Harmonious Healing: - Ancient Wisdom in Modern Times

PREFACE

All truth passes through 3 stages:

First it is ridiculed.

Second it is violently opposed.

Third it is accepted as being self-evident.

-Arthur Schopenhauer

Read not to contradict and confute…

nor to believe and take for granted…

nor to find talk and discourse…

but to weigh and consider.

-Sir Francis Bacon

Having worked with Energy Medicine aka Vibrational Medicine since 1981, it was thrilling to see a local Detroit author, Richard Gerber, MD publish his tome Vibrational Energy Medicine in 1988. While an excellent scientific resource book, I was looking for relatively simple explanations… suitable for a clever, articulate teenager. Apparently, if it’s going to be it’s up to me!

Harmonious Healing: Ancient Wisdom in Modern Times is the product of many years of life on planet Earth – with all that went before as my Foundation. Having seen profound changes in my own Life, my belief in reincarnation is existential. I have reincarnated again and again, in this one lifetime! For those of a Christian background who find belief in reincarnation scandalous, Matthew’s Gospel (17:1-13) gives us food for thought. The scene is the Transfiguration where Peter, James and John see a vision of Moses and Elijah conversing with Jesus. And coming down the mountain the disciples questioned him. “Jesus replied: ‘Elijah is to come to see that everything is once more as it should be. I tell You, however, that Elijah has come already and they did not recognize him, but treated him as they pleased; and the Son of Man will suffer similarly at their hands.’ The disciples knew he was speaking of John the Baptist.” This was hardly a shock. Jesus already had told them: “It was toward John the Baptist that all prophecies of the prophets and of the Law were leading; and he, if You will believe me, is the Elijah who was to return. If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen.” (Mt 11:13-15.) Quite clearly, Jesus refers to John the Baptist as the reincarnation of Elijah.

Please note: My quotations are from The Jerusalem Bible, translated by scholars at the Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem. Bible quotes, rather than being offered as proofs, are meant to be instructive. After all, Shakespeare tells us “The devil can cite Scripture for his own purpose.” {Antonio in The Merchant of Venice} And that is true… someone can deny the existence of God, and prove it from the Bible: Psalm 14 clearly says, “There is no God!” Actually, the Psalm begins: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’!”

Harmonious Healing, rather than an argument or proof of anything, is offered in the spirit of intellectual honesty and academic integrity. Each individual can “weigh and consider” what is useful, what makes sense. Ben Franklin observed “there is nothing less common than common sense.” It is time to take a common sense look at what we call Truth. How can we recognize Truth? Two questions are helpful: Is it ancient? Is it simple? Look at ancient, simple ways. Mother Nature’s Ways are Truthful.

The following pages are from my first book (1998) with the sub-title: A Journey in Vibrational Medicine and Essene Living. This Preface contains stories and anecdotes that may be of little interest to some, who may turn directly to the text. Others may enjoy “the rest of the story” exploring answers about what we call: Ancient… Simple… Truth. These two standards innocently and profoundly influenced my early life. Singing Gregorian chant and polyphony as a child, serving as an altar boy, going to seminary high school and college; another seminary for theological studies, ordained in 1967; I served in the Archdiocese of Detroit until 1972.

Freshman year high school in seminary was influenced by Rosa Parks and Rev Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. 1955 was a time to consider. My culture and my community told me anyone “really different” is to be kept apart, held suspect, even feared. Yet, faith taught: “All baptized in Christ, You have all clothed Yourselves in Christ, and there are no more distinctions between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female, but all of You are One in Christ.” (Gal 3: 27) And in the 21st century, we add Oriental, Muslim, Arab, unaffiliated renegades, pagans, even the satanic Cabal! Being One in Christ Consciousness has little to do with Christianity and everything to do with Divinity! Unity of All Life Everywhere means: to hurt another is to hurt our Self… to love another is to love our Self. Jesus tells us: at the end of this dimension of time, we will hear: “I tell You solemnly, as You did this to one of the least of these… You did it to me.” (Mt 25:40)

12 years in seminary, 5 as a priest – energies oriented toward the civil rights and peace movements – really One and the same, actually: Human Rights has roots in Women’s Rights, and are blossoming as: LGBTQIA+ Rights {Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans-sexual / Trans-gender, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual+}. As patience and perseverance bring equal pay for equal work, we recognize and honor the matriarchal shift happening on Earth. Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr, many others taught: ahimsa, non-resistance: the essence of the Christian message. Jesus said: “Love Your enemies. Love those who persecute You!” True Love is freedom from judgment or coercion – and freedom for connection and compassion. True Love leads the shift in paradigms as we move from the patriarchal, war-based economy of competition… and joyfully move into the matriarchal, nurturing economy of cooperation. https://gospelofsophia.com/2017/01/13/who-is-sophia/

In the midst of these tumultuous times… 1972 brought one of the biggest surprises of my Life. I had been nodding off at evening meetings, even afternoon appointments. Realizing many older priests took a nap after lunch, I considered the benefits; once a nap was part of the schedule, I was alert even through evening meetings. Thinking age was catching up with me… Imagine… I was only 30… at a New Year’s party, I saw a friend from the seminary – from 9th grade through college. When I moved on to study theology, Max pursued a master’s degree instead. He and his wife were living in Hawai’i and they both looked beautiful. Previously Max was hefty, a man of all sports. Now he looked sleek, like an animal. He said the tan was from swimming in the ocean and living on the Islands, and he felt great with so much energy because he explored vegan lifestyles.

Previously dismissing Plato, Pythagoras, Goethe, Henry David Thoreau, George Bernard Shaw, and others as “quirky” – I had yet to investigate. Max mentioned two books by Austrian naturist Arnold Ehret: The Mucusless Diet Healing System and Rational Fasting. Asking about protein Max laughed and said: “Where does a cow get her protein to produce all that muscle and milk? Grass and plants. Where does an elephant get the protein to build such a huge body? Grass and leaves. Living green plant energy is their source of life. Rather than protein, Life is about chlorophyll.” Max and Elka explained other differences: all meat-eating mammals lap their water; all vegetarian mammals sip their water! Carnivorous mammals have a short intestinal tract: 3-5X the length of the torso because animal protein putrefies quickly, and toxic residues must be eliminated efficiently. Vegetarian mammals have a long intestinal tract: 8-10X the length of the torso to extract the complex nutrients in plant matter. The human torso is <2’… small intestine alone is over 20’ with the large intestine 4-6’ + the esophagus and stomach = 30’ for the human alimentary canal! Doing the math, those two simple points gave much to consider!

Their challenge: “Try it for 30 days and see how You feel. What’s there to lose? Avoid meat, fish, eggs, and all white junk… especially pasteurized dairy products, refined flour and sugar products, white rice and white salt. Instead eat raw fruits and vegetables, sprouted grains and legumes, germinated nuts and seeds.” Thinking about my ancestors, some living close to 80, this could make a difference in how I feel for the next 50 years! Then again… I might feel little if any difference, and I could eat whatever. The next morning – pardon the pun – I went cold-turkey, free from turkey sausage and eggs, among other things. Halfway through the 30-day challenge… I went upstairs for my nap and was wide-awake! Feeling energized, the realization dawned: Life is about to change, beginning with the end of my afternoon naps. After 30 days, I clearly knew, for whatever reason, animal foods and refined foods made me sluggish. I remembered the other book Max mentioned; if eating this way can have such a profound effect, what would it be like to go without eating altogether? Explore.

Ash Wednesday, ’72, typing a letter to the bishop explaining: I had been without a decent retreat for a long time, and friends offered me a pre-civil war log cabin on 37 acres of Appalachia adjoining Shenandoah National Park. I was only bringing a copy of Rational Fasting and The Jerusalem...