VISIONARY:
I see the Primeval Light, which is LOVE, encompassing the world, sustaining everything in it, offering Absolute Joy and Peace to all who will open up their hearts for Him.

INQUIRER:
How about darkness? Whence did it come from? Was it from the Light?

VISIONARY:
Light has nothing to do with darkness. Even in the beginning, light was separated from the darkness. Darkness is not created, only Light is, yet many choose to remain in darkness rather than be made part of the Light.

INQUIRER:
Why is there so much darkness in the world?

VISIONARY:
Light has come unto the world, but the world refused Him and chose to remain in Darkness. Nevertheless, the Light did not abandon the world, but provided a Flame that will seek out all who desire to come out of the darkness that they may be a part of the Light in the appointed time, when a separation of the Light from the Darkness shall be made once again.

INQUIRER:
When shall this separation commence?

VISIONARY:
The Time shall come like a thief in the night.

INQUIRER:
And what of this thief? How shall he separate the Light from the Darkness?

VISIONARY:
Those who have set themselves apart for the Light at the time appointed them shall be duly harvested, no one can snatch them away from their Lover.

INQUIRER:
And what of those who have not known their Love?

VISIONARY:
Their Lover awaits them, even unto the beyond. He will make known unto them that which had been concealed by the Darkness. He will wipe away the tears from their eyes and He will vanquish all their fears.

INQUIRER:
Does it mean then that all shall be saved?

VISIONARY:
Salvation is for all as Light is for all. Yet even in the beyond not all men look towards the Light. In stubbornness, men persist in their darkness and hide from the very One, the Only One who can bring True Light into the darkness of their hearts where they are.

This article was written by Jocelyn Soriano at http://itakeoffthemask.com  You are free to republish this article as long as the author and the site  are duly acknowledged.

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Does that mean other people weren't blessed? 

If God causes the sun to shine both on the good and the bad, will He withhold His blessings to some and give it only to a few?

Who are we to say that some people are less fortunate than us?

I believe that God pours His blessings upon us all... always.

And maybe, when we say that we are blessed, it is only like saying we have finally found the faith to receive what God is giving us.  Finally, we have recognized God's goodness, and for that, we say that we are blessed! 

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Sometimes we wonder why God had to wait until we're tired and worn out, until we've finally given up before He gives us what we want.

And the answer is that we have made Him wait that long before we allowed Him to carry on His work and give us what it is we've been praying for.

Let us repent therefore.

Repent as in the word "metanoia" which means "a change of mind".

From doing things our own way, let us trust and cooperate with the Spirit
so we may live the full life Jesus has promised us all!

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Then you take his gentle hand
and you allow His peace to flood over you
like a soft cool breeze that touches your heart

And you cry your pain away
and you cry your anger away
and you rest your worries and your anxieties
and you believe that things will be okey

and things will be okey
because love will shine thru once more
because your desires will be crystal clear
because you know what really matters
and there is nothing you can do
to take you away
from the One that matters the most to you

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I myself have asked many questions:

What if these Christians retract their faith in the midst of their tortures, would God be saddened by such a decision?  Is God not saddened seeing them suffer that way?

On the other hand, why do Christians persist in defending their faith?  Is this some legalistic concept of salvation?  Is this some heroic act of defending an invincible All-Powerful God?

The understanding of such conditions depends on the premise one takes.  If one takes the purely logical process, one can't help but think there is really no benefit gained by such Christians from their suffering and that the God they worship is either not really present, or not a loving God at all to be able to allow such inhuman treatment to be inflicted upon the ones He professes to love.

It is only by taking the premise of love that one can have some insight within the hearts of these brave men.   If one sees that these people have really loved God with all their heart, as a lover does, one can understand how they have found in Him something more precious than anything else in their lives.  Losing such a thing is synonymous to losing their lives and living a life apart from Him cannot even be imagined as they have become one with Him, being empty without Him, being lost, being dead.

Now as to the reason why God does not intervene in this matter (apart from spiritual Grace), there are such Laws that even God cannot break and will not break, seeing the better good that will arise out of it all.

It might be beneficial to first review what causes suffering in the world:

• sickness of imperfect body
• death of others due to imperfect body
• pain inflicted by sin of others
• pain inflicted by sin of self

In other words, suffering is caused by imperfect body and soul, by SIN that brings about death. 

Now how to remedy it?

• Sickness and death eradicated thru resurrection, by way of being born into the new incorruptible body Paul mentioned in the Bible.
• Emotional pain caused by others relieved thru forgiveness and total surrender to the God.

Now, going back as to why couldn't God intervene more

• As to remedying sin, Love cannot be forced
• As to remedying physical death, it would be a curse to give immortality to those who have not learned of love.

What might happen if He does intervene?

• God stops us from getting sick
• God stops us from dying when attacked by others
• God stops us from sinning
• God stops others from sinning against us

As a result, the world we know today will no longer be the same kind of world.  Freewill shall no longer be.  God would dictate everything and we succumb to the level of a slave or a robot instead of a lover who can freely respond to His love.

This world is not yet perfect.  This isn't heaven yet.  Ours is a world of duality, of both light and darkness, of love and hate, of bliss and suffering, and of the many choices in between.   God can surely pull out the weeds, as the Gospel says, but He will not do so for fear of pulling out even the good wheat, of the many good things this world can accomplish for our eternal soul.  In patience then do we wait and in joy do we live for the moment given us here, growing in virtue and in love, shining forth what little light we can give, until the seasons of the earth are over, and the night shall be no more.

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Very few realize what burdens geniuses carry their whole lives - what of Van gogh, of Edgar Allan Poe, of the mathematician John Nash?

Very few realize how hard it might have been to constantly manage and control that great power that they possess, to undertake it all alone, ostracized by the society that fails to understand them intellectually, and to sympathize with them as normal human beings who also need to be understood and to belong.

 People may not realize the efforts that they made in order to reach out.  On the other hand, people may look at them as snobs who can get by on their own and need not anyone else to fellowship with their whole life.  Others may even envy them and shy away from taking their company for fear that they might lose their self esteem in their presence.

Indeed, the greater the power given, the greater also is the cross and the task of harnessing it to the full.  May God help us all attain our full potentials, and may He help us find good friends who can lend us a warm hand along the way.

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We can't love like that.  Our love, however good is still conditional.  We want something in return because we are not perfect, and we try to get from others what we lack.

That is the reason Jesus gave us two commandments, why we needed to love God first.  In truth, it is a command to allow God to love us, to be so embraced and ensured that we couldn't ask for anything more.  In that way only can we love others truly as God has loved us.

That kind of love is therefore not waiting for any condition or reward.  That love is also not boastful, self righteous or looking down upon another person because it knows that whatever love it can give has come not from itself but from God, like the moon reflecting only the light cast upon it by the sun.

It is hence our first duty to seek God's love, to know, to believe, to feel, to be enveloped in the Light of God's marvellous compassion.  All else that follows are but mere expressions of our gratitude for the priceless gift we have received.

Whenever I feel injured or angry against another, it is most likely because I felt unloved at that time and the solution is not to continue seeking it from the person concerned but from God Himself.

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I am a tree

sprouting forth and reaching out

for the glorious sunny sky

strengthening my stance

drawing forth life

from the warm womb of the ground

bearing forth what fruit

i may offer to all

giving my shade

to those who may want to rest awhile

Not all men may notice me

when they pass by

not all may taste the fruit

that i have whole-heartedly offered

nor avail of the shade

of my embrace

and yet  i stand

and yet i stand

for a tree remains to be a tree

though no one comes to rest in thee

its arms remain wide open

its fruit renewed always in their season

its gaze always before the sky

smiling

knowing

standing firm

where God has appointed thee

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Pride, even if it be of righteousness, takes us away from love.

It blinds us with a false strength

and erodes our heart with a fear

of losing the things which we attach our self-worth unto,

things which can easily be lost.

Love, on the other hand,

can never be truly lost,

but needs only to be found

again

and again

and again...

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