We had a very restful weekend around my house. There were no appointments to keep, parties to attend or cleaning for company. We had decided we would not go anywhere or do anything but that it would be a weekend to simply relax. Our expectation was fulfilled as a storm rolled into Florida making it unappealing to go out in the weather. We were all happy to hang around the house doing whatever! We need that every once in a while. Sometimes I think I’d like to live in the relaxing moments all the time.

Last night my husband and I watched one of my favorite movies, “While You Were Sleeping”. That movie makes me laugh. There’s a line in that movie that’s repeated a couple of times that says, “Life doesn’t always turn out the way you expect.” Hmm. No I guess it doesn’t. In the movie, the main character begins the movie infatuated with one man and ends up marrying the man of her dreams. In the end, it didn’t turn out as she had hoped and dreamed. Instead, she ends up with more than she even expected. She ends up with a man who truly loves her. I love happy endings. Everyone’s happy and in love and the world is a better place…ahhh.

Tuesday came and the kids are back to school. The hubby is back to work. I’m back to my routine with a ho-hum. The relaxed, easygoing weekend has ended and life picks up where we left off. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could take a break from life whenever we wanted to? Wouldn’t it be cool to push the pause button so we could relax and become rejuvenated before we moved on? Unlike the movies, life isn’t like that. Our week doesn’t magically end with the loose ends neatly tied in a bow. Unfortunately, they are still there on Monday morning.

As much as I’d love to live in the tranquil moments of life, that’s not reality. And that’s okay with me. I love to relax but I don’t think it would have the same appeal if I did it all the time. The truth is, life isn’t lived in the easy times. It has many unexpected turns. But isn’t that what makes life interesting? I want so much to have ease and comfort but all of that is futile. It’s boring. It’s without reward. Life becomes meaningful when you invest in others regardless of how tiring it is. The whole purpose we are here is to minister in the name of Jesus. And as much as relaxing brings me pleasure, it honestly doesn’t compare to the complete joy I receive when I see God moving. It’s even better when He invites me to be a part of it.

Yes, I so enjoyed my weekend, but I honestly enjoy the everyday things God calls me to. My life is rarely easy or simple or without struggle. It is almost never what I expect. But it’s my life and I love it.

Thank you Lord for the times life is not what I expect it to be because I always have the hope You have something better on the horizon.

Steve will be away on holidays till Friday.

At one point I’d have thought imagining the new paradigm would be a difficult process.

And now it seems a relatively simple matter. Can it be the rising energies?

I’m willing to bet that the new paradigm is the same as the divine qualities.

Love, peace, unity, harmony, bliss, joy, co-operation, compassion – does it not make sense that this would be the new paradigm?

According to this line of speculation,  the old paradigm would have been hate, war, separation, aggressiveness, hurt, sorrow, competition and no mercy. That sounds accurate, according to all we read.

Everything divine restores, releases, expands, pacifies. Why would it not be what we choose when we’ve shaken the cabal out of our hair? Who is willing to go another round in 3D?

More and more I’ve heard from people that they’re tired of this way of life. They may not know what’s next, but they just won’t settle for another round of this. I don’t think 3D world weariness is an accident.

In my reading on May 26, I asked Archangel Michael what was next. And he said imagining the world we wanted to have is next because that’s what we’ll draw towards us. And I have no difficulty imagining that world.

It’ll be a world filled with the divine qualities. A world of love, peace, unity, etc.

I think that’s what I’ll occupy myself with intending to create. A world governed by the divine qualities. A world in which people love and have compassion for each other, live united side by side in harmonious relations with each other and blissful peace, and cooperate to restore Mother Gaia and expand into the Nova Earth.

Yes, that’s it. That’s what I’m creating.

A large fragrant red rose was the first to bloom in my rose garden this year.

Come to the Garden Alone

How do you get in touch with God?  When do you experience the feeling that you are dwelling within a sacred moment?  There are many ways that we can access the Divine.  Some people experience the sacred in cathedrals and churches; others experience the holy in the smile of a newborn baby; still others in the quiet time of prayer.   For me, I experience God in the midst of ordinary every day experiences with my family at home, at the beach, and especially in my garden.  My granddaddy—my mother’s father—was a Wesleyan Methodist Minister back in the day.  As I am writing this post, in my mind I can hear his strong vibrato tenor singing the hymn, “Come to the garden alone.”

I come to the garden alone

While the dew is still on the roses

And the voice I hear falling on my ear

The Son of God discloses.

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,


And He tells me I am His own;


And the joy we share as we tarry there,


None other has ever known.

A Morning Ritual 

What brings me to my garden every morning? 

I often wonder if it is the memory of my granddaddy’s large vegetable garden across from the parsonage in Alabama, or my grandpa’s hog farm in Ohio.  All I know is that gardening  brings me joy and peace.  I view gardening as a spiritual practice—it is an easy way to regularly connect to and meditate upon the Divine.  My time is after I get the kids off to school and my husband out the door, and after my tea.  This is my morning ritual before work or play.  During my time in the garden I often remember the scriptures about gardens.  In Genesis 2  we find God in the Garden of Eden, in Mark 14 we find Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, and in Revelation 22 we find an orchard that has the power to heal all the nations.

A Modest Suburban Garden

This year I added a ring of radishes and carrots to my spring garden.

While I live in the suburbs of Chicago, I do have a small rose garden with a few tea roses, spray roses, and knock out roses.  I have an herb garden so that when I sing the Simon and Garfunkle lyric “parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme” I can sing it with a flare of authenticity as I pop miniature strawberries into my mouth plucked from beneath the chives.  I have a modest vegetable garden with peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers and the like.  And this year I added a spring garden to my repertoire with root vegetables of radishes, carrots, beets, and lettuce, spinach, and sweet peas all grown from seed.  Now, I know as you read this you are imagining someone else’s garden—one that actually produces enough to eat and more than enough to share.  But unfortunately that is not my garden. 

My handmade trellis from bamboo and string for my spring peas.

Good Earth=Good Harvest (maybe)

Like anyone who dares to plant a tomato plant in the ground, or who puts seeds in a row, I hope for a harvest beyond what we can consume.  I am always looking for the “hundred-fold harvest” that Jesus talks about in Matthew 13.  I want to haul in baskets full of carrots and beets, bushels of tomatoes and peppers, and armloads of basil for pesto.  But, there are more pests, than pesto in my garden.

After digging up rocks and adding good earth, I have a little row of leeks.

My garden struggles against the elements to produce a humble harvest, certainly not enough to share…yet.  Last year I collected 4 little eggplants because my plants struggled all season.  I harvested perhaps 10 pods of peas.  Well, not really.  My kids stood in the garden with me and we ate the sweet-pea pods right off the vine—it only took a couple of minutes.  The joke is that I am an “organic” gardener only because insects and diseases have a fair shot at all my plants because I don’t work very hard to keep them away. 

In Matthew 13 Jesus talks about the difference between the seeds that are chocked out in the rocks and the seeds that produce a hundred-fold harvest.  That simple difference is the good soil.  In other translations, the phrase “the good earth” is used.  I am always working on how can I take the earth of my suburban home and turn it into the good earth that produces a bountiful harvest.  How can I take what life has dealt me and turn it into a harvest I can share? 

Hard Work and GOoD fortune 

The truth is, a hundred-fold harvest is really a miracle.  Ten-fold would be great, that is for one plant to give 10 eggplants would be wonderful.  To produce prolifically, say a thirty-fold harvest requires skill, knowledge, proper sprays and ferterlizers at just the right time, and dare I say a good deal of blessings of good weather and rain from above.  In short, the garden that we imagine takes a lot of hard work to create, and quite a bit of good earth, and God’s blessings of good sun, warm nights, and life giving rain.  I want the hundred-fold harvest, but do not want to put in that kind of time.  So I am what you might call an accidental gardener.  If my garden does well, it is a bit of my toil mixed in with the right blend of accidental good fortune. 

Zucchini enough to share 

My zucchini from last year was prolific.

Last year my zucchini plants produced enough to feed my family for three months—much to the grumbling of my father-in-law.  I learned how to cook zucchini in so many ways—how to hide it with potatoes, mix it into salads, top it on pizza’s and cook it in quiches.  It in the peak we ate zucchini every day.  So my father-in-law begged me to grow something other than zucchini this year.  This is why I added cabbage, cauliflower, onions, and beets.  We shall see if I have an accidental harvest this year.  

Whether the harvest is good or not, every day I go out to my garden, tend it, water it, weed it, and occasionally even harvest a few vegetables here and there and all the while I am meditating on the good earth and the good God who put it there in the first place. 

Why not plant a small garden this year?

A container garden of spring veggies from seeds.
Spinach, lettuce, peas, radishes, and carrots.

May you plant a garden this year, its not too late!  Try a container garden, or a small patch of cabbage or tomatoes.  As you tend your garden, may you experience God as you tarry there.  Whether or not you experience the joy of a hundred-fold harvest, I suspect you will stumble upon a spiritual harvest greater than you imagined.

Peace to you and GOoD gardening!

Love,

Pastor Tanya

PS:  Stay tuned for quick updates on my garden this summer under the heading, “My Blooming Garden” to see what’s blooming, what’s fruiting, and what the daily harvest brings. 

I believe strongly in Abraham as the Father of Faith in one Being, Maker or Spiritual Force that is within All of Creation on this earth.

I believe in Abraham as the Father of Faith and as a major part of a spiritual vehicle or belief system that is inclusive and adoptive of any one who believes as Abraham believed.

I feel that this belief system also naturally indicates the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  I believe in Isaac and Jacob as the descendants of Abraham, having come from him and also descendants of the lineage (as revealed by Abraham) of a certain, irrefutable Faith in one Spiritual Force.

I believe that long, long ago in ancient Persia, a man named Abram existed who one day looked around himself and saw One hand or Creative force in all things. 

I do not believe this happened overnight.  I think this process occurred during most of his lifetime while he lived in Persia. 

You see, Creation stories even during the time of Abram and Sarai were not a new thing. 

There were plenty of Creation stories in the Persian culture.  The thing was that there were so many of them, and it was more like this god ruled over this principle of life, that goddess ruled over another, and so forth.  But Abram, I think, conducted his own experiment, so to speak, and as if proving a scientific theory, he studied the culture he’d been born to and discovered things on his own.  The most important of these things was that he saw One Creative Force at the heart or core of every biological process, every predatory animal, every animal of prey, every bush, every tree, every body of water, every gust of wind, every raincloud, every expression that crossed his wife’s face….in all of nature – he saw or discovered this one Being behind everything – behind and within all Life.  And I think that it blew him away. 

Now, what kind of a person do you have to be to become aware of something like this? What kind of leap does one have to make to arrive at such a conclusion? What kind of mind did he have to develop to become convinced of something so profound?  I don’t know. . . but I’m positive he had to listen to a lot of naysaying and most likely had a large number of people questioning his sanity, but for some reason he just could not refute it.

We could definitely say that Abraham was divinely gifted with this knowledge, or divinely inspired, whatever you want to call it – but something of a Divine Spiritual nature was Revealed to him and he also Received something of a Divine Spiritual Nature.  That’s how it works: something may be Revealed, but a person has to Receive it absolutely.  It has to be imparted to their soul in order for it to be real to them.  And I think that it was revealed to Abraham in such a way that it got him where he lived, so to speak. Abraham was someone who loved nature and who investigated everything around him because he wanted to know. He was proving something essentially to himself, but I think he found much much more than he bargained for and he realized that it wasn’t just for him alone.

And what Abraham discovered, he could not deny or even unlearn.  It changed his life and added another syllable and another dimension not only to his name, but to his wife’s name and to their entire existence extending even through their descendants, both biological and spiritual – throughout time.

May 25, 2012

8 Year-Old’s Explanation of God

Written by 8 year-old Danny Dutton from Chula Vista, CA, for his third grade homework assignment. The assignment was to explain God. I just wonder if any of us could do as well?

One of God’s main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die, so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth.

He doesn’t make grownups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way he doesn’t have to take up his valuable time teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that to mothers and fathers.

God’s second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times beside bedtime.  God doesn’t have time to listen to the radio or TV because of this .

Because he hears everything, there must be a terrible lot of noise in his ears, unless he has thought of a way to turn it off.

God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn’t go wasting his time by going over your mom and dad’s head asking for something they said you couldn’t have.

Atheists are people who don’t believe in God. I don’t think there are any in Chula Vista. At least there aren’t any who come to our church.

Jesus is God’s Son. He used to do all the hard work like walking on water and performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn’t want to learn about God. They finally got tired of him preaching to them and they crucified him. But he was good and kind, like his father, and he told his father that they didn’t know what they were doing and to forgive them and God said O.K.

His dad (God) appreciated everything that he had done and all his hard work on earth so he told him he didn’t have to go out on the road anymore. He could stay in heaven. So he did. And now he helps his dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of and which ones he can take care of himself without having to bother God. Like a secretary, only more important.

You can pray anytime you want and they are sure to help you because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the time.

You should always go to church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there’s anybody you want to make happy, it’s God.

Don’t skip church or do something you think will be more fun like going to the beach. This is wrong. And besides the sun doesn’t come out at the beach until noon anyway.

If you don’t believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because your parents can’t go everywhere with you, like to camp, but God can.

It is good to know He’s around you when you’re scared, in the dark or when you can’t swim and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids.

But… you shouldn’t just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me here and he can take me back anytime he pleases. And this is what I know about God.

Story from inspire21.com

http://hopefaithlove.com/?p=155

“Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (I Peter 5:8 NIV)

The Bible commands us to whole-heartedly resist sin:

“Be alert and of sober mind…  Resist him, (the devil) standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” (I Peter 5:8,9 NIV)

But the power to resist the devil never comes from us. It comes from God:

“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. ¹¹ To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.” (I Peter 5:10-11)

Spiritually speaking, we are to view ourselves from a more exalted notion—as part of a greater unity.

Does this mean that we are to simply melt into some cosmic blob of wholeness?

Heck no! Eternal happiness and cosmic belonging is meaningless without a real sense of individual identity. Happiness needs a subject. And, heavenly happiness needs a highly evolved subject.

The universe shows us two seemingly irreconcilable concepts that promote each other in the development of all coherent structure—distinctiveness and unity. Unity is perfected as distinct and diverse parts cooperate, harmonize and participate in a common commerce. This is often referred to as the perfection of unity through diversity. Things only become more distinct as they contribute to some unity.

This law is ubiquitous (and it is why “love” is the ultimate science).

The human psyche, and its consciousness, evolves according to the rules of this same unique pattern. Human understanding is increased as one’s differentiated knowledge is put into greater order. This unity of individual ideas and concepts constitutes one’s worldview or belief system.

So the human mind works like the universe works—unless it challenges this order and chooses not to cooperate with the divine scheme of creation. The cure to such a cosmic transgression is, ironically, a new kind of self-centeredness.

Here, an individual must pay extra attention to his or her motives and intentions in order to grasp just how one is transgressing from this universal law of shared or mutual goodness. If this self-examination creates sincere remors,e then spiritual development can result from the friction between opposing convictions.

Self-love can then transform itself from a false identity into a more genuine and angelic personality.

http://www.provinggod.com

© C. Stephenson

Click here for the original source.

As I write this Preface I have just preached to my people several messages in which I pleaded with them to be ‘coronary Christians,’ not ‘adrenal Christians.’ Not that adrenaline is bad, I said; it gets me through lots of Sundays. But it lets you down on Mondays. The heart is another kind of friend. It just keeps on serving—very quietly, through good days and bad days, happy and sad, high and low, appreciated and unappreciated. It never says, ‘I don’t like your attitude, Piper, I’m taking a day off.’ It just keeps humbly lub-dubbing along. It endures the way adrenaline doesn’t. 

Coronary Christians are like the heart in the causes they serve. Adrenal Christians are like adrenaline—a spurt of energy and then fatigue. What we need in the cause of is not spurts of energy, but people who endure for the long haul. Marathoners, not sprinters.(The Roots of Endurance, John Piper)

The heart is a good picture of God’s call for His children in service. “It just keeps on serving—very quietly, through good days and bad days, happy and sad, high and low, appreciated and unappreciated.” What does this look like in my day? It means going to Wal-Mart every Thursday to buy groceries, or doing the laundry each week, or scrubbing the poop stains from Charis’ onesies, or continually seeking God in prayer for strength.

The bottom line is that I am not naturally a “coronary Christian.” There are many times when Wal-Mart is the last place on earth I want to be or I wish I could open my oven and dinner would be ready-to-serve. My flesh does not desire to serve consistently and “endure for the long haul.” This is why I must cry out to the Lord to strengthen me to serve. I cannot do it on my own. I am weak and frail, but He is mighty to help.

“But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:26-28)

NEST, BIRDS AND SKY
WINGS, DESIRE AND FLY

I journeyed to the astral, petitioning a raven to act as a guide.  It transformed into a strange man who stood there making faces at me, then caught my hand tugging me upward into the clouds.  We ended up walking silently for a bit before entering a cave.  In the cave was a crone at a cauldron.  It was explained to me that I had coated my chains in a layer of gold, wearing them as rings on my fingers.  I plunged my hands into the cauldron, feeling pain as the rings and flesh melted away.  One of my favored guides appeared wielding a sword.  He thought the crone was dissolving too much, offering to sever my hands as a way to stop the dissolving.  I was placed with an interesting paradox.  The chains gave me a great deal of strength, and there was a part of me who did not want to lose them.  However, I also was given the option to draw strength and support from my inner light.  This was the option I chose and completing the ritual I returned.

The overall synopsis from the quest is I need to concentrate on abandoning and severing the bindings which while providing stability have also proved limiting.  Instead I’m going to refocus my efforts on strengthening and developing my chakra systems.

Letting thought cease, just rest as the awareness that is your unborn, ever-present true nature, and experience true ease and refreshment.

In the Fall, we will resume our regular output of article content through 10:31 Life Ministries specifically, taking the opportunity during the summer to release and continue to share personal blogs and content as so.  We will let you know of personal releases through our website, and be sure to be on the lookout as the Fall draws near for the rereleasing of 10:31 articles.

I specifically will be releasing a new 10:31 series called: Worship War VII.  The purpose of this series is to focus on the importance of the spiritual war over worship.  Not necessarily the commonly phrased ‘worship wars’ over music styles in church congregations, but I seek to emphasize and reveal my personal passion, revealing the battle for living worship: a lifestyle of testimony and witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which also gives praise to the LORD for His provision, through music, song, acts of service, and the fruit of the spirit.  I desire to emphasize Living worship.

Again, thank you for visiting 1031 Life Ministries.com.  Be sure to keep up to date with blogs such as

God’s Heart For Those by Jonathan David Faulkner,
A Chosen Generation by Angel Edwards,
and my personal blog, Symphony Theologica.

God Bless,

-David Tank

Writer & Leadership Team member of 10:31 Life Ministries

One Republic Secrets

So I am out-of-town right now, in a situation that I have absolutely no control over. I am merely here for support of another who is going through a challenge in life that could very well change the direction that the soul will take. I have been a little uneasy, going through all the emotions, anger, annoyance, disgust, judgement.

All the emotions that make you feel yucky inside, the ones that weigh you down.

I resent the fact that others have been put into this mess because of another ones choices. There are around 6 people who are having to deal with the fallout of another’s choice. What a good lesson for all here….

How many times have we done something not knowing how it will affect another until it is too late?That we made a choice that was selfish and in the end did not turn out well?

How many times have I myself made a judgement call about my life and went off by myself thinking that I was doing the right thing and made a huge mess out of it because I did not have Spirit involved at all. I was running amok…

We all do this, we all create drama in our lives, my teacher used to say”If we can’t be special in our daily lives we will be special in our suffering”

In comes this song and the lyrics that I woke up to today:

Lyrics from:http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858798379/

“I need another story, Something to get off my chest, My life gets kinda  boring, Need something that I can confess,Til’ all my sleeves are stained  red, From all the truth that I’ve said, Come by it honestly I swear ,Thought you saw wink, no I’ve been on the brink, so tell me what you  want from here, Something that were like those year,s Sick of all the  insincere, So I’m gonna give all my secrets away, This time, don’t need  another perfect line, Don’t care if critics never jump in line, I’m gonna  give all my secrets away
My god, amazing how we got this far, It’s like  we’re chasing all those stars, Who’s driving shiny big cars ,And everyday I  see the news, All the problems that we could solve, And when a situation  rises ,Just write it into an album, Singing straight, too cold I don’t  really like my flow, no, so
Tell me what you want from here, Something  that were like those years, Sick of all the insincere, So I’m gonna give all  my secrets away This time, don’t need another perfect line, Don’t care if  critics never jump in line, I’m gonna give all my secrets away
Oh, got  no reason, got not shame, Got no family I can blame, Just don’t let me  disappear, I’m tell you everything
So tell me what you want from  here, Something that were like those years, Sick of all the insincere, So  I’m gonna give all my secrets away This time, don’t need another perfect  line Don’t care if critics never jump in line I’m gonna give all my  secrets away
So tell me what you want from here Something that were  like those years Sick of all the insincere So I’m gonna give all my  secrets away, This time, don’t need another perfect line, Don’t care if  critics never jump in line, I’m gonna give all my secrets away, All my  secrets away, All my secrets away

There was a comment at the bottom of the page(gingen) that I thought summed this up quite nicely:

It sounds like the person singing is feeling a lot of pressure to tell some  juicy story that will have everyone talking about him so that he can be in the  spotlight again.
“I need another story, something to get off my chest. My  life gets kind of boring, need something that I can confess.”
However, he  doesn’t have an exciting story about a troubled family life or a dark, shameful  past; the kind of stories that people love to gossip about.
“Got no  reason, got no shame, got no family I can blame.”
The first time I  listened to the song, I thought he had become so desperate that he had decided  to just make up some story or do something dangerous that would attract a lot of  attention. But the chorus convinces me that that’s not the case.
“Sick  of all the insincere… This time, I don’t need another perfect line. I don’t  care if critics never jump in line.”
It sounds like he realizes that if  he did that he would get a lot of attention, but he personally feels like it’s  not worth it. He’s doing what he is just because he loves doing it, not because  he wants fame and attention. He’s realized that he doesn’t care about shocking  everyone with the perfect, story; he’s sick of everyone working so hard to get  attention that way and he wishes that people weren’t so shallow and  insincere.
Finally, I hear a plea for people to pay attention to him for  the right reasons – his music, his personality, his dedication to what he does -  even though he doesn’t have an ‘exciting’ life that would be on all the magazine  covers. He’s going to be honest and show us who he really is, and he hopes  people will appreciate that.
“Just don’t let me disappear. I’m gonna tell  you everything… I’m gonna give all my secrets away.”

This is how I am feeling this morning, I want to be something spectacular, I want to change the world, I want my life to make a difference but I do not need to have an exciting life by control, drama or creating chaos.

I can create an exciting world by doing things that are inline with my integrity, what my higher self wants.

So this situation that I am in as an observer, I can have compassion and forgiveness for.

I have been where these people are.

I have made poor decisions and bad judgement calls, but I forgive myself because I didn’t know better at the time.

So to myself I say” Please forgive me for anyway that I have affected you negatively, this was not my intent. I want to show love and forgiveness in all situations and even thou it sometimes takes me to think about it, I eventually get there, I am sorry for all the times I have judged you harshly, belittled you, crushed your dreams and thought you were worthless and unlovable. I love you and I thank you for the life that I have, you are beautiful, you have a beautiful spirit and all thou others have tried to squash it, it remains a constant light for you and others to see. God put you here to shine, and you can shine with your own light not the fake light of EGO drama.Just keep putting yourself on the path and you will serve the purpose that God has ment for you all along”

Always tell the truth because your secrets and lies will always find you out, they are based on sand and truth is based on rock…..Choose what you build, your life affects another, choose wisley……..xoxo

The Wise and Foolish Builders

²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice   is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+7%3A24-27&version=NIV

One man, one woman, one love.

Disclaimer: I have to warn you, dear readers, that this post will be even more un-PC than this. I apologize in advance if I offend you, and I welcome constructive debate. However, blatantly disrespectful comments will be deleted.

Do you consider yourself a “well-adjusted” individual? Would you fist-bump your girlfriend who bedded three men at once and can’t remember any of their names? Can you sleep with someone and not feel anything above the waist?

If this is the view on modern love, I wish I lived during the middle ages. In 21st-century America, we’ve put sex on a pedestal above love and cheapened both in the process. Now, I’m no prude when it comes to talking about sex and I’m really in no position to judge others. Recently, though, I realized that I’d fallen completely for the lie that media and popular culture shove down our throats: sex is nothing more than a piece of chocolate we can consume whenever we want and face no consequences.

The primary issue with modern sex is that it threatens to turn all men into customers and all women into prostitutes. While this statement may seem extreme, bear with me for a moment. Ask yourself: what is the primary sex educator today? No, it’s not your parents. No, it’s not that embarrassing and horribly lacking sex ed class in middle school. It’s the pornography industry. In 2006, worldwide pornography revenue was $97.06 billion, of which approximately $13 billion was in the United States. To put that in perspective, that’s more than the U.S. spent on foreign aid last year. That’s more than the combined revenue of pro baseball, basketball, and football. Hey people, if we all gave up porn, we could probably end world hunger!

The dude pays. The girl takes her clothes off. He indulges selfishly. The girl numbs herself with either drugs or dissociation. Does that sound like prostitution or pornography to you? I can’t seem to tell the difference. You may argue that pornography is different because it’s between consenting adults. Well, aren’t prostitutes technically “consenting” too? The truth is that neither porn stars nor hookers are in a position capable of consent. With child pornography being one of the fastest-growing online businesses, lack of consent is taken to an entire other level.

You may argue that porn stars are different because they honestly enjoy themselves and were made for this business. Think again. This is a quote from Jenna Jameson, whose name needs no introduction:

“Howard [Stern] asked me if I’d ever been molested or abused. It was the one question I wasn’t prepared for. ‘No’, I told Howard, in answer to his question. I lied like a rug. I wasn’t ready to tell anybody about any of this [being gang raped, beaten and left for dead], and I certainly wasn’t ready to deal with Howard’s reaction. I didn’t want anyone to think that I was in the business because I was a victim.”

If you contest that many women are abused and don’t end up in the industry, check out this quote from Ian Gittler’s A Diary of Six Years in the Life of a Porn Star:

“Half the women I knew outside porn had been sexually abused as little girls, so it only stood to reason that the statistics might apply in porn as well. One study of the general population claims it is two out of three. The puzzling refrain I’d begun hearing from porn outsiders: ‘There are plenty of people with histories of sexual abuse who didn’t grow up to be porn stars.’ That’s missing the point: The ones who did become sex workers were abused. All of them, that’s my guess.”

Now, check out the consequences porn actors and actresses face. Between 2007 and 2010, 36 porn stars died from HIV, suicide, homicide and drugs. 66% of porn performers have Herpes, a non-curable disease. Since 2004, 2,396 cases of Chlamydia and 1,389 cases of Gonorrhea have been reported. Compare that to U.S. prostitution statistics: the average age a girl enters prostitution is 14, 58% reported assaults, and 20% have STDs. Could it be that porn stars actually have it worse? According to former porn actress Shelly Lubben, “Pornographic performers usually prefer escorting because the pay is much higher and sex acts are not as degrading or physically demanding.”

The next time you view porn, do not lie to yourself that what you’re doing is any better than prostitution. Even if you don’t pay for your porn, every click contributes. Now that we’ve established how porn harms the performers themselves, how does it affect the men and women who aren’t in the business? 58% of national divorces are a result of a spouse looking at excessive amounts of pornography online. People, this is not because of overly jealous wives wanting to control their husbands. This is because porn is a drug — the more you use it, the more you need, and the less reality satisfies you.

By the way, since men are the largest consumer of pornography, for the purposes of this post I’ll assume that they are the ones viewing it. In relationships, not only do men devalue the beauty of a live, naked woman willing to shed her clothes for him and only him, they also have unrealistic expectations of her. Naomi Wolf writes for New York Magazine, “For the first time in human history, the images’ power and allure have supplanted that of real naked women. Today, real naked women are just bad porn.”

What has happened to the sanctity of love? Of sex? Of the relationship? In her article, Wolf describes a scene in which she is invited into the home of her Orthodox Jew friend.

“When she showed me her little house in a settlement on a hill, and I saw the bedroom, draped in Middle Eastern embroideries, that she shares only with her husband—the kids are not allowed—the sexual intensity in the air was archaic, overwhelming. It was private. It was a feeling of erotic intensity deeper than any I have ever picked up between secular couples in the liberated West. And I thought: Our husbands see naked women all day—in Times Square if not on the Net. Her husband never even sees another woman’s hair. She must feel, I thought, so hot.”

Now, that is what I want.

What is your opinion on pornography? How do you view sex in your relationships?

Ciao,

R

References:

http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/trends/n_9437/index1.html

http://www.oneangrygirl.net/antiqoute2.htm

http://www.shelleylubben.com/porn-industry-statistics

http://www.covenanteyes.com/2008/10/28/ex-porn-star-tells-the-truth-about-the-porn-industry/

http://www.statisticbrain.com/prostitution-statistics/