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WHO AM I? My name is Nelson Noggle. I am an Ohio farm boy, who has spent his
life as a parent, educator, counsellor and witness for the power of
spirituality. Though well educated and experienced, I'm more farm boy than
anything else -- alive with the wonderment of life. I doubt if I'll ever get the
sound of birds from my ears, the dirt out from under my nails, or the musty
smell of Autumn and the fragrance of Spring from my nose. Most of all, I'll
always appreciate everything my loving parents and grandparents have done for
me.
WHAT'S THE LOVE STORY? Religious writings and sermons are filled with historical
and cultural notions, stories, teachings and laws put forth in the name of
God/Spirit. Usually, as children, we are taught to memorize a single version of
what God/Spirit is like, and how He/She expects us to live our lives. Of course,
children and youth have a lot of other growing up to do, and they often make
mistakes and break the laws of God/Spirit. It does not matter that these same
kids see adults, even those in places of worship, breaking those same laws and
more, the hypocrisy of religion is to impose sanctions and punishments also in
the name of God/Spirit. It is not long before many children and youth rebel or
withdraw from so-called religious life. The Love Story is the essence, beauty
and love of God/Spirit that has gotten lost in this hypocrisy. It is the story
that lies beneath the surface and facade of organized religion and its regimen,
doctrine and dogma. It is the part of religion and spirituality that does not
cause wars. It depends on one common, but never-the-less fundamental, agreement
across most of the world's religions and spiritual movements:
Unconditional love is the essence of God/Spirit, and it lies within us all.
HOW DID I GET THERE? In 1984, I was awakened in the night and
in the darkness led downstairs to pull a book off the shelf and begin reading
and taking notes. The next morning when I woke, I went downstairs thinking it
all might be a dream, and found my notes and read them. They were taken from the
writings of Thomas Aquinas, theologian and philosopher, and cited that the flags
on both sides of the Christian Wars bore the Bloody Cross of Christ, and that
Christians and Jews alike were focused far more on the death of Christ and who
to blame, than on Christ's message and ascension. Basically, the notes were
saying that Christianity had gotten off to a terrible start. So I laid my hands
on everything I could read, talked with religious leaders and observed religious
followers in action -- the notes were right -- most of us who were studying and
praying in our religious ways were behaving as victimized slaves rather than
enlightened Souls loving and serving mankind.
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? In 1986, I synthesized what I had been learning, and weeping
about, and created two prayers of affirmation for God/Spirit and myself to
follow for the rest of my life; they were and are as follows:
To help people find more of God/Spirit within them To free people to learn in any setting
As a result, I began to work with parents, schools, churches,
social service agencies, business organizations and government agencies, in an
attempt to help men and women in those institutions to deal better with their
own victimization, especially so they could draw on the love within them when
they served others. Ultimately, though, my deepest motivation was to help those
who work with kids -- to nurture them, rather than to control, neglect and abuse
them. It was clear from The Love Story that I was uncovering, our greatest
mistake has been with the children -- we take perhaps as high as 80% of our
loving kids with their thirst to learn, and turn them into selfish youth and
adults who have to be rewarded, punished and entertained in order to get them to
learn. This is when God/Spirit led me to The Box and many other relevant and
useful visuals to illustrate barriers and pathways to God/Spirit, learning and
loving. I exited this phase of my work about a year ago with a new plan of
action.
WHAT NOW? The "private" period of my Search for The Love Story is finished. As I
completed outlines and manuscripts for several books and workshops, the Story
revealed several more things for me to consider:
Establish Spiritual Intimacy with others, for in God/Spirit's eyes we are searching as equals Spiritual Unity is needed to plant the seeds of God/Spirit's unconditional love for all to see Mind/ego acts either as the block or the pathway for seeing, feeling or giving unconditional love Once unconditional love is seen or felt, a person's "free will and faith" will do the rest Spreading of God/Spirit's unconditional love will conquer hypocrisy, selfishness, fear and hatred There is no greater power than the Unity of Purpose to Give Love -- this is "The Love Story"
Nelson L Noggle e-mail caepnoggle@qwest.net
Copyright Spiritual Journey 2007