May I share my God with you?

[qzw52]

Hi,

The link that follows is an article written by the Macrobiotic counselor and teacher David Briscoe entitled "May I Share my God with You. I find it very uplifting.

Enjoy!

http://www.macroamerica.com/articles4.html

Best,

Dave

[Nancy]

Dave,

Thanks for posting that link. You're right, it is uplifting. I've heard David described as "gentle" when teaching, and heard others speak of their admiration for him.

I am just about to read David's book, "A Personal Peace, Macrobiotic Reflections On Mental and Emotional Recovery".

Thanks,
Nancy

[qzw52]

What a coincidence Nancy!

I just sent for David's Book, which is out of print currently, just yesterday!

It is available via bookfinder.com

Best,

Dave

Originally posted by Nancy
Dave,


I am just about to read David's book, "A Personal Peace, Macrobiotic Reflections On Mental and Emotional Recovery".

Thanks,
Nancy

[Bruce Paine]

People,

If you pay closer attention to what David Briscoe is saying, you will see that he is not talking about a general sense of what he believes is everyone's belief in "God" but what he personally believes and that he calls "my God", which he repeats over and over again.

A beautiful little song that Whoopi Goldberg sings in the movie, Sister Act, has these lyrics (see if you can hear the music):

Nothing you could say
Could tear me away
From my God (my God)
Nothing you could do
'Cause I'm stuck like glue
To my God (my God, my God)
I'm stickin' to my God like a stamp to a letter
Like birds of a feather, we stick together
I'm tellin' you from the start
I can't be torn apart
From my God




Nothing you could do
Could make me untrue
To my God (my God)
Nothing you could buy
Could make me tell a lie
To my God (my God, my God)
I gave my God my word of honor
To be faithful, and I'm gonna
You best be believing
I won't be deceiving
My God


As a matter of opinion, I think he's tops
My opinion is, he's the cream of the crop
As a matter of taste, to be exact
He's my ideal, as a matter of fact.
No muscle bound man
Could take my hand
From my God (my God)
No handsome face
Could ever take the place
Of my God (my God, my God)
He may not be a movie star
But when it comes to bein' happy, we are
There's not a man today
Who could take me away
From my God

Cool it down now, ladies.
There not a man today
Who could take me away
From my God
Give them some of that deep shoulder action.
There's not a man today
Who could take me away from my God

( http://www.acmewebpages.com/whoopi/lyrics/mygod.htm )

Though I am not religious, and rarely go to church, I am touched by certain songs and pieces of music and this certainly is one of them.

I'm more willing to listen to a person talk about their personal experience of "spirit" than hear someone recite "scripture", and listen to someone singing "gospel" than reciting their belief in it.

Have a happy Sunday.

Thank you, very much.

Bruce Paine

[qzw52]

Hi Roy,

I don't feel that the article was saying "that people who believe in God have more fulfilling lives than non-believers. "

I believe David Briscoe is expressing his opinion about God based on his experiences but is very open to other people having different points of view based on their experiences. I believe that his openmindedness would include people having the view that there is no God at all. What one person would believe in and in doing so use the label of God, another person might also believe the same thing while adamantly espousing a non-belief in God. An example might be two people who feel it is important not to be materialistic.

I think it is important to differentiate a belief in God from a necessity to have to express this belief in one of the established orthodox religions. By not having to label one's belief within the religions we all know about such as judaism, christianity, buddhism, taosim and many more et cetera, I would say that infants, animals and plants could be included in some of the more pure believers in God that I know of. As an example, the unconditional, divine love example given to people by their pets such as Dogs for instance. Another example is a tree that cleanses the air without regard for any thanks for doing so and does not decide who will get this gift. The tree just gives unconditionally without any regard for a thank you. These are just wonderful lessons that non-humans can teach us. The lessons that children can teach us are just enormous too. Including my grandson who keeps informing his Mother that he is her husband. He is all of two years old. As a person who believes in past lives, I read some insights into this. Et cetera, Et cetera.

Even if David's article is as "demeaning" as you say it supposedly is and if David is a "dualistic at heart" in his thinking in the article as you say he supposedly is, or that he supposedly "does much to diminish the all-embracing vision of macrobiotics" name calling is probably not the macrobiotic approach that Ohsawa advocated. Ohsawa said, "Accept everything with unlimited joy and gratitude, even if it be extremely humiliating, painful, or the cause of great inconvenience." And "Maintain yourself in such a condition that from morning until evening the words flowing out of your mouth reflect infinite gratitude."

You have mentioned Taoism in some of your posts. Here is part of Lao Tzu's writings given the title of "Sixteen."

With an open mind, you will be openhearted.
Being openhearted, you will act royally.
Being royal, you will attain the divine.
Being divine, you will be at one with the Tao.
Being at one with the Tao is eternal.
And though the body dies, the Tao will never pass away.

There are probably many reasons for being macrobiotic. I respect everyone's reasons for getting involved and have respect for those who do not believe in any type of God whatsoever, and those who do. For me it is about heart and how people try to become better people as we learn from the events in our daily lives.

But for me, the reason for my interest in macrobiotics is rooted in spirit which for me means a belief in what I call "God." It is to become a clearer instrument for spirit to work through us. As Ohsawa said:

"Our body especially the brain is an instrument like a radio receiver that automatically picks up any frequency. "

"Thus our small brain is like a connection to the large brain of the universe itself."

For others the interest in macrobiotics will be something completely different and would resonate with individuals who are atheist or agnostic as well as those who believe in God.

Respectfully, Best regards,

Dave


Roy Collin's Wrote:

I did read the Briscoe link that you posted in the Spirituality Forum here and found it somewhat helpful for me to understand a little more about God. I think it is good that Briscoe thinks its a good idea to have different interpretaions of God, but disagree (and find it a demeaning) This is an absurd assumption and one that is overly ethno-centric. There are billions of people who live on this planet, including all infants (and animals, plants, etc) that do not believe in God(s) that lives that are full and happy as believers. This God equation, in my opinion, has nothing to do with macrobiotics. It is a separate issue altogether. Macrobiotics embraces all people from all walks of life, with or without religion. No one is greater or lesser because of his/her belief or non-belief in a deity. Many of our current world problems are due to cetain religious beliefs and a take on God that wishes destruction to all that do not follow that path. Sounds like the Crusades revisited!

As an American Briscoe has this right and freedom to express his thoughts but as a macrobiotic he must understand that if he says belivers in God(s) have better lives than non-belivers, then he does much to diminish the all-embracing vision of macrobiotics and shows that he is a dualist at heart. So thank you Dave for pointing this fact out to us. You were correcct to place your post in the Spiritual forum.

Originally posted by qzw52
Hi,

The link that follows is an article written by the Macrobiotic counselor and teacher David Briscoe entitled "May I Share my God with You. I find it very uplifting.

Enjoy!

http://www.macroamerica.com/articles4.html

Best,

Dave

[Roy Collins]

I'll try to stay out of this forum as much as I can and do not wish to discuss anything of a religious nature in the health forum. However, I will re-iterate that the Briscoe take was a clear shot to belittle or rather boost above those who believe in God over those who do not believe. Here again are his exact words:

>Life without a relationship to God is vacant no matter how rich or powerful or healthy one may be. <

My comment was not intended to strike back believers in God, and as I said it is good to have a variety of beliefs, no? Yes, I dis say that. My response was directed to the exclusivity of the statement itself, as it says in short, that because I do not believe in God that my life is vacant. There is no two ways that this can be taken. Truth of the matter is that in America the majority of people living here follow Judaic-Christian beliefs and that statistics bear out that 50% of all marriages end in divorce. Not to mention anything about the numerous pedophile clergy who believe in God. So as you can see not all people who believe in God are so much better off than others. That is point. Let's leave it at that.

You are correct to say that this forum was set up for spiritual discussion. Please enjoy each other and respect even those who do not belive. I will keep my distance and will express my Consttitutional right, as David did, to speak my thoughts when directed and when necessary.


In peace, Roy

[qzw52]

Roy,

By posting only one sentence of David Briscoe's article, which frames the article in an unfavorable way, you allow the readers of your post to misunderstand the article and from my point of view, potentially have people miss the insights and beauty in it as well. So here is the link in case some in the forum want more than a one sentence sound byte so they can make their own mind's up on the articles merits or not:

http://www.macroamerica.com/articles4.html

I have also included your original comments where you described David Briscoe as "a dualist at heart" and a person who "does much to diminish the all-embracing vision of macrobiotics."

To clarify for others who may not know David Briscoe, or may know of him only by your comments about him in these forums, I include his bio so that others can learn more about the person you have described as a "dualist at heart" and a person who "does much to diminish the all-embracing vision of macrobiotics."

http://www.macroamerica.com/bios.html

I think you are correct and using good judgment when you say "I'll try to stay out of this forum as much as I can." I agree that it would be better if you didn't participate in a forum designed for discussion of spiritual matters inasmuch as the topic seems to throw you off balance somehow, some way. (No, I will not define "spiritual matters" for you, LOL) I would say that your posts in the other forums are very insightful and very helpful and are received with a great deal of gratitude.

Best,

Dave

Originally posted by Roy Collins
I'll try to stay out of this forum as much as I can and do not wish to discuss anything of a religious nature in the health forum. However, I will re-iterate that the Briscoe take was a clear shot to belittle or rather boost above those who believe in God over those who do not believe. Here again are his exact words:

>Life without a relationship to God is vacant no matter how rich or powerful or healthy one may be. <

My comment was not intended to strike back believers in God, and as I said it is good to have a variety of beliefs, no? Yes, I dis say that. My response was directed to the exclusivity of the statement itself, as it says in short, that because I do not believe in God that my life is vacant. There is no two ways that this can be taken. Truth of the matter is that in America the majority of people living here follow Judaic-Christian beliefs and that statistics bear out that 50% of all marriages end in divorce. Not to mention anything about the numerous pedophile clergy who believe in God. So as you can see not all people who believe in God are so much better off than others. That is point. Let's leave it at that.

You are correct to say that this forum was set up for spiritual discussion. Please enjoy each other and respect even those who do not belive. I will keep my distance and will express my Consttitutional right, as David did, to speak my thoughts when directed and when necessary.


In peace, Roy

****Roy's original post where he makes comments about David Briscoe:

I did read the Briscoe link that you posted in the Spirituality Forum here and found it somewhat helpful for me to understand a little more about God. I think it is good that Briscoe thinks its a good idea to have different interpretaions of God, but disagree (and find it a demeaning) that people who believe in God have more fulfilling lives than non-believers. This is an absurd assumption and one that is overly ethno-centric. There are billions of people who live on this planet, including all infants (and animals, plants, etc) that do not believe in God(s) that lives that are full and happy as believers. This God equation, in my opinion, has nothing to do with macrobiotics. It is a separate issue altogether. Macrobiotics embraces all people from all walks of life, with or without religion. No one is greater or lesser because of his/her belief or non-belief in a deity. Many of our current world problems are due to cetain religious beliefs and a take on God that wishes destruction to all that do not follow that path. Sounds like the Crusades revisited!

As an American Briscoe has this right and freedom to express his thoughts but as a macrobiotic he must understand that if he says belivers in God(s) have better lives than non-belivers, then he does much to diminish the all-embracing vision of macrobiotics and shows that he is a dualist at heart. So thank you Dave for pointing this fact out to us. You were correcct to place your post in the Spiritual forum.

I hope this helps.

In peace, Roy

[lighthouse25]

Originally Posted by Bruce Paine

A beautiful little song that Whoopi Goldberg sings in the movie, Sister Act, has these lyrics (see if you can hear the music):

Nothing you could say
Could tear me away
From my God (my God)
Nothing you could do
'Cause I'm stuck like glue
To my God (my God, my God)
I'm stickin' to my God like a stamp to a letter
Like birds of a feather, we stick together
I'm tellin' you from the start
I can't be torn apart
From my God

Nothing you could do
Could make me untrue
To my God (my God)
Nothing you could buy
Could make me tell a lie
To my God (my God, my God)
I gave my God my word of honor
To be faithful, and I'm gonna
You best be believing
I won't be deceiving
My God

As a matter of opinion, I think he's tops
My opinion is, he's the cream of the crop
As a matter of taste, to be exact
He's my ideal, as a matter of fact.
No muscle bound man
Could take my hand
From my God (my God)
No handsome face
Could ever take the place
Of my God (my God, my God)
He may not be a movie star
But when it comes to bein' happy, we are
There's not a man today
Who could take me away
From my God

Cool it down now, ladies.
There not a man today
Who could take me away
From my God
Give them some of that deep shoulder action.
There's not a man today
Who could take me away from my God

( http://www.acmewebpages.com/whoopi/lyrics/mygod.htm )

Have a happy Sunday.

Thank you, very much.

Bruce Paine

One of my favorite songs!