Category: Guest Blogs

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A Journey to Woo-Woo Land (A Joint Blog) [ Post # 55 ]

This is a joint blog with Larry Thomson, my friend who has written two guest blogs previously. It’s a little different in that we delve into the weird side of life, the speculations on the other dimensions of life that some people, including some scientists, sense and believe in to some degree. I’m talking about things like String Theory, Black Holes, Black Energy, Etc. Quantum physics is currently exploring and investigating these realms and I must admit, it is interesting, confusing, and way beyond my comprehension. I read the books by scientists concerning these topics and my eyes glaze over as I don’t understand what I’m reading, often. Still, I do push to expand my mind to try to comprehend as much as I can. I admit, this is mysterious territory and I just can’t dismiss, categorically, all of this “woo-woo” stuff. I will now present Larry’s essay that he provided to me on this subject.

Two interesting books on “woo woo” subjects of different dimensions I’ve recently read

WHAT IF

By Larry J. Thomson

When I was a senior in high school, my friend Brian and I drove from Owensboro to Henderson in Kentucky one night for some “up-to-no-good” time. On the way home, I was showing off and driving way too fast. The faster I drove, the more Brian tensed up and squirmed. I was rather enjoying this uncharacteristic display of power. As the speedometer hit 90 mph we hit a curve in the road, I hit the brakes, and the blue ’64 Chevy station wagon, my family’s car, flipped three times, caving in the roof, demolishing the car, instantly killing Brian and myself..

This story is true except for the ending. Instead of flipping, the car did three or four whirlybird spins and stopped in the highway median, not a scratch on us and no damage to the car. Fortunately, no other cars were in sight. After the initial shock, we laughed it off and continued, under the speed limit. We were teenagers.

While the car was spinning, I went into, what seemed like another zone. I could see Brian down on the floor of the car and I felt like I had resigned all control to another power. In those moments, what if…?

What if we were in a portal to another dimension; a place where the scenario could have gone either way? What if both scenarios actually happened simultaneously; one where we survived and another where we died, and maybe even another where we were maimed or paralyzed for life? We all have those “what if” moments in our life. What if I had gotten on that plane that crashed? What if I had married my high school sweetheart? What if I had been drafted and sent to Vietnam?

There are also those bigger “what ifs” of life. What if Lee Harvey Oswald had missed? What if Hitler’s mother miscarried? What if we had contact from life on another planet? What if a person in Asia hadn’t eaten a bat?

I believe all these situations are playing out right here, right now, as well as the one situation we are focusing our awareness on – right here, right now. Metaphysics, as well as quantum physics talks about such possibilities, and experiments have been done to support the theories. Scientists believe there are at least eleven different dimensions that can be proven. I believe the number of dimensions is infinite. I believe there are as many dimensions as there are thoughts and every thought can switch us from one dimension to another. I also believe that when we dream, our soul-mind is interdimensionally traveling while our body is resting and continuing functioning as it, of itself, knows exactly how to do. Our awareness moves from our bodies and travels through what Rod Serling called the “dimension of our imagination”. There, we live other lives; with souls we don’t know in this world, with souls that we knew but have departed this world, in places from our past, places in other worlds, with beings from other worlds, etcetera, etcetera. I have realized that while I sometimes have recurring dreams, I most often am amazed at the unlimited variety of situations I experience in my dreams. Sometimes we decide to remain in one of those situations. More often we awake and our focus is back where we were before we went to sleep.

Most likely, we all give thought to those tipping points in our life and think “what if”. Personally, I could have joined the religious brotherhood, married a girlfriend named Debbie right out of high school, been drafted and sent to Vietnam (I was low on the draft list but got a 4Fclassification), stayed in Owensboro, Texas, Denver, or San Francisco instead of moving on, stayed with my lover David in Denver, OD’d on Quaaludes in San Francisco, died of AIDS in the 1980’s, not taken that permanent job with the County, and so on and so on. And if I had pushed a little harder on that gas pedal and reached 95 mph, the car could have flipped instead of spun. Knowing what I know now, all of the above would have been disastrous. But in the eternal realm of creation, all of these occurrences are playing out this very moment as well as limitless others.

Many new age authors write about “the now”, and what we experience now is depending on where we focus our awareness. It works individually as well as collectively. We may focus on the past or the future, but we’re doing it now which makes the past and future mere illusions. I’m sure a lot of folks consider all these kinds of things a lot of woo-woo. But then they will say, “God is everything, everywhere, in everyone, all the time” (time being another illusion). Jesus said, “all things are possible with God” which also means God is all possibilities; those we are focused on, and those we are not. Within the stillness of God, every potential is playing out. We have the choice of which potential to put our attention on, and sometimes we let our choice be influenced or even dictated by others with an agenda that may be altruistic, or may be selfish.God said to Moses, “tell the people I AM sent me to you”. How many times a day do we say “I am”? When we say it, are we realizing we are speaking the name of God? What follows? I am this or I am that. Are we focused or speaking vaguely? Are we controlling our focus and therefore our lives? Are we afraid of losing something or someone if we change our focus and therefore change our lives?

Ancient wisdom teaches that nothing is lost in all of Creation. Matter is simply focused energy and energy is neither created nor destroyed, but ever changing; changing based on focus. So I feel assured that whatever our focus is “mattering” at this moment, all the things we are not focused on are still happening in some dimension waiting to be focused on, or not focused on. Jesus said “in my father’s house are many mansions (dimensions)”. Then he affirmed that this is true for himself as well as everyone.

Science, religion, new age – ancient wisdom spirituality, and our own life experiences tell us in agreement; all things ARE possible; nothing is lost; and God Power is in every one of us ready to be applied to our lives and take us wherever we will to go, do whatever we will to do, and be whoever we will to be.

In conclusion (Wally)…

So, we’re really “getting out there,” aren’t we? I am pretty much in alignment with a lot of what Larry writes. I know my dream world is really wild. Have I got stories! I think a lot of us do. We often dismiss a lot of things we experience in life and the dream world that are very mystical, spectacular , unexplainable and unbelievable. I think we sometimes “drift” into other dimensions, into the “twilight zone,” you could call it. People who have had NDE’s (near death experiences) have some wild stories. there is more to life than meets the eye, as they say.

If you are a total skeptic or an unbeliever of anything but the material, physical world, well, so be it. I get it. But, someday you may just stumble into some type of contact with other dimensions and be astonished, shocked, dumbfounded. I think the perspectives Larry and I have shared here are not that uncommon in the whole scheme of life on this planet. New discoveries are being made all the time in science and physics. I say, just be open to all dimensions as you proceed on your journey. Life is an evolution and a revealing if we are awake and true to ourselves.

Wally

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How Nature Has Guided Me To Glorify God [Guest Blog – Post # 50]

Once again it is my pleasure to have a guest blogger, my friend Larry J Thomson, share his recent essay on my blogging site. His subject, nature and glorifying God, fit in with my blogging theme of being on “the path,” and “it’s a wonderful life.” Enjoy.

By

Larry J Thomson

I woke up to the sound of a bird chirping somewhere in the giant Eucalyptus tree right outside my window. I realized I hadn’t heard the bird for a good long while. Previously, I woke to it every morning at exactly the same time, making the same sound. I wasn’t aware when it stopped being there, but this morning I wondered if the fact that the clocks just turned back one hour somehow made a difference. That the bird always came at the same moment, but my routine changed because of our manipulation of time. I lay there and listened to the bird for a while. Then the thought came to me that the bird was glorifying God, simply by being a bird, doing what birds naturally do. It was a sacred, enlightening moment. “That bird just taught me how to glorify God,” I thought. It’s so simple. Just be your natural self. Do what you love. Does the bird love hanging out in a tree, chirping? Apparently so. I also realized that by my lying there appreciating the bird, I was also glorifying God. For a moment, the bird and I were one.

I’ve always loved nature. Growing up on a farm, I was surrounded by an abundance of it every day. The farm animals were my pets, but I had to learn that some of them would someday be my breakfast or dinner. So I learned to enjoy the farm animals, but not get attached to them like I did my dog Trixie. My devotion to nature eventually led me to vegetarianism, and drives me out to the wilderness every chance I get, to hike, appreciate the sensations of sight, sound, and smell, and glorify God.

Once, I was hiking near Idyllwild, up in the mountains above Palm Springs. Supposedly, I was on a loop and if I just kept going, I would end up back where I started. But the longer I hiked, the more I wondered if I hadn’t taken a wrong turn somewhere. The hike was seeming longer than it was supposed to. But I sometimes felt that way on hikes, and the trailhead ended up being just around the next bend. Suddenly on the trail ahead of me I saw an animal jump across the path. It moved so fast that I didn’t get a real good look at it, but I swore it looked like a wolf. I know there are not supposed to be wolves this far south. But then maybe they are here and it’s just that no one has seen them. I’ve seen enough coyotes to know that it was too big for that. It wasn’t someone’s dog because as I stopped and waited, I didn’t see or hear any other people on the trail. I waited for a moment thinking, what to do? I knew turning around and going back the way I came was going to be a long hike. But I finally decided to give the animal, whatever it was, it’s space. I turned around to retrace my steps, looking back occasionally to make sure I wasn’t being followed. I hadn’t gone too far when I came to a fork I had missed earlier. As it turned out, I had ventured off the loop and was heading completely in the wrong direction. Back on the loop, I returned to the car. I paused and thanked the “wolf” for steering me in the right direction. Glorious Nature had taken care of me and prevented me from getting lost.

A while back, I was hiking in Griffith Park. I was taking a road less traveled with thick bushes lining a narrow path. Suddenly, I heard an unfamiliar sound. It was a clicking of sorts. I looked down and at my feet was a rattlesnake fixed between me and a rock. It was only a couple of feet away, and withing striking distance. It had nowhere to go and was curling and slithering back upon itself. I was wearing shorts and felt extremely vulnerable so I slowly took a step back, then another, and another until I was safely away. Then I turned and hightailed it out of there. The first thing I realized was that rattlesnakes don’t sound like they do on television. It wasn’t like shaking a baby’s rattle. It was like a clicking and hissing combination. It was creepy and it haunted me for several nights afterward. Even so, after some thought, I understood that by nature, it didn’t want to hurt me. It was letting me know it was there and would protect itself if necessary. I was smart enough to take the warning. Nature is at its most glorious when there is mutual respect.

Nature gives me so many pleasures. My favorites are the smells of daffodils and honeysuckle. They both grew on the farm, and now there are some honeysuckle bushes in the yards around my neighborhood for me to enjoy when I go for walks. I love the beauty of daisies, sunflowers and morning glories. I remember the taste of blackberries that also grew wild on the farm, and how we ate them as we picked them for Mom to make into cobbler. I delight in the feel of grass on my bare feet, a clod of dirt in my hand, and a cooling breeze on my face on a hot summer day. And as for sound; I love the silence of the Redwood forest or a pasture cloaked with snow on a winter day.

Speaking of Winter; there’s a song that goes “If I Ruled The World, Every Day Would Be The First Day Of Spring”. I once felt that way, but after years of being away from distinct seasons, I appreciate whenever I can experience them again. I love the beauty and uniqueness of each one.

And so here I Am. A unique and beautiful creature of nature, as are We All. As the bird chirps and flits about from branch to branch, so do I do what comes natural for me. And the more I Am able to be in that state of passionate, loving, natural awareness of being; the more I glorify God.

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A Journey From The Roman Catholic Church to God ( Guest Blog / Blog #45 ) – By Larry J. Thomson

Today’s blog is a guest blog from a good friend on mine. He had written this essay to me recently and I was very impressed with his story and thought it would make a good “guest blog.” The subject is in line with the theme of my blog “On the Path, It’s a Wonderful Life.

  • “Do you renounce Satan?” “I do renounce him. ”“And all his works?” I do renounce them.” “Do you believe in the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?” “I do believe.” “This is the faith of the Church. We are proud to profess it, in Jesus Christ, our Lord. I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” And they all said “Amen”. I was baptized on Sunday, October 12, 1952 at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Owensboro, Kentucky. I was twelve days old.
  • The responses above were spoken by my oldest brother and sister who were my godparents. Thus, was my fate sealed. I was to go to parochial school, a catholic high school, and adhere to the beliefs and dogmas of the Roman Catholic Church for the rest of my life. Except that it didn’t turn out that way.
  • Growing up, I was a good little catholic boy. I was even an altar boy. No girls allowed on the altar then. I went to mass (the rituals and robes fascinated me), confession (I was a pretty good kid so sometimes I had to make up sins), received holy communion (if you touch the host you will immediately drop dead and go to hell), revered the priests (escaping molestation), and got an excellent basic education of readin’, writin’ and ‘rithmatic while also enduring the mental, emotional, and physical abuse of the nuns as just a natural part of life. At least life in catholic schools. It appears that some of the horrific memories are burned in my mind forever. I once went to the local convent cemetery looking for the grave of a particular nun so I could spit on her grave. Extreme, you say? Disrespectful? You should hear what she did to me. But rather than wallow in the past too much, I’d rather move on to my journey out of the Church. It was natural for catholic boys and girls to consider the religious life. I was no exception. I thought I wanted to be a Franciscan friar. Francis himself was never ordained and didn’t feel a call to the priesthood. As a senior in high school, the Holy Cross brothers of Notre Dame came to the house one day and actively recruited me. But if I was going in, it was going to be the Franciscans. My high school guidance counselor (a nun) was setting up an after-graduation summer live-in with the local Franciscan Conventuals, who would help me arrange to enter the Order of Friars Minor brotherhood in Cincinnati the following September. Then, overnight, something changed. I went to the guidance counselor and told her to forget it with no explanation. Was I going to tell her that I was realizing that the attraction I was feeling for men was not ever going to subside? Not on your life. I already knew the scoop. It was a mental disorder (this was the early 70’s). It was a natural inclination to sin. It was disgusting, sick, and an abomination to God. I would not be worthy to wear the same habit Francis of Assisi wore.
  • With some fortuitous, non-Catholic counseling, I escaped Owensboro two years after high school graduation. After some moving around, getting used to being on my own and making my own decisions, I flippantly stopped going to mass and landed in Denver, Colorado, living the life of an ordinary, working, young gay man, going to bars, making friends and “tricking” every chance I got. One of those “tricks”, a one-night stand, left a notebook in my apartment. It had one written page in it. It was an essay of sorts. It spoke of an experience where he was deserted by two friends in Santa Monica. He went on to say that if we are all one, one cannot be deserted. It’s not possible to conceive. That in Truth, oneness is not dividable, etc. etc. It sounded like a bit of jibber jabber at the time, but it stirred my curiosity. Where did these ideas come from? Bit by bit I did research, and through friends, and even other “tricks” these esoteric ideas started coming out in conversations. I found out that there were entire religions that espoused these kinds of beliefs and thinking, such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Gnosticism, and the new age religions such as Science of Mind, Unitarian, and Christian Science. My own unique, personal, spiritual journey to God had begun and it started with a “trick” whose left-behind notebook became the first volume of my spiritual journal.
  • Three cities and two states later, I am now on volume four. Most of my immediate family remained faithful Catholics, so I keep up on the evolution, or lack thereof, in the church. Not only has there been very little change in the last 48 years, but in many respects, it’s gone backwards from the visions of Vatican Council II. The current Pope seems ready to open that window again and let the fresh air in, but the collective body of bishops is still very conservative. Mandatory celibacy for priests, a male-only priesthood, prohibited divorce, forbidden same-sex marriage, and a tenacious condemnation of a woman’s right to choose birth control are just some of the abuses the church still imposes on its members. I call these abuses because they are devoid of any loving consideration that changing these policies just might save a person from a life of misery, loneliness or in many cases, worse.
  • In my journey to God, I also found Jesus who I call by his Aramaic name, Eshoo. The flesh and blood man who did not judge or condemn, except for the hypocritical religious and political leaders of his day. He hung out with the common folks. The rubble. The sinners. The marginalized. The prostitutes. The tax collectors. The poor. The homosexuals. He said God is in us and we are gods. His message and teachings were about love, peace, and non-violence. And then, of course, they killed him. After I left the church, I wondered about how I could’ve done it so suddenly, dismissively and callously.
  • The answer was and is, it just wasn’t spiritually fulfilling enough to hold me. It kept God someplace out there where I had to search, pray, and beg for any communication or answer to a prayer. Usually the answer was no, or no answer at all. I haven’t become a guru, a mystic, or a sage. I have had many a dark night of the soul, dark nights of doubt, confusion, and frustration. I have angrily cursed and denied God. But I have always come back to the realization, that the God I cursed and denied was not real. He was the one I thought was out there someplace. The true God is what Eshoo called the realm of God that is within. Every time we say “I Am” we speak God’s name. Every time you speak your name, you speak God’s name. Truth is what God is. Here is where God is. I Am who God is. Love is what God does. I thank God for the many revelations I have received during my numerous and continuing trips around the sun. And I also thank God for sending me that “trick”.

Thank you, Larry for that most fascinating essay, a brief overview of your spiritual journey to God. I love hearing how people find their way to a real experience of the ineffable, what we often call God.

Wally