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	<title>Under The Olive Tree &#187; BBennettJ</title>
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		<link>http://www.undertheolivetree.com/2010/02/25/277/</link>
		<comments>http://www.undertheolivetree.com/2010/02/25/277/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 26 Feb 2010 02:41:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>BBennettJ</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Lead Story]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Jack

It seems that there are some people on Earth who are only here on loan. They are the kind of people that light up every room that they enter – and seem to be able to touch everyone they encounter – from the bus driver and the waitress to the business mogul and the official [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Jack</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center">
<p class="MsoNormal">It seems that there are some people on Earth who are only here on loan.<span> </span>They are the kind of people that light up every room that they enter – and seem to be able to touch everyone they encounter – from the bus driver and the waitress to the business mogul and the official – they don’t seem to have any fear.<span> </span>If you are ever privileged enough to call one of these people your friend, then you are privileged indeed.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<p class="MsoNormal">I first met Jack in New   York back in 1976 – and he seemed to have the energy of a group of people.<span> </span>Perhaps that is what his gift was.<span> </span>Buckminster Fuller, the inventor and visionary who gave us the geodesic dome, is credited with “discovering” the word synergy.<span> </span>Synergy is where different entities cooperate advantageously for a final outcome.<span> </span>When we talk about synergy we think of a group of people, who when they find the keys of working together in harmony and enthusiasm are able to sort of channel a form of energy that is greater than the sum of their individual contributions.<span> </span>It is what happens when a really good band finally hits their stride – and the music becomes powerful and engaging.<span> </span>Jack had synergy all by himself.<span> </span>He didn’t need anyone else to participate, although he was the first one to open the doors and let others enter into the delight and the wonder.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<p class="MsoNormal">I can still see him, just like it was this morning, stepping right up to me – face to face, and looking in my eyes – with that little bit of mischievousness that he always employed when he started working the magic of the muse.<span> </span>It was not about what he said.<span> </span>It was the way that confrontation with the spirit required your participation.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<p class="MsoNormal">With people who are on loan, you seldom get the opportunity to spend as much time as you would like to with them.<span> </span>The gift that they have to give is just much too valuable for you to be allowed to hoard it.<span> </span>They belong to everyone.<span> </span>Jack belonged to everyone, and God sent him to influence as many as he could.<span> </span>Through the tears of having to say goodbye – I was always able to smile – even laugh – knowing that Jack would not really be very far away from me even when he was half way around the world in some distant land – and knowing that whenever I saw him again – he would be the same man, with the same gift.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<p class="MsoNormal">The last time Jack and I walked together was some years ago.<span> </span>We were both attending a music festival.<span> </span>Like every other time I have been around him, my time with him was brief, and the things we said are now forgotten – except one.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<p class="MsoNormal">During the Second World War when the Japanese invaded the Philippines, the final stronghold of the Allied Forces was Corregidor – the island fortress at the mouth of Manila Bay.<span> </span>A story is told of how an important message for reinforcements had to be taken up the Bataan Peninsula through the Japanese lines by foot – all radio communications had broken down – and the commander had to try to get a message through to reserves behind enemy lines – though it was almost certain death for the messenger.<span> </span>Assembling his exhausted and wounded men in a single rank, the commander asked for a volunteer to step forward, and after momentarily glancing down at his communications, he was shocked to look up and see the rank unbroken.<span> </span>Leaning to his lieutenant he remarked, “Sir, has not a single man stepped forward?!” The lieutenant’s reply?<span> </span>“Sir, you do not understand.<span> </span>Every man has stepped forward.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<p class="MsoNormal">I can’t tell you when Jack heard the call to step forward, to carry his light, to be faithful to his calling and his commission – to reach out and touch the hungry and the heartbroken and the needy.<span> </span>I can’t tell you what price he paid to fulfill his mission.<span> </span>I can only tell you what he said to me in those few steps we shared before our last goodbye.<span> </span>“You and me, we are the walking dead.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<p class="MsoNormal">Jack had no other purpose than to be what God had called him to be.<span> </span>He had no other destination then to be sent.<span> </span>He had no other desire than to share God’s love with everyone he met.<span> </span>His life was not his own, he gave it freely.<span> </span>I am one of the privileged few who can say that Jack called me his friend.<span> </span>It is an honor that I will not soon forget, and it is a constraint that I pray I will not fail to answer.</p>
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		<item>
		<title>&#8220;In His Image&#8221;</title>
		<link>http://www.undertheolivetree.com/2010/02/21/in-his-image/</link>
		<comments>http://www.undertheolivetree.com/2010/02/21/in-his-image/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 21 Feb 2010 11:40:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>BBennettJ</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lead Story]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.undertheolivetree.com/?p=271</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[“In His Image”
 
“And let them make me a sanctuary . . . “
 
When the God of Israel commanded (the priests) Moses to make the Ark of the Covenant – He charged Moses to “make [them] after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount” – The Exodus 25
 
The Ark thus fashioned [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">“In His Image”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">“And let them make me a sanctuary . . . “</span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">When the God of Israel commanded (the priests) Moses to make the Ark of the Covenant – He charged Moses to <em>“make [them] after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount” – The Exodus 25</em></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">The Ark thus fashioned had mystical powers – it was better than a refrigerator – because the Israelites even put a bowl of manna in there – which they recorded <em>“bred worms and stank”</em> if they tried to keep it over night – they put a bowl of manna in the Ark <em>“to be kept for your generations”</em> and the manna didn’t rot.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">Righteousness is the pattern.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">Far too many preachers and pundits attempt to interpret the messages of the Ancient texts in current terms and viewpoints. There is a great deal of our perceptions that are based on our present surroundings and understandings.<span> </span>The High Priest of Jesus’ time was the heir of a thousand year fellowship of mystics – from Moses who spent 40 years listening to God while tending sheep in the wilderness down through generations of men dedicated to spending their lives as mediators between God and mankind.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">These men did not watch television or go to the disco – they did not know about distant lands and cultures – save for those stories from traders and warriors who sojourned among them.<span> </span>Some were exemplars of their office – others were embroiled in commercial, military and political intrigue.<span> </span>They lived in a world that had little dramatic change in our view – for we are a generation that has experienced change in ways that are redefining who and what we are.<span> </span>For some, even what it means to be human.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">During the illegal trial of Jesus of Nazareth before the Sanhedrin (transgressions of established jurisprudence not the least of which was the trial being held at night and in darkness) – the high priest Caiaphas <em>“rent his clothes.”</em><span> </span>Similarly – after Jesus was crucified – the veil of the Temple (a curtain of either the inner or outer court depending on your particular persuasion) <em>“was (also) rent in twain”.</em><span> </span>Why?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">We may not be able to give an acceptable answer to the specific question – but one thing is certain – a rent is a violation of the integrity of the pattern.<span> </span><em>“Even the most perfect Earthly pattern could not inherit the righteousness of heaven.” – Apollos </em></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">Righteousness is the pattern.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">And the evidence is everywhere – intrinsic as far as the creation is concerned.<span> </span>From the wonders of the sun and the moon and the stars – to seasons and kind – the seed, and the structure of the molecule and the atom – elements – earth and water – fire and air – the matrix and the sanctuary – when these exist in perfection with no rent or tear or violation . . .</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">Righteousness is the pattern.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">“While the earth remaineth – seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” – The Ancient Texts</span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">“The line it is drawn, the curse it is cast.” – Bob Dylan</span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">Unless we begin to align our thoughts and actions with the pattern – we cannot prosper.<span> </span>God set the pattern.<span> </span>You might not like Him or the fashion of it – but ignoring and violating the pattern is futile – like trying to stop the rain – or empty the ocean with a cup.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">The pattern exists – and it is written in stone – not as carnal commandments, <em>“but after the power of and endless life.” – Apollos 7:16</em></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">The Ancient texts are overflowing with examples given as keys to this understanding, and mystics in diverse cultures have glimpsed through the veil and perceived these universal truths.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">In like manner, the soothsayers and the Chaldeans have employed these truths for social and financial gain – and scientists have pursued the unlocking and manipulation of these codes of the matrix in a nearly pathological fervor – themselves understanding that the Masters of the Keys are destined to rule – their seat and authority a mandate from the God of Forces – as they access the powers of the pattern.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">A rent then, is the violation of the pattern and the codes – the weakening of the foundations and the structures – and if serious enough – the beginning of destruction.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">Caiaphas was keenly aware of the meaning of Jesus ministry and teaching – for Jesus claim to be the Son of God violated the pattern of man’s relationship with God as the high priest understood it – <em>“and Caiaphas rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy.” – Matthew the Publican</em></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">And the rent of the Temple veil?<span> </span>Mark records that at the moment of Jesus’ death, <em>“the veil of the Temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.”</em> – in this case exposing the pattern of the eternal, and revealing the power to restore mankind from the scourge of sin and death – the apocalypse – contact with the other world!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">“God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son.” – Apollos 1:1</span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">“But unto the son he sayeth . . .<span> </span>Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity.” Apollos 1:9</span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">Righteousness is the pattern – <em>“without spot or blemish – undefiled.”</em></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">When sinful man slew the Christ, tearing his body with scourgings and crucifixion – mankind’s rebellion against the righteous pattern that is set within every sphere of the Creation was manifest.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">Envy and strife, emulations, greed, covetousness and lust, pride, selfishness, revenge, persecutions, murders, violations, imprisonments, brutality, degradations, infidelities, wickedness, excess, the forward the profane – all weaknesses in the character of fallen man – all symptoms of the rents and tears in the pattern of this present world – all bringing forth death instead of life.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">History shows us that in every attempt of man to establish governments these rents and tears manifest themselves – and the empires crumble into ruins.<span> </span>Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo Persia, Greece, and Rome.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">The Earth is a graveyard of the failed endeavors of man – the Third Reich, the League of Nations, the CCCP, Pol Pot, Chernobyl, Rwanda, Darfur – The Federal Republic . . .</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">all casualties of the rents and tears – though brilliantly conceived and dedicated – not <em>“<span style="text-decoration: underline;">long endured.”</span></em></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">Unless the New World Order is built on redemption – “the curse is cast.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">History has condemned men who attempted to formulate and establish empires that aspired to become the guiding light and principles for generations to come.<span> </span>You need but utter a single name to establish a mandate of judgment and righteous abhorrence – Hitler! – a name so despised that his blood family renounce it in their own lifetimes.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">But there were others – Lenin and Stalin – Idi Amin – Ceausescu – Napoleon – Mussolini – Pinochet – Tito – the Bilderburgers and the Club of Rome – the Caesars and the Czars.<span> </span>Men with visions of the federation of mankind – man as the master of his world – man as the master of the universe – living in peace, productivity, security, diversity – men with a vision to establish a culture and government so advanced that it would transcend the flaws and aberrations of the heart, and the mind, and the soul of man.<span> </span>All their visions based on the transforming power of ideas and social structure – of a transforming culture and government – and of mankind raising himself to the challenge.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">Today Humanism and Evolution – and science and pharmacology are seen as the gateways to utopias thus conceived – and still with all attempts to establish such Utopian societies failing in the most basic component of their design – the untransformed human heart.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">An obscure carpenter from a tiny Middle Eastern village said it best, <em>“Keep they heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.”</em></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">“For out of the heart of man come murders and adulteries – and all excess, extortion, volition, perniciousness and concupiscence, idolatries, hatreds, lust and greed, insubordinations, rebellions, witchcrafts, departures from that which is pure and holy and lovely.” – The Fool</span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">When you depart from the pattern then behold, for destruction is at hand – and the Destroyer is upon us.<span> </span>If you look closely you will see him there lurking in the shadows – seeking to overthrow and devour – subtle and having the eyes of the bottomless pit – and a tongue speaking lies – and a heart consumed with evil.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">Mankind’s final attempt to establish his final government and New World Order will bring forth a time of trial that will try men’s souls.<span> </span>It is soon coming upon us – and the time of escape is far past – <em>“as darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the people.´- Isaiah</em></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">“The walls and the towers tumbling down.” – The Finn</span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">“And they rent their garments – and cried, ‘Alas, Alas – that Great city wherein were made rich all the merchants of the Earth, for thy judgements are come.<span> </span>Alas!<span> </span>Alas!<span> </span>Alas Babylon!’”</span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">“For in one hour is so great riches come to naught.”<span> </span>- the Beloved Apostle</span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">Peter the Fisherman left his tiny village on the shores of Galilee to follow an itinerant preacher, a man who some thought was mad – or even worse – possessed of an evil spirit.<span> </span>But the Fisherman was transformed, so much so that the record states that even his shadow could heal the sick.<span> </span>This man Peter’s words and testimony come down to us through the centuries, <em>“we have not followed cunningly devised fables . . .”</em></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">If we are honest with ourselves as human beings – and we take the time to reflect on the universal failures of man in his attempts to become the master of his destiny – our only reasonable response in acknowledging the monumental failures of empires past, is to accept the futility of such endeavors – and to reach beyond ourselves for the power and wisdom needed for our transformation.<span> </span>To do less is to lay the foundations of our new order in the sands of our own limited abilities and our vast weaknesses and sins, and then face the sure truth that <em>“a house built on the sand in foolishness and pride is destined to fall.” – Ossian</em></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">“Prepare thine ark with truth, and righteousness at the helm, bring neither guile nor dissimulation on board – neither hatred, nor envy, nor strife – lest we once again be forced to abandon ship against some cruel reef of brutality and excess – and our deliverance be lost beneath the waves, and the tumult, and the Great Confusion, the fear and the loathing, the destruction, and we perish in the violence of the storm that is forever brewing in our hearts.”<span> </span>- The Finn</span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">In the course of establishing its mandate – every empire has been forced to employ extreme prejudice against the rebellious, the non-conformists – the free thinkers – the incorrigible – the prostitute and the thief – the poet and the priest – and always to its own unraveling. – for therein lies the nature of the Beast.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">The challenge that has been set before us is not addressed through monastic studies and persuasions – neither by power and might, incarceration, humiliation or executions, neither by apathy nor abdication.<span> </span>Nor will it be solved through the establishment of governments or consensus alone – for these supply but a meager restraint, the purpose of which is to provide the framework for the universal citizen to be nurtured and to grow to full stature – else all of these &#8211; emancipation, fraternity, equality, autonomy, liberty, justice – jeer and mock us as fleeting apparitions of sustenance to the wayward and famished – and as elusive riches and treasures imagined – pots of gold at the ends of rainbows.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">The challenge that is set before us is to learn what the true and righteous pattern is – and to fashion ourselves accordingly. <em><span> </span></em></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">“For the time is far spent that thou shouldest awaken from slumber – and brace thyself with the icy waters of truth – and lift thine eyes to the consequences of they transgressions and thy sins.</span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;"> </span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;quot;">Righteousness is the pattern.” &#8211; Ossian</span></em></p>
<p><em> </em></p>
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		<item>
		<title>Man was not made for the Sabbath</title>
		<link>http://www.undertheolivetree.com/2010/02/21/man-was-not-made-for-the-sabbath/</link>
		<comments>http://www.undertheolivetree.com/2010/02/21/man-was-not-made-for-the-sabbath/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 21 Feb 2010 09:44:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>BBennettJ</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Lead Story]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Observations]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.undertheolivetree.com/?p=267</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[



Man was not made for the Sabbath
 
Man was not made for the Sabbath  but the sabbath for man.  The Carpenter
 
Mankind, down through the ages  and most recently in nearly every manifestation of government  has clamored for law. From the Sunni &#38; the Shiite  to the socialist, the communist [...]]]></description>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">Man was not made for the Sabbath</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">Man was not made for the Sabbath  but the sabbath for man.  The Carpenter</span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">Mankind, down through the ages  and most recently in nearly every manifestation of government  has clamored for law.<span> </span>From the Sunni &amp; the Shiite  to the socialist, the communist  and the capitalist  everyone wants a set of rules to live by.<span> </span>Guidelines for themselves  and restrictions for their neighbors and friends.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">Cameras, DNA, RFID, universal numbers  Dachau and Treblinka revisited  all for the common good.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">But how does it all fare for the common man  or those who, in their penury are below average?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">Not well,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">From the commuter who misses the bus  who makes eye contact with the driver who refuses to slow down, open the door  and deliver him safely home to his loved ones  for punctuality and regulation; &#8211; to the man and his family evicted by the loan sharks who operate within the law  we are all victims of our own perniciousness.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">Of whom will you stand in judgement  and who will you accuse in your menial and insignificant office?  Ossian</span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;"> </span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">For if there had been a law which could have given life  verily righteousness would have been by the law.<span> </span>- Saul the Murderer</span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">The weakness of the law is not in the volume of jurisprudence, but in the concupiscence of the regulator and the judge.  The Fool</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">There is no office too obscure,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">Nor position so small.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">There is no personality</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">So despised or abhorred</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">That  given leave to judge</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">Will fail to exercise their dominance</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">Their severance, their pain.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">And then from frailty and failure</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">We must all begin again.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">The heart of the law is mercy  but unless we learn what it means  all efforts  every debate, every legislation  every courtroom proceeding  the judgments and the conclusions are all in vain.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">Then where? you ask to find our way?<span> </span>The misty morning beckons us to gather at the rivers bank  to contemplate the ebb and flow, the moon, the stars, the rainbows glow and all creation comforts us that we will know.  that we will know.</span></p>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Covenants and Covens</title>
		<link>http://www.undertheolivetree.com/2010/02/21/263/</link>
		<comments>http://www.undertheolivetree.com/2010/02/21/263/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 21 Feb 2010 09:00:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>BBennettJ</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Lead Story]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Observations]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.undertheolivetree.com/2010/02/21/263/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[

Covenants and Covens
 
The political leaders of our modern world continue to strive for the placement of international agreements on subjects as diverse as carbon emissions and trade barriers  to the uses of atomic energy  human rights, financial regulations, intellectual piracy and copyright, media access  the list of topics being negotiated is [...]]]></description>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">Covenants and Covens</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">The political leaders of our modern world continue to strive for the placement of international agreements on subjects as diverse as carbon emissions and trade barriers  to the uses of atomic energy  human rights, financial regulations, intellectual piracy and copyright, media access  the list of topics being negotiated is almost endless  and the hammering out of the details of treaties and agreements consumes hours, days, weeks &amp; years of diplomacy.<span> </span>When these efforts fail  more drastic measures are employed  taxes, restrictions, tariffs, public denunciations, sanctions, even war.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">We are all made aware of the scope and gravity of these global governance negotiations through the media.<span> </span>These issues are the subjects of movies and music  and are the focus of academic studies and research.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">Volumes of material addressing these issues that discuss, explore and comment  and persuade, are added to our collective libraries and archives on a daily basis.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">Covenants are at issue in each and every sphere of human endeavor, pursuit, and experience  and they are increasingly being adopted on a supranational level  overshadowing and replacing the force and propriety of local legislation and jurisprudence.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">As far as covenants are concerned  we are sailing in open waters on a heretofore uncharted course  and our national identities and personal liberties  however limited or frail  hang in the balance.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">But there is another equally significant propagation of understanding and global influence that is taking place  an even more hidden and in some ways more powerful development  <span style="text-decoration: underline;">covens</span>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">Though covenants can engage and direct mankinds intellectual and physical realities  covens lay hold on mens ideals, psyche &amp; thoughts  even unto the subjugation of his independent moral character, his free spirit, and his eternal soul.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">Through the influence of covens we are slowly being initiated into the thought processes that will be the compass and sextant of the coming world order.<span> </span>The initiates who embrace these understandings fully will be given special privilege and recognition  and those who reject the teachings and refuse the accompanying rights of passage will be judged miscreants  to be pursued and prosecuted  first with the power of the covenants  and finally with a solution determined by the high priests of the covens themselves  not unlike the final solution embraced and carried out by the Third Reich.</span></p>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title></title>
		<link>http://www.undertheolivetree.com/2010/02/19/258/</link>
		<comments>http://www.undertheolivetree.com/2010/02/19/258/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 19 Feb 2010 04:21:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>BBennettJ</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Lead Story]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.undertheolivetree.com/?p=258</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[



Chernobyl 
 
There are some things that you seal in concrete  they have their times and their seasons  nuclear meltdowns, times when your emotions run at a fever pitch  power that can only be tempered with a harsh winter wind  the javelins point in the ice, fractured and violated in ecstatic [...]]]></description>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">Chernobyl</span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">There are some things that you seal in concrete  they have their times and their seasons  nuclear meltdowns, times when your emotions run at a fever pitch  power that can only be tempered with a harsh winter wind  the javelins point in the ice, fractured and violated in ecstatic wonder  the beads of water skittering across the seething oil  the melting of the candle transformed but still the same  the heart that desperately cries out a name  the unrelenting fever  the torture and the pain  some are borne on hurricanes, some on gentle breeze  the all-consuming fire and the never-ending flame.<span> </span>- Ossian</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">Without faith  life is unbearable.<span> </span>There is too much to assimilate, too much to understand  too much to taste  too much to see  too much to do again.<span> </span>Too many ways to miss the mark, too many ways to lose  without an everlasting love and eternity to gain  life is much too short to live, too little joy and too much pain.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">By faith were traveling to our home </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">no more to wander  no more tears </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">no violent thunder  no more storm </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">but time to live and to explore</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">the deeper timeless crystal pools</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">the understanding and the light</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">the tender touch  the open soul</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">to hold in awe and deep content</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">the secrets of the breath of Spring</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">unfolding in experience</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">and capturing the twinkle</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">Of childish eyes  or basking</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">in the warmth and beauty</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">Of the Knighted and the wise.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;" align="center"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;"><span>-<span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">The Fool</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;" align="right"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">Love that transcends</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">The dark of night</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">The terror and the fright</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">The width, the height, the depth</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">The separations  and the strain</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">The victory over sin  and, yes</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;;">The victory over death.</span></p>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Next Wave</title>
		<link>http://www.undertheolivetree.com/2009/09/23/the-next-wave/</link>
		<comments>http://www.undertheolivetree.com/2009/09/23/the-next-wave/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 23 Sep 2009 05:17:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>BBennettJ</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Observations]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.undertheolivetree.com/?p=255</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[

The Next Wave
 
Surfers know  almost anyone who experiences time/space transcendence knows 
 
Waves come in sequences  and regardless of the rhythms  sooner or later  there is a big one.
 
Michelangelo was one. So was Edison  and so was Hitler.
 
The Einsteins and Newtons shine down through many generations  [...]]]></description>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;">The Next Wave</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;">Surfers know  almost anyone who experiences time/space transcendence knows </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;">Waves come in sequences  and regardless of the rhythms  sooner or later  there is a big one.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;">Michelangelo was one.<span> </span>So was Edison  and so was Hitler.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;">The Einsteins and Newtons shine down through many generations  whether it is The Beatles in music  or Mao in managing the multitudes  every sphere of human endeavor has its waves </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;">In 1993 we did Countdown to Armageddon  and we led to the climax that the stage had been set  and the curtain drawn for the final act-</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;">I dont think we missed the Mark by very far </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;">But what we may have misunderstood is just how far man would reach in his achievements  and the nature of the Beast at its onset.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;">We may have looked at the waves in a very analog way  the three dimensions of the digital age  in 1993  were yet to come.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;">When you observe the successive waves in an analog manner  the tsunami becomes the most likely outcome  and the incarnation of Evil becomes a predictable manifestation of sanctions and cruelty  and hate  and abomination personified  a mere amplification of present sorrows and grief.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;">But that is not where we are headed.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;">The next wave  rather than a continuation  will be a departure.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;">Like C.S. Lewis ever expanding garden  that increases in size as you enter its inner confines  we are on the verge of an explosion of knowledge that is unheard of  yea  scarcely imagined.<span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;">The Anti-Christ will not come on the scene as an oppressor  or a demagogue </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;">No . . . . rather  we will see the intelligence and ingenuity  the very precociousness of the human race  rise up in a way heretofore unimagined  glorious and benevolent  full of grace and understanding  and all a sham.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;">The next wave will be exhilarating in its portent and its magnitude  and its influences  and its redeeming qualities.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;">The Son of Perdition will appear  a Saviour and a friend  solving insurmountable problems  and proclaiming a new age  and a new understanding.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;">(But) when they shall say Peace and safety  then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child  and they shall not escape.<span> </span>- the Ancient texts</span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;">We are on the cusp of another explosion of knowledge  the application of which will catapult us into a new age  man as his own Saviour  fulfilled and exonerated.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;">No longer linear  but exponential.<span> </span>Not even calculus  but quantum mechanics.<span> </span>No longer theory but application.<span> </span>Executable.<span> </span>Repeatable  harnessable.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;">When the Preacher of Jerusalem set himself to know wisdom and folly  he lamented . . . .</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><em><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;">all is vanity  and a striving after the wind.</span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;">Though one bring forth a company  and a company a thousand  and a thousand a million  and a million become as the stars  and as the sand which is by the sea,</span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;"> </span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;">Yet for want of an apology  it will all come to naught. &#8211; Ossian</span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Snapshot</title>
		<link>http://www.undertheolivetree.com/2009/09/22/the-snapshot/</link>
		<comments>http://www.undertheolivetree.com/2009/09/22/the-snapshot/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:54:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>BBennettJ</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Lead Story]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.undertheolivetree.com/?p=248</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[



The Snapshot
 
She held up the picture  and there in the corner were the burning numbers
 
04:07:97
 
This is my child,- she said with a smile  this is my child.  The Fool
 
From the little daily departures of our ever increasingly disconnected lives, to the bigger events staring down at us from [...]]]></description>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">The Snapshot</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">She held up the picture  and there in the corner were the burning numbers</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">04:07:97</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">This is my child,- she said with a smile  this is my child.<span> </span> The Fool</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">From the little daily departures of our ever increasingly disconnected lives, to the bigger events staring down at us from our past  we take snapshots  and we base our opinions, our activities, our consuming, our relationships.  even our legacy  on snapshots.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">From JFK to Vietnam  the Berlin Wall, or Columbine  from a TV ad to a movie line </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">We put the snapshots in a drawer  and in the case of those events that left their stain indelibly upon our hearts and souls and minds . . .</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">We take them out again as reference points  we step inside the snapshot and we once again  through images long past  and consequences long ago washed on some distant shore  we live again inside that frame</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">Remembering our joys  our sorrows, and our pain</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">And elements there frozen  locked within dimensions of that single plane  the color or the black &amp; white  the people, places and the things  the negative and positive  our aspirations and our dreams  the watershed events defining who we were, and what we gained  or what we lost  so often remembering the cost</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">These snapshots  just a single point in time  not even seconds  just a blink, a shutter falls  an aperture is set  the film advances, life goes on  </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">The moon will rise</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">The sun will set</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">And tides will ebb and flow</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">Some things will die</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">And some will grow</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">Our snapshot lives are not a true reality  especially when we live again through our most troubled times</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">The snapshot captures just one frame  and though these pictures can define our experience, our journey</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">We must not let them rule our present day  though some in their transcendence should be placed for all to see  there are some snapshots that should be filed away  for all eternity.</span></p>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Clamour</title>
		<link>http://www.undertheolivetree.com/2009/08/31/the-clamour/</link>
		<comments>http://www.undertheolivetree.com/2009/08/31/the-clamour/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:31:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>BBennettJ</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Lead Story]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.undertheolivetree.com/?p=245</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[

The Clamour
 
For Babylons sins have reached unto heaven  and the cries of the innocent have bidden her judgements.  The Fool
 
Every word you say
Every word you write
Be it Daytimes stage
Or the still of Night
The opinions you state
What you set your eyes upon
All the roads you take
Every secret work
Every bitter hate
Every act of [...]]]></description>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">The Clamour</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;">For Babylons sins have reached unto heaven  and the cries of the innocent have bidden her judgements.  The Fool</span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;"> </span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">Every word you say</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">Every word you write</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">Be it Daytimes stage</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">Or the still of Night</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">The opinions you state</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">What you set your eyes upon</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">All the roads you take</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">Every secret work</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">Every bitter hate</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">Every act of love</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">Every parting glance</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">Every thing you do</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">When you get the chance</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">We are expressing ourselves in unprecedented ways  and collectively  whether in secret  or in broadcasting our thoughts and rhythms into space  we are all contributors. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">From the feeble confused thoughts and questions of the stricken mother in Darfur  with her emaciated child clinging to her in its last dying hours  to the corporate baron feasting on wine, women and song<span> </span>- </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">. .<span> </span>from the streets of Folsom to the remote monastery  we are all contributors  </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">the clamour is growing day by day  </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">a wave is sweeping the globe  and as it crashes on every shore  it carries in its ebb and flow all restrictions stripped away</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">we are entering a new and terrible and final day.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">When your judges rule by decree of law that the tender babe  born of your love  and come from your flesh  must be given the opportunity to learn all the sins of the wicked before the age of accountability  in fairness to choose between good and evil  </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">and you see the beady eyes of the serpent fixed upon you . . . .</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">and the intimacy of Eden has surrendered to the cacophony of voices  and every work of good and evil noised abroad </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">and the clamour is a riot, and the riot is a tumult, and the tumult is a gale force wind  and the gale force wind is a consuming fire  and the consuming fire is an overthrow </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">and the work is finished</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">and the voice of the harpers cease</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;; font-weight: normal;">then look up  for your redemption is drawing nigh  The Preacher of Galilee</span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">We are all builders </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">working in the scheme  </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">we are all players</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">Reaching for our dreams</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">We are all gathering</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">Seething masses in the dark</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">Looking for an anchor</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">Holding on to what we can</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">As the clamour rises up</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Maiandra GD&quot;;">To the destiny of man.</span></p>
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		<title>The Matrix as the Sanctuary</title>
		<link>http://www.undertheolivetree.com/2009/07/01/the-matrix-as-the-sanctuary/</link>
		<comments>http://www.undertheolivetree.com/2009/07/01/the-matrix-as-the-sanctuary/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:24:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>BBennettJ</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Lead Story]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.undertheolivetree.com/?p=241</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Matrix as the Sanctuary
The Sanctuary is a place of safety &#8211; that cannot be defiled by fear or torment for (because of) the One by whose power it stands
Its very existence establishes its Creator. -
But earthly sanctuaries &#8211; mere shadows and reflections of that eternal Matrix &#8211; are subject to violation, desecration, and abomination.
Even [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p align="center"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">The Matrix as the Sanctuary</span></p>
<p>The Sanctuary is a place of safety &#8211; that cannot be defiled by fear or torment for (because of) the One by whose power it stands</p>
<p>Its very existence establishes its Creator. -</p>
<p>But earthly sanctuaries &#8211; mere shadows and reflections of that eternal Matrix &#8211; are subject to violation, desecration, and abomination.</p>
<p>Even destruction.</p>
<p>The realities of the womb exist in many forms &#8211; from simple mathematics and harmonics &#8211; to the spectrums of light and sound. The unaltered genetic code &#8211; and the intrinsic abilities of babble and thought &#8211; pure energy &#8211; transcendent beauty; and the mechanisms of physics and chemistry.</p>
<p>It is understood that the seed has life in itself &#8211; and that the mature life has seed in itself.</p>
<p>But these Earthly sanctuaries are corruptible &#8211; and vulnerable to violation.</p>
<p>Abortion, the application of external forces upon a here to fore closed system &#8211; denying integrity through manipulation &#8211; Altering through subterfuge and &#8211; the although limited but powerful understanding and knowledge of the processes [taking place] and the dynamics (involved) -</p>
<p>All sanctuaries are guarded &#8211; whether by forces or codes &#8211; locks and keys; access points; portals &#8211; authorization and permission; &#8211; and when even a small part of these barriers becomes compromised &#8211; and an attack upon the matrix launched &#8211; then its sanctity and integrity, its very survival; becomes a matter of war! For the eternal man, the outcome of these wrestlings will determine our fate and our future existence.</p>
<p>Many learned men are calling for increased and more brutal attacks on any and all matrix systems &#8211; from the womb to the mechanics of life &#8211; intelligence &#8211; the codes and the forces.</p>
<p>From the laboratories of the genetic engineers to those seeking out the secrets of energy and matter &#8211; from the practitioners in metaphysics to those exploring mind and emotion -</p>
<p>All matrix systems are &#8211; at this time &#8211; being subjected to continuous attack using whatever thread or tiny fissure of access possible. &#8211; however limited the understanding of the consequences and ramifications.</p>
<p>Very soon &#8211; at some time in some place, whether foundational or obscure &#8211; the rent will occur. The turbulence will be loosed. &#8211; and the Chaos will ensue.</p>
<p>We have passed this way before &#8211; but never in so great numbers employing such vast resources.</p>
<p>The age of reason yielded to the atomic age &#8211; from which we embarked on our present course &#8211; expecting the same reprieve from the madness we encountered as we unleashed the atomic terror from the skies.</p>
<p>Such power is intoxicating &#8211; and difficult to resist.</p>
<p>But what for the rest of us &#8211; will we be treated to pristine waters and air that lifts you with every breath?</p>
<p>Where will we find solitude?</p>
<p>And where will we find love?</p>
<p>When all sanctuaries &#8211; and every womb of integrity and cleanliness, and joy &#8211; is compromised for lust and wicked gain?</p>
<p>Where will we go to bathe? Whose voice will greet us in the morning &#8211; and walk with us in the heat of the day?</p>
<p>Unto whom will we appeal in our most vicious trial and wayward condition?</p>
<p>For are we not all children? and members? and acceptable? appreciated? ministered unto? loved?</p>
<p>And how shall we live if our home is not our sanctuary &#8211; and the confidence of the undefiled Matrix our womb?</p>
<p align="center">. . . . else, our bodies</p>
<p align="center">be our tombs.</p>
<p>Reach out &#8211; be not afraid &#8211; for you shall receive all of your most precious expectation . . .</p>
<p align="center">Undefiled &#8211; and holy.</p>
<p align="center">Eternal</p>
<p align="center">Incorruptible and</p>
<p align="center">Everlasting.</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Intrinsic, Inherent &#8211; Sensible</title>
		<link>http://www.undertheolivetree.com/2009/04/28/intrinsic-inherent-sensible/</link>
		<comments>http://www.undertheolivetree.com/2009/04/28/intrinsic-inherent-sensible/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 28 Apr 2009 06:01:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>BBennettJ</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Lead Story]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Observations]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.undertheolivetree.com/?p=237</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
 

Intrinsic, Inherent  Sensible
 
O, taste and see that the Lord is good,  For we were eyewitnesses of His majesty, &#8211; what our hands have held  and what we have seen and heard  for the life was made manifest.  The Disciples
 
Todays norm is to ignore the obvious truth in [...]]]></description>
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<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Intrinsic, Inherent  Sensible</span></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><em> </em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-weight: normal;">O, taste and see that the Lord is good,  For we were eyewitnesses of His majesty, &#8211; what our hands have held  and what we have seen and heard  for the life was made manifest.  The Disciples</span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Todays norm is to ignore the obvious truth in favor of the charade  the embellishment, and the fantasy.<span> </span>To do so may be entertaining  a flight of fancy is usually entertaining  at least for a time.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Ignoring reality, though  however appealing or emotionally stimulating  by its very nature has unexpected and often undesirable consequences. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Realities have the unpleasant quality of eventually being exactly what they are  and ignoring them or wistfully expecting their impact on us to be in accordance with our desires  and not in accordance with their intrinsic or inherent qualities  can become a recipe and a formula for disaster.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;">To ignore reality is a mistake, or worse yet  foolishness, stupidity, idiocy and inanity.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;">All around us we see those ignoring reality heralded as men and women of understanding and perception.<span> </span>Their views and observations and conclusions are embraced and publicity accepted as insightful, even ground breaking.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Our common sense tells us differently.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;">We all understand the portent of a consuming fire and a wicked wind  the destructive power of an avalanche, or a landslide  <em>earthquake, famine, pestilence and sword.</em></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Walking in a state of ignorance can scarcely deliver us from the consequences; the wages of good and evil  and of sin and death.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The piper must be paid lest the children of Hamlin are ransom for an inescapable debt.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-weight: normal;">For whatsoever a man soweth  that shall he also reap.  The Carpenter of Nazareth.</span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The fallacy of our times is that science and technology have traversed the boundaries and peered through the veils of the building blocks of life  and come to a deep and clear understanding of the mechanics and forces of life itself  to discover and to finally reveal the destiny of the naked ape.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;">In reality  they are, like foolish children made heady by their daring  reaching out to tickle the Dragons tail.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The mystic bid me with his hand</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-weight: normal;">To come and sit beside the fire</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-weight: normal;">And as the flames danced</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-weight: normal;">In the wind</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-weight: normal;">To talk of writing instruments</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-weight: normal;">And sealing wax</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The riddles clue</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-weight: normal;">And bread and wine</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-weight: normal;">To talk of wonders  and of signs</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Of salt and leaven</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Pearls and silver</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Lost lambs</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-weight: normal;">And the lowering sky</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The angels</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-weight: normal;">And the Devils guise</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The wayward, foolish</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-weight: normal;">And the wise</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Of merchants and hypocrisy</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Judgment, mercy</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Being Free</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-weight: normal;">He told me of the man and wife</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-weight: normal;">He told me of eternal life.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;">As the world throngs to worship the Beast and his image  as they gather around the sanctuary of their multi-media driven consciousness  the stage is being set for the perfect storm.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-weight: normal;">The skies are red, red with warning  and black, black with clouds gathering for the Great Confusion which is almost upon you. The Babushka </span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-weight: normal;">Evil men and seducers shall wax wore and worse  deceiving and being deceived. Letter to Timothy</span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-weight: normal;">Alas Babylon, that great city!<span> </span>For in one hour is so great riches come to naught.  The Apocalypse</span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><em><span style="font-weight: normal;">For the time is at hand  the Web Bot</span></em></p>
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