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ARROGANCE AND VANITY
By Rev. David Strickler, Ph.D.
Sometimes it is difficult to decide what needs to be written about within any given period of the year. There is so much increasing isolation and elitism being created in the globalization of the world that I sometimes find myself contemplating just what needs to be said.
There are many experiences within the period of time before publication of this newsletter, noteworthy events that portray the activity of an intrinsic principle of the Life Power as it can be seen dancing and glistening through the fabric of the outward appearances created by the Senses. Consequentially, the ability to discern and render the knowledge gleaned in such Supra-ordinary experiences is challenging to say the least, even to provide a partial revelation of a sequence or parsec of the knowledge available in such noumenon, much the same way snapshots of an event or experience can be positioned next to each other to establish a lucid dream type of apparition convoked as a starting point of representational objects conjured by the senses.
At this point you may be wondering what the hell I am talking about and I would answer you thus, Easter and the principle of LIFE that it articulates through the fabric of nature. As it presents itself through nature is by no means the only configuration that can be brought into effectuality through the limited powers (albeit great they may be within their own domain) of Nature. There is much missed amidst the contrivances established for a central focal point of attention thus assembled as we pay homage to that source which enables the continuity of our physical life AND the eternal continuity of our consciousness as it moves through countless experiences of Life; One life indeed with many ages and facets of knowledge and experience uncovered from within the eternal quest of Spirit on the path of AGAPE.
Let me illustrate for a brief moment the dance of the Life Power as the lower powers of nature resonate or attempt to articulate some small portion of the immanence of ITS Eternal fountain. I took my car down to give it a bath today at the local gasoline dealer. It’s just a small automatic type of wash and the day seemed to be perfect to get the windshields clear enough to see through, as you probably already know, parking under trees leaves a mist of sap across the glass along with the surface of the paint looking as if it had come through the war of the birds who were target practicing. The line became rather long, many waiting to resurface the appearance of their automobiles.
The car washes here resemble the size of a larger shed with two open areas like windows on the side. It is a rather interesting experience to watch and be in the car as the automation takes place, I enjoy the sounds and feeling of all the water spraying on the body of the car and I can actually hear my car sound a sigh of relief as it gets its back scratched. I was watching the water mist carry with the breeze when a bird landed on the edge of one of the windows to the auto wash. I thought, what a smart bird, taking in the mist , kind of like an automatic bird bath, although I had also thought that it could have been one of the birds that came to laugh at me because of what it had done on my car in numerous places. It looked over at me then turned around in the mist then jumped out of sight to the ground floor on the other side. Guess the bird wanted a bath too!
Finally, it was my turn to get my car done so I pulled it in and put the front tires in the right slots and set the car into neutral. The bird was watching from the other side of the building from the window ledges. How cute I thought, waiting for a clean shiny surface to follow me home to target practice again, or else he wanted to see if it would come off. I didn’t notice that the bird had followed me home, I did check later to see if there were any spots and lo and behold, it was still clean.
Epiphanies come in all sorts of sizes and can come through just about anything, IF one is receptive within the still point of their consciousness. Easter is the time of a clean slate, for fresh bloom, beginnings of newness and conveys through the plumage of nature the resurrection from within the containers of life the cycle of expressions that the Life Power weaves within all the tapestry of its work. If a bird can respond to the presence of the Life Power within the limited scope and fabric of its physicalness, imagine the greater boundaries inherent within the scope of the Creative Power of Human Reason that the Life Power bestowed, much to the consternation of blabbering produced by the likes of HOBBES and KANT, within the crown of creation known as Human Beings.
I sit and watch the rant of ninnies within the political, religious and other areas of the community we live in this nation and at times I do question whether the rant is nothing more than the massive power of marketing being used as the engine for social engineering, wondering, where in the hell do we come up with these people? It seems the modern culture of consumerism has found a fertile bed of arrogance and vanity to bloom about the richest group of deceivers that, quite possibly, have ever walked the face of the earth in perhaps any time of history, yet to borrow a phrase from the rock group Led Zeppelin, “The Song Remains the Same”.
Arrogance and Vanity seem to be part of the mechanisms used to shift away from a healthy introspection that shame or guilt and what confronting that shame or guilt can produce—Truth. This appears to be to so from some of the ranks of preachers: political, secular fundamentalism and many more disciplines that are producing their fanfare of applied marketing sloganisms to attract and besiege the everyday person. Within the religious ranks, it goes without saying, that the arrogant and vain are found too, yet I haven’t found who is deadlier, the economist stuffing their pockets from using just the pursuit of pure financial theory, or the politician using well honed marketing statements that are produced to the point that they can say they haven’t lied, but it can be said that the choices of words and information they have used DECEIVED people. The Satanic principle does that, Deceives. If one has enough arrogance and vanity then it can appear as though the person doing the deceiving can ‘pull it off’.
The Height of arrogance is claiming that God is speaking to one and using that as a means to defend the foundation for one’s behavior. Pure, plain and simple arrogance using the action of Vanity to claim that one is speaking to God. Don’t give me the Moses or Abraham crap at this point, their isn’t a spiritual person alive today that could hold a candle to the articulate presence of the Lord in these days and times, including ST. Paul, whom taking everything into consideration, I believe was a jackass. What has this day and age of modern marketing become? Pretending to speak with the Lord when in fact these people I have questioned can’t even tell me what the Voice of their Soul sounds like or how they distinguish that voice from the voicing of their Spirit?
From the tradition I studied from it isn’t likely that God’s voice is being heard, more like the Archangel Metatron that is used as the voice for God. I have come to the partial conclusion that those empty cans of noise out there are hearing the voice of their own personal EGO and personality, which is more likely, and a few perhaps even the voice of their Soul. Where in the Hell do we come up with these people and this type of behavior? I have one simple answer—-MONEY, POWER and IMITATION.
Do I think God could speak to anyone? Of course I do, but I say that it is arrogant to even second guess when the AUTHOR of LIFE is going to speak through an event or to someone or through someone. It is a far more arrogant act of vanity to believe God is going to give you anything that IT (he/she) hasn’t already included within the Cosmic and Human aspect of your Spirit and Soul for you to TAP. God isn’t some ignoramus that forgets to give you what you need. That is partly why I stress the teaching of the Soul and Spirit so much. We came into life to discover what has been given to us already to use: we must do the mining and the labor though; God doesn’t even have to do a damn thing.
Pray to God? What for? You think God is some sort of idiot that forgot something? That is why he gave you a Soul and Spirit. Pray to your soul first to uncover the Grace and Gifts already abundant within those levels, anything beyond that is an act of arrogance and arrogant vanity as far as I am concerned. Does that mean I think or feel that we shouldn’t pray to ‘God’? No, I am not saying that at all. I do believe that we as humanity have to get off our asses and uncover what has already been given to us. Since we haven’t, I believe that what we see around us happening is from the corrupt and malformed thinking of the walking sepulchers (politicians, religious, secular certainty fanatics) that go hither thither and yon sucking the productive powers of people and their cash from whatever angle they can frame and hoist it into some policies and some laws.
We are created in the image and likeness of the Creator; however you define that creator from the limited refuge of your religious prerogative. We have been given everything that we need, it lies dormant in many instances waiting to be discovered.
Can God intervene? I suppose God can do anything God damn well pleases to do but am I to claim with audacity, arrogance and vanity that he is going to do such and such? Get a life and a psychiatrist, because surely you can’t read English from the Old Testament and are suffering under some serious consumerist Delusion created by your arrogance and Vanity. The infamous Pharisees and Sadducees were illustrious at that kind of behavior, along with the parasitic feudalists and monarchs of their day.
In this day and age of speaker-less voice transmission and microwave signals that can send digital messages that can be targeted and heard within the human ear from a digital device and source, I think a small percentage of these so called people are being screwed with and the brunt end technological prank (link: US Patents for subliminal suggestion & mind control by audio, visual & electronic methods a small, note small sampling of the technologies available) being played on some. The rest of the motley crew of humanity is too busy bending over backwards with great flexibility to kiss their own Ego and Personality’s ass either through some cash payoff or hedonistic realm of gratuitous behavior.
I think it is evident from the sacred texts as to why God doesn’t intervene and it is contained within this verse in Hebrew:
השמים שהמים ליהוה
Ha Shamayim Shamayim Lahdonahee
The heavens are the heavens of the LORD,
והארץ נתן לבני אדם
VayhaErretz Natahn Libney Adom
but the earth hath He given to the children of men.
Psalm 115, vs. 16.
To repeat, can God intervene? I would think God would intervene anytime he damn well pleases. Is he likely to? Not in my books, not when he gave us everything within, and note the WITHIN, to be discovered by us through the Creative Power of Reason. He may toss out some band aids with whatever Satanic Mythos is being propagated by some of the shrewdest, parasitic totalitarian minds coming into use of the technological wonderland.
Is it the day of the Lord? The hour or the day no man knows for sure, unless you have a book to publish that feeds off FEAR, or a political strategy to sell that bastardizes the use of what is truly contained within the Holy Writ of ANY sacred culture, in order to procure profits from war or to gradually encroach the freedoms that truly Spiritual people were Killed, maimed murdered or martyred to secure freedom into this world away from the likes of economic heathens such as Adam Smith, Quesnay, Marx, to name a few economic terrorist nut cases outside the religious and spiritual communities. There are plenty of Deceivers and liars everywhere.
Where in the hell are we coming up with some of these people? I think the question should be changed instead to, WHY THE HELL ARE WE PUTTING UP WITH THESE OVERDRESSED SALESPEOPLE? No matter which culture, which religion, which politics, which government they are having a heyday with depriving the future of you and your children’s lives the hard earned monies and freedoms.
Abraham Lincoln once stated, “I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts.” In an age where facts can be misused or not even addressed, I sure hope Lincoln is correct. Times such as ours currently that are managed by scientific marketing are highly suspicious and capable of covering ulterior agendas.
What I really see going on is something Carl Jung once said, "People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own soul." Whether it is creating an imaginary deity fashioned in the image and likeness of their own personal Ego and Personality to act as the foundation for their arrogance and vanity, or perhaps allowing themselves to be held hostage by fear and allowing their rights and independence to be taken by the emerging Feudalists to be auctioned off as slaves once again to the highest bidder under the guise of global competition.
It takes little minds to create wars, it takes big minds to educate and defend the growth of the powers of the human individual’s ability to tap what was planted in your Spirit and Soul, it takes big minds to secure what was stated in the historic emergence of the true human Soul and Spirit, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Someone once asked me what I thought a sign would be that God was intervening. I pondered for a moment, then with a smile coming to my face, stated, “I wouldn’t even venture to say what the Holy Spirit would do. I can sure say it wouldn’t be tongues of fire descending. Although, the day God intervenes I would prophesy that around the world, bird crap would drain from the mouths of business leaders, religious leaders, politicians, and brain damaged secular fundamentalists pretending to speak for God or any type of deception that they would speak. That would be my best guess because in reality, I don’t know. I wouldn’t pretend to speak for God as if the Living Presence of the Almighty needs defending.”
I know where my arrogance and vanity lie within my Ego and Personality. The question is, Do You? Your question should be, "Why are we putting up with this behavior from all these little minds"?
Will you face your soul soon enough to honor the truth? I surely pray for one and all that this happens before God’s Libel and Slander suit renders a new presence in the dark halls of vanity and arrogance that struts their display in the current age of humanity.
Rev. David Strickler, Ph.D.
Qabalistic Teacher & Minister