Books, Reviews, Short Stories, Authors, Publicity, a little poetry, music to complement...and other stuff including politics, about life... "Books, Cats: Life is Sweet..."
My thanks and special welcome to those living in Singapore!
I'm thrilled to have you as one of the ongoing visiting countries to Book Readers Heaven...
It's wonderful to know that book reading is important across the world!
I hope you enjoy my latest 3-page post talking about God our Father, creator of all people... from around the world!
So happy to get to know a little bit about your wonderful country!
So, I've tasted, here in America, Chinese, Indian and other Asian foods, so I was wondring, is there a "taste" difference of your food versus what I've tasted, recognizing that our food might be quite different than that in the country? Although I've tasted Chinese in china town in Canada and in South America and it was fairly close to what I was used to...
Oh well, since I'll never discover Singapore myself, I hope you'll know that this area was always one that I'd like to have visited... Would love to hear from some of you! I have yard furniture from oriental countries that I've enjoyed since I moved here in my log cabin with 13 acres... and have built little rooms to display.
God Bless,
Gabby
I love to try new foods! Especially with oriental spices...
...We do not need to starve ourselves to gain God’s favor. God’s favor is already showered upon every single one of us. We are all dearly loved by our Heavenly Father whose love for us is beyond comprehension or measure. Fasting is also a way of pulling back from the problem for which we seek resolution, laying it all at God’s feet. If God does not do something, we assume, then nothing good will happen. But this assumption is completely false. God does not do anything apart from us. We are God’s hands. We are God’s feet. We are God’s presence. We are God’s ambassadors. As the ancient hymn by St. Teresa of Avila says,
“Christ has no body now but yours.”
His disciples said to him, ‘On what day will the repose of the dead come about, and on what day will the new world come?’ He said to them, ‘That which you look outward for has already come, but you do not recognize it.”
According to the Words of Jesus, as written by the Disciple Thomas, and as Decoded by Keith Giles, et.al., all that we have all been looking for, has been available to us immediately upon the death of Jesus and His Resurrection... And, He had told all of His disciples of this fact, "but you did not recognize it..."
What would our world have been like at this point, over 2000 years later, if His words had been recorded and provided to all of us at that time? On the other hand, throughout these years, many have written either through further research or as each has been led to try to share what they believed... On another hand, the world itself has grown from a struggling primitive land into large cities, many scientific advancements, and better health for many of our countries, which has not spread only because of the government leaders made other choices contrary to what was asked by Jesus the Son of God, who died for all of us...
Over my many years I have read books by those who were agnostic, but doing the necessary work to find his Truth, or those who have had supernational experiences and wrote to share what had happened to them. And, there have been others who have taken the Bible, used their extensive research and arrived at either confirmation or differences of opinion of what was to become their Truth... I have read all of them eagerly and even had read a copy of the Book of Thomas which was published, much like the listing provided in the video on Page 2 of this Post...
For me, after discovering and experiencing the many God Incidents I had found after reading still another book explaining what happened to a woman when her husband died, I have formed a closer relation with God than ever before. But it was this book's commentary which was so well researched and presented that I was able to completely understand both where I was confused about issues that had troubled me; but, also, gained insight into issues that bothered me, but that I had not yet found understanding. For me, this is perhaps, at least as of today, the most important book I've ever read.
Giles has complete and full skills by which he has come to a exploratory statement on each Saying--which are over 100--and takes his readers through his own confusion as well as the other books he has read to help him clarify what has informed his present opinion--and this book. These commentaries were powerful messages in themselves. I often found myself going back to read the original saying and then rereading Giles and vice versa until I, too, agreed with his outcome... I think there was only one that I remained a little confused and, possibly, unsure, that this was a correct interpretation of what Jesus was saying...
I chose to read one or two sayings each day, so that I could spend time needed... As time passed, I decided to go ahead and finish the book so I could post my review. I found, however, that by reading straight through about the second half of the book, that I was able to retain and continue on much more easily and actually better grasp what was said... I noted that there seemed, to me, a build up of the lessons to be learned in this book--I picked this up by listening to a video which can be found, also, on Page 2, that were definitely not in the same order. I have no idea whether Giles made his own decisions on how the sayings should be presented; however, to me, the book as presented by Giles seemed to reflect a chapter buildup, much like a novel would lead to a climatic ending... Whether intended or not, if you can, I would recommend a straight read of the book if your time permits...
Unfortunately, this book will not be for everyone. I can only explain by pointing out that if you have chosen to read only the Bible as your only source of enrichment of God's role in your lives, you may not comprehend what Jesus God has avaiable to each of us, if we but listen and Hear Him... Only each of us can determine whether you wish to learn more about God in our lives. I know the word I want to use, but some will automatically take a politic meaning, which it is not meant to... However, I consider both Giles and his book a progressive message to all who have been working to learn more, and, who, like me, needed assistance from other readers to help us through the mystery of God's Words... I'm including a couple of short sentence excerpts to help you decide... If you want to learn more
None of us exists apart from an inseparable connection with the Divine.
“we are all filled with the fullness of Christ” whether we know it or not. Our Oneness with Christ is what makes us One with everyone else. Whether we are “chosen,” “called out,” “sent out,” or “set apart” changes nothing about our fundamental Oneness with God through Christ—our inseparable Oneness with all of creation through Christ.
Let's get very specific. This book includes everyone, without exclusions of anybody based upon race, religion, or any other thing that we try to say that God is against... One idea comes through clearly. Everybody comes from God and everybody returns to God...
If you are ready, this book may be just, as it was for me, the best book you've ever read. If none of what I wrote or shared on the 3 pages is understood, I encourage you to not get it and then call it a book of lies with a bad rating... For once in your life, listen to God within you, as to whether you are ready to read this book... This is my personal recommendation based upon the world we live in...
“These are the hidden sayings that the living Jesus spoke and that Didymos Judas Thomas wrote down.” As we’ve already explained, when Thomas says these are the hidden sayings, he doesn’t mean that only a select few chosen ones are privy to their meanings. He is speaking of sayings that reveal the Truth already within all of us. These sayings are “hidden” but not “secret.”
Thomas also makes a point of mentioning that these sayings were spoken by “the living Jesus.” This is important for several reasons. First, because the New Testament will often attribute sayings to the risen Jesus—the Jesus who rose from the dead, or even the Jesus who had already ascended into heaven who spoke as a vision which only certain people could hear or see. For example, when Jesus speaks to the Apostle Paul for the first time on the road to Damascus, this is not the “living Jesus” who Thomas refers to. Not that Jesus isn’t alive in his appearance to Paul, but that the phrase, as Thomas uses here, is a reference to things Jesus said prior to being crucified on a Roman cross.
The sayings of Jesus in John’s Revelation epistle are another example of post-crucifixion sayings, and Thomas wants to contrast his Gospel from them. Why is this important? I believe it is important because Thomas wants us to know that he is sharing with us the sayings of Jesus which were actually heard by his disciples when he was physically alive in the flesh—spoken as he walked, talked, and taught, traveling and teaching in Judea during the First Century. In other words, Thomas wants us to know that he did not hear Jesus speak these things to him in a dream, or in a vision, or after the fact. These sayings in Thomas—at least according to the author of this Gospel—are what Jesus said when he was alive and physically talking to his disciples, which included Thomas.
The point of exclusively including sayings from the living Christ is to project some authenticity to the text itself. We might paraphrase this as something like: “I actually heard Jesus say these things with my own ears and I wrote them all down so you would know what he said.”
Another thing to point out is that the Prologue itself doesn’t seem to have been written by Thomas, but by someone else who wants to let us know that the sayings we are about to read were compiled by Thomas. Why would we assume that? Because it would be strange for someone to write down the sayings of Jesus, and then write about themselves in the Third Person. Why not just say, “These are the sayings of Jesus as recorded by me, the disciple Thomas”? Whenever Paul writes an epistle, he always begins by identifying himself at the very beginning of the letter. Of course, this is not a letter to just anyone, but the principle still applies. People in the First Century tended to identify themselves at the top of the document, to let their readers know who was writing. Interestingly, we see the opposite is true in the four New Testament Gospels where only Luke begins by speaking of himself in the first person, and the other three authors never once identify themselves. We only know the names of those authors by the titles of their Gospels, and these attributions were passed down through early Christian tradition, and are not found within the texts themselves.
So, when the Prologue tells us we are about to read the sayings of Jesus the disciple Thomas wrote down, we should assume someone else added the introduction to let us know where these sayings came from. Now, on to the sayings of Jesus from the Gospel of Thomas...
~~~
An early comment: I already noticed that the video included does not have the Sayings in the same order. Some may not even have the same exact words. What I do know is that I had already been reading essays by the author of the book I will be reviewing.
Additionally, this writer has clearly done much reading from other known writers researching this book, which are quoted often and with full footnoting. Given that we already know that words written by those first that followed Christ, early and later, have been edited by others through the years as different versions of the Bible have been created... Personally I have no problem with that, as long as the original meaning of the words heard from Jesus are similar in content... I believe this author, in his ongoing work, has done the best he can to have compared both the Book of Thomas against the Bible itself, as well as later writers who have also shared their thoughts and beliefs about what Jesus, Himself, was saying... And, even then, it is clear that it will be years before we can confidently say "this" book or "this video is absolutely correct... Because, let us remember that Jesus did speak both plainly during the time He was living, but He also spoke in parable for us to ponder and learn better to hear him...later...
One final note on this page, 2. This morning, I heard the news that, in Oklahoma, public classes will be using the "Trump" Bible and that, the results of the 2020 election will be changed from Truth, which we all saw, to Trump's lies...
Additionally, those who may have listened, Harvard University, which has been targeted by Trump in a major attack, had their graduation ceremony recently. Trump is trying to keep all international students out of America!!! Having been on the West Virginia University campus for a major part of my life, I cannot imagine not allowing ALL people to come to learn if they so choose... Recently, you may have seen that Trump personally allowed white families to enter America while he has banned all non-white and is attempting to remove all from our nation...
What you will be reading along with me here, as well as if you are able to acquire this wonderful book, is that God has created all of US...That means in every corner of the world, when a baby was born, He was born with God Himself inside... Yes, there is more to that, of course, but Jesus clearly tells us that lies are not to be used in major or, possibly, even in minor, activities... If we can get out of the flood of lies that are being spewed across the world right now, maybe we can move forward in not needing to lie???
Finally, I saw that the Pope spoke against marriages not between man and woman... Here's what I personnally feel... For thousands of years, some people have been different... Was that because they were terribly hurt by an individual of the opposite sex? Perhaps over and over? We don't know do we? What we do know is that Jesus came to speak of Love, Not Rules or Historical Ritual... I have to wonder, thousands of years ago, hate was the only response to anybody who was different. Historically, wars have been also started during that same time period...and continues today...
Now, if many in the world had chosen Jesus rather than Barabbas and actually grasped and accepted, and acted upon His words at that time, just think how much Love would have come to be over 2000 years--so much so that loving our fellowman, no matter how or why they were different, would be as natural as breathing, don't you think? And few of us can forget that within the Catholic Church there has been a long-standing decision to hide the homosecual and/or female sex abuse by priests... For me, regurgitating an old rule, while ignoring those who broke/break it, is...just...hippocritical... Just my personal opinion, even though I believe Jesus feels the same about hurting our children in any way, especially sexual...
This is where the Kingdom reality breaks into view. This is when we understand that we are standing—and have always been standing—on Holy Ground. Each of us carries the Kingdom within. Everyone bears the seal of Christ.
But, if we can grasp the notion that we are filled with the fullness of Christ who fills everything in every way, then—and only then—are our eyes opened to realize that our connection with God has never been something we needed to discover outside of ourselves. It’s like wandering through our house, searching for our glasses when they’re sitting on top of our head. Or, like searching in the dark for our phone using the flashlight that’s on our phone.
“Do not tell lies and do not do what you hate,” he is shining a spotlight on their motives, and challenging the notion that suffering and abstaining from food or pleasure is what God desires from us. Why? Because, as we’ve already seen in this Gospel, Jesus is more concerned with our understanding of the lie of separation between God and Humanity. If, at the core of our being, we are already connected to God, there is no point in fasting to get God’s attention. There’s no reason to beg for God’s attention in prayer. God is already living and breathing within every single one of us. This realization undermines the religious practices of fasting, prayer, and alms giving as a means to curry favor with God. God desires that we will rest in the reality of our inseparable connection with God; to understand our Oneness with God, and to live our lives with that perspective.
...reminding ourselves that everything Jesus says in the Gospel of Thomas is somehow related to the illusion of separation, our oneness and connectivity with God and everyone else, or the shift in perspective one must experience in order to see the reality of oneness with greater clarity. This saying essentially encompasses all of those ideas at once. What I mean is this: There are two competing realities; the real world of oneness, and the false world of separation. In the Gospel of Thomas, whenever Jesus mentions “the world” he is pointing to the false reality; the illusion each of us has been taught to believe—a lie that says we are separate from God and from one another. This is the “world’ that Jesus has come to “cast fire upon.” It’s not Planet Earth he is referring to. It is the “world” or our reality marked by an ignorance of the Kingdom reality wherein all things exist by, through, and for Christ. Another way to express what Jesus is saying in this case might be something like: “I have set fire to the entire world system that continues to perpetuate the lie of separation, and I won’t stop until it’s completely burned to the ground.” Jesus is passionate and zealous for people to be set free from the toxic beliefs even the most religious among us claim to be “Gospel truth.” He opposes anyone who suggests that God is angry with His children or that we are separated from God for any reason. His heart is burning with the fierce fury of pure love that consumes every lie that exalts itself against the wisdom of our God—our God who is love incarnate. Once we fully embrace this notion that we are already one with the Divine Presence of God, and always have been, this awareness of our eternal connectivity with every single other person—who is also always one with the very same God—opens our eyes and the false reality which had been built upon the foundations of division, separation, and individuality become consumed in the unquenchable flames of truth. When the lie of separation is finally exposed, it ceases to exist. It vanishes in a puff of smoke and all that remains is reality itself. We now stand in the ashes of the lie that once imprisoned us. We are set free from the illusion. But, as long as there are others still enslaved by this illusion, the fire must continue to blaze. All around us people continually accept this delusion. They are blind to the truth of connectedness, as we once were. They suffer, as we once did, because they believe God is far away. They weep because they are convinced that their hope is “out there” somewhere beyond them, even as the glorious presence of Christ blazes within them and all around them. We are moved by their tears. We are acquainted with their sufferings. We know how they feel. But the fire is still burning. That cleansing, purifying, healing fire of Christ rages on. As the darkness is being exposed to the light of this beautiful fire which Jesus himself has kindled, reality breaks through. Blind eyes are opened. The lame learn to dance. The lost are found. The children return home to a Father who was waiting for them with open arms all along. In this saying, Jesus promises us that this fire will burn until every last lie is eventually, and inevitably obliterated, and everyone is, at last, set free from the illusion. In that day, you and I will know that Christ is in the Father, and the Father is in us, and we are in them. Let us guard this fire until that day comes.
Jesus said: “This heaven will pass away, and the one above it will pass away; and those who are dead are not alive, and those who are living will not die. In the days when you ate of what is dead, you made of it what is living. When you come to be light, what will you do? On the day when you were one, you became two. But when you have become two, what willyou do?”
Dreams I’ve held so tight I feel their roots in me
Tell me how do I let it stay buried?
How do I forget the ghost? The specter in my bloodstream?
Half of me is sealed behind a face just out of reach
The tenor of a voice lost to the sea
A name spoken like a wound
Or never spoken at all
Forgotten like he isn’t half of me
Twenty-three chromosomes of my legacy
What did he leave behind, besides my eyes?
What did he leave inside of me?
What is him? What is me?
How much of my mother’s hatred is caused by pressing on a wound
Rather than a fresh bruise
Would he have protected me?
Don’t go digging up ghosts they say
But if I let them lie
I’ll die swallowed up whole by the emptiness of me
My lack of symmetry
One side of me abandoned
A haunted houses, my ghosts and me
So I will dig
Even when my arms shake
When the hot sun evaporates the hope from me
I’ll perform seances in the dirt
Scream into graves and brace myself for what echoes back to me
If the truth is jagged, I’ll bleed with my eyes open
If I find nothing, well at least I’ll know I searched
Sought for something
Rather than settled for nothing
Maybe no good will come from it
My ghosts volatile and malignant
Misty figures of history
Maybe I won’t find peace
Just questions with sharper teeth
But the bite doesn’t scare me
These ghosts are mine
And I’ll carry them with me
~~~
When I read this poem, I knew for sure, that this writer has much to share and I believe it is important that she does... No matter our situation, there are parts of each of us that are hidden, but, often, yearning to be shared and talked about... This poem reminded me of my father who I never knew. But, for me, at least I had his family as part of my life... On the other hand, I know very little about he as a person, as my father... How cruel people can be when they tell somebody to "get over it..." or something similar... In my opinion, they don't have the right to do that. Each of us must be able to seek a caring response... Autumn presents her thoughts, now, in an aggressive manner--she is clearly disturbed with being told to ignore some part of her life that is or was important to her. Do any of us have the right to disagree? I don't think so... Unless it could be done in a loving conversation... I'm having that type of talks with my BFF and it is amazing to be able to share openly, freely and receive a response. I hope Autumn finds that friend some day, or finds that part of her that is missing and still unknown...
My only thought is that, Autumn, you might find help from a Man who once lived and is not a ghost, but a friend called Jesus...He has always been there for me when there was nobody else and, really, always... Just a thought...
Personally, I normally don't think of it as prayer, rather as conversation... At this age in my life, I'm confident that He listens...but, remember, you need to decide to open your heart to hear... And, you know, He will never say, "Get over it..."
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6,040,000[d] (113th)
$952.6 billion[6] (34th)
43.3[7]
