And I’d like all of you to add this to your “History Section” of your Book of Shadows.
Ms. Q asked……
“Is it me, or is there an increase in Atheism nowadays?”
~~~~~
Hmmmm My first response would be "What prompted that question?" and then my second would be ---not so much an increase in atheism but an increase in making sure that church and state are separate.Many people still believe in god, but there are factions that do not want the concept of God or a god or any kind of deity involved in everything----but in times of crisis, well as the old saying goes "There are no atheists in foxholes". Which is true, in almost all times of great stress, many, many people revert to the belief that there is a “higher power” that can help make sense of everything or can give strength.
Part of the problem of this perception of atheists, is that many young people and even a generation or two back like back to the 1960's had and have doubts about God, it would seem that all the pat answers as given by the Church, and I am talking about ALL religious faiths (Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist) so I use the world church generically, do not fill a void that is within a person. Some young people take it to extremes because the mind is young and therefore easy to impress and mold, to the point of becoming suicide bombers because the idea of a perfect heavenly life is much better than the life they are living.
When truthfully they Must live this imperfect life because the Higher Power is saying to them “You must work to make it better through peaceful means”, unfortunately that message gets lost because of Man’s perceptions of greed and dominance.
Then there are some people that have a void within their hearts and souls but do not know it, they want things to strictly go their own way, no god, no government, nothing---but what they don't realize is that attitude puts them in the position of god, and subconsciously they realize that. It gives them a sense of power; they just don't like the idea that there is an invisible deity that has power over them. Therefore they become atheists.
They use science and physic to explain away miracles, but forget that an intelligent creator will use physics to have miracles happen, then there are those things that occur beyond physics such as spontaneous remission from cancer, no one can explain that, ergo a miracle.
What atheists do not realize is that an intelligent creator created the rules but we have to discover them, that is what makes life so interesting. I’ve known scientists who were at least agnostic but as they delved into things, there were able to explain things like the parting of the Red Sea or the burning bush, but it is the timing of such events at crucial points that has them questioning things, to the point that they start coming around to the concept of an intelligent creator.
Many of our “Love Generation” Hippies from the 60’s and 70’s wanted to tear down order and create chaos, free love, free drugs, free everything, what they didn’t realize is that with freedom comes responsibility, and consequences for one’s actions, but those young people didn’t want to take responsibility for their actions, many now have criminal records, many are dead, many died from diseases, many had illegitimate children who cursed them for their life style and a few woke up and realized that positive change had to come not from tearing down, but making changes within. Martin Luther King jr. and Cesar Chavez knew that and their ways of making positive changes within the order of things were the best. And they had religious faith to support them.
What those “Free Love Generation Hippies” didn't realize is that there is a natural balance of life that does have power over them, but they were and are too blind to realize it. And what has happened is we now have two generations (a generation is 20 years) of young people who are rudderless.
Now surprisingly many atheists and agnostics know religion better that those of those religious faiths, that is because they studied it only to their own perceptions so that they can win arguments, when they do not or have not experienced the overwhelming experience of a spiritual nature, they cannot join faith with life or the belief of an intelligent creator.
People who garden, who grow vegetables and have fruit trees see this natural balance of life, the farmers who have small farm holdings see this natural balance, people who practice the old crafts of canning and preserving see it, people who pay attention to the changes in the seasons see it as well and celebrate it, you cannot plant a seed, watch it germinate and grow, come to full flower and produce it’s fruit, then make the seeds, die and re-generate itself without knowing and understanding this wonderful balance of life and that it MUST come from a power that is greater than ourselves, an intelligent designer.
Steven Hawking, a brilliant scientist postulated that even though “…there is a law such as gravity, …the universe can and will create itself from nothing….it is not necessary to invoke God….” This is a break from his pervious religious beliefs of a Creator design. (I have not printed the entire quote but it can be found)
But Dr. Michko Kaku said that Einstein took that same original premise but went one step further and postulated another theoretical question and that was “Why?” and when he did he discovered that there had to be a “God” and that Hawking perhaps in fear, backed away from that one extra step. Dr. Kaku on George Noory’s program “Coast to Coast” talked about string theory and it was during that concept of string theory in which there could be other universes existing along with ours, that when Einstein did pose that question did he realized there had to be a Creator.
Getting back to our “home grown farmer” if one taps into the life energies, they can sense it and use it, but they also need to understand that there are life lessons to be learned. Atheists don't want to learn it. Sad to say those that have a Catholic background get dissatisfied with the post Vatican II church and turn away from it, why? Because the post Vatican church lessened the importance of Mary both within and without the church. Many of these young people sense there needs to be a balance, and are attracted to Wicca, but even Wicca does not answer all their questions.
Although it helps them understand the natural balance of life, parts of their souls within wants to mesh their combined beliefs, as well as work with the energies. Many of them go towards Wicca without fully understanding this balance and become confused.
Old timers like me that had my Catholic upbringing and teaching pre-Vatican II and with the guidance of my parents and grandparents have no problem meshing all if it together, because I also had the extra advantage of understanding the seasons bounties and was taught from death comes life, but in life there must be death to create life. We lived our lives simply, we planted, grew, preserved our food, sewed our clothes, we learned to make do, we SAW LIFE!! I find that it is important to acknowledge that we are guided by an unseen force to our destinies, but there those dictators who would short circuit a natural progression of understanding the natural laws, by yoking us to their laws such as “shirah law”, or communist programs or movements.
Two movies---"Ghost" with Patrick Swaze and the movie “Sixth Sense” in which the kid says "I see dead people" (with Bruce Willis) show the movement of energies in the unseen life force.
Another movie, “Practical Magic" shows ways to tap into that life force, but also being responsible in utilizing that life force.
In Star Wars---they don't talk about God but "The Force"--- Yoda said when he sensed the death of planet "I sense a disturbance in The Force"---it's there, unseen, plucking like a spider’s web, and just as fragile to connect to, but you cannot destroy it.
But what we as those who know these energies, who know the Force, what we have to do is rise above Atheism, above the nay sayers and be as a beacon of light.
This happened to me at work some years ago----I was working the front desk, an elderly customer, a man that I had known for a long time, came in to pick up a book he requested---suddenly he keels over, I rush to him knelt down to him, he looked at me and I said "Sir you are in a safe place, help is coming, we will notify your family, you will not be lost, you are safe." He squeezed my hand said "yes" and then he died.
I do not know what prompted me to say those words, but I just knew he had to hear them, then I had to pretend that he was still with us because there were children in the building, I told the children to get back the paramedics were coming, when they arrived they also pretended he was still alive to the public at large even though I knew he was dead.I asked my boss to have some off desk time, she gave it to me, and I went to the staff room, she came later and I said that I knew he died right there but we were to not say that, and could I go home for the afternoon. She let me go home.
I came back the next day to work, my boss called HR and HR asked me privately if I was all right did I need to see a psychologist and I said no I had family and we did a rosary for the gentleman, and a healing rosary for myself and I felt fine, and I was fine.
HR couldn't understand that---so I took him to the staff room and told him, I said "Death is a part of life, life is a part of death, what I needed was a little time to process the shock of it and to pray to commend the spirit of the deceased into God's hands" HR understood, I used God and God's force to help me process this situation and to heal me, privately in my own way.Something that many young (meaning a generation or two) people do not understand.
So we need to be beacons of light during this darkness, even at the hospital, when I was afraid about the surgery I was to have, the nurses for me, were angels of light, one gave me a prayer card and she saw that I held on to it. If I said I was afraid they would talk to me, and I saw that they were drawing upon an energy or Force that helped them find the words to help me counter act my fear.
Many people in their youth drew away from God or the idea of God, but not until they have had more living experience do they come back to God or at least that idea. The ones that remain staunchly atheists still have that void, I’ve looked at them, at their Aura’s and I see this black void around their hearts, they may love their children or their work or a cause, but with this black void in their aura they do not truly love---as a matter of fact, I see within them a vibration of hate, they hate everything that is around them and within them. They feel that to behave in a moral fashion because of a religious belief is not true ethical behavior but blind obedience. But they do not take it to the next step and ask “why?”
They cannot posit that to have a strictly atheistic society can’t work, look at the failure of communist Russia and Cuba, even Castro said that the communist program does not work and invited the Pope (John Paul II) to visit Cuba where the turn out was over whelming.
People who practice Wicca, hoodoo, voodoo, practical magic, Santeria, cadelumbre, lucumbe and those beliefs that understand and work with the energies KNOW that there is something very powerful out there. They know there is a Creative Force that does have intelligence but it chooses to work with us quietly and presents to us the life lessons that we need to learn.
I’ve found that when one watches all the episodes of “Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth” do I find that my belief in a Creative intelligence to be re-affirmed, and that my path of being a combined belief of old time Catholicism, Witchcraft and Shamanism was indeed the correct path as taught to me by my Grandmother and Mother.
I told one Atheist that some people will be surprised when they get to the other side and St. Peter drives up in a beat up old Ford Truck and say “Ya’all get in the back of the truck we’s goin’ up to the Big House now.” That was a while ago, since then he converted to the Catholic faith.
Then there is the perception of what is heaven but that I will save for another essay.
So in spite of all the atheist talk out there, be a beacon of light in this darkness, in the end we all will discover a Divine Presence that loves all of us.
Bright Blessings, Ms. A.
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