John Dehlin is coming to Seattle, WA on September 14th – 15th.
WHO: Progressive Mormons, Transitioning Mormons, Post-Mormons, Mixed Faith Couples (believing and non-believing)
WHERE: Seattle, WA (we will send venue address to all registered participants)
WHEN: Thursday evening (Sept 14th) will be an Introduction/Mix & Mingle starting at 7pm and Friday (Sept 15th) will be a full day workshop from 9am
COST: $125 per person – lunch included. If you are unable to afford the registration fee please email us concerning a scholarship at openstoriesfoundation@gmail.com.
To donate to our scholarship fund click here.
To register click here
I wish you would do a podcast involving PTS, My Veterans for Peace collegues refuse to add the “D” at the end because they say it’s not a disability to have one humanity undermined by the military preparing soldiers to kill fellow human beings because world government and religious leaders have the disability to give up their own arrogance, pride and need for world dominance. anyway, my VfP friends recognize I have a form of PTS aquired from religious abuse.
Another friend of mine years ago told me of two dreams he had. The first involved him riding on a bus driven by Spencer Kimball. Everyone on the bus in his dream sitting around him were friends of his. He had been a bishop and his daughter was Bruce McKonkie’s secretary; so my friend had met many of these people at social gatherings. Anyway, back to the dream, he was on the bus and trying to find out if his religion was the only true religion. He kept hearing someone saying “No” but initially he thought it was just someone else talking to their friend. My friend continued to ask his question until finally the bus driver Spencer Kimble stopped the bus; walked back and told him mister, if you don’t knock it off, you’ll be off this bus. Then my friend woke up.
Awhile later after months of still trying sincerely to get answer to his prayer and not being willing to accept no answer as an answer, my friend had another dream. In this dream, he was hiking in a red-rock canyon with friends, relatives, fellow church members, etc. This group was also being led by Spencer Kimble. In the dream they came to the end of the canyon and it was a box canyon surrounded by verticle cliffs. Everyone was just mulling around; yet my friend went to the cliff and saw a place to put his hand and feet and pull himself up. As he did this, he saw the next places to put his hands and feet to pull himself to the next level. He kept doing this until finally he reach the top of the canyon and looked over to see a beautiful meadow. He then looked back and saw everyone including the leader just walking around. Then he woke up. This was his answer; he had gone as far with the group that he could and dream showed his (spiritual) journey beyond was probably one where he was on his own. It would be more lonely, yet more beauty and joy filled.
Anyway, getting back to my own story, I had lived my life trying not to make any mistakes and realizing through some personal spiritual experiences that trying not to make mistakes was the biggest mistake and resulted in deep personal unhappiness. I jumped off the mormon bus hoping there would be a BMW waiting, but there was not. i had to learn to crawl walk spiritually on my own, if I was bent on not being a part of a group, a fun bus to psuedo-heaven. I have since experienced heaven and it is not something after this life. It is to be created here and now. Mormon’s belive someday they may become gods, yet, I’ve realized that creating heaven on earth, here and now and being embryo gods, regardless of how poorly we may think we are doing. It’s not about doing, it about being. We’ve all heard the phrase you’ve made your bed now lay in it. Well, take that concept to a higher level.