I have occasionally written about spiritual things over the last two years, primarily on my other page.

I have been a Bible student and for most of my life, although independent of any orthodox authority. My gleanings have proved to be unconventional as far as Orthodox theology and doctrine is established. In recent years I have explored spiritual concepts outside the orthodox religious norm. This is an excerpt from an assignment I am working on regarding my spiritual perceptions. That currently is about 20 pages long (and more to be written) and trying to understand me fully would be incomplete without reading those things... But ... in a nutshell ... this is how I have currently evolved and what I understand as real ... This is my summation at the end of my dissertation ... I may eventually post more of the assignment as I expand in different areas. My spirituality is essentially who I am and what I have done ... and what my intentions and focus are ... It cant be separated ... although intention and focus are primary. I believe that which we call the divine resides in everything and we, human beings, are essentially spiritual residing in a body that is basically an extension of our spiritual being. In a sense ... spirit slowed down to be comprehensible in a material environment. If quantum physics theories prove reliable... I think that which may have been at one time perception of the mystics and other spiritually attuned individuals may well prove to have scientific validity. Scientific models of Quantum physics, field theory and others finding credence all fascinate me, as they substantiate the potentiality of much that had once only been the experience of mystics, shamans and the occult (of course these are only models, and models change, but psychic experience beyond what is conventionally accepted, may well find validity, as we continue to explore and study these beyond traditional Newtonian paradigms. I believe there are possibilities for realizing spiritual truths transcending the physical resident in each and every one of us ... and as we consider and master our own being ... understanding what we fully are as human beings ... we see ourselves aligning with the universe and becoming free from limiting material human constructs of what the universe and humanity should be defined as. I do not believe there is a separation of spirit, soul and body ... they are all one ... but only defined as separate entities for the sake of trying to perceive truth about us deeper in us and yet transcending our persons. I believe ancient myths are not to be understood literally, as pointing to deific figures, but are metaphors of what we are, or can be as human beings. Their purpose is not the establishment of a hierarchical order, but rather to teach us of our own human potential. The same is true of tales of indigenous peoples such as the American Indian. The characters of the hero, the fool, the wise man and all the many others are archetypes of our human experience. I believe dreams are windows into our deeper subconscious and speak to us of who and what we are, hidden deep inside and emerging to the surface. Understanding them leading to understanding ourselves and realizing what is our greater potential as human. I believe love ... magic ... and miracles ... are all essentially the same thing ... manifesting as we give ourselves to a deeper truer understanding of ourselves. I believe the most significant thing a human being can experience is this intimate love relationship with another ... transcending the sexual ... but finding its greatest physical expression in the celebration of the sexual union. I believe death is not the end ... I do not believe in heaven or hell except as we create them in our own lives ... I believe life ... consciousness ... continues after we discard our physical bodies ... I believe energy cannot be destroyed ... only changes form ... and finds expression ad infinitum ... We are all connected and one ... and it should always be remembered

that these perceptions are always evolving and expanding as long as the human heart and mind are open to fuller understanding... In a nut shell ... I believe the orthodox Christian Church (which basically includes them all Roman Catholic, Protestant and Eastern Orthodox) is essentially a perversion of what the church never was and more than anything a political entity sanctified by the political order first and most fundamentally during the time of the Roman emperor Constantine. There is a great deal more I could say about this as to how I come to my conclusions, but it should suffice to say ... I have done my homework. ...