I Believe

Antiphon:   Love rejoices in the truth

I believe in God the Creator,
Who gives us breath and life,
Maker of all that is.

I believe in Jesus the Christ;
Wholly God and Wholly Man,
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
And was born to a maid named Mary,

Who was tormented by Pontius Pilate,
Was crucified, died, and was entombed.
Who ministered to the dead,
And whom the gates of hell and death cannot restrain.

Three days after his death, he arose,
And ascended into heaven,
He sits on the right hand of God the Creator.
He shall come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
The Church, the Body of Christ,
The communion of saints,
The forgiveness of sins,
The resurrection of the body,
And the life everlasting.

The Voice of Evil

The voice of evil calls to us
Wherever it can reach us
It delights in death, despair and destruction
It raises up sin after sin before our eyes
Look! It says; Humans (even you) are hopelessly corrupt!
There is no use in building,
Everything will be swept away!
Everything you create is already dying, falling apart, will be destroyed!
Your neighbors are criminals, rapists, even pedophiles!
Everyone wants to steal from you!
Your very identity is at risk!
Cancer, murder, terrorism, death and loss!
Darkness, addiction, corruption and evil!

The voice of evil shouts at you from your TV, your radio, the newspaper and the internet. It repeats it's message of death and hopelessness over and over, and good honest people start repeating it themselves.

But there is a reason that the voice of evil must be so strident, and so unceasing, and that is because it is trying to drown out another voice; A voice that permeates all creation, that comes from every thing; A quiet voice, a humbler melody - that whispers to everything from everywhere;

Live
Love
Share
Give
Help
Grow
Build
You are beloved
You are wonderful
You are beautiful
You are wanted
You are needed
You can help
You make a difference
You are One

And in the end, the voice of evil is only a counterpoint to the one voice.
Nothing it said ever mattered in the first place.
It is forever on the outside,
Forever trying to obscure what is true,
Forever living in lies;
There is nothing permanent there,
It lies outside of the truth;
It is darkness and distraction;
It is cloud and mist;
It will burn away in the sun;
It will be swept away by joy.

Listen to the voice of joy;

Live
Love
Share
Give
Help
Grow
Build
You are beloved
You are wonderful
You are beautiful
You are wanted
You are needed
You can help
You make a difference
You are One

Peace to you who are One with Love

Don't Feed Satan

Christ charges us to be wise in our efforts and prudent with our resources, and for good reason.

It is very easy to hear the word, and rejoice, and try to serve, but have all one's efforts be absorbed in dealing with the unimportant cares of this world.

It is not in the best interests of The Light if you find yourself spending your time and treasure on that which does not last, or which helps few.

There are needy people in the world who will absorb every ounce of your effort and money. There are greedy people in the world who will do the same. The government can absorb huge amounts of money and paperwork.

Where you can, you should minimize the time and money spent on these things. To the degree you can, you must cut Satan out of your payroll, and out of your schedule.

Don't spend your efforts on endeavors which are gone in a moment.
Don't do 'what is percieved as proper' if that time and treasure could be spent getting someone to a new place, teaching someone, creating opportunities, or doing something else of real long-term worth.

To some degree the world will insist you waste your time and treasure. It will insist that you feed Satan. And you can spend all your time fighting to keep your treasure out of Satan's hands, or vice-versa.

Here is where we must be wise in our use of our time. Cut Satan out wherever you can, but don't waste your time on battles that you won't win, and that will use up your time.

Come up with an idea of what your time is worth, and use it to evaluate your efforts. Spend your time and treasure generously, but wisely.

Make Satan work for your money, and spend for his time with you. Make him make appointments with you, take out your trash, help someone along the way. But be diligent, lest in shorting Satan, you are unjust to someone else. Be as wise as you are able, and as kind as you can afford.

But don't ever miss a chance to share love, if you can help it. Because love, unlike time and treasure, only increases when it is spent.

All My Love to You