This is only a part of a larger plan which will be definitely executed. In between the beginning and the end it will sometimes appear that there is a lot of random happenings and no guiding hand seems to be in charge, but as the end time of a great Decision is approached the intelligence in the manifestation of the Divine Architect is seen and the purpose begins to manifest.

Djwhal Khul gives a good example of the failure turned into success by the Hierarchy in the person of H P Blavatsky.

She was incarnated in a previous life as Count Alessandro Cagliostro, the famous charlatan of the eighteenth century who claimed to have the elixir of immortal youth and lived his life defrauding men of high stature. She (a he in that life) was expected to do much to introduce the ancient wisdom to the world. She largely failed in this mission which was a huge setback for the plan of the Masters.

But she returned in the person of Blavatsky and this time she exceeded expectations and made up for lost time. Even so, the plan the Higher Lives have for the Catholic and other churches will be executed in one way or another, but seldom as we expect.

If each of us would just tune into the soul and play our small role then humanity would progress toward the Kingdom of God fairly painlessly and many of the troubles that loom before us could be avoided.

“I have noticed two things that appear to be in very short supply in the Vatican. Honesty and a good cup of coffee.” John Paul I

July 20, 2001

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By Their Fruits

March 16, 2020 Joseph Dewey

By Their Fruits

One thing that has always amazed me is how people make judgments on what is good and what is evil, or what is neither good not evil but “just is.”

What is difficult for the thinking person to deal with is the fact that many people make judgments based on catch phrases rather than the substance of what is said.

For instance, with a fundamental religious person anything that sounds like “one world order” immediately raises the red flag as a mark of Satan.

Often times these fears have their origin in an evil possibility. For instance, it is true that there is always a danger that we could progress to a one world order headed by a tyrant that would indeed be a bad situation for the while planet.

BUT

Even the scriptures predict a one world order under Christ so obviously everything that unites the world is not evil.

The Red Cross is a one world order type organization and few would call that evil.

“Christ consciousness” is another turn off for these people as well as the word “meditation.”

Now the funny thing is that these words and phrases should not be turn off for the religious ones for the Bible predicts a united world, tells us we should have the consciousness of Christ and encourages prayer, a form of meditation. Because of their programming they allow their thinking process to be shut down by these and other words.

Now the same happens on the other polarity with the New Age Community. What shuts down their circuits?

One interesting concept that shuts many down is the idea of Hierarchy. Even though this is a foundation teaching of Theosophy and Alice A. Bailey, many channeled writings are anti-hierarchy, anti structure and anti authority of any kind.

Thus, as soon as a person mentions anything that implies a structure of any kind, a symbol of evil looms in their mind and they shut down.

Another concept that makes this group shut down is the phrase “good and evil” itself. Paradoxically many believe that there is no such thing as good and evil and as soon as someone mentions these trigger words, the speaker is rejected as if he were evil (even though they do not believe in evil).

Another trigger revolves around the idea of “control.” Now we know that much harm can come about through unjust control, but there are many good uses of the concept. One is self-control, but many new agers tune out when control is mentioned even in this context.

Another just use of control is through laws which are just. For instance, most thinking people are happy to have laws that control the populace in such a way that harmful crimes are prevented.

Every word or phrase represents some concept behind it and all concepts and principles can be used for good or evil.

Another positive use of control is that used by a teacher in a classroom situation to maintain order and a positive learning situation.

In this class we use a very limited form of moderation to maintain control, much less than a teacher uses in a college classroom.

We recently had several members complain of too much control because a couple posts were sent back to be rewritten, but what is not appreciated is that we could have prevented any disruption at all by increasing our moderation as many other groups do. If we had done this then the group as a whole would have been unaware that anyone was disagreeing with me.

It seems that every three or four months someone comes on the group who has some of their trigger words aroused and the idea of evil or sinister motive or “energy” seems to come before their mind in dealing with me or other members of the Keys.

But what I want to look at here is what are real signs of good or evil in relation to a person or group. Trigger words, phrases or nebulous energy is far from enough from which to make a good judgment.

Jesus gave the principle here:

Matt 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Matt 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Matt 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

Matt 7:17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

Matt 7:18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

Matt 7:19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

Matt 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Now one of the problems with this scripture, as in the case of all teaching no matter how pure and true they may be, is that its interpretation is often turned upside down. Isaiah tells us that many call good evil and evil good, so this is no surprise.

For instance, a person may offend many by his words and generate numerous enemies. In such a case many in history have been accused of generating evil fruit and thus seen as evil or mislead themselves.

But is this the criteria for judging an evil person and his fruit?

Not hardly, for look who fits in this category.

Abraham Lincoln, had perhaps the most enemies of any President in U.S. history and was even assassinated by them. But was he an evil man with evil fruit?

Nay, for the fruit of his works was the freedom of the slaves and the blacks have continued to make progress in civil liberties from that day onward.

Winston Churchill, who was the most important force in defeating Hitler also offended many people and had many enemies.

Then the most offensive person in history was probably Jesus himself who offended and angered so many that he said:

“Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.” Matt 11:6

Thus we can conclude by examining the lives of those who we acknowledge as producers of good fruit that the criteria for bringing forth good fruit is not to walk on eggshells and make sure you do not offend anyone. Most people in history who brought forth good fruit offended many and some were bitterly hated.

If being surrounded by outer love and peace is not the good fruit that Jesus was talking about then what was it?

There are three interpretations of good fruit in the teachings of Jesus.

The first is presented in the Parable of the Sower. In a nutshell a teacher goes forth and plants his seed (which are his words or teachings) in various types of soil. The seed grows into plants which bring forth fruit in varying quantities.

The first criteria for good fruit is that the words of the teacher, or initiate, will multiply. This does not mean that his words will necessarily be many, but that the words he does speak or write will enter he hearts and minds of people and be accepted and multiplied, or spread from person to person.

Who was the greatest example of this type of fruit? Again, it was Jesus. Even today, 2000 years later, his words are more widely circulated than any other person on the earth. The amazing thing is that we only have a handful of His words, but they were so profound that some of them are upon the lips of almost every human being.

If we apply this principle to Abraham Lincoln we have the same result. His Gettysburg address was so fraught with soul energy that millions have it memorized or at least know a few lines of it. Hundreds of Lincoln’s maxims are still in use today in every day language and inspiring speeches.

I’ll just name two.

“God must have loved the common people because be made so many of them.”

“You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”

On the other hand, if we examine the arch villains in history there appears to be close to zero fruit of this kind. When’s the last time you beard anyone quote Hitler to teach something that is good, beautiful or true? Or how about Nero or even Saddam Hussein?

Only those who are working for the good of humanity will produce the good fruit of words that will survive them and permeate the consciousness of humanity, passed from person to person and used for teaching and quoted by many.

Now if you wish to know whether or not I am good or evil based on this principle you must look at the words I have written. Do you think the words I have written will survive me?

Do people embrace teachings such as the Molecular Relationship and do they share them with others? Will this concept still be talked about and circulated a hundred years from now? Are and will some of my words quoted and passed around?

Now look at my critics who have come and gone over the years. Have any of them produced the good fruit of words that will enter the hearts of humanity? Will anyone be quoting their words a hundred years from now.

Some may say: “I am no fancy writer or speaker. How can I bear good fruit if I am not talented in this way?”

The question this person must them ask is: “What kind of words and teachings to you allow to be accepted by your heart?”

Are they words and teachings that will still be embraced by humanity in another hundred years or are they some passing fad with no substance that will be meaningless in a hundred or a thousand years?

The apostles may not have been as profound as Jesus, but they embraced his words and multiplied the fruit thereof so his words eventually permeated the entire planet and thus they obtained a glory that will never die.

The second association of good fruit in the scriptures is with our labors, sometimes called “the fruit of our labors.

If the person’s words are followed the resulting labors will be good or evil, positive or negative.

While it is true that there have been many conflicts and wars in the name of Christ, it is also true that those who actually put his teachings into practice produce good and positive works.

Jesus said: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Now who ever heard of a bad labor or war being produced from that teaching?

Or:

“Love your enemies, do good to them who persecute you.”

If all people followed the words of Jesus there would be no more war. The wars in the name of Christ occurred largely because His words were not followed.

Again, if you want to apply this principle to me or others here in this forum one must ask this question:

If his words were followed what would be the result? Would the result be good or evil?

I find it amusing that my critics who think I am either in league with the devil or just deceived rarely quote the words I actually say in accusing me. They either seem to make inaccurate quotes or say that what is bad about me is something nebulous, like my energy, or something unsaid between the lines.

This type of accusation can be made against anyone. If someone wants to show myself or any other teacher as being good or evil he should analyze what he has actually said and taught – not what he has not said.

The third fruit mentioned in the scriptures are people themselves. One of the fruits of Jesus were his Twelve Apostles and others (including females) who were great teaches lost to history.

He found people who the world considered as near-do-wells and planted his words in them and these few became some of the greatest embassitors of light in history.

Now were these people perfect? No. Peter denied Christ three times and Jesus corrected him when he cut off the ear of a Roman soldier. They were human beings capable of making mistakes and saying and doing rash things, but their hearts were good and in the end their works were good.

Conclusion: To accurately judge a teacher look at his or her fruits – examine the actual words given out and the effects they create. Examine the quality of people who gather around the words and works. Are they inclined toward love, union, synthesis and inclusiveness or not so much? A hundred years from now will the words or teachings still be pertinent, applicable and quotable?

June 29, 2001

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Fire and Direction

March 14, 2020 Joseph Dewey

Fire and Direction

Question: Are there dangers connected to the spiritual fire?

It is true that fire can heat and purify or burn and destroy, so could there really be a danger to seeking the fire of the Holy Spirit?

The danger of spiritual fire talked about in most metaphysical books comes from an unnatural raising of the Kundalini. There are methods of prematurely raising the spiritual fire trough breathing and meditation before the seeker has reached a point in evolution where he is able handle it safely.

If the seeker experiments with these methods without the proper guidance he is setting himself up for extreme danger.

There are three channels for the fire to travel up the spine and those with a material focus will raise it up the two outer channels which creates an interplay for duality, and if wrongfully raised the aspirant can be literally destroyed.

However, seeking God, the Spirit or the Presence thorough natural pursuit and living the spiritual life brings the unified fire up the central and single channel in complete harmlessness. If the person merely seeks to move along the path and takes what God has to offer him, then any spiritual fire he experiences will warm, enliven and stimulate, but not harm.

The only danger of the Holy Fire which is naturally arrived at is if he seeker turns his attention away from the Spirit toward fear, illusion and low desire. If this happens his entire vibration will be lowered and darkness will replace the light and “how great is the darkness,” as the Christ said.

It is always dangerous for a disciple to go contrary to either light or the direction of fire he has received. The consequences can be from living the rest of his life in illusions of grandeur to something much worse than that.

I speak from experience when I teach that one can approach the most intense of spiritual fire, a fire so great one would wonder why he is not consumed. If approached naturally the experience is endured in joy and love rather than pain and fear.

Seek therefore, the higher things of God and when you are ready the power of the Presence will come into you and fill your cup until it is exactly full

Question

Someone asked what the higher Triad was. Use the same sources you did yesterday and define it and give some thoughts on it. Also, what is the lower Triad?

Two Hearts as One

I’ve just finished watching one of the craziest movies I have ever seen – “Dude, Where’s My Car?”

My wife didn’t like it and quit watching it half way through, but I actually thought it was quite creative and got some good laughs from it.

Laughter is indeed a good medicine, but now I must get serious and come back to reality.

There’s usually no pause in figuring what I will write to you each evening, but tonight I had a difficult time finding the right topic, but then it did finally come to me.

Overall, I am a pretty mental guy. I have strong emotions, but I attempt to direct them positively from the mind and higher. This sometimes make observers think that I do not feel very much, or love very much or ever let off steam.

One thing I do not do is suppress. I have taught against this time and time again, and when I do feel emotion I always allow myself to work through it and feel all there is to feel and experience in it.

Some may wonder… What really stirs me inside? What really gets my emotions in motion?

One thing my wife noticed that stirs me is when I am not correctly understood. She thinks this stems from when I was a kid and learned to speak late in life and was frustrated as a child that no one could understand me. There may be some truth to this for I do have a strong desire to this day to be correctly understood. In fact, even in reference to this group I see that most of those who have risen to oppose me from time to time have done so because they do not understand my words, or my feelings or my heart.

I do not know why it is, but a number people I have met throughout my life have been suspicious of my motives, especially when I have made attempts to teach spiritual principles, and more especially when I have done it for free.

Some are suspicious because they cannot comprehend the idea of giving and not asking or demanding anything in return. Others are suspicious because of a difference in vibration.

Everyone I have been romantically involved with has had reservations about the intentions of my heart. This even occurred with my present wife. She was quite suspicious of me at first, but most of her concerns were set aside when she asked God about me and was given a vision that answered her questions and comforted her. Later when we became romantically involved there was still a small lingering doubt about me in her mind and there probably should have been. After all this was the man she may be spending the rest of her life with on the level?

On the other hand, I had an unfulfilled desire. I had a desire that there would be even just one person in all the world that would know my heart well enough so there would be no doubt concerning my motive to serve the higher good and not the lower self. A lot of people do not even care much about this aspect of a close associate, but of all people I had a desire that my wife would so care about me.

When our romantic relationship began it seemed that Artie received every possible sign that she should not marry me and many there were who advised her against me. Then came one special night that we listened to music and were enjoying each other’s company and something very magical happened. As we looked at each other it was as if the finger of God descended and rested on us both. I’ve had many spiritual experiences in my life, but this one was different; it was very heart focused. For a few blissful moments it was like our two hearts were blended into one heart and I knew instantly that she was feeling my heart as much or more than I have ever felt it myself. We held each other and shed silent tears for an eternal moment.

That was over thirteen years ago (1988) and from that moment to this she has never doubted me or my intentions. I have never lied to her and she believes I never will. She has always felt we have an important destiny to fulfill together and has always believed the highest in me and us.

This is perhaps my greatest blessing in this life – to have a companion whose knowledge and belief in me is beyond human intelligence, one who has received a supernatural manifestation confirmed by powerful soul energy. Now, I’ve seen people receive spiritual witnesses of certain things before and often it is not long before they seem to have spiritual amnesia of the event. But my wife has never wavered in the witness she has received and since that time has never doubted my motives or the intention of my heart.

Why am I telling you this? Is it because I just want you to think I am a good guy? That is always nice of course, but it is not the reason. As old timers in the group know it seems that every couple months someone arises and not only challenges almost every word I teach, but often this is accompanied with innuendo that I am I this work for some evil purpose or have some selfish or sinister motive. I have had power to weather these storms time and time again because I know that there is at least one person in the world that knows this is not true. I know that no matter what anyone else says or thinks about me that my wife trusts my integrity without reservation, and this not because of me, but because of a witness through her heart and soul.

I wish that we as a group could all share our hearts as my wife and I did in that moment years ago. Who knows? Something like that may just happen at a gathering in the near future.

June 26, 2001

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Let Common Sense Prevail

March 14, 2020 Joseph Dewey

March 13, 2020

Let Common Sense Prevail

An increasing number of people are expressing concern over the Coronavirus. Some have even gone so far as to associate it with the plagues in the Book of Revelation.

Unbelievers seem equally as panicked and imagine the worst while pointing fingers of blame and irresponsibility at anyone who tries to maintain a voice of reason.

I will try and be a voice of reason here and this may draw criticism from the extremes of the left and the right.

First let us look at the situation as it exists at the time of this writing (March 13, 2020).

So far worldwide there have been 143,757 cases resulting in 5,394 deaths.

Compared to the Swine Flue of 2009 within a period of a year there were somewhere between 151,700 to 575,400 deaths

In the United States there have been 1,992 cases so far resulting in 41 deaths. So far there has not been one death reported from someone under 50.

Between April 12, 2009, and April 10, 2010, the CDC estimates the Swine Flu caused 60.8 million illnesses in the United States alone with 273,304 hospitalizations and 12,469 deaths. Most of those affected were under 50.

So how serious is the regular flu? The CDC also estimates that up to 31 million in just the United States have caught the flu this season, with 210,000 to 370,000 flu sufferers hospitalized because of the this regular flu virus.

During the 2017-2018 flu season alone a whopping 61,000 people died, yet no ball games and special events were cancelled.

To put things in comparison in 2017 there were 70,200 drug overdose deaths involving an opioid and the problem is not diminishing.

Think you’re safe in a hospital? Each year there are around 100,000 deaths just from infections caught while staying in the hospital.

On top of that if we look at other problems we find that there are 250,000 deaths each year from medical errors.

Considering that if you are under 50 and living in the United States you should be more worried about being struck by lightening than the Coronavirus.

Considering our reaction to the Coronavirus one would think we are dealing with the likes of the Black Death plague of the fourteenth century. Now that was something to indeed be concerned about. One could be infected in the evening and suffer in horrible pain through the night and be dead in the morning. It was indeed a frightening disease that killed a third of the people in Europe and devastated much of the world.

Tom Hanks and his wife are the first celebrities I know of to get the disease. Tom, who is 63, an age that is supposed to be especially dangerous, made little comment about their condition. Perhaps they were so mildly affected that he didn’t want diminish the fear out there, but their son, Chet Hanks, did say this, “They’re not even that sick. They’re not worried about it. They’re not trippin’, but they’re going through the necessary health precautions, obviously but I don’t think it’s anything to be too worried about.”

Today I heard an interview with a 65 year old lady who tested positive on a cruise ship and she said she only had mild symptom for about three hours and that was it.

On top of this we have word from China that they are securing some containment, that the spread of the disease is diminishing there. If accurate that would indicate that it can be controlled, especially after a vaccine is given out. A Texas company has already claimed to have developed one, but will take a while to get it approved and distributed.

One who takes a holistic view and looks at the data may ask why there is so much panic spread by the media? Is this just hype to get ratings or political gain or what?

Just like any other pandemic there are unknowns associated with it and the unknown is always frightening. True, it is more deadly than the Swine Flu was when caught, but it is also not spreading as fast so there is a good chance it will turn out to be less damaging than either the Swine Flu, or perhaps regular flu.

Also some countries more affected than others.

Currently, Italy has the most severe density with 292 cases per million. This far exceeds China which only has 56 per million.

In Europe France has 154, Spain 190, Germany 41 and the UK 12 per million.

The United States is doing much better with only 6 cases per million.

And why are we faring better?

On January 30 the CDC confirmed the first US case of human to human transmission. President Trump ordered to protect the U. S. on Jan 31 a Public Health Emergency and issued 14 days quarantine rules for US citizens entering the US from China; and issued an order to deny entry to foreigners who have traveled to China within two weeks.

This raised accusations that Trump was a racist dictator, but it bought us some time and saved many lives,. Buying time is important because the more we know about this disease the better it can be contained.

As it is we have only 41 deaths so far in the United States and I would submit that the raw fear of the disease has caused more deaths than this. I would bet that there have been more than 41 suicides connected with financial downturns caused by fear. It is interesting by comparison that thousands die each year just due to cell phone distraction while walking or driving.

I think the Words of FDR need to ge repeated here:

“The only thing to fear is fear itself.”

On a positive note the stock market went up almost 2000 points today. Let us hope this is a new trend.

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Fire, Direction and Cycles

March 12, 2020 Joseph Dewey

Fire, Direction and Cycles

All schools of thought have truth in them and if the heart is pure and the student uses discernment then that which is true will be registered.

If the sincere student picks up a few things that are illusionary it will only be a matter of time before he divides truth from error and moves on.

It is helpful to know the difference between conscious and unconscious channeling, but in the end the content is that which we must examine.

I may point out something specific about some purported “work of the Masters” that I believe to be in error, but unless one receives verification through his own soul he must always consider the fact that I could be wrong. In addition you will note that I have never attempted to discourage a person from learning from any particular school of thought. We have all been in certain schools, churches, philosophies in the past that we have past through and discarded. Even so, when we look back on them we often realize that the truths we learned and unlearned are very valuable to our present outlook.

Here’s a quote from my previous writings:

Jim has been struggling to make something of his life and makes a decision to seek God believing this to be his next step. He has never been active in a church and checks out a few. Something about the Catholic Church stirs his soul and he senses the inner voice telling him to join the church.

Does this mean that the Catholic Church is the ultimate truth?

No.

Does this mean that all the Catholic doctrines and teachings are true?

It is interesting that because of the confirmation of the inner voice Jim may be self-deceived into thinking that the above two items are true, but the real question is – what is the true confirmation coming from the soul?

Answer: His soul is leading him into the Catholic Church because this organization has an important lesson to teach him. The church will be a stepping stone for him that may last a year, ten years or a life, but as imperfect as it is, the Church is a necessary step before he can catch a glimpse of his next vision quest.

The soul often gives us an inch of truth and we make it into a mile of truth. It is important that we take these inner messages and narrow them down to the core of what the message is rather than what we want it to be.

End quote.

I recently gave out his seed thought for contemplation: “Confirmation of direction through spiritual fire.”

I liked Rick’s idea of corresponding the spiritual fire to a physical one.

For a physical fire you need;

(1) Fuel

(2) Heat

(3) Oxygen

How do these ingredients correspond to the spiritual fire?

(1) The fuel is “available knowledge.”

The aspirant gathers all the knowledge that is available on the subject or project at hand and absorbs it.

(2) The heat is the application of that knowledge. He applies and applies until he reaches the limits of that knowledge.

(3) The oxygen is the invisible soul contact and the final ignition of the fire is the focused attention of the mind and heart.

The main difference between the results of intuition and the spiritual fire is that the intuition throws light upon a subject, but light is not fire.

The fire gives direction.

If you are coming out of the clear cold light of the intuition that which is most desired is the warm fire that enlivens the soul and gives life and purpose to your steps. When you are cold and you know there is a warming fire ahead there is only one direction to go – toward that fire.

When the disciple senses the fire he will go toward the fire. Some will warm themselves thereby, others will feel the heat and the bravest of souls will enter the fire and allow the lower attachments to be consumed therein.

Fire is even more real to the sentient being than light and when the direction of the fire is felt, all doubt is dispelled and the seeker no longer questions his purpose. He now knows the steps he must tread and will endure until the journey is finished because the fire is never far from his mind or forgotten.

Seek ye therefore the baptism of fire and the Holy Spirit, the greatest of the gifts of God in this life.

“It is only as a man serves that he advances.” DK

I was asked to comment on the current swing toward liberal views on sex, homosexuality and other matters that were once censored.

This is somewhat off topic, but I’m sure new people will be interested in the answer.

First, as to the reason behind why some are gay – I have already written quite a bit about this. Even so, it sounds as if the question has more to do with a lack of fair play that often happens in the political spectrum than the rightness or wrongness of the gay lifestyle.

The truth is that all things goes in cycles, lesser cycles and greater cycles. Society has gone from one extreme to the other. In a greater cycle, if we look back to the time of Moses, we see that there was no tolerance for gays or any other lifestyle that did not conform to the norm. Not only the Jews, but many other ancient societies put many non conformists to death and demanded strict adherence to the morality of the day.

Now when we switch over to our day we see that society has leaped over to the other extreme. Instead of judging all things down to the finest detail we have went to the extreme of not judging anything.

Instead of having strict codes of morality where there is a right and wrong to all things we are drifting toward the idea that there is no right or wrong to anything.

We can also see this playing out in a lesser cycle. Up until the Sixties there was strong censorship, suppression of minorities and condemnation of the gay lifestyle and many other deviations from the norm.

After this, our tolerance became very liberalized to the extent that it seems to some that people can go to most any extreme and we will embrace it.

A while back we discussed the pendulum principle and this tells us that it is natural for humanity to swing from one extreme to another as they pass through various cycles. Both extremes are wrong, but the truth can always be found somewhere in the middle after examining the knowledge learned at both ends of the pendulum.

We are currently passing through a phrase where the “liberal” philosophy has been dominant and conservative values are often laughed into oblivion. This has created what has seen to be an unfair power of the political left to get their way and manipulate the media.

But, 50-60+ years ago it was the other way around. Then the conservatives had charge of the media and the famous comics were people like Will Rodgers, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby – a total different breed from George Carlin, Bill Mahr and Rosie O’Donnel.

During both extremes there has been unfairness and I am always against that which is unfair even if my political viewpoint benefits from it.

We must keep in mind that good comes out of these extremes, because the extreme shows us where the illusion is and when we begin to swing back in the other direction we take some lessons with us and create better values for ourselves.

Even now the die has been cast to turn the pendulum in the other direction and the conservatives are fighting hard to be heard. The pendulum is swinging and will swing back on the conservative side again, but things will never return to the way they were. We will take lessons with us and the next fifty years will be ruled by much more common sense than was the early part of the 20th century, or the latter for that matter.. Some will argue that point as we are passing through it, but several hundred years from now the cycle will be obvious.

Some comments indicate not seeing the difference between saying: “You are rude” and “that which you did is rude.”

I submit that there is a great difference.

If you tell a person he is rude then you are identifying him as a rude person, period. He is rude 24 hours a day, even in his sleep. This is now his label forever..

BUT, if you tell him something specific he can deal with then his rudeness is isolated to a small point in time and space.

For instance I may say to a friend:

“You were rude when you pinched that waitress on the butt.”

Now maybe this person was offered $1000 as a prank to do this and this was his only rude act in his entire life. It would be entirely incorrect to tell him:

“You are rude.”

The truth is that IS NOT being rude after this event, and was not rude in 99.9% of his past, so to label him as rude (past present and future) is bad (and incorrect) judgment.

At least if you are commenting on a person’s bad breath you are commenting on a point in time and space. A true correlation to “You are rude” in relation to bad breath would be:

“You are a bad breath person.”

“Or you have bad breath and will always have it. You are bad breath.”

If you politely tell a person he has bad breath or was rude at a point in time and space then it dies not seem so bad because the individual can take steps to correct the problem tomorrow.

If the individual is “just rude” then he can forget about change tomorrow.

June 16, 2001

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Conscious and Unconscious Channels

March 11, 2020March 11, 2020 Joseph Dewey

Conscious and Unconscious Channels

I was asked to comment on Neale Donald Walsch and his process of automatic writing.

From what he has written it sounds like he received his information through standard automatic writing.

When this happens, the pen moves by itself similar to an Ouija board and the author is unaware of what is being written down.

Ruth Montgomery did automatic writing on a typewriter. Her fingers typed automatically on the keys and she was unaware of what she was writing until she read it. She talked back and forth with Author Ford, (the entity on the other side), but not during transmission which was unconscious. After the message was typed out she would read it and ask a question to Ford, then he would take command of her fingers and type the answer.

She wrote some very readable and interesting books and much of the information is true, but it is not the type of transmission the Masters give out. She claimed to be receiving from an entity of similar evolution to herself on the other side and that seems true to me.

Go to amazon.com and type in her name and you’ll see a group of books. They are easy reading and fun to read. She made popular the term “walk-in.”

The highest writings I have seen from an unconscious channeler was Seth through Jane Roberts. However, neither Seth nor Author Ford claim to be a master so I think there is honesty in both of these channelers.

Many unconscious channelers who claim to be receiving the words of some great being usually rehash old material and are often either receiving information from a deceptive spirit or from their subconscious.

Concerning Helen Schucman, scribe of A Course in Miracles, Claire writes:

“She was largely unconscious at the time of receiving, and did in fact later recant.”

I can’t find any evidence that she received unconsciously

Concerning Helen Schucman who wrote A Course in Miracles we have this from a biography, “Absence of Felicity”, by Kenneth Wapnick:

“The scribing was referred to by Helen as ‘internal dictation’; that is, she did not go into an altered state, a trance, or engage in automatic writing. She was always aware of what she was doing, even if she chose not to pay attention to it. Regardless of her attitude, the writing would continue.”

But the strongest confirmation of conscious transmission comes from her own words. Let me quote:

“I would feel it (the communication) coming on almost daily, and sometimes more than once a day. The timing never conflicted with work or social activities, starting when I was reasonably free to write without interference. I wrote in shorthand in a notebook that I soon began to carry around with me, just in case. I could and very often did refuse to cooperate, but I became so acutely uncomfortable that I soon learned I would have no peace until I did. Even so, I maintained my ‘right to refuse’ throughout, and not infrequently acted on it for some time. Sometimes I did not write for over a month, during which I merely became increasingly depressed. But there was never anything automatic about the writing. It always required my full conscious cooperation.

“…I never knew when I started a sentence how it would end, and the ideas came so rapidly that I had trouble keeping up with them even in the system of shorthand symbols and abbreviations I had developed during many years of taking class notes and recording therapy sessions.

“…The writing was highly interruptible. At the office I could lay down the notebook to answer the telephone, talk to a patient, supervise a junior staff member, or attend to one of our numerous emergencies, returning to the writing without even checking back to see where I left off. At home I could talk to Louis, chat with a friend, answer the telephone, or take a nap, picking up afterwards without disturbing the smooth flow of words in the slightest. It did not even matter whether I had stopped in the middle of a sentence or at the end of a paragraph. It was as if the Voice merely waited until I came back and then started in again. I wrote with equal ease at home, in the office, on a park bench, or in a taxi, bus or subway. The presence of other people did not interfere at all. When the time for writing came, external circumstances appeared to be irrelevant. There could be interruptions of hours, days, and on occasion even weeks, without any loss in continuity.”

Absence of Felicity, Pages 182-183

There are two key points to note from her own words.

First, she speaks of “the voice,” which she consciously heard as the originator of her writing.

Secondly, she clearly says: “But there was never anything automatic about the writing. It always required my full conscious cooperation.”

This sounds very much like the process Alice A. Bailey went through.

It also sounds a lot like Joseph Smith in translating the Book of Mormon. He could leave off the translation in the middle of a thought or sentence, go to lunch and come back and resume exactly at the point where he quit with no need to review what had been previously written. All this was done in full consciousness.

Let me now repeat again. All that comes through an unconscious channel is not wrong and all that comes through one claiming to be a conscious channel is not correct. We must never relinquish soul contact, let our guard down and just accept because of authoritarian criteria. Nevertheless, neither can we relinquish our power of observation, discernment and thought, for if we do, our power to learn through the soul will evaporate.

Why?

Because the inner spirit is a testator. It testifies as to what is true and to facilitate this we must first do all we can on our own to find all the facts and pass them by our inner self.

Back to Helen Schucman. Some say that she recanted her writings. From what I have read here is the way I understand the story.

Helen received the messages over a period of seven years from a being that she thought was Jesus. During this time she had reservations about being the scribe for this other worldly author, but overall felt impressed to continue the work.

She did not always embrace all the teachings herself and felt she was unable to complete the course herself. I cannot find were she renounced the work, even though she sometimes had doubts. Instead, I think she was frustrated that she was unable to embrace and complete the course herself.

Helen completed the writing of the Course in 1972 and shortly after that gave a copy of the manuscript to Hugh Lynn Cayce, son of the famed psychic channel Edgar Cayce. Around this time Kenneth Wapnick read a copy and decided to devote his life to promoting it. He edited the manuscript and it was shortly thereafter published.

For quite a number of years only a few people realized that an original manuscript was held by the Cayce organization in the library of the Association for Research and Enlightenment in Virginia Beach.

It was only recently that someone got a hold of the Cayce copy and published it on the internet. The headquarters at the Foundation for Inner Peace were furious and attempted to legally stop anyone from publishing this original copy citing copyright infringement as the reason.

Apparently a group started to surface which claimed that the course is on par with scripture and as such it should be legally in the public domain and not subject to copyright laws.

Thus the whole matter is in litigation at the present awaiting judgment.

Now the interesting question is: How significant were the changes that were made in the text before it was published? How close to the original is the published Course that affected millions?

I have a digital copy of the original and compared some of it with the published book and there are some differences, but they do not seem to be great. I have not had time to examine them thoroughly, but the greatest differences are said to be in the first five chapters.

On examining the Course in Miracles I conclude that it was a piece of work which was consciously channeled and the intelligence behind it is higher than any unconsciously channeled material I have seen.

But because the intelligence behind it is of a high order does this mean that we can relax and accept all as true?

No. We must examine with more attention than ever before.

Whereas I have received verification on the main principles taught in the Alice A. Bailey books, there are several problems I have with the Course.

One of the main ones is the Course claims that God is perfect, yet he made a big mistake in the creation of the whole physical universe. This mistake needs corrected by our relinquishing of identity and disappearing from this unreal existence and going to a place where no change ever occurs.

There is also the problem that no one we know of has ever completed the Course and then vanished afterwards.

This idea also conflicts with many of the teachings of the ancient wisdom.

There is always the possibility that this and other writings of high intelligence are a subtle deceit from advanced entities on the left hand path.

From the viewpoint of average humanity, it is difficult to discern the difference in light when we are dealing with advanced entities from the two sides.

Even so, I have discerned that there is much truth in the Course and I often quote phrases from the text that I perceive to be correct.

I have found that some who are profound believers in the material accept it with the dogmatism that a Jehovah Witness has toward his green Bible. Many are fairly black and white in their approach, but of course, this happens in all belief systems.

Question: There are several levels of discerning truth.

(1) The Still small voice that quietly urges or speaks to us.

(2) The intuition which turns on a light in our head allowing us to understand that which was previously in the dark.

(3) The spiritual fire. This gives us confirmation on direction. Contemplate this phrase as a seed thought and write what comes to your mind.

Seed thought:

“Confirmation of direction through spiritual fire.”

June 21, 2001, 2001

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Karma and Crime

March 10, 2020 Joseph Dewey

Karma and Crime

Someone presented something like this scenario.

A murderer is being put to death by the system. A number of people seem to have a hand in this. The police arrested him. A judge and jury and sentenced him to death. The governor and president refuses a pardon. The majority of the populace want him put to death. The prison guards make sure he stays incarcerated so he cannot flee his execution. A couple employees strap him into the chair. A final person administers the poison or throws the switch.

Are all of these people just as guilty as the murderer who poured acid down his victims throat and laughed with glee as his victim died in withering pain???

Let’s apply some common sense here. Do you think that these people who are following a law which they believe to be just will suffer the same karma as this wayward soul?

Do you really think that these people need to learn the same lesson as this deranged maniac?

I don’t think so.

When we realize how karma works the question is easily resolved. The principle is clearly stated in the Bible:

“As a man sows so shall he reap.”

So let us apply this principle to the above characters.

First let us take the murderer (assuming he is guilty). He put another person through great suffering, with little realization or empathy for what his victim was going through.

To gain an understanding of his crime so he will not do it again the Lords of Karma will see to it that he is placed in a situation in a future life where he is a victim and he suffers great pain and fear as he suffers death through being ruthlessly murdered himself.

Now there are avenues of escape from this if he discovers the path of loving service before he meets his fate. If he achieves a degree of enlightenment and saves lives and souls then it is possible to pay the debt in this manner as we have previously discussed.

How about the other people? Will the judge and president have to come back and suffer a horrible death because they did not pardon a convicted murderer?

No. That would not be a like punishment. The only karma they would suffer would be:

If the governor returns and commits a crime and is found guilty then the governor who is over him will refuse a pardon just as he did. But, if the governor comes back and commits no crime then no pardon will be necessary.

If you were a policeman and arrested a guilty man who you felt would be put to death under the system what effects could come back to you?

None, unless you come back and commit a crime. Then you will find yourself being sought by an officer of similar dedication ands values to yourself.

What about the millions of people who support a law that brings capital punishment? Did they create the same effects a s the cruel murderer?

Of course not, but because they support a law that puts a thief in prison then if the time comes that they steal they will be judged by such a law. If they support a law that puts a murder to death then they will be sentenced to death if they commit murder. But if they do not steal and do not murder then they have nothing to worry about.

In other words, the supreme commandment here is to avoid hypocrisy.

How about the employee who pulls the switch or administers the poison to the condemned man?

Same thing. He will not have anyone administering poison to him unless he first commits a capital crime.

The Higher-Powers-That-Be use the Law of Karma to place us in similar circumstances, that we ourselves previously created, so we can learn.

Jesus warned us, not against judgment, but the judgment of condemnation and if we condemn then we will often find ourselves in a later life playing out the role that which we earlier condemned. For instance, if the convicted murderer makes a condemning judgment on the authorities who are executing him he may find himself in a future life working for the system with people who have committed great crimes.

If a victim merely wants justice against a thief, for instance, and lets the law play its course generally there will be no karma. But if the victim refuses to forgive and harbors a grievance and makes a condemning judgment toward the thief then he could suffer the effects of negative karma by being placed in a situation in a future life where he will be forced to become a thief. Then he will learn a great lesson. All of us could be forced to do almost anything if circumstances created enough pressure.

The lesson the disciple learns is to avoid condemning judgments and control the circumstances of his life so he is never pushed over into the threshold of evil.

Question:

What is the difference between black and white magic?

The Tibetan spent a lot of time in his books attempting to clarify the difference between the two approaches. One of the reasons for this effort is that, to the masses, black often seems white and white seems black.

The three signs of the white magician are:

Selflessness

Soul contact

Acknowledgement of someone higher than himself.

But the difficult thing is that the dark magician attempts to hide his selfishness, feigns soul contact and has no reservation of talking about the greatness of God when it serves his purpose.

Only through our own soul contact and wise discernment can we tell the difference, for the brother of the shadows doesn’t drip slime and foam at the mouth as they are portrayed by Hollywood.

If I had to put the difference in one sentence I would say this:

The Brother of Light contacts and works with the soul of things and the Spirit of God affects with love the hearts of those in his aura. The Dark Brother works with the lower nature and those in his aura will fear him.

A Female Council

It was suggested we start a woman’s group in this group to balance off the supposed excess male energy coming from the teacher and a good percentage of the group including females. Since this is getting some discussion I thought I would comment.

First, let me states that the Keys group is designed to be a class and not an organized group or group of groups.

Have you ever been in a class in college or any other educational facility where a women’s group was organized to counterbalance the teacher?

In a class you have the teacher(s) and the students and interplay that leads to learning. I do not see how a group called out and dedicated to the female energy at the exclusion of the male would improve on this time tested method.

Secondly, I do not see the group as having an excess of male polarization. Because we do make use of the mind here (which has a male polarization) the Keys may seem to be in contrast to other groups who teach the mind is evil and should not be used. That would put such groups in excess emotional (female) emphasis rather than us in excess male energy.

Even though we do use the mind and common sense here, it is balanced off by a tremendous amount of intuition (female polarization), love between the members (female polarization), and quite a bit of warm fuzzy and sometimes not so fuzzy emotional expression (more female polarization).

Thirdly, the response I have received from females on this idea is overwhelmingly against it.

My objective is to blend and unite the two energies into a working whole rather than to segregate the energies into a situation where an “us against them” attitude could develop.

As it is, any effective teacher has to demonstrate a balance of the two energies in his life or he will not be a true teacher. It is true that a teacher is polarized in the male energy when he is sending to the class because the male energy is a sending energy. But in order to have worthwhile material to send to the class the teacher has to have been previously in the receiving (female) state. If he has not use his female energy and been a good receiver then it is impossible to be an effective sender.

If you think that all the thousands of pages of teachings I have given you is worthwhile then one must also realize that they came from somewhere and they had to be received with a female polarity.

As far as the accusation that I am disconnected from my emotional self let me say this. I am the one who lives in my body and I am the one who knows the intensity of my feelings and my feelings are intense indeed and these feelings are dedicated to the highest I know.

Anyone who wishes is free to start a female group, a male group or an animal lovers group and do what they want with it, but any posting made on the Keys should be at least in the general direction of the class at hand.

June 15, 2001, 2001

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Death, Prison & Justice

March 8, 2020March 9, 2020 Joseph Dewey

Death, Prison & Justice

I see that we are having some debate about the death penalty. I do not want to get into a full fledged discussion on this or we could suffer a detour lasting for quite a time.

Let me, however, just inject several observations that seem to always be left out of the equations on both sides of the argument.

(1) Death is far from the worst punishment that can be given to a human. There are many other punishments which are more harmful and punitive.

I submit that placing a man in prison for over 20 years with others of a low vibration where his spiritual life deteriorates is more harmful to the person than putting him to death. If we just want revenge and wish to punish and do harm, then a long prison sentence should be preferred over death, but I think we should rise above seeking the most damage and seek to do that which will be most advantageous to the soul.

In twenty years the murderer who is put to death can be reborn and off to a good start in undoing his past karma and making a fresh start. The man who is sentenced to life in prison is yet staring at walls, depressed with no hope, looking forward to 20 more years of stagnation before he reaches life’s end.

(2) Placing someone in prison for over 20 years is a greater act of vengeance than the death sentence. Vengeance is often confused with justice.

(3) While it is true that the death sentence is irreversible so is the time spent in jail. There is no way to give that time back. Many have spent 20 or more years in prison and have later been found to be innocent. This is just as big of a travesty of justice as the putting of an innocent man to death, of which there is not one proven case in recent U.S. history.

(4) It says “though shalt not kill,” therefore the death sentence is wrong says the advocate.

The word “kill” her comes from the Hebrew RATSACH which means “murder,” pretty much as the law today interprets it. On the other hand, the word MUWTH usually refers to a more institutionalized killing such as an execution of a murderer or an act of war. MUWTH was not condemned in the scriptures. Instead all murderers were commanded to be put to death in ancient Israel.

If we decide to go back in time and interpret this scriptures in a black and white matter as if they applied to this day and age we would have to put not only murderers to death, but also, gays , witches, adulterers, disobedient children and all who work on Saturday – the Jewish Sabbath.

We live in a different age now and the best thing to do is to understand the principle behind justice and cause and effect, and use our minds and hearts toward the highest good as the end result.

(5) Some say that two wrongs do not make a right, but if putting a person to death is wrong then life in prison is a double wrong. What shall we do then – eliminate justice from our system? Shall we let the violent have their will against the innocent with impunity? That correction which applies to a loving entity has little or no effect on one of low vibration. All must receive justice in a way that relates to their state of conscious ness.

(6) Jesus said nothing pro or con in referring to the death penalty except in telling the Jews that he was not trying to destroy their law. Peter on the other hand, put Ananias to death by the power of his word.

(7) A need much greater than abandoning the death penalty is prison reform. To place a person in prison for life with no hope for freedom or improvement of situation is the cruelest punishment available on the planet. At least in death one has a hope in a merciful God, but a life of punishment in prison with the lowest of humanity is much more hopeless and often does damage to the entity’s spiritual makeup that can effect him for lifetimes to come.

It is sad to see protesters out marching against the death penalty, yet not a sign of anyone putting that kind of energy into elevating the souls of those who are in prison often forgotten by their loved ones and friends.

June 13, 2001, 2001

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Questions for New Agers, Part II

March 7, 2020 Joseph Dewey

Questions for New Agers, Part II

Judgments

New Ager: We should not judge.

QUESTION: Why do you say that?

ANSWER: Well for one thing Jesus told us not to.

QUESTION: Are you sure about that?

ANSWER: Yes, I remember clearly that he said to “judge not.”

QUESTION: But do you remember the rest of the verse?

ANSWER: I’m not sure.

QUESTION: Let’s look it up. Here read Luke 6:37-38.

ANSWER: “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:

Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”

QUESTION: What will happen if we do not judge?

ANSWER: It says we will not be judged.

QUESTION: Is that a good thing?

ANSWER: Of course.

QUESTION: Do you not want to be judged then?

ANSWER: No. I do not.

QUESTION: If, in my judgment, I deem you to be an intelligent person will this offend you then?

ANSWER: No.

QUESTION: If your wife makes the judgment that you are a good enough person to stay with for the rest of her life will she be condemned?

ANSWER: I don’t suppose so.

QUESTION: If I make a judgment that you and your wife are an interesting couple and invite you over for a barbecue will you be offended?

ANSWER: Of course not.

QUESTION: But I just gave you three judgments and you think they are all OK. Do you really think that Jesus was teaching that all judgments are bad?

ANSWER: I’m not sure.

QUESTION: Let us examine the scripture a little closer. Read the two statements after the comment on judgment.

ANSWER: “Condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.”

QUESTION: He tells us to condemn not or we will be condemned. Have you noticed that many judgments people make are of a condemning nature?

ANSWER: Yes.

QUESTION: I think you would agree then that we should avoid a judgment which condemns others – agreed?

ANSWER: I am with you on that one.

QUESTION: Whereas condemnation is a negative act he also mentions a positive act. What is that?

ANSWER: : He says that if we forgive we shall be forgiven.

QUESTION: So, if I make a judgment to forgive you for that five bucks you owe me that would be a good thing?

ANSWER: Oh, I forgot all about that. Yes, that would be a good thing.

QUESTION: So could we say then that a condemning judgment is something we should avoid, but a forgiving one or a tolerant judgment could be a good thing?

ANSWER: Putting it that way I would have to agree.

QUESTION: Now read again the last line of the quote.

ANSWER: “For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”

QUESTION: So if we give out a good judgment what will come back to us?

ANSWER: I suppose we will be judged positively.

QUESTION: For instance, have you noticed that those who say good things about others have good things said about them?

ANSWER: Generally, yes.

QUESTION: And those with a bad attitude and condemn others are also judged harshly in return are they not?

ANSWER: Yes.

QUESTION: So could we agree then that there are two types of judgments – one a condemning negative judgment and the other a positive, forgiving, benefit-of-the-doubt type of judgment?

ANSWER: It seems so.

QUESTION: This becomes obvious as you read on in the scripture. Read verse 39.

ANSWER: “Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?”

QUESTION: Why does he begin talking about spiritual blindness right after discussing judgment?

ANSWER: I’m not sure.

QUESTION: Could it be that bad judgment is caused by blindness?

ANSWER: That’s possible

QUESTION: Now read verses 41-42

ANSWER: And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye.

QUESTION: So what causes the one with condemning judgment to be blind and not see correctly here?

ANSWER: He’s trying to correct his brother when his own problems are much greater.

QUESTION: Yes, but then Jesus gives us a key to making good judgments. What is that?

ANSWER: Take the beam out of our own eye so we can see the sliver in the eye of the other person.

QUESTION: If a person had a beam in his own eyes he would definitely be blinded would he not?

ANSWER: I would think so.

QUESTION: Now look at the last line of the scripture. What will we be able to do if we remove the beam from our own eyes so we can see clearly?

ANSWER: It says that we will then be able to see clearly to correct our brother.

QUESTION: So if we are not blinded by our own faults we can then “see clearly” as the scripture says. If we can see clearly then does it make sense that we can make good judgments?

ANSWER: I suppose.

QUESTION: So could we conclude that there are two types of judgments? One with clear vision, a forgiving attitude and helpful; and the other with blindness, a condemning attitude and no spirit of forgiveness. The first type of judgment is to be embraced, but the second is to be avoided.

ANSWER: I could go along with that.

QUESTION: You’re being cooperative today.

ANSWER: I’m just hoping you’ll forget about that five dollars.

June 11, 2001, 2001