Barry The Blood Corpuscle

Once upon a time there was a blood corpuscle named Barry. He lived and worked with his blood brothers and sisters to maintain the operational health and integrity of their human host. This included rushing to the face when their human host was angry, leaving the face when their host was frightened, going to the stomach when their host was hungry and entering the various muscles as needed.

Barry and all his other blood buddies had to make sure they were perfectly attuned to the thoughts and wishes of their host or the entire organic system would quickly come to ruin. Most of the time it was a pretty straightforward job.

Then one day Barry and his platelet pals were given a strange new order from the host’s brain. They had just left the liver on their return back to the heart when they received orders to take a detour. Barry’s usual path took him to the heart where he would then be pumped into the lungs. This normal route allowed him and his pals to ditch old, unhealthy and heterogenous substances they had picked up along the way and to freshen up with a new supply of oxygen. That always felt great.

The lungs served to scrutinize the worthiness of the materials Barry and his friends were carrying. Again, this process was to assure that the quality of the blood corpuscles would perfectly reflect and correspond to the quality of their host’s heart and mind. But now they were being told to change their normal routine.

Apparently, their host was at that moment telling a big fat lie for the purpose of deception. Barry and his fellow corpuscles now had to find a way to imitate this diversion through taking a new direction in the body. What made this particularly challenging for Barry is that their host was spouting high-sounding, noble ideas, which involved the host’s intelligence but cleverly hid the intentions of the heart.

Barry and his company of corpuscle-friends were given orders by the brain to take a detour from the heart, passing immediately through the aorta and vena cava before returning back into the lungs. Barry realized that by going to the lungs through a less direct path, he was mimicking his host’s efforts to keep his thoughts refined yet separated and abstracted from his heart’s quality. This tricky maneuver permitted the host to communicate high-sounding ideals while sparing the heart’s intentions from coming under any direct self-scrutiny.

Over time, the host’s deceit became habitual and Barry was less able to jettison the hazardous materials from the host’s body because they now mirrored the toxic proclivity of the host’s heart. Barry noticed that he and his pals were getting thicker, heavier and stickier. Barry also noticed that the host was suffering from bouts of melancholy. If this was allowed to continue, Barry and his friends would eventually be forced to form dangerous clots in order to faithfully mimic the poisonous principles that were adhering to and “gunking-up” the host’s value-system.

Then one day a miracle happened.

Barry and his red-blooded buddies suddenly found themselves receiving directions to begin traveling through the coronary vessels of the heart in a new way that allowed them to pass rigorous inspection in the lungs not once, but two or three times, before being pumped out the ascending and descending aorta and back into the rest of the body. Barry and his cousin corpuscles felt happiness and levity again as they were able to expel their noxious substances with greater zeal.

Barry learned from what was going on in the brain that their host had found God again and began a new life of introspection, incorporating spiritual principles back into his life. It was because of this new endeavor of intensive introspection by the host that Barry and his platelet pals could again take their chemical baggage to be properly inspected by the lungs, bringing new life and vigor to the entire hemoglobinic community and ultimately to their human host.

http://www.staircasepress.com

My dying mom snubbed healthcare

Around February 1995 I received a dreadful call from my mother. She gave me the news that her doctor “thought that she had pancreatic cancer.”

My first response to her was “What do you mean he thinks you have cancer?” She then told me that her doctor would have to perform a biopsy to be sure. So I asked her if she was going to get the procedure. Her answer indicated to me that she was uninterested.

“Don’t you want to know for sure?” I asked.  She still seemed ambivalent towards this invasive procedure. I then got my youngest brother on the phone (who was living with her at the time) and said that we had to convince mom that she should get the biopsy. He agreed.

It took both of us a period of two months to finally convince our mother to get the biopsy. I was relieved.

So the next time I talked to her on the phone I asked how things went. She replied, saying that the doctor somehow missed the tumor and would have to do it all over again.

I was pissed to hear this.

How could such a thing happen? After having twisted my mother’s arm to get the biopsy in the first place I knew there would be no way to convince her to have a second procedure performed on her. My heart sank.

I was confused as to why she did not want to know exactly what her status was. I was about to learn that she had accepted her fate and that she would tough it out. She refused all treatment, even though she had good healthcare insurance.

I visited her that spring. She acted normally but had some trouble eating. While taking a shower I developed a severe nosebleed. I suspect it was part sinus infection and part strained emotions. I ended up going to the emergency room to stop the bleeding. For the next few days it was my mom who was looking after me! How could this be?

I returned home, still alarmed at her condition. However, knowing that my brother was there to look over her brought a degree of calm to the situation. I had heard that pancreatic cancer was painful and assumed that she would seek treatment when the pain grew unbearable.

But she continued to tough it out. She suffered greatly, yet consciously.

That December I got a call from my brother that mom had finally said “It is time to take me to the hospital.” This did not mean she was ready for treatment, but ready to die.

By the time I was able to fly into New York from St. Louis, she was lying in her hospice bed, unconscious. Mom’s face was startlingly shrunken. I knew that her life force was receding from her corporeal body. What really caught my attention was her labored breathing—with each breath she gave out a straining sound as if she were punched in the stomach.

I asked my brother if she was on any painkillers. He said that in the hospital she had finally agreed to painkillers but that they gave her nightmares. She died in less than a week at the hospital. She simply had embraced a belief system that was different from most others. My mom did not see it as important to cling to this world. She had lived a full life and accepted God’s providence.

She died as a truly liberated woman.

I would gladly give up every post on this blog (and my two books) to be able to prove I had an equally strong inner constitution.

http://www.provinggod.com

Is Jesus a physicist?

Last night (Oct. 15) I happened to be listening to the radio program Coast to Coast AM with host George Noory.  One of the guest speakers was Naturopathic physician Dr. Richard Bartlett. Barllett had personally experienced a miraculous healing event in 1997 and was promoting his new book The Physics of Miracles: Tapping into the Field of Consciousness Potential, which was based on his further research.

One of the most interesting claims made by Dr. Bartlett in his interview was that “Jesus was a physicist.”  In other words, miracles are not the suspension of scientific law but the tapping into laws of higher-dimensional physics (something that Jesus would know about). Since I have made a similar claim in my own book Proving God: Swedenborg’s Remarkable Quest For The Quantum Fingerprints Of Love I was delighted to hear his interview. I applaud the boldness of Dr. Bartlett’s theory.

There is a growing movement consisting of theologians, scientists and other academics to unify science and theology. I am a part of this movement and belong to two organizations that have embraced this goal as their corporate purpose (Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences and the Swedenborg Scientific Association).

It is currently believed by many physicists that nature’s laws governing the universe on the fundamental level operate with greater freedom. In other words, on the causal level of first principles, processes operate under less constraint. Some physicists even believe that these higher dimensions are psychical and consist of a universal (morphic) field of consciousness.

My new book takes this idea further. The causal force (first principle) operating and directing this universal field of consciousness is God’s Divine Love. Viewing LOVE as the primal “stuff” of reality and creative force in nature requires abandoning the current materialist philosophy of science that there is nothing beyond the physical nor is anything purposeful.

But such a challenging topic as unifying all knowledge requires serious thinkers to question their current assumptions about both science and theological dogma. Both sides of the argument will have their ox gored!

For instance, not only did Jesus understand and make use of these higher-level laws, they are actually woven into the very fabric and scaffolding of the Bible’s top-down architecture (the Holy Word is a multi-level document containing the secrets to universal order and causal processes). I demonstrate this in my own book.

I will order Bartlett’s book (I hope you do, too). I will be curious to find out what his understanding of higher dimensional physics is, and, if it leads to the non-local and non-temporal kingdom of heaven. Because the greatest miracle of all is not healing the corporeal body of disease, it is obtaining eternal life and happiness.

My book Proving God will be available March 2010. In the meantime, if you want to snoop around, checkout http://provinggod.com

Softening of the arteries

A person’s physical health is often the causal effect of one’s spiritual health. This intimate relationship between mind and body is not earth-shaking news. Holistic medicine and healing practices treat this principle seriously. It can be summed up by the ancient phrase “As above, so below.” However, maintaining a healthy body goes beyond having a healthy attitude and cultivating positive thoughts. It ultimately involves sincere spiritual love.

Jesus’ commandments to “love God” and “love the neighbor” are more than religious dogma or heavenly arm-twisting. They represent a Divine understanding of brain science, anatomy, even physics. Salvation is not something that takes place apart from science.

What is not yet understood is that humans are recipient organic forms and vessels designed to receive life from the Lord God of heaven. The life force that flows into men and women from God (top-down causation) is from His Divine Love. However, in consequence of the fact that humans are born with hereditary traits of selfish love, and from this principle acquire actual inclinations toward evil, the human organism, brain and mind are all oriented against the inflowing life and influence from heaven.

From selfish and worldly loves, various evils and untruths cling to the human mind and its life, whereby a hardening results that affects a person’s health all the way down to the corporeal level of existence. So non-compliance and resistance to heavenly order begins the hardening process of one’s spirit, which sets the stage for a similar condition to develop (below) in the body.

One of the major maladies of modern life is the hardening of the arteries. In this condition plaque collects along an artery’s walls making it both less pliable and diminishes its ability to promote proper blood flow. Falsities and selfish intentions cling to our mind just as types of plaque adhere to the walls of our arteries and even the inner and outer membranes of our neurons (brain cells).

God’s love and truth acts as a solvent for cleaning up our spirit’s inner circulation. Why is God’s influence a solvent? Because when heavenly truth and order conflicts with our personal beliefs and behavior (like love of self, contempt for others, self-glory, hatred and revenge) a battle ensues. If God’s truth wins, and breaks down false principles, a man or women’s organic disposition becomes more yielding and compliant with heaven’s influence. This battle is sensed in our lives as various temptations, which are necessary for God to dispose our living structures into obedience. This is the only way spiritual love can be conjoined to our biological selves.

Selfish love hardens. God’s mercy softens.

Website: http://www.staircasepress.com

Without misfortune, distress, and sickness our lives would suffer.

That may sound like a great paradox but I am referring to eternal happiness not worldly happiness.

We usually are happy when things are going OUR way. That is, happiness is obtained when life and the world all fall into our personal view of how life should be—for us. Since this view often does not look beyond the personal self or the physical world, one’s happiness becomes tied to reputation, accumulation of wealth and pleasure. Therefore, God has no other recourse but to allow “s_ _ t to happen.”

It is not in God’s or our best interests that we go through life solely in our habitual minds, which have been conditioned to operate on a corporeal/sensual level. Daily life does not require us to seek spiritual happiness or to look beyond the allurements and trappings of the material world.

So when bad things happen, many people “snap out” of their habitual condition and begin to wake up and think more deeply about what really matters. That is a good thing! Misfortune, distress and sickness often lead people back to God and to the realization that what they formerly valued most turned out to be fleeting and worthless.

Lots of people blame God for the suffering in the world. However, if the things that give us the most pleasure hinder or block God’s influence of spiritual goodness from entering into our lives and hearts, desperate measures are taken. Happiness eludes most people because they only know what gives them the most pleasure.

What is the difference between pleasure and happiness?

Happiness goes deeper than pleasure and is more inclusive. Pleasure often runs counter to true happiness as well. We want good things from God, but God wants us to do good things for others. Pleasure is worldly. Happiness is spiritual.

Let me share an experience. I was once told by an acquaintance that he felt it was wrong that people should suffer and die. Yet, this same person thought cheating on his wife was fine—he found pleasure in it. Now that he is old, overweight and has a bad heart, I hope he has time to ponder the true secret of happiness.

I have kept this post purposely short because I want to hear what you think about suffering in the world and how this affects your feelings about God.

Website: http://www.staircasepress.com

Male enhancement – God’s way

Advertisements are running everywhere to help aging men deal with “erectile dysfunction” (ED). Even more worrisome are the various news reports that indicate male sperm counts are down. One theologian, Emanuel Swedenborg, provided some unexpected evidence that such a problem has it origins in the quality of one’s spirituality (or lack of it).

What makes Swedenborg unique among all other theologians is his spectacular claim that the Lord opened his spiritual eyes so that he could gain access to the spiritual world and be among the spiritual beings there (the departed souls of terrestrial humans). He enjoyed this ability for the last twenty-five years of his life and reported on many events that he personally witnessed.

One such event included departed spirits from various Christian countries. They were brought together to discuss the origin of marriage, love of the sex, and male potency. I will leave out the country of each Christian response to protect the innocent.

The first group of Christians to respond stated that male potency came from no other source than the position of the sun from the latitude of the country one was born in. Southern countries, which came under greater influence of the sun’s vital rays, stated that solar heat was the origin of their passion and potency.

The second group of Christians claimed that chastity and laws restraining men from the desire to “cheat” was the true source of potency because this protected men from immoral acts that would lead to disease.

A third group of Christians maintained that male potency was derived from the institution of marriage (with a virgin) and its lawful license for sex.

A fourth group attributed potency to bodily health.

The fifth group announced that potency had its source in the ardor of young husbands before the nuptials as the burning flame of sex is focused on one woman. Potency is maintained in older husbands by the exercise of moderation from prudence.

Group six claimed that potency came from viewing marriage with an aim towards public good. This included the raising of and proper education of children plus the acquisition of inheritances – both which are secured by marriage.

A seventh group said the source of potency was obviously from the love of the delight and pleasure of sex.

The eighth group believed that male potency had its primal beginning deep within a man’s spiritual mind, which then flowed into his breast, and finally into the genitals. In other words, spiritual love and its potency came from something innate in the human mind. Spiritual love involved seeking mutuality and friendship with ONE woman. If potency preceded this love it had a purely carnal source. True potency came from having one’s love in the proper order.

Lastly, a ninth committee of Christians surmised that the potency of love came from a similarity and unanimity of minds between the partners.

When all the Christian representatives had finished, several outsiders from Africa appeared in the room and volunteered to offer their own opinion about the true origin of potency. One of them began to say that Africans believe that true potency comes from the God of heaven and earth. A person’s potency is the product of one’s relationship with the God of the universe.

An angel then appeared and announced that the African most correctly described the origin of potency!

To sum things up, the diminished potency and sperm count of males may be a direct result of the diminished quality in their relationship with God. You may laugh at such a premise but your only alternative is to take a “small pill” containing Nitrous oxide (laughing gas) and not worry whether it produces a noble erection.

http://www.staircasepress.com

Cholesterol From Hell

Everyone knows that having a proper diet leads to proper health. For instance, if we ingest too many fatty foods we can increase the risk of cholesterol accumulating and sticking to the walls of our arteries. This accumulation can restrict the flow of blood and eventually lead to a heart attack.

While it is common sense to restrict one’s diet of fatty, greasy, artery-clogging foods, there is also a psycho-spiritual side to health. It is generally known that our mental states can affect our immune systems and overall health.

Scientist/theologian Emanuel Swedenborg took this holistic idea of mind-body health further than any other researcher I have ever come across. He realized that disease could have physical causes, mental causes and even spiritual causes. Each of these causes could produce real changes in the chemistry of the blood and the condition of the bodily tissues.

For instance, his anatomical investigations led him to observe that joy, happiness and love expanded many organic forms, allowing for various fluids and energies to flow more freely and perform their vital functions more efficiently. On the other hand, anger, hatred and repulsion constricted organic tissues, membranes and the flow of our life forces. Antipathy also has a hardening effect while mercy and compassion has a softening effect on the bodily systems.

Furthermore, love and happiness thins and clarifies the blood while sadness and melancholy thickens and “gunks-up” the blood. So when we decide to watch what we eat for holistic wellness, we must also include categories of sustenance beyond the main terrestrial food groups.

We not only eat and digest physical food, we also partake of—and metabolize—mental food. That is, information. We instinctively realize the truth of this analogy when we use lexicons like “chewing on ideas” or “ruminating” over some topic. The point is that some information is healthy for us but other information can be hurtful and lead us astray.

In the same way that food is turned into the fabric of our physical bodies, information can be turned into the very fabric of our inner being.

Swedenborg became uniquely aware of the affects of hurtful information on the health of the human spirit. Eating is appropriating. We appropriate ideas when they become our personal convictions and beliefs. This is why we must be careful not to “swallow whole” false ideas—especially about ourselves—from the over-magnification of our self-importance.

False ideas and principles, which are generated from the love of self, accumulate and stick to each other, clogging up the proper flow of spiritual forces in the human heart (will) and mind (intellect). This is cholesterol from hell—a byproduct of rejecting spiritual goodness from our lives. It cuts us off from God’s loving influence, ultimately threatening the spiritual wellbeing of our souls.

LIFE flows from God into our souls, and from our souls into our bodies. Any blockage along this top-down flow can threaten our wellness. Heart attacks can indeed result from non-physical causes and one’s mental states. Doctors have found victims of heart attacks who show no visible signs of heart disease and healthy people living long lives with high cholesterol levels. Medicine needs to bring God back into its therapeutic arsenal.

The purpose of true religion is to provide the proper dietary and medicinal needs for the eternal health of the human spirit and soul.

http://www.provinggod.com