Two dreams in the past couple weeks have impacted me. Neither of them contributed much detail, but the impact came from the feelings conveyed.

The first involved a view of the heavenly realms. In this spirit dimension there was a whole lot of activity occurring. There were huge numbers of beings of various description, all going about tasks. Although the activity level was way up there, there seemed to be no sense of frantic attempts to meet deadlines or anything of that sort. It was just that everyone was very busy, going back and forth in the carrying out of their duties. There was a sense of calm, peaceful busy-ness.

The scene tended a bit toward being somewhat vague. Colours were subdued. It was not totally black-and-white, but leaned in that direction. And right in the midst of all this activity, I became aware of one individual who stood out from the crowd in brilliant colour. And it was my father from this life! He was involved in all the activity; he was very busy, like everyone else in the scene. But for whatever reason, I was meant to notice that he in particular was there, working.

And it became very apparent that the work being carried out by all these heavenly beings (think of the “. . . so great a cloud of witnesses . . .” which surround us {Heb 12.1}) was all happening for our benefit. Heaven is busy at work assisting us who are presently incarnate on earth in bringing about this great shift in consciousness. And my father is involved in that work! There is a lot going on, a lot of effort being expended, for our benefit!

I was greatly encouraged by this!

The second dream had certain similarities. I was working with a group of fellows on a project of some sort. I am not sure what we were doing, exactly, but we were moving lumber around, obviously building something. The people I was working with were of indeterminate identity. But I felt in place; I belonged there. I was known and recognized as one of the numerous workers.

Then, walking diagonally toward us was an old man. It was as if we were situated next to a school yard, athletic fields of some sort, large, open, level playing grounds. As this old man neared us, it became clear that this was J. B. Toews.

J. B. Toews was the most influential leader in my church conference throughout my life. From the 1940’s onward, he carried huge power in our church. Behind his back he was often referred to as “the pope”. When he would walk into a church conference office everyone would immediately drop whatever they were doing to attend to his needs. He could be a quite intimidating presence.

I had encountered him a few times over the years. But my most involved contact was when I attended our denominational seminary in the early eighties. He was a professor emeritus, teaching at most, one class per semester, or perhaps only one per year. My encounters with him were completely positive. By his own admission he had mellowed over the years, crediting his sons for that. I found him to be a very wise leader of our church, full of incredible history and stories, and emanating a great love for our church.

Now here he was, walking by this group of working men, who all recognized who he was. Then he paused briefly in his walk, looking toward us, and said, “Dennis Voth!” It was tremendously affirming of who I was. And my fellow workers certainly looked at me in new light! To be recognized by someone of the stature of J. B. Toews was really something!

So, two dreams. Both tremendously encouraging and affirming of who I am. Both reassuring that the spirit dimension is actively involved in what we on earth are about, ensuring that what comes will result in positive changes in society. The message from both is to know that we are not alone in our struggle to bring about change on earth. We are involved in activities viewed as very important from heaven’s perspective. And we are completely supported in our efforts. What we do is definitely not in vain. Everything we do is important, no matter what it may look like from an earthly point-of-view.

For a week I had been thinking that it was past time to post another blog. But no ideas would come to me; nothing seemed compelling enough to share. Then, a few days ago I watched the video of Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away. During this magnificent performance numerous Beatles’ songs were used, including Blackbird:

Blackbird singing in the dead of night

Take these broken wings and learn to fly

All your life

You were only waiting for this moment to arise.

 

Blackbird singing in the dead of night

Take these sunken eyes and learn to see

All your life

You were only waiting for this moment to be free.

 

Blackbird fly, blackbird fly

Into the light of the dark black night.

There it was! An idea! As I shared in June, there is a growing sense of impending events signalling a significant shift in human consciousness, if not in larger society. I am reading and hearing this from many sources, and it resonates with my spirit.

“You were only waiting for this moment to arise!” It is as if I, and the human race, have been waiting for oh-so-long for this moment to arise, for this moment to be free!  “Fly, into the light. . .” How we collectively have been waiting for this!

No clear, unified picture emerges of exactly what we are awaiting. There are, however, many ideas of what this might entail. One broad category which comes up in spiritual revelations is that of “disclosure”. But, disclosure of what, exactly?

Church theology from my past tells me, “We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses. . .” (Hebrews 12.1) “Lo, I am with you always . . .” (Matthew 28.20) There does appear to be evidence (and it is growing!) that we are being helped and guided by heavenly beings. In the context of some sort of coming “disclosure”, at some point, these heavenly beings will make themselves known to us; they will allow us to know their presence, to discern more clearly that they have been with us all the way and at all times, that they have been assisting us, as humanity, to grow and to increase our spiritual knowledge.

But one message about this disclosure, repeated in various ways, is that these beings will not disclose themselves until we as a race have made some significant shifts in the way we run our affairs. One major “problem” at present is the financial imbalance in society today. The message being received is that heaven will not reveal itself prior to some significant changes in financial structures because it would cause too much panic in society to disclose earlier. Apparently once some major shifts have occurred there will be a greater openness to these beings revealing themselves. At least that is the message I am sensing most clearly. We will see if this pans out.

To me, completely uninvolved in the world’s financial structures, this appears to be a huge obstacle. Power structures are so firmly entrenched that it feels like they will never change, especially change toward the positive, toward a more equitable distribution of resources. And yet, the messages being received from heaven suggest that this sort of change will occur fairly soon (in weeks or months, not years), and that it will be a huge shift.

One encouraging indication I personally have been aware of is that I have read of various people and groups working to undo some of the power structures for the past number of years and decades. Some intense spiritual warfare is going on.

Again, since I come out of a very biblical background, I make reference to scripture. The  “. . . wiles of the devil” are listed as being not “. . . flesh and blood. . . [but] . . . principalities, . . . powers, . . . world rulers of this present darkness, . . . spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6.11,12) These forces of power have been in place for a long, long time–centuries, millennia even. And people are being called upon and equipped to participate in unravelling the intricate webs of power which have held the human race captive for so long.

Another encouraging sign I see in this context is NESARA, the National Economic Security and Recovery Act. Apparently this was a USA idea brought before Congress in the 1990’s. The ideas, I gather, are still around, and it sounds like there may be a move to resurrect the ideas of NESARA and hopefully implement them to some extent. NESARA concepts would lead to the aforementioned more-equitable society, less of a rich/poor divide, etc.

So, ideas are floating around, being talked about, and strategized. Hopefully something comes of all this.

Another truth I keep mulling over is the statement by Jesus, “The kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17.21) We have, within us already, the strength and wisdom to know what needs to be done. We are not to go looking outside ourselves for the answers or instruction we need. We have been equipped already. Just do it! We must look inside ourselves to hear God and what he wants us as individuals and societies to do in order to bring about his kingdom upon earth.

We might feel we are limping along with broken wings and sunken eyes, but we are asked to take our frail resources, and learn to fly, into the light of the dark black night.

I feel great! This weekend was wonderful for me! Saturday began with a little flight in my airplane over the Rockies to Invermere, B.C. This was something I had been wanting to do for a long time. Flying in and over the mountains is a very different feeling than flying out over the prairies. Over the prairies there seem to be endless landing possibilities in the event of a crisis. In the mountains, watch out! Anyway, made it without incident, had a cup of coffee at the local Super 8, flew back. Returning I encountered considerably more clouds than outbound, so had to fly quite high, up to 14,000 feet, to avoid them. But it was a great feeling of accomplishment!

So, a positive start to the weekend. Then home, lunch, nap, and mowed the front lawn. At my house this is quite an undertaking, it being almost as much vertical as horizontal!! Cleaned out some grass and weeds around some trees, and then tackled my fence. We are contemplating building a deck in a few weeks, and my decrepit old fence has to go for that. It had to go anyway, as it was in danger every big wind we had! Got a little over half of it down.

So Saturday was a day full of physical work. It felt great! Also, I am on a restrictive diet and have been operating at very low energy for quite a few weeks. That I was able to accomplish as much as I did with such low energy felt like a huge deal!

Sunday morning, traditionally a Church day for me, I spent on the internet, catching up on numerous spirituality websites I more-or-less keep track of. And it was wonderful! The overall impression I am receiving right now is quite optimistic. It seems to be the consensus that May and before was a difficult time for many spiritual people. But June is seen as bringing in more light and positive stuff. There is a lot going on behind the scenes, spiritually. Things may look dark on the physical plane, but in the spiritual realms things are happening. There is definitely the sense that a shift is occurring.

This shift has been foretold for a long time now. At first many anticipated it would happen at the change of ages predicted in the Mayan calendar. This prediction was usually thought by scholars to be the winter solstice of 2012. Nothing really happened then. At least nothing visible, nothing “big”, or noticeable. There was some understandable disappointment over that. But the sun keeps coming up in the morning, so we have to go on.

This would accord with my opinion that setting the Mayan calendar date so precisely was a big mistake. It was based on scholars interpreting some very mysterious and enigmatic carvings on ancient ruins of the Mayan culture. I felt it was a mistake to pin it down to our own modern Julian calendar so closely.

Now the thinking is that the next few months promise significant events to occur. Will this have the same outcome? Will there be noticeable shifts, or disappointing sameness? I don’t know. Huge grains of salt are needed to take any of this seriously, until events actually begin occurring. However, for me personally, my past weekend certainly makes me feel that my own spirit is in accord with what I am reading from various outside sources. I resonate with the opinion that the months leading up to September will be significant. Hang on! The ride may be interesting!!! Like flying through the mountains in a small airplane!!!

That is the question, isn’t it? What is the core of Christianity? Where is the heart of religion? Did Jesus come to establish a religion?

I find looking back on my religious/spiritual life that I have been very gradually moving from belief to experience. “Very gradually,” although sometimes in huge leaps, other times enduring long dry plateaus. “Gradually” is the overall view provided by the long look back over time!

On a recently-watched video of a BBC interview* with Carl Jung he was asked about his belief in God. He stated he had some trouble with that word, “believe”. “I know, I don’t need to believe. I know,” he replied. If someone knows God, if someone has experienced the Divine, has experienced the Spirit realm, there is no need to believe in it, or him. There is direct knowledge. This statement from one of the greatest minds of the twentieth century helped clear things up for me. It went a long way to explaining my own path, my current position.

Early Church experiences in the 1970’s (see Chapter 2, Out of Winkler, for example) had started me on the journey of experiencing God, as opposed to only a rational belief in him. Gradually I began realizing how limiting dogma is. Don’t get me wrong. I think, at the beginning of one’s walk, that doctrine, scripture, etc, are a help along the way. I certainly value highly my own biblical training. It still informs me. I have not rejected previous training and experiences; rather, I have built on them, and continue to build on them. However, increasingly I realize, as Jung says, “Religion is a defense against religious experience.” (Carl Jung: Wounded Healer of the Soul, Claire Dunne, p 152). In a letter to a friend, Jung says, “People speak of belief when they have lost knowledge. Belief and disbelief in God are mere surrogates.” (Wounded Healer, p 153).

More and more I am encountering this idea: that experience and direct knowledge supersedes belief. For example, in my recently-reviewed book by Anita Moorjani, I find the following quotes: “Instead, letting go of attachment to any way of believing or thinking has made me feel more expanded and almost transparent so that universal energy can just flow through me.” (p 160.) “So these days, I don’t follow any established methodology, order, ritual, dogma, or doctrine. . . . For me, life is a spiritual experience, and I’m changing and evolving all the time.” (p 154). “To advocate any option or doctrine as being the one true way would only serve to limit who we are and what we’ve come here to be.” (p 155).

Again, from another recent review: “At last, I understood what religion was really all about. Or at least was supposed to be about. I didn’t just believe in God; I knew God.” (Proof of Heaven, Eben Alexander, p 147).

It is almost precisely two years ago that I had my own profound experience of the Divine. I had my first soul regression session, and was gently ushered into the Spirit realm. (See especially, Chapter 15 in Out of Winkler). I experienced what every other person who has been there has experienced: unconditional love, complete lack of judgement, affirmation of who I was and what I was doing on earth during this lifetime, encouragement that I had what it takes to do what I needed to do and to be who I am. So I know. I know who I am in God. I know what the afterlife is like. I know God better for this experience. I no longer need to merely believe. As Jung says, “‘God-awful legalistic religion’ and over-reliance on faith [gets] in the way of gnosis, or direct knowledge of God.”  (Wounded Healer, p 152).

If there is a God you must see him;

If there is a soul we must perceive it;

Otherwise it’s better not to believe;

It’s better to be an outspoken atheist than a hypocrite. (source unknown)

__________                                                                                                                       BBC interview: “Matter of Heart”, conducted in the late 1950’s, when Jung would’ve been in his early 80’s.

Galatians 5.1 (yes, I quote from the Bible!) says, “For freedom Christ has freed us. Stand then, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”

I have no trouble affirming Church and the task it has played in society over the centuries. It is not an accident that Church was established those many years ago. But there are those who find Church to be quite limiting. I believe this occurs most in people earnestly seeking God and his Spirit.

For myself, I feel I have grown to the place where I really do not need Church anymore. I continue to associate with Church for reasons other than Spiritual growth. I do not believe this puts me into any sort of danger, as some would assume from reading these words. In fact, on the contrary: I would be in graver Spiritual danger if I returned to earlier and more limiting beliefs than I hold now. I feel so free in the place I find myself I am filled with nothing but the most profound gratitude to God for where he has taken me. I am more sure and certain of my spiritual state than I have ever been in my entire life.

Some would think me deluded. I would encourage those ones to consider the biblical example. When Jesus appeared on the scene, his most vigorous opposition came from those who appealed to the Bible as their authority. And since Jesus did not match the scriptural record, he must be of the devil. (For a more in-depth discussion of some of these issues, see my chapter on “Trust” in “Out of Winkler.”)

Those today who appeal to the Bible as ultimate authority are the ones from whom I receive the most vigorous resistance to my beliefs. Therefore I consider myself in very good company indeed!!!

Over and over again I am hearing how much of a restriction to freedom organized religion is. I hear this from those who have gone beyond (as in NDE’s), received profound wisdom, and returned to share with us what they learned. I hear this from those who have devoted the greatest energy in seeking God and his truth. I hear this from those most acutely attuned to the Spirit dimension who hear messages from beyond.

I believe what we are experiencing in society in the present day is more and more freedom to seek truth in ways hitherto not embraced by Organized Religion. I believe God is moving in today’s world in new and exciting ways. Not “new” ways in the sense that we haven’t seen this before. After all, as I referred to above, Jesus came revealing truth outside of Organized Religion. I think what is “new” is the degree to which this is happening. There is almost an exponential growth in people seeking truth outside of Organized Religion. This growth is both numerical–more people than ever before are on this spiritual quest–but also in spiritual depth. The truths about God, heaven, the universe, the Source, Spirit, are accumulating and growing deeper all the time.

I have absolutely no idea where this will lead! Where does all this end up? The passage I quoted above from Galatians, in the Bible, goes on to say that our freedom is to be used to love one another (verses 13,14). Once again, the overwhelming message from heaven is love. We are to establish God’s presence on earth through the medium of love. It is in loving that we experience God. It is by loving that we show God to those around us.

While Church anticipates some sort of divine interruption to our existence on this planet, we are to be bringing about God’s authority through love. There is definitely the feeling in the world that a shift is occurring. There is no consensus of how this shift might ultimately happen. It could very well be that there will be some catastrophic events which bring about this shift. But I think it could also occur very quietly as each of us who are being enlightened continue to live faithfully in the freedom to which we have been called. Stand then, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.