Tag: God

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The physical life as a classroom for the soul


Rembrandt's Philosopher in Meditation (detail). I always had the question of why am I here and what is the purpose of my life? Many years I pondered on that question, sought out the question through self-examination and discovery. Always coming up short and lacking the definite answer. Now in my mid 40’s I think it finally hit me, I am here to be the best me I can be, to live my life to the fullest for both myself and god. The meaning of life is life itself, the purpose of life is to be the best person you can be.

For I see the physical life as a classroom for the soul, a place for us to learn to be compassionate and to learn to overcome the great obstacle of the Ego. The ego is the part of oneself that is selfish and seeks out its own gratification. It is the presence of the flesh and thus it wishes to satisfy the flesh’s lusts and desires. The true self is the living spirit god gave us, it’s the part that feels compassion, love and is always  selfless in its actions and in its intentions. It longs for peace, happiness and for harmony in life. Life is the battlefield between these two parts of our consciousness and the purpose of life is to learn from the battle and from the mistakes and or correct choices we make.

 

Well enough about that, Blessings to you all

Raymond Barbier

” I am more than the sum of all my experiences” ~ Raymond Barbier

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Letting Go , Letting God and The Magnitude of God’s Love


Jesus is considered by scholars such as Weber ...
Image via Wikipedia

I have noticed that letting go is one of the hardest actions to perform, be it letting go of your mistakes in the past or the mistakes of others. I find it so much easier to forgive others than to forgive myself for the mistakes and poor choices made in the past. Seems I am harder on my own self than on those I know and care for. Don’t get me wrong I can be a butt head sometimes to others but in general I have the live and let live attitude. Even when I am able to forgive myself for the wrongs I had committed it still takes a long time for me to forget and let it go.

Though I know my mother wasn’t the first to coin the phrase let go and let God but she is the first one that told me that. Letting God take it all is easy only if I can let it all go, I know in God’s hands I am safe but still I find letting it go hard. Slowly but surely I am learning to turn over my fears, desires, doubts and the mistakes of my past to the will and love of God. As I do the past becomes just that and it is no longer having the influence it used to over my present. The grace of God is what helps me let go of the things I can’t seem to let go of and his love and mercy helps me get through this harsh world we all live in.

We all sin, we all fall short of the glory of God, But through his son Jesus we are granted  a pardon for our sins and through such grace we are shown the magnitude of God’s love. Jesus tried to teach us to love one another, to share each others burdens and to avoid being judgmental. Compassion not only towards family and friends but even those we see as enemies. He tried to show us a more enlightened path as well as a more humane way of existence. He loved us and believed in our potential enough to die and save us from the sinful nature within us all. He set an example for us to follow both in his teachings and in how he lived his life.

May God bless you all and the Light of truth guide you on your life’s journey
Raymond Barbier 

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To Be Selfless


Jesus is considered by scholars such as Weber ...The path of Righteousness, a path seldom followed and is not an easy path to travel. To be selfless, humble and full of compassion for both your friends and your enemies. To put everyone else before your own seems to be against the nature of most people. To put aside judgment of others so that you will not be judged by the same conditions as well as not seeing your possessions as your own. To seek wise counsel and avoid being deceived along the way.

“(Proverbs 3:3) Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart”

it seems so much easier to be selfish, greedy and full of loathing. It is far easier for one  To take instead of give and to hurt instead of heal. To take care of your own and let others suffer in hunger and poverty seems to be the safest route. Yes to live in lust and partake in all the pleasures is far more entertaining than to refrain from such things. To enjoy the pleasures of your spouse is good but to enjoy the pleasures of others is not. It is a betrayal of not only your spouse but of your own self and the vows you made.

Our Lord and Savior died and paid for our sins so we could be redeemed not so we could be careless and be foul. Sure no man can be without sin, It is in our very nature to sin and it is also within our power to abstain from sinning. We must do our best in avoiding sin and we must repent for the sins we commit when we fall. Teach righteousness and avoid being judgmental of sinners for you will be judged by god in the way you judge others.

 “Matthew 7:1-3 Do not judge others, so that God will not judge you, for God will judge you in the same way you judge others, and he will apply to you the same rules you apply to others. Why, then, do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the log in your own eye?”

In a world so full of injustice and a world lacking in love and compassion we must live. We have a choice to either be like the world we walk in or to be like the one who saved mankind from its sinful nature. Our hope is in Jesus Christ and without it we could not have the promise of salvation or being worthy of Heaven.

“(Colossians 2:13) And you, being dead in your sins and the un-circumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses.”

 

May God Bless you and yours.
Raymond Barbier

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Many days were wasted


HPIM0109 The older I get the more I realize how much time I wasted in my lifetime. Wasting time on worry, anger, fear and self-doubt. I spent way too many hours worrying about what other people think about me or if I was accepted or not. Many days were wasted fearing things that either were unlikely to happen or were out of my control. I spent too much time and energy on being angry at how my life isn’t what I planned or being angry at someone over something trivial. Though anger in me is usually short-lived it still is a waste of time far as I am concerned.

So much time I wasted on useless things that could have been used to enjoy life and to enjoy the people who I am around. To live for the day or seize the moment is the philosophy I try to follow. Though there is times I still get hung up on the past or have a little fear of what may come it usually has a very short half-life. I am trying to focus on the positive as well as embracing the blessings that are before me. The past is said and done and the future can wait for tomorrow.

Enjoy those who are in your life as you embrace the blessing that you have been granted. Forget about the curses that may plague you for they will pass. Don’t allow yourself to make life any more complicated than necessary. Happiness is as much of a choice as being unhappy and life is what you make of it.

 

Well enough Random Thoughts for now.
Raymond Barbier

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I kind of like knowing the man who is leading my church


Christ's Charge to Peter by Raphael, 1515. In ...Small town church vs. Mega church, which is a better experience for the congregation? I would vote on a small town church any day, when any church grows too big it looses the closeness and community feel it should have. I would think it would be next to impossible for a pastor to know each and every member of his church if he has numbers in the thousands or some as large as a 40 thousand members. I guess mega churches serve a purpose but it seems to me that priorities may go awry when there is so much cash flowing in. I guess I am old-fashioned and see a church as no where above about 100 members or maybe a little more.

I kind of like knowing the man who is leading my church personally and have one that is approachable along with down to earth. If I am to trust my religious teachings to someone I would like to know what kind of person he is and have one that is more middle class or lower in annual income. Though I can not tell you what a pastor of a mega church makes but I have known of a few that lived in mansions and has sport cars and even personal jets.

Now I will not say that all Mega Church pastors are rich or see money as more of an issue than their faith. There are plenty of good servants of god who may be pastors of such churches. Many souls have ben saved through such ministries and a lot of charitable works have been done by them too. There are always a few bad apples in a barrel but the rest of the apples are still ripe. Just my personal preference is a smaller more personable church.

 

Well that’s all for now.
May God be your guide through life.
Raymond Barbier.

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NBC made a big mistake


The Pledge of Allegiance in the United States ...

NBC made a big mistake when they tried to edit out the words one nation under god from the televised pledge of allegiance before the US open. Political correctness is getting out of hand and censoring out any reference to a religion is nothing but plain discrimination. I know that there are those who do not believe in a god or in the same god as the Christians and I respect their choice to believe in the way they choose. I do not see how having the word god in the pledge can be considered offensive to anyone. It isn’t stating your pledging allegiance to god, it’s a pledge of allegiance to our country which is under god. I will even go as far to say if you don’t agree with the god part of the pledge then when you say it then you can omit it but don’t remove it from the pledge and or edit it out when its broadcasted via television or radio.

Our founding fathers were Christians and they believed in the separation of church and state. They meant far as political control, they believed in religious freedom and so do I. To say having the 10 commandments in a court-house or city hall is wrong is taking it to an extreme. To be perfectly honest if a city hall in the us wanted to put a quote from the holy scriptures of any other religion on their walls I personally would not be offended. That’s freedom of religion in my belief. Far as prayer in school I support the idea with the condition that the child can elect to either pray to the god of their choice or abstain from prayer if they are atheist or they don’t want to pray.

NBC of course made a sad attempt at apologizing and even pulled the big business “we will deal with it internally and not publicly” speech. That’s basically saying they supported the actions of the individuals responsible. More and likely nothing will happen to those who chose to edit out god and eventually this will fade away from the minds of Americans. Sad to think that God has become like a dirty word in our modern world. Far as boycotting NBC as suggested by some of the outraged viewers, that’s no problem for me for NBC hasn’t had any shows I liked on it for quite a while.

NBC has the right to edit out what ever they choose, They just have to deal with the backlash created by their editing. Hopefully the lesson has been learned from this incident, I feel that it hasn’t but I always try to be positive. This little editing job I believe is just the beginning of the removal of religion from the airwaves. I pray to god I am wrong, only time will tell.

Well have a good day
Raymond Barbier

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If they are unaware or if they just don’t care


012   Another day has passed and I have done my usual feeding of stray cats at work and have done my daily roadside photography. Thoughts of how people can abandon their animal companions in a parking lot as well as litter the streams, rivers and mountain sides of their beautiful home still disturbs me. So much love those pets had to give and the were thrown away like trash and so much beauty all around and they neglect it as well as abuse it thoughtlessly. No thought of the damage done to the things they abuse and no idea of the wonderful things they have cast a side. I don’t know if they are unaware or if they just don’t care. I really hope they are ignorant of what they do, I would hate to believe such malice could be in the hearts of so many people. At least I do know there are those who try to restore the beauty of the natural wonders around us as well as try to take care of the abandoned pets that roam out streets but there is so much that needs to be done.

For a species capable of such fantastic and wonderful things we still have along way to go when it comes to being responsible for the world around us. If we can send men to the moon and robots to mars, why can’t we take care of our beautiful blue planet and all the animals that live on it. It is time for mankind to grow out its teen years and become mature and wise enough to set the correct priorities. If we take care of our home and all that lives within it then the earth will provide us with what we need in return. Of course if we continue to ignore the problems created by our neglect and abuse of this blue planet we will sooner or later  start paying the price.

God has given us this planet to live on and we should take care of such a wonderful and rare gift so the future generations will have a place of wonder and beauty to enjoy.

Just some Tree Hugging Thoughts For The Day

Peace

Raymond Barbier

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To put blind faith in a human being is not a good idea at best.


002

I am not a great fan of organized religion,but I am a great supporter of religion on an individual/personal level. Organized religion gives too much power to the church over the beliefs and doctrine of individuals. Each person should have their own personal relationship with Jesus and God (or the god of their personal choice). I am a firm believer in freewill and the right to choose you own spiritual path to follow. No man should have the right to force his own beliefs upon another. This is not to say I am against spreading the word of your chosen religion, just you should respect the rights of others to believe differently.

I have seen too many times people putting faith into religious leaders who wind up leading their followers into hateful and hurtful beliefs and actions. There have been many of times that religious leaders have led their followers to mass suicide or created holy wars that caused the destruction and killing of many innocent people. To put blind faith into God is okay but to put blind faith in a human being is not a good idea at best. No man is without fault and no one man should be followed blindly. Read your scriptures and keep faith god will reveal truth to you so you may not be deceived by man or any other force out to lead you astray. Use that freewill god gave you to seek out the truth along with the right path for you to follow.

I believe freewill was a gift to us from god and he gave us the right to choose our own way to live and believe. Freewill is a great blessing but it has the cost of being wrong or making the wrong choices and having to pay the price for such. Luckily most of us live long enough to make many mistakes along the way and learn what is and isn’t the right path hopefully before our time is up.

Though I know my opinions are not always  right or popular , they are of my own choosing.

May Truth be your Guiding light
Raymond Barbier

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You are a Unique and Wonderful Being


003 I have noticed in the human society we tend to set standards for what we consider beautiful , successful  and many other attributes. Most of the standards now days are forced upon us via the visual media such as television and movies. Constantly we are bombarded with images of what we are supposed to look like and how we should behave by the media we watch. This can create a very negative self-image in some people because we all can not be super skinny.

  We need to look within ourselves for the truth about what is beauty and what we see as success and be realistic when setting our own standards instead of trying to reach the unrealistic standards of the media we enjoy, We all can not be super models, business tycoons, inspirational leaders or the perfect friend. We are all different in both our potential and in our creative capabilities. Instead of trying to be something we are not for the sake of being  as good as what we see on t.v. we should try to be ourselves and put our energies in molding ourselves into the best possible version of who we truly are.

Being social creatures we also tend to rely on the judgments and opinions of others to evaluate our self worth instead of relying on our own selves. It may be nice to be liked and appreciated, but to be liked or appreciated for pretending to be someone or something you’re not only leaves you unhappy in the end. There will always be those who do not like you and others that may be jealous of who you are that will try to make your life hard. But there are also a lot of people who will like you for who you really are and will always be there for you through your life.

God made every one of us, so each and every one of us are wonderful and unique. So live your life being the best you can be and worry not of anyone’s opinions for you are a unique and wonderful being.

Well enough of my early morning babbling for today.
Peace and Understanding be you Guide.
Raymond Barbier

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Thoughts on Forgiveness


Good Shephard

Self Forgiveness is one of the most important steps to happiness, to face the mistakes and wrong doings in one’s life is something we all must do. To look back upon those mistakes and to accept the responsibility of our actions.  Once we accept responsibility we must learn from those mistakes and/or wrong doings and forgive ourselves as well as move forward. To make mistakes and to make poor choices in our life is what humans do to learn and to evolve mentally if not spiritually.  As long as we learn from the mistakes and feel some remorse for the things we have done then it is time to forgive and forget so we can move forward in life.

From a Christian point of view we are forgiven our sins through the grace of Jesus but if we can not forgive ourselves or others how are we to expect such grace from the heavens?  If you believe in Christianity and the blood of Christ then you must forgive both yourself and others. Jesus taught forgiveness and compassion so we could learn the way to salvation. He would have not wasted his time teaching the lessons he did if they were not of importance. His death and resurrection were to be an example of how grand the love of god is as well as how important we all are as a species.

Forgiveness, Compassion and Love are universal and apply to both the one who gives them as well as the those who receive. Learn to forgive and not to repeat the same mistakes as well as teach others to do the same.

 

Well enough of my Babbling for now,Peace and Love be your guide through this world of chaos.

Ray Barbier

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