THE LIGHT & THE DARKNESS

Indiana Sand Dunes

When I was young, I remember I believed in what my father told me to save me from the darkness. I was told these things by my father. So part of this article is influenced by his knowledge. The other part comes from years of my own observations and applied wisdom. This is what my father taught me. He said, "You cannot fight the darkness if you do not believe in it. You cannot be filled with the light if you do not believe in it. Darkness cannot comprehend light. If you do not believe in the light then you are an empty vessel filled with darkness." I remember many people in the church I grew up in, whom held pious and self-righteous attitudes, maintaining they were "saved" and others were not. However, it is wrong to purport you are the righteous and another is not when you are incapable of knowing the heart of a man, his inner soul, his inner thoughts. It is true that the tree is known by its fruit. And also true that many drink milk as babies, not growing or developing in the Spirit. They simply do not know how to eat of the meat as an adult. Many believe in the Light or God but do not know how to seek inner growth from that point. Instead the self-righteous, self-proclaimed Christians, tend to lead many to bitterness and hatred of having what those pious Christians display; because for all intense purposes, if one is ACTUALLY filled with the light of the Holy Spirit, then that person will share it and not hamper other’s abilities to grow in the Spirit. Because one cannot see the growth in another does not mean that person does not have the Light of the Spirit within them.

Indiana Sand Dunes

If you are one who quotes parts of the Bible in order for it to encourage your position without considering other portions of the Bible, or other sources of truth and wisdom, then perhaps there is a flaw in your judgment on others. Certainly, we can cast judgment on outer behaviors. But since we ARE NOT GOD, then we cannot JUDGE the heart of a man or woman, or what they think or believe privately and personally. Nor can we know if they truly believe or have the Light of the Spirit. Individuals will show fruits of their behavior; they will be examples of what they truly believe and what truly influences them or they may not be developed enough to do so. It does not mean they do not have a Holy Light within them. And who are we to cast that kind of judgment?

KJV 1 Cor 2:11 “ For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.”

I have known many child molesting Christians. I have heard of people who have never claimed to be Christian but they believe in a Oneness of God and Pure Light. How am I to know who has the LIGHT and who does not? Well that just is not up to me, nor anyone else. I am not to judge another man or woman’s heart. I am supposed to be a witness or an example to others. That is the knowledge my father taught me, and the wisdom I have applied throughout my life.

Too many Christians are playing GOD and acting as Judge and Jury when they really are only pushing and hampering those who could enjoy true growth. Who would want the Light after seeing a person judge another’s heart? Who would want the Light after seeing those who claim to have it backbite, gossip, judge and hurt their own family, molest the innocent, lie, cheat and steal....right in the Churches or in a religious environment? If I was surrounded by darkness, I would not want what some of those self-righteous pious people claim to have.

I think of Jesus who said, “Woe unto you Pharisees and Sadducees”...continuously. They were self-made righteous followers of their religion. But did they believe in the Light? Obviously, Jesus could see their hearts. We are not Jesus. We cannot know other’s hearts. I compare the many Pharisees and Sadducees that Jesus admonished, to the many out there who sit in Churches, who claim to be “saved” and others are not. I may not be certain of many things, due to my not being God. But I do know that Jesus outwardly demonstrated his loathing of the attitudes of those people who claim “religion” but have not that Light that matters to the Purity of the Soul.

I have heard so many stories, from so many people lately telling me how Christians have had such ugly attitudes of piety and self-righteousness. What a pity. Those Christians only keep those who have the Light stunted in their baby growth and others they keep in darkness as they become bitter at Christian’s attitudes. A tree is known by its fruit. And that is not just applicable to religious aspects of living. That can be applicable to any category of living. So if a tree is known by its fruits then I often wonder why the many “so called” Christians do not manifest this fruit? The fruit is NOT spouting off Biblical knowledge with such piety. The Fruits of the Spirit are: Galatians 5:22 KJV: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. (Faith is believing in the unseen).

I can’t help but to imagine why some people must make Christianity so ugly that no one wants it. We may find out that many of the self-righteous, pious, judgmental out there are really part of the darkness or they are stunted in their growth and leading many others to darkness. It is a pity. The Light is purity. It is Joy and Peace and Love. I am only too glad to embrace it. I have been in darkness. And I have believed in the Light. I have even become embittered inside because of the Church and their attitudes, their molestation, their haughtiness and pride, their secret sins. I have seen people of the Church (or who claim to have the Light or Holy Spirit within them) lead others into darkness with their attitudes. This I will never understand.

I have been where I have turned my back on GOD....and chose not to believe in HIM. And it was due to having been hurt by a man, a few years ago, who told me not to believe in GOD. And retrospectively remembering another self-righteous man, in my early youth, who was a child molester in my neighborhood, who claimed to be a Christian, was really filled with the devil or something dark. I came to not trust any Christian or Church. Then one day, a few years ago, while I was embittered and self-loathing of my life and where all of that took me, feeling as if there was no God because I slaughtered HIM in my mind and dragged around my embittered heart. I became so confused with my life and bitter towards God, that I could not even look at him and ask him for help. I didn’t believe anymore. Darkness was surrounding me, not within, but oppressing me. I became suicidal for 2 years. Finally, at the deepest depth of my despair, I came to an impasse. Suicide seemed to me the only reasonable way to get out of the misery of darkness. Yet something stopped me. It was something I felt I did not believe in anymore. It seemed to miraculously reveal itself.

I began to receive objects in my house that did not make sense. I first received a cross that simply said GOD LOVES YOU. It just showed up on my living room floor, when no one could have possibly been there to put it there. Later, another cross, a crucifix (something most Baptists would not have) showed up in a doorway on the floor. Lastly, a ring with middle eastern inscriptions and language appeared in my bed sheets, when I had just gotten them out of the dryer and flung them out and placed them on my bed. The ring was a man’s ring. It had the symbol of Allah on it and two mosques and temples on it. These things were not something I could have mustered up with my emotions; even with my most hampered and unskilled ability of telekinesis or apportation of objects. Nor was it anything complicated. It was simply that LIGHT or warmth enveloping me in my deepest hour of darkness, reminding me I was not alone and that the LIGHT was still there.

So to keep myself in line with what is truth to me, I simply avoid darkness. I latch hold onto that which is Joy, Peace, Love, Long suffering, Gentle, Good and having faith or belief in that power of pure Light. If people want to argue over names of God, Yahweh or Elohim, Allah or Emmanuel, that is only a waste of time and precisely not important. The message of true Joy and Spiritual connection to that Heavenly Light has always been as SIMPLE as BELIEVING IN THE LIGHT. It is mankind who have allowed their own self-righteous attitudes to blind others of what pure LIGHT is and what it can offer to the human being. There is more power having the LIGHT than power in the DARKNESS.

Be careful whom and how you judge. Make certain what you say is not a self-righteous attitude leading many into darkness. If your pious attitude is meant to give others a showcase of how good you are, you may find in death, that many will remember you only for your self-righteous attitudes. Your legacy should not leave any bitterness behind. The LIGHT is what we need to pass on to all of those around us.

Peace be with you all. ~~~ Lana