Veterans Find Hope When All Else Fails

Attention Veterans! Get Back into Spiritual Harmony! 

by Rick Thorne

A few months ago my mom went on to be with the Lord. Her passing provided me with the opportunity to reflect on my own mortality. It’s really very strange to think the only time one thinks of death is when a loved is suddenly taken away. Countless people race through life never thinking five minutes from now he or she could be killed or suddenly drop dead. I think the reason death isn’t opening spoken of in our society is the religious community has a tendency to shy away from the subject.

It doesn’t help matters countless americans are possessed by the almighty dollar. For many individuals, investments and partying are more important than contemplating the next five minutes of their life. They have no idea five minutes from now they could get in their car and without warning be struck dead. We must realize none of us are guaranteed the next few minutes of fresh air. On the daily news there’s not a day go by we don’t hear of a brutal killing somewhere in America. 

The only thing guaranteed in this world is the fact that we have to pay taxes and eventually die. All other variables are left up to us through our free will. In order to cope with our daily pressures we must look to a greater source other than our own. All the riches in the world isn’t going to give us peace of mind. Looking at the movie and music industry provides a clear indication why money can’t give us a peace of mind.

Have you ever wondered why those who seemingly have everything end up on drugs or alcohol? Why do some of the rich and famous kill themselves? Why is it maybe your friend or loved one took their own life at some point in time? What’s the real reason most people give up looking for true happiness? It can only be one thing as far as I’m concerned. People are spiritually out of tune with themselves.

Now that we’ve discovered the true source of our intense pain and suffering. It’s time to reveal the tools that will sooth our emotional insecurities. First and formost we must begin to pray. Why? Prayer really works! Of course we must know what to pray for and how. Why do you think Christians, Moslems and Jews pray everyday? Because it works! Now we must understand God answers prayers in His own time frame not ours. Prayer does work if we truly believe in ourselves and the creater above.

Jesus (Yahshua) tells us to pray this way; “Our Father which art in heaven,Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come.Thy will be done in earth , as it is heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.Amen

Forgiveness and love are they key elements in healing ourselves. We cannot expect to enter into spiritual glory unless we forgive and let love flow into our troubled hearts. Negative thoughts form an invisible wall between us and the spiritual realm. No matter how much we believe, our prayers won’t be answered if we hold malace in our heart for others. The bible declares; “DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU.”

You know it’s really a strange thing. Nearly every ancient civilization believed in a creator and life after death. Why in the world we have non-believers in the world really puzzles me. If one would delve into ancient texts he or she would soon discover the evil of the world has blinded us from pure truth. We have been brainwashed by the media, Business, government and some religious organizations that faith doesn’t work anymore…

Some Views of the Afterlife Egyptian The final step in the transition to the afterlife was the judgment in the Hall of Maat (the god of justice) by Horus (the god of the sky) and Thoth (scribe of the dead) by comparing ab (the conscience) and a feather. The ritual was known as the Weighing of the Heart. Heavy hearts were swallowed by a creature with a crocodile head who was called the Devourer of Souls. After death good people were led to the Happy Fields, where they joined Osiris, god of the underworld. Many spells and rituals were designed to ensure a favorable judgment and were written in the papyrus or linen "Book of the Dead." All ancient Egyptians believed in the afterlife and spent their lives preparing for it. Ancient Greece The journey after death was to a land known as Hades, ruled by a god named Hades.

The first part of the journey required crossing the river Styx by being buried with a coin for the boatman Charon. The Underworld offered punishment for the bad and pleasure for the good. On the one hand, the Elysian Fields, a sunny and green paradise, was the home to those who had a led a good life. Others were condemned to a torture.

Most were not actually tortured, however. Rather, they went on shadows of their previous selves. Ancient Rome One particular view of life was viewed as a prison, a term which had to be served by the spirit before it could be freed to go to take its place in the glorious Milky Way. It was seen as wrong for a man to wish to hasten his death, as the purpose of life was to nurture the world and cultivate both the physical and the spiritual plane before moving on. The mortal world was seen as being the center of a revolving universe. Polynesia For the Maoris of New Zealand death was represented as a journey. In common with many such beliefs, it included crossing a river. A key hope and expectation was that of reunion with family and friends who had gone before. The deceased would be greeted with wailing and chanted to commemorate their arrival.

The path to the other side featured monstrous creatures, dangerous cliffs and fear, but once there, life would be familiar and comfortable. The Aztecs Similarities can be seen between the Polynesian beliefs described above and the beliefs of the Aztecs. A priest would deliver a formalized speech over the newly dead person, following a ritual to ease their path to the next level of existence. Water was trickled onto the head as during a baptism, and words of mourning pronounced. Papers were laid on the corpse which were intended to aid the person to pass through the hazardous journey they faced. Once the person had overcome the perils of the Underworld Way, the soul would arrive before Miclantecutli, where it would stay for four years.

The final stage required the help of the man’s dog, sacrificed at his death, to travel across the Ninefold Stream, and then hound and master, to enter the eternal house of the dead, Chicomemictlan. Australian Aborigines For aborigines, the spirit world was closely interwoven with the physical world, so the transition between one and the other was explained in terms of traditional relationships with the land. Death marked the end of the physical life only, with the spirit then released to rejoin the spirits of ancestors, and of the features of the land itself. The "dreamtime" was the world of creation, of the earliest tribal memories, but also of the continuing abode of all those who could not be immediately seen in the physical world.

Conservative Protestant Beliefs Conservative Protestants believe everyone has the gift of eternal life. The body dies, but the soul lives forever. The big question is where each person will spend eternity. Heaven is a glorious location where there is an absence of pain, disease, sex, depression, etc. and where people live in new, spiritual bodies, in the presence of Jesus Christ. Hell is a location where its inmates will be punished without any hope of relief, for eternity.

The level of punishment will be the same for everyone. The Bible talks about fire and (presumably flesh eating) worms. The second major belief is that most humans will be sent to Hell after they die. Only those who’ve been "saved" will go to heaven. Salvation requires repentance of sins and trusting Jesus as one’s Lord and Savior.Believers who have done many good deeds will be rewarded more in heaven; believers who have led an evil life will be rewarded less. Roman Catholic Beliefs Hell is a location where its inmates will be punished without any hope of relief, for eternity. Among those punished will be Satan, the angels who supported him, and the people who died without having repented of their sins.

The level of punishment will be meted out in accordance with the seriousness of the individual’s sin. In Hell, punishment will be in the form of isolation from God, and some supernatural form of fire which causes endless pain but does not consume the body. The Church teaches that "the souls of those who have died in the state of grace suffer for a time a purging preparing them to enter heaven." They spend time in Purgatory until fully cleansed of imperfections, venial (less serious) sins etc. Purgatory will be terminated at the time of the general judgement. The intensity and duration of the punishment can be reduced by friends and family, if they offer Masses, prayers "and other acts of piety and devotion." For babies who died unbaptized, they entered heaven after staying in limbo for a while. Mormons Believe three heavens exist.

The highest levels of the Celestial Kingdom are reserved for Mormon couples who have been married in a Mormon temple and thus have had their marriage sealed for eternity. The couples can eventually become a God and Goddess; the husband will then be in control of an entire universe. The Terrestrial Kingdom is for "liars, and sorcerers, and adulterers, and whoremongers."Hell exists, but very few people will stay there forever. Most will eventually "pass into the terrestrial kingdom; the balance, cursed as ‘sons of perdition’, will be consigned to partake of endless wo [sic] with the devil and his [fallen] angels." Sons of perdition have been defined as once devout Mormons who have become apostates and have left the church. Others define them as persons who have knowingly committed one of the most serious sins and have not repented and sought God’s forgiveness. Among these almost unforgivable sins are murder and pre-marital sex. Hinduism

The final goal of salvation in Hinduism is escape from the endless round of birth, death, and rebirth. That can mean an eternal resting place for the individual personality in the arms of a loving, personal God, but it usually means the dissolving of all personality into the unimaginable abyss of Brahman. Four ways of reaching such salvation, are described. Jnana yoga, the way of knowledge, employs philosophy and the mind to comprehend the unreal nature of the universe. Bhakti yoga, the way of devotion or love, reaches salvation through ecstatic worship of a divine being. Karma yoga, the way of action, strives toward salvation by performing works without regard for personal gain and Raja yoga, "the royal road," makes use of meditative yoga techniques. Islam The Islamic holy book, the Koran, says that salvation depends on a man’s actions and attitudes.

However, repentance can turn an evil man toward the virtue that will save him. The final day of reckoning is described in awesome terms. On that last day every man will account for what he has done, and his eternal existence will be determined on that basis. Muslims recognize different individuals have been given different abilities and various degrees of insight into the truth. Each man will be judged according to his situation, and every man who lives according to the truth to the best of his abilities will achieve heaven. Infidels who are presented with the truth of Islam and reject It will be given no mercy. God judges all men, and the infidels will fall off the bridge al-Aaraf into hell while the good men continue on to heaven.

The Koran has vivid descriptions of both heaven and hell. Heaven is depicted in terms of worldly delights, and the torments of hell are shown in lurid detail. Moslems feel their messiah will return in the not to distant future. Buddhism Buddhism sees ignorance rather than sin as the road block to salvation. That is, the belief that the world and self truly exist, keeps the illusory wheel of existence rolling – only destruction of that belief will stop the mad course of the world. The doctrine is based on the belief that life is basically suffering, or dissatisfaction. It follows that the origin of that suffering lies in craving or grasping.

This cessation of suffering is possible through the cessation of craving and the way to cease craving and so attain escape from continual rebirth is by following Buddhist practice, known as the Noble Eightfold Path. The ultimate state, Nirvana literally means "blowing out," as with the flame of a candle. The afterworld was seen as lying to the West in China, on the other side of Mount T’ai. Judaism Moral behavior and attitudes determine one’s eternal existence in the hereafter. Although there’s no Christian notion of saving grace in Judaism, it’s taught God offers the most evil men the possibility of repentance. Jews are now looking for the return of their Messiah. He will distribute eternal judgment and reward to all when he comes back according to them. In the end the moral life of man here on earth is considered the most proper concern of man; final judgments are best left to God. Zoroastrianism In this Persian religion, the Chinvat Bridge is a site of judgement. Thoughts, words and actions during life determine placement in death. Native American Spirits sometimes have to walk balance beams and require the aid of holy people’s prayers to reach the better part of the afterworld. Those who made it were rewarded with happy hunting grounds. Tibetan Shaman serve to guide souls to the right path. The Tibetan Book of the Dead (also called the Bardo Thodoöl) guides the dying by asking them to accept death.

The body will supposedly pass by various false demons on its journey back to life. Now then! You’re probably asking yourself; “What’s it like to die? The General consenses is: The soul is attached to a silver cord while the person lives. In a natural death not long before the person draws their last breath a numbness starts at the toes and slowly moves up the body. The silver cord is snapped and the soul slowly leaves the body and drifts upward and out of sight. Some religions content the soul stays around for about seven days and then journies to its final destination. We can find comfort knowing from the above belief systems there is life after death. The world as we know it is temporal and we should began thinking about preparing ourselves for the life in the hereafter. After all, Each of us will face death at some point in time won’t we? Rick Thorne The Golden Rule Christianity: Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.

This is the law and the prophets. (Matthew 7:12, ) Judaism: Thou shall love they neighbor as thyself (Leviticus19:18) Islam: No one of you is a believer until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself (Traditions, ) Hinduism:Good People proceed while considering that what is best for others is best for themselves (Hitopadesa, ) Buddhism: Hurt not others with that which pains yourself (Udanavarga 5:18, ) Confucianism: What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others (Analects, )