Tag Archives: Religion and Spirituality

Random Thoughts, Religious, Thought of the day

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

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Jesus is considered by scholars such as Weber ...
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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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Verum Peto

Thoughts on Forgiveness

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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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Random Thoughts

So a fool I may be

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021  I am just a fool seeking the path to wisdom, I am just an average Joe trying to become a sage. I had walked many paths and have taken many turns on my quest for wisdom only to come full circle to back where I had started. I am yet a fool, but some wisdom I have gained along the way. I am still an average Joe walking on the many roads of life. I keep moving forward in hope of finding wisdom and becoming wise before my time here is over.

I may be a fool but I have learned that no man or woman is greater than another. No ones life is less important than another’s because we all contribute to the world around us. I have found that being happy is just as much as a choice as being sad. We choose for the most part how we relate to this world. I also learned it isn’t how much you have but how much you love and enjoy the things your are blessed with that makes life good.

So a fool I may be, but a fool that has found wisdom through his mistakes as well as from his few good choices. I will keep learning and seeking out wisdom for that is my path to follow.

For what a man will be remembered for is not how rich, powerful or famous he may have been, he will be remembered for how he treated others along with his actions good or bad. For every one of our words and all of actions are a reflection of who we truly are within. They also affect everyone and thing around us in one way or another. Good works may not get one into heaven but they can create a better world to live in. 

“Forgiving yourself is just as important as forgiving others”

Raymond Barbier

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Poems and Writings, Random Thoughts

Choose your own path to follow

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Norman Rockwell Mosaic "The Golden Rule&...
Image by United Nations Photo via Flickr

You have only one life to live in this time and in this space.
What you say and do is what counts in the life we face.
Trials of our heart and tests of our will we must face along the path we chose.
We must be true to ourselves and reap our rewards as well as pay our dues.
We are responsible for our own lives and those lives we have influenced along the way.
Life as short as it is we must make the most of each moment and always seize the day.
Follow the golden rule and treat others with kindness and respect the rights of others.
Regardless of ones race, religion and nationality we all are spiritual sisters and brothers.
Cast off your fear and embrace the truth that is within your heart as well as your mind.
Open your eyes to the world that is around you and you might be surprised what you may find.
Awaken from the deep sleep your mind and heart is in to live life to the fullest everyday.
Be who you truly are and walk a path of understanding and embrace the truth in every way.
Choose your own path to follow and be the person you want to be.
Know thyself and be true to your feelings and let your mind be free.

ok, enough babbling for now
Peace, Raymond Barbier

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Random Thoughts, Religious

Right and Wrong, The Conflict within us all.

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The Resurrection from Grünewald's Isenheim Alt...The conflicts we suffer within us are there to serve us by giving us eventual direction in life. Morality versus Self Gratification is usually the main conflict that stirs within our inner selves. To know what is right and wrong comes with penalties, Every selfish and inhumane action we have tends to carry a heavy cost with it. But in turn the selfless and compassionate actions too carry a reward if not sometimes a price. Though I would rather pay the price for doing what is right than for what is wrong, usually my selfishness gets in the way at times. The internal conflicts within us are basically the battle between right and wrong.

Being human sometimes it is very hard to decipher what is right or wrong because there are so many fine lines between the two. Usually as a rule is if it causes harm to another person then it is considered wrong, If it benefits the other person or everyone then it is considered good and or right. Though there are some situations that these rules would not and could not be applied and that is when I myself just try to find the least hurtful and or damaging choice. I try to live by the ideal that if you make others happy along with helping  them to the best of your ability while avoiding doing any kind of harm then you have chosen the right path. This includes ones own self, Respect is not to be a one way street and neither is compassion.

I guess the inner conflicts within us all will continue as long as we struggle to balance the needs and wants of the self with the needs and wants of others. Right and wrong, Good and evil are concepts mankind embraced in order to find a means in which to better society and help the progression of civilization.

The creator (GOD) gave us the code of conduct known as the ten commandments to help guide mankind to a better way of life and he also sent Jesus Christ as a teacher and savior. Jesus came to not only fulfill the law but to teach mankind forgiveness, compassion and the true spirit of love. He showed all of us by example his compassion towards the sick and the sinners he came across in his time here on earth, He taught us to forgive and to turn the other cheek along with to love one another.

To be selfish and without compassion is to allow yourself  to be surrounded by those whom have little regard for you or your survival. As the old saying goes “Birds of the same feather flock together”. So you will become surrounded by others who are much like yourself and you will be treated like that which you treat others. I also belive that if you do someone harm eventualy through a chain reaction the harm will come full circle back to you. This of course works with compassion and selfless acts,they also will come around in full circle eventually. This is the concept of karma and  the only problem with Karma is sometimes its instant and sometimes it takes a lifetime, but eventually what comes around does go around. So I guess there is wisdom in the old saying " Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’".

Well enough of my Ramblings for today
May peace fill your heart and compassion be your guide.
Raymond Barbier

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Personal, Random Thoughts

A Day of Birth and Reflections of Years Past.

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Loreto Home of Compassion.

Another year has past and one more year closer to growing old
Another year gone and with it the world grows even more cold

Cold the world might be but that does not phase the love i feel
The world grows more selfish and that is something that is real.

The light is growing dimmer each day as life slowly slips away from us all.
The source of love still remains strong and we should answer its call.

God is the light that will never burn out and we are mere reflections of his undying love.
His son came to teach us compassion and forgiveness with the gentleness of a dove.

Unfortunately mankind grows arrogant and their hearts are full of a very selfish pride.
Greed and corruption rules over most and from the aftermath there may be nowhere to hide.

With age comes wisdom, experience and  hind sight is always 20/20 as we all know.
The piece of wisdom I try to share is to always let your love and compassion show.

Mistakes we may all make in the life we are granted and to learn from them is the key.
Anger is quick to destroy the love and compassion that resides in both you and me.

If you take anything from all the things i write I hope it is to love one another both freely and unconditionally.
For life is too short to hold grudges, place/carry blame for mistakes intentionally done or unintentionally.

Live life to the fullest and don’t allow fear to rule your world for it will only stop you from truly living life.
Don’t hang on to regrets or anger for all that will do is fill your world with unneeded and undeserved strife.

Peace to all
R. Barbier

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