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The past can teach us lessons if we choose to learn and remember them. The present always delivers each of us to
the proverbial fork in the road. The future is unwritten upon the mortal soul, waiting for today's choices to begin the new
landscape, whether to be of beauty or of horror.
PJ Whitman on Religion
I was raised in a Judeo-Christian tradition and still revert to what I was taught and what experience has taught me. Since
we like to label things, for my sake alone I am calling this the Judeo-Christian trilogy. For the beauty of the language,
for the concepts included and beyond the direct relationship to these religious traditions; these words have true meaning
for me.
I am not saying this to curry favour with either religion. I believe in a very generic concept of a supreme being. All
I know is the first law of phyics, which [if memory serves correct] is that something cannot be created from nothing, matter
is merely changed with the application of energy-.
That creates a conundrum about the formation of the universe and the linear view of time. The question is begged: What
came before creation? Something does not work. Mere logic tells me that a being or force beyond our comprehension must have
existed outside or superior to our linear recognition of time. If such a being is beyond my comprehension, why spend time
overly analyzing some I have accepted that I cannot comprehend.
Plus, with the admonition;Judge not, lest ye be judged; I choose not to declare what one religion has a monopoly on truth.
I am not the judge and or jury for individual souls and can only speak for myself in my opinions on such lofty matters.
What I will say is that if there be an afterlife and it rewards being a positive force in ones mortal life, I would hope
that the supreme being would issue such reward to individuals beyond their particular religion. And I greatly doubt that a
loving supreme being would honour someone for taking other human lives to promote the ideas of a particular faith.
Anyway, if one takes away the direct relationship of these three pieces to the Jewish and Christian faiths; but takes
them on a generic moral and spiritual level, these passages are still pretty good stuff.
Book of Common Prayer (1928)
Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us
not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.
Amen.
-The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name' sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: For thou art with me;
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies;
Thou annointest my head with oil; My cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever.-
-- King James Version --
THE TEN
COMMANDMENTS
Exodus 20:2-17
1. You shall have no other gods before me
2. You shall not make for yourself an idol
3. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God
4. Remember the Sabbath [worship] day by keeping it holy
5. Honor your father and your mother
6. You shall not murder
7. You shall not commit adultery
8. You shall not steal
9. You shall not lie
10. You shall not covet
-Just as blending shades and hues to create an eternity of colours: The shades and hues within each soul create
an eternity of possibilities within the community of humanity.-
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