'We Are All Children of the One God' (Oh Really?)
-- Gul Kripalani: "Pastor, we are expecting, uh, anywhere between eight to ten million people in these three services. We are expecting mighty healings, uh, to be there; bondages to be removed. And, above all, Pastor, what I'm noticing in the last few weeks--unity amongst the various denominations of Christianity, and unity between Christians and others like Hindus' and Muslims', because we are all children of the one God" (Gul Kripalani's statement to Benny Hinn, This Is Your Day Weekly Review, 10/12/04, audio-tape on file, http://www.bennyhinn.org/broadcast/weeklyreview.cfm ).
--- Of course, respect is not reserved for the marginalised and deviant: it is just that showing them respect is a particular challenge. Members of other faith traditions are no more likely to be deviant than those who share our own faith and denomination. I believe that respecting other faith traditions strengthens our own. That is truer of respect than of tolerance. In genuine dialogue and in doing together all the things that we are able to we go a long way to building respect for each other. In seeking ways to stretch the parameters of what we may do together we increase our actual and potential respect. The ecumenical and multi-faith basis of this chaplaincy is one of respect, not mere tolerance; and Christian scripture sustains us in the endeavour to cherish that genuine and organically growing respect so that we may all be enriched and thus enrich others not simply by giving but by sharing. Guru Nanak said, "There is no Muslim and there is no Hindu. We are all children of the one God?" In the same way there is no Protestant and no Catholic, no Jew and no Christian: we are all children of the same God. Brotherly and sisterly love and respect is the standard we are called to. Respecting the right of others to worship in their own traditions and respecting the integrity of their understandings are part of it. I hope and trust that the signing of this Covenant will spur all who are connected with the chaplaincy to continue the work of building respect among people of differing faith traditions (The University of Warwick Chaplaincy Covenant of re-signing ceremony, http://www.warwick.ac.uk/chaplaincy/re_signing/ephesians_reflection.html ).
--- We call God by many names and the paths to Him are many but we are all children of the one God. Why should we quarrel about the paths that we choose? You move on the one that suits you and I on the one that suits me. We will meet when we meet God (Hwa Mei Shen, "Elder brother of love and peace," http://www.sadhuvaswani.org/svm/starart.html ).
--- World peace is possible only if all the religious and political leaders of this globe preach tolerance, recognition and respect for other cultures, traditions, languages, races, nationalities and religions. It is a prime duty of all spiritual and political leaders of this age to guide humanity towards clarity through tolerance and forgiveness, to give others rights, acknowledge them and to preach that we are all children of the one God. We all belong to the one and greatest religion on this earth ? HUMANITY ( Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda, Initiator of the Conference, International Conference World Peace and the Message of Mahatma Gandhi, 10/5/02, http://www.worldpeace-conference.net/PressInfoInternational200208.pdf ).
--- If we are all children of the One God then our very essence is God-like as well. We all can share in that common divinity. We are truly brothers and sisters of the One. The cognizance of who we are is critical for then we see the One in all beings and ultimately in our very selves. Where do we direct our worship then? God is everywhere and in everything---what need of religion then? The heaven that we sought so vainly in others, in the world or in a heaven after we die, can be found everywhere. Maybe Jesus was right in saying the kingdom of heaven is within. The simplest and most powerful truth and yet so difficult to believe. Probably why God hid inside a person---the last place one would actually look! (B. Garcia, "God, Truth, Love and Wisdom--A pictureless picture of Consciousness," http://www.ma.utexas.edu/users/bgarcia ).
--- And so here we ARE--at the crossroads for this time/space. Have we decided once and for all to honor every part of the great web of life as well as ourselves? Can we look at ourselves deeply and in total forgive ourselves, and then do we have the courage to step back onto the original timeline as the awakened Ascended Masters, the Divine Angels, Holy Of Holies, that we are--ALL CHILDREN OF THE ONE GOD/GODDESS ALL THAT IS? (Jennifer Lee, Jennifer Lee Report, 8/19/03, http://www.fourwinds10.com/lee/2003/0803/Jennifer-08-19-03.html ).
--- This is one of the pictures that circulated over the internet. I would imagine that all the Ascended Masters felt this way on September 11, 2001...Jesus, Moses, Isaac, Jacob, Abraham, Buddha, Mohammed and more. I do not believe that the Mohammed ever intended for Islam to be a violent and destructive force. It is difficult to believe that the Creator ever intended for there to be so much hatred in this world. We need to make personal changes...we can't change the world unless we make individual spiritual changes. --What else can we do? Work with God, Allah, Spirit...asking for all the assistance absolutely possible. Love all people for we are all children of the One God! (Lady Elizabeth, http://shekinah.elysiumgates.com/911.html )
--- Jesus is the only son of God. FALSE. We are all children of the One God except that Jesus Christ is much more highly evolved than we who are still here on earth ("Jesus, the Christ," Inner Quest, http://www.innerquest.org.ph/messagemadeplain/iq3124lesson2solutions.htm ).
--- We are all children of the one God. From the moment the first American bomb was dropped, children of God have been killing children of God. --How many of us were aware of the vast number of gay and lesbian couples who deeply desire a marriage-level of commitment, some of whom have lived in covenanted relationships for many years? --While a lesbian pastor is sitting in an ecclesiastical trial, while men and women who are sons and daughters of God are being taunted, the God in Jesus? parable waves off the controversy and says to them: ?Come in the house. The party?s on me" (Steven G. Hyde, "Praying The Psalms: On The Road To Forgiveness," Ravensworth Baptist Church, 3/21/04, Lent, http://www.rbc-va.org/sermons/03-21-04.htm?color=0 ).
--- The line "they never do their will alone" means, as we mentioned earlier, that they do not believe in separate interests. They recognize that their will is one with the will of the Sonship as well as with the Will of God. So, in choosing to be at peace, I must be choosing that everyone else be at peace as well. If we are all children of the one God, part of the one Mind and the one Son, then it cannot be that I can have a will different from anyone else, including my Creator. The belief that I do have a will separate from God's was the original ego thought. That thought was then protected and defended by making up a world in which separate interests appear to be the law (Kenneth Wapnick, Ph.D., "WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A TEACHER OF GOD," Foundation For A COURSE IN MIRACLES--Institute For Teaching Inner-Peace Through A COURSE IN MIRACLES, http://www.facim.org/excerpts/s5e4.htm ).
--- It is absolutley imperative that you comensate the gay and lesbian relatives, domestic partners, spouses, (etc) of victims of 9/11. To do otherwise is to contravene American law and tradition, and is a rejection of our basic understanding of human rights. I am not gay, but we must treat all human persons as dignified and unique and worthy of our compassion and understanding. We are all children of the One God; His convenant with us requires equality in all relationships, whether or not we agree with one another (author unknown, http://www.usdoj.gov/victimcompensation/final/rmar13/R000158.html ).
--- Understanding the churches? relationship to people of other religious traditions begins in the recognition of God?s many gifts to us, including that of relationship. All are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). When we meet a human being, no matter what her or his religion, we are meeting a unique creation of the living God. "One is the community of all peoples, one their origin, for God made the whole human race to live on all the face of the earth." All are equal in God?s sight; each is equally the object of God?s love and potentially open to receive "a ray of that truth which enlightens all [humanity]." Because we are all children of the one God we are all related to one another. It is in this sense that we may call all men and women our brothers and sisters. (We also recognize a specific use of this familial language to refer to those within the household of Christian faith.) Community is itself a divine gift which we are called to make real in our lives. (Interfaith Relations and the Churches--A Policy Statement of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., #20, brackets theirs, http://www.ncccusa.org/interfaith/ifr.html ).