Life is But a Dream (Story)

God said “Be” and this Creation comes into being. At first, it does not include anything, it just exists.

Then God exhales and Holy Spirit comes into existence. With and through Holy Spirit all else is created. Holy Spirit gives life and is the connection between Creator and created. God is well beyond understanding, existing both within and beyond all Creation. When one interacts with God, it is Holy Spirit. Thus some origin legends contain, “In the beginning God creates God.”

Great Love connects Holy Spirit and God; they are One. It is through this Love that all else in Creation comes to be.

Next, God creates Child. God says to Holy Spirit, “Let Us create Child to be like Us, in Our image.” So Child comes to be and brings great delight to God and Holy Spirit. To Child, God is Parent; Holy Spirit is beloved Companion. Child exists before all else and learns at Parent’s side, participating in the creation of all else. Great Love connects and integrates Parent, Holy Spirit and Child as One. This delights all very much.

The existence of Heavenly realms are created, which are then filled with many different angelic and heavenly beings. Parent, Holy Spirit and Child take much delight in interacting and teaching these beings. The first lesson is Love.

In the beginning, the angelic beings are all One through Love, though they can learn and experience the Heavenly realms on an individual basis. The more they strive for independence, the further they walk from God’s Presence and Love.

God tries to counter this, by showing these headstrong angelic beings more Love. This, unfortunately, has the opposite effect. Some begin to wax proud, becoming leaders among their kind because they (and others) mistakenly perceive that they are “the most beloved of God’s angels.” 

Free will was granted to angelic beings, for God’s heart knows that they will repent and return. God wants the angelic beings to grow in Love and Wisdom, which means letting them do it in their own way. All this occurs beyond space and time. 

Eventually, a war breaks out. There is an open rebellion from angelic beings who rebel against God’s rule, wanting to rule Creation themselves; thus Greed comes into being.

Some desire the awe and respect Heavenly hosts and angelic beings give Parent, Holy Spirit and Child; thus Envy comes into being.

Some distance themselves far from God and think they could be gods themselves; thus Pride comes into being.

Those who remain faithful to God win that war and evict the rebels from the Heavenly Realms. It breaks every angelic heart to recall this event; they know they are One with each other.

God, Holy Spirit and Child create a new realm for the exiled; if not done, all angelic beings cease to exist. A dark, bitterly cold existence is created, for if rebellious angelic beings, of their own free will, desire to be as far from God’s Love and Light as possible, this is the place. Therein, they do not feel God’s Presence, even though at its very depths, Parent, Holy Spirit and Child still exist and rule. It is a place, God knows, where they can reconsider their decisions, repent and return to God. Thus Hell is created.

Within the Heavenly realms, Parent, Holy Spirit and Child create a corporeal existence, and call it Eden. Therein They create and place a wide variety of corporeal beings that live in peace and harmony with each other. Child takes great interest in this new part of Creation, and wants to experience it on a more intimate, first-hand basis. Parent consents and with Holy Spirit fashions a corporeal form in which Child can experience the corporeal world. 

Because all that Child has learned to date and all that Child truly is cannot be encased in such a small form with its small brain, Holy Spirit causes much of Child’s being to sleep, so it can focus on the experience. Because, even in that capacity, all there is to experience through six senses is so great, Parent and Holy Spirit create Space and Time to allow Child to learn through corporeal life.

Child delights in exploring Eden. With vague memories of creating each item, Child decides to name them.

Like the angelic beings, Parent gives Child free will and lets Child explore. Knowing that Child is limited by a corporeal mind and body, God instructs the angelic beings to protect and serve Child. Several angels do not like the fact that they are asked to serve Child in corporeal form, even though Child is created before them. They delight in serving Parent; Holy Spirit is their faithful Companion. But… to serve a creation of flesh is too much to ask! A second war rages in the Heavenly realms, and a second legion enters Hell. 

Holy Spirit is Child's eternal Companion, but the more Child focuses on corporeal existence, the more Child yearns for a corporeal companion, one that can experience just as Child experiences. Child begins to despise having a Companion of Spirit rather than flesh. Parent is adamant that Holy Spirit cannot take corporeal form, and Child wanders farther from God’s Light and Love.

There is so very much more to teach Child, so as Child starts to move away from Holy Spirit, Parent adds guidance to the roles of angels.

Child becomes more and more instant that Parent create a new corporeal companion to replace the Companion that Child has known for all of its existence. With a sigh of disappointment, Parent turns to Holy Spirit (who grieves the temporary loss of Child as Companion) and devises a plan – a way Child could learn all it seeks in corporeal existence, and yet, not be lost.

God causes Child to fall asleep. In the dream, Child becomes two beings: one male, the other female. Now Child has a corporeal companion. Child, at first, understands that it is one being, experiencing corporeal existence through two bodies. Child takes great delight in this.

Friendship blossoms. Lovemaking is a new ecstasy! Child spends more time exploring and learning, speaking with Parent often. Parent smiles, for in the dream Child does not realize that it can only interact with Parent through Holy Spirit. So what Child considers “God” is Holy Spirit as liaison between Creator and Created.

This lasts for some time, but Child is slowly drifting farther and farther from God’s Light and Love, while focusing and exploring all that corporeal existence has to offer. The thirst for information and experience is unquenchable. Child insists on learning all there is to learn, experience all there is to experience. If two bodies as one can learn so much and share such delight, what about many bodies of different sizes, shapes, abilities and experiences? 

Child discusses this wild idea with God/Holy Spirit. Fully aware that this is a dream, God/Holy Spirit know that when Child learns what it needs to learn from this experience, Child awakens and the dream ends. So God plants in Eden a Tree of Knowledge so Child can learn all there is in corporeal existence.

Child is firmly and sternly warned that such does cause great distress for Child. There no longer is eternal Joy; there is sadness. There no longer is ease; there is hardship. And at times, Child no longer feels the ever-presence of God’s Love; there is hate, anger, frustration and bitterness.

Parent and Holy Spirit weep as Child – in the corporal form of man and woman – reach up and eat of the tree's fruit. 

Thus, with Child’s decision, Parent and Holy Spirit cause a series of corporeal universes to exist. Within them, they place many stars, worlds, and environments. Many other forms of life in various levels of sentience populate the multiverses. All this comes to exist within Child’s dream.

Then God sends angels to chase Child out of Eden, leaving that corner of the Heavenly realms pure, and exile Child to Earth.

While all this comes to be, something also happens inside of Child. The man and woman have become two separate individuals. They no longer exist as one Child. They chose names for themselves to indicate – and even celebrate – their new-found individuality.

On Earth, they find other species like themselves, but not exactly. The man and woman are smarter, walk more upright, are more creative, and work more collaboratively. However, as they mingle and copulate with the sentient species of this world, the genes in their Eden-based corporeal forms dominate in the offspring. Homo-sapiens soon displace the other species, multiply and spread across every land, eventually even living on the fringes of their world.

As each succeeding generation is born, the understanding that Child is one, grows dimmer and dimmer until forgotten. The corporeal form in this harsh environment wears down, becomes injured, ill, and even dies. Child has become many minds, and mourns the loss of each individual as though each is a completely separate entity tied by friendship and family.

While this is still a dream, the fallen angelic beings find that they can influence these individuals. They teach hate, envy, greed, war and pride to humanity. This is possible because angelic beings are created after and through Child. While Child no longer remembers what it once was, these angelic beings do, and now is the chance to hurt Child in vengeance for being outcast to Hell. 

In time, they teach several individuals to reject the One True God to the point where these individuals experience Hell’s existence as well as corporeal existence.

After a few generations, the concept that Child is one being that exists before Eden is no longer in the individual minds. Some still pray, as a form of interacting with God (Holy Spirit), but there is a greater and greater distance. The intimate relationship is gone.

The descendants believe there are many gods – and not a few goddesses. They create stories about how these gods and goddesses interact with the corporeal world to bring about such that they could not explain. While they do not realize it, because they are Child – the Child at the start of Creation – anything that they believe (especially collectively), they create to be, if only within the confines of Child’s dream.

Thus a wide variety of gods, goddesses, fae, jinn, spirits and other beings come into existence. The stories that humanity tells each other became as real as the flesh on their bodies to them. Parent/Holy Spirit are now one of many, even forgotten by some. In Greek and Roman legends, stories tell how the gods overthrew their Parents.

A man named Enoch is born. He knows about other divine beings, but feels a greater love stir in his breast for the one true God – the Creator of all. Holy Spirit draws very close to Enoch and reveals angelic beings that continue to help and serve Child. One day, Holy Spirit asks Enoch, “Will you be my Companion?” Enoch agrees and becomes known as "The man who walked with God."

As Enoch and Holy Spirit grow closer in Love and Companionship, Holy Spirit reveals Child to Enoch, as much as Enoch’s limited mind can understand it. Enoch accepts it and whole new waves of wisdom pour into his mind, leaping beyond space and time. He can see his connection with all humanity -- past, present and future, as one Child of God.

He sees events from the start to a point beyond where we now are. He writes all that he can put into words. The rest would have to wait.

As Enoch’s corporeal form ages and grows tired, Holy Spirit takes pity on him. Enoch never dies; Holy Spirit takes Enoch corporeally to Eden to rest and wait for the rest of humanity –- to wait until Child awakens from the dream. 

Millennia come and go. Many individuals draw close to Holy Spirit and the One True God, yet still die.

At one point, another individual burns with a passionate zeal for the One True God. Elijah, like Enoch, becomes a true Companion with Holy Spirit. And like Enoch, Elijah does not die. When his corporeal form is worn and tired, Holy Spirit takes Elijah to Eden.

Many more centuries pass. Then the rarest of individuals is born. Like the pairing of two bright points of light in the sky (such as the recent planetary conjunction), two individuals are born into the same family, months apart, as cousins to each other. 

The preceding life contains the spirit of Elijah, the same whose fiery passion for God and Companionship with Holy Spirit is well known. This time the bond of Companionship was in place before his birth.

The other is one whom Holy Spirit leads to play the greatest role in bringing the Good News to a weary world. Into the womb of a virgin, Holy Spirit breathes this individual life into being and is with this person every moment. As the individual grows into manhood, He comes to understand something beyond all others: He is Child of God, one with Parent (whom He affectionately calls Abba/Father), one with Holy Spirit -- who is His Beloved Companion – and One with all of humanity. One Child of God.

As Child, He can do anything he can think of. He feeds thousands on very little. He walks on stormy water. He heals any aliment of the corporeal world, even raises the dead. He convinces others to have Faith so they, too, can do the same.

But, in the understanding of those listening to Him, these are hard concepts to grasp. He shows them miracles, teaching that any with even the smallest amount of Faith could do great wonders. He prays that they open their eyes to see that humanity is One. He teaches them that God is Parent and that Holy Spirit is beloved Companion.

He lives, Loves, Forgives and even sacrifices His individual corporeal form so that each member of humanity could draw closer to the One True God, in Love and Companionship. He rises from the dead, teaching that death itself is just a dream, and encourages all around him to awaken.

There is much more I can say about Yeshua / Jesus the Christ, but these are the related points, and this story is already quite long. In short, Yeshua / Jesus opens the way for Child to find a way back to what was forgotten, and rekindle the relationship between Child and Holy Spirit. This is the path to awakening.

In the nearly two millennia since, there are other teachers. Few understood as He did. Many learn from His words, believe He is the Son of God, and even proclaim others are God’s Children through adoption via Christ.

Some believe they are part of a collective conscience, which is their concept of God. This collective is simply Child, and Parent is far, far, far greater.

Some wonder if this existence really IS a dream – or a nightmare.

What you, my dear reader, believe is up to your heart and soul.

There are many different beliefs out there. This is one that dawns clearer and clearer inside myself. From this dream, one cannot awaken without ALL of humanity. Humanity is One, the Child of God. Holy Spirit is our Companion, well beyond space and time.

Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream 

~ ESA

Let We Forget...

This weekend, America celebrates Memorial Day.

While there is ever-increasing focus on the military, I'd like to take a moment to also note - and thank - others who give life and limb in a different line of service.

Firefighters

Both paid and volunteer firefighters are the primary responders to fires, accidents and many other calls, ranging from routine to bizarre.

They put their life on the line many times, from entering blazing buildings and forest fires, to working at roadway accidents on rainy nights, to entering icy waters.

In addition to helping fellow man, they are also called to rescue animals from family pets, to farm livestock, to a wide variety of wildlife.

Some leave loved ones in the middle of dinner or the dead of night to answer the call, and never come home again...

Police

Police officers and auxiliary volunteers, put themselves at risk, from high-speed chases and gunfire, to domestic fights and bomb responses, from mass evacuations to search and rescue.

Many officers are killed in line of action; some even when they simply walk to help a disabled motorist and are struck by a distracted driver.

EMT and Paramedics

These ambulance crews are mostly volunteers across this country, yet they put themselves at risk on a regular basis.

They race through traffic, where impatient drivers may ignore the siren and jump out into their way; they work roadside at accidents with cars whizzing past.

Many don't realize that these dedicated men and women also go into very dangerous situations, such as over the side of a cliff or into dangerous neighborhoods to help the fallen or sick.

I didn't realize the extent of danger until a New York City Paramedic friend walked up in bullet-proof vest. She told us that on many calls where someone was shot, the bullets are still flying when they arrive...

Rescue Workers and
First Responders

This includes those who go into dangerous situations immediately following a tornado, flood, hurricane, tsunami, earthquake or similar.

They brave churning waters, collapsing debris, open gas lines, and/or flames to help complete strangers. 

In times of emergency, often these people are NOT the trained emergency responders, but simply caring hearts who first arrive on the scene and realize that someone needs help! 

And the most important...

The Peacemakers and
Human Rights Activists 

These bold hearts who stand up for others, often those who cannot do so themselves. Some face ostracization, job loss and prison; some pay the full price with their lives.

Over these recent years, there are many reports from around the world where people die protesting against unfair or inhumane leaders and/or laws. 

 We in United States should not forget our own similarly fallen. Our largest generation, the Baby Boomers, lived through a time when many people ~ men and women, black and white ~ were injured and died simply because they stated in words and non-aggressive actions that treating another human being differently is WRONG. 

Some, likewise, died on American soil while protesting for Peace during a time of war. 

On this Memorial Day Weekend, in addition to fallen military, may we remember those who have NEVER raised a hand to harm another, but lost life or limb in helping others and in making this a better world. 

Not just those in the United States, but all those around the world...

In Memoriam

~ESA

Driving Down Memory Lane

When I was a girl in the 1970's, numerous siblings crammed into our family car for hours to literally drive over the river and through the woods to grandma's house. Back in the time before car seats and even rear seat belts, let alone iPods and portable / built-in DVD players, my family played games like "I-Spy," "Geography" (where you name a place that began with the last letter of the previous place name), "Traffic Bingo" and one of my dad's favorites -- "Spot the Straightaway."

While I now understand it to be urban legend, my dad explained that President Eisenhower designed the US Highway System to have a mile-long straightaway without overpasses "every so many-miles down the highway," so a plane could make an emergency landing. While easy in flat open sections of the mid-west, we lived in the Northeastern US, where highways built in the 1950's and 1960's meandered around existing cities and large towns, as well as wove through rolling hills and mountains.

But if we were quiet (hint-hint) and observant, we would be able to find those mile-long stretches. As a reward, the observer would get a window-seat at the next pit stop change. Having been crammed in the middle of the bench seats (front and back), we all knew the value of the prized window seats.

Two weeks ago, a small plane landed on a normally crowded New York City highway. This is not the first time; this will not be the last time. But when I heard about it, I smiled and remembered the "Spot the Straightaway" game of my youth ~ years after my dad, and now one of my siblings, passed away.

The reason I share this particular drive down memory lane is this:

• Share the time we have with each other, we never know when someone will no longer be in our lives.
• Even when we don't realize it, life's trials and tragedies shape us -- like a highway cutting straight along mountainous terrain -- to prepare us for future emergencies.
• Be observant; while the US didn't intentionally plan emergency straightaways, God does. There may be crisis in our lives, but God opens up a place for emergency landings too.

~ ESA

Live Like You Were Dying

For the last year I've been dragging; many noted that my blogs and tweets dried up. Pain and illness drove me inward. Then when I reached a certain point ... God reached in and gave me a boost. 

I listen to Contemporary Christian music online, and silence as I drive my old Jeep; the radio died nearly three years ago.

For my birthday, my husband had a replacement radio installed. It still uses cassettes instead of CD's; it will never connect to a smart phone or iPod.

No Contemporary Christian music stations are in my area, but there are plenty of secular.

God can and does use secular music too. Humanity draws the lines, not God. On a Country radio station, a song brought tears to my eyes. 

As the pain and illness are finally starting to subside, and I have come to terms that in several ways my body will no longer be what it once was, God is calling me to sing once more. And sweet words set me dancing upon the wind.

Regardless of what faith we follow, we all know that there is a limited time we have in this world. Life is to short to hold grudges. Life is too short to put off something to tomorrow.

We don't know when time will end - for this world or for our own life. So we need to live it to the fullest. Live like we were dying...

~ ESA

 

He said: "I was in my early forties,
"With a lot of life before me,
"An' a moment came that stopped me on a dime.
"I spent most of the next days,
"Looking at the x-rays,
"An' talking 'bout the options an' talkin’ ‘bout sweet time."
I asked him when it sank in,
That this might really be the real end?
How’s it hit you when you get that kind of news?
Man whatcha do?

An' he said: "I went sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,
"I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.
"And I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter,
"And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying."
An' he said: "Some day, I hope you get the chance,
"To live like you were dyin'."

He said "I was finally the husband,
"That most the time I wasn’t.
"An' I became a friend a friend would like to have.
"And all of a sudden goin' fishin’,
"Wasn’t such an imposition,
"And I went three times that year I lost my Dad.
"Well, I finally read the Good Book,
"And I took a good long hard look,
"At what I'd do if I could do it all again,
"And then:

"I went sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,
"I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.
"And I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter,
"And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying."
An' he said: "Some day, I hope you get the chance,
"To live like you were dyin'."

Like tomorrow was a gift,
And you got eternity,
To think about what you’d do with it.
An' what did you do with it?
An' what can I do with it?
An' what would I do with it?

"Sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,
"I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.
"And then I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter,
"And I watched Blue Eagle as it was flyin'."
An' he said: "Some day, I hope you get the chance,
"To live like you were dyin'."

"To live like you were dyin'."
"To live like you were dyin'."
"To live like you were dyin'."
"To live like you were dyin'."
 

~ Tim McGraw

Kindness of Hearts

Yesterday, I spent the day at Lake Compounce with my extended family. This included my elderly mother for whom we brought  a motorized scooter.

Moments after 7PM, a few sprinkles came down over the park. Like many others, I looked up, saw only small gray clouds and shrugged it off, continuing to enjoy the rides and attractions.

My niece and I helped my mother onto the "Twister" ride, as the rain started to come down heavier. Concerned that her iPhone was getting wet, my niece asked to be released from the ride. Then, concerned that her hairdo was getting wet, my mother asked for the same. So I got off and escorted my mother to the nearest shelter, which was a tree beside the exit gate.

The ride started up as I raced through the steady rain to help my husband cover up the motorized scooter.

Then the skies opened fully and a deluge came down. We helped my mom under a more substantial shelter and then I ran back out for the scooter. With plastic still covering the controls I powered it toward the shelter of a nearby restaurant, getting completely soaked in the process. Halfway to the shelter though, the scooter stops - dead.

The battery still has a charge, but the motor will not function. And with the motor not engaged, the wheels locked. My husband and I had to literally pick up the scooter and carry it the rest of the way.

We tried to dry everything off, going through handfuls of napkins, but nothing seemed to work.

In the middle of this chaos, the power at the amusement park cut out.

Usually Lake Compouce is very responsible, having people off the rides LONG before any severe rains come in. But what seemed sprinkles from a stray grey cloud, bloomed into a downpour within minutes - out of nowhere! People were stranded on the rides; some wound slowly and silently down to the the ground in neutral positions. A crowd of people were stuck on the chain of the roller coaster in the downpour. Many were watching from the top cars of a motionless ferris wheel.

In the midst of all this, my family debated how to get my mother back to the car and how to get the scooter back to our van. My sister was convinced we would be stuck hand-carrying this heavy scooter all the way back to the van. By ourselves.

I, on the other hand, had a lot more faith in the people around me and the people that worked there.

Before my sister wandered off, a park employee named Angie came over and asked if they could help. Here the park was scrambling with clearing rain-soaked riders from disabled rides, and handling the surge of people in the shops and restaurants. Yet... she saw a disabled scooter on its side and came over voluntarily and offered us help as well.

Before we could even ask, they offered and made arrangements for a substitute wheelchair for my mother. They also came up with a creative solution to get the scooter to our van, using an oversized wheelbarrow. Another employee, Dylan, came with us, helping my husband to lift, move and transfer the scooter into the van.

My sister offered money to those who helped, but it was refused, politely but firmly. So my husband and I stopped by the customer service booth. While the manager there dealt with a string of grumbles and shouts about being stuck on rides and similar complaints from dripping, irate customers, we brought a compliment on how helpful their staff was.

We never asked for the help; they offered it out of the kindness of their hearts.

If we think the worst of people, often the worst we see.

When we think the best of people, the best there can be.

~ ESA

Lest We Forget

Today, America celebrates Memorial Day. While there is ever-increasing focus on the military, I'd like to take a moment to also note - and thank - others who give life and limb for the sake of others. 

Firefighters, both paid and volunteer, who are the primary responders to fires, accidents and many other calls, ranging from routine to bizarre.

They put their life on the line many times, from entering blazing buildings, to working at roadway accidents on rainy nights, to entering icy water.

In addition to helping fellow man, they are also called to rescue animals from family pets, to farm livestock, to a wide variety of wildlife.

Some leave loved ones in the middle of dinner or the dead of night to answer the call, and never come home again... 

Police, both paid and auxiliary volunteers, put themselves at risk, from high-speed chases, to gunfire-fights, from domestic fights, to bomb responses, from mass evacuations, to search and rescue.

Officers are killed in line of action; also when they simply walk to help a disabled motorist and are struck by a distracted driver. 

EMT, Paramedics and ambulance crews are mostly volunteers across this country. They also put themselves at risk on a regular basis. They speed through traffic, where cars jump out into their way; they work roadside at accidents with cars whizzing past.

Many don't realize these dedicated men and women also go into very dangerous situations, such as rescuing some over the side of a cliff. They enter dangerous neighborhoods to help the fallen or sick. I didn't realize the extent of danger until a NYC Paramedic friend walked up in bullet-proof vest. On calls where someone was shot, the bullets are still flying when they arrive...


Rescue Workers/First Responders include those who go into danger immediately following a tornado, flood, hurricane, tsunami, earthquake or similar. They brave collapsing debris, churning waters and/or flames to help complete strangers.

In times of emergency, often these people are NOT trained emergency responders, but simply caring hearts who first arrive on the scene and realize that someone needs help!

And the most important...

The Peacemakers and Those who stand up for the rights of others, especially those who do so at the cost of their own lives. The news reports deaths in other parts of the world where people die protesting against unfair or inhumane laws or leaders. We in US should not forget our own similarly fallen.

Our largest generation, the Baby Boomers, lived through and should not forget the 1960's, where many people ~ men and women, black and white ~ died simply because they stated in words and non-aggressive actions that segregation is WRONG.

Some, likewise, died on US soil while protesting for Peace during a time of war.

On this Memorial Day, in addition to fallen military, may we especially remember those who have NEVER raised a hand to harm another, but lost life or limb in helping others and in making this a better world. Not just those in the US, but those all around the world...

In Memoriam

- ESA