Vol 1

Vol 1 #3 - Concepts of God

Crow...are you "cawing" so I may know the secrets of balance within my soul? Or are you sending your
"caw" just to remind me of universal laws? (1)

In these days when Concepts of God seem to be tearing at the very fabric of the human family, when in the name of God all manner of unspeakable things have been and are being done one to another, it is good to stop and reflect, ever so briefly, on the fact that the individual and collective Concept of God is one of the unconscious driving forces in the individual and collective life of humanity. And if, indeed, that for which one is willing to risk one's life is a truer indication of one's Concept of God than any volume of verbal protestation which one may make for public consumption, then we do have reason to be concerned about the future of humanity. What will the coming Era hold? We contend that the New Millennium will be just like the old, and perhaps even worse, if we, individually and collectively, do not redefine ourselves and our relationship with the Divinity within us. The current issue of ARIADNE'S WEB™ therefore focuses on Concepts of God.

Our lead article, Concepts of God - Instruments for Social Change, along with The Limitless Light by the Reverend Milton R. Shaw, Ph.D., presents a very brief overview of the evolutionary history of our Western Concepts of God and entices each of us to seek and find the best way possible to manifest in our daily lives the ideals of Forgiveness, Charity, Compassion, and Love without compromise. On the other hand, The Three Gods, by Francois Ribadeau Dumas, compares the three faces of The One God as presented by the Jews, the Christians and the Muslims, and gives us pause to wonder how The One God could be so different depending upon perception of the perceiver. Clearly, the Image of God, like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder!

At the end of his article, Francois Ribadeau Dumas reflects upon the fact that even the Masons seem to be divided in regard to their attitude toward God - some believe, some do not, while others use the euphemism "Grand Architect of the Universe". In this regard, the article Mind: The Grand Architect presents a philosophical overview which purports to throw some light on the significance of the phrase and provides some justification for its use.

But in the final analysis, regardless of one's preferred image of God we can each contribute to a better world today, simply by assuming personal responsibility for our behaviors one toward the other. Indeed, The School of Metaphysics, featured in this issue's ESOTERIC STREAMS - Schools of Thought addresses this precise point. In fact, regardless of religious orientation or outlook, philosophers, teachers, and the officially acknowledged Messengers of our Gods have all given us a set of rules by which to live our lives. And although we may each be able to recite these rules, many of us often find it impossible to live in harmony with them each and every hour of every day without compromise. The article entitled The Three Kinds of Karma by Jean Prieur, reminds us of the need for vigilance in meeting our personal responsibilityfrom a spiritual point of view, Conception of the Perception of Your Godhood by Jayne M. Howard challenges each of us to contact and live the God within, while Starlight by Ann A. Burns shows us how to find our personal concept of God within our own life, based upon our own natal chart.

But the concept of personal responsibility also applies to to the care of the body for the body is indeed the Temple within which we labor to evolve the soul and its personality. This point is made in The Body as Temple which is to be found in the regular feature Entering the Sanctuary. This sub-theme of taking proper care of the body is further extended in the Metaphysiology feature which deals with Homeopathy: The Other Medicine of Hippocrates by Marie-Christine Dauge-Geffroy.

Finally, in our feature Mustikuma the story of a Zen Master is recounted in which it is made clear that we should not passively wait for God to bestow blessings upon us for insofar as our spiritual quest is concerned, "God has already done His share". What is left then is for us to do our share. An indication as to how we may effectively do our share is presented in Didyano which recounts a case in which Forgiveness was used as an adjunct to conventional medical techniques to affect a positive outcome in a case of AIDS.

We take this opportunity to thank all of our readers for the surprising support we are receiving with regard to our efforts with this new periodical ARIADNE'S WEB™ . For your convenience we enclose a few example in our feature WEB TALK.

In the meantime, do let us continue to hear from you. And if there is any topic you would like to see covered in a future edition of ARIADNE'S WEB™ , then please do not hesitate to let us know. Once again, thanks!

Yours - OHW.

(1) Quote taken from MEDICINE CARDS by Jamie Sams and David Carson

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