In the Beginning, Fear . . .

In the Beginning, Fear . . .

the fear of God.

As in, "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 9:10), "and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."

I believe that someone who does not have a fear of God, that is, a deep respect for Him, is lost. If one believes there is no being greater than oneself, or other human beings, one is lost. That is my firm conviction. (I care not a fig that atheism is the current "hip" belief, or non-theistic [that is, technically atheistic] Buddhism the rage, as it has been for decades in some circles.)

Children know this. A child "bawling," that is, terrified and extremely upset, is praying. And if his parents are the immediate cause of the upset, he is not praying to them, most surely!

He has no word for that to which he is praying, but he knows It, or He or She, is there. G*d heard the "bawling" of Ishmael in the wilderness and sent an angel to his mother Hagar to rescue him (Genesis 21).

As a Christian, but not a "doctrinal" Christian because usually when I read statements of doctrine or dogma I find that they are not in the four Gospels, I feel deeply that "the fear of G*d" reaches its peak in the Crucifixion. A friend reminded me that thousands of other victims were crucified by the Romans. Jesus, according to Christian conviction, embodied the suffering of all those thousands. As it is put crudely and too briefly but correctly, He died for sinners. Beyond sin himself, He suffered the tortured death of a criminal.

And so, the fear of G*d . . . If Jesus Himself, the Son of Man as he called himself (only once or twice did he use the phrase "son of God"), had to suffer a tortured death, what about me? I am no better, in fact much worse, so what of me? Fear. The Crucifixion embodies all the fear that goes on between God and man. As a child feels utterly abandoned by its parents, Jesus faced that in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross.

It seems such a simple thing to understand that I don't "get" why non-Christians don't get it. The answer to that, apparently, is that only spiritual experience reveals what the Crucifixion meant and means. The "enlightened" intellect can never get it. Only grief like that of Jesus can comprehend His grief. Which means that "good grief" is a gift from G*d to humanity, perhaps. If the fear of G*d is the beginning of wisdom, its continuation may be the ability to feel grief over others' suffering as much as one's own. It must be said to their credit that thousands of agnostics or atheists do appear to feel such grief (Noam Chomsky for example). In the eyes of the G*d they do not accept they may be better human beings than many superficial nominal Christians.

Have I said anything new here? I don't think so. These are my gropings toward understanding what others have already understood. But somehow, I (and probably you) have to figure it all out on my own. With the help of (I have to say it) the Scriptures.

Yes, I am becoming a dedicated Bible-reader. And I believe--this is a prediction--that thousands of others will join me in coming years. The Bible is going to enjoy a revival. (If being studied by dim-witted human beings is anything to enjoy.)

The conventional "faith" of the 21st century is doomed. Here are its tenets: 1. There is nothing but human beings and their technology--oh, and the planet, the world of nature (almost forgot). 2. Human beings and their technology are the only saviors. 3. There are no miracles but material technology. 4. You are a bundle of flesh and nerves which lives until it dies, and its life may be prolonged by--you guessed it--the only savior, technology. 5. So eat, live, be happy, use technology and its human creators to prolong your life as best you can, and when you die you're finished, might as well be gracious about it.

Okay, if that is your faith, you probably don't want to read any farther.

As for my "faith," I cannot encapsulate it in so many tenets or doctrines. It goes way beyond that. It is the faith of the Bible (Tenach and New Testament) as a whole, it is the faith and gnosis of Sai Baba and of Sri Aurobindo. I am a Hebrew Christian Hindu and a Hindu Hebrew Christian. I arrived at that point after decades of assiduous spiritual research and experiment. G*d is real, the G*d of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, the G*d of my lord Jesus Christ, the G*d of Rama and Krishna and Sai Baba and Sri Aurobindo. He (or She if you wish) is real, conscious, and personal, that is, superpersonal, "beyond imagination and conception" as Meher Baba put it, and yet present as loving Father, Mother, Friend to those who can see "with eyes Divine."

Sir Real


If you read this Friday, I must say Friday afternoon and evening, up to very late, have the benefit of a trine from the moon to Venus, good for social occasions and having a good time. However, it is in positions which suggest concern about work, income, production, career, so you might be discussing or developing such matters with someone you like.

There is a sense of hurry both Friday and Saturday, with the moon square Mars. This could be overeagerness, or else an ability to clinch solutions quickly in anything you want to do with celerity. Saturday should bring munificent awareness and insight, with the moon opposite Mercury while trine both Saturn and Neptune. Answers are coming.

Cosmic Piper