Yesterday was our Best Man's Funeral. i didnt go to the Funeral, but I was there in Spirit. I was singing in Tongues during the time His Roman Catholic Service was happening.
I had walked to the Cemetary which is closeby with the dog before the service. She actually led the way to our Friends freshly dug grave, then past some very uplifting messages on Gravestones.
She didnt want to come for a walk to the Graveside during our friend's coffin being interred. I found myself choked and weeping at the side of the grave, along with his Wife and many other mourners. I felt privalaged to take a handful of dust and join the other mourners in the sprinkling of our own hand.
Yes our bodies become dust from which we are made. We may eventually become Stars again who knows? I felt I could leave the dog and go to the wake. Full of Italian Dons! Great Story about a Ferrari from the Ex Consul.
The strange thing is so many of these men had what looked like the rouge the Embalmer uses to prepare the face. that sort of rose glow in the cheeks. As though they also had the make-up of death delicately blushed over them. I am sure it was not me just having a wierd moment. It made the way I felt surreal though. A sort of counterfeit surreal. Many tales to tell though. it was a lovely wake.
Later I began to look at the fabric books for recovering my Bible. I rejected the Sumptuous Italian Fabric.
It suddenly seemed tawdry. Also the symbol reminded me of something, so I checked out what it was that was bothering me on the internet. I had asked God 'Where did we go Wrong'?
It was at Thomas Aqinas that things got right off the rails. I realised the moment the Church adopted Aristotles teachings into doctrine it got lost.
God said to me so many burdens have been put on people who need the simple outlines of Faith. that if it is not in His Holy Bible, its not his word that is being taught. I was considering using the actual Fabric book to make the cover with. God asked me If I realy wanted to keep the whole structure of something that was not bulit on His Divine Promise in Jesus Christ. He said it was immaterial whether Mary was whatever the Church cooked up. Anyway God said not to get rid of these books just yet, He could change His mind if there is some genuine repentance and simlification going on.
He said that The Baptism of remission of Sins is the Baptism of John. Jesus Baptises with the Holy Spirit. Yes Baptism does have its place as an outward Sacrament of an inner truth of repentance, but that you have to be in a place where there is water for that. I am assuming then He means full immersion. Thats something we do when we come to Jesus. God said Jesus was dedicated at the Temple, not Baptised.
if you want a Baptism. It symbolicaly means you have passed through the waters from Spriritual Death in our sinful, (that means getting a lot of stuff quite wrong in our lives), to the Spiritual Life through Following Jesus, and being filled with The Holy Spirit.
When we say we are Following Jesus, we mean He has a plan and a map for our lives that leads us to meeting God in Heaven. We dont just follow Jesus! We know there is a destination, and a process of being made fit for a meet up with The Most High God.
Then you ask to be filled with The Holy Spirit which God has sent to us as our Advocate and Guide in our spiritual journey. Once you are filled with the Holy Spirit you can understand the Bible.
Anyway thats an emergency how to.
The point of the Dog walking me up to our wonderful Friends grave, is that this is how God sees our Graves when we are Christians. Just Empty like the Tomb of Jesus Christ Risen from Death. Our Saviour who shows us the way to God. and presents us in the Heavenly Courts to God Himself. And there is never a queue!
The Birds are doing a walk of Atonement along our fence before hopping on the Bird table for a feast. The word Atonement actually means 'At One With God'.
I also looked at the wallpaper book. I was reminded of My Mentor Geoff Nowell telling me of a gig he did with some Sunday School Kids. He asked them how they thought the Cistine Chappel had been decorated... One young lad piped up 'Wallpaper Sir'. It was a joke Geoff and I shared on many occasions. There realy is no point in wallpapering over the cracks and schisms in the Church. I think we ought to celebrate what each of us have found out about God.
Except if it is anything but the Gospel and not taught directly from the Bible its not Preaching the Word of God.
Every Christian is a Saint in God's eyes. He sees the perfection laying untapped in all of us.
May Peace rest on all of us.