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Welcome to OneLife Ministries. This site is designed to lead you prayerfully into a heart experience of Divine Presence, Who is Love. While it focuses on Christian teaching, I hope persons of varied faiths will find inspiration here. Indeed, "God" can be whatever image helps us trust in the Sacred, by whatever means Grace touches us each. Please share this ministry with others, and please return soon. There is a new offering daily. And to be placed on the daily OneLife email list, to request notifications of new writings or submit prayer requests, write to briankwilcox@yahoo.com .
Blessings,
Brian Kenneth Wilcox MDiv, MFT, PhD
Interspiritual Pastor-Teacher, Author, Workshop Leader,
Spiritual Counselor, and Chaplain.
Brian encourages support of the 4-Star Christian organization Compassion, which supports children worldwide; see www.compassion.com .
Prayer
Save me, Dear Beloved, from the tribal-mindedness, and oft arrogance, of those who claim their version of Truth is Truth. Save me, Dear Friend, from the irreverent idolizing of my thoughts about You, and the refusal to respect the sincere, reverent seeing of Truth of persons who see unlike me. Show me if I have harmed anyone through the exclusionary attitudes that I was taught. I am willing to see such as unloving; I am willing to learn from such a sin, so as to better adore the many ways persons experience Your Grace. Teach me Your Love. Amen.
Scripture
By detachment from appearances, abide in Real Truth. So I tell you, Thus shall you think of all this fleeting world,
A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream;
A flash of lightning in a summer cloud,
A flickering lamp, a phantom, a dream.
*Buddhism. The Diamond Sutra. "World Scripture." Www.unification.net .
Quotes
How can a person logically claim God is the only Absolute and claim the same absoluteness for truths. If Truth is the sole Absolute, no truth can be absolute. Indeed, all less than God is relative, and all relativity arises into form from the Formless Absolute. Indeed, truth relies on Truth as the fruit relies on the fruit tree.
*Brian Kenneth Wilcox
God has no religion.
*Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
The Tao has its reality and its signs but is without action or form. You can hand it down but you cannot receive it; you can get it but you cannot see it. It is its own source, its own root. Before heaven and earth existed it was there, firm from ancient times. It gave spirituality to the spirits and to God; it gave birth to heaven and to earth. It exists beyond the highest point, and yet you cannot call it lofty; it exists beneath the limit of the six directions, and yet you cannot call it deep. It was born before heaven and earth, and yet you cannot say it has been there for long; it is earlier than the earliest time, and yet you cannot call it old.
*Taoism. Chuang Tzu. "World Scripture." Www.unification.net .
God’s main “plan” is for us to keep growing in love, and in our capacity to see our lives and our world through enlarged perspectives.
*The United Church of Canada – Canadian Memorial Church & Center for Peace. Www.canadianmemorial.org .
Spiritual Teaching
The Master always frowned on anything that seemed sensational. "The divine", he claimed, "is only found in the ordinary."
To a disciple who was attempting forms of asceticism that bordered on the bizarre the Master was heard to say, "Holiness is a mysterious thing: The greater it is, the less it is noticed."
*Anthony de Mello. Www.soulwise.net .
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We have heard, "Appearances can be deceiving." Such is true. Yet, a deeper truth is the insubstantiality of all appearance.
We belong to a world of relativity. Even our seeing is relative. You and I do not see the same thing. We see based on the capacity of our eyes, and other factors - such as what we have been culturally shaped to see. There may be one-hundred persons to hear me say the word "God," and there are one-hundred different versions of "seeing" what I said.
We may see the same object, but we do not see it the same. Therefore, we really do not see the same object. We see an appearance of an object - my appearance, your appearance.
Likewise, persons do not spiritually see the same thing. Each sees based on the consciousness whereby he or she sees. This is a reason we find it difficult to have intellectual, logical discussions of Truth.
Most persons think how they see is the only way to see Truth - is Truth. Therefore, they commit an idolatry, whereby their relative seeing is identified with the absolute Truth - the absolutely Unseen.
The person intimate with the naked Truth, that person does not idolize the seeing of Truth - thus, imposing the seeing on everyone else. This is why mystics can have logical dialogue and respect different versions of the one Truth - they have seen Truth, or have intuited beyond appearance; thus, they have seen the untruth of their seeing of Truth.
This leads them to greater reverence of Truth, not less. Yes, though most persons of religious faith would deny this, many - possibly most - religious persons have little reverence for Truth. These persons are so insecure or uninformed in their seeing, they must solidify their seeing as the absolute Truth, when the reduction of Truth to the seeing of Truth is an irreverent reductionism. Ironically, these same persons speak against reductionism. Any my experience of clerics has shown to me this same lack of being informed and of insecurity applies to many - possibly most - of them.
Anyone can toot the horn, but the louder the toot does not prove anything in itself. And we clerics are often loud tooters.
And conviction in itself means nothing. That I am or am not strongly holding a conviction means noting in itself; all this means is I am strong in my conviction about something, period.
Yet, there is a seeing beyond seeing. For this seeing, we enter a reduction of seeing. Here, the loss of seeing leads to a direct intuition of Truth as absolute Being. To see is not to see; not to see is to see.
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This same thought of appearance translates into our lives practically. We do not, when humble enough, feel the need to impress persons with our version of living. We do not even have a desire to impress God in the way we live. Anyway, why would we think we could impress God?
We do not want to appear holy, and we do not want to appear unholy. We feel no need of the appearance of holiness, to God or others.
See, what has happened? When we have moved to the depths of Spirit, we have moved beyond the surface - all appearance.
You could say, "Brian, I like you, you are holy; I'm impressed with the way you live." So? You could say, "I admire your devoutness." So?
See, when we are into appearances, we become subject both to affirmation and criticism. If I utilize appearance of holiness, or spirituality, to impress persons, I become reliant on the response to such affirmation of appearance. Then, too, I become reliant on resistance to the opposite - the failure of that appearance being criticized or ignored.
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Do you want to be free? Then, do not become attached to your appearance of Truth; that is your appearance. Oh, you say, "But this is the truth given me." Well, the Truth can not be given, only truths - and truths, regardless of how true, are still seen within your capacity of seeing. And Truth will not be bounded within your capacity.
Do you want to be free? Give up all need to impress others with your life. Just live. Be.
You may say, "These things are too hard for me to do. You ask too much." Well, that is a good beginning.
Responding
What is Truth, in contrast to truths? What does it mean to you to have faith but not in the appearances of Truth? What does it mean to you to live without attachment to appearances, when it comes to your relationship with Truth?
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*OneLife Ministries is a ministry of Brian Kenneth Wilcox, SW Florida. Brian lives a vowed life and with his two dogs, Bandit Ty and St. Francis, with friends and under a vow of simplicity. Brian is an ecumenical-interspiritual leader, who chooses not to identify with any group, and renounces all titles of sacredness that some would apply to him, but seeks to be open to how Christ manifests in the diversity of Christian denominations and varied religious-spiritual traditions. He affirms that all spiritual paths lead ultimately back to Jesus Christ. He is Senior Chaplain for the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, Punta Gorda, FL.
*Brian welcomes responses to his writings or submission of prayer requests at briankwilcox@yahoo.com . Also, Brian is on Facebook: search Brian Kenneth Wilcox.
*Contact the above email to book Brian for preaching, Spiritual Direction, retreats, workshops, animal blessing services, house blessings, or other spiritual requests. You can order his book An Ache for Union from major booksellers.
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