My employment with the Community of Christ was one of those very big exits that I had to plan for.  Because, not only had I done it once, but also because I was going to have to do it a second time.  I remember at a church field staff meeting in California about the church dying.  And I said that such didn’t have to happen.  Another missionary/seventy in the church said to me, “You are talking about closing churches.  I said “That is right – and you want to know why?  That is so we can come back from a position of strength and having found our way – which is simply this, each and every one of you is all according to the gifts of God unto  you – a dream given to me at age 19 while I attended University of Iowa.  A calling repeated to me by Evangelist Milton Broadfoot.  You keep upon the path you are on now, the Restoration Movement, this church, and it’s mission, will surely die.”  Apostle Susan Skoor then said to me, “You sound defensive.”  I said, “Susan, I am hardly that. Hear this -- If the church has no further need of me, then I am fine with that and I shall seek and pursue my own path in terms of the God and the Christ of my own understanding.  All I have to be told here or by you or anyone else here in attendance is that I am no longer needed and others have a more perfect understanding of the ways of God and of the Christ and that I should be on my way.  Just have the courage to say such things to my and I will be on my way.  Today, I am on the way of the Christ and the God who has bound my service to be which is acceptable to them.

 For Sunday, April 27th 2025: "Peace Be With You" (John 20:19-31 NRSV)

Lectionary Scripture:  John 20:19-31 NRSV

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

AND ACTS 5:27-32 (NRSV)

When they had brought them, they had them stand before the council. The high priest questioned them, saying, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man’s blood on us.” But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than any human authority. The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”

Reflection on the Scripture:

Spring of 2002, Professor Walter Wink was teaching biblical interpretation at Auburn Theological Seminary in New York City when a sermon or article of his appeared bearing the title "The Vision Spreads".  In the article he focused on the above scripture, made several points, and asked many questions such as the following:  

Why were the disciples arrested? Key to the growth of the early church (and Pentecostal and charismatic churches today) are healing and exorcism.  Why have we largely abandoned these ministries? Jesus understood healing and exorcism as signs of the breaking-in of God's domination-free order ("the kingdom of God"). How have we let our theologies stand in the way of God's healing and liberating activity? In what ways are we "jealous" (5:17) of those who do engage in this ministry? In what ways do they also truncate (i.e. shorten or abbreviate) the gospel?

Professor Wink continues that God initiates civil disobedience by freeing the disciples from jail (Acts 5:19). The civil authorities act perplexed and confused that the uneducated illiterate disciples refuse to be cowed by the command from the authorities not to preach any more in Jesus' name.  The Disciple Peter boldly declares back to the authorities that it is they (the ruling oligarchy) who are responsible for killing Jesus who is the initiator, revealer, and implementer of God's new order.  Per Peter, God's "new thing" is already happening and the nobody disciples speak back to the somebody authorities.

The nobodies say: "We must obey God rather than any human authority".  Which means the unveiling of a whole new authority, not acquired by wealth or property or political clout, but by observing the naked truth of what God really intends for humanity. The disciples see it. They want it. They will die, if they must, for it. The authorities, sensing this, tremble, and fall back on judicial threats.

The Pharisee Gamaliel comes to the rescue, he is one of the somebodies in this exchange and warns the civil authorities, "The enemy is never as monolithic as we think. In the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail.  But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”

Gamaliel's speech persuaded the authorities and they called in the disciples, had them whipped, and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus again and let them go.  The next day the disciples return to the Temple and resumed their preaching, teaching, healing and rejoicing, counting themselves fortunate to have suffered in Christ's name.  As Professor Wink observes, a movement that might have been strangled at birth explodes into the world.  In closing the article, Wink asks, "How is the gospel being silenced today? What part are we playing in this silencing? Who tells us to be silent? Or are we censoring ourselves? If, with a single microphone, you could reach the entire world, what one thing would you say, write, or share?"

Well, as a psychotherapist who stills considers himself engaged in ministering to the needs of others, and as I long ago learned that I cannot reach the entire world, there's clearly a portion of Humanity that will never be persuaded as to the "new thing" and "new order" that God intends to replace the "old order".  The Disciple Thomas as noted in the scripture above from the Gospel of John, remains clearly stuck in the "old order" -- however he will be persuaded that there is something new to embrace.

The "old order" of humankind typically wants no persuasion to something else.  They want 1) authoritarianism, 2) social dominance over others, 3) unchecked bigotry and prejudice, 4) association only with those like-minded to them, and lastly 5) economics that benefit them alone and no one else.  Most individuals recognize the foregoing as Fascism -- plain and simple.

For those of you like Thomas who resonate with God's "new thing" and "new order", I would share via this microphone moment -- words of counsel from a blessing I received so very long ago.  Please welcome the following words into your own heart and let their peace be yours:

".....strive to develop the discipline of the spiritual, upward look: yea, no matter where you are, as you go about your daily activities, cultivate the habit, the discipline of letting your heart, your mind go up unto your Maker, silently and reverently, not only for your own needs, but also for the needs of those who are around about you…., “Counsel the Lord thy God in all thy doings, and He shall direct thee for good…., Ask, and you shall receive; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”

"May the Spirit of Light and Truth come to you frequently to illuminate your mind so that you may see the true and proper relationships of truths expressed in various fields of human experiences.  You are blessed with the Spirit of the Comforter…., even The One who stands by to help.

Peace be with you, 

Brad Shumate, Founder

Free of Encumbrance

Spokane Valley, WA

(Comments welcomed at: brad@freeofencumbrance.net -- comments are moderated and published at end of this post as they are received and if appropriate for sharing)

For Sunday April 20th 2025: "All Will Be Made Alive" (Easter)

Designed by Wannipik URL: https://www.wannapik.com/vectors/65610

Lectionary Scripture:

I Corinthians 15:22 "For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive." (NIV)

Lectionary Reflection:

I came across a question for small group discussion for the above scripture.  It seemed a good thought to reflect upon at this time in our existence.  It is in fact an existential question, or in other words, an intense deep inquiry into the meaning and purpose of life, death, and one's place -- or our collective place -- in the world.  The question is, "What is your deepest hope this Easter?"

My deepest hope, even my most fervent prayer this Easter, is for resurrection of  national leader(s), even World Leaders, who truly care about the concept of "We The People".  My ardent desire is for leaders who instill dreams, vision, and action for the betterment of the Common Good.  If "The Common Good" is an unfamiliar term, perhaps the following definition from the United Kingdom website "Together for the Common Good" will be helpful:

"The Common Good is the shared life of a society in which everyone can flourish - as we act together in different ways that all contribute towards that goal, enabled by social conditions that mean every single person can participate. We create these conditions and pursue that goal by working together across our differences, each of us taking responsibility, according to our calling and ability."

 

With the 2024 American Presidential Election, the majority of the citizens of the United States considered "The Common Good" to be an anathema and returned the power of POTUS to an individual and his followers who would rather break things, crush people's spirits, and per Fareed Zakaria's 3/2/25 op-ed piece in "The Washington Post" achieve a complete "....reorienting of America's moral compass away from being a force for good in the world".

As a skilled helper over the past forty-five years, with nearly equal portions of time in behavioral healthcare and professional ministry, I have become well-acquainted with the pathological aspects of persons, groups, communities, institutions, corporations, and other various entities for whom "The Common Good" is anathema -- something so vehemently hated that it must be destroyed.

For instance, the current POTUS inherited a strong and thriving economy.  He hates that kind of circumstance.  Instead, he loves a bad economy.  And that is exactly what he is setting about to make happen -- to break and crush and destroy the economy he inherited.  He pursues this because he persuaded the majority of Americans that he would make their lives better from Day One if again given the power of "The POTUS".  And so, the 5th November 2024, America made that happen and "The POTUS" began to break, crush, and destroy the world's economy for you and for me and for anyone else's dreams and hopes for the future.  As a YouTube video posted April 6th 2025 informs us, "The POTUS" shared via a History Channel Series in 2012 how and why he wants a bad economy:

From POTUS machinations with the economy, all is too clear even from "The POTUS" how only the ultra wealthy are to benefit:

As for most other non-billionaires and non-millionaires, I am guessing that you, like me, saw no windfall profits hit our bank accounts during the recent off-and-on again trade-war tariff machinations of "The POTUS" as noted in the video clip above --- something that happened for a few but not for all.  This is the same kind of shame that Jesus called out and said why he was sent to us as shared in the Gospel According to Luke, Chapter Four:

"When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth."

It is impossible to know how much time passed between the event above to when Jesus established for in perpetuity the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, but this we do know from John Chapter 13:1-7 and 31-35 (NRSV):

Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.” After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.  And when he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Today is Maundy Thursday of Easter Holy Week. Tomorrow is Good Friday, the day we commemorate as the day Jesus was crucified.  Let us remember that the day of the passion of the Christ was a time not unlike when powers akin to The POTUS then took away from us, a gentle loving insightful teacher and prophet and penniless healer who could only be explained by the words, "Surely, this was the Son of God."  It is only selflessness like that of Jesus that "All Will Be Made Alive" -- no other moral compass is needed -- especially not that of "The POTUS" today.

As I started to end the writing of this post -- my doorbell rang.  Answering the door, four pre-teen children stood before me, all of them wearing black shirts and black pants.  They asked, "Do you have a lawn mower we could use to mow your lawn?  We only ask that you only pay us five dollars."  I said, "I have a lawn mower but it's in such bad shape that it would more likely injure you than help your intention -- but thank you for asking."  As they turned to leave, they said, "You have a good Easter."  The moment made me alive in ways I have not felt for a long time.  I wished I had some cash I could have just given them.  Instead, I have hope that from their number will arise future leaders with new dreams and visions for "The Common Good".

May God's Peaceable Reign Come Soon Upon the Earth!

Brad Shumate, Founder - Free of Encumbrance

Spokane Valley, WA

(Comments welcomed at: brad@freeofencumbrance.net)

 

 

Home of an Independent

For Sunday 07 August 2022: Where is Your Heart?

Photo by Aziz Acharki on Unsplash

Lectionary Scripture: Luke 12:32-40 (NRSV)

"Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.  Sell your possessions and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks.  Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them.  If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.  But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.  You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.?

Reflections on the Lectionary Scripture

One faith tradition's reflection on this coming Sunday's lectionary makes the statement, "We have a part to play in the Son of Man stealing back of creation."  The statement immediately struck home for me.  As a licensed psychotherapist in Oregon and Washington, it is powerful inspiration for me and reminds me of a dream I had at age 19.  Slightly awake as dawn's early morning light began through my basement window, I fell back to sleep.  In the dream/vision that followed, I found myself sitting in the midst of a spring meadow.  A warm breeze brushed against my skin.  The grass was as perfect a green as I had ever seen.  I then looked to the sky, never had I seen a sky so perfectly blue and cloudless.  I sensed a profound peace in everything around me including myself!  Several moments later, I comprehended what confronted me -- the World was at peace!  Not only was it at peace, but God had restored the Earth.  My heart was full to bursting with realization that God's Reign over the Earth had begun.  The Divine One had taken Creation back to God's self.  I cannot say whether this occurred during my years of mortal living or if such occurred in an existence to come following death.  What I do know is that as I sat in the meadow, I no longer needed my glasses for seeing due to my severe near-sightedness, for I too had been healed even as the Earth had healed.  My heart was overjoyed.

"Where is my heart?" asks a particular faith tradition that I can no longer accept calling itself prophetic? For me, I will answer that it is with each of my suffering patients day in and day out as they try to make sense of a world so quickly scrambling toward war and ruin that disregards social justice, disregards climate justice; a world so highly antagonized over a populace that's increasingly non-white, non-conservative, spiritually pluralistic, sexually pluralistic, and which expects a major correction that the rich and powerful take on their fair share of bettering the Common Good worldwide.

I will never be able to make sense of why the rich and powerful in the United States get to legally opt out of paying their fair share of taxes.  For instance, Social Security does not tax their income beyond $147,000 annually.  My income never reaches that level, so I always pay 6% annually of my total income toward Social Security.  If I were self-employed it would be 12% annually.  The rich and powerful should have to pay the exact same percentage of their total income to Social Security tax as do most of us.  Concerns about the viability of Social Security for meeting the needs of our country's elderly would no longer be an issue.  What kind of conscience and heart lives within the rich and powerful that they are not beating down the doors of our elected officials/representatives demanding that they be assessed their fair share of Social Security taxes for the safety and well-being of the old, frail, and disabled of our suffering sisters and brothers.  A correction on this matter alone is long overdue.

There was a period in my life lived in my former faith tradition that I had to watch my language or how I presented my perspectives on what is right and/or best for the Common Good.  I have always felt so grateful to God for calling me out of that tradition in May 2011 and making me part of "stealing creation back" for healing of the Earth and all life living upon it.  I hope for you and wherever you are, that you will be able and willing to find the freedom to do so as well.

May God's Peace be with you!

Brad Shumate

Free of Encumbrance

Eugene, Oregon USA

Fallen Capitol Police Officer Sicknick - GOP be ashamed of yourselves!!

Watching on CNN, the procession for Fallen Capitol Police Officer Sicknick who will "Lie In Honor" in the Capitol Rotunda who died in the line of duty protecting our lawmakers from cowardly insurrectionists who on January 6th were whipped into murderous frenzy by Donald J. Trump and all his enablers. Insurrectionists hear my words, "Damn You!! And damn all the horses that brung ya! And we know the horses that brung ya -- Donald J. Trump and his enablers and co-conspirators. One way or another, they will all be held to account for their crimes." I am so sad tonight. My heart broken beyond words for the suffering of Officer Sicknick's loved ones and the loss and grief they are going through at this time. Everyone was warned, warned for years, and warned again, even prophetically so, about how dangerous Donald Trump was/is. Welcome to the fulfillment of prophecy that gifted/skilled brave mental health professionals tried to help us avoid. Never forget Officer Sicknick, nor any of his colleagues who defended our government during the January 6th insurrection -- for if we do forget, there remains no hope for this democracy whatsoever.

Watched a CNN video of the mob that stormed the Capitol last week.  When mobsters discovered CNN was present, they went after them. Other media camera equipment was taken, smashed, destroyed, and piled up

Reminded me of books piled up, burned, destroyed that helped fuel the rise of fascist Nazism and downfall of German democracy in the 1930s:

We are in a dangerous time and Trump should be immediately removed from office.  The mobsters and all those inciting and fomenting "The Trump Insurrection" must be held accountable before things get any worse.

Brad Shumate

Free of Encumbrance

Eugene, OR  USA

11/22/2020 - See Christ in Us

11/22/2020 - See Christ In Us

PTSD expert Seth Norrholm: To heal from Trump's abuse, we must end "catastrophic thinking" https://t.co/89RP5tlctS #SmartNews

— Brad Shumate (@shumate_brad) November 18, 2020

Lectionary Reflection - Matthew 25:31-46 NRSV

Trump followers claiming themselves to be persons of faith have a lot for which to answer.  Voting once for Trump for POTUS in 2016 is understandable, but persons of faith voting for him again in 2020 after all the evil and traumatization that he and his enablers have committed requires a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to be convened with right of referral to the American criminal prosecution system.  Trump and his enablers have without doubt, as detailed in the above article, committed crimes against humanity and against the United States of America.  It would be best if the commission could be structured like the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that ended apartheid in South Africa when the citizens took back majority rule from the white supremacist government of that era.

This Sunday's lectionary scripture makes the contrast so clear as Jesus separates the sheep from the goats.  The sheep were the ones who fully honored hospitality toward the needs of those who came into their orbit, whether they were orphans or immigrants or the poor or imprisoned.  The goats were the inhospitable ones, i.e. all the ones who in their prideful self-righteous triumphalism turned away those who so desperately cried out for their help.  Trumpsters who voted twice for the evil man, both in 2016 and 2020 know who you are in this Biblical lesson from Jesus.  Trump and those who enabled him in any and all acts of criminality and traumatization must be brought before the bar of justice.

A Truth and Reconciliation Commission will let us find the goats and refer them for prosecution.

Brad Shumate, M.S.,M.A., LPC,LMHC

As a licensed mental health professional with over 40 years experience in the field, the fitness of a POTUS and VPOTUS to hold office concerns me greatly for Democracy's future. With 48% of the country having favored the incumbent Republican candidates in the general election and an egregious lax of oversight by Congress on the Executive Branch, a more Putinesque like POTUS and/or VPOTUS candidate would have meant the end to our way of life. Much stronger laws are needed, particularly that no one is above the law, not at any time or in any way, especially if you're POTUS or VPOTUS.

I propose that a POTUS and VPOTUS not only have and pass mandatory annual physical examinations required by law but also have and pass annual mandatory psychological evaluations required by law.  The psychological evaluation of fitness for office would be completed by a nonpartisan commission and comprised of the country's most gifted mental health professionals, certifying fitness to hold office.  Secondly, that any candidates for office of POTUS and VPOTUS must successfully pass such examinations and evaluations as part of establishing their candidacy.  Thirdly, it must be established that persons evaluated by the commission must be free of sycophantic, sociopathic, narcissistic, and/or antisocial tendencies.

Lastly, if the mental health status of a POTUS or VPOTUS at any time appears in question to such a commission, it shall have the power to summon and mandate compliance to submit to a mental health evaluation.  If a POTUS or VPOTUS does not pass such evaluations and examinations or fails to comply with having such, the 25th amendment is to be immediately invoked and the lines/means of succession enacted.

Putting these safeguards into effect will help to ensure the future of our democracy and prevention of an unfit individual ever rising again to hold offices of the most powerful person(s) in the world.  Heck, let's extend the requirement to all POTUS cabinet members as well.

Brad Shumate, M.S.,M.A.,LPC/LMHC
Free of Encumbrance
Eugene, OR  USA

MY ABIDING AFFIRMATIONS:

God – The Source:

From my earliest days in this life, I experienced a profoundly loving presence.  It permeated and intertwined with all my being.  This presence I have called God as have others before me.  I sensed God had no beginning.  God always existed.  God knew me before I ever knew myself.  God has been the loving parent who never abandoned me, the parent I counted on when unable to count on my own.  God, my eternal parent, celebrates my greatest joys, comforts my distress, heals my broken heart, calls and sends me to where I am needed most.  As life transitioned from childhood to youth and now older adulthood, I have realized that God resides throughout our Universe, is our Universe, and that God offers you and me a passionately loving, accepting, personal, unconditional, non-judging relationship.

 

The Anointed – Prophets, Apostles, Teachers, Spiritual Companions, Believers:

Those who fully welcome God into their lives are persons who bless Humanity with their love for its diversity.  As such, I call them “The Anointed” for they have shared throughout the ages their encounters with our radically loving and accepting God.  In turn, those experiences have provided counsel, guidance, insight, and wisdom for millennia.  “The Anointed” have helped us comprehend Humanity’s core self and what it means to be the children of a God for whom all are family and not just some.  The names of “The Anointed” are countless.  We easily recognize those who have been in our collective consciousness for thousands of years.  They are Solomon, Ruth, Deborah, Esther, Rebekah, the Prophets Daniel and Isaiah and Jeremiah.  They are Jesus, Buddha, Mohammad, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr, Jane Goodall, and many more.  They are you and they are me.

 

Compassion - The Charitable Heart:   

In belonging to God and the Family of God, our hearts are open, sensitive, and responsive to others.  Their sufferings are our sufferings.  Their hardships are our hardships, their joys our joys, their worth our worth.  Courageously and selflessly, we respond to their needs, wipe away their tears, treat their wounds both seen and unseen.  We welcome them to our tables.  We help them find hope, meaning, and purpose.

 

Creation – Our Holy Mother:

The Earth is our mother.  She gives us life.  She sustains our life.  Without her, we cannot survive.  She is a living breathing being.  She carries us through the cycles of life -- a time to be born and a time to die.  Her seasons remind us of the need for rest and the need for growth.  In us, she creates awe at her overwhelming beauty.  As she cares for us, we see our need to care for her so we may care for one another and the future generations of all creatures and life she will birth.  In poor health, she is unable to provide for us or for all other life that depends on her.  She has been the witness of our very beginnings.  She has nurtured us to our present moment.  She will be our loving caring Mother throughout time and throughout space conveying us to whatever future awaits us.  May we turn toward her and ensure her well-being in each moment of our lives.  In her beauty, we see our own.

 

Thin Places in the Veil – Our Spiritual Encounters:

       

“The Anointed”, which includes you and me, have ecstatic encounters with God.   Down through the ages, Humanity has shared countless stories of such occasions.  Some encounters and their accompanying revelations have been straightforward and readily comprehensible.  With compassion and curiosity, we have embraced the guidance of such experiences and endeavored to be better people.  Other encounters leave us curious and in discernment for years, decades, sometimes even centuries and millennia.  Much of Humankind seeks to understand the mind of God so that we may faithfully and lovingly move toward the just and peaceable future God wants for all God’s children and Creation.  There will always be those who state they comprehend the incomprehensible and call themselves “The Chosen” of God.  We shall know such persons by their works.  Their judgmentalism, lies, greed, delusions, intolerance, and proclivities for violence in all its forms will be unmistakable as will be their need to control others’ minds, perceptions, hearts, souls, and spirits.  The propagation of their disordered creeds, doctrines, and forcing their whims on others, will clearly reveal the demons that possess them and the necessity that we contain their evil when it arises in our midst.

 

Freed, Affirmed, Called and Sent:

Bondage of Humankind, in one form of another, is the goal of the powerful and autocratic in nearly every age.  Maintaining that bondage from generation to generation with ever expanding subtlety and sophistication is how such entities keep God’s just and peaceable reign outside Humankind’s reach.  At such times, God calls into our midst the Liberators, the Revolutionaries, the Prophets, “The Anointed” ones.  We know their names.  We know their sacrifices and works.  They are Jesus, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, John Lewis, Martin Luther King, Jr. They are you and they are me.  Each has spoken courageously to the soul of Humankind.  Each one sacrificed for the hope of a coming age wherein justice, compassion, and peace are fully realized for all.  When institutions, governments, brutality, slavery, false prophets, and other disordered entities tried to dampen “The Anointed” and dampen their calling and zeal -- it was the faith of “The Anointed” and their hope and sacrifices which soared beyond this life leaving behind “a forever witness” of pathways forward to a better time.  As witnesses who have also been called, freed, affirmed and sent, God calls you and God calls me to carry our world forward to a just and peaceable future.  The reality of your anointing and calling, even if currently unknown, awaits your discovery and expression to the world of our present time.  Others, including myself, will gladly support and encourage your journey toward your awakening, including the meaning, purpose, and calling God has for your life.

 

Ethical Living - Doing Right by Others:     

The time has arrived for organized religion, government, corporations, law enforcement, businesses, healthcare, social and educational institutions to fully comprehend and honor the wide-ranging diversity of Humankind.  All too often these entities have lacked curiosity.  On far too many occasions their judgmentalism has entailed serving and satisfying the control needs of disordered personalities and institutions originally tasked to see to Humanity’s well-being.  The resulting traumatizing events have caused fewer and fewer people to trust the institutions empowered to protect and safeguard Humankind as a whole.  Major divisive issues have centered particularly around the diversity of human sexuality.  Said frankly, it is time for faith communities, faith traditions, governments, businesses and corporations, law enforcement, and other social institutions to get themselves out of the bedroom.  What informed, loving and respecting, consenting adults chose to mutually enjoy sexually within the privacy of their own lives is their business.  It is not the church’s business.  It is not the government’s business.  It is not an employer’s business.  The toxic shaming controlling behavior of these institutions over human sexuality and sexual orientation must end.  Furthermore, judgementalism must be replaced with fully inclusive education that affirms diversity and compassionate loving acceptance of differences.  Such must be the new normal of life going forward.

 

World Peace, Community, Unity, God’s Just and Peaceable Reign:

On March 31, 2005, Theologian Hans Kung spoke at the opening of “Exhibit of the World’s Religions” at Santa Clara University (Santa Clara, California).  In that speech, Kung advocated a fundamental attitude of “treat each human humanely”.  He additionally said, “… there can be no peace among the nations without peace among the religions.” He added that there will be no peace among the religions without dialogue among the religions, and there will be no serious dialogue among the religions without four essential principles.  These principles are: (1) the commitment to a culture of non-violence and respect for life, (2) the commitment to a culture of solidarity and a just economic order, (3) the commitment to a culture of tolerance and a life of truthfulness, and (4) the commitment to a culture of equal rights and partnership between men and women.  For the latter principle, I would modify to read, “…the commitment to a culture of equal rights and partnership amongst and between all human beings regardless of gender, non-gender, age, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, and spiritual or religious preference.

 

Closing Thoughts:

In the summer of my nineteen year, I awoke one morning as the light of early dawn shown through my bedroom window.  The cool air through the window led me to wrap up tightly in my comforter.  Drifting back to sleep, a vision opened in my dreams and I found myself sitting in a beautiful summer meadow full of colorful wildflowers and green grass.  I then noticed the grass to be the most perfect shade of green I had ever seen.  I looked up at the trees bordering the meadow, swaying gently in the wind, their leaves were similarly the most perfect hue of green.  A summer breeze brushed lightly against my skin bathing me with the sun’s gentle warmth.  Looking to the sky I saw the most perfect blue sky ever.  I sensed being completely at peace as was everything around me.  Puzzled at what I was experiencing, a joyful realization came to me, “God is among us!”

Decades later in 2011 during a memorial service in Longview, Washington, a ministerial colleague would share a scripture that captured what I saw in my vision so long ago.  It is from Revelations 21:1-6.  I share it with you from the Inclusive Language New Testament Version:

“Then I saw new heavens and a new earth.  The former heavens and the former earth had passed away, and the sea existed no longer.  I also saw a new Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down out of heaven from God, beautiful as a bride and groom on their wedding day.  And I heard a loud voice calling from the throne, “Look!  God’s Tabernacle is among humanity!  God will live with them; they will be God’s people, and God will be fully present among them.  The Most High will wipe away every tear from their eyes.  And death, mourning, crying, and pain will be no more, for the old order has fallen.” 

 

The One who sat on the throne said, “Look!  I’m making everything new!” and added, “Write this, for what I am saying is trustworthy and true.”  And the One continued, “It is finished.  I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End.  To those who are thirsty I will give drink freely from the spring of the water of life.  This is the rightful inheritance of the overcomers.  I will be their God and they will be my daughters and sons.”

 

Let us join together as overcomers of the present moment.  Let us usher in our rightful inheritance as overcomers -- a time when mourning and crying, trauma and pain will be no more.  For the promise is given, “I will make everything new.  Needs will be fully met, completely met, humanely and nonjudgmentally – and its hallmark will be the fallen old order.”

May God’s Peace Be with You!

Brad Shumate

Free of Encumbrance

8th June 2021

  

  

"When they say...."

Trending on Facebook and true for me to:

Copied/pasted from a friend because it’s true for me too:

Just a note for my right leaning family and friends from my left leaning self as we near voting day:

They say we want to disband police departments (and that we hate the police): we don’t, that’s a lie. We want to weed out racism and unnecessary police brutality and for those who abuse their power to be held accountable.

They say we want to release all prisoners: we don’t, that’s a lie. We want to weed out racism and ensure the punishments match the crimes and to deprivatize prisons.

They say we want open borders: we don’t, that’s a lie. We want asylum seekers to be given their chance to seek asylum. We want to help people who are coming from unimaginable terror and poverty help to give them the chances we have. We want to ensure children aren’t separated from their parents and that nobody is kept in cages. But we do want proper vetting.

They say we want to take away your guns: we don’t, that’s a lie. We want logical gun control to help prevent mass shootings.

They say we want to wage a war on Christianity and Christian values: we don’t, that’s a lie. We want people of all religions to be able to practice and worship freely.

They say we want to get everything for free: we don’t, that’s a lie. We want to work hard and make sure that healthcare and education are affordable for all.

They say we want a war against traditional marriage: we don’t, that’s a lie. We want people of all sexual orientations to be able to love freely, no matter who you love.

They say we want to destroy or rewrite history: we don’t, that’s a lie. We want to recognize the ugly parts of our past and do everything we can to say “that’s not okay, let’s not honor those aggressors, let’s not let those things happen again”.

They say we want to take away your constitutional rights: we don’t, that’s a lie. We choose to believe science and wear masks and try to prevent the spread of this disease.

They say we hate America: we don’t, that’s a lie. We love America. We just recognize our faults and want us to do better, be better.

Please stop with the us vs. them. Our position is one of empathy, compassion and logic. Please stop believing the hype. Stop with the division. Just because we want equality for all doesn’t mean we want to take anything away from you.

Copied/pasted from a friend because it’s true.

Is a Civil War possible?? Doesn't need to be.

The article titled "Is a New Civil War Possible" by Rod Dreher of the American Conservative  is well worth reading. I am so damn sick to death of those polarizing American society and culture. In my book, the most prominent polarizers are Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon, Anne Coulter, Laura Ingraham, Donald Trump, Karl Rove, Lindsey Graham, Mitch McConnell, Newt Gingrich, and the list goes on and on. If you regularly consume their garbage, then please unfriend me on Facebook or consider me part of the Evil Left right here, right now. America is about unity in diversity. If you're a Christian who consumes the polarizers' propaganda as part of your "end times" vision for Jesus dropping out of the sky and making the world over into how you think it ought to be, then let's just call it quits for American Democracy and find a means for peacefully and justly parting the sheets. I would advocate a 50/50 split no-fault divorce but we need to talk further as GOP administrations racked up two-thirds of USA debt. The finances are one thing. We would need to peacefully decide how to part up the geography as well. No need for another civil war, let's just cite the failure of our democracy as due to irreconcilable differences. If Trump and billionaires and autocrats and corporations and fundamentalist religion ordering your life for you works best for you. I think a deal can be arranged without bloodshed.

For Sunday 7/26/20 - Understand the Kingdom of Heaven

“Understand the Kingdom of Heaven” is the lectionary scripture focus this week for some Christian churches.  Specifically, we are in The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter Thirteen, where Jesus makes several diverse comparisons regarding God’s Just and Peaceable Kingdom.  His comments typically begin, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like……”  I won’t bore you with repeating what you can go and read for yourself, but what I would like to note about God’s Kingdom and eschatological times (i.e. the end times) is an article from the Christian Century magazine that arrived today in my mailbox.

The article by the Reverend Jesse Zink of the Montreal Diocesan Theological College is titled “Shall all be well?”  In the article he shares that an end time virtue is -- of all things -- HOPE!!  As a psychotherapist in a Catholic Health clinic in the midst of all the social unrest of the present moment, hope has been very much on my mind the past week.  Why, because it seems in such short supply.  Particularly so as secret police, both disguised as military and under order of President Trump and the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, illegally detain American citizens in Portland, Oregon, who are exercising their First Amendment right to protest.  Somehow idiots from POTUS on down to the DHS Secretary to the DHS frontline fool masquerading in military garb and waltzing around in Downtown Portland brandishing a firearm think they have it right what they’re doing.  Many of my patients however think otherwise.  Over the past few months, young adults to seniors have stated to me a similar sentiment, “Brad, I am with the protesters.  What Trump is doing is wrong.  What am I to do?  What can I do?  With the pandemic being what it is, I can’t be in those crowds.”

With nearly every single person, I have responded from the place and space and passion of spirit and heart and soul of ministry and said, “What are you going to do?  I HOPE you are going to vote.  I also HOPE you are going to encourage every adult you know who feels as you do, to also vote.”  For a few moments at such times, limited as I am in terms of my own means of support for the protests due to being high risk for death if I catch COVID-19, I do sense a kinship with the 14th century English mystic whom Reverend Zink speaks of in his article.  Her name? Julian of Norwich.  As Reverend Zink states in his article, Julian knew pandemic.  She saw one third of her city die from the Bubonic Plague or Black Death.  Sick and near death herself at age 30, she had a series of mystical visions involving the Christ.  She later wrote a book detailing these visions titled “Revelations of Divine Love”.  At one point during a vision, feeling that sin contributed to the magnitude of the pandemic of her time, she ask Christ why God had allowed sin into the world -- for if sin had not been allowed all would be well.  Christ responded, “It behoved that there should be sin.  Nevertheless, all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”

Without full awareness, I see that I was myself coming from such “Christ Thoughts” the past few months when responding to my patients’ observation/questions of, “I am with the protesters, what am I to do?”  I was assuring them by advocating that they vote in the upcoming election, that “…all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well." I state this because in my dreams I have seen the defeat of our pandemic just as it was defeated in Julian’s time.  Further more, in my dreams, I have witnessed the coming day of God’s Just and Peaceable Reign here on Earth and no longer shall the pestilence of divisiveness by the likes of POTUS and enablers have power.  I am assured of this for in my dreams, as a present day mystic, Christ motioned me to come stand beside him high on a mountain top and with love in his eyes I know not how to describe, he extended him arm over all God’s immense and mesmerizing creation and said, “In all these places shall you minister.”  This promise could not be if all manner of thing will not be well.

I don’t know what sense of make of all that I saw in my dream.  What I do know is that my days are comprised now in offering teletherapy from my home office as a provider for my Catholic Healthcare employer.  The mission and ministry of the organization speaks to me profoundly and fosters hope within me as, "We continue the healing mission of Jesus Christ...."  For in our healing ministry, we neither lose heart nor do we lose hope that a day soon approaches wherein the pestilence of divisiveness of the present moment shall be drawn to a close by our Higher Power

For me, I consider my home office and teletherapy a front  that I have opened up to battle the sins of the present time and a front by which I mean to fully foster HOPE amidst the sins of those thinking they’ve cornered the market on what constitutes God’s Just and Peaceable Reign.  For me, when the time comes that Trump and all his enablers are lawfully forced by an election to end the pestilence they've become and perpetrated, then the peacefulness and tolerance of the Buddha I meditate with daily will surely attest “...all is well, and all manner of thing shall be well."

We have much to learn from the grand diversity of our human family and the endless hope we so capably make possible for the Kingdom of Heaven to one reside be among us -- even when we find that we much protest.

May God's Peace be with you!

Brad Shumate
Free of Encumbrance
Eugene, Oregon 
USA              

Available On Demand - Thanks @JakeTapper & CNN for this morning's striking interfaith tribute "We Remember: A National Memorial Honoring the Victims of Covid-19". An hour of prayer, soulful music, and sharing from family and friends and communities grieving loved ones lost to Covid-19. Thank you Imam Khalid Latif of NYU Islamic Center & NYPD Chaplain for your powerful benedictory prayer calling all of us to pursue what matters most and to the Brigham Young University "Vocal Point" Acapella Group for your closing hymn, "Be Thou My Vision, Oh Lord of My Heart."

Please join us Sunday at noon ET for WE REMEMBER: A NATIONAL MEMORIAL HONORING VICTIMS OF COVID-19 pic.twitter.com/WEOxpGBHeB

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) May 28, 2020

For Sunday 5/10/2020 - Mother's Day Sermon

Mother's Day Sermon - May 2020

Mother's Day Sermon May 2020: For all of you who are fed up with COVID-19 precautions, so be it. Don't wear your mask, don't wear gloves or PPE, don't social distance, do freely pick your nose and touch your face and pop your fingers into your mouth for that "finger licking" goodness of what it was that you touched your lips or nose to -- and I do mean whatever the damn hell it was, because it could be absolutely anything and everything you touched and licked. ---- For those of us seeking to flatten and curve down infections and deaths from COVID-19, particularly those of us who value the wisdom and life journeys of our elders, we will focus our intention instead on the fact, the damn fact, that humanity is at war with a killer germ/bug. We will do proud to our elders, like the current Queen of England with her priceless present day counsel, who among many Brits survived hellacious nightly nightmare bombings by Nazi Germany Luftwaffe, who tells us that our counterparts of World War Two would be proud of those of us battling COVID-19 as we are now. It is a hard long bitter demoralizing dispiriting battle, please don't be a deserter. As the saying goes, we are all in this together. This "we" means humanity as a whole. I do not -- not for a single damn moment -- believe the Chinese weaponized a germ in a lab in Wuhan and unleashed it on the world or more particularly the USA. They are not stupid. They have no desire to kill their people or USA customers. What kind of insanity would that be? They know that Science can, and will, trace the genetic history of a virus. They know the ability of Science and particularly the Medical Sciences to combat a germ/virus. They know that if responsibility could/would ever be assigned to them in terms of a weaponized germ/virus, a military conflict would follow. Russia and North Korea and Iran would join with China against the USA and all we'd have at our side is whatever pineapple tidbits of NATO remain from POTUS 45's efforts to destroy NATO. Very quickly every thing would escalate into exchange of nukes. The world as we know it, would be no longer habitable for human life. God would have to await the evolution of the next sentient form of life on the Earth. C'mon my fellow fools, we can and must do COVID-19 precautions until this germ is defeated. Most importantly, we must learn from this chapter in human history how to live in harmony with Mother Nature and cease our destructive ways toward her. We must bless her as we bless our own mothers both young and old. Let us bless Mother Nature so she can love and bless us in return as she has done for billions of years. So ends this Mother's Day sermon!

(Click on photo below for related CNN article)

Queen Elizabeth II has likened the British public's response to the coronavirus pandemic with the efforts of its soldiers during World War II, in a televised speech delivered exactly 75 years after her father marked the end of fighting in Europe.

For Sunday 4/12/20 "An Easter Morning Reflection"

An Easter Morning Reflection

I watched a video from a religious leader this past week. He said that “stay at home” had given him a chance to dig into a stack of books he’d been wanting to read. I also heard him say that he’d had a chance to visit with a neighbor, socially distanced of course, and sensed the guy just needed to talk. Lastly after citing things from a few writers he’d been reading, the religious leader commented that we need to get our soul’s attentiveness turned toward what matters most.

Life definitely turned my soul’s attentiveness to something that really matters right now, namely providing telehealth psychotherapy. I had such sessions (visual and/or audio) with about 25 persons this past week. Most of those conversations reflected what many of us are experiencing these days, i.e. profound exhaustion, intense distress over relatives’ well-being, loss of income, crushing loneliness, worries over how the rent or mortgage will get paid, anxieties over how to feed our families, loss of loved ones from devastating illness, even thoughts that death might be easier than life if one contracts the coronavirus.

As I watched television news stories of COVID-19 bodies being piled into refrigerated semi-trailers and unclaimed bodies buried on Hart Island in New York City, I remembered a few weeks ago the USA President peddling the snake-oil notion that life would be back to normal by Easter. I’m guessing one of his fundamentalist white evangelical followers persuaded him into that idea.

Most of us know that come tomorrow’s Easter dawn, the semi-trailer doors will not fly open from the dazzling white light of the resurrected. There will be no modern day equivalent to the stone rolled away from Jesus’ tomb. Casket lids will not burst away from coffins on Hart Island giving up the dead to rise heavenward.

No, tomorrow will simply be another day of living, coping, and dying with the coronavirus that infects our lives and brutally impacts our way of being. It will continue to showcase the rot that capitalism and market-based economies wreak on our lives and the world. Perhaps from the ashes will arise something Deepak Chopra MD wrote of in his blog post March 16th, 2020, -- "....the need to take human well-being more seriously.” Perhaps with tomorrow’s Easter dawn, we’ll begin to see, as Deepak puts it, that well-being is actually something very different. If it is something we can be born-again into, it’s hallmarks per Deepak are: 1) valuing happiness is essential to human life, 2) having lifelong good health, 3) living in an environment with pure air and water, 4) a lack of violence with a necessary emphasis on peace, 5) equal acceptance for all, and 6) the abolition of us-versus-them thinking that builds barriers of every kind.

Deepak notes that the wellness movement hasn’t caught on to the extent that the average person knows how to be well, secure, happy, and self-sufficient for life. Most of us instead live frantically trying to make ends meet from one paycheck to the next. I do think however that the societal cultural rot lurking about in this year’s Easter tomb is about to die – and die for good.

The wellness movement is the dazzling light about to emerge from the tomb and per Deepak it will be here to stay. As I see it, the obscenely wealthy and powerful have had their chance to make life better for everyone, they failed due to their greed, lusts, and need for control. As Deepak puts it, if the well-being movement “…sounds too ideal or even foolish, then look in the mirror and ask yourself what your own happiness is based on. If it is based on money, status, possessions, and lifelong consumerism, you need to wake up.”

Many years ago as a young adult, I woke up from an early morning dream with a profound sense of peace that I believe will one day come to be. In that dream, I found myself sitting in a beautiful spring or summer meadow. The grass was such a perfect green and the sky such a brilliant blue that I no longer needed my thick lens glasses to see clearly. The warm breeze was filled with Spirit. Puzzling over this beauty and peace unlike any I had ever known, the realization came to me that God was in and through all things and the earth was at last filled with God. A few years later in church as I was singing a hymn with my fellow congregants, God brought understanding of that dream through the words I and my friends were singing, “…for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” Some will recognize this verse from the Hebrew Scriptures as Habakkuk 2:14 (NRSV)

Let this Easter’s resurrection in you and me be something far more compelling than any in the past, let it be the start of a journey we begin together toward wellness and doing right by all. For me and my soul and what matters most, the stone I will roll away is the one preventing well-being for all.

Brad Shumate, M.S., M.A., LPC/LMHC

Free of Encumbrance

Eugene, Oregon

USA

For Sunday 3/15/20 - "I am he, the one who is speaking to you." (copy 2)

Lectionary Scripture - John 4:5-42 NRSV

Reflection on the Lectionary:

Standing before a group of reporters outside The White House on 8/21/19 and looking to the sky, POTUS 45 proclaimed himself "The Chosen One."  Such a statement was quickly derided world wide including YouTube responses like the one below:

For Sunday 10/13/19 - Give Thanks

Photo by Mayur Gala on Unsplash

Luke 17:11–19 NRSV

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

Reflection on the Lectionary:

I have been in the therapist's and pastor's chair enough years now to easily recognize when I am about to hear, once again, someone's story of being unworthy and unclean before God and the world.  Typically, it will be condescension and/or condemnation from a parent or church people/leaders or a teacher or some other person in authority.  The trauma that these authorities injected into the person's soul haunted them into worthlessness and tormented their lives for decades.  The healing process I initiate with the person is asking them to recall their early experiences with God.  In our subsequent work, the individual eventually reconnects to the unconditionally loving accepting energy of the God they met in childhood and how they felt treasured.  In time, which may often be weeks or months or years later, I will ask a follow-up question.  What can you tell me now of the God of your understanding?  Often I will hear in reply, "I am who I am.  I am a good person and deserve to be happy.  God always loved me even when others could not or would not.  God loves me now.  God will always love me forever more."  In my thoughts resound the words, "....your faith has made you well."

Brad Shumate
Free of Encumbrance
Eugene, Oregon
USA