Mercy

 It is often said that there is a need to be merciful.  We never know when we may be asked for mercy.  We all have a need to be heard asking for mercy.  It means that we are in a position to yield in an argument.  We may have to be allowed to give mercy to our opponent.  It is an honorable thing to be merciful and even if we have the right, it is better not to use it and allow the law the right to accept the way of the victor.

 To ask for mercy is not a weakness.  It is a sensible request when there is no other way to resolve an issue.  It means that by being merciful the winner is saved the cowardice that can leave the failed with his head held high without having to make the final blow to take away the victory and turning it into an act of savagery.  It is one thing to win.  It is another to do so honorably.  In battle it was always the act of the winning side to decide if they should be merciful and let the captured souls live or die.  It was a practical issue because if mercy was allowed and the prisoners were allowed to live, they had to be fed and guarded.

 This took resources of the winning side and made them more vulnerable.  Food wasn’t an item that was carried and there were no reserves.  The guarding of the prisoners took away fighting men from the front and so there were less numbers available to carry on the fighting.  It was easier to kill the prisoners as life was cheap in those days and dead men cost little. There was no honor in saving lives when the whole object was to reduce the odds against one’s own side.

 It is a barbarous act and victors have been known to slaughter all the women and children and leave nothing of the opposition.  Usually there was a hatred worked up before the battle and no side was immune from butchery of the act and so to be merciful was a knightly act of forgiveness and there would be no punishment for taking up arms against the winning side.  What a loss of life was exposed.  No amount of slavery was worth the trouble of looking after the losers.  There was no obvious gain by being merciful, so the common people were slaughtered.  The higher ranks were put up for their families to pay for the ransom.  Very little can be said to be good about war.

Sunday, 11^th April 2021

Duty

 We all have duties to perform in our marriage, our job or simply for the greater good.  We do so for reasons of chivalry and goodness that are now emerging to shape up today’s standards.  The greatest need is to our Creator, who gave us a life on this earth plane and gave us the abilities to carry out our duties for the greater good.  We do this not for positive rewards, although we are rewarded according to Spiritual Law, but simply because they are the right thing to do.  We are all given a choice of right or wrong and indeed we have the right to choose our pathway in life according to our own desires and inner wishes, but we do them solely as duty demands.

 Then it is because duty demands them to obtain the highest degree of accomplishment possible.  Recently an honorable man passed from this earthly plane.  He had given loyalty and support to his wife, Queen Elizabeth II for 73 years of marriage and allowing her to be supported and strengthened by his unselfishness and loyalty.  He did so because it was his duty as he saw it.  He had no official work and simply acted in this way was to allow his wife to carry out her duties as Queen, supported and strengthened by the Prince Philip, who hardly ever left her side.

 He died just a couple of months before his one hundredth Birthday.  He had led a life of duty to the Queen and to this Kingdom.  To list his accomplishments would only be a boring exercise but to know that he gave his time on this earth plane for God and country and should be honored for his many successes as father and consort to his wife without any thought of reward, except to always do what he considered best.

 To have such loyalty and to be certain that he was doing things correctly was a mighty reason for him to be granted such a loving and productive life.  Both he and his wife were blessed with a rich religious faith.  It would have helped to sustain them in difficult times.  Their lives contained many tragedies that they had to bear.  The privilege of their wealth and their position did nothing to take away the emotional hardships that were thrust upon them.  God rewards us for all that we do for the greater good, but we have to do our duty and, through loving and being loved, we must go through the pain as well.

 Saturday, 10^th April 2021

Accompany

 To accompany is to go together as Jesus was accompanied by his disciples.  They were always seen together.  This was the normal thing to be observed.  One is accompanied by another and that is what is expected and that is what happened as Jesus chose his disciples and bade them follow him and they did.  It took two fishermen, Andrew and his brother Peter who Jesus called and made them fishers of men.  They did not fully understand His meaning but they were drawn to His personality and so they accompanied Him on His travels not knowing where they were going. 

 We don’t know when He was accompanied by Mary Magdalene, but it must have been after the famous wedding at Canaan in Galilee, where Jesus’s mother, Mary was approached by the stewards and they told her that they were running out of wine.  It was the normal thing for the bridegroom in those days to supply the wine, so she went to Jesus and told Him that they were running out of wine.  He told the stewards to take the barrels of water that were standing by and to serve that to the guests.  They must have thought He was joking, but when they opened the barrels of water, they were found to be full of such good wine that Jesus was asked why they were serving the best wine at the end!

 Mary Magdalene was the sister of Martha, who lived with their brother Lazarus.  Jesus often visited them accompanied by His disciples and as Jesus taught them Mary always sat at the feet of Jesus and took in every word that He said.  On one occasion, Martha chided her sister and asked why she left her to do all the work in the kitchen.  But Mary never left the feet of her Lord and Jesus responded to Martha and told her to let Mary be.  She was then able to accompany Jesus everywhere after their wedding and she was better prepared as she was shown the path of Jesus and famously anointed Jesus with nard oil from the alabaster jar and dried His feet with her hair after she had wet them with her tears.

 It was to her that Jesus first showed Himself when the three Marys went to prepare His body after the Crucifixion.  They came to the cave and found that the stone at its entrance had been rolled away and when they looked in, they found His body was gone.  They were asked why they were looking for the living amongst the dead?  It was then that Mary heard Him call her name.  As she hurried to Him Jesus said, “Do not touch Me for I haven’t yet visited My Father but go to the disciples and tell them what you have seen.”  She ran to where the frightened disciples were hiding to tell them the good news and soon, they were filled with the Holy Ghost and they went out and preached the good news to everybody speaking in tongues now they were awakened in truth as Jesus came to them and taught them.

 Friday, 9^th April 2021

Courage

 There was much courage spread about on the hills of that wintertime.  Men and boys fought together as they practiced their skills with one-to-one fighting for their lords and made the flag of courage, they shared their skills with each other.  They knew their swords as if their lives depended on their use and in reality, so they did.  Many men died as the poor’s army fought hand to hand and they knew no just cause except their own. 

 The soldiers had been taken from their jobs working in the countryside doing their trades and were pressed into serve for their king or for the side that was taken for their use and had to hand these poor souls for their blood spilt in a cause that was not of their making.  Groups of fighting men had no choice but to fight to prove an argument that their Lords and masters had argued, so that the right was fought over and neither knew the extent of the just cause of the quarrel, but here today many lives were lost in this brutal conflict.  Some proved to be courageous and had a mind to defend themselves against the odds, but some simply fought because they had no choice.

 Some had seen too many summers, and some had seen too few, but all had to face an enemy not of their choosing and whether they lived or died was of no account in the tally of dead afterwards, as the bodies were laid out on the ground.  Some were professionals, who joined the band of fighters to take up some spoils from others to be taken afterward if they survived.  Life was cheap in those days of war and battle had its cost as courage was an item displayed openly as one man fought another to save their own lives.  There would be mass burials whether the day was won or lost.

 It made no difference whether one lived or died, but all the same men displayed what courage they had by fighting for their side and many bore the scars of injury for evermore until they died.  To know they were fighting for a cause that most men in their rightful minds would not wish to be remembered, is a poor price to lay one’s life on the line.   In settlement of an argument that bore little to know of the result for working men, who were gathered up to fight against their will and would regret this day, whether it went for them or not.  They could be changed in their devotion to the flag.  If they went home, there was a hero’s welcome or was it all a waste of time and blood.

Thursday, 8^th April 2021

Solace

 To find comfort at a time of sadness is to know solace.  It is a state that we all have had to go through.  It is difficult to assess without having been through the state of solace and truly found comfort there.  It becomes a memory that will not fade. It’s not always the happiness of memories that are held onto in the distance.  They are enjoyed fleetingly and are soon gone.  To find solace is a lingering way to hold right onto the comfort that it brought to our mind and soul.  It is a serious time of great need and, to have been comforted at such a time, allows us a time of reflection everybody should understand.

 It is through the suffering that is given to us that we understand the emotions of others, so that they are called to feel the pain of sorrow.  It cannot be felt truly in our hearts and minds unless we have been placed in this situation and have experienced the melancholy of loss to such a degree that we hold ourselves in suffering and feel so utterly alone.  It is at these times that the Lord God in His way, often allows us a moment of solace.  The divine comfort grows in the understanding of the pain of suffering we have received by His gracious comprehension of our minds.  We suddenly feel a moment of wonderment, as if we are suddenly surrounded in our sorrow with a warm and comforting energy that arrives from nowhere but engulfs us with its wonder. 

 It is not always understood until it has passed, because we are held in the wonder that takes away the pain and from that moment, we are held in the experience of something that is beyond our comprehension, yet it is positive and gives healing to our troubled state of being.  As it lingers around us and we are devoid of any negativity, we simply exist in this wonderful and timeless state until we move and can hold it in our memory for all time.  It is a precious state of God given understanding and is His way of showing us the possibility and existence of pure unconditional love.

 Here we found solace given to us freely and with complete understanding of our earthly emotions that are taken away by the divine gift of pure unadulterated love.  It may be that one will never experience that state of being again but once is enough to feel what a never to be forgotten moment is like and to be brought that close to God.  It is a gift that makes one feel conscious of life beyond the heavy burden that we carry on this earth plane.  When God lifts the weight off our shoulders for that moment and allows us in to feel beyond this earth plane, we are fortified to continue the suffering, but the pain is now dulled with divine understanding.

 Wednesday, 7^th April 2021

Fearless

To be without fear is to live in strength beyond the normal attributes of man’s endurance.  Man is always fearing the unknown and has added strength of purpose to be able to withstand the fear that everyday life poses for him or her.  At best to be fearless is to carry the strength of purpose that is available for the strong minded, who believe in a higher purpose of love and protection.  The Roman Catholic Church has spent much time and energy in putting out that fear will overtake their own congregations.  There is little evidence, if any at all, that there is any demonic value in the Christian belief system apart from that put about to frighten the congregations into believing in the negative energies of the demonic or negative practices of witchcraft.

 Other events that the bishops of the Inquisition couldn’t understand, they addressed by removing illegally the opposition of the wise women, who had learned to heal and care for the common people.  The Inquisition obtained much of their ‘proof’ of witchcraft, by such means of the ducking stools, which provided the existence of the devil by whether these women drowned or not.  These few hundred years in the Middle Ages showed a church that was supposed to be based on the teachings of the loving healing of Jesus.  But they chose to control any opposition or other interpretation of the bible as they extinguished all opposition through the sword and the burning of innocent souls.

 When asked who to save, as they murdered the population of a God-fearing town, one bishop to his everlasting shame said, “Kill them all.  God will know His own.”  The Roman Catholic Church has a history of cruelty and it existed over the centuries by its own violence, greed and disobedience against the Laws of God Himself.  Even in modern times, their expressions of love and forgiveness were blotted by the running of their Magdalene homes, where unmarried mothers lost their babies and were treated to inhuman suffering across Ireland and beyond.

 Their attention to the abuse of choir boys to sexual priest predators still continues and cover ups are beyond the forgiveness of Spiritual Laws.  Today, the recent words against same sex marriages was banned by the Pope in Roman Catholic Churches but he said they should be allowed to be carried out in civil ceremonies!  Moral issues was never a strong point of this Church, who believe in saving the name and reputation of their individual institution, even if it led to the murder of the Pope to cover up their dishonesty and bring in a more pliable man, who is not fit to stand in for the Almighty in any matters of morality.  We need to be fearless in believing that it is Jesus who will protect us.  It is His spirit that we need to honor and not allow these man to dishonor His teachings of unconditional love.

 Tuesday, 6^th April 2021

 

Freely

 To be given a gift freely without any strings attached is to be allowed to receiving generosity itself.  The freedom of acceptance is well and truly whatever the acceptance of that which is given.  To be allowed to accept from God the gift of healing is freely given on the understanding that we use it to do healing of all who come to you in need and may be given freely to show the purpose of freedom.

 The generosity of acceptance is so that the greater good can receive the blessings of generosity itself.  The energies given and received will gradually build up from smaller beginnings to stronger and greater results.  From these small beginnings the rewards of greater healing will be felt, as the energies continue to strengthen the healing becomes greater.  The level of healing happens not by chance, but by divine power, as the more the healer believes the more guides have the abilities allowed to heal at a greater rate.

 Jesus is an example of healing at the highest rate, as he didn’t even have to put his hands on the patient in order to heal their infirmities.  It was enough for the recipient to know in their hearts that Jesus had the power to heal that their faith in him was enough to make the healing occur.   Many times, Jesus said, “Go your way.  It is your faith that made you whole.”   They went on their way rejoicing that they had been cured by God having freely given them what they deserved and by their faith they had been cured.

 To be freely given a gift from the Almighty, it is a joy to observe the miracles occurring by using His freely given gift in knowing that He allows miraculous healing to occur, when both parties have faith in His ability to heal.  Jesus told us to go forth and heal and we would be given greater gifts that his.  We need to trust in the power of the Almighty and to believe that we are worthy of receiving His gifts, so that God, who gives freely, can and will allow His miracles to be given for the glory of God and our belief in His abilities are freely given.

Monday, 5^th April 2021