Where is everyone?! :)

[Gary Hodges]

This has to be one of the quietest groups/blog/forum that I've ever belonged to. Which isn't a complaint, really. I just wish it was a bit more lively. That being said, I just discovered that there is a Twitter following for Thomas Moore.. here>> http://twitter.com/Jessop . Is everyone following that now, does this Ning stand on its own. I would like to keep up here :)

As an aside, two books of Thomas's, "The Soul's Religion", and "Writing In The Sand", stirred my long ago studies in Esoteric Christianity. Such as, Saint Seraphim of Sarov, Saint Francis of Assisi and other writings. Which reminded me that at a very young age, I encountered my first experience of a test of faith. Now, I will not say that Christianity is the ONLY way. As I'm a lover of all the teachings, and believe they have there own certain ways of expressing the divine.  My encounter was with a book by John Allegro, called "The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross: A Study of the Nature and Origins of Christianity within the Fertility Cults of the Ancient Near East". Which has purported, from the Dead Sea Scrolls, that Jesus formed a fertility cult. Well, in utter disbelief, but also in reaction to it, it had me question all that I had come to know or felt about spirituality. Nonetheless, it was a very sad experience at that time. I do not agree with the author to this day, but it really brings home how some authors can have a major affect on how we approach our lives.

Although, I would counter this by saying, that of all my studies throughout my life, none come close to the huge positive affect/reaction, that Thomas Moore's works has. Always, always, it comes back to caring for the soul. So, thank you Thomas for being who you are and for sharing your insights.

Moreover, I would like to ask this group something. The inspiration to further delve into early Christian writings, such as The Gospels of Thomas, Phillip, Mary, to name a few, brings up various questions. Like, how can any particular translation of something as important as say the Nag Hammadi, Dead Sea Scrolls, etc., be considered accurate? If we take English, as an example, and the translation of these important documents, should it not be a serious consideration to utilize Etymology in such a body of work. Furthermore, what about semantics in that its not the word, per se, but how its used and meant by the person who said it?

Now, I'm not a scholar, and at times find works written by scholars as dry and hard to follow. But, the soul of these Gnostic writings, for me, lies deep in the heart and evokes love.  Which I get that love is the core of Jesus's teachings. Let alone most all religions.

I think I read somewhere that Thomas is going to espouse on the Gnostic writings further. I am deeply looking forward to this, as he always seems to have a way of gleaning through the mishmash and pulling out the soul of things.

Here is a quote from them that comes to mind:

"For whatever is from itself is an empty life; it is self-made. Providence is foolish. Fate is an undiscerning thing." from Eugnostos the Blessed.

Anyway, please don't mind my ramblings, is anyone out here? :)

Gary

[Gary Hodges]

Hi again Rita, you keep hitting the "nail on the head" here.. very insightful of you.! What I mean is that it is/will be a KEY factor if one can bridge or relate/create certain experiences from a virtual world into our real world. This also, is one of my goals. An interesting cell phone application or app, is currently one of the most popular, its called Layar, even though its original intent was to have Information of things you see around you, like hovering text; its evolved in overlaying images that might or might not be directly related to what is 'around' you at the moment. In other words, its called Augmented Reality. I believe this will revolutionize our way of 'seeing', of course this might come off as a distraction from Soul. But, its exposing or can expose a different way to experience what we call reality.

I found a link to the song you shared, even though I don't understand the words, the song is lovely, thank you for sharing. The excerpt you shared, herein, is extremely profound and I think I get it. If not, I'm certainly 'being' with it, if you get my meaning? :) again, thank you.

[bradley brooks]

hello   gary   from   bradley    brooks    i   read    your    comment   on    that    this     site   is    not    used   very   much   and   i   think    you    said     not    to    lively    which   was   posted   in    2010-----i'm     wondering    if   the    reason    is   that    is----is    because       2  or3    yaers    ago   thomas's        computer    site    was   on    a    network     called   ning     or    something    and    it   change    to   facebook  which   is    to    hard    for   me    to    navigate    so   so   i     gave    up    trying    to   perticepate   in    the    discusions    etc..------anyway    thank    goodness   i   just   got   a   new    email    from   thomas's   new    sit   which    i    can    navigate  -----------   i'm    wondering   if    all    the    swichting    back    and    forth  from   site   to   site   caused    the    lack    of    porticipation---  but   i'm   eager   to   get    started   NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!      just   wondering   as   i   do  most   of   the    time

[bradley brooks]

hello   gary   again   from    bradley   brooks   am    i   on   the    wrong   site   or    what    why   are   all   the    posted    dated  2010   i   am   in    the   now    2/23/2012   could   you   please   give   me    the    correct    site    to    go   to   so   i   can  take   part   in    the    thomas   more    community    disscusions------i   went   to   jessopd@gmaillcom    and    all  the  other    sites   and    can't    get   on    are    find   anything    ------------i   am    really    bad   at    computers    and    have    know    one   to    help   me   ------------any    help    would   be   wonderful   ----------------frustated   in    florida

[Barque]

Hi Bradley,

You're in the right place although the room may still be a little empty. The Thomas Moore network (forum) had a hiatus in 2010 and 2011 and this is really an experiment to see if people want to discuss Moore's work. The forum move to Facebook did not work. Thomas Moore has a full schedule these days and his posts probably will be infrequent. You have the floor to start a discussion about any Moore topic that interests you. Welcome to the revised network.

[bradley brooks]

how   do   i   send   this    and   were   do   i   go   to     read   it   and   responses

[bradley brooks]

okay   i   think   i  might   have   it   down   now   [[   the   foremat   etc]]---------i'm    hopeing    i   can   get   people   to   take   part   in   the   talks   by     focusing    on    the    actual   words    inthe   book   [[COTS}---------   i  don't   have    the   book   with   me   but   i   will   in   the    future----i   really    need   help   in   trying    to   understand   a  great    poem    by    emily    dickersend----------in   the   book  --i   think   it   will   be   alot   of    fun  ----------i  have    been   on   line   since      1996---   and    have   never   taken   part   in   any   type   of   blogg     etc.   because  i   have   never    found   anything   out    there   of   interest--this    book   has   completely   consumed   me   i  love   it     no    joke

[Barque]

Hi Bradley, Rather than continue this discussion, I created a new discussion dedicated to COTS, called Care of the Soul. When you get your copy of the book, please share your poem in the new discussion.