Spiritual Triumph - a Spirit-inspired message.

Spiritual Triumph


Welcome friends, brothers, sisters, fathers, aunts, uncles, acquaintances, colleagues, fellow-journeyors, fellow warriors.

The time has come to take a stand - to put on our armor of love & take up our sword of truth which cuts both ways & that emanates from the mouth of God as Civility which may be defined as: Consciously motivated organizational behavior & action taken as historical participants & causal free-will agents of change by necessity, no of transformation, since “change” is always only something different from & relative to, what went before – that is ethical, in willing submission to a higher power or an imagined perfect observer who is, among other infinite attributes, Love itself.

What does this mean? How and in what way is the Love of God a shield & a weapon of spiritual warfare in diametric opposition, not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high and low places?

Is the Divine Love of God not rational? Does it not possess the very apex of what is rational and reasonable even if it extends to heights of knowledge that we can only begin to explore or to fathom in our innermost heart of hearts, unto a partnership with none other than God Himself? Ha!

With what utter FOLLY has our enemy has set his diligent action in pursuit of, and what does he seek but the overthrow of everything that is good and right, just & true, & then at long last, the overthrow of God Himself replaced by an imposter, by a king of the pirates & of thieves.

Woe to them..!

Woe to them, as our own laughter at table fellowship leaves the window of our castle & floats on the wind to all with ears (or their equivalent, if not of this world) to hear.

Who among you would rather lose your own sense of humor in exchange for siding with the unreasonable, the corrupted, and playing the role of devil’s advocate?

It is not mere people that we are dealing with here either, simply, but a systemic evil of hideous proportions, magnitude & complexity, so what are we do to if we cannot laugh it away or laugh it off? Surely some action is needed, but what are we to do?

Take heart, dear friend, nor your heart not be troubled, for it pleased our Heavenly Father to share his eternal kingdom of light and love with us as children of a loving God (as distinguished from the kingdom of men & of a world gone mad).

Provided we stand with one another and with God, nothing is impossible for us, not even the fall of Babylon of old and where it intersects with God only knows what in the heavenly realms, and where as a power or principality of darkness & malevolence, it also must fall in the sight of one and all may even to hats thrown in the air to the cheers of ET’s and angels from here to kingdom come!

Jesus said “why do you marvel at these works of mine? You will do even greater things than these!” (said with joviality).

Evil, wickedness, darkness, the lust for power, excessive greed, war, these things do not form the organizing principal & dynamic of life, not even life on Earth where in truth, the kingdom of heaven is laid out before our eyes yet men do not see it, but children do.

Don’t be absurd. By it’s very nature, it’s downfall is embedded into it’s very structure as a systemic evil.

Oh in the end the good will continue to do good and the evil evil, but it, evil itself, will not and is not and never will be of any real or lasting substance, not relative to the stand that we now take for the sake and cause of God’s Love for us.

As a house divided it falls with a THUMP to a gale of laughter, that “world” as we stand armed with nothing but Love’s reason, & thus armed to the teeth, ready, willing and able to press on in like yeast in the dough of the world until we are leavened all through.

In the divided middle of the gap between what is and what shall be, there is a keystone in a royal arch across which we shall pass, both individually and collectively, into new pasture in a domain of as yet uncreated possibility. To cross, there is always a price, & since that price was paid in full, it forms an immovable and indomitable rock of reason, logic, and of Love, and so it’s more compelling by far than the alternative.

Let us begin to cross that bridge now! The rest will follow and, if in the end, we have to leave some dead to bury their dead what can we do once the invitation has already been extended to the streets and the hedgerows? Are we to let their bitterness & hatred contaminate our everlasting joy? No. That’s the hard part, but we can’t go back or return, it’s by far too late.

The point of distinction, at the tip of your sword that cuts both ways (so be very careful how you wield it!) catches light from the sun & shines ever brighter like a north star in daylight – you raise high as you walk across a bridge on behalf of each and every person, with courage and audacity, lighting the way for your fellow man including many of those mired down in a world gone mad, filled with opinions & judgements & for many, unending bitterness & resentment. Let all who are thirsty freely drink of the living water of eternal life!

The way of the cross does not end at the cross, but begins again on the other side of the ordeal in the willingness to take on a share of the burdens & the sorrows of life yet certain in a transcendent joy, love & freedom. The domain of everlasting joy, life & love is worth fighting for, to retain, and to uphold as a standard of Justice and Mercy.

Courage! my friend. Take heart! You are not alone!

No man is an island unto himself. We are social beings. We reside in the relativity of human being both in relation to our family of origin and our fellow man.

Therefore, you, as you lead us across that bridge into a new land, you are like a light and an antenna, broadcasting across the entire spectrum of all being & becoming & as a causal free will agent of transformation and Love – you are a hero of the farthest reaching proportions & significance. You are also a sane & rational person who did not lose their sense of humor while regaining their lost inner child. By having the courage to take God seriously, and to recognize the invitation extended, you extend it in turn far and wide, and from every angle and perspective. In your followership you also lead.

Therefore, stand watch! Do not forget yourself! Do not allow yourself to be reabsorbed or to fall again into the quicksand quagmire of the world of ignorance and attachments and inauthentic faux drama, controversy, even pandemonium. Do not be distracted from your, from our, mission!

Everything is at stake! The whole of human history and cosmological history which led to this point, is at stake!

But there’s nothing to worry about, because it’s all good news! HA! The great Triumph is already at hand!

Can you hear? Where is Babylon & it’s mad pirate king now? I’m not sure I even hear them on the other side of the door banging away & shouting – let us in?

This is the peace of the Lord not as the world gives it, but as He gives it, from above. It contains all joy, and all mirth, humor & charm.

So yes, we laugh in the face of the devil who “as a proud spirit, cannot endure to be mocked” (Thomas Moore, 1530); we wear the armor of God’s Love, & we carry a sword that’s capable of destroying a systemic evil empire of old, oh these are the days, oh now is the time. March!

Are you with me, or w

or would you rather just take all your toys & go home because you’ve had a hard life up until now?

Were else are we to go? What else is there TO do? Just imagine, not only the loving, kind & generous invitation we’ve been given by the loving hand of God, but the magnitude of the opportunity in relation to a fallen world gone mad – to BE the light in the darkness, the salt of the Earth, the light of the world?! This is very serious business, but it’s also very funny, blessed are you who laughed & for all the right reasons!

In this, the knowledge of the humor of true understanding, & what is knowledge if it is not self-knowledge? there is peace, love, joy, and immense power, the power to stand relative to the whole of it all and be an untouchable even in the midst of a fallen world, to be in the world but not of it, to be born and reborn from above, not by flesh and blood but by Spirit and Truth & Light, and Love.

And if God is for us, then who or what can stand against us?

Our mere presence wins the battle & the day, as we kill them with kindness, a smile & a twinkle in the eye from the one who knows, who understands.

Therefore go forth an untouchable child of God, a child of light and love, into the world as a point of transformation. It doesn’t matter how big or small, however fast or slowly the process in time and history, only that it has begun, in you, and in me, in us, together - that it’s moving, that it’s a process, not a thing.

It has begun. Thank you in advance for being you. Thank you for coming, and for being sent and chosen. May you be increasingly empowered by the will, the love and the knowledge of God. The world needs you. It wouldn’t be the same without you.

Therefore, do not hide your light, but let it shine for all in the house! Be a warrior, a warring Spirit. The victory is already yours!

a reply to: AnkhMorpork

Of Course Old Friend , but as you Know , Many have Wandered from the Word , and at their Own Peril it seems . Free Will you know ....Hmm......

a reply to: Zanti Misfit

I'm beginning to strongly suspect that it's all very funny and amuzing, however grave the humor.

originally posted by: AnkhMorpork
Spiritual Triumph

you are a hero of the farthest reaching proportions & significance

I have always suspected such.

You are also a sane & rational person who did not lose their sense of humor while regaining their lost inner child

You're making me blush.

Triumph is already at hand!

Have you ever heard the phrase "Don't count your chickens before they've hatched"?

Are you with me, or w

AnkhMorpork? Are you still there?

a reply to: DictionaryOfExcuses

cute response. : )

That's the spirit.

a reply to: AnkhMorpork

Just foolin' around. I dig your positive thoughts.

a reply to: DictionaryOfExcuses

I know. Picked up on the playful banter right away. Discernment is also high in the field of awareness.

a reply to: AnkhMorpork

I don't really get why I and everyone are heroes. Being a hero makes you special but if everyone is a hero then that makes everyone the same. This makes a special hero into just a normal person. lol idk I am over thinking it.

a reply to: watchandwait410

Every person who embarks upon a spiritual journey and quest enters onto the hero's journey.

Some shy away from it of course, while others end up on the testing ground..

A good read in this regards is "A Hero with a Thousand Faces" by Joseph Campbell which describes the Hero's Journey, and it's pattern.

I'll take it a step further and say that every man is a King and every woman a Queen.

a reply to: AnkhMorpork

Such a beautiful post.

The prophets who came before us were no different than you or I. They were men who had won the heart of God through their reverence for righteousness. They were not perfect men but men who saw perfection through righteousness as a path to follow and thus were chosen to be vessels of the message. The message that has reached us and now extends through us.

originally posted by: DictionaryOfExcuses
a reply to: AnkhMorpork

Just foolin' around. I dig your positive thoughts.

2nd that!

Thank you everyone for the positive feedback. I hope you found it to be empowering, and that it might have moved you to consider things from a different frame that's valid.

Be blessed!

I've been reflecting on this, these ideas and "grokkings" (do you know the word "grok" from Heinlein's "A Stranger in a Strange Land"?) that come from a hard fought spiritual struggle and repeated crisis, and triumphs, pitfalls and triumphs, over the course of 22 years now - since I embarked upon the journey after deeply grokking, meaning to eat or to drink most fully of an idea that it becomes well, eaten, drank, & fully integrated, perhaps even after excreting and urinating the unworkable & flushing it down the drain, a book called "A Road Less Travelled, a new psychology of love, traditional values and spiritual growth" - and now, part of me wonders if we ought to have talked more about the greed, the cruelty, the hatred, fear and loathing, stupidity, ignorance in all of it's many forms including IN-Civility, which more often than not arises in the midst of what began as a simple misunderstanding! - which leads me past the sins of the world, really, or other people's ignorance, but stopping in it's tracks - at our OWN family of origin, & the sins of the father going back through wars and many generations of struggle & hardships, as well as triumphs and tribulations.. out of which we emerged, and I have to ask the same question, is this womb of history from which we're born on earth our real birth place, or was it maybe just the testing ground of the Hero's Journey? What happens in the triumph at the end of one beginning and the beginning of a new one, are we not born from another place? The way of the cross suggests in no uncertain terms that we are definitely mired in it, of that there can be no doubt and don't we all have our scars? But like I said before, the allegory is operative as a universal principal of new life and resurrection, the good life & it is into this life that we are called to have the courage and the audacity to live into..

But there, right there at the alter so to speak, must we not go reconcile with our brother and sister, aunts, uncles, siblings, mothers, fathers, grand and great mothers and fathers and so on and so forth, unto, presumably a kind of larger family in so far as we all share the same one ground of all being and becoming, but in so far as we heal our own family with the sword of truth and in who we are being and becoming by virtue of simply being and becoming what we SAY we are, in the sight of others but only once reconciled we heal. If we touch, move & inspire them, with who we are choosing the be & become in a domain or field of limitless possibility - do we not right there function as the extended hand to join us? How compelling is that? Often we make amends to these people, while using the 5 C's of Life Transformation:

Confidence (winning theirs via a point of common interest, or even a shared predicament as it were), Confession (ours to them, trusting in them, about something that was costly to us in our sharing and confiding), Conviction (theirs, that they too can have this great burden lifted, and must unburden or do likewise as that which you honored them by trusting, sharing and confiding), Conversion - theirs, not ours, even if we are the ones making the amends and they on the side of receiving it, although we're certain participants in the Conversion experience, having already been put through the ringer so to speak, ourselves, which they can clearly see and intuit - incl'd our triumph.

In so doing what's done is done in God!

Therefore maybe Jesus was right when he said he also brings the sword relative to the family.. provided we understand what that means, and that's it's pointy & double edged.

This doesn't mean that we divide and separate except maybe to unify, one to another hand in hand, having taken the beam out of each others eyes!

Then and only then can we deem to create a new world and lo and behold is that not what happens when we approach our deeper issues in the context of our lives & our family of origin relationships, in some cases truly beloved, in others, um, not so well loved.

Our problem it has been said to be an action, or something that we are DOING at each and every moment in time, for the most part working very hard to PREVENT ourselves from having an authentic spiritual experience... what is this action we are performing, and this personality that's doing it, more often than not on autopilot or based on some very hard judgements, not the least of which might be a very low opinion of one's self &/or that of one's fellow man - the WORST!

The duality of judgement that cast us from paradise, which would place us in the seat of judgement - that hasn't worked out so well now has it? Let us therefore turn to the very LAST page of your Bible or one at the bookstore, and consider what is rendered there in the Spirit and the Bride extending freely, the living water of eternal life for all who thirst. For all who thirst. (it needed to be said twice).

This is funny!

Who would not want to give this gift to their fellow people, loved ones, hurt ones, estranged & lonely for no reason, if they only knew how. 5 C's, there you go. That was from a "New Thought Movement" of the 1930's called "The Oxford Group" (from which eventually sprang AA, if only because Bill W. was unwilling or unable to live up to the standard of the four pillars of "Absolute Honesty. Absolute Purity. Absolute Selflessness, and Absolute Love" because he wasn't prepared to either quit smoking or give up his love of women - and good on him. "Sin with courage" my wonderful mother once said. I couldn't believe it, my own mom saying such a thing, but I think I get it. It's not an open invitation to engage in debauchery, but the simple awareness that we are all human & we all make mistakes, but to go easier on ourselves. "My yoke is easy & my burden is light".

So you'll note that there's some homework for you in this post, a kind of experiment in the area of reconciliation.

"Leave whatever offering you had for the alter, and go, reconcile yourself to your brother FIRST!" Ah HA, now we get you Jesus what you were SAYING (2000 years ago now - not LONG)

Oh the joy, the love, and the humor in this, the mirth, the charm the playfulness.

And the courage, but it's not so bad it could be worse (if we did not reconcile or do the work of self forgiveness), if we would rather live in misery, and make everyone else miserable in the process and be made miserable by them. That's not the yeast in the dough. It's the DOH! I blew the opportunity of a lifetime, and of an entire cosmological history leading inexorably only in one direction - LOVE.

If you do this thing, then you will stand relative to the whole of it all & know yourself as a child of God as if for the first time, and you will cry, and then you will laugh because it's the joke that just keeps on giving, and then it's like we kind of look up to God and say "Abba" or Daddy, in the familiar, seeing and understanding at last that God is a loving hand, and a light to our path & a lamp unto our feet!

This is King David level stuff, and Jesus level.

So go, and be the thing you want to and are meant to be, and even if you can't do that, rejoice in who you are as a sacred being and child of a loving and very generous and very funny God.

I love you, love you as I was first loved by God, and for no reason (trust me!). That's the funny part about it, you see. It's an umerited Grace. If you truly understood it it would make you cry right away, then laugh. It happens. lol

Homework? Reconciliation?

How can we refuse to do this work, to leave our lives unexamined in the field of awareness that turns like a lighthouse within once turned on?

It's both a very sad state of affairs, and very funny and joyful, even moreso once that neccessary suffering is freely taken on for the cause of love.

Praise God our crosses are not as heavy as his, or the ordeal quite as bad, but the model is one of authentic leadership pointing to an evolutionary principal in human affairs, like a first cause or a cornerstone of Civilization (the process).

originally posted by: AnkhMorpork
you are a hero of the farthest reaching proportions & significance

originally posted by: DictionaryOfExcuses
I have always suspected such.

originally posted by: AnkhMorpork
You are also a sane & rational person who did not lose their sense of humor while regaining their lost inner child

originally posted by: DictionaryOfExcuses
You're making me blush.

Even though feelings might be irrelevant when it comes to factual claims or the logic of an argument, they play a crucial role in persuasion. Emotional appeals are fabricated by some people who play on feelings as skillfully as a virtuoso plays the piano. Some people for example play on pride or vanity.

Discernment is “acuteness of judgment.” It is “the power or faculty of the mind by which it distinguishes one thing from another.” A person with discernment perceives subtleties of ideas or things and has good judgment.

Using discernment, we will be able to recognize those who are merely using “smooth talk and complimentary speech” in order to “seduce the hearts of guileless ones.” (Romans 16:18) Discernment enables you to discard irrelevant information or misleading facts and distinguish the substance of a matter. But how can you discern when something is misleading?

Put information to the test: “Beloved ones,” said John, a first-century Christian teacher, “do not believe every inspired expression, but test the inspired expressions.” (1 John 4:1) Some people today are like sponges; they soak up whatever they come across. It is all too easy to absorb whatever is around us.

But it is far better for each individual personally to choose what he will feed his mind. It is said that we are what we eat, and this can apply to food for both the body and the mind. No matter what you are reading or watching or listening to, test to see whether it is actually useful or beneficial, or whether it is mere flattery to beguile and sound appealing, easy to agree with, like a positive horoscope that paints you in a good light, peeking your interest in the subject and leading to profits for those selling products and books involved with the subject of astrology (just to name one example off the top of my head).

“For there will be a period of time when they will not put up with the wholesome* [Or “healthful; beneficial.”] teaching, but according to their own desires, they will surround themselves with teachers to have their ears tickled.* [Or “to tell them what they want to hear.”] 4 They will turn away from listening to the truth and give attention to false stories.” (2 Timothy 4:3,4)

Flattery (Insight on the Scriptures, Volume 1)

The act of pleasing by artful commendation; adulation; false, insincere, or excessive praise. It is usually done to gratify the self-love or vanity of the one flattered and is therefore damaging to him. Its motive is to gain favor or material benefits from another, to create a feeling of obligation toward the flatterer or to bring glory to him. Often it is designed to lead the other person into a trap. (Pr 29:5) The use of flattery is not evidence of the wisdom from above; it is of this world, being characterized by selfishness, the making of partial distinctions, and hypocrisy. (Jas 3:17) Insincerity, lying, adulating or glorifying men, and playing on the vanity of others are all displeasing to God.​—2Co 1:12; Ga 1:10; Eph 4:25; Col 3:9; Re 21:8.

A contrast of the Christian course with that of flattery is found in the apostle’s words at 1 Thessalonians 2:3-6: “For the exhortation we give does not arise from error or from uncleanness or with deceit, but, just as we have been proved by God as fit to be entrusted with the good news, so we speak, as pleasing, not men, but God, who makes proof of our hearts. In fact, at no time have we turned up either with flattering speech, (just as you know) or with a false front for covetousness, God is witness! Neither have we been seeking glory from men, no, either from you or from others, though we could be an expensive burden as apostles of Christ.”

While the use of flattery may appear to be the gainful course, the Bible points out that “he that is reproving a man will afterward find more favor than he will that is flattering with his tongue.” (Pr 28:23) When a person employs flattery to gain advantage over another person, it is the opposite of love. A hater may resort to flattery but will eventually have his deceptiveness roll back on him like a stone.​—Pr 26:24-28.

Flattery employs smooth talk in order to beguile its victim. The expressions “flattery,” “smooth tongue (lip, or words)” (Ps 5:9; 12:2, 3; Da 11:32), “smoothness” (Pr 7:21; Da 11:34, ftn), and “double-faced” (Eze 12:24, ftn) are translations of the Hebrew root word cha·laqʹ or related words. In every Bible instance cited, the motive of the smooth talker is bad. ... Also, when a Jewish ruler attempted application of the flattering title “Good Teacher” to Jesus Christ, Jesus instantly corrected him, saying: “Why do you call me good? Nobody is good, except one, God.”​—Lu 18:18, 19; compare Job 32:21, 22.

a reply to: watchandwait410

Only a hero can win a race with upto a billion participants involved..... Think about that.

You're unique, just like everybody else.

a reply to: whereislogic

That's a nice essay. You make lots of good points backed up with relevant sources, but I still feel puzzled over why you felt the need to browbeat me for my cheeky response.

a reply to: DictionaryOfExcuses

What you talking about buddy, you just looking for an argument?

Sad act!