Understanding God

[Godsgifttomankind]

Generation upon generation have presented to mankind images of God based upon their understanding of the all powerful, the all knowing, the all wise.

They have created and maintained places of worship and styles of worship.

Maintained an obedience to that image and to that style of worship and rejected any other images or styles of worship.

The standard has been to worship in isolation and to guard that which has been passed down from generation to generation. This I believe places a restriction upon the power of the all mighty. Placing walls between believers and non believers, walls that do not exist in the eyes of God.

While there are many physical walls there are also many invisible walls that are created based upon arrogance and a desire for superiority. This desire to rise above or to be raised above that of the rest of the populace is not always a bad thing, for when it is done in an act of servitude it is very righteous but when it is done for self gratification it places all those around in a state of bondage.

The point of what I am saying is to bring down the walls and remove the bonds that have crippled humanity. God does not want these walls, nor these bonds but sees all mankind as equal. He has not raised judges of men but quickeners, those that can remove the walls and cast aside the chains; freeing mankind from ignorance and self serving ideologies.

The winds of change have been blowing for more than a century and all mankind has paid a staggering price to bring about the changes that have yet to become fully manifest in the world of men. It is the harshness of the fall and winter winds that clears the landscape for the rebirth in the great and glorious spring. Standing and watching the devastation, one can hardly see the purpose of so devastating an act and yet those held in bondage of poverty or religious fanaticism have had the bonds released.

Fear mongers recognize the signs of change and prepare people for the coming devastation but are blind to the changes that are set in motion or the beauty that comes forth from the ruin. The walls that separate humanity are going to take a lot of force to bring down and those that attempt to fortify those walls will pay a dear price, just as those who stand strong in effort to bring down those walls.

God has given all men the choice and the knowledge to know what is the right choice in these matters. We can all choose to be empowerers of peace or enforcers of peace, we can all choose to protect the environment or to ignore the problem, we can all choose to look after those in need or to look after ourselves and we can all choose to have a meaningful relationship with our creator or ignore the very essence of our being.

This is about understanding and action, not about fear and ignorance, people act because they know it is the right thing to do.

That righteousness is ultimately God's Gift to Mankind and the message which I share.

[Defiant Noquisi]

The standard has been to worship in isolation and to guard that which has been passed down from generation to generation. This I believe places a restriction upon the power of the all mighty. What it does in respect to Native American spirituality is protect it from the cultural theives who use it for their own self-serving needs. They steal our beliefs, repackage them and them sell them to the uninformed as "Native American" for profit. This places confusion on people who genuinely wish to learn for educational and cultural value as to what is "real".

Also, in Native beliefs it is customary to worship alone since this time is very private and not for others. Weve done it for thousands of years and the Creator has never in that entire time told us that we were wrong, only man has. In light of that its not too hard for me to figure out who would hold me back and who wouldnt.

If it wasnt for deceitful profit mongers and people looking to create a name for themselves by selling themselves as a shaman (shame-on) Indian people would have shared what they do. As long as our cultural and spiritual beliefs are bastardized by outsiders, they will be closed off to non-Indians and no one outside of our circles has any right to dictate what we can and cant do with our culture.

How can you even justify an explanation of "restricting the power of the almighty"? How did you come to this knowledge? If you believe so much in "god" and that he is the Creator of All Things then why would you think he could be weakened in any way by ceremonial restrictions? What happened to the Creator allowing us free will?

[nrj]

How did you come to this knowledge? It's not fact, it's conjecture, GGTM's speciality.

[Godsgifttomankind]

Thank-you Defiant Noquisi for your thoughts,


What it does in respect to Native American spirituality is protect it from the cultural theives who use it for their own self-serving needs. They steal our beliefs, repackage them and them sell them to the uninformed as "Native American" for profit. This places confusion on people who genuinely wish to learn for educational and cultural value as to what is "real".

I empathize with your concerns on these matters and recognize that it is not just Native American spirituality that has been sold by these types of pirates. It would be a wonderful world if we could all share in our spirituality without greed and condemnation corrupting everything.


Also, in Native beliefs it is customary to worship alone since this time is very private and not for others. Weve done it for thousands of years and the Creator has never in that entire time told us that we were wrong, only man has. In light of that its not too hard for me to figure out who would hold me back and who wouldnt.

The essence of a relationship with the creator is a private matter and is best done just as you have stated, I believe that you may have misunderstood that which I was presenting. It was not my intention to besmirch customs of worship but to bring attention to those that isolate themselves in superiority and claim that their way is the only way. Their superiority complex places limitations on the power of a creator that has so blessed your people and mine.


If it wasnt for deceitful profit mongers and people looking to create a name for themselves by selling themselves as a shaman (shame-on) Indian people would have shared what they do. As long as our cultural and spiritual beliefs are bastardized by outsiders, they will be closed off to non-Indians and no one outside of our circles has any right to dictate what we can and cant do with our culture.

You are right you are the sole possessor of that which is dear to you and no one should have the right to force anything on anyone. You are justified in defending that which is within your heart from ridicule and scorn but it is also important to be able to test the spirit of those that stand before you, which can be difficult to do when one has been jaded by the darkness of these things which you have just mentioned.


How can you even justify an explanation of "restricting the power of the almighty"? How did you come to this knowledge? If you believe so much in "god" and that he is the Creator of All Things then why would you think he could be weakened in any way by ceremonial restrictions? What happened to the Creator allowing us free will?

Ignorance is my response, the almighty is just that all powerful; and it is our ignorance that limits our understanding and in our minds limits the power of the all powerful. Anyone that believes that God only has a relationship with certain people has placed limits on the power of the almighty, limits that do not exist. God has a relationship with every part of creation and it is only the limitations of ignorance that allows people to believe that they are superior to anyone else. It is this superiority that places shame on peoples that they do not understand and is reflected back two fold upon the person doing the shaming.

It is your steadfastness and demand for respect of your people that I admire so much, it is these qualities that make you a very dear friend to those that have gained admittance into your inner circle.

God Bless you.

[Defiant Noquisi]

Okay, thanks for the explanations. I have a better picture now of what you were after and I can see now where I misinterpretted a few things. I easily get defensive when its my own.