Truth and Love are the quintessential sources of personal and spiritual empowerment.  An understanding and utilization of these two essential elements are necessary for an abundantly joyful life and are freely available to every living being should they simply care to take the time and spend the energy to acquire and adopt these two greatest of all the gifts that were Divinely decreed to, and offered as the singular sources for the ultimate salvation of mankind.  As a necessary foundation upon which to build a solid personal structure of reality, it is best to first understand how we humans have arrived at such a deplorable state wherein most individual beings are simply living a life of beliefs that have been deliberately put in place and maintained by those who thrive on the enslavement of one's heart, body and soul.  Only the simple truth offered in the name of love has the innate power to free any individual from these binding shackles of the most foreboding doctrines and mythologies that are often offered as the fundamental  and unfounded basis of most world religions, most notably Christianity.
                                                                                                The Freedom Seeker

Thomas Jefferson had encountered great difficulty in the establishment of the "first" University in American that was not church and/or religiously sponsored or related.  He obviously had the properly conceived notion that, where religions and their consistently and doggedly insistence that the truth lies only within those narrowly defined tenants of its own faith, it would be almost impossible to achieve a true atmosphere of academic freedom and thought as well as the scientific establishment of  new discoveries.  That more than noble effort of Thomas Jefferson, resulting in the founding of the University of Virginia, was the quintessential essence of that ideal socio-political circumstance where there would exist a distinct separation of the church and its mostly conservative ideologies from that of a modern civil state that should rightly foster individual achievement and growth over which there should be NO moral authority.  Only in that ideal of circumstances would it be at all possible to actually have what is aptly called freedom of religion wherein every single individual remains equally free to pursue the truth according to his own beliefs and personals needs.

As a great man of letters, I am very confident that Thomas Jefferson, in the light of modern day knowledge and scientific realities, would be amusingly appalled at the present state of affairs where so many individuals still so blindly hold fast to these embellished religious mythologies that have been so totally challenged and dispelled by modern discoveries and science dramatically beginning with those far-reaching theories of Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) and that were so dramatically confirmed by Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) with his masterful and most timely invention and use of the telescope.  For Galileo's courageous contribution to the knowledge of his day that we were NOT the center of the universe and therefore most likely not the singular focus of creation, he was hastily placed under 'house arrest' by the head of the Catholic Church, and that atrocious and malign decree was only lifted in the last decade of the Twentieth Century, some three hundred and fifty years after his death.

Reality has not changed in its essence from the very first time that man began to explore his ever-expanding universe; the difficulty lies with man's ability or inability to successfully and realistically integrate his antiquated mythologies with the hard sciences of our modern times.  The beginning of any age of mankind is appropriately marked not with just the simple discovery of some previously undiscovered reality that had always existed, but most appropriately when the tangible fruits of that revelation or discovery have actually entered the mainstream of mankind's day-to-day world.  From our own Western culture perspective, the singular event that might well mark the beginning of this great Age of Reality could possibly be focused on Pope John Paul II, when on October 31, 1992, when the Vatican 'revisited' its initial indictment of Galileo's scientific confirmation of Copernicus' take on our universe's heavenly bodies and their actual relationship to earth.

Mankind and his innate noble spirit, has for too long, been held totally captive and spiritually enslaved to these archaic and notoriously oppressive religions and their often-time radical leaders who all too frequently subjugate that very loving nature that every individual man and woman should be equally and universally heir to. We are so very fortunate to be living in an age of such magnanimous discoveries.  And in most every instance mankind continues to challenge the spiritual impact of these modern discoveries and in too few cases might even be able to successfully dispel many of those notoriously and conservatively held points of view.

There is in reality nothing new under our own life-giving sun; mankind has only to accept and broaden his fundamental knowledge of what is already most evident in nature.  Mankind is most fortuitously and finally leaving behind the very infancy of his once political, social, psychological and spiritual development, and with this ever-immerging social and spiritual maturity mankind is fastly entering this most progressive Age of Reality.  And, above all, mankind is seemingly achieving much of this newly discovered maturity most notably with or without the blessings of many of our world religions, most notably that multitude of Christian faiths.

These rather large number of spiritually oppressive churches, temples, and mosques need not be totally dismissed or even left behind in the dust of modern discoveries; they should, however, all, so to speak, come clean about the ghastly multitude of their mostly bogus and certainly mythological claims.  Then, and only then, should these now spiritually irrelevant mythologies have the greatest of obligations to become more spiritually relevant to the real needs of their congregations.  I would suppose that this metamorphose could be easily achieved by simply redefining their various spiritual and social roles to reflect an ideology that truly and sincerely fosters the love and acceptance of all mankind as well as the infinitely and most magnanimous beauty of this naturally occurring diversity of mankind that has been manifested in this wonderful Garden of Eden.

This great diversity also carries with it the reality that not all individuals will posses either the desire or ability to recognize and/or even accept the fundamental precepts of this wonderfully freeing age; they are equally free to experience their own life's joy in any manner they see fit.  Mankind, for far too many reasons, has remained in the infancy of his deeper spirituality and it has only been the purveyors of these now terribly archaic mythologies that have selfishly profited far beyond any reasonable or authentic concern for these often blindly led followers’ spiritual wellbeing.  It is a reasonable expectation for the infant to believe in a Santa Clause, BUT to continue these fabled and mythological beliefs into the mature adulthood is a grave travesty that only feeds the despots of these infantile mythologies despite all the social order and good behavior that many of these old religions and mythologies are totally and rightfully given full credit for fostering.

So, you tell me; what should these now outdated and benign religions be doing to correct their misgivings.  Bishop John Shelby Spong wrote a book entitled, Why Christianity Must Change Or Die that only scratched the benign surface of the problems with America’s number one religion that claims the same God as is depicted as part of our country’s heritage as reflected in the expression, “One nation under God.”  I am appalled that we as free Americans still hold to this now failed expression as we have the most horrid statistical records when it comes to human failure as in; the broken homes, alcoholism, every crime under the sun, drug dependency and those countless and growing numbers of what is presently called “street people” or “the homeless.”

Jesus, as the greatest and most certainly profound humanitarian that ever lived on this planet spent most of his adult life seeking some reasonable answer for mankind’s pour plight and then sharing it with those who cared enough to try and did so until the troubled times of Constantine the Great.  Elaine Pagels explains the problem in the very first chapter of her best seller book, Beyond Belief.  The title of this first chapter truly sez and defines it all, From the Feast of Agapé to Constantine.  The operative words here are “Feast of Agapé” as this was the only real action required in order to respect and reflect the one and only commandment of Jesus and that is to, “Love your neighbor as I have loved you.”  You see, Constantine had absolutely no need of this singular power of love, but instead Constantine demanded “Absolute Obedience” of those slaves that constituted 90% of the population over which he ruled.  That is precisely why the Nicaean Creed is so totally devoid of even the very mention of Love, which was the one and only commandment of Jesus of Nazareth that we should learn to “Love” our neighbors.  You tell me, where in the hell did Constantine ever show any love for his slaves or those countless hordes of enemies that were ruthlessly murdered and slain under his ruthless and military command.  Constantine was, to the contrary the very epitome of the antichrist and yet he is hailed by many as the founder of the great Faith.  It is no wonder that Christianity has followed in the footsteps of its founder and absolutely showed no love for the countless neighbors put to death and its auspices of serving the one and only vengeful God. This death wielding God has no place in my universe and that includes the mythological Jesus created by this devil worshiper, Constantine the Great.

The reality is quite simple; Constantine created Christianity to meet his own carnal needs and it was his Spiritual Mafioso, those bishops that met at Nicaea at Constantine's demand, that created heaven and hell as a reward or punishment to the slaves as a means of obtaining from those slaves, their absolute submission to the dictates of the newly formulated religion (then the Catholic Church) as well as their absolute obedience to their slave-owners (the evidence of which was easily supplied by the slaves’ confessions to priests).  That is precisely why the Catholic Church’s FIRST rule over its own parishioners is governed by that one singular word "obedience" rather than Jesus of Nazareth only commandment of "love."

              Truth and Love are the original and cardinal concepts that were specifically laid down as the very fundamental and sole centerpieces of the profound and immutable teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. He firmly established the essence of the whole of his ministry addressed to his own impoverished and oppressed people and his uniquely supreme command of the understanding of his own people's religious laws based on these, and only these, two fundamental and inclusive concepts. There are no other professed tenets of knowledge or understanding found in any of this totally unique and great man's teachings that are not soundly and directly established on either Truth or Love and even more likely, both.  The following links will guide you through the progression of events and ideas that were not necessarily some hideous plot against mankind, but the progression and manifestation of ideas perpetrated usually by those who only wished to yield more and more power and control over their fellow human beings for their own persona edification and for the most part, absolutely nothing else.

Freedom

     Understanding comes from knowledge.  Of course, the source of that knowledge must be reliable and most certainly the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.  It was said that "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (St. John 8:32)   When we finally achieve that immutable and most rightfully-given freedom from the many and various physical, emotional and spiritual enslavements that most all human beings unfortunately endure from the very moment of our first breath, it is at that point at which we become able to truly love ourselves.  When we can feel really good about ourselves and feely rejoice in who and what we are, we can begin to practice that supreme commandment that ensures our having joy in and throughout our lives.  Jefferson wrote "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" as an inalienable right of every individual.  About eighteen hundred years before Jefferson coined this phrase, Jesus suggested that we love one another as the "Father" has loved us so that we might have joy in our lives.  Contrary to what many of us have been mistakenly taught, we are all deserving of that very freedom, love and joy.  You were most assuredly not born into this potentially wonderful life with some sinister curse that is sometimes referred to as "original sin."   I wish to totally dispel this maliciously conceived and totally man-made concept from your cherished list of beliefs, and instead, I offer you the first true step towards your own freedom from those who would unjustly bind and hope to enslave your heart, soul and mind.

The Truth

     Understanding comes from knowledge.  Of course, the source of that knowledge must be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.  It was said that "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (St. John 8:32)   When we finally achieve that God-given freedom from the many and various physical, emotional and spiritual enslavements that most of us unfortunately endure from the very moment of our first breath, it is at that point at which we become able to truly love ourselves.  When we can feel really good about ourselves and rejoice in who and what we are, we can begin to practice that supreme commandment that ensures our having joy in and throughout our lives.  Jefferson wrote "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" as an inalienable right of every individual.  About eighteen hundred years before Jefferson coined this phrase, Jesus suggested that we love one another as the Father has loved us so that we might have joy in our lives.  Contrary to what many of us have been mistakenly taught, we are all deserving of freedom, love and joy.  You were not born into this life with some sinister curse that is sometimes referred to as "original sin."   I wish to totally dispel this maliciously conceived and totally man-made concept from your cherished list of beliefs and instead offer you the first true step towards your own freedom from those who would unjustly bind and hope to enslave your heart, soul and mind.

     The most important aspect for you to keep in mind while you are reading and contemplating the expressed ideas found within the pages of this web site is that the contents are presented only for your contemplated consideration.  I sincerely do not wish for you to harbor any idea whatsoever that you have to believe anything that is herein expressed, and I certainly do not want you to unduly exercise what is commonly referred to as faith.  I do not have the knowledge of the original source of this following profound statement, but to me it has a most familiar ring of truth to it: "Anything you have to take on faith is a superstition."    I feel very much the same about the use of the word belief.  If you are so compelled to exercise some form of either faith or belief, may I suggest that it be rightfully directed towards yourself and certainly for your betterment.  You and you alone are worth believing in.  From where I view this miraculous world of ours, the source of all goodness lies within each of us individually.  We have all been born with that potential for Godliness as well as that Devine freedom of choice to choose any other alternate path, which in some cases may sadly lead to total destruction of our greater potential.  The reality is that many of our fellow brethren in this world-wide Garden of Eden have made it their sole and devious business to enslave their fellows in order to achieve any number of self-serving intentions.  I will later be expanding this dispiritedly realistic view of our world under that infamous topic of greed.

     I hesitate quoting the Bible because you may be tempted to misjudge me as being one of those damned Bible-thumping Christians that all too often abuse the contents of this great book in order to deceive others.  I am careful to only quote those very words that are attributed to Jesus himself.  That is why I prefer to use a red-lettered edition of the King James version of the Bible:
 
    St. John 14:17  "Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."

Love

     There just cannot be enough said about the power and supreme majesty of love.   It should be so, that all of us are conceived in love.  Certainly when we are first introduced to this world, we are usually immediately delivered into the arms of the very person who is most apt to give and demonstrate love in every imaginable manner.  We have all been commanded to live our entire lives under only one great commandment that contains a promise of joy in our lives.   A Biblical lawyer in a Hebrew temple once challenged the wisdom of Jesus with a recondite question; "What is the greatest commandment of them all?"  Jesus diplomatically answered these lawyers' demand to state what was then considered this "great commandment in the law" by expounding: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (St. Matthew 22:37-40)  For your information/education this response to the Hebrew Pharisees and Sadducee was the last time that Jesus included any reference of "God" being included in his commandments.  After this initial response it was only the second portion of this answer, "love one another," that was repeatedly referred to and the "first and only commandment" that should govern our daily behavior.   
     Jesus clearly proclaimed that we should love God, but he then offered that second commandment that was not knowingly sought by those Hebrew lawyers nor was it even practiced as part of the Jewish law.   It was only here at this particular time and place that Jesus had ever suggested that there just might be some other law considered greater than that of simply loving our neighbors as ourselves.   There was no further reference to the greatest commandment being a love of God.   Instead, the only repeated commandment attributed to Jesus himself was that of loving our neighbor as we love ourselves.  Of course, if you have the understanding that the Kingdom of Heaven is within all of us and that this great God therein resides, you'll understand the truth that loving ourselves and others is one in the same as loving God.   "I and the Father are one."  This is the Divine truth.  When you demonstrate this one and only commandment of loving your neighbor, then it can be confidently said that, YOU and the Father are equally one in the same.
     Everything I have shared with you so far has been so simply summed up in The Second Epistle of John:

    1 THE ELDER unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth;
    2 For the truth's sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever.
    3 Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
    4 I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.
    5 And now I beseech thee, lady, not as thought I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.
    6 And this is love, that we walk after his commandments.  This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.
    7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.  This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
    8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.
    9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God.  He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
    10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:
    11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.
    12 Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink: but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face, that our joy may be full.
    13 The children of thy elect sister greet thee.  Amen.

     I have taken the liberty of quoting the Bible because it contains so many wonderful and love/life-giving ideas that can be applied to anyone within any religion anywhere in the world.  This is not true simply because some hold to the often false belief that Christianity alone has the only answer for the salvation of man.  The Bible certainly isn't perfect, as it most certainly wasn't written by anyone except mortal men who possessed a great passion for their love of a God that they had come to know in so many different ways.  The Catholic Church is certainly to be acknowledged and commended for having preserved the oldest written accounts of Jesus as well as the writings of many of the religious men of the first centuries.  It should also be recognized that it was a council of men in the Third Century that concurred and decided for all of us as to which of these 'sacred' writings would be included in the New Testament and which writings were conveniently omitted because these same mortal and flawed men felt that their inclusion wasn't in the best interest of the Church's mission of demanding blind obedience to the establishment.  It is sad to recognize that the truth was not necessarily the only criteria used by these early clergymen.
     The earlier periods of what became known as Christianity that have so tragically left their indelible marks mostly on Western civilization have regrettably accounted for much of the strife and hatred that has been so wrongfully demonstrated by countless men, their governments and even their religious institutions.  It is appalling to consider the devastation to life that has been historically wrought in the name of "God."  The knowledge and awareness of this is certainly nothing new, but it is now terribly important that we don't ignorantly continue to teach and patronize these ill-conceived superstitions, mythologies and lies that have only served to foster the unrestrained hatred we have all witnessed in this world of ours.  Many of us have even participated in these global conflicts and certainly most of us have viewed the carnage with the modern aid of telecommunications, often in real time presentations.
     If the great commandment is indeed the unconditional love of our neighbors, then the very greatest sin in the eyes of this supposedly great God is the deliberate and malicious violation of this Devine decree.  There were no stated criteria placed on whom we should consider as our neighbors; it should to totally inclusive of all mankind.  Jesus demonstrated a boundless love for everyone he encountered, even when talking to and associating with prostitutes, for which he was even then sorely criticized. I feel that we have miserably failed to free ourselves of this ominous oppression of hate simply because we all rightfully fear the inevitable alienation that would most certainly accompany the usual harsh condemnation of our souls by our traditionally revered religious institutions.  Our Western churches must surrender to the actual Truth and proceed to teach only love, or they should simply suffer ultimate banishment in the same hateful manner in which they have continually condemned those of us who do not blindly adhere to so many of their false precepts and teachings.

What's Ahead

     I wish I could tell you that I am a messenger from this God whose very existence I seriously question, but I would be committing the same awful deception that so many other clergymen falsely claim.  I am so totally dedicated to both the truth and love, that should be such an integral part of every man and woman's greatest potential, that I would not dare violate your wanted and cherished trust.  I hope to continue this loving work with daily additions  that will give you the blessed knowledge and understanding of your own Divine and most inner-greatness as well as why you have just possibly been denied the whole Truth that could have so greatly empowered you to live a full life of joy.  It has taken many generations of misspent time and misplaced faith to have arrived at this sad state of mankind, and I am not at all hopeful that anything is apt to significantly change our treacherous course anytime in the near future.
     I have elected to share with you the wisdom of a charmed and very blessed life because I also know that part of my own Divine duty, as "my brother's keeper" is to share with you the Truth.   Understand that I make no claim of offering you salvation; that is entirely in your own hands.  I'm not sure why it has taken me so long and the experiences of so much worldly misery to have finally arrived at this point in my life, where I truly wish for the very best for all of mankind.  I'm certainly no saint, and that is why I have no prescribed role of perfection to follow or any great need to say only what would aptly ingratiate me to any of my brothers.  I am going to share just one of my poems that I wrote in my late teens.  It sounded rather arrogant at the time I wrote it, but almost forty years later I find it comforting that the Truth was already immerging from within my own being:

                           Myself

       March 20, 1961

                                                                                  Continue to the next Page