There was an article in the January 25th edition of USA Today submitted by the Associated Press, Bin Laden praises attempted Christmas attack. While Bin Laden is praising the heroic warrior Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab who unsuccessfully tried to blow-up a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day, the article quotes him as saying, “If our messages had been able to reach you through words, we wouldn’t have been delivering them through planes.”

I wonder if he truly means it?  I wonder if he tried speaking with us and we either didn’t listen to him or we just heard what we wanted to hear?

Is it possible that each of us is part of the problems which exist on a global basis?  Are we isolating ourselves from problems that exist around the world?  Do we tend to focus too much on ourselves and the interests of our country?

We all want to be heard. Humans will do anything to receive attention. Although we’d prefer positive attention, if we can’t get enough of it, we’ll accept negative attention. Is terrorism a way of getting attention from people who appear to be living in isolation?

Have you ever had to yell, scream or punch a wall to get somebody’s attention?

Have you ever ignored what a child or spouse was saying to you because you were pre-occupied with something else that seemed more important than another human?

I wonder if Osama Bin Laden would try speaking with us again?  I wonder if he’d meet with me in the location of his choosing to have a civil one-on-one conversation about how to stop the killing in the world by replacing hatred with love?

What I know about Islam is that its’ followers profess tremendous love for Allah.  Devout Muslims pray 5 times per day. Islam is an Abrahamic faith that has much in common with Judaism and Christianity.  It is a faith which demonstrates tremendous love and compassion for Allah and others.

Many despicable acts have been accomplished throughout history in the name of religion.  Religion, like a tongue, can be used to bring love or to bring hatred.  Neither religion nor the tongue is bad – it is how it is used by the owner. Development of God-like loving and compassionate thoughts trains our tongues to be instruments of peace.

How can any person who professes to love God, kill in that God’s name?  Probably in much the same way that parents and children hurt each other on a daily basis with their words.

Each of us is being called to do the exact opposite of killing in God’s name: each one of us is called to love in God’s name.  It is love that is our true being and at the heart of our souls.  It is God’s love which created us and sustains our very life on a daily basis.  It’s only when we’re shielded from God’s words and God’s Spirit that we act un-Godly. It’s when we intentionally separate ourselves from our Creator that we become hateful, selfish, miserable and hurtful.

Would Osama Bin Laden really like to put an end to the wars in the world?  I would.

Would he like to discuss how we can begin educating the world so that ignorance would stop breeding hatred? Would he like to replace the hatred which exists in the hearts and souls of people with love?  I would.

Would he like to bring knowledge about God’s love for every single human to each of our 6.7 billion brothers and sisters?  I would.

Would he like to eliminate the doubt which exists in the minds of millions with a faith that only brings joy and love to self and others?  I would.

Would he like to replace the darkness that is clouding the souls of millions of people with a light that comes from the love of God?  I would.

Our planet is way beyond the point of  thinking and acting locally and selfishly.   It is our small minds and selfish thinking that have the world in the state in which it’s in today.  Each of is is a part of one Global Tribe.  We are one huge family.  Yes, many of us are not speaking with each other.  Yes, many of us are waiting for the other family member to admit that he or she is wrong.  Yes, many of us are turning our heads to the realities that are being faced by our family members.

Each of us has the potential to admit that we’ve been wrong and are part of the problem.  Once we admit that we have a global problem, we can commence with the global solution.  Selfish solutions from one country or one faith will not work in solving universal problems.

Each of us was created in the image and likeness of God. No one of us is more valuable in God’s eyes than another just because of a particular name, faith, family or net worth.  Each of us is a child of God and deserves to be treated with love, dignity and respect.  Together, each of us makes up one global family.  Each of us is a member of this family.  When one of us suffers, we all suffer.

Like a small paper cut can bring tremendous pain to us even when the rest of our body is healthy, any individual or groups of people who are in pain across the world bring pain to our global body.  Our global body is covered with numerous band-aids and many of our minor cuts are now seriously infected.

In a global body, amputation of an individual, country or faith is not a realistic remedy.  Love, compassion and understanding are the remedies to solve this body’s wounds.

Yesterday I spoke of reading comments made by Osama Bin Laden.  Today I issue the following letter, in hopes of furthering the previously stated desire to share my belief that all faiths and religions proclaim love for God and love of others. We cannot be a global community if we are each separated by faith, religion, creed, color, gender, or orientation. We must be willing to understand one another. We must put aside our differences long enough to hear one another. Only then will we be a successful global community.

Mr. Bin Laden:

If you choose to speak with me, you’ll be speaking with a citizen of the world who happens to have a mailing address in the United States. I am not a member of any government or political organization.  I am aware of the suffering, poverty, ignorance and helplessness that is going on in many parts of the world. I am also aware of the ignorance and selfishness that are running rampant in the industrialized, wealthy nations.

Ignorance is nothing more than a lack of knowledge, education and awareness.  I would like to bring education, love, hope, faith and prosperity to each of the world’s 6.7 billion humans.

You are currently influencing the minds of millions of your followers with messages of hatred and death.  You can be part of the solution if you’re still willing to use words of love and hope instead of airplanes and other weapons of destruction to get the world’s attention.

You have the potential and the ability to restore Islam as a faith of love and peacefulness in the minds of the ignorant who only associate it as one of hatred and killing.  You have the potential to refocus your followers to assist in solving the problems that exist in the world with their brains and their love.

You have the potential to redeem yourself by helping to create answers to the problems that you so deeply care about.

If you’re still willing to talk, I am willing to listen. I will seek to understand. Let’s bring people together with love in God’s name and put an end to the ignorance and hatred which exist only in the absence of God’s Spirit.

Sincerely,

Bob

Osama Bin Laden caught my attention in the newspaper last week. I’m requesting a meeting with him to discuss the following subjects and anything else that may be on his mind.

There is one Creator of the world.  Everything I know about that Creator keeps bringing me back to one word – Love.

If this Creator is associated with love, why does so much hatred exist?

Some of us don’t believe in this Creator because we don’t want to work too hard to come to really know and establish a relationship with God.  All relationships take work and because many of us are having a hard enough time working on relationships at work, school and home, we don’t have much left in our tanks to try and figure out this Creator who may or may not exist.

What better use of our time could there be than to learn how to sustain inner-peace, hope and love at all times?  Our minds, souls and world peace depend on that investment in ourselves.  Peace is established one mind at a time.

Many people who were born into a faith or who have developed faith later in life have come to know God because of a particular religion. I’ve come to know and love God through Christianity.  I am thankful for that gift on a daily basis.

That very faith has taught me that each person on the planet is my brother and sister. It’s taught me that it’s my responsibility to love each and every one of my brothers and sisters.

Once I chose to become aware of other faiths, and their predominance in countries and continents around the world, I now know that billions of great people around the world have come to know and love God through many other faiths.  My faith asks me to love each and every one of them.

How we come to know and love God is much less important to me than the love that we show to God and to each other.  People of differing faiths have much to teach each other as we work toward building our love and compassion for each other. As I’ve begun studying other faiths, that knowledge has helped me to increase and solidify my Christian faith.  The knowledge of other faiths has also allowed me to respect and appreciate our diverse paths that lead to the same outcomes:

• Love of God
• Love of all humans
• Unity with and dependence upon each other

I’ve yet to read a word about any faith or religion which does not proclaim love for God and love of others.

During our Christmas celebration on Friday evening, a friend told me that he liked one of last week’s blogs about forgiveness.  He asked me if I had really forgiven everyone in my life because he was having a hard time forgiving one particular person – and for a very good reason.

How long does it take to be ready, willing and able to forgive another person?

When my friend questioned my 100% forgiveness of others statement, part of my response to him reminded me that in some cases, it had taken me years from the time of the incident to even become ready to communicate with the individual. I knew as soon as I answered him that my forgiveness had taken way too long.

Did it need to take me years to be able to forgive or apologize?  No.

Forgiveness in its best form can be instantaneous.  The mind says, I think that I’ll forgive this person and the lips start moving, I forgive you.

Lots of people have written many great things on the topic of forgiveness. Below are a few of my favorite quotes on the topic along with a few comments and sample affirmations to use to assimilate the new mindsets:

Anger will never disappear so long as thoughts of resentment are cherished in the mind. Anger will disappear just as soon as thoughts of resentment are forgotten — Buddha

Buddha is challenging us to decide whether we’d prefer cherishing resentment or if we’d prefer to be resentment-free and cherish feelings of peace and serenity.  As with all the changes that we choose to make in ourselves, this one requires a mindset to be deleted and replaced with a new mind.    In this case, it’s the mind of Buddha.

Affirmation: I happily and easily forgive each person at the time of the incident and cherish my resentment-free mind.

Jesus is very clear about when and how often we’re supposed to forgive in Luke’s Gospel, “Take heed to yourselves; if your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him; and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

It sounds like Jesus is letting us know that forgiveness should be ongoing and instantaneous. Can you imagine the same person offending you seven times in the same day?  Could you imagine forgiving that same person seven times?  That’s what he’s telling us to do. Can I do that?

Jesus’ words are always giving me a better vision of myself than how I am currently living.  Although the gap between where I am currently and where he’s calling me to be seems big at the time,  I am able to lessen and eventually close the gap with repetition of his words. Mentors always see a better picture of us than we see of ourselves. The key for us is to surround ourselves with the best mentors available – whether they’re still physically roaming the earth or not.

Affirmation: Forgiving the same individual multiple times for the same offense comes naturally to me because I am patient and understanding

Whether one believes in a religion or not, and whether one believes in rebirth or not, there isn’t anyone who doesn’t appreciate kindness and compassion – Dalai Lama

Which type of hurt bothers you more?  Is it the feeling of having hurt another or the feeling of having been hurt by someone else?  For me, the feeling of thinking that I’ve hurt another person is much more painful.  Apologizing and receiving the gift of forgiveness from another person takes a tremendous burden off my mind and soul.  Because I know that feeling well, I want to be sure to give that same gift to others as soon and as frequently as possible.

It’s always possible to forgive.  Forgiveness is a choice.  We either choose to forgive or we choose to hold on to our anger and resentment. The more that you’ve been hurt by the other person, the larger the gift that you give them with your forgiveness.  Give large gifts to others.

Affirmation: I show kindness and compassion to others by graciously forgiving offenses whether large or small

To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it – Confucius

A short and sweet message from Confucius. My mother has a great trait of having a very poor memory for bad things done by people. This is not a trait that was acquired later in life as a result of a fading memory. She’s always had the Confucius-like quality of not holding on to bad memories.  Either I received this gene from her of I’ve been able to develop the qualities of living in the present and forgetting the bad that happened in the past.

Affirmation: I am a master of remembering the kindness that is shown toward me and am equally good at forgetting offenses

If we practice an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, soon the whole world will be blind and toothless –Mahatma Gandhi

I really enjoy people who have the skill to deliver a message in a humorous fashion. We’re being encouraged this time by Gandhi to forgive rather than to get even. What a great trait this is.  It’s a choice to act in a God-like manner rather than in a malicious manner.  When we forgive, we’re sharing the gift of compassion and kindness with another person. We’re showing them that it’s possible to love and forgive rather than retaliate or harbor grudges.

Goodness, kindness and forgiveness are the result of an increase in our awareness. They’re the result of becoming aware through mentors like Gandhi, Jesus, Confucius, Buddha and the Dalai Lama that we have the potential to be more compassionate than we are today.

It’s an awareness that the peace and serenity that result from our forgiveness of others feels so much better than the painful repetition in our minds of how we’ve been wronged by another.

What good comes from holding on to our anger, hurt and resentment?  I can’t think of any.

What good comes from forgiving another person?  You feel better and the other person feels better.  A burden has been taken off your shoulders and your soul.  Your soul has become a little bit brighter as a result of the dark emotion being removed and replaced by love.

Because I believe Jesus’ words, I know that I will be forgiven for every offense if I’m truly sorry. That same belief allows me to forgive myself after I’ve been off-the-mark or off-my-game. If I expect to be forgiven quickly and if I want to forgive myself quickly, then it makes sense that I offer the same consideration to others – quickly.

Anger makes you smaller, while forgiveness forces you to grow beyond what you were –Cherie Carter-Scott

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Today, Bob and Greg explore the ideas of Unity Consciousness, what it is, why its relevant, and how to understand it in our day to day lives.

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The relationship between the material (our bodies), the mind (our brains) and the spirit (our souls) is intertwined. Some of us are very focused on the material world and on our own personal physical world – our bodies.  Others are focused on the psychological world which is limited to the grey matter in our skulls – the brain.  Finally, some of us are fascinated with the search for God that is found in the spirit that resides within each of us.  It’s not like we have to pick one and ignore the others. We are at our best when we are aware of all three and consciously nurture and develop each one.

If you only got to choose one of the three which would you choose?

I’ve come to believe that those are the levels of maturation that we can pass through almost like Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.  At the foundation of this 3 layered pyramid is care for our physical bodies. The ideal goal would be perfect health. The middle layer would consist of care and attention to our thoughts that are contained in the mind.  When we control our thoughts through positive self-talk, the body responds accordingly through improved health and performance. The goal at this level would be 100% positive self-talk (the thoughts that we think inside our heads about ourselves and others).  At the top of this pyramid is our spiritual development. This layer would consist of our thoughts about our spiritual selves (the divinity within us) and our thoughts about and relationship with God and other humans.

The top level might actually be our self-actualization where we realize our relationship to God and the development of what we’ve come to know as spiritual traits and characteristics – unconditional love, desire for peace within ourselves and for all beings and compassion for all.  Our relationship with God allows us to develop the traits in ourselves that we believe God possesses naturally.  We have this potential.

I am convinced that part of the maturation process for us in each of these areas is related to the education that we receive in each of the areas.  I believe that it’s an awareness issue.

For example, I was brought-up in a home that was aware of the relationship between calories consumed (how much we take-in) and exercise (how many calories we burn). I was given this knowledge when I was about 12 because I was much fatter than my parents or doctor thought that I should be.  After going through tests for glandular problems, my doctor and Dad gave me strong medical advice, “you’ve got to put out more than you take-in”.

Although my Dad didn’t have me counting calories or have my body fat measured, he knew at a very basic level that I needed to eat less and exercise more.  I was given that gift by my parents and I’ve been able to maintain a very healthy body throughout my entire adult life.  They gave me the gift of awareness as it related to my control over the health of my body.

What would’ve happened to me if my parents and doctor hadn’t taken the time to assist me with eating food in moderation and the habit of regular exercise? Would my weight have gotten so out of control that I’d be among the morbidly obese? Would I have given up hope or resigned myself to the fact that I was born big-boned and I was supposed to be overweight?  It’s very possible had I not received the gift of education while my problem was still easily manageable.

I didn’t receive much education at home or school related to how our minds work. It was not until I was about 38 years hold that I became thoroughly educated on the relationship between our self talk and the results that we receive in our lives. Once I was educated on how our self-esteem is created, and the value of maintaining 100% positive self-talk, I was able to change every aspect of my life in which I had more potential to develop.  That included every area!

What would have happened had I received that information in grammar school?  Would my life have been different if I had known in my teens that the thoughts that we’re thinking today will end-up producing what we realize and receive in the future? YES. Do I blame my parents?  No. They had never received this type of knowledge so they could not pass it on to me. Now that I have this knowledge I’ve passed it on to my wife and two children.  They now get to choose whether or not to use the knowledge.

Because I was brought up Catholic and because Christianity was a part of our lives at every meal (prayer), at bed-time (prayer) and on every Saturday or Sunday (church), I was exposed to the belief that God exists and He’s here to love me and help me with every aspect of my life whenever I choose to involve Him. I knew at a very young age that I was never alone.  I knew with all my being that there was a piece of divinity – the Holy Spirit – that dwelled inside of me. My spiritual spark was lit at a very early age and I’ve chosen to pursue God and a strong relationship with Him.

Because of the religious/spiritual education (including 8 years of Catholic grammar school), I was very open to the idea that God exists and that I can have any type of relationship that I choose with Him.  It’s up to me.  That gift resulted in spiritual knowledge that has given me unwavering faith.

What would’ve happened had I not received the gift of Faith and belief in God when I was young?  I don’t know.  Would I be walking around wondering what the whole point of life is?  Would I not see each person on the planet as a spiritual brother and sister?  Would I not know that the reason that I crave silence so much in my life is because God is found in silence? Would I not know that it’s within my potential to live a Christ-like life or even know what that is?  I was given an unfair spiritual advantage by my parents.

If you or anyone you know did not receive the gift of education in any of these areas, please believe me when I tell you that progress in each of these areas can happen very quickly. I know that significant improvement to our bodies, minds and spirits can be instantaneous.  As soon as our minds lock-on to our new idea, the creative process begins and tremendous energy is created.

I was with a friend at dinner last night who six weeks ago decided that at 50 years old, it was time to improve his health.  He lost 25 pounds in six weeks without any exercise.  He modified his eating habits.

I train people every month in the science of controlling the thoughts that go on in our minds – self-talk. Many of them call me or send me e-mails thanking me for helping them to understand how to turn their lives around and start seeing themselves, their families and the world as positive.  The changes begin happening overnight – literally.

From a spiritual perspective, I know that God is always waiting for you to say “hello” and He’s always ready to listen to you.  God is waiting for us to invite Him into our lives. He will not make us wait.  There are numerous books to assist you in the process of pursuit of God and the development of the spirit that resides inside of you. If you used to attend worship services, why not attend one in the near future. Your faith community will be very happy to have you with them.

Ask and you will receive.  Knock and the door shall be opened.

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“And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”

That message is from Paul’s writing to the Ephesians – Chapter 2.  I wrote to you earlier about our ability to change our lives at any age and at any stage by finding God in the silence of our hearts and minds.  It is in our silence that we come to know and hear God. It is in that silence that we allow God’s Spirit to dwell within our earthly bodies.

It is in these times of silence – prayer, inspirational readings, meditation- in which we develop our faith in God and ourselves, our hope and trust in God and ourselves and our deep passionate love of God and ourselves. For it is in our relationship with the Holy Spirit of God that dwells in each of us that we are united with God, our families and with each human around the world.  We become conscious that we are truly united with each person once we realize that the Spirit that resides within you is the same Spirit that resides within each other person.

When we’ve developed our unity consciousness we no longer feel alone because of our relationship with God and with all people. We realize that we’re not separate but, in fact we are one in the Spirit.

The Spirit of God does dwell in each human in the world. For many people, that Spirit is waiting for our invitation to “invite God in” to our selves.  It’s only when we allow all of our thoughts to disappear in silence that we enable God’s thoughts to become dominant in our minds.

“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with might through his Spirit in the inner man, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”  Ephesians 3

In the above message from Paul, he is writing to the Ephesians to tell them that he is praying for them constantly. His desire is for their hearts to be filled with Christ, that their beings be rooted and grounded in love and that they may be filled with all the fulness of God!

Can you begin contemplating those three desires for yourself? Try meditating on these thoughts for a little while each day:

May my heart be filled with Christ.

May my being be rooted and grounded in love.

May I be filled with all the fullness of God.

As we continue this process of continuous change and improvement, the benchmark that I’m aiming for is quite simple: To become Christ-like. When I say that it’s simple, I mean it. Jesus didn’t bring us a lot of rules and laws to obey. He brought us messages of love such as  “Love one another as I have loved you.” He brought us a message of compassion, “Whatsoever you do to the least of my people that you do unto me.”  He brought us the message of forgiveness with, “He or she who is without sin may cast the first stone.”

My brothers and sisters, be loving, compassionate and forgiving.

After praying and meditating on the above intentions for a period of time a strong feeling of peace will overtake your entire being.  We are literally filling our mind, heart and entire being with all that is good – all that is God. We are at peace because there is no fear when we are filled with God.  When we’re in touch with the Holy Spirit that dwells within us and know that that same Spirit resides in all humans, we become masters at noticing the positive traits and qualities that are abundant but, sometimes hidden in the people around us.

Once we’ve filled our minds, hearts and being with God’s peace, it becomes natural to wish and pray for these feelings for our family members and people we love.  The prayers and meditations might sound like:

May your heart be filled with Christ. (I usually think of a specific person that I’m praying for)

May your being be rooted and grounded in love.

May you be filled with all the fullness of God.

Over time, it becomes natural to desire these feelings for people whom we feel neutral about and for people who may have hurt us in the past or whom we’re finding it difficult to love.  I can almost feel my heart melting and softening as I pray those intentions for people who I barely know and especially for people that I do know – family and friends – who have been estranged.

We all know the song  “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.”  I now understand what that song really means.  The only place that I can find true peace is with my relationship with God.  With God there is nothing but love, there is no room for fear. There is no room for hatred.

Once that peace dwells within us, we become beacons of light bringing God’s peace and love to our families, our communities and our places of work.

When the Spirit of God is nourished inside of you, your light is shining bright and visible in your eyes and your smile. Just by looking at people with your sparkling, compassionate eyes and loving smile, you’re bringing God to those around you.

You and I are the light of the world when we bring the love, peace and compassion that is solidly rooted within every cell of our beings into the world.

May the peace and love of God be with you. May you share your loving, peaceful gifts with all those around you.

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Moina Noors is from Connecticut and was raised with Islam as her faith.  Her son – Bilal – was born 8  months prior to 9/11/01. Her blog appeared on nytimes.com on 9/11/09.
Moina was dreading having to answer the question from her son, “Mom, what happened on 9/11?” Since 9/11, she has taken it upon herself to educate people about her faith by saying things such as, “We are like you.  Islam is peaceful. Complex sociopolitical factors create lunatics who kill people. Please don’t judge a billion people by a few bad apples.”

In her blog she notes that according to a survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life in 2007, “35 percent of respondents had an unfavorable opinion about Islam”. Could one of those 3 in 10 people be Bilal’s (her son) teacher or soccer coach?”

People are persecuted daily for many reasons – different faith, different nationality, sexual preference, body size, etc.  In each case  the persecution is coming from a position of hatred versus one of love.

Our thoughts are a choice. In each instant we can choose to hate another because he is different or we can choose to love another because we are fascinated with how wonderful and different this person is.

Most people in the world were raised in a family that professed at least one faith.  These days, many children are raised in families where the parents are of different faiths and get exposed to both.  The faith that we profess today for many of us has to do with what family we were born into and into which country we were born.  If you were born in the United States, there is a very high probability that you were born into a Christian family. If you were born in the Middle East, you were most likely born into a family whose faith was Islam.

Why is religion so valuable? It teaches us about a creator of the world who created us and loves us.  Faiths teach us about the traits of God and how God loves us and how God suggests that we live our lives and ways of treating each other.

All religions teach us to love God, ourselves and each other.  What we call God, or how we come to know God, should not matter as much as how we treat God and how we treat each other.

Even if a person doesn’t believe in God, the individual can learn from his or her faith the attributes of God  that have been revealed to us through prophets and tradition and assimilate those traits.

What attributes could we choose to assimilate that are taught by all faiths?  Loving, compassionate, forgiving, merciful, understanding, humorous, generous, wise, kind, patient, encouraging, positive and illuminating.

Try placing the words “I am” before each of those words and assimilating those traits into your mind.  Here are a few examples:

I am loving at all times.

I am compassionate to all people.

I am forgiving of myself and others.

I am merciful towards all.

Can you envision a world where you and each person in the world thought and behaved  with those attributes?

If we believe in God, these are the types of traits that people of faith are called to live by on a daily basis.

If we don’t believe in God, these are the types of traits that are required to live in harmony with others in our cities, states, countries and around the world.

These traits are at the core of our being. Each of us was born with the potential to nurture and develop these traits so that we can become a reflection of God and all that is Good.

We are all part of the same spiritual family.  When I hurt you, I am hurting myself and my family. When I love you, I am loving myself and loving God.  I choose to love you!

We are not going to convert our world into a peaceful, loving planet with guns, tanks and hatred.  We are going to change our collective consciousness by accepting responsibility for our thoughts and actions – one person at a time.

All religions are good because they show us a path to come to know God.  Some religious people from every faith do very bad things in the name of God. They are the very small exceptions.

All people of all faiths are good at their core.  All people without faith are good at their core.

You and I must choose to bring out the best in each situation every day and see the good and God-like qualities that are hidden deep inside each human.

We all possess a soul and God’s Spirit.  Become the person who exposes the good in others!

If I choose to go to California there are many ways of getting there – plane, train, car, bicycle, walk etc.

If I’m choosing to know and love God and others (God’s family), there are many ways of getting there- Islam, Sikhism, Judaism, Hinduism,  Christianity, Buddhism, etc.

Let us respect the paths to God that have been revealed to others.

We are all looking for the way, the common thread is love!

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Are you ready to think about a politically sensitive topic?

“Should Public Schools Teach Religion?” That thought provoking question is on The Washington Post’s “On Faith” column.

What do you think?  Most of us have a gut response to that one.  What is a gut response?  One that we don’t “think about”.  We just blurt it out without thought. That’s usually not a good idea.

Some of us will say that we should absolutely not allow religion to be taught in schools because of separation of church and state.  There are other comments to that question on the Washington Post’s website such as several “hell no!” responses.  Other more thoughtful people responded with “yes, along with the ‘stork theory’ and ‘denial of gravity’ concepts.”  I learned from my friend Lou Tice that sarcasm is “hostility safely delivered.”

Before we get too emotionally involved in this one, how about answering a few more questions?

Why do we send our children to school?  To give our children a broad education on topics that we think will help them to prosper in today’s world.

Would an understanding about Christianity, Islam and Judaism help our soldiers who have been in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001?  Yes.

Would it help our federal  politicians who are negotiating around the world with people of different faiths? Yes.

Might it help our local public servants – politicians, firemen, policemen and EMT’s who are serving people of all faiths in their communities?  Yes.

Might it help us to prevent future wars?  Yes.

Does an education in religion get properly taught at home by most families?  No. Not only is it not effectively taught in our primary faith but, any mention of other faiths doesn’t typically occur.

Take a deep breath.  Are you okay now?

Try to envision a curriculum within the public schools whereby the students would receive an education on the major religions of the world.  The top five religions according to the number of adherents are: Christianity – 2.1 billion, Islam – 1.5 billion, Hinduism – 900  million, Chinese traditional religion – 394 million and Buddhism 376 million.  The top 5 represent about 5.3 billion of the world’s 6.7 billion people – 79%.

The definition of religion is a “belief in and reverence for a supernatural power accepted as the creator and governor of the universe.”  The definition of its’ synonym “creed” is “ a formal statement or system of belief, principles or opinions.”

I wonder why my parents thought that it made sense to send me to a Catholic school (tuition in addition to local, state and federal taxes) for 8 years and bring me to church 52+ times per year (church tax = tithing)?  It would have been much cheaper to do neither. My Dad absolutely would have preferred to sleep-in on Sunday mornings!

There are two answers to those questions. The first answer is that they both were raised Catholic and it was a strong part of their faith and who they are as people.

The second answer is that when you proclaim to be a Christian, you’re supposed to do many things and serve in many ways in addition to believing in Jesus Christ, God and the Holy Spirit.  These are what I would consider to be some of the “Christ-like” behaviors:

• Love your neighbor
• Love yourself
• Do unto others as you would have them do unto you
• Honor and respect your parents and elders
• Respect the gift of life
• Be a person of honesty and integrity
• Feed the hungry and thirsty
• Clothe the naked
• Welcome strangers
• Visit the sick and imprisoned
• Bury the dead
• Counsel the doubtful
• Instruct the ignorant
• Comfort the sorrowful
• Bear wrongs patiently
• Pray for the living and the dead
• Serve others with our gifts

Based upon my knowledge of Judaism, Islam and Buddhism, each of those bullets would be considered part of their faiths too.

These are the values that my parents wanted to instill in their children and taught us at home.  They thought it was important to reinforce our education at home with the Catholic school and church.  A reason for adults to attend worship on a weekly basis is to keep these concepts front and center in our minds. God consciousness.

My wife and I thought that these same values made sense for our children too. We chose to send our children to Catholic grammar school (and high school and college for my son).

Can you envision having each person within our education system thinking that this is how civilized humans are supposed to treat each other?

Do you think that most parents are teaching these concepts at home whether or not they believe in God?

I think that for many people of faith, when they pray, they’re asking God for assistance developing and nurturing the above qualities. They believe that having a sense of God’s grace and wisdom living inside them (God’s light or spirit) will allow them to be people who display these values on a daily basis.

I’ve let both of my children know that it’s much more important to me that they are people who live the above values and enjoy a deep, loving relationship with God than it is to be rich, get a 4.0 GPA or drive a fancy car.

Rich is good.  Smart is good. Nice cars are good.  Being a loving, compassionate, considerate, respectful, tolerant person of faith is the priority.

The above values and skills are ones that will cause them to be successful in this life (and the next one) regardless of their vocation.

These are the traits that all religions try to develop within us because they are what we perceive to be “God-like” characteristics.

If you don’t believe in God, do you believe in the above values?

If you still don’t want religion taught in public schools, will you commit to teaching these values at home?